Post by e on Jan 7, 2017 3:26:29 GMT -6
I
If the sin of angle theta is equal to √2 and the tan of angle theta is 1, how many degrees is angle theta?
45.
Special right triangles. Really a simple concept, but it's one of the things I see a lot of people having trouble with on standardized tests. Regardless, it was the last question, so I got up and turned my paper in to the substitute teacher we had for the day. I sat back down and put my head on my desk, knowing I had a long wait until everyone else finished. Some unspecified amount of time later, I heard our sub ask if everyone was done. No one spoke up, so the class immediately started conversing among one another. I hadn't even put my head back up before I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"Did you mark up our music?" I heard a voice ask. I didn't even put my head up.
"Yeah." Came my voice, muffled by my hands.
"All the movements or just the second one?"
At that point I drew my head up to look at her. I blinked hard several times due to the light and shook my head. Propping my head in my right hand, I turned to my left to look at her. She was sitting on top of the desk next to mine with her legs crossed. She pushed her glasses up while she waited for an answer. "We're only playing the second one."
"Oh. Right. I knew that." Brooke obviously didn't, but pretended like she did anyways, as usual.
I've known Brookyln Reis for as long as I can remember. Since Kindergarten at the very least, she's been questioning my every move and making sure I never stop being self conscious. We went to the same elementary school, went to the same middle school, and now the same high school. Really, calling us friends is somewhat misleading. I honestly think there should be another term for people who have been friends for such a large part of their life that they feel like just another part of every day. Like a third kidney or second liver. Some people might say that's what the title of "Best Friend" is for, but you'd have to hold me at gunpoint before I every called Brooke my best friend out loud. Even if I wanted to escape her, I couldn't. She's my stand partner. She'd be a much better cellist than me if she applied herself, but I don't think that's ever going to happen. Now, before anyone goes all "Harry Met Sally" on me, no, I don't think I will ever think of Brooke as anything more than whatever she is right now. I will fully admit that she's become a very pretty girl, but I've never had any feelings towards her stronger than the feelings of annoyance. Of course, rumors have spread before and will undoubtedly spread again, and many people like to take my upfront dismissal of this as 'the lady doth protest too much' but if you got bugged about that as much as I did, you'd realize why I have to put a disclaimer.
Also I'm pretty sure she's gay. Not completely sure, but pretty sure.
If you're wondering why I don't know for sure one way or the other, I direct you to the cross hanging around her neck.
"What did you think of the quiz?" Brooke's question broke me out of my train of thought.
"Easy." I replied.
"I knew you'd say that. I'm really not sure why I asked." She said back to me. "Did you get C for number six?"
"Number six wasn't multiple choice."
"I know that, but the answer was Angle C, right?"
"Dang. I thought I could trick you into thinking your were dumb enough to put C for a free response question."
"Jerk."
"It's just basic trig stuff. It's all review." I explained to her.
"Ben, you were born with many abilities in academia. Math, Essay writing, Music, Reasoning." Brooke listed off skills. I felt kind of weird. I never even get backhanded compliments for her, let alone blatant ones.
"Well, thank y-"
"I was born with other talents. Like a good personality and the ability to make friends." Aaand, there it is.
"Are you going to practice after school today?" I asked her.
"Yeah. Can you give me the music?" She asked me.
"Sure." I reached down under my chair and grabbed the three pieces of paper she needed. "It should all be there. If not you probably won't notice."
"Ha ha." Brooke said dryly to me. After she said it, I looked at the clock. There were still three minutes left in the school day, unfortunately. At this point the day had been long enough, but three more minutes felt like an hour, even if it was just spend talking to Brooke. I was about to put my head back down before someone else entered the room.
Her running shoes squeaked as she came in, but it sure felt like she made an entrance. Oddly enough, I was the only person to really look at her. Her blue eyes scanned the room before they met mine. Generally. this is the part where I frantically look away hoping that whoever I was looking at didn't see me staring at them. This time, however, the girl's expression changed when she saw me, and she immediately began walking towards me. With every step she took closer to me, it felt like my heart rate was going up and I had no idea why. After what felt like longer than it actually was, she was in front of my desk. She held out to me an envelope, and for a second I just stared at it like an idiot.
It took her saying, "This is for you." to snap me out of whatever trance I was it.
"Oh, thanks." I took it and gave her a small smile. She smiled back and left as quickly as she came in. I watched her leave, and right as the door shut behind her, I heard:
"You were staring at her boobs."
"No, I wasn't."
"You probably were." Brooke told me. "You sat there like an idiot all 'hurr durr pretty gurl.'" She gave a mocking 'man voice.' "Don't tell me you have a crush on her. You do know just who she is, right?"
"Yes, I know who Emma Vendler is, Brooke." Ben said. "No, I do not have a crush on her. I just always get this weird feeling when she's around."
"That's the butterflies, Ben." Brooke poked me and gave a mischievous smile.
"Not that! It's just... nevermind, you wouldn't get it." I gave up on trying to explain it. I've always had this weird feeling towards Miss Student Council Vice President Emma Vendler. Cheerleader, Honor Student, good looking, there just wasn't much to dislike about her other than for reasons of pure envy. She's always had this sort of aura that she carries with her due to her sheer presence. I don't know whether it's simply presence, intimidation, or both, but you can almost feel when she's around. Brooke's never seemed to have felt it, but I sure have. I looked back down at the envelope she had given me and looked it over. There were no markings on the outside. It was just an average, everyday white envelope. Despite how curious I was to what was inside, I stuck it in my backpack to open later. I didn't want to have to open it around Brooke, honestly, even though it was probably some bulk letter thing. Emma's got Leadership class this hour as far as I know, so handing out these things is just a part of her normal school day.
Three minutes faded into nothing as the final bell rang. Everyone in the class immediately stood up, just as ready as I was to get the hell out of here.
"So I'll see you in a few hours?" Brooke said to me.
"Unfortunately yes." I told her.
"Lies. I know you'll be looking forward to it." She said. "You like playing the cello, right?"
"Do you know how classical conditioning works?" I said to her. She hit me on the arm.
"Yeah. If I hit you every time you say something mean, you'll stop being mean." Was her response.
"That's not at all how that works."
"Well, looks like we're going to find out." We exited the classroom and headed down the central stairs. When we got to the bottom, she went the opposite way to her locker, giving me a, "Later nerd!" as a goodbye.
I branched off the other way to walk home and get a few hours of relaxation before the longest rehearsal of my entire life.
If the sin of angle theta is equal to √2 and the tan of angle theta is 1, how many degrees is angle theta?
45.
Special right triangles. Really a simple concept, but it's one of the things I see a lot of people having trouble with on standardized tests. Regardless, it was the last question, so I got up and turned my paper in to the substitute teacher we had for the day. I sat back down and put my head on my desk, knowing I had a long wait until everyone else finished. Some unspecified amount of time later, I heard our sub ask if everyone was done. No one spoke up, so the class immediately started conversing among one another. I hadn't even put my head back up before I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"Did you mark up our music?" I heard a voice ask. I didn't even put my head up.
"Yeah." Came my voice, muffled by my hands.
"All the movements or just the second one?"
At that point I drew my head up to look at her. I blinked hard several times due to the light and shook my head. Propping my head in my right hand, I turned to my left to look at her. She was sitting on top of the desk next to mine with her legs crossed. She pushed her glasses up while she waited for an answer. "We're only playing the second one."
"Oh. Right. I knew that." Brooke obviously didn't, but pretended like she did anyways, as usual.
I've known Brookyln Reis for as long as I can remember. Since Kindergarten at the very least, she's been questioning my every move and making sure I never stop being self conscious. We went to the same elementary school, went to the same middle school, and now the same high school. Really, calling us friends is somewhat misleading. I honestly think there should be another term for people who have been friends for such a large part of their life that they feel like just another part of every day. Like a third kidney or second liver. Some people might say that's what the title of "Best Friend" is for, but you'd have to hold me at gunpoint before I every called Brooke my best friend out loud. Even if I wanted to escape her, I couldn't. She's my stand partner. She'd be a much better cellist than me if she applied herself, but I don't think that's ever going to happen. Now, before anyone goes all "Harry Met Sally" on me, no, I don't think I will ever think of Brooke as anything more than whatever she is right now. I will fully admit that she's become a very pretty girl, but I've never had any feelings towards her stronger than the feelings of annoyance. Of course, rumors have spread before and will undoubtedly spread again, and many people like to take my upfront dismissal of this as 'the lady doth protest too much' but if you got bugged about that as much as I did, you'd realize why I have to put a disclaimer.
Also I'm pretty sure she's gay. Not completely sure, but pretty sure.
If you're wondering why I don't know for sure one way or the other, I direct you to the cross hanging around her neck.
"What did you think of the quiz?" Brooke's question broke me out of my train of thought.
"Easy." I replied.
"I knew you'd say that. I'm really not sure why I asked." She said back to me. "Did you get C for number six?"
"Number six wasn't multiple choice."
"I know that, but the answer was Angle C, right?"
"Dang. I thought I could trick you into thinking your were dumb enough to put C for a free response question."
"Jerk."
"It's just basic trig stuff. It's all review." I explained to her.
"Ben, you were born with many abilities in academia. Math, Essay writing, Music, Reasoning." Brooke listed off skills. I felt kind of weird. I never even get backhanded compliments for her, let alone blatant ones.
"Well, thank y-"
"I was born with other talents. Like a good personality and the ability to make friends." Aaand, there it is.
"Are you going to practice after school today?" I asked her.
"Yeah. Can you give me the music?" She asked me.
"Sure." I reached down under my chair and grabbed the three pieces of paper she needed. "It should all be there. If not you probably won't notice."
"Ha ha." Brooke said dryly to me. After she said it, I looked at the clock. There were still three minutes left in the school day, unfortunately. At this point the day had been long enough, but three more minutes felt like an hour, even if it was just spend talking to Brooke. I was about to put my head back down before someone else entered the room.
Her running shoes squeaked as she came in, but it sure felt like she made an entrance. Oddly enough, I was the only person to really look at her. Her blue eyes scanned the room before they met mine. Generally. this is the part where I frantically look away hoping that whoever I was looking at didn't see me staring at them. This time, however, the girl's expression changed when she saw me, and she immediately began walking towards me. With every step she took closer to me, it felt like my heart rate was going up and I had no idea why. After what felt like longer than it actually was, she was in front of my desk. She held out to me an envelope, and for a second I just stared at it like an idiot.
It took her saying, "This is for you." to snap me out of whatever trance I was it.
"Oh, thanks." I took it and gave her a small smile. She smiled back and left as quickly as she came in. I watched her leave, and right as the door shut behind her, I heard:
"You were staring at her boobs."
"No, I wasn't."
"You probably were." Brooke told me. "You sat there like an idiot all 'hurr durr pretty gurl.'" She gave a mocking 'man voice.' "Don't tell me you have a crush on her. You do know just who she is, right?"
"Yes, I know who Emma Vendler is, Brooke." Ben said. "No, I do not have a crush on her. I just always get this weird feeling when she's around."
"That's the butterflies, Ben." Brooke poked me and gave a mischievous smile.
"Not that! It's just... nevermind, you wouldn't get it." I gave up on trying to explain it. I've always had this weird feeling towards Miss Student Council Vice President Emma Vendler. Cheerleader, Honor Student, good looking, there just wasn't much to dislike about her other than for reasons of pure envy. She's always had this sort of aura that she carries with her due to her sheer presence. I don't know whether it's simply presence, intimidation, or both, but you can almost feel when she's around. Brooke's never seemed to have felt it, but I sure have. I looked back down at the envelope she had given me and looked it over. There were no markings on the outside. It was just an average, everyday white envelope. Despite how curious I was to what was inside, I stuck it in my backpack to open later. I didn't want to have to open it around Brooke, honestly, even though it was probably some bulk letter thing. Emma's got Leadership class this hour as far as I know, so handing out these things is just a part of her normal school day.
Three minutes faded into nothing as the final bell rang. Everyone in the class immediately stood up, just as ready as I was to get the hell out of here.
"So I'll see you in a few hours?" Brooke said to me.
"Unfortunately yes." I told her.
"Lies. I know you'll be looking forward to it." She said. "You like playing the cello, right?"
"Do you know how classical conditioning works?" I said to her. She hit me on the arm.
"Yeah. If I hit you every time you say something mean, you'll stop being mean." Was her response.
"That's not at all how that works."
"Well, looks like we're going to find out." We exited the classroom and headed down the central stairs. When we got to the bottom, she went the opposite way to her locker, giving me a, "Later nerd!" as a goodbye.
I branched off the other way to walk home and get a few hours of relaxation before the longest rehearsal of my entire life.