Bittersweet Candy Bowl

29. Midterm Time, original chapter posted 1/12/07

Page 4 of 5

Transcript

[Caption: Midterm day]
*Daisy and Tess stand outside the classroom door.*
Daisy: You ready?

*Tess looks focused and determined.*
Tess: I.. think so.
*Daisy looks up with a supportive smile.*
Daisy: Don’t “think so.” You’ll be fine.

*Daisy raises a finger.*
Daisy: You spent hours preparing and the progress really showed! I’m sure you’ll be able to handle everything today!

*Tess smiles gently.*
Tess: Yeah.. you spent a lot of time coaching me through it..

*Tess’ smile grows as she holds out her hand.*
Tess: Thank you, Daisy. I’ll do my best in there!

*Daisy and Tess high five.*
Daisy: Now get going! You got a test to ace~!

[Caption: In other news]
*Mike and David, in another classroom, are seated at their desks. Mike looks apprehensive, and David looks determined.*
Math teacher: Okay, class..

*The Math teacher stands in front of the chalkboard and frowns, clasping his hands behind his back and leaning forward.*
Math teacher: We’ve finally made it to the midyear point.. and frankly, I’m losing faith that ANY of you are gonna make it to calculus..

Math teacher: However..
*He opens his eyes and glares intensely at his students.*

Math teacher: I swear I’ll hunt you all down if even one of you drops down to Algeom..
*Mike and another student wither under the Math teacher’s gaze. David scowls back.*

*David, continuing to scowl, blows a raspberry.*
David: Pfft!

*David rolls his eyes and rests his head on his hand.*
David: What’s the point? It’s not like we’ll ever use this stuff in real life.

*The math teacher leans on David’s desk, challenging him.*
Math teacher: What?
David: You heard me!

David: At first I was angry you graded Mike higher than me, so I assumed you were being racist towards dogs.. until I realized math just isn’t important!
*Mike facepalms.*

*The math teacher cringes.*
Math teacher: A thorough mathematical education is necessary in many professions.
David: I know I won’t need it!

*Mike glances over at David, unimpressed.*
Math teacher: What do you wanna be, then, David?
*David stares vacantly.*

David: An astronaut.
*Mike twitches. The math teacher’s face falls.*

*The math teacher burns with rage. Mike holds the math teacher back as he advances on David, who stares back with mild confusion.*
David: What?

Author commentary

Veronica: Hey, the math teacher returns! He got a short amount of spotlight in Enter High School, so here is more of him! He wants all his students to succeed, isn’t he so noble?

In the earlier version of this page, the math teacher demands David go to the principal’s office in the final panel because he’s so angry, and in retrospect that’s so corny! Why make David go to the principal’s office for being an idiot? Instead I just like the idea of Mike holding the teacher back from certain child-killing, but he’s impotent at the end of the day. He can’t do a thing about this! David won the war!