Next Generation ~ a kotlc story

Part 2 - Boys ~ Chapter 20 - Kenric

I walked through the halls of Foxfire, shoving a crumpled paper in my uniform pocket. A 63%. My parents were going to kill me. Sure, I'd never been a model student, and my amazing pranking skills didn't exactly increase popularity with the mentors, but I'd always done pretty well. Not like this.

I hated Elvin History, so when I heard about the test, I just flipped through the textbook, counting on my photographic memory to record the information for me. How was I supposed to know that Lady Myra had mentioned information not from the book that would be on the test in our lecture?

Once I had made it to my locker, I took the paper out of my pocket and buried it under the junk I kept lying around. Then I slammed the locker door shut and would have stomped away, but I suddenly collided with someone.

I looked up to see a petite girl with curly red hair and pale skin picking her book, which she'd obviously been reading while walking. "Willa! Sorry about that!"

"Oh, hey Kenric! It's fine, my mom says I shouldn't read while walking. I guess she's right, but I was at a really suspenseful part and couldn't put it down!" she laughed, but then noticed the scowl on my face. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just..." I considered telling her about the test. My parents would eventually find out anyways, though Willa wasn't the type to tattle. "I got a bad grade in Elvin History. It's no big deal."

"You look upset." She said, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Nah, I don't really care, but my parents will."

"Well... if you need help in history, I could tutor you," she offered. "I mean, only if you want."

"That... might be nice," I told her and she smiled.

"Okay! We can meet in my tree house at, um, does 4 tonight work?"

"Yeah, that's perfect."

"See you then!"

~~~

I laid on the wooden floor of Willa's tree house, pretending to flip through the pages of a history textbook. She had told me to reread a section so I could understand it better, and then she'd quiz me. So far, I'd failed her quiz seven times after skimming through the book without really reading anything.

"This isn't working," she groaned. "You aren't actually reading."

"Can you blame me? This history book is designed to be boring!"

"Let's try something else. Why don't I read the book and summarize it for you in a not boring way?" She suggested, and I perked up. "I'll take that as a yes."

She grabbed the book from me, and for a second, our hands touched. Welp, I was never washing those again.

She settled back in a bean bag next to her bookshelf to start reading. Her hair fell around her face, glinting in the setting sun, and freckles peppered her nose and cheeks. She looked so... peaceful. Happy. He'd most definitely never felt those things when reading a textbook. After a few minutes, she closed the book and leaned forward.

"Okay, so this chapter is about how we helped the humans build pyramids. All you have to do is know their basic structure, the heads of the project, and how it was done." She explained.

"See! Why couldn't the textbook say that!"

"It does. In objectives." Willa rolled her eyes. "Anyways, the Egyptian humans were looking for places to bury their kings and stuff. The elves knew they wouldn't be able to build much on their own, so Laya Risrier and Aldric Doonan set out to help them. They helped the humans come up with a plan, making bricks and then designing buildings that would last. Finally, they enlisted other elves to help build the pyramids using telekinesis."

"Okay. That's pretty simple."

"Exactly! We just have to break the information down for you to understand. Now, how did they build the pyramids?"

"Telekinesis!" I said, product to actually know the answer.

"Good!" Willa smiled, which made all the studying worth it. "Who were the master planners?"

"Ummmmmm..." I wracked my brain for the names. "Oh! Laya Rier and Aldric Doonan!"

"Laya Risrier, but good!" Willa told me. We spent the rest of the time going over short passages together and then asking each other questions. Sometimes I would summarize, sometimes she would. By the end, it felt more like we were hanging out than studying. We tried to stump each other, finding the hardest details to remember to add to our quizzes. It was the first time I'd ever enjoyed school work. I almost didn't want to go home.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Willa smiled as I grabbed my home crystal.

"Yeah, see you then! Oh, and you might want to avoid Magnate Leto's office."

"What did you do now?" She asked, groaning, but I could see her lips tugging at a smile.

"Me?! Do something?! How could you even say that Willa?!" I said with a hand to my chest. She just laughed, pulled me in for a hug, and then let me glitter away.