NoB Nick tutor for Wen and Ale

    I open the back door of the classroom to a wall of uniforms.

Nick: (What's going on?)
Fifi: Oh, good morning, Nick!

    [Say Hi] or [Ignore Her]

[Say Hi]
Fifi: The midterm exam scores are out.
    She looks a little let down.
    I find my way through the crowd and find my grades on the list.
    They could be better, but they're good enough to stave off the wrath of my parents.
    (continues to different node ->)

[Ignore Her]                
    I ignore her and look around for Peter and Max, but they're nowhere to be seen.
    They must be running late, as usual.

Nick: Excuse me, guys.

    You wiggle past the crowd and get to your seat.

Owen: Hey, Nick.
Nick: Oh hey, Owen.
Owen: did you see your scores?
Nick: Not yet. I'll wait until the crowd disperses a little. You?
Owen: Yeah, I did better than I thought, but I guess I got that last question in biology wrong afterall.
Nick: The test was a lot tougher than it needed to be. That teacher really likes to trick us in tests.
Fifi: Morning, Owen!
Owen: Good morning...
Fifi: wow, you're the number that ends in 59, right? I can't believe you got a 100 for math.

    I look at Owen too, impressed.

Owen: Well, I'm not the only one. Plus I got a few points off on other subjects.
Fifi: Still, that's amazing!
Judy: I was so glad when the finals were over, but I guess that joy is over now.
Judy: Oh my gosh, my parents are going to ground me forever.
Judy: Fifi, what did you get for English? Tell me I'm not alone.
Fifi: Well...

    Fifi pauses to say goodbye to Owen before walking over to where Judy is.

Fifi: Talk to you later, Owen!

<<Talk about what's on your mind here>>

    The teacher walks in and calls the class to order.

Teacher: Settle down, folks.

    Everyone swiftly returns to their seat.
    You see Peter and Max enter the classroom just in time and take their seats.

Peter: Yo!
Max: Just in time... Whew....
Peter: No sweat, what'd I say?

Teacher: I'm sure you've all seen your midterm grades by now.
Teacher: Some of you deserve a pat on the back for the hard work that is apparent in your good grades.
Teacher: But some of you really need to hunker down and study like high schoolers.
Teacher: You aren't in middle school anymore. your days of mindlessly going back and forth from school and simply doing your homework are over!
Teacher: This class has the lowest class average in the school. How embarrassing!
Teacher: We have some of the highest achieving students, but also some of the lowest achieving students in this class. The grades are all over the place!
Teacher: This is evidence that there is lack of unity in this classroom, which is why...
Teacher: Until the class average improves, I'm suspending all Clubs and Specials.

    The class breaks out into a low chatter, but the teacher gets our attention back.

Teacher: While the other classes are enjoying clubs and special, our class is going to spend that extra time studying.
Teacher: In fact I'm assigning the top third of the class as tutors to the other two thirds of the class: I'm breaking you guys up into tutor groups of three.

Peter: Can she do this? This isn't fair.

    A few students raise their hands, but the teacher ignores them and pulls out a print out with a list written on it.

Teacher: Peter, Felicia, you two will be tutored by Helena.

    Peter makes a face upon hearing his name in the same sentence as Helena.

Teacher: Alexis and Wendy, with Nick.

    The list goes on and on.
    Helena raised her hand, and then stood up when the teacher wouldn't call on her.

Teacher: We'll do questions at the end.
Helena: Ms. Witter, this is not a question, but a concern about your plan.
Ms. Witter: ?
Helena: I don't believe this assignment would facilitate the improvement of this class.

    The teacher's expression turns cross at Helena's remark, but she permits her to continue.

Helena: Not only do few of the low achieving students have no concern about being unable to attend clubs or specials...
Helena: But it hurts the students attending the school on a scholarship based on their participation or performance at their club.
Helena: Students who have worked hard to earn the privileges of attending this school and its cultural activities are going to be deprived of the opportunities that they worked so hard to attain.
Ms. Witter: Learning from each other through peer intervention is a crucial part of this high school.
Helena: I don't think that punishing the whole class for the carelessness of a minority of students is the proper way to deal with this issue.
Ms. Witter: This is how it's going to be until there's some improvement in the class' academics.

    Helena nods in comprehension and reluctantly takes a seat.

    Ms. Witter continued to read off groups of names, and then transitioned immediately into her lesson.
    She went through the usual routine: Review of last class, explained a few key points in the textbook, did a few questions on the board, reviewed the homework.
    The class quietly but sluggishly copied down the solutions to the homework from the night before, and then following the direction of the class rip, bid her farewell with the usual "Thank you for the lesson".

Fifi, at Helena's desk: You're like an older sister.
Helena: Pardon?
Fifi: The way you elegantly presented your thoughts to the teacher... It's something I think if I had an older sister what an older sister would do for a baby sister.
Helena: Oh...
Fifi: I want to be that baby sister.

    Fifi's imagination takes over.

Helena: Felicia, will you be my petite soeur?
Felicia: I would gladly be your soeur, onee-sama.
Judy: Uh.. hello? Fifi? I think you're in the wrong franchise.

Helena: For now we don't have a choice but to follow through with the teacher's orders.
Helena: If we don't obey, the adults will simply assume we're a bunch of undisciplined rebellious delinquents.
Helena: even if the tutoring doesn't help, we have to try what she said first, and then decide what to do from there.
Peter: Don't be kidding me. Like hell I'm going to miss out on special because a few slackers can't keep up their grades? Please.
Helena: If it's evident that we're doing our best and there's still no improvement, then the only liable person will be her.
Peter: I'll just sneak out this Friday when it's special time. Like Witter would even know where to look to find me.
Peter: My club adviser teaches senior tech. He probably doesn't even know there's an annex to the building, never mind knows Witter.
Helena: You're one of those "slackers", what with being ranked 30 out of 45 in the class.
Peter: Yeah, well, my average is above passing. I say that's good enough.
Max: Grades aren't everything...
Peter: You tell her, silent blob.
Helena: We can put it up for a vote with the class.
Peter: To hell with that. I've already made up my mind. It's not like everyone in class has got to cooperate to work out your plan.

    [Go with Peter's idea] or [Go with Helena's idea]

[Go with Helena's idea] & (if in same club as Peter )
Peter: Jesus, you too, Nick? I thought you'd be with me.

    Peter rolls his eyes and lets out a sigh of frustration.

Peter: Fine. I'll stay in class. But only this week.

    Peter turned to Helena.

Peter: Unlike what you think, I do care about clubs and specials time. I not going to miss a whole period's worth of club.
(continues to different node ->)

[Go with Helena's idea] & (if not in same club as Peter )
(continues to different node ->)

[Go with Peter's idea]
Nick: I'm with Peter on this one. Witter probably doesn't have the right to suspend us from special, and chances are, she probably doesn't even know my name.

    Sucking up to make a good impression doesn't sound like it's worth it in this case.

    The next Friday, the rebels -- as we became to be called -- snuck out of the classroom right after tech and made our way over to the main building where the classrooms where each of our clubs met were.

    Peter suddenly stopped dead on his tracks.

Peter: Whoa, shit, it's Witter!

    Sure enough, Ms.Witter was heading this way over the bridge tunnel connecting the annex to the main building.

Some Boy: Quick, into the bathroom.

    The only boys bathroom in the four story tall Annex.
    I had never been so glad for it being on the ground level, right next to the bridge.

Peter: Man, that was close.
Some Boy: Dude, what's she doing here? I thought she doesn't supervise any clubs.

    When our eyes met, the expression on Peter's  face told me that we thought of the same explanation for her presence.

Nick: That explains why she was carrying the attendance book.
Some Boy: What'll we do now? She's going to check if everyone is in class or not.
Another Boy: My parents are going to hurt me something fierce if I get in trouble again. I'm out of here!

    [go back to class] or [go to club]
    [go back to class] -> [Go with Helena's idea] (continues to different node ->)

    [go to club] (continues to different node ->)