Degrees of Genius

In King Tut I Trust

Kathleen~

Suddenly, it was Tuesday. Ellie, Clayton and I quizzed each other at lunch on useless facts that only we would know. It eventually devolved into a conversation about Hogwarts  houses.

In language arts, Mia told me that she planned on trying out. I wished her luck, hoping we could be on the team together. I also met some know-it-all in my math class whose name I've forgotten but sounded suspiciously like dick. I imagine he'll try out but I'm holding onto hope that he won't.

After school on Tuesday, I went with Clayton and Ellie to get their instruments. Once they unlocked their lockers and got out the cases, I started walking back the way we came, only to be yelled at by Ellie.

"Kathleen, the hallway is one way. It can get really crowded," she says, gesturing for me to follow her.

I glance down the hallway. There was literally no one else there. I shrug, "Screw it." I continue walking the wrong way. I could almost feel the 'done' radiating off of my friends.

Hey, if you don't walk backwards in life, how will you ever- I honestly have no clue where I was going with that, actually.

~•~

"Begin."

At that word, a chorus of flipping paper fills the room. I glance at the topic at the top. "People, Places and Things Beginning with the Letter 'T'".

The first thing that comes to my head is Trump but I push that out rather quickly. Now is not the time to be thinking about Mr. Small Loan of a Million Dollars.

American President from Missouri. Oh, I actually know this one! Truman, my man!

This plant, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa, is named after a river in Hispania Tarraconensis. Uhhh, tree? I'm just gonna write down tree.

A violent wind storm, that would be a tornado.

Jack and Annie, the main protagonists of a book by Mary Pope Osborn, traveled using books and this magical thing in the woods. What? Oh. Those books. Treehouse.

Rotavator- Nope.

Weapon used by Poseidon. Trident, thank you Percy Jackson.

Nope.

Nah.

Not happening.

No clue.

I know surprisingly few of these. I thought I knew more T words than this. I'm just gonna write King Tut for the rest of them and hope for the best.

"This is so easy, if you don't know these you're probably stupid."

"Shut up, Tommy," every kid in the room spoke at the same time. Glad we had a common enemy.

"Alright. Pencils down," Mrs. Davis calls from her desk. She stands up and walks down the rows, picking up papers along the way.

Once they're all collected, she sends the seventh graders into the hallway to do Brain Quest then gestures for us to sit at one of the desks that has been pushed into a table in the corner of the room.

We were on two teams. Me, Ellie, a boy from my elementary school named Andrew, Sydney, someone I became pretty good friends with last year. The other team consisted of Mia, Clayton, a girl named Alyssa, who was in my math class last year, and some kid that I am fairly sure I have literally never seen before in my life.

There were four rounds to a match. Round one was just regular questions. Round two was a worksheet like the one we did earlier. Round three was probably my favorite out of all four. A question anyone can answer followed by two questions for the team who got it right. On the bonus questions, you could talk with your teammates about what you thought the answer was before giving your final answer. The last quarter was just like the first one except there were less questions and they were worth more points.

The mock match was close, the other team won by 20 points. Mrs Davis said we could call our parents and leave or we could stick around and play Brain Quest. Most people decided to call and go home to work on homework but Alyssa's mom couldn't pick her up until four so Sydney and I stayed with her.

Of course, we didn't actually do the Brain Quest though. Sydney had money so we went to the vending machines.

As we got closer to the gym and the vending machines, I heard the sound of basketballs bouncing around. "Oh yeah, basketball tryouts were today..."

Sydney raises an eyebrow, "Were you planning on trying out?"

"Nah, I like rec." I lean up against the vending machine like the cool kid I am. "Do you have your Pringles?"

~•~

"Why, hello, Sue."

"Get out of my office."

"I never get to talk to you anymore. Tell me how things are. I hear your try outs went well."

"They did."

"Do you seriously think your team will attract anyone useful enough to take me on? A couple of 13 year old know-it-alls won't be able to do much damage."

"You'd be surprised."

"Yes, because knowing the capital of India will help you out soooooo much."

"Arrogance has always been a flaw of yours, Damon."

"And the irony is, stupidity has always been yours."

"I'm giving you one last shot. Stop recruiting or I'll be forced to stop you. I've done it before, I can do it again."

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You know my goal. I can't accomplish my needs without the. Also, you may have been able to stop me before but you're not exactly as... Spry... As you were back then. Plus, I was alone."

"Okay. You won't willingly stop? I guess that means my team will have to. I'm not alone this time either."

"You seem to forget you're not the only one with an army-"

"-No. They are not my warriors. I give them a choice. Which is a moral it seems only one of us follows."

"Guess that's why you're the good guy. Goodbye."

~•~

I have a plot I promise. This isn't exactly how I wanted it but I'm going with it.

~Neil Tack