History Class: Ms. Kaufman

"Oh man, this bites!" Kaufman groaned at her desk. It was only the first week of school, and everyone had her running up and about the dingy school doing more work than she got paid for. Her feet were already sore, and the day wasn't even over yet. "Screw it! I don't need a classy teacher appearance!" the red-head cried, yanking her heels off and stowing them under her desk. She then reached for a pair of fuzzy yellow slippers and slipped them on. Hearing the sound of the bell meant the students were going to be piling up in no time. Sighing, Ms. Kaufman ignored all the complaints in her body and rose from her chair. This'll all be over soon. Kaufman silently reassured herself. At least, I hope so...

Although riding in the back of John's rust-ridden pickup truck wasn't the classiest way to get around town, the Wilder boys were used to it. Fred, Casey and Raph lounged languidly in the back as their older brother peeled out of the parking lot of William Howard Taft Middle School. They had just dropped Keith off there, the poetry-loving, soft spoken dreamer of the boys having gracefully leaping from the tailgate to the blacktop as the truck had come to a stop. In a matter of moments, their younger brother - and his knee-length hair - was out of sight.

The pickup rounded a corner on it's way to Martin Van Buren High School, taking the turn on two wheels as usual. John's driving left a lot to be desired, that was for sure, but the boys were all used to it and they simply whooped in excitement as they clung to the sides. It wasn't long before they arrived at school. They were all a bit windblown, but with their wildly curly hair it was impossible to tell. Casey and Raph headed towards their class, perfectly in harmony as they simultaneously waved to Fred. They called a goodbye in stereo as per usual, and Fred returned the gesture. He smiled to himself, already knowing how many people would get confused trying to tell the twins apart.

As for the classically handsome romeo himself, Fred made his way to his history class. As he walked, several girls flanked him, wanting to make sure he was in a good mood this morning. There were the usual greetings, offers of assistance, gifts of homemade food and the like. When he made it to the class on time, he simply took his seat and those admirers lucky enough to have class with him sighed dreamily as he smiled nicely at the teacher. "Good morning Ms. Kaufman." Fred said, his white smile lighting up his expression as he set his book on his desk.

Holy shit.

Fred's deep blue eyes had widened noticeably when the pink-haired girl had come barreling-ass into the classroom with gusto. The girl certainly had a lot of energy. He had never seen someone quite like her. She was so...he couldn't even find the correct word for how out there she was. It definitely wasn't a bad thing, just different. And by the looks of where she was headed, coupled by her hand patting his unruly curls, it seemed that his admirers were going to get jealous of this girl rather quickly. He didn't bother to stop her from patting his hair, simply turned around briefly and offered her a charming smile. It seemed like things were going to start getting interesting.

Well, I've certainly got an interesting bunch...

They were the most colorful students Katrina had ever seen, besides herself in her rebellious stages. They were polite enough to say good morning at least. Especially that clumsy one with cotton candy for hair. After the bell rang, a couple students decided to make their way in, including a brunette with long hair, who gave her a simple "Yo" as she strolled to the back of the class. Deciding to get on with class, Kaufman cleared her throat.

"Hello kiddies!" She said, grinning a Cheshire Cat grin. "I know you know who I am, but I dunno who all of you are, and I don't think you all know each other, soooo, here's the deal. I'm gonna- Hey you! No playin hair dresser in class!" Kaufman cried, pointing a finger at the girl with pink hair. Clearing her throat once more, she said, "Okay, like I was saying, I'm gonna randomly point at one of you and you're gonna introduce yourself and we're gonna ask you a billion questions on the spot okay? Goooooo!" Katrina spoke rather quickly, pointing to the gentleman with the blue hair. "Go on, son! Introduce yourself!" To keep herself focused, she had to be enthusiastic, and damnit, she was going to be the most enthusiastic person in the room!...Besides Pinky.


And Lupe thinks this teacher is nuuuuuuuuuts! Though Lupe wasn't surprised she caught all of what Ms. Kaufman was saying. Everyone else spoke like that at home. Well, they did in Spanish anyway. Lupe let her eyes rest on the boy with blue hair as she wondered what exactly was he going to say. What exactly was she going to say? Ah, shit! I gotta think of somethin!

He really had no idea where he was going. Not one idea. But this hadn’t occurred to him until he’d stumbled up onto campus, finding shelter from the rain under one of the awnings. Shaking his head like a dog, water whipped around him, leaving his hair still dripping. Shaking it out once more, he began to twist it to remove the excess water. After a couple tries, and a few more shakes, he was successful. Despite his damp clothes, he would soon dry. His hair would take a little longer, but it was only relatively wet now, messy but soft from his shower. And at the very least, he wouldn’t be tracking puddles into class. Now then, time to find a map. Pulling off his backpack, he unzipped it and began to rummage through the mess inside. How did it became disorganized so quickly?

“Come on! Where is it?” He muttered in frustration. He spotted a corner that contained lots of black ink. Pulling it out, he straightened it to stare at the representation of the campus he stood on. Water droplets dripped down his face, landing on the paper, and so he held it farther away from his body. His first period was…something that ended with ‘man.’ And it was history. Studying the map, he found the class surprisingly quickly. Kaufman's class. Lucky for him, it was close by. Following the route he’d chosen on the map, he slowly navigated his way through campus, attempting to stay as much out of the rain as possible until he entered the building. Finally, he stared at the door to the classroom. Through the window, he could see the teacher, a woman, standing at the front of the class. He shoved his map back into his bag, and moved towards the door. As he turned the cool knob, he found a sudden hesitation that he hadn’t felt in a long time. Did he actually feel guilty for walking in late? How strange.

Placing his hand around the cool knob, he twisted it and opened the door to find all the students’ eyes on him. Stepping in, he let the door swing shut behind him. As the trardy boy glanced at the teacher, he smiled angelically, as if feigning innocence for his obvious crime. Then he trudged his wet self to the first empty seat his eyes could find; in front of a girl with purple hair that was decorated with strange ornaments. Everett flopped down into the plastic chair, dropping his bag under his desk roughly, and sunk down into the seat.

"Wha? Who the hell is Rebecca?" Lupe inquired, scrunching up her face a bit. She knew a Rebecca Clemens, and she knew that Becky did not sing songs about days of the week.

"Rebecca Black is some Pop artist. To be frank, I'd rather shoot myself." Katrina rolled her eyes, making the most disgusted face she could make. "Oh! But don't let my opinion stop you from your decision making. I won't judge you!" I'm totally gonna judge you. Kaufman thought, but she kept up her most polite and pleasant smile for Kae. The sound of the door opening caused the red-head's face to fall as she watched another student come in. "Ohh, how nice of you to join us! Wait, you're all wet!" Racing to the window, Kaufman watched the rain, horrified. "Crap! I hope no one stole my umbrella in the teachers lounge! I knew I should have took it with me!"

Everett let his back mold into the chair, and he laid his arms down on the desk, appearing relaxed with his terrible posture. Hearing the teacher’s comments, he grinned, lifting a hand to wipe the trailing drops of water from his face. Well, at least she didn’t seem to be a stickler like some of his past teachers. Although, as he watched her run over to the window, she did appear to be a bit frazzled. Was she always so distracted? Either way, as long as she didn’t easily jump at students, Everett probably wouldn’t mind this class so much.

His eyes shifted away from the teacher to explore the classroom, taking in the setup and any posters on the walls. He surveyed the people, wondering what other kinds of students lived on this island. So far, nobody had looked like he’d expected a native of an island to look like. There were many obvious differences in ethnicity, and skin colors varied. He’d come to the conclusion that this territory was just like the rest of the United States; one giant melting pot. Glancing about, he noticed a girl with bright cotton candy pink hair. No, not just streaks or highlights. Her entire head was dyed this unusual color. Well, that was a first. He remembered the girl behind him, with the violet coloring. That wasn’t as strange. A lot of girls at his old school used to experiment with similar colors, mostly because they thought it would make them chic or unique. One other kid stood out with his bright blue hair. That was also extremely weird in comparison to what Everett was used to. The rest of the class seemed like a normal bunch of teens.

Glancing over at the smurf, he replied to something they’d been talking about before Everett had arrived.

"Neither?" Kaufman cried, violently whipping her head around to face Kae. "Ahh, you're no fun! Detention for you, then!" She yelled, pointing a finger at Kae. The room fell silent as she scratched the back of her head. "It was a joke. Guess it wasn't funny then... Alright, whatever. You! Introduce yourself! Go!" Katrina pointed at her newest victim, the kid with the curly brown hair. She knew the kid was a Wilder, they were famous on the island (Not for all the right reasons) but she couldn't remember the boy's first name.

What an interesting bunch of students there were this year. Quite the motley crew - literally - and he wasn't talking about the band. At least there was a good variety, that always seemed to prove entertaining in Fred's experience. There really was no need for him to offer up too much information about himself because most of his classmates hailed from Rai Island and either grew up hearing all the rumors about his family or already new him personally. Or, at least, knew who he seemed to be on the outside. Only his family knew what he was really like and he intended to keep things that way...at least until he decided otherwise.

As Michelle - or Mimi, as she had said - introduced herself, Fred's grin deepened to reveal dimples and he was about to respond when Ms. Kaufman suddenly demanded that he introduce himself to the class. Hearing a collective dreamy sigh from the girls that had accompanied him to class, his gaze flickered over each person there with an idyllic smile. "Most of you already have either heard of my family or know me personally, but I'm Fred Wilder. I'm the fourth son in the Wilder family and have dedicated my life to music and athletics." He said, brushing some of the curls away from his face and shaking Mimi's outstretched hand as he addressed everyone, "I'm sure we'll have an excellent class experience this year."

Oh, introductions! Joy. Everett thought, rolling his eyes. Would teachers ever put an end to this ridiculous notion that an introductory game must be played ever first day of the new school year? He’d repeated the same crap every year, and had only hoped it would be different here. He guessed some things never change no matter where you go. Well, at least she hadn’t pulled out those activities that had kids find others to initial next to the listed hobbies and interests. Those were, by far, the most idiotic.

Ms. Kaufman pointed at some curly headed guy, and there was a sudden, yet quiet, uproar among the students. Or rather, the girls. Glancing around, he saw some of them were staring this guy down with googly eyes, and he realized with distaste that this guy most be what they considered popular here at this school. Well, he was good looking in a not-so-obvious way, but Everett didn’t really see how he could cause such a reaction from the girls. How…awkward. Everett’s eyebrows rose higher on his forehead as he listened to this guy, and he crossed his arms lightly over his chest. This guy seemed somewhat…full of it, maybe? Something about the way he spoke, Everett didn’t like one bit.

Hearing the pinkette's question for Fred, Everett had to hold back his laughter. That's just so...adorably silly. Perhaps Cotton-candy wasn't so bad.

He shook his head at the question, sending his unruly mop bouncing back and forth. "Neither. Call me sentimental, but nothing can beat home cooked meals. And anyone who's eaten at my house knows my mother's cooking is amazing." He admitted, adding silently, It's too bad we're so damn broke, otherwise I'd bring some to school more often. He shifted in his old, well-worn clothing and asked, "What's your choice?"

Lupe never really payed attention to Fred, or at least, she didn't want to anyway. It was kind of hard to ignore him what with all his fan girls crowding him, and pushing her all the time. It was annoying. Especially since the guy was so haughty. She was about to tune him out, but her ears perked up at the sound of "Athletics". "Ju play sports? Which ones?" The Hispanic asked, raising a brow. It was hard to believe Mr. Pretty boy risked his body to play anything, but he was indeed a Wilder, so maybe it was possible.

Everett slipped a centimeter lower in his chair, feeling his head hit something on the desk behind him. Blinking in confusion, he tilted his head back to stare at the violet-haired girl, his damp hair falling away from his forehead to lie on the desktop. Spotting her sandals propped up on the desk, then glancing up at her face, seeing everything upside-down, he grinned before pulling back up to sit up straighter. Then, swiveling in his seat so his legs were out in the aisle, he glanced over at the Hispanic girl that had asked the question about sports. It made him ponder for a short moment about what sports they offered at this high school. He’d have to check it out later.