You were sitting on a park-like looking wooden bench outside of your local church doing schoolwork. The church was inside of the elementary school you would have been zoned into if you weren't already in the twelveth grade. It was early in the morning, at maybe seven o'clock, and the reason you were here was due to your mother being a part of the F.A.S.T. team, a group of people who set up the church in the gym (chairs, tables, sound systems, etc...) and took it down after the service, and you were here also due to your father playing the bass in the church band.
You looked at the practice math question staring at you on the screen of your school-issued MacBook Air. It wasn't hard, not at all, but you didn't feel like it. Sighing, you reluctantly picked up your pencil and wrote the question in your math notebook. It was about Arithmetic and Geometric Sequences. You read the question over again:
"A geometric sequence has a growth factor of 0.6 and an initial starting value of 0.9. Which sentence best describes the behavior of this sequence?
A. The sequence is increasing because the growth factor is greater than 0.
B. The sequence is decreasing because the starting value is less than 1.
C. The sequence is increasing because the starting value is greater than 0.
D. The sequence is decreasing because the growth factor is less than 1."
You quickly chose D., mentally scoffing at how easy that was to solve. A geometric sequence multiplies each number to get to the next one, therefore by multiplying less than one, or the growth factor, the numbers decrease the farther you go down the sequence. Clicking D. as your answer choice, you checked your answer on the site and found how you got the answer right.Alright! One score in the win column for me, a lot of losses earlier but still.
"Nice job darlin'. You didn't lie when you told me you were in Math 103. What college were ya enrollin' with again?" a voice asked behind you. You jumped in your seat and turned around as the next question popped up on your computer.
"Uh, yeah! I mean, thanks!" You managed to stutter out, finding Dell to be about two feet behind you. You found by turning around that every single man in red were here from the people at the school to even the one in the flame-resistant suit you saw at the candy store. You also saw Dr. Ludwig lightly scoff and roll his eyes at you. Noticing this, you felt your cheeks heat up.
"Yes, zees iz a mountain of work. If you weren't so foolish, I would respect you more," a new voice popped up to your right. Quickly turning to see the owner of the voice, you saw someone appearing out of thin air! On top of that, it was the mysterious man at the bus stop!
In your shock you could only let out a simple "Huh?" and grow more flustered at the pile of notebooks and papers from Science, Geography, English, and Math taking up the entire table. The sharply-dressed man in a suit simply scoffed at you and stood next to Dr. Ludwig.
Soon, they all, excluding the suit man and Dr. Ludwig crowded around you and your work, studying it with prying eyes.
"So, u-um, ignoring the fact that the suit guy just appeared out of nowhere, what do I call him?" you asked to no one in particular.
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"'ou may call me Spy," he called from where he stood on the grass with his dress shoes.
"Alright..." You turned and saw Mundy and Misha studying at your drawing of the world map.
"Good job mate, you got Australia perfectly drawn here, and I love the little kangaroo and the fish in the Great Barrier Reef!" Mundy nodded in approval and Misha joined him.
"Yes, leetle girl has Russia done well too. I am proud," Misha added. You smiled slightly, but you weren't going to admit that it took you half a day straight to finally finish that.
"Ah like the effort you put into studying for math. It shows real grit," Dell added while thumbing through your seemingly endless pages of math practice and notes in your notebook.
"Thank you," you told him. You saw the one in the flame-resistant suit squeal at your doodle of a kitten. "What's their name?" You gestured to him...her...them?
"We just call 'em Pahro," he responded, still going through your notes. Pyro...as in pyromaniac?
"Aya lass, yer model of the nucleus is spot on!" Mr. DeGroot told you from your left. You could swear you saw Dr. Ludwig roll his eyes.
"Thanks, it was a lot of research," you smiled.
"Hey (Y/n)! You got pretty neat handwriting 'ere. Hey Soldier, come look at this!" Scout showed Soldier your nearly finished English essay. Despite having a digital copy, you worried that something might happen to it and you tensed up.
"PAH! Like I'D read THAT!" Soldier announced and tore the paper in two. Everyone else went quiet as you slowly turned your head at him, losing your mood.
You gave him a look so empty of any emotion, and yet set on staring at him that he jumped and stood stiff, assumingly to hide how unnerved he became. You took a deep breath through your nose..., and slowly got off the bench never keeping your gaze off him. You walked over to him, stared at him from under his helmet, and picked up the two strips of your former essay. He had a nervous, weary look in his eyes.
Then to his surprise, you busted out laughing.
"Oh, my g-," you broke mid-sentence to gasp for air. Soldier nervously laughed alongside you. "How do you think I'd actually hurt you? Take your friend's knife over there and stab you with it? Hah!" You gestured to Spy, and Spy's pupils couldn't help but widen in most likely surprise. Yeah, you had meant it as a joke, but you weren't going to tell him that due to his surprise. Why did he have a knife? That's when Soldier finally started genuinely laughing. Soon everyone joined in, except of course Dr. Ludwig and Spy.
You finally calmed down and picked up your laptop. Turning it to your digital copy, you showed it to Soldier.
"I got a digital copy, see? It's fine, but don't rip anything else though, okay?" You told him. He stiffly nodded as if following an order.
After a moment of calm silence, Dr. Ludwig smoothly came over with Spy slowly following along. He studied your work with piercing eyes before sighing. "I guess I can't see anything vrong vith it." You turned and smiled at him.
"Thanks!" You chuckled. He acted surprised, backing off as if he'd been swung at.
"(Y/n)" you heard your dad call to you.
"Hey Dad," you turned to the building as he closed the door behind him. He walked over.
"Are you her guardian?" Dell asked.
"Yes, I am," he responded, holding a hand out to shake. "What can I help you with?"
"I'm Dell Conagher," he shook your father's hand. "I'm a part of an education organization for gifted young students including your daughter here." They set down the handshake and your father listened intently, not seeming to care how everyone was dressed. "I visited her school recently to test if she was eligible to attend a high-end boarding school in Teufort, New Mexico." He handed your father an envelope.
"Huh, well. The wife and I will have to talk about it but thank you. This would mean a lot to her." Dell smiled and nodded. "Well (Y/n), it's time to go in, pack your stuff up before more people get here and mess with it." He went back inside.
Nodding, you swiftly put everything into a backpack.
"Well, bye," you waved to them as you put a strap on your shoulder. Most of them waved back before you turned around.