บท 6: Chapter 6
It took a few minutes for the first person to enter, an elderly woman with a tired face and the frame of her glasses resting on her head, feigned a smile as she approached the board to write what I'm sure is her name. "All right, everybody, my name is Ms. MacElroy," she said, displaying her name on the board.
"In addition to being your homeroom teacher, I'll be seeing some of you in my English class and some of you on the volleyball court," she continued.
I could see Sheldon looking around the classroom while the teacher spoke. I nudged Broke to show Sheldon, who then signaled to Georgie, who enthusiastically gestured for Sheldon to face forward.
"I'm sure you're well aware that we have a student with us who, despite his young age, is remarkably gifted," the teacher said condescendingly, referring to Sheldon, "and I expect all of you to make him feel welcome."
When the teacher said that, Sheldon immediately raised his hand. "Oh boy, here he goes," I heard Georgie murmur.
Before the teacher could give Sheldon the floor, I stood up and said, "Well, thank you, ma'am, for your kind words. Although I'm the right age to be in 9th grade, you're correct in saying that I have a gift. If anyone needs help with anything, I wouldn't mind sharing my gift with anyone," I said with a falsely altruistic tone and a politician's smile. "By the way, I'm PJ, pleased to meet you all," I chuckled a bit at my obvious joke as I sat back down.
Many, including the teacher, acknowledged my obvious jest and laughed a little. Georgie, who was also quietly chuckling, said, "Thanks."
Until...
"PJ, the teacher was obviously referring to me," Sheldon said, turning on his chair to face me with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "I thought it was clear; I'm surprised you didn't notice," he continued, making the class laugh again.
"Yes, it was a little joke, Sheldon. We all know the teacher was talking about you," I explained to the child.
"Oh, I see now," Sheldon replied. "Sorry, Ms. MacElroy," he raised his hand again.
"Yes, Sheldon?"
"Oh boy," I muttered this time.
"Per the student dress and grooming code, this boy's hair is too long, this boy is wearing sports attire outside of a designated area, and this girl's blouse is diaphanous, which means I can see her brassiere," Sheldon quickly pointed to each person. Once again, when he finished, the class laughed a bit, except for Georgie, who banged his forehead on his desk.
"Thank you, I will take that into account," said the teacher, obviously not placing much importance on it, with fake gratitude. "Alright, we have a few minutes before the first period. I need all of you to fill out these forms," she continued with her false enthusiasm. "What?" she asked, seeing Sheldon raise his hand again.
"Also, in violation of the grooming code on page 48, article five, subsection B, you have a bit of a mustache," Sheldon shamelessly pointed out.
Laughter erupted in the classroom.
Teacher MacElroy seemed trance-like, with her eyes wide open and her jaw hanging loose. Suddenly snapping out of her trance, she quickly brought a hand to her face and said, "Fill out your forms, leave them on your desks, and wait for your first period so you can go to your math class. I have things to do in the teachers' room," she said as she swiftly left the room.
As soon as the teacher left the classroom, noise filled the room. Laughter began to be heard, some students filled out the forms in front of them while talking to their friends, and a few others stayed silent answering the questions on the form.
"Your brother is very funny, Georgie," Brooke said with a loud laugh. "Yeah? Try living with that all the time," Georgie pointed to Sheldon, who was still filling out his form.
"Come on, he's just a kid, even though he's clearly smarter than you, you can still outdo him in other things, right?" Alan said, placing his hand on Georgie's shoulder with a smug smile.
After finishing filling out my form, I sat up straight in my seat and said, "Come on, Georgie, he's your brother. Gabe used to tease me a bit too, but if you find something he likes and help him with it, he'll start to respect you more," I advised.
"Yeah, but what he likes is science and stupid trains that I can't touch," Georgie exclaimed in frustration.
"Haha, then you're out of luck, buddy," David, who was sitting in front of us, teased. "You talking about science?" he continued with more mockery in his voice as he turned back to fill out his papers.
With that, my new friends started filling out the forms in front of them. Since I had finished earlier, I decided to approach Sheldon, who kept turning to look at me.
"What's up, little buddy?" I asked Sheldon, greeting the girl next to him with a nod.
"I was wondering about our conversation a few minutes ago. If they break the school rules, is it because their morality allows it?" Sheldon asked with intrigue on his face.
"Well, Sheldon, there are rules that exist to set boundaries for people. Sometimes those boundaries are understandable, like the laws of our country, but occasionally rules don't make any sense. Tell me, if there were a rule that prohibited you from playing with your little miniature trains, would you follow it?" I asked, sitting in an empty chair next to him.
"Well, it would bother me a little not to be able to use my miniature trains, certainly, but if justice dictates that I can't do it, I will follow the law without hesitation," he said with self-assurance.
"I understand that you see it that way, but not everyone has your willpower to avoid doing things they enjoy," I said as I stood up to leave the classroom, as Georgie, David, Alan, and Brooke were waiting for me at the door.
When the first period started and we were inside the classroom, everything followed the same course as the first encounter with a teacher. Teacher Ingram introduced herself, writing her name and the subject she would teach on the board, gave an overview of her class, and then began with a question, "Does anyone here know what Algebra is?"
Only Sheldon raised his hand, which made many of those who had shared a classroom with him during the first moments of school sigh. Teacher Ingram nodded and gave him the floor.
"Yes, Algebra is the branch of mathematics that studies the combination of elements from abstract structures according to certain rules. Originally, these elements could be interpreted as numbers or quantities, so algebra, in a way, was originally a generalization and extension of arithmetic," Sheldon said as if he had read it from a book.
"Very well," the surprised teacher nodded, turning to the board to write again, until "Excuse me, Teacher Ingram," she returned her gaze to Sheldon, who once again had his hand raised.
"Yes, Cooper?" she asked.
"I was wondering, where did you get your credentials? If you don't know what Algebra is, how do you expect to teach us mathematics?" Sheldon asked, intrigued.
Once again, a few laughs escaped from people in the classroom, which were quickly silenced by an annoyed look from the teacher.
"Well, Sheldon, if you really need to know, I got my degree from Oral Roberts University, and I passed my teacher preparation program," she responded.
"Oral Roberts University," Sheldon repeated with a hint of displeasure on his face.
"Yes, it's a wonderful school," the teacher replied, offended.
It seemed like Sheldon was about to say something against this statement, so I decided to intervene.
"True, I've heard of it too. My uncle graduated from there as well; he speaks highly of the school," I quickly lied to the teacher to silence Sheldon.
"Well, your uncle is right, young man. What's your name?" the teacher replied.
"PJ Duncan, ma'am. You were telling us about Algebra," I said with a smile.
"Oh, yes, thank you, Duncan," she said with a kind smile, "well, as I was saying, Algebra is mainly based on-."
The class continued with some interruptions from Sheldon, and as no one raised their hand besides him, he was the only one answering. The teacher, Ms. Ingram, became increasingly annoyed with his behavior. Feeling sorry for her, I started raising my hand too. With a grateful smile, Ms. Ingram ignored Sheldon's hand and acknowledged mine instead. By the end of the period, I had answered more than half of the class questions. If the scowl was any clue this seemed to bother Sheldon.
When the bell rang, Ms. Ingram quickly announced the homework: "the first ten problems from our textbook and Duncan, can you wait a moment please, i need to talk with you" the teacher requested.
"Oh, real homework!" exclaimed Sheldon excitedly as he packed up his things and prepared to leave.
Once everyone left the classroom, Ms. Ingram asked me to approach her desk. She cautiously handed me a piece of paper, making sure no one was near the door.
Is this what I think it is, or am I mistaken?
As I was about to open it, she stopped me and said, "I don't want your classmates to know about this," Oh, dear, it is what I thought it was, "especially Sheldon," huh?
When I opened the note, it contained a list of algebra topics.
"From now on, I'll give you a list of topics that will be covered in the next class. If you notice that only Sheldon raises his hand, I want you to do the same, and I'll give you a chance to answer. Make sure to find the answers to the questions beforehand, so he can't correct you, and therefore, me. I'll give you extra credit if you need it by the end of the course," she discreetly whispered as she guided me to the classroom door.
"Goodbye, Duncan. See you tomorrow," said the teacher as she pushed me out and closed the door firmly.
In the hallway, my four new friends were waiting, looking at me with puzzled expressions, wondering why the teacher had escorted me out of the classroom.
Ignoring their questions, I continued on my way, and they followed suit.
The next class was with Mr. Givens, our science teacher.
"So, who's ready to explore the wonderful world of science?" he exclaimed enthusiastically with his arms up after introducing himself. No one responded until Sheldon raised his hand and said, "Mr. Givens, even though I'm very excited about the Science class, I'm a bit concerned that you're being in breach of the hygiene code," Sheldon pressed his nose, again, for reasons unclear to him. The classmates started laughing at what he said.
Surprised by the boy's statement, Mr. Givens sniffed one of his armpits, made a disgusted face, quickly lowered his arms, and sat at his desk. "Well, young man, that's quite rude to say. Why don't you apologize, so we can continue with the class?"
Seemingly offended by the request, Sheldon replied, "I won't apologize for stating the truth. Instead, I offer to be your leader, Mr. Givens, as I am the superior mind, and you are intimidated by my intelligence." Once again, the class burst into laughter at Sheldon's words, while Mr. Givens was left speechless by the audacity of the child.
The class continued as it should after the teacher explained to Sheldon that he couldn't be the leader. During this class, just like with Ms. Ingram, I attempted to answer as many questions as possible. However, in an imaginary competition with Sheldon, he wouldn't let the teacher choose anyone else to respond after he had answered a question. He would swiftly answer before I could, with a smug smile that, rather than annoy me, I found amusing. So I chuckled under my breath, which seemed to upset him even more. He kept answering questions before the teacher finished asking them or blurting out facts during explanations. Sheldon seemed to be trying to win a race that we weren't having, which annoyed some of my classmates, especially Georgie, who received teasing glances from some of them.
But for me, Sheldon was quite helpful. He could be very enthusiastic while answering science questions or providing explanations on his own, explanations that were accurate and helped refresh my memory even more.
The class continued like this until the bell rang again. We all headed to the cafeteria, where we sat with new people who seemed to be taking the tests today as well. I met many new faces, but I mostly talked with Georgie, who remained upset with his brother.
"Damn," he said, "why does he have to be so unbearable," continuing to chew his lunch angrily.
"Georgie, he just doesn't know how to be any different. His brain works very differently from ours. You'll have to bear with him," I said, trying to calm him down. "Yeah, idiot brother, you just have to put up with your younger brother being smarter than you until the day you die," a voice behind us said.
Georgie turned in his seat, annoyed, and said, "What did you say, idiot?" attempting to stand up, but I stopped him, pointing to the teacher on duty in the cafeteria. "If you start a fight in the cafeteria, they won't let you participate in the Football tryout," I said, still holding onto his shoulder.
After seeing that there was indeed a teacher watching, he said, "Bah, whatever," removed my hand from his shoulder, and left the cafeteria, upset.
My next class was Spanish, which passed quickly since I was alone without my friends or Sheldon.
At the end of the day, a few of us teenagers were on the football field, hands on their hips, and disappointment on their faces Mr. Cooper and Coach Wilkins blew the whistle, calling us over. "We've counted, and honestly, we don't need the tryout today. If you came to the tryout, you're on the team. Congratulations, you're all we've got," said Mr. Cooper. "Now, we'll organize you, the defensive team will go with Coach Wilkins, while the offensive team stays with me, Coach!." With another blow of the whistle, they started organizing us into positions. Surprisingly, I was given the role of quarterback, as I was the tallest among the teenagers, which would give me an advantage, according to Mr. Cooper.
The training went well, except for an incident involving Georgie and the same teenager who had annoyed him in the cafeteria. Mr. Cooper and Coach Wilkins separated them, and furious, Georgie stormed off towards the locker rooms with Mr. Cooper following him. While Coach Wilkins was occupied on the other side of the field, I approached the teenager and said, "Hey, piggy," as I grabbed the bars of his helmet and pulled him closer. "Next time you want to make a joke like that, think twice about the consequences. We're on the same team, you idiot," I whispered to the young man, who angrily removed my hand from his helmet and prepared to fight.
I also raised my hands, ready for his punch, but it never came. He lowered his hands and walked away.
When I turned around, puzzled by the situation, I saw my new friends standing behind me, trying to look intimidating. It must have worked, as he left.
"Good job, quarterback, already looking out for the team," David said, pulling my helmet slightly.
"Yes, I don't know what that idiot said to Georgie. It's too bad you confronted him first, PJ. I was planning to do it," Broke said, snorting through his nose, annoyed, and showing off his chubby arms.
Georgie returned a few moments later, thanked me when they told him what I did, and we continued with the training.
As expected, I didn't have great physical fitness, so my throws weren't very long or fast, but according to Coach Wilkins, they were accurate.
At the end of the training, at Mr. Cooper's request, Coach Wilkins handed us a playbook, asking us to learn the plays.
We then took a shower in the school's locker room and said goodbye at the exit, where each of us went home with our own parents.
Mom was already waiting in the car, Teddy was in the front seat, so I didn't bother her and sat in the back, where Gabe was reading one of his comics. "Hey, PJ, how was your first day of school?" Mom greeted me as soon as I got in.
"It was good, just a regular day with the daily drama, but good, also I made it onto the team," I told Mom, handing the playbook to Gabe. "Do you want to help me learn these plays?" I ask him. The car, which had just started moving, suddenly came to a sudden stop. "You made it onto the team?" Mom exclaimed. "I'm so proud of you, PJ! Wait until your dad hears about this," she said, continuing to drive with a big smile on her face.
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Author's thoughts.
As always, I'm not American, so I'm not familiar with how American schools work. In Chapter 1 of Young Sheldon, only three teachers were introduced, so I don't know what other subjects high school students take in America. Therefore, I'll ignore and ask you to overlook the lack of other subjects. In this chapter, there was a mention of a Spanish class, but it was just a nod, and it won't be mentioned again (unless the plot requires it).
This chapter was designed to introduce new secondary characters who will be recurring throughout the story, especially in the first arc. Buckle up because the first sub-arc of this initial arc is coming.
Please, leave me a review, and obviously your power stones (I need stones, I NEED THEM!!!). If you don't give me a power stone, you'll have to endure the edgy characters (ugh, how disgusting).
If you find an error, you know how it goes, comment on it, and I'll correct it immediately.
P.S.: I started uploading the chapters to Fanfiction.net in case anyone wants to read it there. They will be uploaded here with priority, but if you prefer the other platform, you can find it under the same name or my username, MaximusQuill.
P.S.2: Despite being based on Daily American Drama, this story won't have many similarities. I doubt I'll add some characters, like Hayley Stark from the movie Hard Candy (in DAD, it's "Juno the Killer"). It's a good movie, and I recommend watching it if you haven't already, although Ellen Page's performance as Hayley leaves something to be desired. I don't see a reason to add that character here; in DAD, the author added it because their MC's system rewards him for having intelligent friends, in other words, initially, it's just there to give the MC a few more intelligence points. However, if you have a character that you think fits well with the story and would like to see, I'm completely open to recommendations.
Thanks for reading! :D.
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