The Adventures Of Sharkboy, Mer-Maiden, And Lavagirl

Chapter 2: Classroom Time And Playground Trouble

So, I'm not gonna lie I totally forgot about this book because of COVID-19, BLM movement, and many personal things as well. I apologies for my absences and I WILL continue and finish this book, mark my words. I decided to make this one extra long for my LONG absence.
~~~I hope you enjoy~~~

~Previously~

As Max lowered his Dream Journal away from his face, he gave nervous glances to his fellow classmates, hoping nothing bad will happen.

~Now~

As Max finished with his epic tale, Marissa smiled at him with daydreams and curious eyes whilst his other classmates bombarded him with paper balls and laughed at him. "Enough!" Mr. Electricidad scolded his homeroom students for their behavior. "Someone is going to be picking that up, and it's not gonna be me." He shouted, more concerned about the mess than Max's humiliation to his fellow peers.

"We were supposed to tell TRUE stories." Linus snarked at his teacher and Max, but mostly at Max. "That IS a true story." Max retaliated back.

Then Marissa asked, "Does Lavagirl and Mer-Maiden have special powers?" Before Max could answer, Mr. Electricidad stated, "There's no such thing as Lavagirl. Or Mer-Maiden." Max nervously and frantically flipped through his 'Dream Journal' to find the right information on the two. Marissa's shimmered with excitement, like giant glaciers on a sunny day.

"She can...Lavagirl can shoot lava, out of her hands. And Mer-Maiden, can manipulate the water around her to make weapons, or tools by touching her necklace first." Max carefully explained to his classmate. "Cool..!" The young girl exclaimed.

The teacher slowly stood up from his desk chair and asked his students, "How many people think Max's story is true?" Marissa raised her hand, while other students were denying this story to be real.

"If it's true, why don't you bring Sharkboy, Mer-Maiden, and Lavagirl to class tomorrow?" Linus said, with a smug look on his face.

Max explained, for what felt like for the millionth time today, "They went away, I don't know where they went..!"

Mr. Electricidad gently placed his hands on Max's shoulders and said, "Have a seat, Max. Linus, you're next!" As Linus stood up from his assigned desk, he purposefully shoved Max on the floor and made the other kids laugh at the sight. As Linus presented his story to the class, he started a tale similar to Max's, only to reveal that he was talking about him and poked fun about how he smells. The teacher quickly defused the situation and the bell rang, signaling the end of the day. "Linus, Max, stay." Mr. Electricidad ordered, not happy with the display from the two on the first day of school.

"Come on, Mr. E!" Linus exclaimed, trying to weasel his way out of a talk with his teacher.

He looked at the young boy with a look of surprise and disappointment, before asking, "Class! What's my name?"

"Mr. Electricidad." The other students droned out in a mototone way, just wanting to leave the classroom to do other things that'll entertain themselves.

"Mr. Electricidad, exactly--" He stated. "Not Mr. Electric, not Mr. Electricthathathathatha." After saying that, he put his full attention onto the boys in front of him. "Linus, you just earned a minus for your behavior today." Mr. Electricidad sayed, tired of the constant trouble the two cause in class. "This is a new year, do you think you can be friends?"

The boys looked at each other with disdain in their eyes and answered at the same time, "NO."

"Then it's been decided. You'll be the best of friends, which means no more picking on Max, Linus." Mr. Electricidad stated, making no room for any arguments or debates from the two. Linus walked away from his teachers desk to collect his things and leave. Max was about to do the same thing, until Mr. Electricidad stopped him again, "Max, you're in the fourth grade. There are some good kids in this class; find them, make friends with them. Dreaming keeps you from seeing what's right here in front of you. This isn't a dream. This is the real world... Lost my train of thought."

As he finished his small lecture, Max was taking notes in his 'Dream Journal' on a new, blank page titled; NO DREAMING. "No dreaming -- got it..!" Although he was nervous about what his teacher said, he still took his advice to heart. "I'll try harder!"

As Max was walking out of class, Mr. Electricidad asked him, "What do you have there?" Max turned around and looked at the journal fondly, "It's my Dream Journal. It has all of my most precious dreams in it, and I'll never part with it as long as I live." As Max turned around to go to his locker, Mr. Electicidad stated, "You're a good kid, Max." Max smiled at his teacher, then finally left the classroom.

~Time Skip~

As Max walked outside of his school, trying to go home without any trouble in his way, Linus called out to him. "Max! Let's be imaginary friends. You can try and hang with us, and we'll pretend you don't exist." Linus' little goons laughed at his punch at Max, then Linus continued, "Check it out -- Sharkboy and Mer-Maiden get shocked by electric eels. And they feed on their cooked flesh." After saying this, Linus showed a colored sketch of the two dangling over a tank full of eels underneath them, fear in their eyes as they held each other.

Max walked over to the four of them, looking at the drawing, "Wow, Linus. Your skills are...weak." Linus stood up, furious and started a tug-of-war with Max to grab his 'Dream Journal'. At the last second, Max let go of his journal and let it hit Linus right in the nose. As the three goons in the background 'Oooh'ed' at the scene, Max looked at him mortified.

"I'm gonna burst your bubble, Dream Boy." Linus said in a menacing tone, sending Max to sprint to the playground area. An intense game of cat-and-mouse happened in a short span of a few minutes. First the chase to a bridge where he's trapped by Linus and his gang, throwing his book in the slide and following after it, climbing up the net climber with his journal in his teeth, and finally slipping and landing on the rope. As the pain filled his body, he let go of his journal and accepted defeat. "I'll bring you a revised edition tomorrow." Linus taunted poor Max, still hanging upside-down, leaving the boy with defeat in his red face.