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Aug. 5th, 2016 10:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fry_sandhuOkay, so as crazy schemes go, pretending to be a thirty-year-old man in a seven-year-old's body (which Mum said, after all, so it was clearly something he could quote) to get onto an adult skills taster course has been one of the weirdest that Fry has got himself into. The weirdest thing being that nobody actually questioned his story, and seemed to tell each other that he was the guy with Nosmo King syndrome.
He had a pretty good time for the first few days. While his sisters were in Library club, he picked up a Level 1 Food Hygiene Certificate (100% on the test - easy peasy), a Fire Safety In the Home Certificate (also 100%), took a beginner's hairdressing morning, learned basic cake decoration (which gave him something handy to show Mum), and took a class on sign language (though he knew a fair bit already). All the courses were designed either to teach you something useful in a day, or to entice people to come and study the full course in September.
"You seem pretty good at stuff." a girl with gothic clothing and a lot of piercings comments, sitting down next to him in the next class - 'Introduction to Foundation Maths'. "How come you're here?"
"I don't have any qualifications." Fry says, determined not to say any more things-that-are-not-entirely-true. "How about you?"
"Me neither. I didn't really go to school the last few years, I was bullied a lot..." the girl shrugs. "So I just bummed around. Now I've got no GCSEs, and even retail jobs ask you if you've got maths." She sighs. "I'm Bexi, what's your name?"
"My name is Alexander Jefry Sandhu but I like to be called Fry." Fry says. "Is this class for people who don't have a GCSE in maths?"
"Yeah." Bexi looks over at the next girl. "We all flunked, didn't we?"
"Yeah, I got pregnant." the next girl along says, "She's just turned one, she's so sweet. I don't regret her for anything, but I really need to get some qualifications now."
"My parents divorced a few years back." a boy chips in. "I just lost interest in school."
"I'm just not very good at maths. Or anything." the next boy says, looking at the table.
They all glance along to the last boy on the row. He looks up shyly.
"I was straight A student, back in my home country." he says. "My school was bombed. I come here last year, as refugee, on my own, I speak no English then. Now I want to get my exams."
Fry suddenly feels uncomfortable. These guys are assuming he's been through some sort of misfortune, but he's an impostor, someone who will breeze through his maths GCSE (probably ridiculously early). He thinks about getting up and leaving the class, but the instructor is already passing around the 'What level are you at' informal test, to see if this would be a class they would want to take in the autumn.
Once they're done, the teacher gets them to mark their own answers. He gets 94%. He wonders whether he ought to hide it, but Bexi has looked over and is congratulating him.
The teacher comes up behind him and takes a look at the paper.
"Nice work. You'd be too advanced for Foundation Maths, you could probably start GCSE work."
"What are those sums with letters in?" Fry asks.
"Oh, that's algebra." the teacher says. "You'd need to cover that too. Come and see me after if you want to sign up to the GCSE class."
Hm, probably too far. Fry slips out of the class at the end, wondering if now is the time to fess up.
***
Meanwhile, in the library, three brothers are sitting on one of the bookcases debating how to liven up Library Club, which so far has not served to entertain them either.
"Hey." Robbie, the 9-year-old ringleader says. "Whatever happened to that kid who told us all to be quiet on the first day? I haven't seen him at any of the activities."
"Who cares?" 8-year-old Jayden asks.
"Yeah, I thought we'd get stuck with him all week." 7-year-old Evan says. "Good riddance."
Robbie apparently appears unsatisfied. He looks around the room until he spots Coral and Brooke, then yells out to them.
"Hey, Fatty and Stick Insect, where's your brother?"
Coral glares at them indignantly. "Don't call us that."
"Where's your brother?" Robbie repeats.
"He's busy in the community centre." Coral says. "He wasn't happy in library club because it was too loud."
Robbie snorts, then takes his brothers out of the library.
"Do you think they're going to look for him?" Coral asks Brooke, looking a bit worried.
"Maybe." Brooke says. Then, "Coral, why did that boy call me Fatty? Am I fat?"
Coral looks at Brooke. The resentment she's felt over the last few weeks about her little sister growing taller than her melts away suddenly.
"I'm not sure. You're fatter than me, but you're taller than me, so maybe, but I don't think it matters if you are. You're powerful, like She-Hulk. Shall we go and rescue Fry?"
***
"Oh my God!" Robbie laughs, coming up to Fry and looking at the badge he has pinned to his front. "Adult education classes? You freak!"
Jayden and Evan laugh along with him. Robbie continues.
"You think you're so big and grown up? Those classes are for retards!" he laughs.
"They're not retards." Fry glares. "They're cool. There's this one guy, he's a refugee and..."
"Refugee? My dad says they're just scroungers." Robbie says. "He said..."
"Nobody cares what your dad said, why don't you push off back to library club?" Fry says. "You racist sack of horse manure."
There is a sudden movement, as Robbie hits him in the face, then his two brothers shove him into the boys toilets before he has so much as time to yell.
"You know something?" Robbie says, menacingly. "I bet nobody knows where you are."
But the door opens behind them, and Fry looks past Robbie to see Coral and Brooke watching him. He feels a wave of panic, an urge to protect his sisters.
"You bet wrong." Coral says.
"And we are going to kick your bum." Brooke says.
"We might be small, but we all know martial arts." Coral says. "So put him down and bog off."
The brothers stare at the Sandhu siblings, and burst out laughing. Which is enough time for Fry to break out of Robbie's hold, spin him round and pin him to the ground. By the time Evan and Jayden realise what's going on, Coral and Brooke are doing much the same. And next thing they know, they have all three bigger boys struggling on the floor.
"Um, Fry?" Coral asks. "What do we do when we let go?"
"We, er, run!" Fry says, and they bolt out of the toilets, running down towards the canteen.
"Where?" Brooke asks.
"I don't know. Just follow me!" Fry says.
"Woah, where's the fire?" Bexi asks, as the three kids nearly bump into her.
"Bexi! I'm not thirty, I'm seven, and these are my sisters, and we're in trouble!" Fry gasps.
The three brothers skid around the corner, and stop when they see Bexi.
"They called you all retarded and Fry stuck up for you." Coral says. "We heard him."
"Did they huh?" Bexi steps towards the three brothers, her piercings jingling and her boots heavy, and cracks her knuckles. "Well, I hate bullies."
The brothers make a hasty exit. Bexi turns back to Fry.
"Look, kid." she says. "Take some advice. Just because you can pull something off, doesn't mean it's a good idea."
Fry watches her go.
"We best go tell the librarian." he says. "I'll tell Dad tonight."
He had a pretty good time for the first few days. While his sisters were in Library club, he picked up a Level 1 Food Hygiene Certificate (100% on the test - easy peasy), a Fire Safety In the Home Certificate (also 100%), took a beginner's hairdressing morning, learned basic cake decoration (which gave him something handy to show Mum), and took a class on sign language (though he knew a fair bit already). All the courses were designed either to teach you something useful in a day, or to entice people to come and study the full course in September.
"You seem pretty good at stuff." a girl with gothic clothing and a lot of piercings comments, sitting down next to him in the next class - 'Introduction to Foundation Maths'. "How come you're here?"
"I don't have any qualifications." Fry says, determined not to say any more things-that-are-not-entirely-true. "How about you?"
"Me neither. I didn't really go to school the last few years, I was bullied a lot..." the girl shrugs. "So I just bummed around. Now I've got no GCSEs, and even retail jobs ask you if you've got maths." She sighs. "I'm Bexi, what's your name?"
"My name is Alexander Jefry Sandhu but I like to be called Fry." Fry says. "Is this class for people who don't have a GCSE in maths?"
"Yeah." Bexi looks over at the next girl. "We all flunked, didn't we?"
"Yeah, I got pregnant." the next girl along says, "She's just turned one, she's so sweet. I don't regret her for anything, but I really need to get some qualifications now."
"My parents divorced a few years back." a boy chips in. "I just lost interest in school."
"I'm just not very good at maths. Or anything." the next boy says, looking at the table.
They all glance along to the last boy on the row. He looks up shyly.
"I was straight A student, back in my home country." he says. "My school was bombed. I come here last year, as refugee, on my own, I speak no English then. Now I want to get my exams."
Fry suddenly feels uncomfortable. These guys are assuming he's been through some sort of misfortune, but he's an impostor, someone who will breeze through his maths GCSE (probably ridiculously early). He thinks about getting up and leaving the class, but the instructor is already passing around the 'What level are you at' informal test, to see if this would be a class they would want to take in the autumn.
Once they're done, the teacher gets them to mark their own answers. He gets 94%. He wonders whether he ought to hide it, but Bexi has looked over and is congratulating him.
The teacher comes up behind him and takes a look at the paper.
"Nice work. You'd be too advanced for Foundation Maths, you could probably start GCSE work."
"What are those sums with letters in?" Fry asks.
"Oh, that's algebra." the teacher says. "You'd need to cover that too. Come and see me after if you want to sign up to the GCSE class."
Hm, probably too far. Fry slips out of the class at the end, wondering if now is the time to fess up.
***
Meanwhile, in the library, three brothers are sitting on one of the bookcases debating how to liven up Library Club, which so far has not served to entertain them either.
"Hey." Robbie, the 9-year-old ringleader says. "Whatever happened to that kid who told us all to be quiet on the first day? I haven't seen him at any of the activities."
"Who cares?" 8-year-old Jayden asks.
"Yeah, I thought we'd get stuck with him all week." 7-year-old Evan says. "Good riddance."
Robbie apparently appears unsatisfied. He looks around the room until he spots Coral and Brooke, then yells out to them.
"Hey, Fatty and Stick Insect, where's your brother?"
Coral glares at them indignantly. "Don't call us that."
"Where's your brother?" Robbie repeats.
"He's busy in the community centre." Coral says. "He wasn't happy in library club because it was too loud."
Robbie snorts, then takes his brothers out of the library.
"Do you think they're going to look for him?" Coral asks Brooke, looking a bit worried.
"Maybe." Brooke says. Then, "Coral, why did that boy call me Fatty? Am I fat?"
Coral looks at Brooke. The resentment she's felt over the last few weeks about her little sister growing taller than her melts away suddenly.
"I'm not sure. You're fatter than me, but you're taller than me, so maybe, but I don't think it matters if you are. You're powerful, like She-Hulk. Shall we go and rescue Fry?"
***
"Oh my God!" Robbie laughs, coming up to Fry and looking at the badge he has pinned to his front. "Adult education classes? You freak!"
Jayden and Evan laugh along with him. Robbie continues.
"You think you're so big and grown up? Those classes are for retards!" he laughs.
"They're not retards." Fry glares. "They're cool. There's this one guy, he's a refugee and..."
"Refugee? My dad says they're just scroungers." Robbie says. "He said..."
"Nobody cares what your dad said, why don't you push off back to library club?" Fry says. "You racist sack of horse manure."
There is a sudden movement, as Robbie hits him in the face, then his two brothers shove him into the boys toilets before he has so much as time to yell.
"You know something?" Robbie says, menacingly. "I bet nobody knows where you are."
But the door opens behind them, and Fry looks past Robbie to see Coral and Brooke watching him. He feels a wave of panic, an urge to protect his sisters.
"You bet wrong." Coral says.
"And we are going to kick your bum." Brooke says.
"We might be small, but we all know martial arts." Coral says. "So put him down and bog off."
The brothers stare at the Sandhu siblings, and burst out laughing. Which is enough time for Fry to break out of Robbie's hold, spin him round and pin him to the ground. By the time Evan and Jayden realise what's going on, Coral and Brooke are doing much the same. And next thing they know, they have all three bigger boys struggling on the floor.
"Um, Fry?" Coral asks. "What do we do when we let go?"
"We, er, run!" Fry says, and they bolt out of the toilets, running down towards the canteen.
"Where?" Brooke asks.
"I don't know. Just follow me!" Fry says.
"Woah, where's the fire?" Bexi asks, as the three kids nearly bump into her.
"Bexi! I'm not thirty, I'm seven, and these are my sisters, and we're in trouble!" Fry gasps.
The three brothers skid around the corner, and stop when they see Bexi.
"They called you all retarded and Fry stuck up for you." Coral says. "We heard him."
"Did they huh?" Bexi steps towards the three brothers, her piercings jingling and her boots heavy, and cracks her knuckles. "Well, I hate bullies."
The brothers make a hasty exit. Bexi turns back to Fry.
"Look, kid." she says. "Take some advice. Just because you can pull something off, doesn't mean it's a good idea."
Fry watches her go.
"We best go tell the librarian." he says. "I'll tell Dad tonight."
