"Are they testing us on the entire book?" Jackie asks and I chuckle as I flip through another page of my math textbook.
"It could be anything." Max says.
"It's three hundred fucking pages!" Jackie exclaims at him.
"Actually, it's three hundred and fourteen plus the appendix. Some of it's just pictures, though." Max says and Jackie leans back into her chair, clearly irritated.
"Alright, listen you guys. I've got the list of subjects for the quiz. Linear Algebra-"
"Linear algebra, chapters one to three, leadership, American presidents before Lincoln, computer science, into to Java, psychology, learning and motivation, art history..." Aspen trails off as she snatches Leo's Louie from him, cutting him off.
"I am so fucked." Jackie says.
"Don't stress. You'll be fine." I tell Jackie.
"Guys? Can I have your attention, please? Thank you." Aspen says, mainly looking at Jackie and I.
"Who says I have to take orders from you?" I scoff, rolling my eyes as I cross my arms.
"I'm just trying to read, Val." Aspen says, matter of factly.
"It's Valerie. Not Val, not Ramirez, Valerie." I inform her and Leo looks at me.
"Why is she even reading the instructions? She's not even participating." Becca says.
"Thank god." I mutter to Becca.
"Actually, I am. I don't want any special treatment." Aspen says.
"Good, cause you sure as hell won't be getting any from me." I grimace at her.
"Do you have a problem with me?" Aspen says, handing Leo his Louie back.
"I thought I made that pretty clear already." I raise an eyebrow and Jackie snickers.
"Clearly not. I can't tell if you're being honest or if you're just being a bitch." Aspen spits and I snap the pencil in half with my thumb and Becca gasps.
"Listen, you little cunt-" I start, but Jackie grabs my shoulder.
"Hey, just chill out. She's only doing this to get a reaction out of you." Jackie mutters to me and I nod, glaring back at Aspen who is just smirking at me.
"Ravens, put away your books and gather around. This challenge has begun." Suzanne announces, walking in.
"C'mon." I mutter to Jackie and Hayley and they nod as we get up from our seats.
"You okay?" Leo asks, pulling my arm but I quickly retract it away from him, taking a seat next to Hayley.
"Okay, Ravens. Listen up. Each student will be asked a question in turn. You are not allowed to help each other. The Eagles are also going to be asked the same questions. Aspen, are you sure you wanna participate?" Suzanne asks her.
"Positive." Aspen says and Suzanne nods.
"Okay. Leo, we'll start with you. Which member of George Washington died after a duel?" Suzanne asks him.
"Alexander Hamilton." Leo responds.
"That's correct." Suzanne grins and everyone cheers for him.
"Okay, Aspen. What style of painting was developed by George Seurat?" She asks her.
"I hope you're not going easy on me because I just got here. Anyway, the answer is clearly pointillism." Aspen says.
"That's correct." Suzanne says and a few people clap for her.
"Do you know, there is actually a lovely jubbly painting of his over the National Gallery Trafalgar Square. It is breathtaking." Aspen informs us.
"And it's so breathtaking how you cannot get sick of your own voice." I sarcastically beam at her.
"Okay...Becca. Which performing artist is known as the King of Rock n Roll?" Suzanne asks her.
"Why didn't I get this? I love Michael Jackson." Jackie whispers to Max.
"It's not Michael Jackson, Jackie." I mutter, quietly as possible.
"Elvis Presley." Becca says.
"That's correct." Suzanne says.
"Yes!" We all exclaim and I give Becca two fist bumps.
"What?" Jackie mouths to Max and he just slowly claps. I chuckle at the scene.
"Who was the first African American baseball player to join Major League Baseball?" Suzanne asks Max.
"Well, I don't watch baseball. Or any other sports." Max says.
"You got this. Just focus." I tell Max, patting his shoulder.
"Oh! Uh, I remember this from our civil rights history course. Yes! Uh, Jackie Robinson." Max says.
"That's correct!" Suzanne says.
"Yay!" We all cheer and Max turns to me, giving me a high-five.
"And now over to our Jackie." Suzanne says and Jackie starts to get tense.
"Jackie, what do you call a two dimensional array made up of numbers or letters?" Suzanne asks her.
"Focus, Jackie." Aspen says to her as she ponders for a bit.
"Leave her alone, you're distracting her." I tell Aspen.
"Was I talking to you?" She says.
"No. But I answered. So be quiet." I snap back at her, then turning back to Jackie.
"Jackie?" Suzanne says as she nervously folds her hands.
"There's a movie trilogy named after the answer." Aspen says through gritted teeth.
"You are not allowed to help, or you'll disqualify the whole team." Suzanne says.
"Back To The Future." Jackie says and my face drops in confusion.
"I'm sorry, Jackie. It was a matrix. Ravens, you're back to zero points." Suzanne announces and Aspen scoffs.
"It's not your fault, she threw you off." I inform Jackie.
"Valerie, you're up next. Who composed this famous piece?" Suzanne asks as she plays a clip of the music piece.
Aspen then starts to sing over the hallelujahs and my blood starts to boil.
"Suzanne, this challenge is ridiculous! You're just creating tension between all of us." I snap.
"The strength of your team relies on the abilities of its individuals." She says.
"Well I never rely on anyone. And too bad we can't pick the individuals on our team." I say, glaring at Aspen.
"What about the question I asked you?" Suzanne says in a calmer tone.
"It's Handel." I state.
"George Frideric Handel. Born German, then became British." Aspen quirks up.
"That's right." Suzanne huffs.
"Ravens, you have twelve in a row. Hayley, it's now your turn." Suzanne says.
"Maybe we should move Jackie to another seat so she doesn't ruin our streak." Aspen says.
"She's right." Jackie mutters.
"How dare you insult in her like that?! What did they teach you in that school in London? How to be rude? I bet you aced that class." I say, raising my voice at her with a British accent.
"Guys, let's try and focus, okay?" Leo says, giving me a look.
"Okay, Hayley. What do you call a geometric entity with magnitude and direction?" Suzanne asks her.
"Hey, we just learned this in math class." Jackie mutters to her.
"I'm drawing a blank." Hayley says, pondering a bit.
"Come on, even I can get this!" Jackie whispers to her.
"Isosceles triangle?" Hayley trails off.
"Is that your answer?" Suzanne asks her.
"Yes." She nods.
"I'm sorry Hayley, it was a vector." Suzanne says.
"Dammit! I'm usually pretty good at this." Hayley says.
"It's okay. That was a good guess." I whisper to her, patting her shoulder.
"Okay, Aspen you're up. Which novel ends with the line, so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past?" Suzanne asks her.
"We haven't studied American literature yet at my old school. What was that line again?" Aspen says.
"Ceaselessly into the past." Suzanne says, nodding at her.
"The past, right. Bloody hell, I have no idea." Aspen admits.
"Um, maybe we should move Aspen so she doesn't ruin our streak." I say and Hayley chuckles at me.
"Tom Sawyer? Moby Dick?" Aspen says.
"You're just guessing. I can't accept that." Suzanne says to her.
"Um...I have no idea! I'm so sorry. I am such a idiot! I have no idea!" Aspen pants.
||
"I will never forgive myself for this! I single handedly destroyed this entire challenge!" I hear Aspen sob to Leo and Jackie and I share a look.
"You didn't know an answer to a question, Aspen. That's all that happened." Leo says to her.
"I'm gonna go talk to her. I know how it feels to ruin everything." I tell Jackie and she nods.
I get up out of my seat and walk over to Leo and Aspen's table, sitting across from her.
"What do you want?" Aspen spits, wiping under her eyes.
"It's not your fault. It's just a game. And you did your best." I say in a calming manner.
"Thanks." She mutters and I nod.
"Go get some water and calm down, okay?" I say and she nods as I get up from the seat.
Leo's face drops as he raises his eyebrows at me as I walk back over to Jackie.
"Eagles. Ravens. Congratulations on an exciting challenge. The results were very close. The difference between your two two teams was one answer." Louis says.
"Naturally." I hear Aspen scoff.
"Eagles, you had eleven correct answers in a row." Louis grins at them.
"Whoo!" The Eagles clap.
"And Ravens, you had twelve correct answers in a row. You won by one answer!" Louis exclaims.
"Whoo! We won!" Leo says and we all cheer and I give Jackie and Hayley a hug.
"Hey, um...I wanted to apologize for how I was acted before. And to you, Jackie. Sometimes I can be a bit..careless." Aspen says, walking up to us.
"It's okay. I can be like that, too, sometimes." Jackie nods at her.
"I'll be right back." I say to them and they nod as I walk over to Alex.
"Congratulations, Raven." Alex says, looking down at me.
"Thank you, Eagle. I'm sure you guys did great, too." I nod.
"Thanks. So, how have you been?" He asks me.
"I'm okay, could be better. You?" I say, crossing my arms.
"I'm good. Leo and Aspen still acting like a married couple?" He asks and I scoff.
"Yep. I swear Leo has her wrapped around his finger. She follows him around like a lost puppy." I say, shaking my head.
"Well, Leo is her problem now. Let her have at it." Alex says and I nod.
"So, about what happened after the party." I trail off to him.
"Ah, yes, the infamous Halloween party where the Valerie Ramirez sang that amazing song she wrote." He says and I laugh, thanking him.
"Look, after that whole mess with Leo and Aspen, I just don't wanna-"
"Move to fast." Alex says, finishing my sentence.
"Yeah. It's not you, I just don't wanna fall too hard again." I say.
"I understand. But I want you to know, I really like you, Val." Alex says.
"I really like you too, Alex." I grin up at him.
"Boyfriend and girlfriend right now?" He jokes and I chuckle.
"No." I say.
"Boyfriend and girlfriend, eventually?" He says, raising an eyebrow at me.
I open my mouth to speak but I close it as a smile creeps up on my face.
"You're not saying no. You have to say something!" Alex says I happily sigh.
"We'll see, I'll play the long game." I tell him and grins down at me.
"Deal." He says and I chuckle as I stand on my tippy toes, hugging him.
Alex is good for me, and I wanna keep it that way.