by Ian Schrauth
I walked down to Mr. Snookie’s class, and he had some laptops set up for us to get our schedules to be signed up for.
“Selena, grab a booklet and sit down in your seat. You need to log onto your username and password you use for the computer and type in the numbers for the class from the booklet,” He said and handed me a booklet.
I took a booklet and headed to my seat. There, I logged onto it with the same username and password I use for the computers here and started to read the page that freshman need.
Class freshmen need:
Saturn Government
Physics
English II (It may vary depending on where you started)
Sathinish I or another English Elective
Algebra II (it may vary depending on the math class you take)
At least two electives (four is recommended just in case four are full)
I knew for a fact I didn’t want to take Sathinish Again, so I decided to look at the English electives.
English Electives:
Creative writing……. English I and the Novel/the novella required
Newspaper Journalism……English I, and creative writing required. Three recommendations. (Application must be turned in during the summer)(May bypass the reconditions by taking Short stories/the novella and the novel)
Myth and legend…….English I and Saturn History required
The novella……..English I
Short stories……..English I
Yearbook….. English I, Photography, and Creative writing required. Three recommendations. (Application must be turned in during the summer)(May bypass the reconditions by taking Short stories/the novella and the novel)
Broadcast……English I, Video Photography, Online Journalism and Creative writing required. Three recommendations. (Application must be turned in during the summer)(May bypass the reconditions by taking Short stories/the novella and the novel)
Online Journalism………English I, Journalism, and creative writing required. Three recommendations. (Application must be turned in during the summer)(May bypass the reconditions by taking Short stories/the novella and the novel)
The Novel……English I required.
So many to choose from and so many I couldn’t take. Unless I could think of something to get me out of English I foundations and into English I. Or even better, Honors English I! And I wanted any sort of Journalism. Especially Newspaper![I41]
I flipped through the book and fill out the schedule
Classes taking next semester:
Honors World History
Descriptive Chemistry
Honors English II
Creative writing
Algebra Foundations
The Novel
Short stories
I clicked the submit button, and I was fronted with some reconditions based on my selection.
Would you like to take Creative Writing for a night class so if you want to take a class that Creative writing is required you won’t have to take it next semester? Y…N
Would you like to take Newspaper Journalism, Online Journalism, Broadcast, Yearbook, or none?________________
Did you mean English II foundations instead of Honors English II? Y…N
OK, so I decided I was going to sign up for the night classes. It maybe would be good for me that I would take it, therefore, I could take Newspaper Journalism next semester!
Now, all I had to do was get out of English I Foundations!
After I had submitted the form, I was fronted with a piece of paper that came out of the fade of space. Magic…
The paper to sign up for Night classes!
“You decided to do Night classes?” Mr. Snookie asked.
“Yeah. Why?”
”Just curious,” He said and walked away.
I grabbed my pencil from my pocket and started to fill out the night classes. I noticed that it was something that I could take no matter what classes I had. [u42]
I flipped through the booklet, and I noticed that Creative Writing needed English I, English II, English III, The novel/the novella, short stories, AND Five teacher recommendations! I noticed it also said, “Authors are not qualified to take this class. If you are an author, talk to Huxvey about this.”
I quickly filled out the forms and walked up to Mr. Snookie. “May I turn this in to Huxvey?”
“Sure. Take the pass,” He said and handed me the pass.
I walked down to Huxvey’s office and entered. “Huxvey, I have a night class form.
“OK, give it to me and we’ll talk.”
I handed her the form, and she looked it over. “So, you want to take Creative Writing?”
“Yes.”
“Are you an author?”
“Yes,” I replied. “It’s in Tumspuv Genimis’ library catalog.”
“Oh?” Huxvey said and went into the online catalog. “Wow!”
“Yeah...”
“Well, this is what I’ll do. I will pass you with the class, so now, if you would like to take a class that requires it, you are exempted from it,” She said. “Would you like to take another night class?”
That got me thinking. Is English I on there? “Can I see a list?”
“I’ll read them off,” She said and got a paper. “Woodworking.”
I shook my head.
“Gardening?”
“Nope.”
“Anything with wood, metal, or power tools?”
“Heck nope!”
“Well, the only thing I have left is English I concepts,” She said.
JACKPOT! I could take that and get into Journalism that way! “English I concepts.”
“OK,” She said and enrolled me in the class. “Now, you are not allowed to get out. We cannot take it out of our system because it won’t let us. Now, here…Wait a minute! You are in English I foundations! You can’t take it! It’s too hard for you!”
I had to think fast. “How about this. If I pass English I concepts with an A+, I get out of English I foundations. Deal?”
Huxvey looked at me with a suspicious look. “Sure,” She replied. And handed me a paper with the times on it. “The classes are every Thursday and they will be held in that classroom,” She said and pointed her finger at room 127.
“Thanks,” I replied and walked out.
When I arrived back to study hall, I sat down in my seat and was fronted with papers. They were stapled packets. Some were labeled “REVIEW.” and some were named “FINAL STUDY GUIDE.” Great, finals are coming up.
“OK, once you are done, you may go back to your dorms,” Mr. Snookie said and opened the door.
I put my laptop on its proper shelf and walked down to the library to do some writing.
“Hi, Selena!” The secretary greeted,
“Hi. Just doing some writing.”
“Sure! Just sign in and choose any computer,” She said.
I signed into the book that they have you sign into and walked straight to a computer. Hopefully, they won’t get me in trouble for NOTHING!
As I sat down in the rolling chairs on the computer, someone sat down next to me, with my book that I gave the library. I could tell because it had the stamp on the pages and the stickers on it that ruined the beautiful back cover.
“I see you have my book,” I said and pointed to the book.”
“Are you talking to me?” She asked.
“Yeah.”
“Are you the author of this book?!” She asked and looked at it.
“Yeah. How did you find out?”
“I saw the thing over there with the books on them. Mine is up there too.”
I was talking to Tiffany Malshon! “Do you know a girl named Alice?”
“Is she the other book author in the school?” Tiffany asked.
“Yes. How did you know?”
“I saw you getting mad with her. She’s not actually an author. There is an author with the same name as hers and she uses that name as her own. She’s stolen someone’s life.”
/> Wow! I couldn’t believe someone would do that because they want money. Well, there are a TON of people on Earth who would do that. And Saturn. Nuxsums[I43] for example.
“Is that even legal? Do her parents know?” I asked.
“They don’t know, and it is not legal. On Earth,” She replied
“Then why does she do it?”
“Her family moved to Saturn last year, and there has been no trace of them since. The laws are weird here on Saturn, so she can get away with it here,” She said.
Wow, that girl was going to get in trouble sooner or later.
As she was writing on the computer, I saw another girl plop her butt down next to me.
Alice!
“Hey, fellow Author!” she greeted. “Writing?”
“Yup. Why don’t you start on your first book? I’ll help you find a publisher so you can become an author.”
She looked confused. “I am an author,” The actions of a faker…
“Not according to Tiffany over here,” I said.
“I have—“
“You don’t have anything out girl. If you have something out, show us a picture of your book,” Tiffany said.
She logged onto the computer, and she showed us a cover of one of the REAL Alice’s books. “See, my name. Alice Hassy.”
“Let us see the back cover of that book. I know Justinwood press has to put pictures of their authors on the back of their books,” I said.
She looked nervous like she was going to pass out. “I don’t need to show you anything because you believe me. I know you do. Now… if you’ll excuse me… I have to go..,” she said and logged off. “Bye,” And walked out.
“Well, that proves a lot,” I said and logged off.
“Where are you going?” Tiffany asked.
“Girls! It’s time to go to bed! I just got the call,” The secretary said.
“There you go,” I said and left. “See ‘ya tomorrow.”
17
When I finally slip away into the dark of the night, I was in my dorm – In a dream, of course – and I was just standing there while I watched Megan and I sleep. I then noticed someone walking!
I ran right through the wall, to find a dark spirit looking around.
“Selena Dixon!” it said, “I know you're there!”
I hid behind the couch, and watch his footsteps from underneath the couch.
His cold, dark body came over to the door of our room, and he cracked it open quietly so it wouldn’t wake anyone up.
I tiptoed out from behind the couch, head into the room, but found nobody but sleeping bodies.
I then felt someone grab the back of my shirt, and send me backward into someone’s cold, dark hands and rock hard chest!
Nuxsums!
He had his snow, white hair; all combed back like a gangster. His dark, black robe with skulls and blood on it, and of course, a shriveled-up face with his long, stick-like nose. He looked down at me with his jet-black eyes and they turned fire red. Weirdly, he was different in my dream…
“What an ugly face!” I insulted. That should get me killed…
“Quiet Selena Dixon!” He shrieked, “Now it’s time for you to die!”
He brought out his wand and mumbled a strange, Sathinish spell. Something told me I was dead, but I felt a sense of hope
The hope was that I woke up. It was bright in the room, and a pillow was on my face.
“Are you OK?” Megan asked.[I44]
“Yeah. Just a nightmare.”
Oh. Well… Time for school,” she said and walked to get her backpack. “Your turn in the shower.”
I struggle to the shower and soaked in the hot water. It felt good after the cold flash I had.
After I was done in the shower, I got dressed – while warm – and collected my things.
* * *
“’ Morning Selena,” Mr. Snookie greeted as I entered the classroom. I had reached the class ten minutes later after everyone else. Megan put a paper on my desk…“I have your progress report.”
I put my stuff on my desk and headed up to his desk to get my progress report.
When I looked at it, it made me mad.
Student: Selena Dixon
Grade: 1
Sex: F
IEP: No
Birthday: 5/13/1997
Classes and grades
Student: Selena Dixon
Sex: Female
Year: Freshmen
ID: 5749057494
Classes in order
1) English I foundations..Xjungtha, Mr....F A1
2) Pre-Algebra...Crestle, Mrs....F A1&A2
3) Intro to Computer literacy...Kerp, Mrs.….B-
4) Study Hall...Snookie, Mr....S
5) Saturn Government…Snookie, Mr.…B
6) Potions I…Xjung, Ms....B-
7) Sathinish I...Davis, Mr....A- A2
8) Intro to Dream and sleeping literacy...Sauda, Mr....A+
9) Intro to Physics...Skolte, Dr….C+
Notes:
A1: Selena is a horrible person! She is immature, inappropriate, and she needs to learn social skills!
A2: Selena is a pro at Sathinish!
Come to think of it, I could tell that the teachers who failed me hated me because of my grade and the comments I received. I mean, I’m a pro at English! I can do all of the work before everyone else is done, and I have done something better than they have done. And I do well on tests and assignments, and yet he fails me!
Mrs. Crestle hates me because I yelled at her and “disobeyed” instructions, but other than that, I’m a pro at a sixth-grade math class. I hate her, and she hates me…
“How much time do I have until the bell rings?” I asked.
“Ten minutes.”
I rushed over to Huxvey’s office, and I explained to her the situation. I was not going to fail this year because some teachers hate me.
“I’m looking at your grades in English and they’re excellent, but yet she still failed you. How could she bypass the system and do that? Anyway, I’m looking at Pre-Algebra now and you’re excellent in that! I don’t get it. Is there a bug in the system?” Huxvey said, “I’m confused.”
“Is there anything you can do?” I asked.
“Let me calculate them for you, and change it to give you your credit because if they fail you both semesters, you won’t get any credits for those classes, and you will have to have them again until you pass the class,” Huxvey explained, “Here, let me do it for you.”
Huxvey tried to log into the grading app, but it denied her login request. “It’s not letting me log in, Selena,” Huxvey said, “Follow me to the IT department and they’ll help us.”
“OK,” I replied. Great, they might find out that I was playing games on my computer. Don’t tell them that I said that…
I got up, followed Huxvey to the IT department, and they changed Huxvey’s password for the login. When they did, it accepted it but denied them to log into any other computer.
“What is this?” one man asked, “Hailey, come here.”
I then noticed a woman with blonde hair, skinny body, and IT clothes on the rush to the computer, and looked at it. She looked a little like Margret Peterson Haddix.
When she clicked the back arrow, it kicked her out of the school servers.
“What’s going on here?” She asked, “Get up!”
The man got up from the computer desk, and Hailey clicked on the keyboard until she looked tired.
“I honestly don’t know what’s going – got it!” She praised, “I found out it’s a teacher who put a virus in the servers that will kick everyone else out who tried to log on and gain admin control over the whole network.”
“Even passwords?” I asked.
“Even passwords,” Hailey replied. That got me sacred “Let me do something first.”
Hailey went over to the phone, dialed a number, and announced something over the intercom, “All students and teachers please log off your computers. Yo
u will have to reset your password for security reasons. Log off now or I will force you to log off,” And hung up.
She then headed back to her computer. “Your computer and passwords are good, Madam Huxvey.”
We headed back to Huxvey’s office; she totaled up my grade and printed out a new report card for me.
It was a lot better this time.
Student: Selena Dixon
Sex: Female
Year: Freshmen
ID: 5749057494
Classes in order
1) English I foundations…..Xjungtha, Mr....A+
2) Pre-Algebra...Crestle, Mrs....A-
3) Intro to Computer literacy...Kerp, Mrs….B-
4) Study Hall...Snookie, Mr....S
5) Saturn Government…Snookie, Mr.…B
6) Potions I…Xjung, Ms....B-
7) Sathinish I...Davis, Mr....A- A2
8) Intro to Dream and sleeping literacy...Sauda, Mr....A+
9) Intro to Physics...Skolte, Dr….C+
A2: Selena is a pro at Sathinish! She would be a good Sathinish Author!
“I really appreciate this Huxvey,” I thanked.
“Don’t worry about it,” She said and wrote me a pass. “Go! This is the last week before finals! You need the class time!”
“It is?” I asked. Geez, this was going quickly!
“Yup. Get to class.”
I grabbed the pass from her, and I walked to class. When I sat down, Mr. Snookie walked up to me and said, “We are filling out the study guide you got.”
“OK,” I said and brought it out.
* * *
As we were doing our work, there was an announcement.
“All freshmen. After the school day is over, go back to your dorms and change into something warm. There will be a scavenger hunt for your wands. We are deciding to change it this year.”[I45]
Great. Now we must be out in the cold. And out with Nuxsums…
18
“Selena! Ready for the scavenger hunt?” Alice asked.
“Ready!” I said in happiness. OK, I wasn’t happy, I was angry to see her since last night. I sincerely hope she won’t be my partner.