Behind the Doors of Another Class: Part One

     "Ouch! That's the third time today!" screamed Fluffy, rubbing her nose. She had opened her locker and banged her nose. Shrugging, she just pulled out all the things she needed, shoved them into her Fire Faerie backpack, and slung it over her back.

     Nearby her big brother Sweet, a striped Kacheek, was laughing, along with Glitter and Angel, Fluffy's other siblings.

     "That's rich! I wish I got it on my sketchpad!" squealed Glitter the faerie Acara. "Hitting yourself with the locker door is a sign of being a geek!" She and Angel, the blue Zafara, chuckled and had to hold on to each other to keep from falling over because of their laughing.

     "Shut up, you guys," grumbled Fluffy. "At least I'll be the one laughing when you three get detention for being late to class!" Sure enough, the bell was now ringing. Sweet, Angel and Glitter's smiles faded. Sweet ran into the classroom before Fluffy could, while Glitter and Angel split to their classes.

     However, before Fluffy could enter the classroom, a cloud Kacheek dashed out and shoved a piece of paper in the Aisha's face.

     "Haven't I had enough things collide with my nasal organ today?" grumbled Fluffy, moving the paper away to reveal the face of her best friend and classmate, Raincrystal. The cloud Kacheek was grinning from ear to ear. "Guess what? Miss Ford has great news! Read the paper!"

     Fluffy scanned the sheet of paper and read it aloud.

Dear Fluffy14784,

     We have been monitoring your overall class performance and grades. Yes, both of them have been exemplary. Yes, it seems that you aren't being challenged by the current curriculum because of your advanced intelligence. So in order to give you a bigger challenge, we have decided to switch you to a class for older Neopets, a more advanced class…in room 106. Do ask your owner to give you a letter of permission so you can join. If she approves, report to room 106 with her letter in hand.

The Administration

      "Yes, Fluffy, this really is incredible news!" said Miss Ford, a strawberry Poogle. "But unfortunately, we'll miss you. This'll be your last day with us."

     The rest of the class chimed in.

     "Oh man! Fluffy, we really are going to miss you!"

     "Well, best of luck to you then!"

     "Who's going to teach me algebra?"

     Raincrystal flung her arms upon her friend. "I'm really, really going to miss you a whole lot!" She looked as if she was ready to cry. Fluffy just patted her on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, this doesn't mean we can't be friends anymore. This will be for the best."

     Miss Ford nodded. "Yes, you can always visit each and everyone of us. We won't forget you." Then she quickly added, "Take your seats, everyone. Now get your algebra books out and turn to page 32."

     ***

     "That's going to be tough," said Sweet as he and his siblings walked home from Neoschool. "We don't know if Kat's going to let you join the next class."

     Glitter fluttered by Fluffy. "Well, we're sure going to find out what she has to say." The faerie Acara knocked abruptly on the door. A tall, dark-haired girl answered it, wearing a blue bandana and clutching a plate of oyster salad in the other.

     "So, how are my four wonderful pets?" Kat asked cheerily. "I made you all some nice, tasty, oyster salad!"

     "Fluffy has something to tell you," Angel spoke up, pointing at the white Aisha.

     Kat found the letter from the administration sticking out of Fluffy's backpack. She unfolded it and began to read silently. The four pets held their breaths as they waited for their owner's verdict.

     The girl folded up the letter and said, "Fluffy, I'm not going to force you into this if you don't want to. So are you willing to join and take on some heavier duties and responsibilities in a more advanced class? You know, it's not going to be easy, and it's definitely not always going to be fun. There will be more work."

     Fluffy thought for a moment, and nodded vigorously. "Please just write a letter letting me into the advanced class…I'll do well, and I won't let any of you guys down!"

     Kat laughed as she wrote out a letter. "Of course you'll do well, you're quite intelligent! Now, I just want you to promise not to overwork yourself. If you find it too difficult to handle, we can just talk to Miss Ford and tell her to shred the administration's letter and send you back to your usual class. Deal?" She signed her name onto her letter of permission.

     "Deal," agreed Fluffy, and gave her owner a great big hug. Sweet, Glitter and Angel cheered…then Sweet fell silent.

     "Uh-oh! This means we're not classmates anymore!" he howled. "Class is so not going to be the same without you, but we hope you enjoy your stay in the older Neopets' class."

     Fluffy grinned. "How hard can it be? It's only one level up, right?"

     ***

     The next day, Fluffy gathered up her books for her first subject. It was also supposed to be her first day in her new class. She found the door of room 106, and casually opened it.

     She was standing before a whole new classroom. Formulas of all kinds were scribbled on the board, along with some complicated-looking notes. On one side of the board were names of pupils who had detention that day. A stuffy-looking blue Elephante sat at the teacher's table, watching every single note-taking student before his eyes.

     All eyes turned to the white Aisha as she stepped into the room. Whispers reached Fluffy's ears while she made her way towards her new teacher and handed him Kat's letter of permission.

     "You're Mr. Snippy, right?" she asked.

     "Yes, my name is Mr. Snippy," the teacher answered, "and I hate any student who would dare make fun of my name. Half the pupils on that side of the board get detention because they like making silly, corny jokes about my name. Now let's get some things straight. Just because you're new here doesn't mean you get special treatment. I treat every single student equally, whether slow or smart, rich or poor. And right now, I'll be implementing what I said before by telling you to go to your seat and copy all the notes from the board. We will be having a test in five minutes."

     Fluffy walked over to her seat, which was situated between a rainbow-colored Kyrii and a starry Ixi. Both had been whispering to each other while the Aisha was at the Elephante's table.

     As the new member of the class took out a pen and notebook to copy what was on the board, her two seatmates introduced themselves.

     "Hi, my name is Muriel," said the Ixi.

     "And you can call me Sarah," said the Kyrii. "We both know what it's like to be new, so we decided to be your friends here.

     "Besides, we're the two most popular pets around our grade, so we can show you around after class," added Muriel. "Now, you better copy those things on the board…Mr. Snippy can give out really tough tests."

     "Okay," said Fluffy. "Thanks for being my friends, you two."

     Muriel and Sarah just smiled and nodded. "It's the least we can do," they both answered.

     Their conversation was cut short when Mr. Snippy stood up from his desk, went to the board and erased the notes. "Now then, I remember that I told you a week ago, we will have a new student in the class. She comes from a lower-level class, and she is here because she finds her own curriculum quite…easy." He paused to look at Fluffy's letter. "Now Fluffy is here amongst us to pursue a more advanced curriculum. Please stand up."

     Fluffy stood up, and all heads turned to look at her. One Pteri tried to stifle a laugh.

     "Enough about that," mumbled the teacher, as he began giving out questionnaires. "Get one and pass the rest to the back. You have ten minutes to complete the test. If I were you, I'd be very careful in answering. You may start now."

     The white Aisha picked up her pencil and began scribbling the answers quickly. Meanwhile the rest of the students were scratching their heads, tapping their desks with their pencils, or twirling their fur in thought. Muriel groaned and Fluffy could hear her whisper to herself, "Mr. Snippy has gone off the deep end with this test." Sarah rapped her desk in frustration.

     The minutes passed, and in five minutes Fluffy was done. She pulled out a novel and began to read. The rest of the class shot envious and jealous looks at her as the rest of the time fell away,

     "Time's up," said the Elephante, with an evil gleam in his eye. "Pass your papers." Once all the papers were at the front, Mr. Snippy snatched them up, shuffled them and began redistributing them. "You shall check each other's answers as I write the correct ones on the board."

     He scrawled all the right answers on the board, and soon everyone was busy checking. Muriel had gotten Fluffy's paper and her eyes grew wider as possible with every right answer. She shot a look at Sarah, who nodded and understood the message.

     After the checking, everyone gave the tests back to Mr. Snippy. "Well, this looks like a new record…Miss Fluffy, our new student, has gotten a perfect score. Now, how about that, eh?" He grinned at Fluffy and shuffled back to his desk to record the scores. All eyes were on her again, especially Muriel and Sarah.

     "She's good, isn't she?" asked Muriel.

     "Yeah, I think she's definitely good enough," said Sarah. The duo grinned malevolently together.

To be continued...