Chapter 3 - Absolute Torture A.K.A. Gym Class

The bell rang loudly. Kids scrambled to get up, pushing their chairs and grabbing their books.

"Great first class!" Mr. Cosmo shouted above the noise. "You are all so bright and have such creative ideas on science. I can't wait to work with you more. Have a great next class and I'll see you tomorrow!"

Lost stood up and started putting her books into her backpack. She looked up and smiled at Penguin.

"That was a pretty good start, partner." Lost joked. She had had a lot of fun doing science with Penguin. Turns out, he was funny.

"We do make a pretty good team, don't we?" Penguin laughed.

"What's your next class?" Lost asked.

Penguin grabbed his schedule out of his jeans pocket and unfolded it.

"Uh, I have history with some guy named Mr. Greely. Huh, that's a weird name," Penguin said.

"I have P.E. with the coach's name being Gilbert. Like, who names their kid that?" Lost said.

"Have fun with Gilbert," he said as he walked towards the door.

Lost went out into the hall and looked down at her schedule.

Hmm, P.E. is on the bottom floor. I'm so not used to having this schedule and having to go up and down stairs all the time.

Lost walked down the stairs and down the hall to P.E. As she stepped into the gym, she noticed a group of girls clustered around one area across the room.

Curious, Lost wandered closer and found out why the girls were all squealing. Aparri was here.

Great. Just great. Gym with a famous guy who all the girls adore and love. Well, except for Swirlshine.

Lost sat down on the bleachers and looked around, trying to see someone she knew.

There was that new girl from homeroom. What was her name? Oh right, it was Cuddly. She sat with a few girls and she seemed to telling a story, using her hands to make big gestures.

And there was that boy with emo hair from homeroom as well. He was sitting with a group of people who were all in black and red. They glared at anyone who came near.

Maybe I should stay clear of those guys.

Lost spotted Swirlshine, busy chatting with a red haired girl at the top of the bleachers.

I'll let them talk. It'd be kinda rude if I randomly joined into their conversation.

As Lost started wondering when she'd have time to check out her locker, she heard loud squeals. She glanced up and saw the girls leaving Aparri and running toward Wisteriamoon. Aparri smiled and walked over to Wisteria. They grinned and walked toward the bleachers and sat down next to each other. The fans crowded around, asking for autographs.

Seriously. It's SCHOOL. Not Hollywood.

TWEEEET!

Everyone stopped talking. Lost looked at the man who had just come into the gym and blown the whistle. Must be our coach.

He had orange-ish hair with some gray mixed in. His big beard made me look like he should be something other than a coach.

"Alright! Everyone, stop talking. It's P.E. Not chatting class," said the coach. "I am Coach Gilbert. I expect respect from ALL of you. Is that clear?"

He continued without waiting for a response. "In this class, there will be no complaints, no whining, and NO slacking. IS THAT CLEAR?"

He stopped pacing around and looked at the kids expectantly.

"Yes, Coach!" everyone said. Though, Lost could have sworn she heard someone say, "NO!"

Coach Gilbert nodded. "Today, we will be playing a game that is only for the fearless. It is the one of the toughest games any man has ever known. You could get BADLY injured or worse.  If you can't handle this pressure, then leave."

We all looked at each, shocked. What kind of game are we going to play?!

"Good!" he boomed when no one moved. "We are playing DODGE BALL!"

Some kids breathed sighs of relief while others groaned. Lost didn't really know what to think. I haven't played dodge ball very many times.

"Everyone, OFF THE BLEACHERS!" Coach Gilbert yelled. "Line up!"

We scrambled off and stood in rows.

"If I say one when I'm in front of you, you're on team one. If I say two when I'm in front of you, you're on team two. Got it?" the coach said.

He started going through the rows. Lost was on team two. She watched to see who else was on her team. Cuddly was and so was Aparri.

Splendid.

Emo Hair was on team one along with Wisteriamoon. She glanced at Aparri and said, "You're going down. Cause like really, no one beats the team with Wisteriamooooon!"

"We'll see about that," he replied with a laugh.

Coach Gilbert finished setting up the teams and walked into the middle of the gym.

"Alright, when I blow my whistle, it's GAME TIME!" he shouted.

He walked over to the bleachers and sat down.

TWEET!

Everyone started running around and yelling. Lost could barely tell where the ball was.

"Look out!" Cuddly shouted.

Lost looked up, startled. She saw the ball flying towards her. She jumped up and caught the ball. She tossed it and it flew back to the other side of the gym.

Whew! I need to pay more attention.

She started running and keeping an eye on the ball. She leaped in front of a red haired girl and caught it. She then threw it across the gym and it hit a kid on the other team. They sadly walked over to the bleachers and sat down to watch.

"Nice one!" the girl said.

"Thanks," Lost panted. "I'm Lostfairy, by the way. You?"

"I'm Nafaria. My buddies call me Naffy. Or Naffy Taffy," Nafaria said.

Lost grinned and watched the ball. Emo Hair had it and he was smiling weirdly at a kid on team two.
Then he threw it at the kid.

WHAM! The boy fell over onto the floor.

"OWWW!" he cried. He looked like he was going to cry.

"You're out, sucker." Emo Hair sneered.

"Coach, Coach, Coach!" The boy said, hobbling over to the bleachers. "Fman hit me. HARD! I, I fell and see! Look at this red mark! LOOK AT IT!"

So Fman is Emo Hair's name.

"This is dodge ball! Not a wimpy sport, kid. I told you before, if you can't handle it, leave," Coach Gilbert said.

The boy stared at him and then started crying. He ran out of the gym and slammed the door behind him.

"Hey! You going to help or what?"

Lost spun around and saw Cuddly staring at her.

"Yeah, sorry," Lost said.

By now, most of the kids were on the bleachers. There were only Fman and Wisteriamoon on team one and Aparri, Cuddly, and Nafaria were on team two.

"You're going down, team two," Fman said.

"You have less people then we do. So, in my opinion, we will win," Aparri replied.

"Pshh, who cares about your opinion? When does Aparri ever get anything right?" Fman said.

Aparri just stared at him. Then he threw the dodge ball right at Fman.

Fman easily caught it and laughed. "You're just some pretty boy who can't even throw a ball right."

"Stop chitchatting and start THROWING THE BALL!" Coach Gilbert yelled from across the gym.

Fman quickly tossed the ball at Nafaria when she wasn't looking.

"Look out, Nafaria!" Lost called.

Nafaria looked up just as the ball hit her. Rubbing her shoulder, she walked over to the bleachers.

Cuddly picked up the ball and threw it at Wisteria. Then Wisteria threw it at Lost. Then Lost threw it at Fman. The ball kept getting passed back and forth until one of Cuddly's friends called something to her.

Cuddly glanced over at them. "What did you say?" She asked.

Fman took this chance and threw the ball at her. It hit her square on her back. She yelped and turned to glare at Fman before walking over to her group of friends. She immediately started talking with them.

Aparri grabbed the ball and tossed it to the other side. Fman leaped out of the way and the ball hit Wisteriamoon.

"No one ever pushes Wisteriamooooooon!" She huffed and stomped over to the bleachers.

How am I still in the game?!

Fman threw the ball at Aparri who tried to move out of the way but failed. He sighed and looked over
at Lost as he walked over to Wisteria.

Lost gulped and picked up the ball. How could she hit Fman? He was really good at dodge ball.

She put her arm back and stared at Fman. It would take good aim.

She threw the ball as hard as she could.

Fman jumped up and hit it harder. It flew toward Lost's head. Out of instinct, she put her hands over her face.

The ball hit her and Coach Gilbert blew his whistle again.

The game was done. Lost had failed her team.

"The winner is team one!" Coach Gilbert said.

Team two groaned while team one cheered. Fman walked over to his group and smirked at Lost.

How could I fail half my class on the first day?

Nafaria walked over to Lost and patted her on the back.

"You did really good. And who cares that we didn't win? It's just a game," she said.

"Thanks, Naf," Lost replied.

Making my team lose is the perfect way to fit in. Not.

Chapter 2 - Just Getting Started

As Lost stepped inside the room, some kids looked curiously at her. Lost tried to ignore them and looked around, trying to find a good desk that was free. She finally decided on one in the middle next to a bright, cheerful looking girl with brown hair and a boy with shaggy hair with chilled white ends.

She sat down and set her backpack on the ground. Lost looked at her classmates. The boy next to her seemed to like green. A lot. He wore at least three shades of green.

Should I have worn all the same colors as well? Would I fit in more if I wore all one color in lots of shades?

As Lost looked through her backpack, trying to look like she was doing something important and not just sitting there, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Hi there! You new?" said the brown haired girl. She was wearing a cute yellow jacket with green clovers on it.

Maybe I'll be okay with what I'm wearing.

"Hey. Yeah, I am," Lost said, wondering if she looked that out of place that anyone could tell she was new. "Are you?"

"Cool! Welcome here!" replied the girl happily. "Nope, I'm not new. I'm Swirlshine, by the way!"

"Nice name," Lost commented. "I'm Lostfairy."

"You're gonna love it here! It has tons of great people attending." Swirlshine grinned and pushed up her glasses. "Just so you know, the school has some 'famous' people here. I don't really care for 'the great and all so wonderful' Aparri. Some of the others are pretty cool, though."

"Yeah, I kinda met Aparri on the way here. Well, I didn't really meet him, more like bumped into him." Lost laughed nervously.

Swirl laughed and opened her mouth to say something but got interrupted by the homeroom door opening.

A lady came in and walked to the front of the room. She looked pretty young. Maybe early thirties.
With her dark, long braid and turquoise cute clothes, it was kinda hard to tell.

"Hello everyone! Welcome to Jamaasian High," she said, kindly. "My name is Ms. Liza and I am your homeroom teacher for the rest of the year. Today we have a special treat. Headmaster Clark is coming to each homeroom to greet you all and wish you a good year."

She glanced toward the door. "Oh, look! There he is now." Ms. Liza walked over to the side of the room.

"Good morning, everyone!" called the man as he walked up to the front of the class. "I am Clark Stacey, your headmaster. I really just wanted to come and wish everyone good luck on this year's school." He smiled.

Everyone smiled politely but someone called out, "We know! I can't wait for this dumb year to be OVER!"

Lost turned and saw who had said it. A boy with black, long shaggy hair, almost emo style, crossed his arms over his leather jacket and frowned.

Clark cleared his throat before continuing. "This year will be spectacular. We have such bright teachers and bright students. I know you will all enjoy attending."

He started pacing. "We mostly have the same students as last year but we have a few new students! I would like them to come up and tell us about themselves."

"Cuddly, Lostfairy, and Skywatcher. Please come up and inform us about yourselves," he said, smiling.

Lost gulped and stood up, along with two other girls.

Cuddly, a curly haired girl who looked like she had a lot of energy, went first.

"Hey, I'm Cuddly. I just moved here but I already love the community and city. Uh, I like hanging
out online and being around friends." She glanced at Clark and then hurried back to her desk.

Skywatcher stood forward, brushing her caramel colored hair away from her face.

"Um, hi. I'm Skywatcher. I can play piano. I like hanging out with my best friends and yeah, that's all I can think of."

Skywatcher quickly walked over to her desk. Lost gulped when she noticed everyone was looking at her. Also, her mouth was doing that thing where she wanted to say something but nothing came out.

"Um, I'm Lostfairy. I, uh, used to be homeschooled but now, um, I go here. I mean, you can see that I go here, because I'm here, right?" Lost blushed as she stammered. "Uh, I like skateboarding and rollerblading. I also like, um, being outside and I love my computer. I also love books."

Lost watched as some of the kids whispered to each other. As she went back to her desk, she felt her face go even warmer. As she sat, Clark went back to the front of the room.

"Thanks for sharing, girls. Well, I'm sure we all feel like we know all three of the newcomers a little bit more." Clark smiled. "Now, it's time for your classes to start. Have an amazing first day!"

Everyone scrambled to get up and grab their backpacks. The crowd started pushing and shoving their way to the door.

Lost took her time, slowly grabbing her backpack and standing up. She looked up to find Swirlshine smiling at her.

"C'mon! What class are you going to next? I hope we have the same one." Swirl beamed at Lost.

"I have science first. You?" Lost said.

"Aww, I have math. I hope we get the next one the same! What's your next one after?" Swirl said, looking over.

"I have P.E.," Lost said.

"Oh! Me too! Yay!" Swirl jumped excitedly.

Lost waved goodbye as she walked out of the room and started looking around for her science classroom. She looked around and saw a giant piece of paper on the wall next to her homeroom. She walked over and noticed it was a huge map of Jamaasian High.

It's so big, they need a map?!

Lost moved her finger over the map and found her science classroom. It was up on the third floor.

She looked around for stairs and noticed there was some wooden stairs down the hall. She walked over and climbed up to the second floor. Next to the stairs was another set, leading to the third floor.

When she started going up, she noticed Aparri glancing over his shoulder as he ran down the stairs and almost rammed into her.

Aparri noticed too and yelled, "That seriously would have been our second time bumping into each other today."

Lost shook her head as he kept running down the hall. That guy should look where he's going too.

At the top of the stairs, she saw her class just next to the stairs. She opened the door and walked inside.

It was emptier than the homeroom but still had some kids in it. Lost easily found a seat in the middle again. She glanced around and saw lots of beakers and test tubes. She even noticed a cauldron in the back of the room. What's that for? Are we witches or what?

The door opened and a crowd of girls came in. They all sat down and crowded around one girl who had short brown hair and wore a bunch of pink. They all started whispering and looking around.

Everyone stopped talking when they saw their teacher walk in. He had tanned skin and light brown hair. He looked pretty young, maybe early twenties. He wore a pea-green baseball cap and green shirt.

He walked over to his desk and blackboard. He looked at every person and smiled.

"Hello everyone. I am your teacher, Cosmo. Please, call me Mr. Cosmo." He was about to continue when the shaggy haired boy with different colored ends burst into the room.

"Sorry, I'm late!" he panted.

"It's alright. Just sit down, please." Mr. Cosmo said, looking a little disturbed.

The boy grinned and sat down next to Lost. He looked at her and mouthed, "Hi!"

She nodded and looked back at the front of the room where Mr. Cosmo was writing his name on the
blackboard.

Turning back around, Mr. Cosmo started talking. "So, welcome to my science class. I hope you all find out that science is a very wonderful and interesting thing to learn and study."

He started pacing. "To start today off, I want to pair you with your partner that will work with you for half the year."

"Why can't we pick our science partner ourselves?" somebody shouted from the back.

Mr. Cosmo nodded. "Sure. You all can pick your partner. When you pick someone, push two desks together and sit there together."

Everyone started moving and pushing desks around. Lost looked and saw lots of girls trying to be partners with the brown haired girl.

"Let me be your partner, Wisteria! Please!" they said.

So that's Wisteriamoon. Interesting.

Lost felt a tap on her shoulder. She whirled around and saw the boy next to her smiling.

"Wanna be partners?" he asked.

"Uh, sure." Lost nodded.


"I'm Penguin. What's your name?" he asked as he stood up to push his desk.

"I'm Lostfairy," Lost said as she pushed her desk over.

They sat down and waited for the others to be finished.


"Perfect! Everyone has a partner, I see." Mr. Cosmo said, nodding. "Now, let's start today's lesson!"