Survival Of The Fittest

((Abigail Atkins continued from Q&A))

In a frantic burst of flying papers, Abigail rushed through the door of Room 213, panting a bit.

"Don't hurt yourself, kid!"

She looked up. There was Mrs. Ottmann, sitting at her desk and smiling at her. And there was the clock... turned out Abigail was still pretty early. Whoops. "Jeez, Abigail, why do always rush to get to this class, anyway? You've never been late once. I think if you ever were, you'd explode." Abigail laughed as she took her seat. Mrs. Ottmann was always teasing her about how manic she could be when it came to schoolwork, but then, Mrs. Ottmann pretty much teased everyone. It was what Abigail liked about her class so much - sure, she got along well with more or less all of her teachers, but the fact that just about everybody got along with Mrs. Ottmann made the entire class much more bearable, especially considering it was Chemistry, a pretty tough subject.

Not that that was any excuse to slack off, either. Flipping through her notebook, Abigail neatly tore her homework out of it along the perforated edges and placed it on Mrs. Ottmann's desk. "I know, I know," she said sheepishly to her, "I just get really uptight about classes, you know how I am."

"Just don't kill yourself trying to make it on time. You know, take a stroll, enjoy the scenery. Find some guy in hallway to make out with."

At this, Abigail could only laugh nervously as she took her seat at her desk again. "Um... yeah. Well, uh, I'll try not to rush so much, anyway... Um, is there going to be a lot of reading to do tonight?" Abigail asked, hastily changing the subject.

"I'll let you guys know once the rest of the class gets here."

"привет?"

A tall brunette girl stepped through the door to Mrs. Ottmann's chemistry class. A distinctively pretty girl, to be sure, though one would also notice an obvious air of unease around her. Shaking her head, the girl spoke up again.

"This..this is..Mrs. Ottmann's...chemistry class?" The girl spoke with a thick Russian accent, and with the air of someone who only had a rudimentary grasp of the English language, with odd pauses sprinkled throughout as she tried to remember what to say next.

"Oh, are you Petrushka?" Mrs. Ottmann asked the tall girl.

"да." Petrushka responded, nodding her head.

"Well, I think you have the right class, then. The principal told me about you. Don't worry about trying to keep up. We'll look for someone to help you with the schoolwork."

"спасибо...uh...thank you." Though she tried to speak in English whenever she could to help her learn, Petrushka couldn't help but lapse into her native Russian when she got nervous. And why wouldn't she be? It was her first day of school not only in a new school, but a new country, whose language she was still struggling to learn. Sure, her parents were arranging for her to have a tutor to help her with her schoolwork and English lessons, but that still did little to help the sheer overwhelmingness of it all.

"Now go take your seat. It's right over there." Ottmann pointed to the desk to the right of Abigail.

"Yes." Petrushka nodded her head in understanding before moving to her desk, setting her backpack down as she rifled through it. She glanced over at the girl sitting next to her, feeling that she should say hello, but a bit hesitant because she was worried the girl might try to start up a conversation she probably wouldn't be able to keep up with.

David Morris slowly peeked through the door of Room 213.

Even though David's last class was literally across the hall from Mrs. Ottmann's chemistry class, Abigail usually made it there before him. He didn't mind Mrs. Ottmann- not at all, he just didn't like being first in the classroom. Being alone with her seemed to remind him that his grades in this class were abysmal.

Of course, I have to keep up my grades to stay on the team. And do well in college. That's what everyone says...

He dropped his bag on the floor next to his seat. It was then that he noticed that there was a new girl in class.

Heh, why are there so many new kids lately?

Not knowing if he should try to start a conversation with her, David sat down and took out his homework. Hopefully, he would get most of it right, and there wouldn't be that much homework.

David glanced at the clock on the wall above the door and sighed. This is going to be a long day...

Abigail was quite shocked when the new student arrived. Not to say that she wasn't expecting a new student - Mrs. Ottmann had mentioned it in class a day or so ago, but this new girl was so tall!

...Well, yeah, most people were compared to Abigail, but still, she had a pretty intimidating presence about her. Tall, pretty, and her accent - that was Russian, wasn't it? - Gave her voice something of a rough quality. Abigail found that she was staring at her as the girl took her seat, but corrected herself as soon as she realized it. The last thing this girl needed was to be treated like an animal in a zoo. From what she could tell, the girl's English didn't seem very good, and she must've felt uncomfortable enough as it was.

Immediately, Abigail felt a surge of guilt. Here she was gaping at this new girl, who must be so nervous, like she was on display in a window exhibit! Abigail noticed the girl glance at her briefly as she took her seat next to her and, doing her best to put her previous intimidation aside, decided that she would do what she could to help the new girl out. After all, Mrs. Ottmann had placed her in the seat next to hers, that must mean she wanted her to do that, right? She was practically obligated!

Just after giving David, who she noticed walking in, a polite nod and a "Hello", she turned to the tall girl. Putting on the friendliest smile she could, she extended her hand towards her. "Hey, I'm Abigail," she said warmly, "I guess you're the new kid? It's nice to meet you."

Kent pushed the frail door open, causing a light clanging noise as it hit the side. He casually walked into the science class, unaware of the lateness of his arrival. He situated himself behind a large wooden table, with various gas taps and sockets. He sat down, slumping his back on the surface of the wood, which was coated in dents and scribbled diagrams.

He shuffled his hands in his bag, gripping a large red book and withdrawing it from his rucksack, which was beginning to cleave at the top. This was showed by various strings of thread which loosely hung down from the arms. He sighed; he couldn't be bothered to buy himself a new one, so he would wait until it was fully destroyed.

He stuffed his hands in this pocket, routing desperately for a device to write with. Finally he found a lidless pen, which's ink was slowly disappearing. He scribbled the title and date down and observed the class around him. He located everyone, going through their names until he came to one girl. He was stumped; she seemed like a nervous foreign kid.

Great, another new person, that's all we need.

He browsed over her, like she was an object in the mall. He took a guess at eastern European. Russian or Estonian perhaps, Kent being Kent decided to confront her, he didn't like not being involved with anyone from the class. He stood up and walked towards her, aware of there already being people there discussing with her, he almost interrupted and smiled slightly to her.

"Hey, I'm Kent." He said, almost boasting. He stood directly next to her, he didn't care about the instruction Mrs.Ottmann had told them. He wanted to meet the new girl.

"Hey, I'm Abigail. I guess you're the new kid? It's nice to meet you."

Petrushka looked back over to the girl next to her to find that she was looking right at her, extending her hand in a handshake gesture. She hesitated for a brief moment; as much as she didn't want to get roped into a conversation in which she might not be able to keep up with, she also didn't want to appear rude.

"H-hello." Petrushka said, reaching out and accepting Abigail's handshake, offering a polite smile in turn. "I am Petrushka, and yes, I just start today."

Just as she finished her sentence, somebody from her other side spoke up, greeting her as well, turning around to find a boy staring at her. "Uh...hello." Petushka started to look a bit nervous once more; she was apparently quickly becoming the center of attention, something she wasn't really used to. Well, except for her violin recitals, but those were different. They felt a lot more natural to her. The stage was like her own little world, and the audience itself was inconsequential.

"Alright, Kent. Class is starting now." Mrs. Ottmann reminded Kent. "Time to get back to your seat." as class started, Petrushka pulled out her textbook, cracking it open and quickly realizing she could barely read what was in it. It was one of those textbooks like liked to use lots of big words, as if the author was getting paid by the letter. The Russian girl sighed. It was going to be a long day.

Abigail continued smiling warmly as the girl... Petrushka, introduced herself and shook her hand. She hoped she didn't have any problem pronouncing her name... that would be just what she needed, someone that couldn't even get her name right. "Petrushka," Abigail repeated, but before she could ask her if she went by any nicknames, they were interrupted by another student.

Although Abigail didn't talk much to Kent, she did know that he had a bit of an ego. But then, who didn't every once in a while? Besides, she couldn't complain that Petrushka was already meeting more students. The more the merrier, right? Petrushka didn't seem to exactly agree, however - she was starting to look pretty uncomfortable, actually. Oh no... were they making things worse? Maybe she should try to intervene, somehow... Abigail knew that if she was in another country, away from her parents and her brother in a place where she barely knew the language she'd be terrified out of her mind. It'd be awful! She should make sure Petrushka felt comfortable.

"Kent, this is... Petrushka," Abigail said, stumbling just a bit over the name but still managing to get it correct, "She's a... Russian exchange student?" she turned back to her. "I'm assuming you're Russian, anyway, based on your accent and your name... um, speaking of... you uh, you don't have like, a nickname or anything that you go by, do you?" Hopefully she wasn't bombarding her...

Abigail jumped just a little as Mrs. Ottmann announced that class was starting, and then smiled to herself at her own actions. She really was as uptight as Mrs. Ottmann said sometimes, wasn't she? Taking out her own textbook and opening it as well, she turned back to Petrushka to see that she was staring at the opened page in front of her. ...Could she read English that well yet? She must've been able to, they couldn't let someone take such an advanced class that couldn't speak English at all... but either way, maybe she could use some help...? "Let me know if you need anything," Abigail offered.

All of Kent's questions seemed to be answered by the girl who stood beside her, also greeting her. Her name was Abigail Atkins, Kent didn't particularly talk to her much, but he knew she was quite smart and a member of the Debate team, which Kent usually laughed at and called completely pointless. He didn't understand the point of talking and arguing about various things and getting nothing done.

Kent, after Mrs. Ottmans instructions, took his sit behind the table and behind Petrushka, there teacher, Mrs. Ottman begun the lesson, pointing to the board and babbling out various scientific words which meant little to Kent. He opened up his book, viewing the various graffiti drawings which his colleges had done. Although the book was a mess there was still work in them, Kent did do most of the work when he could be bothered.

"So… Petrish..Petrushka, what part of Russia are you from" Kent just assumed she was Russian; she could have just been Estonian or Ukrainian. He had many questions; he also wanted to know her last name. Kent loved foreign last names, usually so he could make some sort of joke.

Kent quickly jotted down the title and date, and began writing out the work on the board. He opened up a text book, and gazed over it, writing answers to various questions. He hated textbook work, but it seemed to common in the later years of education. He looked up the clock; this reminded him of that Bounce girl in the English lesson.

What an pathetic person, has to make herself feel better by argueing pointless things

Kent didn't care that most of what he did was for his own ego, he disliked people that were like that or like him. No one in the Science class kent really took a dislike to, He knew some various people but it was mostly filled with people he didn't really talk to. The teacher Kent quite liked, it was a change from the loud and strict teachers Kent was used to.

"да, I am from Russia." She answered for Abigail, "Uh...no, I do not have any nicknames."

Trying to pay attention to the lecture, when she was asked by Kent behind her what region of Russia she was from. "Uh..." She turned slightly towards him. "I am from Komi. In Europe." She said briefly and quietly. "I need pay attention to class." Turning back, she took out a sheet of paper as well, writing out the name and date as she hoped she wouldn't get asked any more questions during class. She'd have enough trouble getting through the class with a textbook she couldn't read.

Fortunately, Abigail turned her attention back to her and offered help, and Petrushka was certainly in no position to pass it up. "Well, I haven't learned a lot of English to understand this." She said in response, motioning to the textbook. Hopefully she'd be able to give her a hand.

Wayne West had always hated chemistry class. It was nothing against the teacher. In fact, Wayne thought that Mrs. Ottsman was a kind woman. Wayne's problem was with the subject itself.

Chemistry was just so irredeemably boring in Wayne's eyes. The constant math equations and random scientific terms just did not seem like the kind of thing Wayne had signed up to learn. He'd just wanted to watch stuff blow up.

I don't wanna know what Electromagnetism is. I just want to create my own Super Soldier Serum or something like that...

However, Wayne buried his head in his work and did his best to ignore the conversation between Kent, Abigail, and the new girl, all of whom were sitting in his general vicinity. He just wanted to get through this class and end his school days once and for all.

To be perfectly honest, Wayne liked Kent. The guy was pretty arrogant and overbearing, but in the end he was a good guy who Wayne got along with well. He definitely considered Kent Chirper to be a friend.

He wasn't as close to Abigail, but he still liked her and no ill-will to the girl. She was just another kid in Wayne's class.

And, as for this Petrushka girl, Wayne did not know her and thus had no opinion about her. She probably wouldn't have any real effect on Wayne's life whatsoever.

It's kind of odd that she'd transfer here so close to graduation, but what do I care? I just want to finish these questions.

It wasn't long before Wayne stumbled upon a question that he just could not answer. Dropping his pencil in frustration, Wayne glanced at the person next to him, Kent Chirper, and asked him a question.

"Hey man, I'm totally blanking on number three. What the hell is NMR?" Wayne asked.

As class started, David took out an old, worn-out textbook and a sheet of paper and began jotting down various equations and scientific words that made little sense to him; and about half of the class, he guessed.

It seemed like the only thing David could do at the moment was stare at the textbook page and try to make sense out of the problems. He was stuck trying not to eavesdrop on the conversation between Abigail, Kent, and that Russian girl.

David glanced at Wayne West, who was in the middle of asking Kent for the answer to one of the problems. "Try doing it yourself" he muttered, looking back to his textbook.

... And... well, end up doing what I'm doing now.

He turned back up at the clock. Well, it's five minutes since I last looked at the clock. That's great.

This work didn't really matter, anyway; they were in the second half of senior year. Of course, there was that issue of David being kicked off of the soccer team in the fourth quarter of the school year if he didn't pass more classes than he had been passing.

Please, let this end.

Abigail was a little taken aback by Petrushka's statement - she understood not being able to read English perfectly just yet, but... the entire textbook? She hoped Petrushka didn't expect her to translate the entire thing for her... But still, she couldn't let the shock show. That'd be so rude. Besides, Petrushka really needed the help. ...Oh god, she was being so selfish! She had to help her, she was obligated to!

"Umm... sure," Abigail said, leaning over to look at the page Petrushka had open and glancing up at the board at the questions Mrs. Ottmann had written up. It looked like she was going over everything the class had covered so far with a few brief questions to refresh their memories. She sighed a little bit. The closest experience she had to a situation like this would probably be when she used to read bedtime stories to her little brother Abe - he was so adorable when he was a kid, and he was always so eager to learn, pointing out specific words and asking which one was which. But that was completely different - Abigail doubted Petrushka would appreciate it if she started talking to her like she was three, and this textbook definitely wasn't The Puppy Who Wanted A Boy. Don't talk down to her, you'll only make her feel worse.

"Okay, well... this first question's about the structure of glucose... it um... here, there's a picture of the molecule right here...?"

She did her best to walk Petrushka (Whyyy couldn't she have a nickname...) through the questions on the board, pointing out the parts of the textbook that made reference to the questions and hoping that she was following all right and that she wasn't channeling her five-year-old self reading to her three-year-old brother. Something told Abigail that helping someone whose first language wasn't English understand AP Chemistry wasn't going to be quite that simple, but as long as she had dedicated herself to helping out, she'd do the best she could.

Kent noticed the new girls discomfort in the class, thus he decided to let Abigail handle it. He sat back, looking at the work on the board and sighing as he managed to slip some gum into his mouth. He honestly couldn't be bothered to finish the work, chemistry was something he cared little for. He looked over the textbook, various images and long blocks of text were blurred as once again Kent sighed and lent back on his chair.

He looked up to the clock, time was passing slowly. At least we have an alright teacher. He noticed some more people come into the class. David something, David Morris or something like that. Kent only knew him because he was one of those Jock kind of kids who Kent didn't talk to much.

Another guy was also in the class who Kent was familiar with. Wayne West, he was a small friend of his, although a little less popular than Kent he still liked him. Kent could see that he was struggling with a question, and hoped he wouldn't ask him. Kent probably would know it, but lacked the motivation to find it out. Just as Kent had expected, Wayne turned to him and opened his mouth.

"Hey man, I'm totally blanking on number three. What the hell is NMR?" Kent had heard it somewhere, he scanned his eyes across the textbook until he found the section on Electromagnetism, he found NMR and next to it in brackets said "Nuclear magnetic resonance" Kent sighed to himself, if maybe he just looked he wouldn't be wasting Kent's energy.

"Nuclear Magnetic Recons... Hold on" Kent stumbled on his words, he did that sometimes. He could pronounce most words but he had a slight impediment in his speech which results in him mispronouncing occasionally. Although this was quite rare.

"Nuclear Magnetic Resonance... I think" He said, his face slightly puzzled even though he was quite certain it was correct. Kent looked down to the other questions, a large block of them ran down the page. Mrs. Ottman was coming round to inspect, he thought he better get something done so he begun to write out the questions. Kent then looked up and grinned at Abigail and the Russian Girl. Abigail was attempting to explain to work to her, but he doubted it was getting through.

If she cant understand the textbook she isn't going to understand you.

As Abigail helped Petrushka, she found that while she still had trouble understanding a lot of the material, this was certainly better than going it alone. She'd definitely have to put more effort into learning to read English if she wanted to make it through this class. Fortunately, Mrs. Ottmann also turned out to be an easygoing teacher even when lecturing, going at a comfortable pace that gave her time to let the material sink in.

Finally, the lesson was interuppted by the bell, Ottmann turning back to the class and stating "Alright everyone, your homework is to answer the questions at the end of chapter's 5 and 6. Let's try not to have a repeat of what happened last week. As much as I appreciate the gift of 20 dollars, A. it's not going to get you an automatic A, and B. you need to save that kind of money for important tests."

As the class started to pack up, Petrushka put her own textbook and papers away, turning back to Abigail after a moment.

"Âû...uh, thank you." She said, correcting herself. "I think I would not have gotten it at all without help."

As the lesson went on, David was relieved to find that the information began to make sense. Just as he was starting to write down and solve the textbook work, the bell rang.

Of course, class as to end when I least want it to.

David fumbled with his textbook as he forcefully stuffed it back into his bag. He usually tried to be one of the firsts out of class, and found himself running into the annoyingly crowded hallway; pushing himself through about six people who didn't seem to know how to walk and talk at the same time.

David's next class, a math class taught by the adamant Mrs. Stanford, was barely any less confusing than chemistry, but at least the day was closerto being over. That was the principle that DAvid seemed to have with all of his classes, actually.

((Continued next week... probably))