Andrea and Damyn, Anya [popular novels txt] 📗

to get a couple of books. One was for reading in class and for class discussion. The other was mostly of our choice, but there were restrictions, and it was to be read OUTSIDE of class.
After that, he got us started on setting up our notebooks, which he would collect regularly to check and input grades, another notebook for notes but it had to be of the same color, and gave us our First Period Homework Agenda. When the bell rang an hour after school started, I had a lot of homework to do already and I knew I was going to be up a few hours getting set up correctly.

Second Period Anatomy was more complicated than English. The teacher handed out a series of worksheets, assigning them as homework, passed out the Agendas, and gave us the same notebook criteria as Mr. Jasper. All homework, worksheets included, are to be either written in or stapled to the notebook in any order in one, notes in another. Both must be of same color and clearly labeled as either 'Homework Notebook' or 'Notes'. Then he introduced us to the wonders of the human body. We wrote our vocab words on flash cards and started a few worksheets before the bell rang and the students filed out.

Directly after Second Period, Damyn and I had US History. Basically, we did the whole thing again. Notebooks, Agendas, contracts checked. The whole shebang.
'Damyn, is this going to go on all day? The repetition is giving me a headache.' I wrote on a piece of paper from an extra notebook. I turned the paper slightly toward him and nudged him with my knee to get his attention. He looked at the note, grabbed a pen and wrote his reply.
'Pretty much. We go through the whole thing every year in every class. Even the younger ones are doing it. Sorry about your headache.' I jotted down what I had to say before the teacher saw.
'I feel so sorry for them! It must be brutal for the new newcomers, huh?'

'Oh yeah, brutal is right. I had a hard time adjusting myself. But I think it’s for the best. The teachers are setting the students up to be organized and that will help them succeed tremendously. I can't think of any other way I could study then the way they've taught us.'
'Well, of course! It's the only method you know!'

And so the day went on. Damyn and I had First Break and Third Lunch, so pickings were always a little scarce.

To remind me of what to get, I wrote down the items, quantity and color on a piece of paper. Mom would go shopping tomorrow and I can get started on my sky-high pile of homework. Tomorrow night, I can attach it all to the appropriate notebooks and fill out the Agendas.

As we trudged out of the school at three o'clock, my backpack was very heavy with all of the new items it was carrying.
"God, this thing weighs a ton now! I might have to get a new backpack." I whined, readjusting the backpack's position on my back and shoulders.
"No, you're just carrying it wrong. Here." Damyn said before he reached across my belly and pulled on the straps that adjusted the length of the straps around my shoulders. The straps on my back rose all of the way up and a great deal was lifted from my shoulders.
"Whew! That's better. Thanks, Damyn. How did you know to do that?"
"Years of experience. I've been going here since I was in Kindergarten."
"Really? I would have loved being here so long. To know everything there is to know about the school, where everything is, know a lot if not all of the teachers, to know how to succeed, how the little details play into the bigger areas..."
"Yeah. I've never really noticed. I only knew what to do and how to do it."
"I still envy you."
Damyn laughed at my reply, lifting his head back a little, a big smile spreading across his face. His usually hard, scary features softened and he looked almost happy. Like Bell had never been in his life.
"So, I've got nothing going on tonight and we have a lot of homework to do. Why don't we study for a few hours?" He asked.
"That's a good idea. Mom and Dad won't mind and I'm free, too." I said, grateful I would have someone help me with the homework and get used to the new system.
"Great. So, what subject did you want to tackle first?"
"Umm..." I stalled as I searched my mind for the closest due date. "I think we should do History. We've got several assignments due in two days and the others are between a week and a week and a half. Once we finished the History, we can work on the others."
"Very good. You're going to be just fine."
"Good. Because if I didn't, I wouldn't have a prayer of going to college."
"College? Do what?"
"Novelist and bio-engineer. That's why I'm taking Anatomy. I also might take a few extra courses like BioMed, Physiology, Medical Terminology, AVID. I'm going to need as much preparation as I can get."
"That's a long list. You might want to divide them up between this year, next year and this summer. Maybe even Credit Recovery."
"I was planning on doing just that. But what about you? What do you want to do with your life?"
"I've never thought about it, but I'm pretty good with animals, dogs in particular. Maybe I can be a vet or wildlife worker or something."
"Really? I never would have thought you would like dogs. But, then again, who doesn't?"
"Yeah, that's true. But I sort of gave up on it when I fell for Bell. I wanted to settle down with her, and college isn't exactly compatible with raising kids. But now that path is open to me again, if I can make up the credits. Damn, I'm in for it. Three years of negligence and now I've got to cram six years of studying into two."
"Six years? I thought the High School division only has four."
"Well, yeah, but because of my grades since Bell, I haven't been allowed to progress with my class. They graduated two years ago."
"Oh. Well, I can help you. I can tutor you! I've taken Advanced classes since I was a kid, and I'm sure we had the same classes. We can work on this year's work on the weekdays, other year's on the weekends and when we don't have homework and over vacation. If you're as smart as I think you are, you'll be caught up in no time. We'll also have to get you enrolled in as many Credit Recovery classes as we can. That will cut back on homework time, but you'll still get to graduate."
"You really think so? Okay then."
"But you have to want it. I can't make you study and do the homework. You have to do that on your own."
"Yeah. I know. My mom's been on my ass about it for a long time now."

When we got to my house, I let Damyn use the phone so he could call his mom while I went upstairs to clean up. The most embarrassing things were my laundry, so I grabbed those and threw them in the hamper. Then I emptied its contents down the chute that dumped the clothes in the laundry room and closed the hatch. After that, all that was left was clearing space on the floor. I decided to clear off a section and went to work.
By the time Damyn came up the stairs fifteen minutes later, almost my entire floor had been cleared. This showed off how huge it was and the beauty of the shapes it was given.
"Wow. Nice room."
"Thanks. I want to change the color from indigo to sea-foam blue. What do you think?"
"With all of this cream to offset it, it would look perfect. A natural beach setting five hundred miles from a lake."
"So, I figured we could sit on the floor. Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah, totally." He said, dropping his backpack on the floor across from me. "Okay. You said History, right?"
"Yeah. I've got my textbook here. Figured we could share."
"Always a good idea. Alright." He muttered as he shifted through his backpack, looking for the appropriate things. I got out my stuff as well and soon we were engrossed in our homework.
"Hey, Damyn, would you like a snack?"
"Sure. What do you have?"
I gave him the list of items and his eyes opened wide.
"And those are just the non-perishables. We've also got a bunch of cheeses, sodas, juice, milk, fruit, veggies, leafery. You name it."
"Okay. Wow. Umm... Can you get me a Sprite, a bowl of spinach or iceberg lettuce, the Cheeze-it box and some Lays?"
"Sure thing. I'll be right back." I said, grabbing two baskets by my door. I kept a fridge in my room, and the baskets helped me haul loads of snacks and sodas to my room when I needed to restock my inventory. I was going downstairs because my fridge was low again.

Ten minutes later, I climbed the stairs again, both baskets full with the items and some additional sodas.
"Here you go." I set his basket down next to him and took my place across from him again.
"Jeez! Thanks for the snacks."
“No problem.” I sais as I emptied one basket into my fridge, then I sat down with him and we got started on our homework.

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Publication Date: 09-26-2011

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