1_5_Math

Digital_Hex- - - - - - - -A fan-fiction by Digital_Hex

Chapter 5

        Turns out I actually had the next class with the mare. Imagine that.

        Immediately after I'd stepped back into Equestrian History, the bell rang.

        “And don't forget, we start chapter one next monday!” Mrs. Victory sand out as the students rose to leave. I waited patiently by the door, preferring not to be stepped on and trampled over.

        As the last few students left, I attempted to edge my way in through a gap. I was then shoulder-checked by a bulky black stallion wearing a cocky grin.

        “Oops, sorry. Didn't see you there, tiny,” he growled, laughing at his own stupid joke.

        Yeah, I totally believed it was an accident. Like, totally...

        I simply bit down a smart retort and stepped aside, letting him pass. I made eye contact with him, and I swear I felt the unbridled rage sear through my mind. He wasn't just rude, he was seriously pissed off at the world. Why, I had no idea; still, I made a mental note to avoid this guy at all costs from here on out.

        As the last few students cleared out, I passed Raindrops and Lemon Hearts, who were having a highly animated conversation with Lug. They didn't even notice me as we crossed paths. Not like I wasn't used to being noticed...

        I approached Mrs. Victory's desk. “Ah, Digital Hex!” she said with a big smile.

        I did a double take. Was she seriously happy?! Last time I'd seen her, I was expecting her to start foaming at the mouth and tear somepony's head off! That was an exaggeration, of course, but the point still stood. She had some serious mood swings.

        “You sure were gone a while,” she said as she eyed me suspiciously. “Is everything all right?”

        “It's Digit,” I said, “And yes, everything was fine. Mrs. Dread just wanted to check over my schedule with me.”

        I wasn't trying to be disrespectful, I was trying to be direct. However, after I corrected her on my name, she suddenly took on a rather hurt expression.

        “Oh, I am sorry, Digit,” she said a little too apologetically. She let her fake apology hang in the air, daring me to speak next.

        I took her challenge.

        “It's alright,” I said. “Actually, I was wondering when you wanted me to remake the quiz we took. I left right before it, so...” I trailed off.

        Happy Victory was back, all traces of her fake butt-hurtness long gone.

        “Oh, we didn't actually take a quiz!” she said, grinning ear-to-creepy-ear.

        “You... didn't?” I didn't believe her. This had to have been a ploy.

        “Nope!” she exclaimed, refusing to lose her excessive level of smile.

        “So then... did I miss anything?” I asked her. She shook her head 'no'. Again, she continued to wear that freaking creepy smile. There was something seriously wrong with her.

        “Okay then...” I began backing out of the classroom, cracking under the pressure of her never-ending gaze. If I could have felt any smaller than I normally was, I probably would have.

        “Good-bye,” I said as I stepped out the door.

        I breathed a sigh of relief. I wouldn't have to deal with her again-

        I froze up in fear.

        “Oh, no...” I whispered to myself.

        I had her for fourth period. Fourth period was the only class we had every day. I would have to deal with her EVERY DAY OF SCHOOL...

        I cried on the inside as I trotted dejectedly to my next class, math. At least math was one of my better classes.

        I rounded the bend of the hallway, and ran straight into her. My head clunked against hers as we both fell back, rubbing our noggins. I was about to yell an obscenity towards her until I realized it was her. The short mare from earlier. Her violin case was still slung over her back like a massive scabbard.

        I received an evil glare from her as she returned to her hooves, still rubbing her head. She didn't say anything to me, just stared me down before turning hoof and trotting into the classroom before her.

        The ice was thick in my veins as I rose to my own hooves, looking at the signs on the doors around me. I was searching for room 305.

        My heart soared and dropped simultaneously when I found it. It was the same room the mare had just went in to. Giddily, I scurried in, ready for the class.

I need to apologize for running into her, I told myself. Surely she would at least say something if I were to apologize.

        As I took in the room, I couldn't believe my contacts. There was only a minute left before the bell rang for third period, and there was only four other students in the class. Sure, the room was only half the size of the other room,s and only had one large window next to the whiteboard, but the room could have easily held between ten to twelve students comfortably.

        All of my qualms with the small class size vanished as I found her amongst the four students. She was in the front row, all the way to the left. There was twelve desks set up in four columns. The first line of desks, the front row, had three desks, as every consequential row did as well. That meant that surely the three smartest ponies would be the ones in the front row, right?

        Well, as I took in the students in the class, I had trouble understanding the situation.

        The other three students were sitting on the desks in the third and fourth rows, talking amongst themselves. One was a nerdy-looking male yellow earth pony with a darker shade of yellow in his mane. He had glasses and dark freckles, as well as a bowl-cut. A BOWL CUT. Yeah, he had the whole she-bang. Insta-nerded.

        The other two must have been twins. They were a soft shade of violet, with yellow and purple manes. They had the exact same cutie marks, even: a crossed pair of checkered flags. I honestly had no idea what they could have been. Trophy girls for all the jocks at school, perhaps? No, that was a rather demeaning judgment. I really didn't care, though.

        But there was the mare from earlier, seated in the front row. Destiny was calling my name. I trotted over to the middle seat of the front row, casually sliding into it and glancing her way.

        It was do-or-die time. Game on.

        “Hey,” I said as kindly as one could say hey, “sorry for running into you earlier.”

        There, I'd done it. I'd apologized. The words tasted like vinegar, but for some reason, I felt... relieved? Huh, maybe I was actually glad I apologized. The adrenaline rush that flooded into me was nice and all, but I still wasn't a big fan of the whole 'apology' thing. This was not going to become a habit.

        She just stared forward, completely ignoring me.

        I felt a blood vessel in my forehead inflame.

        Damnit mare, I'd just done the impossible and given you an apology! And what do you do?! You don't even pay me any attention. Disgraceful little-

        I took a calming breath, leveling my head out.

Maybe, just maybe, she wasn't ignoring you and actually hadn't heard you. It was possible she was actually that thick, right?

        “Hey?” I asked her, hoping she would answer.

        She didn't.

        I was about to start fuming when I realized something. Normally when somepony was ignoring me, they showed visible signs that they were trying not to pay me any attention. I always at least had them flick their eyes my way, something I was pretty sure was a natural response to hearing something. She hadn't even done that. It was almost as if she hadn't heard me at all...

        Then I noticed the thin white wire leading from beneath her mane to her bag hanging off the back of her seat. She had earphones in.

        She really hadn't heard me. I smirked slightly before taking a deep breath and gently prodding her side with a hoof.

        She must have jumped a foot and a half up in shock.

        She turned her head to me as she tore out her right earpiece, raising an eyebrow at me. There wasn't anger on her face, it was more like she was expecting me to say something. She said nothing. I assumed she was the type who tries to remain calm, waiting for me to explain myself. Fair enough.

        “Oh, sorry for running into you outside the classroom, it was an accident,” I said, letting out a nervous chuckle at the end. She lowered her eyebrow but other than that, had no further reaction to what I'd said.

        “I'm Digital Hex, Digit for short. What's your name?”

        Okay, me talking to somepony on my own accord and with no initial prompt was a rare sight. Me instigating a conversation and giving out my name was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. This mare was quite a lucky gal. I swallowed nervously, waiting for her to say something in response.

        I waited until the bell rang, and then she returned her gaze to the front of the class, whipping her head back in a rather irritated fashion. It might have been my imagination, but I think I saw the faintest tinge of pink on her face as she scowled forward.

        “Hello class,” an orange stallion said as he closed the door behind us.

        “I'm Mr. Six, your teacher this-” I think I heard his breathing stop as he saw just how few students were in his class.

        “year...” he finished.

        He trotted along the isle on the right side of the desks, using his magic to pick up a marker and write his name at the top of the whiteboard.

        “I wasn't informed I'd have this few students,” he muttered quite audibly as he turned to face us. I noticed he had a pair of thick, boxy glasses perched on his muzzle. He levitated a clipboard and pen over to himself, clicking the pen as he did so.

        “Alright,” he said, “let's see who we have this year...”

        He glanced at the list before he cleared his throat.

        “Autumn Crisp?”

        The nerdy-looking colt responded with a surprisingly deep, “Here.”

        Mr. Six flicked his pen, then moved on to the next name.

        “Digital Hex?”

        My turn.

        “It's Digit, sir.”

        Hey, I did NOT want to be called Hex any more. I may not have really shown it, but I didn't like that name, even when Raindrops called me it. Granted, she was the only one who called me that, but still... It just wasn't me, you know? Of course you don't know, but that isn't the point here.

        “Alright,” he said, not missing a beat as he scratched out my name and, from what I assumed, wrote in Digit. He then flicked the pen next to my name, marking me here.

        “Sun Blink and Sun Breeze?”

        The twins both said, “Here,” at the same time. It was honestly a little creepy, how they both responded perfectly in-synch. Or, maybe I just found a lot of stuff creepy. Hard to tell sometimes.

        Finally, Mr. Six got to the mystery mare's name. It actually took a little bit of conscious thought to realize she was the only one who hadn't been called yet, and I sat at the edge of my seat, waiting for Mr. Six to call her name.

        “White Cross?”

        She raised her hoof calmly and evenly, almost as if she'd been practicing doing so for awhile.

        The final flick went across Mr. Six's roll sheet. Everypony was here. White Cross's hoof went back down, again just as fluidly as it had been raised.

        “Alright class,” he said as he trotted over to his desk, swapping his clipboard for a small stack of papers.

What are those, I dreaded instantly. Those aren't quizzes, aren't they? I'm not bad at math, but I haven't even studied! Oh no, what if I fail, I'll look like a complete idiot-

        I cut myself off.

Who cares if you look like an idiot? It's not like any of these ponies actually matter, especially not their opinion.

Yeah, I began countering myself, but what if White Cross thinks I'm stupid? That matters!

        I then had quite a revelation.

How? You don't even know her, and she definitely doesn't know you.

        I took a reassuring breath as Mr. Six placed a copy of the paper on my desk, face-down. I was back in control. There was no need to worry.

        “Let's start off with a little quiz. These questions are going to be a little difficult for some-” he stopped, probably remembering how 'some' would actually be 'most' of the class, considering the general lack of students.

        “Okay, it's going to be a little more difficult than you'd expect for a quiz at the beginning of the year, but don't worry about it. This isn't graded, so don't be too upset if you don't do well on it. This is just a quick check to see how far you are and how advanced some of you are.”

        With that said, he looked up at the clock above his desk.

        “You have the next thirty minutes to work on the quiz. You may begin.”

        I flipped over my quiz and hastily scribbled my name at the top of the paper, moving on to the first question.

        It was an algebra question, simple. Next question was a geometry question, still easy.

        Then it got a little tricky. I recognized the third question as an Institute-level calculus problem. It took me a moment, but then I had it solved. From there on, they were all similar to question three.

        All of them were based around the same root problem, but they had different modifiers and factors in play. Some of them were almost the same exact problem, half a page separate, but had completely different functions.

        Seven minutes later, all twenty questions were finished. A single bead of sweat rolled down my forehead, my heart beating joyfully. It had been a good quiz, it really had me thinking. While the questions hadn't been too challenging, they were clever. I had a sudden respect for Mr. Six; he might make a pretty good teacher yet.

        I rose to my hooves, grabbing my test as I did so. I suddenly felt everypony's eyes on me, freezing me in place.

        Oh, heavens no...

        I was the only one done. I was screaming on the inside.

The questions were tricky, I'll admit that, but I even went back and checked my work! I can't be the only onedone!

        Even with my sound logic, however, the fact still stood: I was the only one done.

        I tried to trot over as casually as I could to Mr. Six's desk.

        When I reached his desk, he wore a slightly amused look on his face.

        “Did you get stumped on a question?” he asked as he magically took hold of my paper, bringing it up to his glasses.

        “Let me guess, number 14-” he had his chance to freeze as his eyes went wide. I saw him look over my paper again, then scan over it one more time. His look then changed from one of surprise to that of impressed. He scratched a 100 on the top and levitated it back.

        “Good job, Digit. Good job...” he said, letting his gaze wander off.

        I hid a satisfied smirk as I turned around. I was glad I did.

        The three ponies in the back of the room were staring me down, outraged glares plastered on their faces. Their manes were a mess from them running a hoof through them, and all of them were bright-red in the face. They were actually having trouble with the quiz. I chuckled to myself as I returned to my seat. White Cross hadn't even thrown me a look the entire time.

        I sat there for about two minutes before White Cross rose from her own seat.

        “Oh come ON!” Autumn Crisp yelled, his voice clearly cracking.

        I could sense White Cross visibly choking back a giggle at his reaction as she had her paper graded by Mr. Six. He smiled as he returned it to her. I got a quick peek at the 90 scrawled across the top. So, she was smart, too? I smiled as well as she sat back down in her seat.

        I rose an eyebrow as I reached over and extended a hoof out to her.

        She looked a little taken aback as she focused between my face and my hoof, before snapping her attention back to the front. She put her earphones back in, slightly bobbing her head to the music she was listening to.

        I calmly brought my hoof back to me.

So, that's how she is? I thought to myself.

        Challenge-

Accepted.