2083, we don't need no education

September 2083 - schools update, fall.

* note: trying something a little different this time. Since I know you guys usually enjoy the school posts, I'm expanding the usual age-up back-to-school update into a mash-up of age transitions and a regular school update, like I usually do in the spring. This fall one will focus more on the kids in these transitional ages, where the spring update will still focus on everyone or whatever stories are prominent at the time ;) *
Bluewater Township: where they shall practice telepathy....

starting high school, 9th grade (15 years): Liza Hathe

"You're supposed to do the reading before class," Liza says, seeing Robbie flip through his school book in her peripheral vision.

"It was just so hard," he says. "I wish I could come with you." What he means is, he wishes she could still help him with his classwork.

"It's okay, I'll help you after school." She hugs him lightly before they part their separate ways. "You're having a hard time with pre-algebra, maybe you should wait a little while before you try calculus."

Liza Hathe isn't too nervous to start the ninth grade. She'll have Fiona in her classes again, which might or might not be a good thing. But if she wants to see Robbie, they'll have to skip class to do it. Well that wouldn't be a first. But Liza is good at math, and in her mind she sees the graph of the direct relationship between trouble and their time spent forced apart.

So Liza starts her first high school calculus class, grouped in with some other ninth and tenth graders. She doesn't know these people. Fiona is still hanging out with that Tinker girl, who's always been nice enough, but Liza doesn't need any more friends. People, in general, tend to make her feel anxious. And then there's some goofy grinning boy sat across the aisle who she doesn't know, and he keeps staring at her.

"I forgot my book," he says.

"Oh," Liza says.

"I hate the rain. I didn't want to go back for it because it was raining. Can I borrow yours?"

"I kind of need it," she says.

"I meant, I thought we could share," he says. The thought of sitting that close to some stranger makes her nervous.

"Uhhh," she stammers. She shakes her head. "You should share with Fiona."

She wonders if maybe she closes her eyes, he might stop trying to talk to her. But then, with her eyes closed, she recalls a game she and Robbie used to play when they were kids. She would close her eyes and think of something, and he would have to try to guess what it was. Sometimes he guessed right, and sometimes not, but they were always sure it was working.

Then when they started school together, she thought she could close her eyes and send him the answers he needed for his quizzes.

It's only now she realizes that if it had actually been working, he wouldn't be getting D's on his report cards.

***

Lakeside Heights: where their days are numbered...

senior year, 12th grade (18 years): Amy Jones
starting high school, 9th grade (15 years): Sarah Harris, Isaiah Gavigan
jr. high school, 6th grade (12 years): Sam Harris
preschool (4 years): Julia Lind, Elaina Thompson, Gabby Roseland

For the first weeks of September, the Lakeside Heights kids are really enjoying the lavish new school upgrades.

Sarah Harris and Isaiah Gavigan are the new high school freshman this year. Sarah just thought she'd take a peek at what he was writing, after having a little trouble on a paragraph or two of her own. It's then she realizes she's probably better off not copying his work.

Amy is our only senior in Lakeside Heights, while Lucy and Blair are juniors. Not sure if Blair is looking at Lucy's paper or her cleavage...

Eyes on your own girlfriend, Blair!

Sam Harris joins the junior high crowd this year, officially, though he was placed ahead with this grade starting last year.

Ryanne has shown a special new interest in her classmate this fall. Sam says, pointing to his easel, "I'm not very good at this yet."

"It's okay, nobody really is."

She flutters her eyes at him, and he wonders if she got paint fumes in them. It's strange, he thinks, that Ryanne has suddenly started being so nice to him this year.

She's even laughing at his jokes.

Or maybe it's nothing? He has always been kind of funny.

The new preschool class at Lakeside Heights is Laney Thompson, Gabby Roseland, and Julia Lind. All three live on Brant street in Lakeside Heights, and are already forming quite the tight little trio.

It's hard to judge natural intelligence at so tender an age, but Laney is clearly going to be the brightest of this bunch. She even leads her friends in a light discussion on some basic algebra... well, her parents are genius mathematicians after all.

Gabby says, "What?"

Julia says, "I can count to twenty."

Lunch this year is going to be a completely different experience for Lucy Harris. As her friends have all moved on, she sees a sudden shift of social power in this school. Quite simply, she's just alone. And for two more years.

It isn't that the other kids are cruel to her - they just don't know her. They just smile and shuffle past her, settling into their already established circles of friends. They look at her like the weird, lonely, older girl that she is. She doesn't know them because she never needed to, but now it dawns on her that two years is a very long time without any friends. She just feels so much older than she actually is. She can't believe she's still in high school.

So Sarah volunteers to sit with her sister. Bold as she is, she's always been a bit of lone wolf anyway.

It isn't as if Sarah hasn't noticed that sparkly rock on her sister's finger. It's been there, on and off, for a few weeks now. Lucy never wears it as they drive to school, her hands in plain view on the steering wheel of that bright yellow car he gave her. But then it appears, for the length of a school day, or when they're out shopping at the mall, when she's coming home from a party and forgot to take it off, quickly hiding her hand in a pocket before anyone sees it. And every day after school, it mysteriously disappears at some point between the school dismissal bells and their car ride back home.

When Lucy notices Sarah staring at it, she quickly ducks her hand beneath the table.

Sarah says, "You know, promise rings never work out."

"It's not a promise ring," Lucy says.

"What then?"

"You know," Lucy says.

"What, you're engaged? Like getting married?"

Lucy nods. "Well we didn't set a wedding date or anything. Or well, not an exact one."

"Mom's gonna be pissed!"

"Well don't tell her then," Lucy says. "I need to figure out what I'm gonna say."

"How is he?"

Lucy pulls back, as if doubtful of the question. "What, like you care?"

"I care enough," Sarah says. And she means it. The awkward, lanky boy was just about a permanent fixture of their family for the past five years.

"He's okay," Lucy says, a wavering in her voice telling otherwise. "He just seems kind of freaked out."

"He should be freaking happy," Sarah says. "Going to Takemizu Academy." She chants the name of the school in a singsongy voice.

"Don't be spiteful," Lucy says.

Sarah has a hard competitive streak. She can't help being spiteful.

The girls walk out together after lunch.

"Hey, where's Sam?" Lucy says. "I haven't seen him since this morning."

"No clue," Sarah says.

They wouldn't have any classes with him this year, but they don't happen to even run into him in the hallways for the rest of the day. They just figure he must be busy, first day of junior high, trying to navigate between classes, spending time getting to know his new friends...

***

Lake City: where there shall be girls, girls, glorious girls!!!

senior year, 12th grade (18 years): Elijah Roberts

Meadow Lind arrives to school most mornings with a stiff ache in her back. Oh, some days she just feels so old.

She's not really that old, but old enough, and greatly looking forward to her retirement. She always wanted a huge bunch of grandbabies, and now she's got plenty of them. She can't wait to just settle down and spoil them all.

But until she can spend time with her own grandkids full time, she'll just shirk off her paperwork duties to tell stories to the Lake City kids.

The junior high crowd in Lake City is Angelo Shaw, and his adorable girlfriend, of four whole months, Cecelia Dawson.

Abby Miller is also placed ahead with the junior high students, since she'll join them officially next year. She's a new student in Lake City this year, just back from spending some time traveling with her mother.

Elijah Roberts is finishing up his last year of high school this year, and taking a debate class to earn some public speaking confidence for those college interviews coming up. Melissa is a couple years away from college still, but she comes to watch anyway. Elijah isn't sure if that's what's making him nervous, or if it's that the school board president has just happened to walk through and sit down to listen to his speech, or if it's that his girlfriend's father is his debate coach.

It's nice to have Melissa there though, the way she smiles with assurance, nodding her head lightly whenever he makes a good point.

Angelo Shaw can vouch that Melissa Fortney is just a pleasure to be around. Sometimes he even finds himself wandering into the upperclass rooms, just to run into Melissa, just to hear her say in that whisper-soft voice, "Oh, hi Angelo."

The sweetest damn thing he's ever heard!

She smells like fresh air and jasmine. Her smile is as sweet as baby pink tulips. She's the finest flower to ever grow from the Earth's fresh soil. She's a woodland nymph, a soft breeze that fills his mind like a song...

But he figures he'd better back off a bit before her boyfriend's eyes bore a hole through his head.

So Angelo Shaw best make himself useful around here. And when they heard the shocking news earlier this week, he and Cecelia knew they needed to help out.

Lakeside Heights Public Schools suffered an electrical fire one night after hours, and burned to the ground. The cause was unknown, but is believed to be an accident. Efforts to rebuild are expected to take 6 months to a year. And in that time, the primary students will be bussed to Bluewater Township for classes this year, while the secondary students will be bussed to Lake City.

Angelo and Cecelia, with their bright charismatic smiles, volunteer to work as the welcoming committee. Before long though, Angelo finds himself much more enthusiastic about the job. And the reason why is quite clear...

The girls!!!

These fine-looking, spoiled suburban girls, put off by their twenty-minute bus ride to school. Oh, how fine they look when they pout! These older and mature ones, grown into their full soft curves...

Or hard ones that look like they could, and just might, kick his ass to pieces. He'd let her, and he'd even like it!

There are taller friendly ones, that he just might have kissed before. And short, curvy, dark-eyed ones with very attentive boyfriends.

And some kind of weird, pale, porcelain-skinned twins!

Girls, girls, there shall be multitudes of glorious girls!!! All of them perfect and beautiful and unique as snowflakes...

And then there's his girlfriend of four whole months, dear, sweet Cecelia, drifting hopelessly into the background, while each bat of their eyelashes, each waft of floral shampoo, each giggle, each smile, each soft bouncing curl, each click of heels on the hard linoleum tile sounds off like a countdown: tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock...

*******

Sam's 12-year stats:
aspiration: popularity
orientation: straight
turn-ons: swimwear, tidiness
turn-off: stink
LTW: Prestidigitator
notes: hopefully this is readable enough - I still feel like my brain is mush. I'm officially done moving though! Yay! :)

So the scene between Sarah and Lucy was inspired by this: Lucy at home with her family, and look at what she isn't wearing on her finger! She never wears it at home, and I've checked back a couple times, and still no ring. How weird is that? Yet she wears it anywhere else I've seen her, including at school. Looks like somebody's afraid to tell her parents ;)

Ryanne and Sam... lol! That was all Ryanne's doing. She's been itching for that first kiss, and she didn't feel like waiting around for it either.

A funny fact about my high school freshman this year (Liza, Sarah, and Isaiah) - not a single one of them have been kissed yet (though Isaiah's been trying mighty hard!), while most of my jr. high kids have been kissed already. I guess we have a bunch of late bloomers this year ;)
Amusing, but not surprising... Angelo doesn't have negative attraction with a single one of these girls!

And yes, he really, really likes Melissa. No joke!