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"Hey, J," Mom says as I get into the car after school.
"Hey, mom." I reply.
"How was school?"
"Good...I guess...as far as good can go at school."
"What's the matter? Bad grade?"
"No, it's just school...I guess. You know...high school comes with lots of homework. Definitely not as fun as middle school!"
"Well, I guess that's how it is.....Maybe you could try out for after school activity or something...sports maybe. You always have been good at  track and cross country."
"I guess I could, but I don't want that to get in the way of homework, and things are pretty cramped already. I wouldn't want to mess your schedule up even more."
"Come- on, J! It'd be fun! You could make new friends, and maybe dad could pick you up after work or something. Plus Benji, Aly, and Soph could go to your meets. Benji would have a new kind of respect for you!"
"Mom, I don't need respect."
"Benji loves you! He'd be so proud of you!"
"OK, fine, but if it gets in the way of-"
"It won't." mom says quickly. "Anyways, how's band?"
"It's OK. I've got a solo coming up."
"What for?"
"Basketball game half-time show."
"What instrument?"
"Saxophone." I say. I play practically all the brass instruments.
"That's exciting! Anything else coming up?"
"Uh, spelling bee."
"Oh, yeah. Bri was in one of those once. She didn't win though. You could win! It'd be a good excuse for a family vacation to D.C." She says smiling at me. "Pressures on!"
"Wow! Thanks!"
"Anything else?"
"Umm...Mr. Colter wants a couple of the guys from band to play for prom."
"Isn't that a little far off?"
"Well, I dunno."
"Don't you wanna find a date? You could go?"
"I don't have a date."
"Come on, J! Don't be like that. high school is different then middle school. There are a lot of people that didn't go to your old school in high school. Don't just give up!"
"If we want to be in the band we have to sign up by the end of the month. I guess it will take a lot of practice, and they want us to write our own music."
"OK, I guess it's your choice. Is that all?"
"I have a geometry test tomorrow."
"Good."
"I also want to look into writing for the school newspaper. I think class president would be exciting too."
"Sounds fun!" she says as the trio hops in the car. We call the triplets the trio a lot. Christine started it, and we all liked it.
"Hi, guys." I say.
"Hello!" Aly replies."
"Sounds like you had a good day at school, Aly." Mom says.
"I did too!" Soph calls.
"What made the day so good, Soph?" Mom asks.
"We did all kinds of painting!" She replies.
"Yeah! We painted with all kinds of body parts!" Aly says.
"Mrs. Grandslapp says that we'll be doing all kinds of experiments during the next three weeks, and she gave me this note to give to you about the performance we'll be doing when it's all over to show our parents our experiments. Today we experimented with paint."
"Ooo! Sounds messy! Can you give me that note at home, honey? I've got to focus on driving now."
"That doesn't matter though!" Soph shouts.
"Don't shout, Soph. I can hear you just fine when you talk. Guess what, guys!"
"What?" Aly asks.
"This weekend the whole family is gonna come home."
"Why?" Benji asks.
"Well, because, it's been a while since the whole family was home, and there's a couple things we need to sort out between the older kids. Ever since Kayla left for college I never know where anybody is!"
"So, Rocky and Bri and Christine and and Riley and Kayla and....and..they're all coming home?!" Benji says
"Yep!" Mom says.   
~~~
"Study hall is over!" Mr Frazzluck announces. "I have completed grading your geometry tests. If you got below an 85 you will have to spend your lunch hour with me looking over your tests. I will tell you this now, only 17% of you got over an 85. They were the most unpredictable grades I could have imagined!"
"Oh, great!" Someone in the front mutters.
"I also want to announce a new event our school will be holding. An Arithmetic Bee. There will be more information on it in the school newspaper."
Finally Mr. Frazzluck calls my name. I grab my test expecting a good grade, but when I open my notebook I see a 110% sprawled across the paper in red ink.