"Hey Elvis! Over here" Marcello calls out to Elvis as he gets off the school bus with his siblings on a Wednesday morning. Elvis walks up to him while Eric and Elena head to their respective lockers.
ELVIS: You-you know my name? (Smiling)
MARCELLO: You don't seem easy to forget. What's going on with you? We had practices on Monday and you bailed.
ELVIS: Uhm, about that... I won't be around for practices anymore, I'm sorry.
MARCELLO: Why the hell not? (His brows narrow and his forehead wrinkles a bit)
ELVIS: My dad banned me from playing football because of what happened on Friday.
MARCELLO: What? Your old man has no right to do that.
ELVIS: It's temporary. He just wants me to up my grades. That's why I've been prepping for the general tests today.
MARCELLO: Alright kid, good luck with the tests, I hope you ace them because I want you back on the pitch sooner than yesterday.
ELVIS: Thanks man. I hope so too.
MARCELLO: Just so you know... if you need anything, come to me. If you have an issue regarding our team, come to me. Got a problem in school? Come to me. And if you ever get bullied, all you need to do is find out the name of the douchebag and I'll have a conversation with him.
ELVIS: A conversation?
MARCELLO: Yeah, a conversation. With less words and more blood.
ELVIS: Whoa. (He chuckles nervously)
MARCELLO: Basically, I'm your best shot at providing solutions. See me as a big bro, okay? I like you. You kinda remind me of when I was a freshman.
Marcello is a senior, the quarterback and captain of the TIGERS, their school's football team. He's also one of the most popular guys in Cleave Hills High School.
ELVIS: Thanks Marcello. That means a lot to me. (He smiles, happy with the idea that he's got a big bro in school for protection)
The bell goes for the first period. Elena is still at her locker sorting her books.
"Hey friend"
Next thing she hears. She turns around immediately, a bit startled, seeing a girl standing behind her. The same girl she met at the grocery store the previous Saturday.
ELENA: Oh, it's you... again. What's up? You kinda scared me.
"I'm sorry"
ELENA: It's alright. Uhm... I'm kind of in hurry right now. You need something?
"Nope. You're the one who needs this"
ELENA: And what could I possibly need?
"Obsidian..."
ELENA: Why would I need an obsidian?
"Listen... An obsidian is a type of dark rock which looks like glass. It is formed by the rapid cooling of lava without crystallization. While a pendulum... this is a rod suspended from a pivot with weight at the bottom which when displaced from its resting equilibrium position, swings freely from side to side with the influence of gravity. The regular side to side movement is called oscillation"
ELENA: Why are you telling me this?
(Staring at the girl)
The girl just smiles and leaves.
ELENA: She's a bit weird.
(Grabbing her book and rushing to class)
"You're five minutes late"
Elena tenders some made up excuses to buttress her apology as Mr Benjamin reprimands her just as she walks in.
MR BENJAMIN: The previous week, I told y'all to read ahead, didn't I?
"You did" The students chorus.
MR BENJAMIN: Good. Now for your test on junior science... I've just two questions for you. First, give a short description of an obsidian. Second, write about a pendulum in just a paragraph. Easy questions, yeah? I'll collect your papers in five minutes and this is me being generous because that's way too much time. Good luck!
(He takes a seat, watching the students)
Elena takes a moment to recover from her shock, wondering how the girl knew the exact questions that would come up in the test. She whips out her pen and makes it dance to the rhythm of her fingers, navigating through the lines till she arrives at the final word and ends it with a period.
After the class, Elena tells Zoey her encounter with the girl earlier.
ZOEY: I dunno who or what that girl is but she sure saved your ass today.
ELENA: Tell me about it! Obsidian, pendulum.. I didn't even read those topics. I was busy studying the process of photosynthesis, digestive system and all that crap. This morning at the locker, she just showed up and told me the answers. The girl is just... what's the word? Strange! And I still dunno her name.