[[Maria Santiago debut!]]
Algebra 2. Not the first math class you'd think of when you thought of high school seniors- trigonometry, statistics, maybe calculus would come to mind first. Algebra 2 was a class most commonly taking by sophomores, sometimes by juniors. The teacher was Ms. Rashandala- a strict but loving woman, the kind of teacher who seemed like she'd make a good mom, or a good nun. The coursework was simplistic but the homework never ending. The room was full of rambunctious 15 and 16 year olds, with a couple of studious freshman who'd skipped pre- and regular algebra and wound up here.
And then there was Maria.
As one of the only seniors in the class, Maria was bored out of her mind. She wasn't a stupid girl- though she wasn't particularly intelligent- but she'd failed Algebra 2 last year as a junior and now had to take it again. It wasn't her fault that math was so damn boring. She did passably well in everything else- it was just math that she got in trouble in. Of course, Ms. Rashandala might have been part of the problem- she was just so reminiscent of the nuns back at Sacred Heart and St. Saviour. Ms. Rashandala began class with an introductory statement, and Maria made sure to take the first chance she got to groan just loudly enough for her teacher to hear.
"Ms. Santiago! This semester is almost over, and I've had it up to here with your nonsense! You'd better get it together, young lady!"
"Yes, of course, ma'am."
The moment Ms. Rashandala turned away, Maria shared a conspiratorial eye roll with a few of her younger classmates. One good thing about being in a class with underclassmen was that she could actually meet some underclassmen. Which meant more friends, which meant more eyes on her. Which was all that mattered, at the end of the day. Maria opened her notebook to a random page and started doodling, allowing her thoughts to wander as Ms. Rashandala went on. Like Algebra 2 was ever gonna make her famous. As if.
[[Clarification: there are other seniors in Algebra 2, but they have to be doing rather badly in math to end up here.]]
Dear Agony, Love Hatred
Open- math for below-average students; Debut
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Hollyquin†
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Dear Agony, Love Hatred
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((Samaya continued from Art for Art's Sake ))
Samaya sat in the back of the room, her notebook opened. She'd been surprised at the beginning of the school year to find there were a few seniors with her. Samaya learned math at a slower rate then her peers, so had only been able to make it to Algebra 2 as a senior. She was getting pretty good grades in it, though she still had one period a day dedicated to resource.
Samaya looked over to Maria, as she let out a groan. Should have known that was coming, Samaya thought. She seems to go out of her way to make this class drag on. What was with her anyway? And what was with that uniform, like all the time. Hello, why would you want to wear the same thing every day? How boring!
Part of the fun was deciding what she was going to wear to school each day. Today she'd opted for a red spaghetti strap tank top, which of course was covered by a white sweater. She knew better then to tempt dress code with Ms. Rashandala. She'd paired it with a black knee length skirt and black sandals.
Apparently Ms. R felt the same way because the teacher suddenly snapped at Maria. Samaya's eyes widened at her teacher's tone. Wow! She hadn't heard her raise her voice very often. At least Maria had the decency to answer politely. 'Course that was quickly counteracted when Maria turned and rolled her eyes at some of the underclassmen.
Really, that's a good plan, show off for the sophomores. Samaya let out a sigh of her own, as Maria started doodling instead of paying attention. No wonder she had to repeat the course, Samaya thought. Speaking of repeating courses, she should probably be paying attention if she didn't want to end up in summer school. Samaya listened carefully taking notes until Ms. R finished her lecture, and then turned them loose to complete the assignment.
Samaya sat in the back of the room, her notebook opened. She'd been surprised at the beginning of the school year to find there were a few seniors with her. Samaya learned math at a slower rate then her peers, so had only been able to make it to Algebra 2 as a senior. She was getting pretty good grades in it, though she still had one period a day dedicated to resource.
Samaya looked over to Maria, as she let out a groan. Should have known that was coming, Samaya thought. She seems to go out of her way to make this class drag on. What was with her anyway? And what was with that uniform, like all the time. Hello, why would you want to wear the same thing every day? How boring!
Part of the fun was deciding what she was going to wear to school each day. Today she'd opted for a red spaghetti strap tank top, which of course was covered by a white sweater. She knew better then to tempt dress code with Ms. Rashandala. She'd paired it with a black knee length skirt and black sandals.
Apparently Ms. R felt the same way because the teacher suddenly snapped at Maria. Samaya's eyes widened at her teacher's tone. Wow! She hadn't heard her raise her voice very often. At least Maria had the decency to answer politely. 'Course that was quickly counteracted when Maria turned and rolled her eyes at some of the underclassmen.
Really, that's a good plan, show off for the sophomores. Samaya let out a sigh of her own, as Maria started doodling instead of paying attention. No wonder she had to repeat the course, Samaya thought. Speaking of repeating courses, she should probably be paying attention if she didn't want to end up in summer school. Samaya listened carefully taking notes until Ms. R finished her lecture, and then turned them loose to complete the assignment.
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Hollyquin†
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Suddenly Maria became intensely aware of a change in the room. Having had spent the last ten minutes or so doing nothing but drawing and daydreaming, it took her a moment to figure out exactly what had changed- Ms. Rashandala had stopped talking. Which, she knew, meant that there was something she was supposing to be doing. And ah, yes, there it was- worksheets were being passed down the row. Maria took one and passed the rest back, scanning the questions. Luckily for her most of it was review work- she hadn't spaced out all semester, and at least some of the information she'd learned had stuck with her- but the last few problems involved what Ms. Rashandala was just talking about, and so she had no idea how to do them.
Maria figured her best bet was to at least get through the problems she could do, so she could at least avoid failing the assignment. She did so, dutifully, for the first eight problems out of ten. Those last two problems were the difficult ones. She looked around- obviously she was going to need some help on this one. She counted out the underclassmen right away- she didn't trust any of them to be paying any more attention than her, and she didn't know enough about any of them to know if they were smart enough.
Maria looked around for another senior- pickings were rather slim there. There was one girl- what was her name? Samaya? She was sitting pretty nearby and she seemed to have been paying very close attention to the lecture. The two had never exactly gotten along, but whatever- everyone who got to know Maria loved her. And if they don't, it's their loss. She leaned over towards her and whispered rather loudly- "Hey, er, you. Samaya. Samaya, right? Yeah, long story short, I was kinda spacing and I don't know how to do number nine. Or ten. Help me out? Like, let me see your notes or something?"
Maria figured her best bet was to at least get through the problems she could do, so she could at least avoid failing the assignment. She did so, dutifully, for the first eight problems out of ten. Those last two problems were the difficult ones. She looked around- obviously she was going to need some help on this one. She counted out the underclassmen right away- she didn't trust any of them to be paying any more attention than her, and she didn't know enough about any of them to know if they were smart enough.
Maria looked around for another senior- pickings were rather slim there. There was one girl- what was her name? Samaya? She was sitting pretty nearby and she seemed to have been paying very close attention to the lecture. The two had never exactly gotten along, but whatever- everyone who got to know Maria loved her. And if they don't, it's their loss. She leaned over towards her and whispered rather loudly- "Hey, er, you. Samaya. Samaya, right? Yeah, long story short, I was kinda spacing and I don't know how to do number nine. Or ten. Help me out? Like, let me see your notes or something?"
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Samaya accepted the worksheet from the boy in front of her and got to work immediately. She placed the notebook under her desk to give herself room to work. She didn't really need the notes, since the worksheet was mostly review. She worked though the worksheet steadily until a loud whisper broke her concentration.
"Hey, er, you. Samaya, Samaya right?" She looked up to see Maria speaking to her. Seriously we've been seating two seats from each other all semester and you haven't figured out my name yet. "Yeah, long story short, I was kina spacing..." Now there's a freakin' surprise. You weren't spacing, you were drawing there's a difference. "I don't know how to do number nine. Or ten. Help me out? Like, let me see your notes or something?"
Samaya sighed softly. she didn't want to give Maria her notes, for fear that Ms. R would think she was letting her copy. She couldn't risk getting in trouble this close to the end of the year, not with all the referrals she'd gotten for dress code violations. Finally she nodded. "Scoot your chair over here," she said softly. She glanced down at number nine to double check what it was asking. It was a word problem wonderful. She began to mentally work through the steps her Resource Teacher had drilled into her head, until she'd pulled out the relevant information, that way when Maria joined her she'd have her facts straight and they could start working through the problem.
"Hey, er, you. Samaya, Samaya right?" She looked up to see Maria speaking to her. Seriously we've been seating two seats from each other all semester and you haven't figured out my name yet. "Yeah, long story short, I was kina spacing..." Now there's a freakin' surprise. You weren't spacing, you were drawing there's a difference. "I don't know how to do number nine. Or ten. Help me out? Like, let me see your notes or something?"
Samaya sighed softly. she didn't want to give Maria her notes, for fear that Ms. R would think she was letting her copy. She couldn't risk getting in trouble this close to the end of the year, not with all the referrals she'd gotten for dress code violations. Finally she nodded. "Scoot your chair over here," she said softly. She glanced down at number nine to double check what it was asking. It was a word problem wonderful. She began to mentally work through the steps her Resource Teacher had drilled into her head, until she'd pulled out the relevant information, that way when Maria joined her she'd have her facts straight and they could start working through the problem.
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Hollyquin†
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Maria grinned. Easy as pie. She pushed herself over towards Samaya, holding her notebook in her hands and her pencil in her mouth as she did so. Of course, Maria being Maria, she couldn't help but drag herself over a bit too slowly and a bit too loudly. These theatrics didn't escape the notice of Ms. Rashandala, who wheeled around and glared at her.
"Ms. Santiago! This is the second time in this last ten minutes I've had to call you out! What on earth are you doing?!"
"Ma'am, I'm just moving to sit closer to Samaya. I thought she could help me with my work."
Ms. Rashandala's face showed her conflicting feelings on the subject. On one hand, Maria was breaking a class rule. On the other hand, she was being proactive about her classwork for once in her mathematical career. After a moment, Ms. Rashandala sighed.
"I suppose Samaya might be a good influence on you. Very well, you may sit with her for the rest of the class."
Ms. Rashandala turned around, and Maria smirked. And Maria wins again! She finished edging over to Samaya, all smiles. "So yeah, number nine. I hate word problems. It's like the teachers felt that math would be less painful if they disguised it with words, but somehow it just makes them worse." She giggled under her breath. "I'm Maria, by the way. But you probably knew that, right?"
"Ms. Santiago! This is the second time in this last ten minutes I've had to call you out! What on earth are you doing?!"
"Ma'am, I'm just moving to sit closer to Samaya. I thought she could help me with my work."
Ms. Rashandala's face showed her conflicting feelings on the subject. On one hand, Maria was breaking a class rule. On the other hand, she was being proactive about her classwork for once in her mathematical career. After a moment, Ms. Rashandala sighed.
"I suppose Samaya might be a good influence on you. Very well, you may sit with her for the rest of the class."
Ms. Rashandala turned around, and Maria smirked. And Maria wins again! She finished edging over to Samaya, all smiles. "So yeah, number nine. I hate word problems. It's like the teachers felt that math would be less painful if they disguised it with words, but somehow it just makes them worse." She giggled under her breath. "I'm Maria, by the way. But you probably knew that, right?"
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Samaya shook her head at Maria's look of triumph, but smiled at the vote of confidence that Ms. R had just given her. She waited for Maria to settle and was about to ask her where she was stuck when she said, "So yeah, number nine. I hate word problems. It's like the teachers felt that math would be less painful if they disguised it with words, but somehow it just makes them worse." She giggled under her breath. "I'm Maria, by the way. But you probably knew that, right?"
Samaya looked at her unsure of how to continue. What did she mean by that? Was she playing some sort of game or joke? Of course she knew her name. They'd been sitting two desks apart for most of the semester. Samaya chose to smile at her; she picked up her paper and read the word problem aloud.
John is twice as old as his friend Peter. Peter is 5 years older than Alice. In 5 years, John will be three times as old as Alice. How old is Peter now?
"I think we need to make a table," she said and sketched a very simply table three column table onto her paper. She then drew three rows. Last she put the three names, one in each row, in the first column. Once she finished she looked back up at Maria. "What do you think?"
((I know this may not be the hardest problem in the world, but I figured we both needed something to work from.))
Samaya looked at her unsure of how to continue. What did she mean by that? Was she playing some sort of game or joke? Of course she knew her name. They'd been sitting two desks apart for most of the semester. Samaya chose to smile at her; she picked up her paper and read the word problem aloud.
John is twice as old as his friend Peter. Peter is 5 years older than Alice. In 5 years, John will be three times as old as Alice. How old is Peter now?
"I think we need to make a table," she said and sketched a very simply table three column table onto her paper. She then drew three rows. Last she put the three names, one in each row, in the first column. Once she finished she looked back up at Maria. "What do you think?"
((I know this may not be the hardest problem in the world, but I figured we both needed something to work from.))
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Hollyquin†
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Maria stared at the problem for a while, frowning. God, word problems are irritating. They didn't even give me a starting point! If I knew how old one of them was, I'd know what to do next. But no, they had to make it unnecessarily complicated, didn't they? Of course they did. This is so dumb! She looked at the table Samaya had drawn- it didn't make any more sense to her. Maybe that'd been what Ms. Rashandala had been talking about- making tables. She made a face. Way to make this even more complicated.
Maria gripped her pencil and started writing something down. Alice = x. "Okay, so, someone has to be x, right? And then you make everyone else in comparison to the x or whatever. So, like, in five years John will be three times as old as Alice so like...but then how do you compare them? I'm probably thinking of something else...ugh, this doesn't make any sense!"
Maria made a face. "I don't know how to do this. Samaya...help me out..."
Maria gripped her pencil and started writing something down. Alice = x. "Okay, so, someone has to be x, right? And then you make everyone else in comparison to the x or whatever. So, like, in five years John will be three times as old as Alice so like...but then how do you compare them? I'm probably thinking of something else...ugh, this doesn't make any sense!"
Maria made a face. "I don't know how to do this. Samaya...help me out..."
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Maria made a face. "I don't know how to do this. Samaya...help me out..."
Maria's words took Samaya by surprise. Rarely had anyone ever asked her for help. She was usually the one that needed the help. Samaya had always struggled in school, and she was glad to be almost finished with it. She thought about how to phrase her answer. She'd been on the receiving end of harsh criticisms during her school career and knew how it felt to want to understand but not be able to. Did Maria really want to understand all of a sudden?
"Umm I don't we should use Alice," she said gently. "I was thinking Peter would be x, since that's the information we're supposed to be finding." She penciled an x into the second column next to Peter's name. "Right? I mean otherwise I think we have extra steps. Then James is twice as old, so that makes it 2x and Alice is...," she stopped and absently chewed on the end of her pencil. "Alice is x-5?" She filled in the other two rows with that information, completing the second column. "Is it making any more sense?"
Maria's words took Samaya by surprise. Rarely had anyone ever asked her for help. She was usually the one that needed the help. Samaya had always struggled in school, and she was glad to be almost finished with it. She thought about how to phrase her answer. She'd been on the receiving end of harsh criticisms during her school career and knew how it felt to want to understand but not be able to. Did Maria really want to understand all of a sudden?
"Umm I don't we should use Alice," she said gently. "I was thinking Peter would be x, since that's the information we're supposed to be finding." She penciled an x into the second column next to Peter's name. "Right? I mean otherwise I think we have extra steps. Then James is twice as old, so that makes it 2x and Alice is...," she stopped and absently chewed on the end of her pencil. "Alice is x-5?" She filled in the other two rows with that information, completing the second column. "Is it making any more sense?"
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"Oh." Maria frowned again. Mostly she was just irritated that she hadn't figured that out herself- it seemed so simple the way Samaya put it. "So the person you're looking for's gotta be the x? Okay...that makes sense, I guess. I usually just, like, pick someone and wing it." She laughed. "It usually works. But I guess I've been doing it wrong..."
Maria examined the new values assigned to each person with care. Normally, of course, Maria didn't care about her math work. But, hell, maybe it would be fun to change roles for once. She'd been the bad math student for months now and Ms. Rashandala was sick of it- perhaps she could attract more attention with a sudden 180! And besides, there was graduation to worry about- she did not want to be left back, and if she failed this class that was completely possible.
"So, um, if in five years John will be three times as old as Alice...John is 2x and Alice is x-5, so..." Maria started scribbling next to the table.
2x+5 = 3x
"Cause, like, the five years would cancel out the minus-five in Alice's age, right? So if you solve that..." Maria worked on solving the problem.
2x(-2x)+5=3x(-2x)
5=x
"So Peter's five!" Maria grinned. This might be easier than she thought. "But...that would make Alice zero? But that does work with the other stuff...like, in five years Alice would be five and John would be fifteen...does that work?"
Maria examined the new values assigned to each person with care. Normally, of course, Maria didn't care about her math work. But, hell, maybe it would be fun to change roles for once. She'd been the bad math student for months now and Ms. Rashandala was sick of it- perhaps she could attract more attention with a sudden 180! And besides, there was graduation to worry about- she did not want to be left back, and if she failed this class that was completely possible.
"So, um, if in five years John will be three times as old as Alice...John is 2x and Alice is x-5, so..." Maria started scribbling next to the table.
2x+5 = 3x
"Cause, like, the five years would cancel out the minus-five in Alice's age, right? So if you solve that..." Maria worked on solving the problem.
2x(-2x)+5=3x(-2x)
5=x
"So Peter's five!" Maria grinned. This might be easier than she thought. "But...that would make Alice zero? But that does work with the other stuff...like, in five years Alice would be five and John would be fifteen...does that work?"
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Samaya double checked Maria's math and then grinned at her. "That seems right. The zero thing is weird, maybe she was just born or about to born," she said with a shrug.
"But our math is right, so that is one down and one more to go. Give me a minute to read the next problem. I don't know if it'll help you, but read the question first and then go back a reread the information."
Samaya then picked up her pencil, and used it as a guide to read the words in the next problem. She had underlined the important information and was glancing up at Maria to see if she'd decided on the same information when the bell rang.
Ms. R dismissed them with a reminder that anything not finished was homework and they had a test the next day, so they should be studying.
Samaya offered Maria a smile as she tucked the worksheet into her folder and slid it into her backpack. "Looks like we only have a couple problems tonight. Wanna get together and study later," she asked grabbing the pencil off her desk and slipping into the front pouch of her backpack.
((Samaya continued in WAH WAH "I'm Holden." BOO HOO "People don't understand me."))
"But our math is right, so that is one down and one more to go. Give me a minute to read the next problem. I don't know if it'll help you, but read the question first and then go back a reread the information."
Samaya then picked up her pencil, and used it as a guide to read the words in the next problem. She had underlined the important information and was glancing up at Maria to see if she'd decided on the same information when the bell rang.
Ms. R dismissed them with a reminder that anything not finished was homework and they had a test the next day, so they should be studying.
Samaya offered Maria a smile as she tucked the worksheet into her folder and slid it into her backpack. "Looks like we only have a couple problems tonight. Wanna get together and study later," she asked grabbing the pencil off her desk and slipping into the front pouch of her backpack.
((Samaya continued in WAH WAH "I'm Holden." BOO HOO "People don't understand me."))
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Maria smiled, humming some nonexistent song to herself. Math would be a piece of cake now that she was trying, right? After all, that problem had been a breeze. And Samaya's grin put her in a good mood- as much as Maria liked attention of any kind, positive attention was always more fun. She set her sights on the last problem- it couldn't be any more difficult, right?
And then the bell rang.
Maria made a face, actually blowing a raspberry at the bell as Ms. Rashandala made her end of class comments. She packed up her stuff, half listening to Samaya.
"Looks like we only have a couple problems tonight. Wanna get together and study later?"
Maria blinked- that was rather unexpected. Not that she particularly wanted to spend her free time doing work, of course. She'd definitely have something better to do. No use hurting the girl's feelings, though. "Yeah, sure. After school. First I've got bio, though." She rolled her eyes. "Whoopee."
Packing up the last of her things, Maria headed out the door, rehearsing excuses for not studying with Samaya later in her head.
[[Maria Santiago continued in Biological Horror]
And then the bell rang.
Maria made a face, actually blowing a raspberry at the bell as Ms. Rashandala made her end of class comments. She packed up her stuff, half listening to Samaya.
"Looks like we only have a couple problems tonight. Wanna get together and study later?"
Maria blinked- that was rather unexpected. Not that she particularly wanted to spend her free time doing work, of course. She'd definitely have something better to do. No use hurting the girl's feelings, though. "Yeah, sure. After school. First I've got bio, though." She rolled her eyes. "Whoopee."
Packing up the last of her things, Maria headed out the door, rehearsing excuses for not studying with Samaya later in her head.
[[Maria Santiago continued in Biological Horror]
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