Unlikely Allies

Monday morning seemed to crawl by in Alan's estimation. He met up with Dom for a final conference at breakfast.

"I may have a little more ammunition for our request," the yearbook editor told him. "Where do you want to meet? And when?"

"Before lunch, outside the administration building where it faces the parking lot," Alan replied.

"I'll be there," Dom promised. "I'm not backing out of this."

"Me either," Alan affirmed, smiling slightly. "Just wish I didn't feel so nervous about the whole thing."

"Same here," the other boy admitted. "I'll see you later, Tracy."

"Right."

He couldn't shake the feeling that people were whispering about him, and about Fermat behind their backs. "Chill, Pinky," Jason counseled as they took their trays up together. "It's still early. And contrary to the old saw, gossip still has to travel at the speed of sound, from one person to another."

Alan nodded, acknowledging the truth of his friend's words but finding them to be cold comfort. He tried hard to concentrate on his courses but found it difficult. Mr. Graboski asked him a question during math, and it was only a well-timed nudge from Fermat that saved him from a second dose of public humiliation.

As he walked through the halls between classes, he thought he felt the eyes of his fellow students following him as he passed by. Even Fermat seemed jumpy and, by mutual consent, they entered and left their shared classes separately.

Finally, the bell rang for lunch. Alan gathered up his books, stuffing them into his backpack as he walked out, then sprinting down the stairs and across the quadrangle to the administration building. Dom was waiting there and standing next to him, to Alan's complete surprise, was Trey Mackenzie.

"Here's that ammo I told you about," Dom said, smiling. "Trey's going to ask to be transferred, too."

"Really?" Alan asked, puzzled. "Why?"

"I'm not doing it for you, Tracy," Trey said sullenly. "I'm doing this so I can stay in school. I figure that if I add my request to yours, you won't have to mention my little... problem."

"Oh, I see," the younger boy replied. He glanced at his watch. "Let's go and see if we can catch her before she goes to lunch or something."

The three teenagers entered the building and walked into the office of student affairs. Dom stepped up to the secretary's desk and asked, "Is Ms. Belvedere available?"

"What do you want to speak to her about?" the secretary asked. Alan couldn't help contrasting the secretary's attitude toward the three boys to the attitude she had displayed when it was his father asking for Ms. Belvedere.

"We'd like to speak to her about a room change," Dom answered.

The secretary sighed, and turned to pull out a folder. She extracted three sheets of paper and handed one to each of them. "Fill this out, and leave it in the tray over there when you're done. Ms. Belvedere will look at your request and make a decision on it within the next week."

Alan looked down at the paper. It was a form for requesting a room or dormitory change. He looked at the other two boys, then stepped forward. "Isn't there any way we could talk to her personally?" he asked politely.

The secretary gave him an irritated glare. "Fill out the form first. If Ms. Belvedere needs to talk to you, she'll call you in."

The three glanced at each other again, then Dom said, "Okay. Thank you."

Once they were in the corridor, Dom shook his head. "I should have known we couldn't see her right off. There's always some sort of protocol to follow."

"Are you going to fill out the form?" Alan bluntly asked Trey.

Trey scowled at him. "Yeah. As long as you two don't tell her the real reason, I'll keep my end of the bargain."

"We won't tell," Dom hastened to assure his roommate. "Listen, let's get some lunch and work on these afterwards. But try to get them turned in by the end of the day."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Alan said. "Besides, I'm starved." He folded up the paper and stuck it in his backpack, then turned to leave. "I'll catch you two later."

"Hey, Alan!" Qaeshon called, waving a hand. Alan took his tray to the table where his friends sat.

"Wh-What happened?" Fermat asked eagerly.

"Nothing," Alan groused. "The secretary gave us a form to fill out, that's all." He took a sip of his drink and added, "But Mackenzie's with us, so the odds of our getting the room switch are better."

"If you can get Sugi to go along with it, then it's a sure thing," Ralph stated. He leaned in. "I hate to tell you this, but the rumor's getting around. Three people stopped me after classes today and either asked me about it or tried to tell me."

"Same here," Qaeshon admitted. "But I told them it wasn't true."

"I didn't think it would spread so fast," Jason said, shaking his head. "I had at least four people mention it to me."

"That kind of gossip spreads like wildfire," Ralph said. He turned to A.J. "What have you heard?"

The youngest of the group picked at his lunch. "I've gotten some... comments," he said, his voice barely heard over the noise of the cafeteria. "I've tried to set the record straight but I'm not sure that I did it very well."

The rest of the group were stunned into silence for a moment, then they all erupted into talk at once. Fermat and Qaeshon were trying hard to comfort and encourage A.J., while Ralph and Jason argued with each other about the best way to combat the rumor. The only one who didn't add to the noise was Alan. He sat still, not seeing his friends or hearing them, then his eyes narrowed in anger. He stood suddenly and searched the dining hall, looking for his roommate, now his enemy. He took a step away from the table, and Fermat, suddenly noticing his friend's expression and guessing his intent, lunged to grab Alan's forearm.

"No, Alan, d-don't!" he cried, grasping hold firmly and bringing Alan's behavior to the attention of the rest of the table. Alan turned to him, the anger on his face giving way to a surprised frown as he stared at Fermat's hand.

"C'mon, Pinky," Jason said, getting up and coming around to stand in front of his friend, providing a barrier between Alan and the rest of the diners. "Sit down. You want to take him? Fine. But not here and not now, and most certainly not by yourself."

Alan looked at his red-haired friend, then glanced back down at Fermat and let out a deep, shuddery breath. He sat down as suddenly as he had stood, dropping back into his chair and slumping. He glanced over at A.J.

"I'm sorry that you're caught up in this, kid," he said, his voice low and raspy. "Believe me, Sugi won't get away with this. I won't let him." The younger boy didn't know what to say, so just nodded.

Ralph looked at his watch. "We'd better get going. Lunch is almost over. Brain, I'll take your tray."

"I-I'm staying with you g-guys," Fermat said. "I'm not gonna s-s-s... wait alone. Not with everyone giving me weird l-l-looks."

"Okay." Ralph stood and took Fermat's unfinished lunch. "Let's go."

This time the entire group was conscious of the other boys and their furtive glances. As they passed their trays to Pierce, he grinned at Alan, then made a kissing motion with his mouth.

"You're not my type, creep, in any sense of the word," Alan remarked sarcastically. His comment and the angry expressions of the other boys did nothing to stop the kitchen worker; if anything, they made him smile wider.

On the way out, Fermat pulled on Qaeshon's arm. He pointed to Xavion, who was having a spirited conversation with Lee Sugimoto. Both of them had angry scowls on their faces, and as the boys watched, the dark-skinned teen got up, flinging his crumpled napkin down on his tray, then stalked off to dispose of his half-eaten lunch.

"Doesn't look good," Qaeshon said quietly to Fermat as they left. "Takes a lot to really rile my brother. I wonder what Sugi said that got him all hot."

Fermat just shook his head. I hope that whatever it was, it's not going to make things worse.

The rest of the day went by as slowly as the beginning. Alan had a quiz in strength training class which he was well prepared for and, since he finished it early, he spent a couple of moments filling out the form he'd been giving earlier. When he got to the line asking for the reason why he wanted to change rooms, he thought, Since I can't rat on Mackenzie, I'm so tempted to put down "because my roommate is spreading lies about me". But how do I prove it? I think I'd be better off putting down "personality conflicts" instead.

When the bell rang for his last class, Alan headed out, sprinting across the quadrangle again to drop his request off at Ms. Belvedere's office. To his surprise, the woman herself was in the outer office, poring over some papers.

"Here comes the other one," the secretary said as Alan entered, breathless.

Ms. Belvedere looked up and her eyebrows rose behind her glasses. "Mr. Tracy," she said. "I didn't expect you to be part of this request."

"I, uh, I am, ma'am," he said, holding out his paper.

She glanced over it and turned on her heel, waving him to follow her. "In my office, Mr. Tracy."

"Uh, ma'am. With all due respect, I'm supposed to..."

She cut him off. "Wherever you're supposed to be can wait. In my office now, Mr. Tracy."

Alan sighed quietly and followed her into her office. She waved him to one of the leather-covered chairs before her desk as she sat behind it.

"Now, tell me what this is all about," she ordered.

"Well, uh, you see, my current roommate, Lee Sugimoto, and I are having some personality conflicts," he began.

"What kind of conflicts?" she asked abruptly. "Yelling, screaming, hitting? Or do you disagree on whose turn it is to clean the bathroom?"

Alan blew out a breath. "We've had some head-to-head arguments. Not over the bathroom, though."

"What about then?"

Damn! What do I tell her? I wish I knew what the others put down! Alan fretted. I guess I have to tell her about the rumors.

"Well, you see, he's been... he's been teasing me. About my friend, Fermat Hackenbacker," Alan said hesitantly. "He's, uh, questioned my, uh... my sexual orientation." Sighing audibly this time, he added, "And Fermat's as well. He's started a rumor that we're... more than friends."

"Mr. Sugimoto has started a rumor that you and Mr. Hackenbacker are homosexual?" Ms. Belvedere asked, frowning.

"Yes, ma'am," Alan said, dropping his gaze.

"Are you?"

Alan's head snapped upward, his eyes big with surprise at her question. He shook his head violently. "No, ma'am! We're friends. Good friends, that's all."

"Hmm." The woman looked over the papers in her hands, shuffling as she read them through again. Glancing up at Alan again, she asked, "Why Mr. Bertoli?"

"Well, it's not so much Dom as it is Trey. He's a really good friend of... of Lee's and it seemed that maybe the two of them would get along better," Alan said. "Dom and I have just met recently. He seems like an okay person."

She studied him again, then very deliberately, put the papers down. "Why not Mr. Hackenbacker? Your father and Professor Hackenbacker seemed very keen on the two of you rooming together."

Alan smiled a little, glanced down, then up again to meet her gaze. "Well, ma'am, I've met Fermat's new roomie, A.J. - excuse me, Andrew - and I think he needs someone like Fermat to room with. Somebody who's gone through what he's going through now, being so young and away from home among a bunch of older boys. I don't want to deprive him of that. Besides, they seem to be getting along okay."

"Hmm." She gazed back at him, her eyes crinkled up a little in a thoughtful look. Then she drew in a breath and let it out, glancing down at the papers again then up. "I wouldn't have thought it of you, Mr. Tracy. Does your father know about this... selflessness of yours?"

He nodded. "Yes, ma'am, he does. So does Professor Hackenbacker. They're okay with it."

"I suppose this means that we won't be hearing from your father at the next board of directors' meeting then?"

"As far as my rooming with Fermat is concerned, you won't." He shrugged. "But that doesn't mean he might come up with something else to bring before the board."

Ms. Belvedere surprised Alan by chuckling slightly. Then she grew serious again. "I notice that Mr. Sugimoto's name isn't on one of these sheets. Is he aware of your desire to change rooms?"

Alan nodded. "Yes, ma'am, he is. He might not be aware about Trey Mackenzie's request, though. I was surprised myself when Trey came with Dom and me this morning."

"I see." She picked up the three sheets and tapped them on top of her desk, then stuck one corner in an automatic stapler. "I will have a little chat with Mr. Sugimoto myself, then make my decision based on that. I should have an answer for you, Mr. Bertoli, and Mr. Mackenzie by the end of the week." She put the stapled papers aside, then added, "You're dismissed, Mr. Tracy."

Alan rose to leave, but turned back with a look of chagrin on his face. "Uh, ma'am, could I have a note of some kind for Coach Evans?" He glanced at his watch. "I'm late for track practice."

"Track practice?" she asked, surprised.

"Yes, ma'am. I made the track team," he replied, a hint of pride in his voice.

"Then, congratulations, Mr. Tracy." She smiled slightly. "I'm glad to see you take an interest in something other than dirt bikes and Thunderbirds." Reaching out, she picked up a small transmitter. "Marie? Please write Mr. Tracy an excuse for tardiness. Address it to Coach Evans." Glancing over at him, she said, "You may pick up your note in the anteroom. Good afternoon, Mr. Tracy."

"Good afternoon, Ms. Belvedere, and thanks," Alan replied, smiling sheepishly. He picked up his books and left her office, feeling much more positive than he had when he went in.

Fermat hadn't even bothered to go back to Maplewood after classes. Instead he went - computer, bookbag and all - to room 210 of the Student Union. He found Dev Israni and Mr. Feng already there, setting up the tables.

"H-Hey, Dev," Fermat said, smiling, as he propped his gear up along one wall.

"Greetings, my young friend," Dev said, his own smile wide and welcoming. "You are early."

"I d-didn't feel like g-g-g... returning to M-Maplewood. It's a l-long walk there and b-back."

"I understand."

The younger boy looked at the simple set-up: two rectangular tables with pads and pencils on them and four chairs lining one side. "H-How does this work?" he asked.

"Wait until everyone gets here, Devdan," Mr. Feng cautioned. "That way we only have to explain this once."

"Yes, sir," Dev replied with a nod.

Fermat watched in fascination as Mr. Feng put a pad covered in soft vinyl down on each chair. Then he went over to a laptop computer that sat on a desk, and instructed Dev to sit on each chair, one after another. As the tall teen got up from the chair, he paused before moving to the next one, waiting until Mr. Feng nodded. At one point, he was instructed to sit back down then stand again.

"That pad is still faulty," the faculty advisor said with a sigh. "I think we've got an extra, but it will mean recalibrating the others. I'll get it out."

Other boys began to arrive as Mr. Feng pulled another pad from the closet. This one was a different color than the others and Dev had to go through the same process again, starting this time with the chair that had held the faulty pad.

At last Mr. Feng was satisfied, and he stood, clapping his hands for attention. He made eye contact with each of the team members, smiling as he addressed them.

"Welcome, gentlemen, to this year's academic quiz team," his smile widened to a grin, "probably the only team at Wharton where intelligence is valued more than strength or skill."

He sobered a bit. "You have all passed the test we administered with very high scores and so have earned the privilege of being on the team. Remember, however, that being on this team, as on any other, is a privilege, not a right, and can be rescinded for unacceptable and unbecoming behavior."

The teacher picked up a data pad. "This year we have two squads of four players, with one substitute per group. The teams are sorted by classes, and each will be competing against people in their own class bracket. Our freshman/sophomore squad consists of the following people: Robert Bennett, Atif El Helou, Fermat Hackenbacker, and Tomas Lopez, with Timothy Delello as alternate. The junior/senior team has Mikal Enjaian, Devdan Israni, Joseph Morgan, William Shultz, and Wei Noh as the alternate. The overall team captain is Devdan Israni."

Fermat looked around at the others in the group. He recognized Tomas and Timothy as being in his classes, and deduced who the freshmen, Robert and Atif must be. He also recognized Mikal and Joseph from his pre-engineering class. That leaves William and Wei. It's not hard to see which is which, either.

He turned his attention back to Mr. Feng, who was still talking. "Now, each of you has specific strengths and weaknesses, and you will be charged to answer the questions that come your way according to your strengths. Now, let's get the teams settled behind the tables, and I'll go into which questions you should answer once you're seated. Please arrange yourselves in alphabetical order from left to right."

Fermat got up and moved to sit next to skinny, dark-haired Atif El Helou. "Hi, I'm F-Fermat Hackenbacker," he said, offering his hand.

"I am Atif," the other boy said, his accent very British and his manner rather haughty as he took Fermat's hand and shook it once.

Plump, pale and blond Robert Bennett leaned over and offered his hand to Fermat. "Ah'm Robert Bennett," he said, his speech declaring his southern origins. "But you c'n call me Robbie. Ah already know Atif heah from some of mah classes."

"N-Nice to meet you, Robbie," Fermat said with a smile.

"You can call me Tom," Tomas Lopez said from Fermat's left, as he leaned over and introduced himself to his teammates. Then he, along with all the other squad members, turned his attention back to Mr. Feng.

"I want each of you to stand, starting over here," he pointed at Robbie, "and tell us your name and where you are from. There's a purpose to this beyond the introduction, and I will explain it when we are through."

So each boy stood up and gave his name and where he was from. Robbie turned out to be from Georgia. Atif was from London, which Fermat thought was odd. Tomas was from Cincinnati, and Timothy, who stood when Mr. Feng pointed at him, was from nearby Springfield. Mikal Enjaian was from New York City, while Devdan Israni hailed from Bombay. Joseph Morgan was from Boston, William Shultz from Florida, and Wei Noh came from Providence, Rhode Island. Fermat himself gave his own home as "somewhere near N-New Zealand", which he was sure would cause his teammates to ask questions.

As each of them stood, Mr. Feng sat behind the laptop, watching as each boy stood and nodding. He told them what particular subject questions they would be answering. Robbie got the natural sciences and general history. Atif would be answering language and musical questions. Fermat was given mathematics and the physical sciences while Tom was handed literature and geography. Among the upperclassmen, Mikal was given history and geography, Devdan had mathematics and general science. William had language and music, while Joseph had literature and government. When he got to Joseph, he asked the dark-skinned teen to stand again, then said, "Okay," and waved him back into his seat.

"Very good," he told them when they were through, standing up behind his computer. "Now that we've all been introduced, I'll tell you why I had you stand. You'll notice that there's a thin vinyl pad between you and the seat of the chair. This is called a jump seat. Whenever you stand, it sends a signal to the computer and tells me who responded to the question first, and who stood up second."

He moved out from behind the desk and explained his choice of subject for the team members. "Each of you has shown yourselves to be strong in the particular subjects you've been assigned, but I do expect some overlap among you," Mr. Feng explained. "Timothy and Wei have broader interests and will be able to substitute for most of you in a pinch. In fact, they will be rotated into the lineup every other meet."

Smiling, he picked up a small pile of papers and began to distribute them. "Now, let's talk about the rules of the quiz and how it's run. Some of you will remember most of this from last year, but there have been a few rule changes that we need to discuss."

Fermat scanned the paper he had been given as Mr. Feng went over it verbally. It looked straightforward enough. There were three rounds per squad each meet. The first round was a formal round. Questions would be asked of each team, running through the subjects that Mr. Feng has just mentioned to them. The team had to indicate exactly who was to reply to the question. Points were won if that person responded correctly. A player was not allowed to respond to more than two challenges, which meant that once a squad member had answered their allotment, they were out of the round.

The second round used the jump seats. The question was to be answered by the first person who jumped up, regardless of which team it was. If their answer was incorrect, the first person standing on the other side would be allowed to respond to the question. If they answered correctly, they earned the points.

The third round was more of a team effort. There would be eight questions, four per team. One team would be given a challenge, and they had sixty seconds to come up with the correct answer. If their response was incorrect, the other team had a chance to answer it and garner the available points.

"What happens if there is a tie?" Robbie asked, raising his hand.

"Then there will be three tie-breaker questions using the jump seats," Mr. Feng replied. "The best two out of three wins."

Fermat raised his hand. "Wh-What about math problems? Can we use a calculator?"

The teacher shook his head. "No, but you can use pencil and paper. That's why the pads are on the tables." He put down his sheet, and picked up his data pad. "Right now, I want to practice with the jump seats." He grinned. "The underclassmen versus the upperclassmen. Ready? Push your chairs back a little so you can stand without clobbering yourself on the tables."

The older boys grinned and nodded, with Joseph going so far as to crack his knuckles. The newest players looked around uncertainly as the veterans, Tom and Timothy, made them push their chairs back.

Tom leaned over to speak to the other three players. "Even if the answer doesn't pop into your head at first, stand up as quick as you can."

The other boys nodded, and sat forward on their chairs as Tom did, hands on their knees and faces turned toward Mr. Feng, who had moved back behind his computer.

"Okay, now. First question. What is the technical term for the changes seen as an amphibian goes from egg to adult form?"

Robbie shot out of his seat, shouting the word, "Metamorphosis!"

"That would be counted as incorrect, Robert," Mr. Feng warned, holding up a finger. "You have to wait until you are acknowledged to answer the question. No points for that round."

Robbie sat back down, looking chastened. Fermat leaned around Atif and whispered to the blond, "It's o-okay. This is j-just practice."

The freshman nodded back at him and squared his shoulders. Fermat turned to listen to the next question. He could see that, as straightforward as the meet format might seem, there were still things for him to learn.

Alan sprinted back to his dorm to change clothes. He knew his roommate wouldn't be there; Sugi was already at track practice.

Which is where I need to be! Alan thought, as he frantically shrugged off his shirt. Changing clothes in a hurry was something that he had learned to do over the summer, but it wasn't during a full-blown panic like the one he was experiencing now. Though changing took him less than five minutes from start to finish, Alan felt like it had taken far longer. Not only that, but he was already out the door and down the hall before he remembered his excuse from Ms. Belvedere. Throwing up his hands in frustration, he hurried back to his room, nipped in as fast as he could, and snagged the note. Come on, Tracy! he silently berated himself as he took the steps from the dorm's front door two at a time. Faster!

Coach Evans was not pleased when Alan finally made it to the track. "You're late, Tracy. I don't tolerate lateness in my team members," he said with a deep scowl.

"I know, Coach. I'm sorry, Coach," Alan huffed out. He held out his note from Ms. Belvedere. "I tried to tell her I needed to be here..."

The man looked at the note and snorted, his scowl letting up only a fraction. "Okay, Tracy. I'll let it go... this time. Next time, either schedule your appointments so they don't conflict with practice, or let me know ahead of time that you're going to be late."

Alan desperately wanted to say, "But I tried to see her at lunch", and "I didn't have any choice", but he realized that trying to explain further would be futile. So he just said, "Yes, sir."

"See Sugimoto. He's taking orders for uniforms. Then find Lewis," the coach instructed him. He waved his hand in the general direction of the track.

"Yes, sir," Alan replied. He sprinted off to where his roommate stood, data pad in hand, two other team members standing in front of him.

"So, you've decided to grace us with your presence, eh, Tracy?" Lee said sarcastically as Alan approached. "I hope you don't think your father's money is going to get you special treatment."

"No, I don't," Alan shot back sharply. The other boys, Erik and an upperclassman that Alan didn't know, glanced from one speaker to another then exchanged looks. The upperclassman folded his arms and turned to face Alan while Erik shrugged slightly and turned back to talk to Sugi.

Alan stood, arms folded, fidgeting as he waited for Sugi to finish with the other two. It seemed to take a long time and it looked to the youngest Tracy that Lee was dragging out the process intentionally. However, by the time he had finished with the other two boys, Xavion Lewis had come up behind him.

"I'll finish up here," the team captain said, taking the data pad and tape measure from Lee and indicating the track. "I want you to work with the relay team on their baton passing."

Sugi gave Xavion a venomous look, glared briefly at Alan, and walked off without a word. Xavion stared after the tall Asian for a moment, then turned to Alan.

"Okay, Tracy. What happened with Ms. Belvedere?" he asked, unraveling the tape measure. "Coach already showed me your excuse." He started with Alan's neck, wrapping the tape gently around it and entering the results into the pad.

"I went to her office to drop off some paperwork. She saw me, collared me, and we had a little talk," Alan said, holding out his arms so that Xavion could measure his chest. "I told her Sugi was teasing me about my... about my sexual orientation. She said she'd talk to him about the room change."

"Hmm. He's not going to like that," Xavion commented as he ran the tape from Alan's right shoulder to his wrist. "Especially if she talks to him about 'tolerance' and 'harassment'."

"Oh, no. I hadn't thought of that," Alan replied, with a groan. He kept his arms up so that Xavion could wrap the tape around his waist. "If she talks to him about that, my life will really be hell." He shook his head slowly, then asked, "What did he say to you?"

"He says that he didn't start the rumor," the older boy said as he squatted down to measure the inside of Alan's leg. He didn't look at Alan until he stood up and had finished putting the data he had gathered into the pad. "We're done here. Let's take a warm up jog around the track."

"Okay," Alan said.

Xavion set the pace, a jog in the grass around the track oval. "I asked him what was going on, why he was acting so differently. He says that nothing's changed. But something has, and I'm not the only one to notice it."

"He sure is making a big deal about my father's money," Alan remarked. "He made a comment about it the other night, and then again today when I went to get measured."

"Hmm." Xavion looked thoughtful. "That's interesting." He glanced at the younger boy. "Thanks for telling me that."

"You're welcome," Alan replied, puzzled. The two of them didn't speak again as they completed the circuit and moved into actually practicing for their first meet.