A Time Story

Chapter 10- part 2

[Continued from Chapter 10- part 1]

The bell rang as they got off the bus. With five minutes to get to homeroom, along with Soma impatiently tapping her foot, that gave her little time to say goodbye. Harper and Mia's gym class aligned with hers, so they promised to talk more then. The two gave her a parting hug and Rylan waved goodbye to the three boys. Rylan followed her sisters to homeroom while they discussed her performance.

"What would you say Samantha?" Theo asked. "I believe Riley preformed rather well."

"Hardly," Soma disagreed. "You had to step in before the bus arrived, she almost chocked when an outsider saw Zoe on her hoverdisk, and showed excitement when deemed inappropriate."

"What?! That's not fair," Rylan whined.

"It would be unreasonable to expect a perfect performance on her first try," Theo reasoned.

"And what about her second or third try?" Soma argued. "We have two weeks to complete this mission, two weeks! And Riley made 3 mistakes in 5 minutes. What will happen when this piles up, when other's eye her suspiciously, as someone who doesn't belong here? No. It's in our best interest that we don't talk to anyone, that we finish our mission swiftly and return home."

"But I just made new friends," Rylan objected, "I can't just—"

"Don't disobey my orders newborn," Soma growled. "My decision is final."

"But—"

"AAH!!" Soma screamed instead of saying actual words.

"But—"

"AAAH!!!" She screamed louder.

Rylan thought Soma would be very good at a screaming contest. She could probably do it for seven hours straight.

They arrived at homeroom a few minutes before the bell. Rylan and Zoe sat in desks next to each other while Soma and Theo sat behind. The desks brought back painful memoires in Time Studies, and Rylan hoped school wouldn't be the same.

"Don't tell me we're here for the whole phase are we," said Zoe. "This is giving me unwelcome Time Studies vibes."

"It's day," Soma whispered acidly. "And no we're not. Homeroom lasts ten minutes at most."

That gave Rylan some relief.

Students swarmed inside when "Rawhide" was played in the hallway. Two boys and a girl rushed through just as the bell rang. The teacher closed the door and took their attendance. He called their names one by one, and each said 'here' or 'present' in turn. Rylan noticed the teacher sounded miserable while he did it. Maybe attendance wasn't an exciting job.

"Just a few announcements before you leave," the teacher said in a dry tone. He picked up a sheet of paper and began to read it verbatim. "The field trip to Roswell labs will be next Friday. Make sure your permission form is signed by your parents if you wish to participate. Roswell labs made generous contribution when government grants lacked the funding to make this school the *sigh* bastion of higher learning and haven for young minds that it is today. Without their generous donation, we would not be able to build the spiral towers or modern architecture we now have. It is for this reason we changed our name from Mckinleyville High School to Roswell High. This trip will not only be a good educational experience, but will be a great opportunity to earn college credit."

"That was the new change C-5 detailed in her report correct?" Soma whispered.

"Yes," Theo whispered back. "A side effect from mission R0-796, where they propped up Roswell labs."