A Duel of Wits, Part Three

Part Three of A Duel of Wits.

I finally was able to get internet access when I had my computer. Hoorah for taking the laptop down to campus and getting wi-fi at the library!!! So, here you go and I hope you enjoy this. =)

Part One // Part Two

Rated: G

Candace could have kicked herself in the shins for being that wrong. Nearly four and a half hours later, she walked into the staff break room with the sandwich she’d just purchased from the cafeteria. The rest of her morning had been unusually uneventful, other than having to warn Katie Myst and Ronald Flinn to stop talking during class. Come to think of it, even Emiko Takahashi had been more than well-behaved during class. As she entered the lounge, she spotted Shaun Ackerman conversing with Laura Clarkson and Hugh Avery in hushed tones. Not far away, Josiah Alton, the once biology teacher and now administrator, ate his lunch – a cup of soup – in determined silence.

Upon seeing Candace, Josiah motioned over towards her. Relieved to not feel compelled to enter into whatever gossip Laura was spreading, Candace took the seat next to Alton. After a moment of silence, she began to eat her lunch.

“Did you hear what Takahashi’s been planning?” The question from Josiah came as Candace took the first bite of her sandwich. The slightly older administrator smiled. “Go ahead and finish before you answer.”

It took a moment for Candace to swallow the bite she’d just taken. “I take it that you’ve talked to Peter about it?” When Josiah nodded, Candace continued, her voice indignant. “He’s just about the most selfish, arrogant jerk who’s ever lived and I don’t think he cares about anyone else, even that brat of a daughter of his!” In all truth, her heart ached for Emiko, but she refused to admit that aloud. The sophomore caused way more problems in classes than any other student.

Josiah set his soup spoon down and frowned slightly. “Have you talked to Sharpe yet?” There was a short pause. “He has just as much experience and rank as Shaun does and Peter seems to hold him in high esteem.”

Candace shook her head. “Peter said not to, so no.” The clipped tone of her voice told Alton that there was more to her words than she was saying. “And I don’t think he’ll be at the staff meeting later, either.” As succinctly as she could, she told Alton what had happened earlier.

“Unless Peter has something to say that Jedediah hasn’t heard before, I really doubt there’s any reason for him to attend the meeting, other than to help keep the peace.” A grim smirk played across Alton’s face and Candace noticed that Josiah was probably just about the only person she’d ever met who used Sharpe’s first name.

“To keep the peace,” Candace echoed. “If things go how I think they might, you’ll probably be the one doing most of that.” She glanced over at Hugh Avery, making eye contact with the pre-calculus teacher for a short moment before turning back to Alton. “You know most of the staff does not agree with either of us, but I doubt they would want the school closing, either.” She dropped the level of her voice down to a low whisper in an attempt to avoid being overheard. Avery glanced over in their direction, but continued in his own conversation.

Josiah nodded. “Becky already promised she’d support whatever decisions I made, provided that I do everything in my power to keep Maplewood operating and I already know where you stand on this... and where Shaun does.” He took a moment to glance over at Ackerman. “Hugh’s likely to go along with whatever Amy decides, as is Laura, though she’s a bit more easily persuaded.”

“And Takahashi’s damn good at getting people to like him.” Bile rose up in Candace’s throat and Avery turned to glance over at them. “And to listen to what he has to say.” She didn’t feel the need to explain herself... both she and Josiah had known Tetsuya since he had been a student of theirs and he’d changed very little over the years. In fact, Candace firmly held the belief that few people truly changed through the years, particularly those after a person graduated high school.

“That’s what I’m concerned about,” Josiah replied. “With the exceptions of us, Hugh, Shaun, Jedediah, Helen, Lynn, Anthony and Jason, we have a pretty young staff here. Amy’s still young, but she has a good head on her shoulders, as does Julia. I trust them to make the right decision for the students.” His smirk turned into a frown and he glanced towards Laura once more. She was still talking to Ackerman. Hugh Avery was nowhere to be seen and Alton assumed he left the staff lounge. “The rest... well, I’m not so sure.” He took another few bites of soup. “But it’ll all work out in the end, I suppose.”

“How can you be sure?” Much to Josiah’s chagrin, this question did not come from Candace Pruitt. While Alton and Candace had been speaking in hushed tones, Sharpe had entered the staff lounge and was now standing directly behind where Josiah sat. Hugh Avery took the empty seat on the opposite side of Candace.

“I just know,” Josiah glanced up to make eye contact with Sharpe. “Call it a result of faith; call it wishful thinking; call it whatever you want, but I just know everything will somehow work out. Even if it’s not in the way we expect.” He motioned for Sharpe to take a seat and the Latin teacher obliged and sat down. “How long have you been standing there, anyways?”

“Approximately ten minutes, which was sufficient time for me to know the entire contents of your conversation,” Sharpe admitted after a moment. “I walked in just after Candace mentioned Miss Takahashi.”

“So it’s true then?” Hugh Avery had turned towards Candace, choosing to engage her in conversation instead of actively listen to Sharpe make up a good excuse for eavesdropping. He was sure he’d hear about it later. “Tetsuya’s really trying to close the school down?”

Candace narrowed her eyes at the teacher who had once been one of her students. “Yes, but you’d better keep that voice of yours down,” she hissed. Years of teaching had made her far more imposing as an authority figure; anywhere else she probably would not be heeded, due to her small stature. “Peter doesn’t want anyone to know yet, not even the heads or the senior faculty members.”

Avery frowned. “So I guess I’d better pretend this never happened, eh?” Only the slight twinkle in his blue eyes contradicted his apparent seriousness towards the situation.

Candace gave one brief nod. “Josiah and I are the only ones who should,” here she emphasised this word, “know. However, both you and Sharpe and only God knows who all else do. So you’d best shut that mouth of yours, Avery.” It was rare for Candace to call any of the teachers – other than Sharpe – by surname only.

Sharpe nodded at what Josiah said. “I apologise, but as you know, I have sufficient motivation to be concerned, given the situation and who is involved,” his voice was lower than Candace’s voice had been earlier. “As should everyone else.” He paused for a moment and glanced around the room, his dark eyes settling their attention on the clock. “If you will excuse me, I have a few last-minute preparations I must make before class this afternoon. I must make my apologies that I shall be late to the meeting this afternoon, but Peter should start without me.” With that, he took his leave and exited the lounge.

The older teacher frowned. The scientific part of him was so curious to find out what prior engagements Sharpe had after school that would cause him to miss such an important meeting, but his common sense told him it was a bad idea to ask. If it was meant to be, he’d find out. But first, he had to get through the rest of the afternoon, including an appointment with Amy to meet the new IT manager for the school district.

tbc

A Duel of Wits, Part Two

Go read Part One if you haven't already done so. This is a continuation of the same storyline.

Characters: Sharpe, Michael, Emiko, Fellowship, Candace Pruitt, Peter Screwtape
Rated: G

“What was that all about?” The quiet query came from Tyler Martin and the tall African American boy sat back in his chair and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the black countertop. However, before Michael could answer, Sharpe re-entered the room, followed by an older-looking woman. There was a frown on her face and she was speaking in hushed tones to Sharpe.

“Yes, I am aware of that, Candace,” Sharpe’s voice was equally as quiet and Michael had to strain his ears to pick up even that much of their conversation over the sounds of Katie Myst talking excitedly to Kiran Shasthri, the latter choosing to ignore the perky cheerleader. “You must also remember that I have personal business to which to attend this afternoon.” Absently, he removed a small object from his pocket, gave it one glance and returned it to its original position.

Candace was frowning, her already thin lips pulled into a line. “Not that again, I hope.” Though she was at least a head shorter than Sharpe, her presence was imposing, especially as she glared at him through her spectacles, which were pushed down on the bridge of her nose. “Peter will not be pleased and that will not be beneficial for anyone involved.” She paid little attention to any of the students who were in the classroom, especially since most of them had gone back to their normal activities of passing notes and exchanging answers to the homework for Ackerman’s history class.

Sharpe nodded. “I understand, but I have obligations at four o’clock this afternoon.”

“What time will they be done?” Candace tapped her foot against the tiled floor a few times, an old habit of hers that she’d picked up from her roommate at university. Or maybe Priya had picked the habit up from her; Candace didn’t know and right now, it was not important.

The younger of the two shrugged. “I do not know,” he replied simply, his dark glance circling around the room before returning to Candace. “But as a teacher, I have given students my word that I will be present if I am needed.” There was an awkward pause and he turned back to face some of his homeroom students, making eye contact for a brief moment with Emiko Takahashi. “They need me more than Peter does. Now, if you will excuse me, we can talk about this later.” With that, he crossed over to the front of the room, leaving Candace standing near the door in the back.

The older woman frowned slightly, then walked out of the room, shaking her head. Getting Sharpe– and many of the other younger teachers– to come to these meetings was just about as bad as giving Saami (her cat) a bath. But this meeting was something that was absolutely necessary if they were ever going to resolve their differences and figure out how to save the school. A small muscle near the corner of her mouth twitched. Perhaps Maplewood was not meant to be saved, even by her. As Candace thought about it, it made her sad; the further she walked from the small classroom that Sharpe held his classes in, the more she realised that this might be the end of everything. All that she had worked for all these years might come crashing down, just because some of her co-workers were too immature to swallow their pride and just cooperate with one another. No, she could not let that happen. She would not.

Her resolve steadily increased and firmed itself until she walked into the building that held the offices. She searched her memory in an attempt to figure out why Peter was calling this assembly. Did it have something to do with the school board meeting that she had missed the week before? She knew something must have been said– by Testuya Takahashi, no doubt– and the teacher frowned to herself. Tetsuya had been one of her students back when he was in high school and the chemistry teacher was even the least bit surprised to find that the man had not changed. Before, he was the president of the Student Council; now, a politician who had much power over the school board of Maplewood Academy.

With each passing second, she could feel her heart pound in her chest. She had gone to meet Peter several times before, so why was today any different? She reached out to knock on the door, but it was already part-way open.

“Come in, Candace,” a nasal voice sounded from inside. The voice unmistakably belonged to Peter Screwtape, the principal of Maplewood Academy. “There’s some things we need to talk about before the staff meeting.”

Candace let herself into the rather spacious office that Peter had claimed for himself as soon as Mark Wheeler had vacated his position. “You know I had family obligations the night of the board meeting,” she began, but before she could continue, Peter held up his hand. After a few moments of standing near the doorway, Candace entered the room and took a seat, sitting perfectly upright in her chair. “But I hope that Mr. Takahashi hasn’t gotten his head turned upside-down yet.”

The corners of Peter’s lips turned up the smirk that Candace knew all too well. “Basically, yes,” he admitted. “You know how Tetsuya is, though. I seem to recall you mentioning that he was in your class when he was still a kid.”

The chemistry teacher nodded. She had been teaching at Maplewood for over a quarter of a century and she’d seen her fair share of students pass through the halls, easily learn the rules to name chemical compounds and several tricks to solving the mathematical problems associated with the physical sciences, but fail to learn what she’d termed as the important lessons of high school. “More stubborn than the rest of us put together,” Candace offered. Perhaps Peter didn’t need Sharpe, but Candace felt she did. The younger man always knew how to stand up to the principal.

Peter tilted his head downwards and it was a full minute and a half until he made eye contact with Candace again. “Candace, you must not tell any of the other teachers about this until the meeting, but Takahashi wants the school to close down.” As soon as those words came from Peter’s mouth, Candace paled. There was no possible way this day could get worse, was there?

tbc

Character List: Once Upon an AU

So, there are quite a few characters in Once Upon an Alternate Universe, so I thought I should organise a list and show them to you, along with a bit of connection so that you can know who's who when you're reading.

There are more students, family and staff members (as well as other characters) in this story, but here is a bit of an outline of a few important ones.

Just a brief note about student alliances...
Fellowship: Fully dubbed as the "fellowship of misfits" by Evan Saunders, this group includes Saunders, Tyler Martin, Michael Liu, Scott and Samantha Adams, Marie Wilson and most recently, Kiran Shasthri.
Comrades: Unofficial name (again, given by Saunders) for the group that follows Emiko Takahashi around. Emiko Takahashi, Tatiana Valdez, Katie Myst, Ricardo Martinez, Ron Flinn. There are more...

Maplewood Students, circa 2005
Michael Liu: A fairly level-headed sophomore at Maplewood Academy. Provides a voice of reason for his friends. Member of the Fellowship.
Samantha Adams: One of Michael's two best friends who would do just about anything to help one of her friends if they needed her. One of the best students in their sophomore class. Fellowship.
Scott Adams: Samantha's younger twin brother whose plans (or lack thereof) get him and his friends into a whole lot of trouble sometimes. Fellowship.
Evan Saunders: Future class valedictorian at Maplewood Academy. Though bossy at times, he generally means well. Fellowship... and the one who gave them their name. Often just called by his last name.
Tyler Martin: Athlete and all-around nice guy. He and Saunders are best friends. Known for being one of the few Christians on Maplewood's athletic teams. Also a member of the Fellowship.
Marie Wilson: A fairly quiet friend of Samantha's whose aspirations are to work with special needs students. Fellowship.
Kiran Shasthri: The exchange student living at the Liu's house for the semester. Outspoken about what she belives, but sincere. Newest member of the Fellowship.
Emiko Takahashi: Archrival of the Fellowship (especially Evan Saunders). Slightly spoiled daughter of Tetsuya Takahashi. Knows Hideaki Sato from Japanese school. Comrade.
Katie Myst: Close acquaintance of Emiko Takahashi. Blonde cheerleader. Peppy past the point of annoyance and seems to have something particularly against Samantha. Comrade.
Tatiana Valdez: Emiko's sidekick who is always seen with her. Enjoys gossipping.
Victoria Chapel: Evan Saunders' girlfriend who is very involved in music and theater. On good terms with almost everyone. No alliance.
Julianna Miller: Shaun Ackerman's niece and a close friend to Katie Myst. Was dating Scott Adams for a few months during their freshmen year.
Hideaki Sato: Transfer student to Maplewood Academy who happens to know Emiko Takahashi from Japanese school.
Kyle Wilson: Marie's older brother who is in eleventh grade. Plays sports and is a close friend (and fellow Christian Athlete) to Tyler Martin. Has been dating Kathryn Saunders for over a year.
Kathryn Saunders: Evan's older sister who enjoys cheerleading. Is dating Kyle Wilson. Gets along with Katie Myst, but thinks that the situations that Katie gets herself into are immature.

Staff Members at Maplewood, circa 2005
Jedediah Sharpe: Former chemistry teacher at Maplewood. Graduated Maplewood in 1988. Now teaches Latin and AP chemistry. Tough taskmaster and difficult man to get along with and tends to be disliked by most of his students. Runs the Chess Club and Forum Philosophorum.
Candace Pruitt: Chemistry teacher at Maplewood. She has been teaching there since at least 1980. Strict, but fair. Helps out running the chess club.
Shaun Ackerman: History teacher at Maplewood and a Maplewood graduate in 1987. Outspokenly Catholic, highly energetic and loved by almost all of his students. Uncle to Julianna Miller.
Peter Screwtape: Principal of Maplewood Academy who has been working there since 1995. Named after two of CS Lewis' characters.
Hugh Avery: Former physics and now math teacher at Maplewood. Graduated in 1983. One of the few teachers who gets along well with Sharpe. Hosts Operation Numbers, the math club.
Josiah Alton: Administrator at Maplewood and former biology teacher. He has been teaching there nearly as long as Candace Pruitt has and they are close friends. Surrogate father to Sharpe. Father to Jennie Alton.
Laura Clarkson: Young biology teacher at Maplewood who recently moved from Texas to California. Talkative.
Anthony Wilson: Physics teacher at Maplewood. Single father to Kyle, Marie and their three younger siblings. Hosts the Film club. Enjoys having a lot of fun with his students. Addicted to movies and coffee.
Aislynn Celeste: The young math teacher at Maplewood who graduated from Northpointe in 2001. Older cousin to Keith Chandler.
Seven McAllistair: The IT worker for several of the local private schools. Recent college graduate. Expert with computers and anything technical.
Amy Kerrington: Technology teacher at Maplewood. Works closely with Seven McAllistair whenever he comes to the school.
Rem Argentium: A young history teacher. Enjoys art and is quite good at it. Younger brother to Seneca Argentium and a graduate of Northpointe. Former classmate of Aislynn Celeste. Quiet.

Family Members
Jonathan and Mei-lani Liu: Michael's parents who are hosting Kiran Shasthri for the semester. Jonathan graduated from Maplewood in 1985.
Tetsuya Takahashi: Emiko's father and a local politician. Maplewood graduate in 1988. Archrival of Sharpe.
Jennie Alton: Eldest daughter to Josiah and Sherry Alton. Mentor to Marie Wilson. She is working on getting her master's degree so she can work with special needs students.
Priya Shasthri: Kiran's aunt who is a professor of physics at a local university. She was Sharpe's university advisor.
Stephanie Rei: Emiko's mother. Divorced from Tetsuya Takahashi. Mother to Hana Rei. Lives in the UK with her younger daughter.
Seneca Argentium: Rem's slightly older sister who does research at Nicholae Kwaitkowski Labs, Inc.

Other Characters
Ming-yue Tam: Kiran's best friend from back home at Melanthios.
Nate Winters: Scott and Samantha's cousin who also attends Melanthios and is a good friend of Kiran's. Enjoys playing with fire and technical stuff.
Keith Chandler: Chess champion from Northpointe Academy and younger cousin to Aislynn Celeste.
Hana Rei: Emiko's younger and estranged sister who lives in the UK and attends Alcantha. She is genuine and sincere. Her best friend is Callisto Verity.
Callisto Verity: Hana's best friend and the chess champion from Alcantha. Enjoys getting into arguments and is very competitive. Thirteen-years-old.
Donovan Isaacs: A slightly crazy student at Alcantha who is the same age as the Fellowship. He goes to church with Hana's family on a regular basis.
Sophia McAllistair: Cousin to Seven McAllistair and the same age as Nate Winters. Lives just outside of Phoenix, Arizona with her family.

Once Upon an AU- Ideas

Since this is an alternate universe piece, I thought I'd play around with history a bit and change a few things. Some of them are major things.

1. The main characters (Michael, Scott, Sam, Emiko, etc.) all go to Maplewood Academy, which is still in existence. But it won't be if Tetsuya Takahashi has anything to say about it. He wants it torn down because all he sees is corruption within its walls. Unfortunately, he doesn't know anything about the coalition of the four schools... or of the prophecy.

2. In the middle of the story, Hideaki transfers to Maplewood and stays with Michael's family for the rest of the school year. This is their junior year of high school, so the year after Kiran comes to stay with the Liu family.

3. This hasn't been firmly decided on in the regular universe, but for this piece, Emiko and Hana are full sisters. Tetsuya and Stephanie split up after Stephanie was pregnant with Hana. Hana and Emiko have still never met face-to-face.

4. General storyline with all the other characters is still the same. Sharpe is still acting as double agent (he'll never get away from that role!). Ackerman still gets killed at the beginning. They still need a new history teacher to replace him. Rem Argentium is his new replacement. Aislynn Celeste is still the young math teacher under the tutelege of Hugh Avery. Seven McAllistair is still the person who comes in and repairs the computers.

Because of this, well... at Maplewood, school uniforms were required. I'm assuming they'd still be required now. So students have to wear uniforms. Teachers have to wear something similar to uniforms. That will make things interesting...

Emiko tugged on her tie and gritted her teeth. Not only did she have to wear khaki pants (Merlin forbid she wear a skirt!) and a black polo shirt, but she had to wear a burgandy jacket and a ghastly burgandy and silver striped tie to boot. Why couldn't she have gone to some public school instead of a place with a dress code stricter than just about any other institution and a whole bunch of prep kids on top of that? The girl sighed. At least her best friend was transferring here for the rest of the year. Rumor had it that he'd been kicked out his old school, so his uncle and aunt decided to send him here instead. To Maplewood Academy. Home of the Uber Geeks.

Emiko's talking about Hideaki... and the "uber geeks" is mostly a reference to Saunders. Yes, I am bored. Insanely bored. And I got this idea during class today and had to come back to scribble it down. It's not good yet.

A Little about Emiko

First thing, in honor of April Fools Day (which was yesterday), A Good Idea? is a piece I wrote back in 2007.

In more serious business (which isn't the reason why I'm up at this hour), but I've been thinking a lot about Emiko Takahashi recently... most specifically how she gets along with her fellow classmates and the teachers at RHS, as well as her parents and half-sister.

Scott Adams: No one in the fellowship likes Emiko Takahashi and Scott especially dislikes her. Because of his social status, he has a difficult time. He could easily be a member of the popular crowd, so he feels like he has to give Emiko a chance because of this, but he also knows that none of his friends feel the same way towards her. Scott's attitude is such that he often believes the best in people, unless they give him a really good reason to believe otherwise. So he can't help extending that to Emiko... to some extent. However, he gets really angry with her when she bullies his friends.
Samantha Adams: Out of everyone in the fellowship, Sam harbors an especially strong dislike (bordering on hate) towards Emiko. She just can't seem to accept the fact that Emiko just might become part of their group later on and she doesn't see why Michael puts up with Emiko.
Evan Saunders: It's said that the only person who has gotten into a physical fight with Emiko Takahashi and actually won was Evan Saunders. Evan hates the fact that Emiko likes picking on his friends (and on the other students) and he'll stand up to her, even when no one else will.
Hideaki Sato: Hideaki is probably Emiko's only real friend. The two of them met at Japanese school and he'll do almost anything for her and she for him. Hideaki was the one who originally taught Emiko how to play chess and he's one of the few people she actually respects. Much later in the storyline, they end up dating.
Tetsuya Takahashi: The relationship that Tetsuya has with his only daughter is rocky at the best of times. He tends to be very controlling of those around him and Emiko is no exception. However, what he soesn't take into account is that Emiko is very much like her mother and rebellious at the core. This drives Tetsuya and his daughter apart even further, leading to severe consequences for everyone involved.
Katie Myst: Katie is originally a character from the AU. She's one of the cheerleaders and hangs with the popular crowd. She knows Tyler by association (and knows he's a Christian) and has a crush on Michael. Surprisingly, Katie and Emiko don't get along very well. While Katie is very perky, Emiko hangs with the almost punk kids within the popular crowd. They argue constantly when they're forced to work together. However, both have adopted the principle of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend ally". Katie is able to make the fellowship miserable in ways that Emiko never could... or would.
Sharpe: Sharpe and Emiko have a very interesting relationship and this is mostly because of what happened between Sharpe and Tetsuya when they were in school and because of the AU. For some reason (this differs whether the story is AU or not), Sharpe feels it necessary to keep an eye out for Emiko. He does this quite well, but he enjoys seeing how she will react if he does certain things. As with most things, this goes both ways and Emiko constantly pushes Sharpe. Things really start to go downhill when Michael tells Sharpe that Hideaki and Emiko are dating.
Michael Liu: I'm really not sure how Michael relates to Emiko. He doesn't particularly like her, but he doesn't harbor a strong dislike towards her, either... at least not outwardly. Michael is the kind of person who will stand up for what he believes, but he also won't argue if he doesn't think it will do any good. This is probably why he doesn't argue much with Emiko. Oddly enough, there is some amount of mutual respect between the two, but to anyone who knows them, it is more like a stalemate. Emiko knows she'll be in major trouble if she crosses the line with Michael and he knows the same thing about her. But when Hideaki and Emiko start dating, everything changes.

NB: The whole Hideaki/Emiko story doesn't take place until the fellowship are all college students. Michael basically flips out at Hideaki (they're roommates at the time). Michael's having a hard time with this and needs to talk to someone and for some reason, he doesn't want to talk to his parents. Since he's not talking to Samantha and Scott's studying abroad, the next most logical choice is Sharpe.

Character Feature: Sharpe

Just to let you know, I will be finishing this when I am able to type more proficiently, which may or may not be anytime soon. I was going to release this on Thursday, which would be Sharpe's thirty-ninth birthday, but I decided to release what I had earlier.

This picture was drawn by leedom111. The artwork
belongs to her, not to me.

Full Name: Jedediah Victor Sharpe
Date of Birth: February 19, 1970
Birth Family: Gabriel (father), Amanda (mother), Michael Hosea (older brother)
Adopted Family: Josiah and Sherry Alton, Jennie and Mandie (younger sisters)
Place of Birth: New Jersey, USA
Place of Residence: Riverdale, CA. A small apartment (313B Janus Avenue) close to RHS.

High School: Maplewood Academy
Year of Graduation: 1988
Extracurricular Activities: Interscholastic Chess Team, Students Assisting Teachers (SAT)
Faculty Advisor: Candace Pruitt

University: Silicon Valley Institute of Higher Learning (in San Jose, CA)
Years Attended: Fall 1988-Spring 1994
Academic Degrees: BS in Chemistry, Minors in Biology and Physics, Masters in Chemistry
Faculty Advisor: Priya Shasthri, PhD
Extracurricular Activities: Research, Tutoring underdivision students

Former Jobs Held: Research Associate at Kwaitkowski Laboratories International
Current Employment: Chemistry teacher at Riverdale High School, head of the science department, homeroom instructor
Current Employer: Peter Screwtape
Extracurricular Activities Led: Forum Philosophorum (aka Debate Club) with Shaun Ackerman, Interscholastic Chess Team with Candace Pruitt

Series Connections: Maplewood, Riverdale
Allies: Candace Pruitt, Josiah Alton (despite disagreeing most of the time), Jennie Alton, Jonathan Liu, Shaun Ackerman, Hugh Avery, Amy Kerrington
Enemies: Tetsuya Takahashi, Kiyoshi Sato, Laura Clarkson, Peter Screwtape
It's Complicated: Michael Liu, Emiko Takahashi

Stories:
Snapshots Through Time: Chapter One: The Leather Book; Chapter Three: A History Lesson; Chapter Four: Sharpe's Dark Secret; Chapter Five: The Eleventh Hour
Maplewood Chronicles: Making the Squad; Maplewood Chronicles 2; Seeking Solace
University Days: Just Alright
Riverdale and Beyond: A Christmas to Remember; A Good Idea; Substitute Teacher; A Sophomore Saga; Annoyance; Jellyfish; The Dance; Bombing?; Just Another Ordinary Day

Character Connections:
Tetsuya Takahashi: Tetsuya Takahashi and Sharpe went to school together. They were in the same homeroom when they were students at Maplewood (Snapshots, ch1) and were both part of the Interscholastic Chess team (Snapshots, ch5). Sometime during the first month of school, Sharpe made a snide comment at Tetsuya's expense. Takahashi retaliated and things only got worse from there. They have never gotten along with one another and they will never get along with each other, either. However, at the end of their senior year, something of a most curious nature happened. On their day of graduation, Sharpe slipped an old chess piece into Takahashi's hand with a short note. Since then, they have been civil to one another, but barely so. It is only a matter of time until things explode in their faces and something very bad happens.
Candace Pruitt: Candace was Sharpe's high school chemistry teacher and the person who originally recommended him for the SAT program (see above). She was also the faculty sponsor for the chess team. Although strict, Candace has a good understanding of people and she is willing to take chances in order to get the job done. This has saved Sharpe on a number of occasions, most notably when she hired him as the physical sciences teacher at RHS for the 2000-2001 school year. Their relationship mostly consists of mutual respect mixed with a bit of annoyance.
Shaun Ackerman: If you didn't already know this, Shaun Ackerman is the history teacher at RHS and is incredibly religious. He and Sharpe have been acquainted with one another since high school because Shaun graduated in 1987. Shaun also co-runs the Debate Club with Sharpe; having two people who are extremely polarized in opposite directions may not have been the best choice on Candace's part when she asked both of them to be staff advisors. They seem to interact in a similar manner as Captain Picard and Q (on Star Trek: TNG) do. Despite all of this, there is a mutual respect. When Shaun is killed at the beginning of Once Upon an Alternate Universe, Sharpe is both upset and regretful.
Laura Clarkson: Sharpe and Laura have a love-hate relationship taken to the extreme. She's the biology teacher at RHS and originally from Texas. He is her boss and they are both able to figure out every possible way to irk the other. She finds out he is afraid of jellyfish when he is helping her prepare for one of her labs and she (innocently) asks him if he wants to go to the staff Valentine's Day party.
Hugh Avery:
Jennie Alton:
Jonathan Liu:
Hideaki Sato:
Michael Liu:
Emiko Takahashi:
Kiyoshi Sato:
Rose McGonigall: Rose was probably Sharpe's only close friend in high school.
Peter Screwtape:
Priya Shasthri:

Background:

Personality:

Physical Appearance:

to be finished at a later date

Dead Characters?

Well... let us hope that none of my fictional characters wind up dead before the end of Snapshots. No seriously... with Sharpe surrounded by one person whom he doesn't like and having the other person in the room be the only person who can make him feel incompetent... well, let's just hope that no one dies. And I'm planning to work in a flashback between Sharpe and Takahashi. Yes, another one of those... only this one would beg the question of what the chess piece means.

Yes, in case you hadn't figured out (or I haven't told you - haha), chess has an important theme in Snapshots... and in just about whatever else I write. And Takahashi has one of the chess pieces... so does one of my characters who is very much dead.

Also, Dr. Shasthri has the rare ability to make Sharpe feel incompetent. I think this is probably something going back to when he was a student at university, seeing as how she was one of his professors. Not that she deliberately makes him feel stupid...

Snapshots Chapter Five: The Eleventh Hour

Well, I've finally got the fifth chapter finished and typed up. Since I had to put a warning up on DA about it, I decided to put it here in case anyone wanted to read it who isn't a member on DA. Just make sure you read the other chapters before this one...

Chapter One: The Leather Book
Chapter Two: Deliberate Ambiguity
Chapter Three: A History Lesson
Chapter Four: Sharpe's Dark Secret

MPAA Rating: Mild PG-13 for character death by suicide.
Characters: Sharpe, Jonathan Liu, Michael Liu, Jennie Alton, others
Word Count: 4920
Summary: The fifth chapter in Snapshots...

A boy sat at the top of the stairwell, unable to believe what he had just heard. Had his ears betrayed him? Or had what he thought had happened actually come to pass? Either way, Michael realized that someone had some explaining to do and for once, that someone was not his best friend. He slumped down and let his head fall to the more comfortable position of resting on his arms as he tried to ignore whispers from his parents that were coming from downstairs.

When he finally could not handle things anymore, he jumped up. This merited the attention of both his parents, as Jon exchanged nervous glances with his wife. He was just starting up the stairs when Michael turned and bolted in the direction of the school room, grabbing a blue and grey stuffed animal as he passed by the room he and Andy shared. Andy, who was still patiently working on transposing music, paid his older brother little or no attention.

The door to the school room would have slammed shut had Jon not arrived in time to prevent that from happening. As he glanced down at his son, he saw the face and body of a livid teenager. Michael’s normally pale cheeks were red and his eyes narrowed in anger. One hand was clenched into a fist at his side and the other was holding the stuffed manta ray by one of its pectoral fins.

“Michael, please,” Mr. Liu held one of his hands up in the air in a placating gesture. Ironically enough, this was the same stance that Michael often assumed when mediating arguments between Scott and Samantha Adams. “Just listen to me.”

Michael hardly moved a muscle. For nearly five minutes, he stood there, rarely blinking and barely breathing. There was a tension mounting in the air, but Michael outwardly appeared immune to it. Silence prevailed for that period of time until he finally spoke. “Why was he here?” His voice was perfectly calm, but serious and almost deadly.

Jon drew in a sharp breath of air. “Please, Michael,” he began. “Let’s both go downstairs, have some tea and I’ll answer your questions, okay?” He sent up a silent prayer that Michael would oblige. The boy considered for a brief moment, but nodded and followed his father out of the schoolroom, still holding the poor manta ray in one hand.

Once Jon had poured both himself and Michael tea, he sat down on the couch. Michael was sitting in the chair that Sharpe had occupied only moments before, wrapped up in a flannel blanket that rested on the back. He showed little interest in the cup of tea; instead it sat on a coaster on the coffee table in the center of the living room.

Jon sighed. He knew he would have to take the initiative; if Michael did, accusations would follow. He could see into his son’s eyes that the boy was a simmering combination of angry, hurt, upset, confused and frustrated. This was a dangerous combination in almost any human, but especially someone who kept so many of his emotions typically hidden. “Mr. Sharpe decided to come by to make sure you and Sam arrived home safely.” At this statement made by his father, Michael arched an eyebrow. So Sharpe had been following them earlier. “He wanted to catch up on old times for awhile, so that’s what we were doing. We went to high school together.”

Michael leaned back, clearly unimpressed. “He mentioned that,” he replied in a non-committal voice. “Several times, in fact.” There was a short pause and Michael’s fingers ran along the seam of the blanket. “Why was he here? I know Mom gave him dinner.” Although the Liu family was gracious to their guests, Michael hadn’t expected his mother to feed Mr. Sharpe dinner.

Mr. Liu frowned slightly. “Just how much did you hear?” He took a sip of his tea and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and folding his hands together.

Michael shrugged. “Enough to know what happened.” His voice was level and calculating as he spoke, as if he was testing to see how his father would react before he said anything else. “After so long, I thought you or Mom would’ve realized that I often pretend to sleep.”

Jon’s glance fell to the ground suddenly. “Michael, please tell me exactly how much you heard.” His voice was level as he matched that of his son, but there was a deep pleading undertone within his emotional signature that betrayed him. He was very uneasy of what would happen next and this frightened him.

Michael hardly wished to respond and he kept fiddling with the blanket in his hands. “I know that Mr. Sharpe gave you something that he intended for me to have. And yes, I heard almost everything.” An eyebrow quirked upwards as Jon’s face paled slightly.

Jon, who was still almost white, pulled an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Michael. It was slightly wrinkled along the corners, but Michael ripped it open and removed the piece of paper inside. It was a handwritten note and probably the handwriting of a teenager, he guessed, and transcribed onto spiral-bound notebook paper.

[[Michael, if you’re reading this, please don’t shoot the messenger. He’s only doing it on my request and that’s it. If you want to send a reply, please trust him to get it to me. But that’s not what I was going to talk about anyways. I really wanted to you to know that Sharpe’s a good guy and I’d like to invite you to visit me sometime. Maybe pick up a game of chess? He mentioned that you play... so do I! Or just hang out... or whatever. It doesn’t really matter to me.

I wish I knew how to say this to you, but you’ve really been a good friend to me. All the times we’ve talked and Sharpe’s told me that you really do care about your friends. I’ve never heard him say that about anyone else, except probably your dad. He’s a good guy, too, I think. Maybe I’m wrong, but I have a hunch he knows more than he says he does.

Which is why I’m actually writing to you. He really has a soft spot for some of his students and I’d like to ask you a favor. Has he told you anything about a guy called Kiyoshi Sato? I know they used to know each other. I asked Sharpe last time, but he wouldn’t say anything more. Weird, huh? That and his family are the only things he never talks about.

You probably won’t trust me on this. Sharpe told me to put proof in the envelope. Silly guy. But there’s the camp pic of you, the twins and red-head down at the archery range. The flash that he thought was lightening was my camera. Sorry ‘bout that... and thanks.

I look forward to seeing you again soon.
Signed, The Black Rook]]

Michael read the letter once and then again. One of his hands held the picture. Surely enough, the photograph clearly showed Scott and Nate arguing in the background. Sam was preparing to shoot the arrow and Michael had been standing next to the two cousins, deciding whether or not to watch them argue or to step in and play peacekeeper.

“Michael,” Mr. Liu’s voice was clear. “Mr. Sharpe was very insistent that you had that. In fact, he was sure you needed it. I don’t know why; you’d have to ask him.” He glanced down at his son. Michael’s face was carefully crafted into that same stoic expression he had nearly mastered that revealed almost none of his feelings. The only sound coming from the living room was the soft chime that signalled that it was 10:30 PM. Upon hearing the chime, Michael jumped up. “What’s–” Mr. Liu started to ask, but Michael cut him off before he could say anything.

“I... I need to go somewhere.” Michael threw the blanket back down on the chair. Because he had not actually gone to bed yet, he was still wearing the same clothing he wore at school: a blue turtleneck and slacks. He slipped on his tennis shoes that were lying on the floor next to the front door over the socks he wore. He also grabed his long trench coat and shoved the letter and picture into a pocket. He shut the door before his father could stop him and he was gone.

---------

“Who is it?” A voice called from inside and a girl opened up the door just a crack. The girl was easily a few years older than Michael was and she sported a casual purple sweatshirt, jeans and sneakers. Her long brown hair was pulled back loosely into a braid. “Oh, hi Michael! I... uhm, didn’t expect you here so late, but please, come in.” She smiled and moved to the side, allowing Michael entrance to the house.

Michael followed Jennie into the living room. The house was remarkably like his own in so many ways. Plush blue carpet covered the floor of the room in which they stood and a few chairs and the couch had been arranged around the room in roughly an elliptical shape. Jennie took a seat, but Michael remained on his feet, far too uneasy to sit down and stay still.

“Michael, you okay?” Jennie glanced over at him. “I’ve never seen you out this late.” Even at church functions, Michael had been well-known amongst his peers for getting home at a reasonable hour.

Michael shrugged. “I need to talk to Mr. Sharpe,” he stated after a moment. His voice was shaky; he was still pacing back and forth along the carpet. He clasped his hands behind his back and stopped for a moment.

Jennie placed her hands on her left knee. “Okay... let me know why you need to see my brother,” she replied, her voice equally as apprehensive as Michael’s had been. She was not concerned that Sharpe would be asleep; it was still early enough that the thought passed through her mind. She was well-aware of the fact that her older brother stayed awake far into the night on a regular basis.

Michael’s hands came unclasped. “He... he said something to me and I wanted to ask him what it meant.” There was a short pause. “It’s Latin and I need to ask him about the translation.”

Jennie opened her mouth slightly. “Let me call him and see what he says,” she answered. “While you’re waiting, we made cookies this afternoon if you want some.” She spent part of her time working at Riverdale High and many of her afternoons were spent volunteering at the community center with kids who had special needs. Fridays were usually devoted to fun projects, like cooking. Apparently more cookies had been made than they were able to eat or take home.

“No thanks,” Michael shook his head. Between dinner and the odd things that had happened that day, he was hardly hungry anymore. After a moment, Jennie grabbed the telephone and took it into the other room. Michael drew his lips into a tight frown. Very few things were running through his mind and the only main thing was concerning Mr. Sharpe. Nearly five minutes later, Jennie emerged from the kitchen.

“My brother agreed to let you come over,” Jennie smiled, holding the phone loosely in her right hand. “I’d walk you over myself, but Mom and Dad want me home.” She wrote and address on a piece of paper and sketched out a quick street diagram. “This is what he told me to do, so here. I trust your ability to follow directions is better than Scott’s?” She smiled slightly and handed the paper to Michael.

Michael nodded. Scott was the kind of person who would get lost giving instructions from his house to school, despite the fact that it was only three streets away and the trio had been going to Riverdale for over two years. Michael glanced down at the paper. The address read 313 B Janus Avenue. With a split second thought, Michael knew exactly where that apartment complex was located; it was only a short distance from Riverdale High. In fact, Tyler Martin had used to live in the same complex with his mom and younger sister Emily until they had moved just a few months before.

As he walked down Chestnut Avenue, the wind whipped around his body, blowing his coat in all directions. The boy pulled in closer into his body as he kept putting one foot in front of the other. His dark eyes blinked a couple of times as he made his way down the street. It would be a long walk; that much he was certain of.

While he was walking, he contemplated the letter he had received. He was certain he knew the person who had sent it. Perhaps it had been someone from Sola Scriptura, the summer Bible camp that he, the twins, their cousin Nate, Tyler Martin, Marie Wilson and Kiran Shasthri had all attended the summer before their sophomore year. It had been a wonderful time. Michael had made some close friends that summer, like Nate Winters and Hideaki Sato and Kiran Shasthri, who had later stayed with the Liu family for a semester as an exchange student. All the teenagers spent time not only in worship, but also intense Bible study. The smaller group that Michael had been in had studied Job. As memories of Sola flooded his mind, he smiled; maybe the walk did not feel so long after all.

The apartments on Janus Avenue were not far from Riverdale High. Michael kept walking along as he realized that it made sense for Sharpe to live there if, as he said, he did not own a car. It would take Michael approximately five minutes to walk from the apartments to Riverdale; he assumed it would take Sharpe slightly less than that based on the fact that the chemistry teacher had much longer legs than he. The teenager entered the apartment complex and wandered around for a few moments. It was a nice feeling to walk around in peace... the lonely atmosphere contrasted with his home, which was ever bustling with people.

After about ten minutes of walking, he came to realize that the A apartments were on the first floor and the B apartments were on the second. He sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair, eyes darting around into the distance. He came upon the apartment marked 313A and his glance shifted upwards to the heavens. For just a moment, he marveled at the majesty of all that was happening. Despite the foul weather, the night sky was absolutely amazing: he could see the small flecks of light that were really stars, all of them many light years away. Though he couldn’t find any of the constellations, he knew that the closest star other than the sun was approximately four light years away. A gentle smile touched his lips; the heavens had not yet seemed this close to him since he and a small group of friends had gone star gazing at Sola.

[“Isn’t that amazing?” One of the teenagers marveled as he looked up at the night sky. The moon was only a small sliver that night. “Hey Michael, look up there. The Big Dipper... or Ursa Major as Dad calls it.”

“Hmm?” Michael arched an eyebrow towards the other boy. He had been counting specks of light for the past few minutes. “What did you say again?”

Hideaki smiled. “The only vacation Dad took me on was camping and we spent lots of time watching stars.” His dark eyes lit up and he held his hands out to get them warmed up by the fire that was barely smoldering. “They’re so far away... Alpha Centauri’s the closest and we can’t even see it here.”]

Michael cherished that memory – like all the others – that he received from Sola and he smiled. It gave him both the strength and courage to climb the stairs to Sharpe’s apartment. His hand hesitated when he reached to knock on the door. He couldn’t follow through. As much as he was curious about what Sharpe had said to him and how he got the letter, the sensible part of Michael’s mind urged him to give up right then.

He would have left had the door not opened right at that moment. “Mr. Liu, I presume.” Long fingers opened the door from the inside as the cold voice spoke. So many times had Michael heard this voice; to him it sounded both caustic and slippery, like one of the alkaline bases they used in the chemistry lab. “Come in. We have been expecting you.”

---------

Light streamed from the inside of the small apartment as Michael blinked a few times. He could hardly believe he was in the apartment complex, much less that he was entering the room. The man ushered him inside quickly and firmly shut the door, not allowing the wind to enter or to exert chaos upon the sparsely decorated room. Michael followed Mr. Sharpe inside and removed his tennis shoes, setting them beside the door. As he looked around, he took in every detail he could. The walls were a light grey and the thinning carpet was dark green.

“Sit.” Sharpe motioned towards a computer office chair. There was a grey striped cat sitting in the seat. As Michael began to sit, the cat lazily jumped down and pranced across the carpet and into the kitchen. “Nernst is hardly used to anyone being here.” Sharpe followed the cat across the room and allowed his long legs to carry him towards the dining room with little effort. “As am I.” He grabbed two ceramic mugs and brought them to the living room, offering one to Michael, who gladly accepted.

Michael swished the contents of the mug around and smelled the liquid. It was a smell he would recognize almost anywhere and it belonged to Jennie and Mandie’s apple cider. Every Sunday during the cold weather, Jennie would make it for the kids in the youth group at church. He silently gave thanks for something familiar around here; the whole day had just been too odd for him. The boy was pensive for a moment as he saw, waiting for the steaming liquid to cool. Apparently the contents of Sharpe’s mug were less hot because the chemistry teacher was able to drink. There was an awkward silence that built up inside the room. Michael was contemplating how the day had begun by walking out of homerooms and letting the door slam behind him. The series of events that followed had led to this: being out of his house after curfew hours and sitting in the apartment of the very teacher he had been determined to hate earlier that day.

“When my sister called, she said that you had a question that you needed to ask me,” Sharpe’s voice had the slightest hint of a drawl, which Michael had never noticed before. The middle-aged man set his half-emptied mug down on the small table near his own chair.

Michael nodded. “Who’s Kiyoshi Sato and what does he have to do with me?” Michael’s eyes narrowed. This was a good question to begin with and he was well-aware of the fact that Sharpe was probably going to avoid fully answering his question; he had overheard just enough of the conversation before.

Sharpe folded his hands and took a deep breath. The ambient lighting, though dim, still seemed bright on his eyes. He resolved to fix that, but it would have to wait until later. “Kiyoshi Sato was a classmate of mine when we were in high school,” Sharpe began. He chose his words carefully; now was neither the time nor the place to speak more than was necessary. “He and Emiko Takahashi’s father were close friends. They happened to be in the same year that I was and both delighted in giving a certain amount of grief to their classmates.” Sharpe’s angular nose wrinkled ever-so-slightly at the very tip. “Your father and your aunt were both acquainted with him. Why do you care to know?” Sharpe arched an eyebrow, choosing to ignore Nernst, who had pranced back into the living room and was now rubbing up against Michael’s leg.

Michael shrugged and his glance dropped to the cat. “It’s just something I was thinking about., that’s all.” Michael was lying through his teeth and he knew it. He was also aware that Sharpe probably knew this, but he didn’t care. “Could I pet him?” He glanced down at Nernst, suddenly changing the subject.

Sharpe frowned slightly. “If he lets you, then you may pet him.” He watched as Michael bent down and Nernst jumped into the youth’s lap. The man took a long sip and set the mug back down. “That is not everything you were going to say, was it?”

Michael shook his head. “Is Mr. Sato still alive?” He stopped paying attention to the striped feline long enough to ask the question. After remembering the crumpled paper in his jacket pocket, he resolved to inquire about the contents of that later.

“No,” Sharpe let out a sigh. “He died sixteen years ago as a direct result of a decision he made.” Sharpe’s voice was about half an octave lower than it normally was.

[Sharpe was silent as he moved through the alley way. It was a dark and cloudy day in the middle of March, much like what one would expect to find in Seattle, not the sunny Bay Area in California. He had nothing better to do; there were no assignments due for any of the classes the college junior was taking. Even Dr. Shasthri – a difficult professor if he’d ever encountered one – had not assigned homework for the advanced thermodynamics class she taught.

This may have not been the best idea he had, but the twenty-one-year-old decided to duck into an abandoned alleyway. He hardly had reason for doing this, except that a police car was about half a block from where he stood; he did not want more of a headache than he already had from the sirens and flashing lights of emergency vehicles. In the shadows, he saw something that would make his headache much worse: Kiyoshi Sato. Sato’s narrow features had grown even narrower in the past year and a half since Sharpe had seen him last.

He heard a cry coming from the basket that Sato held under one arm and he gasped aloud, barely reaching his hand up in time to muffle the sound. It was the cry of a small child. He’d heard it once before, many years ago when he was in the hospital for his own surgery, but he’d paid little attention then.

“What’re you doing here, coward?” Sato’s scathing voice addressed Sharpe. “I know you’re here, so y’might as well show yourself.” Sato set the basket down on the ground next to an old trash bin and turned around, looking for Sharpe to appear.

Sharpe decided to step out from the shadows. “Ah, Sato,” his voice was sickly sardonic as he answered Sato’s accusations. “And who is the coward this time? Impregnating a girl three years younger than you? Running away so you don’t have to face her parents? Taking one of the children with you?” He paused for a moment, pointing a long stick at the ratty basket and the torn blanket that draped over its edges. “And who was the true coward before? Bullying someone who’s half your size? Insisting that the fight is five-to-one? Now, if I were you, I’d put that knife down on the ground. Oh yes, I know you’ve got a knife in your pocket…” Sharpe nodded towards the front right pocket of Sato’s jeans.

Sato seethed though his clenched teeth. “You…” he hissed. This was followed by a string of expletives. “I don’t have time for this!” He removed the knife from the pocket of his jeans, opened it up and thought for a moment, debating at whether to lunge at Sharpe or to slit his own throat open. He decided on the latter. He brought the knife up to his own carotid artery. Sharpe stood frozen, unable to do anything. Instead of going through with his plans, Sato used his knife to slice the side of his neck. He screamed out in pain and fell to the ground.

Sharpe hurried over and held his – former – enemy in his arms. “Here,” he said, holding up a vial to Sato’s mouth. “It’ll work faster… and not be as painful.” The contents of the vial were poisonous, but it would allow Sato to die without so much pain. After all, that was what he obviously wanted. Sharpe knew Sato was a coward; what about the infant? However, Sato’s breathing stopped just before he swallowed the substance.

As soon as he had realized what happened, Sharpe wove his way around the trash cans to reach the infant. He immediately noticed an envelope in the basket. Opening it up, his dark eyes skimmed the contents.

[Attention: J. Victor Sharpe
If I am to die here and today, please take the child into your care. His name is Hideaki.
K. Sato]

The date and a signature were placed on the side of the note and Sharpe frowned, his lips drawing themselves into a thin line. As carefully as he could, he picked up the basket. The young child inside was about a year old and looked almost exactly like his father did. Sharpe knew he couldn’t bear to look at the youth every day for the rest of his life. It would bring back too many memories of being teased and pushed down into the mud day after day. Even if the boy stayed with the Altons – Sharpe was sure Josiah and Sherry would take him in – the memories were still too strong.

He shook his head. He would have to take the boy into a foster care center instead. With that choice being made, he set off towards home, carrying the basket under his arm.]

“Yet that holds little concern for either of us now, Mr. Liu,” Sharpe’s voice had reverted back to its typically cold tone. “And tomorrow, things will be made clearer.” An eyebrow arched upwards as his hands clasped the warm mug.

Michael glared at the older man defiantly for several moments. Down the hall, the clock ticked and Nernst rubbed his head against the side of the chair. “Alright...” Getting Sharpe to answer his inquiries about this Kiyoshi Sato was clearly not working, so he decided to take another route. “You went to high school with Emiko Takahashi’s father, didn’t you?” This question was merely one of curiosity; earlier Sharpe had mentioned Takahashi being a bully.

Sharpe set the mug down on the table that was at the left side of his chair without regard to use a coaster of any sorts. “We were both on the interscholastic chess team.” Absently, Sharpe reached into his pocket and pulled out an old chess piece. It was carved from a wood that looked that almost black in the dimmed lighting of the room and judging by the general shape and the cross on the top of it, Michael assumed it was a king. After a moment of twiddling it in his thin fingers, Sharpe placed the piece back into the pocket of his pants. Maybe it had been too long since he played a game of chess... that is, played and lost a good game. “If you had been listening to what I said earlier, you would have been able to deduce that.” He glanced over at Michael, observing the Asian boy with a dark glance. “I know you are brighter than people–” The last bit of Sharpe’s sentence was cut off by the ring of the doorbell.

“Excuse me for a moment.” Sharpe pushed himself into a standing position with quite a bit more effort than Michael would have expected for someone with his scrawny stature. Soundlessly mouthing words, he made his way towards the door, limping ever so slightly. The Asian boy noted the anomaly. He had never seen Sharpe limp before or if he had, Michael had never actively noticed it before.

As Sharpe opened up the door, his normally darker skin paled to the color of light parchment. A woman in her early fifties stood outside the door, wearing an oversized travel coat. From the inside of the apartment, Michael could see that her skin was dark and the only remarkable aspect of her appearance – other than the fact that she looked somehow familiar – was a blue and purple cloth wrapped loosely around her head, neck and shoulders.

tbc in chapter six...

Brief Snapshots Update

So, I've worked on continuing on Snapshots. I decided to combine chapters five and six into one chapter because they're both short and they flow together with only a few quick edits. I finished the chapter and hopefully I'll get it typed up and edited so that it makes sense.

Yes, it will be rated between PG and PG-13 for one of the flashback sequences. Everything else is pretty mild as far as rating would be concerned, so that's a relief. I'm really excited to be working on this again because in this chapter (and in the next one), you find out a lot about what Sharpe was like when he was younger.

Which means I need to write another side piece with him and Dr. Shasthri first, just to see how they interact and their history. I was walking around campus earlier tonight because I needed to think (big novelty there, eh?) and a scene kept playing through my head. Sharpe was talking with (or yelling at?) someone, so maybe I'll just write that scene. That someone could have easily been one of two people and one of those is Priya Shasthri. The other person it could have been is Alton, but I doubt it. I don't think Sharpe would get upset enough to yell at Alton.

But I need to re-write the prologue sequence I drafted awhile back and work that into one of the flashbacks (which earns it at least a PG rating). And I also found out something interesting about Tetsuya Takahashi. He and Sharpe were on the Interscholastic Chess Team together in high school for at least a little while... or that's what Sharpe says.

Snapshots Update

I finally figured out where I think I want to go with Snapshots and it's great because it'll tie into the chess story I've been playing with in the back of my mind for quite some time.

Chess is kind of a recurring theme throughout my stories. Hideaki Sato is known online as the black rook, Sharpe was the Interscholastic Chess Champion for three (out of four) years in high school and it's quite often that the fellowship members are seen playing chess while hanging out. Usually it's Michael and Evan... and sometimes Tyler. It's also stated that Hideaki teaches Emiko how to play chess.

So that got me thinking... how do I bring this theme into Snapshots? This morning, I came up with a logical answer and it answers two of my questions at once! The other question was (of course) what is Dr. Shasthri doing at Sharpe's apartment at some unearthly hour?

I figured that the only reasonable answer was that she needed him for some reason. Most likely, he had requested something from her before he graduated and left university. I decided to run with this idea... with no thoughts as to what he had asked her for. This morning, I got my answer: a chess piece.

When he was a student at Maplewood, Sharpe bought a used chess set at a garage sale. A few of the pieces were missing when he originally bought it, amongst them a white queen. Somehow, Dr. Shasthri is able to find the person who sold Sharpe the chess set (something I don't want to reveal until later, as major spoilers are contained within) and he was able to find some of the missing pieces. Originally, only the white queen and two black pawns were missing, but I am changing that so it was the white queen, a black pawn and one of the black rooks.

So she is able to get this and the man is fairly reasonable. He claims he would deliver it himself, but he doesn't remember to whom he sold the set or how to contact said person when Dr. Shasthri tells him. Now that she has the piece Sharpe requested, she's tried to hunt him down. He doesn't leave a forwarding address or anything when he leaves university, so she has to go see where he applied for work and then contact them. By some amazing coincidence, she talks to her niece on the telephone and Kiran gives her the necessary information she's been missing all along: where Sharpe works. From that, she is able to find out where he lives fairly easily.

And thus she shows up at his apartment at an unearthly hour. She would have come earlier, but she was hosting dinner and a movie for some of her chemistry and physics students.

Now I know and all is good with the world. Okay, not really, but Snapshots is back on. I also happen to know who gets which chess piece, so that should be fun to work with. As to be expected, Takahashi still holds the white king; that wouldn't change. I've modified it around a little bit according to what happens in Once Upon an AU and some of the other brief stuff I've written since originally thinking of the idea. ^_^

Resolutions

I suppose I should really update this today, so I'll blog about New Year's Resolutions. But since this is a writing journal, then they are going to be related to writing.

1. Write on a regular basis. That includes updating here at least twice a week once Hollidailies is over and working as often as I can (with schoolwork and everything else) on other ongoing writing projects.

2. Get to know some of my minor characters better and their relationships. I'd really like to focus more on Emiko Takahashi... because she's important.

3. Finish at least one large piece (either Snapshots or Once Upon an Alternate Universe or the chess story I've been thinking about). Snapshots would likely be easiest because I've already written a lot of that.

4. Finish the short-term projects I have. This includes the piece where Kiran comes to stay at the Liu house (and gets involved with the debate club), the Christmas Eve story I've been sort of working on, the incident where Wilson is teaching a physics class and decides to use a rather interesting method to keep his students awake and the more recent piece with Hideaki and Emiko.

5. Delve deeper into the relationships that first generation has (or had). I'd love to write a piece with the Maplewood students. And not just a short piece that's a page long, but something real.

6. This may be the wierdest one of them all, but I'd like to find a fellow writer whom I can critique and who will critique me (well, my writing).

7. Just because seven is a much nicer number than six, I'd like to develop Seven McAllistair a bit more as a character and find out where he fits in... if he does. By extension, same kind of idea with Aislynn Celeste.

And those are my New Year's Writing Resolutions. Happy 2009, everyone!

New Year's Eve Party

To make up for my patheticness at posting yesterday (I was trying to do five different things at once and I was a bit distracted), I'll write something for you today.

First off, a little bit of background information. I wanted my characters to have a (slightly disastrous) game of truth or dare at a New Year's Eve party at the Liu's house. So the characters present would be Michael's parents (duh), Mr. and Mrs. Adams, Hideaki's dad, Wilson, Tyler's mom, Nate's parents and maybe others. Oh, and Sharpe because Jon invited him over and for some reason, he agreed to come. Younger people present would have to include Michael, Scott, Sam, Evan, Tyler, Marie, Hideaki, Emiko, Kiran and Nate. Wouldn't that be a fun group?

So the extended fellowship goes into the other room. They've each had a little bit to drink (they're all at least 21, so no big deal) and the door between the room they're in and the room the adults are in is about half opened. Someone (Saunders?) suggests they play a game of truth or dare. Needless to say, neither Michael nor Sam is particularly excited about that proposition and Tyler's being cautious (as always). But they make a few rules and the game gets underway... needless to say, it'll be interesting.

No really. I'm just deciding how to narrate this piece before I start in on it. I could do the same third person narration I usually do or I could do first person. If I did first person, the most logical choice would be first person to Michael's POV. More amusing would be first person to Sharpe's POV, as he realizes that something is going on and he goes to stand by the door between the rooms. But none of the younger people can know he's there... or if Michael (or Sam) figures it out, neither can say anything to anyone else.

And this brings me to where I was meaning to go... to share something that I wrote with you guys. It was too late last night to post it here, so here it is today. Enjoy! This piece is actually going to be rated PG by the time I'm done with it, but this particular section is harmless. Trust me. Okay, it's just a short little paragraph-length teaser, but still. I actually wrote something. >.>

MPAA Rating: G
Characters: Michael, Emiko, Evan Saunders, others are present.
Word Count: 134

Michael stopped before he said anything and put a hand on Emiko's shoulder. Such an uncharacteristic motion for him. With a firm grasp, he pulled the Japanese girl closer to him and when she was facing him, her face only centimeters away from his, he gave her one look and hissed a few words in her left ear. "Don't even consider it" was all he said. Those words were meant for her alone to hear. He let his hand drop down to his side and quickly turned and paced out of the room. If she went through with Saunders' proposition, that would probably be just about the stupidest thing she'd ever done. Which is quite the accomplishment for her, he thought, the bitter taste of bile rising up in the back of his throat.

tbc.

Maplewood Relationships?

I'm really needing to figure out how the characters in first generation at Maplewood get along with one another before I continue with whatever else I am writing. Like the fact of how Shaun Ackerman and Stephanie Rei both fit into the picture.

Shaun Ackerman is a graduate in the class of 1987, a year a head of Takahashi, et al. Given Maplewood's small size, they would have known each other when they were students. Same thing goes for Sharpe and Ackerman. It's known that Sharpe and Ackerman don't get along very well when they're adults, but this could be attributed to a conflict of ideologies and personalities. Shaun's very outgoing and scatterbrained. Sharpe is introverted and deliberate. (Think Q and Captain Picard here and you'll get the general idea!) Ackerman is also very strongly Catholic and he is outspoken about being so. While Sharpe doesn't necessarily have anything against the idea of Christianity (or Catholicism), the fact that Shaun is a bit pious grates on his nerves. Same thing with Kiran, actually.

I'm not sure what came to pass between Ackerman and Takahashi. If I can figure that out, I'll be able to figure out whether or not Takahashi had motive for ordering a certain person to kill Ackerman at the beginning of Once Upon an AU. If not, then I'll have to resort to using Peter Screwtape, which would be a little bit annoying. Okay, that would be more than annoying because he's a power player in most everything else and that role gets old quickly.

Second character I need to fit in is Stephanie Rei, Emiko and Hana's mother. She did go to Maplewood and she is friends with Sharpe. That much I do know. She's either a year ahead or a year behind the main group of students, making her the same age as Shaun Ackerman (and Emily Royal, who is Evan Saunders' aunt) or putting her in the graduating class of 1989. She needs to be close enough in age to know the main characters fairly well if everything is going to work out with Takahashi and Sharpe and all that. If she's the same grade as Ackerman, that might come into the storyline somehow.

In Once Upon an AU, I have a character who is a hired assassin. I'm not going to tell you guys who it is yet and only that it's not Sharpe. Sharpe couldn't do that. Anyhow, said person basically has their hands tied and can't do anything but follow orders at the moment. It'll be interesting to write, to say the least.

Christmas Story Commentary and Other Stuff

I spent another day knitting instead of writing, which is unfortunate for my sadly failing writing skills, but it's all good. I've decided on a few things in response to the Christmas Eve story. Sharpe does have a good idea of what was in the package for Emiko. If he did, why does he deliver it? To answer this, I need to do a little background information on Sharpe and a little bit more on how he and Takahashi know each other.

Sharpe's thoughts on religion are different than those of most of my other characters. He does know what he believes. He grew up in a Christian home, so he has been to church. However, right now, he is extremely angry at God for a multiple number of reasons (which I don't feel like going into right now) and he hasn't really been to church since he was a teenager. He still holds many of the same ethical principles as are taught in the Judeo-Christian belief system. His anger is directed first and foremost at God and secondly at people who call themselves Christians but don't act as such.

Takahashi, on the other hand, is adamantly against any type of organized religion, whether it be Christianity, Judiasm, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, dancing around a campfire and worshipping the sun... need I go on? He would do anything and everything in his power to prevent Emiko from getting the copy of the Bible that Stephanie sent.

If I may digress for a moment, Sharpe and Takahashi don't get along at all. They met at the beginning of ninth grade as students at Maplewood Academy and Sharpe said something he shouldn't have said to Tetsuya. Things escalated from there. When they're adults, they are coldly civil to one another.

Back to the point here. Sharpe's going to do almost anything he can in order to make Takahashi angry. He is fairly neutral towards the idea of Christianity, so ensuring that Emiko gets the Bible that Stephanie sent would be a perfect way to do just that.

This leads me to believe that Sharpe and Stephanie would have been friends... or they would have known each other somehow. Given that Stephanie used to be married to Tetsuya (they're now divorced), it was probable she was a student at Maplewood. She would have been at least a year younger than the main group... or perhaps the year ahead of them (same year as Shaun Ackerman). I need to think a little more about how they know each other. Likely either she and Sharpe are good friends (and kept their friendship up throughout the years, which would be a bit odd for Sharpe) or he owes her something and there's a story waiting behind that.

So instead of writing, I was trying to knit a sock. But maybe tomorrow I'll write more. I'm not sure. I still need to figure out where the other Christmas story (the one with Michael and Kiran at the church) is going. It'll be interesting...

Quick Update, Christmas, Knitting, Quotes...

Since I have been failing so badly to post with anything relating to writing lately (and that's what this blog is about!!!), I feel bad for not continuing my Christmas Eve story today. Yay for writer's block and being sick. Not. I've been knitting like a crazy person over the past few days in a pathetic attempt to get Christmas gifts done by Christmas and today I taught my sister how to knit.

Did you know that one of my characters knits? Yes, Septimus McAllistair (though almost everyone just calls him Seven) does and he's quite good at it. He has a pair of black fingerless gloves he's made himself that he always wears. He's also kind of a computer geek and he's really smart. No wonder he gets teased a lot. Marie Wilson knows how to crochet and I'm guessing she's taught most of her friends how to do that also. Sam, Tyler and Michael probably both know how... Sam and Tyler just because they're willing to go along with whatever is happening and Michael because he is quite artistic.

And this last little bit is kind of completely random (my thought patterns are not linear, in case you haven't already noticed!), but most of my characters are somehow interconnected. There is some way that Sharpe knows Stephanie Rei (see this entry) because despite the fact it's not explicitly mentioned, that is Sharpe. He was the one who delivered the package... but he has no idea about its contents. My guess is that Stephanie contacted him and told him that she had something that was really important that it get to Emiko... and that Tetsuya wouldn't like his daughter having it. Which is rather true.

So yeah... I guess that's all I have to say tonight. Let me end with a quick CS Lewis quote this time. It has nothing to do with writing. "The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God." ~CS Lewis

And God bless us, everyone! Merry Christmas!

Emiko's Christmas: One Shot

I just thought I would take a break from the Christmas Eve story and write something with Emiko in it instead. Mr. Isaacs is the father of Donovan Isaacs (cousin of one of Hana Rei's classmates at school).

MPAA Rating: G
Characters: Emiko Takahashi, Tetsuya Takahashi, Stephanie Rei (Emiko's mother), unknown man, others by mention
Word Count: 536
Summary: Emiko reflects on Christmas and gets a mysterious visitor.

"Hey Mom, it's me. Emiko." For the hundredth time, she couldn't bring herself to pick up the telephone and call her own mother. Dad had already told her it was okay. It was Christmas after all, but the fourteen-year-old couldn't.

"Call her. She wants to hear from you, Miko." He had told her as he handed her the telephone attatched to the wall. Miko was her Dad's pet name for her, something that only he was allowed to call her. Tetsuya bit both of his lips together. It was him that Stephanie didn't want to hear from. Without waiting for his daughter to ask, he left the room, leaving her in privacy. Things would be better this way.

Five minutes passed and Emiko slid her polished fingernails along the plastic of the receiver. Five minutes quickly turned into ten and ten turned into fifteen until she heard a knock at the door. "Go away, Dad." A single tear dripped from her eye and fell onto her desk, splattering onto her laptop computer. "I don't wanna talk."

"I am not your father, Emiko." The voice came from the other side of the door. The voice obviously belonged to a man, but it wasn't quite deep enough to be her father's. And it was too quiet. "I just wanted to leave you something. You can call your mother now. Merry Christmas." Before Emiko could open the door, the person was gone. She narrowed her eyes ever so slightly, reached down for the present, which was wrapped in purple and black wrapping paper and took it inside her room.

As she tore open the paper, a typed note on a single sheet of paper fell out onto her floor. She picked it up and read what was written. Dearest Emiko, Turn to page 1085 and read the story that is recorded in Luke chapter 15, verses 11 through 32. You will find a story about two brothers and their father in this passage; Mr. Isaacs shared it with us last month at church. I love you very much and we pray for you every day. Please take care of yourself and your father. Merry Christmas. Love, Mom and Hana.

Emiko flipped open the hardcovered book to page 1085 and began to read. It was a rather interesting story about two brothers, one of whom ran away from home and when he went back, he wanted to be a servant in the house of his father. At the end, the father welcomed him back as a son. Emiko read the story three times through, but even at the end, she still didn't understand why the dad had done that. Surely if she'd done that to her own father, he wouldn't have forgiven her, would he? The kid had just wasted all of his dad's money! This didn't make sense; she needed time to think about it more.

With a sigh, she picked up the phone receiver and dialed the number to her mom's house. "Hey, Mom, Hana? It's me, Emiko. Merry Christmas. If you get the chance, call back, okay? There's some stuff I'd like to ask you. I'll talk to you later." With a gentle, but firm motion, she hung the phone back up.

Emiko's Lost Chess Piece

I have such bad writer's block right now... it's not even funny. My brain is completely dead from yesterday's physics exam. Anyhow, onto something more interesting than my rambling about real life before I bore you all with complaining about exams, the weather and just about anything else I can think of.

This is a little snippet of the chess piece I've been planning out. Yes, there's a greater theme than just Emiko going on. It actually has more to do with her father and with the rest of first generation (like Sharpe) than with Emiko, but I just felt like writing Emiko today.

MPAA Rating: G
Character: Emiko Takahashi
Word Count: 268
Warning: Very mild swearing (one word... it's Emiko's POV)
Timeline: May 2006, so during their junior year of high school

It was lost. She had looked around her entire room for it, torn everything apart and thrown her clothes across the floor in an effort to find the missing piece of wood. To anyone else, it wouldn't be anything special; it shouldn't have even been special to her, but she had found it in her backpack after school about a week ago and had taken a liking to it. The Japanese girl couldn't explain it. Her father's expression was unfathomable when she'd shown him the trinket.

But now it was gone and she couldn't find it. Damn. The girl kicked her soccer ball across the room, hitting the door. Was it really gone? Where was it? More importantly, where had the bishop come from and who had given it to her? She licked her top lip, a nervous habit she'd developed over the past few years. She only knew of one person who knew how to play chess: her friend from Japanese school. She didn't even know how to play. Slowly, she picked up her cell phone, went to her contacts list and dialed his number.

Ring. Ring. Ring. "Hey, you've reached me. Obviously I'm not here right now. Leave a message and I'll call you back, okay?" She got the answering machine. Emiko's eyes narrowed and she clenched her teeth in disguist. It figured that the one person in the world who might be able to help her would be out of reach. Without leaving a message, she shut the phone. It was no use. She'd have to do this on her own, just like everything else.

tbc?

Sharpe's Relationships - Adults

These are just a few of the relationships Sharpe has... I just felt like outlining a few for you guys. Hopefully you already know who these characters are, but I provided brief notes on who's who. All these characters are adults during the RHS-timeline; maybe in another entry I'll look through various interactions with students.

Candace Pruitt: Candace was Sharpe’s high school chemistry teacher and she’s now the vice principal at RHS, where Sharpe teaches chemistry.
The relationship between Candace and Sharpe went from being the typical “faculty member being fed up with student” mixed with a little bit of respect to more of a friendship between equals. Candace was originally the one who got Sharpe involved in the SAT (students assisting teachers) program at Maplewood and she was the one who pulled a few strings to get Peter to hire him, despite his less than satisfactory record.

Jennie Alton: Jennie is Sharpe’s “little sister”. She works part-time at Maplewood and is a continuing studies student in the evening.
Jennie and Sharpe have an extremely close relationship and she knows more about him than probably anyone else does. He refers to her as his sister (and she calls him “her brother”), even though they are not biologically related. Their friendship is closer than that of Sharpe and Mandie.

Laura Clarkson: Laura is the biology teacher who is originally from Texas. She appears to have a crush on Sharpe, which he doesn’t return.
Laura and Sharpe really have a love-hate relationship. He hired her because they needed a biology teacher who was at least halfway competent (Josiah Alton was moving to administration) and Laura has always been curious about Sharpe. Somewhere along the line, the curiosity turned into a one-sided romance. I’m still not sure what’s going on there; it’s a storyline that I really haven’t explored much yet.

Shaun Ackerman: Shaun is the PhD. history teacher at RHS who especially enjoys causing controversy in his classrooms. He graduated from Maplewood in 1987.
Interactions between Ackerman and Sharpe are, if nothing else, fun to write. They are also incredibly difficult because they interact like Captain Picard and Q from Star Trek TNG do. Not only do they co-run the Debate Club (that must be interesting), but my suspicion is that they knew each other when they were students at Maplewood. Ackerman is incredibly religious and Sharpe is... not.

Hugh Avery: Hugh is the math teacher (and former physics teacher) who is friendly and personable. He graduated from Maplewood in 1983.
Hugh Avery is friends with everyone on the staff team, but he’s one of the few staff members who actually chooses to interact with Sharpe (versus a forced interaction). He and Sharpe became friends during the 2000-2001 school year and since then, they have been playing a series of (harmless) practical jokes on one another. Not that anyone would believe Avery if he said anything...

Jonathan Liu: Jon is Michael’s dad who graduated Maplewood in 1985 and is a pastor at the local church.
Jon sort of served as a casual mentor to Sharpe while they were in high school (during Sharpe’s freshman year). In essence, they lost contact for several years (more of this is detailed in Snapshots), but now that Michael is a student in Sharpe’s homeroom...

Tetsuya Takahashi: Sharpe’s former classmate, now a local politician and a member of the school board.
I should dedicate an entire entry to what’s happened between Sharpe and Takahashi, but in short, they went to school together. They were in the same homeroom. Sharpe made a snide remark at Takahashi’s expense and Takahashi took offence; things just escalated from there. Now, they are coldly civil to one another and Emiko Takahashi is in Sharpe’s homeroom so things are about to get interesting again...

Aislynn Celeste: Aislynn is the graduate student who works with Hugh Avery in the after school math program, Operation Numbers.
Aislynn and Sharpe confuse one another... they're both a lot more alike than either knows and yet they won't be finding that out the easy way. I'm really looking forward to writing more interactions between them because Aislynn's curious as anything about other people (naturally this extends to Sharpe) and Sharpe is puzzled by Aislynn, especially after observing how she interacts with Hugh Avery.