Fio and Fiona Make the Grade

Silver and her roommate team up to work on a project. I know it sounds boring but trust me this is anything but.

A week later…

    Monday afternoon. Geometry was over and I’m pretty sure I was the only one paying attention. Still no sign of my roommate, but Mrs. Sungsay, the Geo teacher, said she was here.

    When I opened the door to my dorm, I saw a small girl, probably smaller than me, sitting on her bed. Reddish-blond hair that was in a tangle, her eyes closed as she hugged somebody. That somebody was a boy, who also had his eyes close and had the same hair color.

    They looked up when I came in the room. “Are you Argentum?” The girl asked. I nodded, and she smiled.
    “I’m Fiona, Fiona Sungsay. This is my twin brother, Fio.” She said, gesturing to the boy. I waved hello, and he smiled and waved back. “We’re twins, and our mom is our Geo teacher. You probably met her today.”

    “Yes. She was very kind.” I say, hanging my bag on a hook and pulling out my homework.

    “Great! Anyway, bye Fio.” She said, kissing his cheek before showing him out. He winked as she shut the door, and I returned my focus to Fiona.

    “I know I just got here, but my mom said I don’t have homework to do since tons of kids get here late. How long have you been here?” She asked, sitting on her bed.

    “Two weeks. Most of the time I spent in the Library.” I say, and she nods and glances at the pile of books on my bed.

    “So what does Argentum mean?” She asked, pulling out a small bottle of nail polish from her bag.

    “It means silver in Latin. My full name is Argentum Aurum Luna Sharpe. My first and middle name together mean ‘Silver Gold Moon’”.

    “Cool. Does that like run in the family or something?” She asked.

    “Sort of. My mother’s name was Igneus Rutilus Sol Priar. Her middle and first name together mean ‘Fiery Red-Gold Sun.’”.

    “I like it. So do I call you ‘Silver’ or…”She asked, slathering turquoise nail polish on her finger nails.

    “Silver is fine. But chances are most of the teachers are going to call me Argentum. Did you meet Yana?” I ask.

    “Yeah, I met her at lunch. She seems nice, but kind of perky. She talked about you a lot.” Fiona said.

    “She gave me a puppy and is making a jacket out of some fabric I gave her.” I say, and she looks up.

    “You have fabric? Do you, like, make your own clothes or something?”

    “Yes, I make my own clothes.” I say, tossing the school blazer on my bed.

    “Can I see?” She asked, and I pulled out a silver top I made with a matching skirt to change into.

    “Sure, just let me change.” After making sure she looked away, I got out of my blouse and school skirt. Changing back into my clothes, I grabbed a brush and twisted my hair into a ponytail.

    When I was done, her eyes widened. “Whoa Silver! You look good! You made that top yourself?” She asked.

    “Yeah. I spent a week but it was worth it apparently.” I say, spinning around in my shirt. “So anyway, we have a report to do for Science that will be due from tomorrow to Wednesday. Everybody has to work with someone. Want to work with me?”

    “Sure! Come on, let’s go to the Library.” She said, running out the dorm room before I could tell her to slow down.

    I walked to the Library, not bothering to keep up. I knew she wouldn’t be able to find the real books.

    When I swung open the door I saw her sitting at a small magazine rack, reading an article about molecules. Those kiddie magazines were the only thing in that room.

    “Hey, do you think we can do are report on this?” She asked.

    “No. We need more information.” I say, then turn and walk through an archway she hadn’t noticed.

    “Hey! Where are you going?” She asked, running to keep up. Fiona slowed when she reached me, and I stopped near the door to look up at the Directory.

    A few minutes later we were counting rows trying to find the science section. These ‘rows’ were towering books, most reaching up to the ceiling.

    “Here we go. Found it!” Fiona said, turning down an aisle. I followed her and pulled a book off the shelf.

    “Hold on. This report is due in two days, so I don’t want to have to read that mammoth and not have time for the project.” She said, and then scanned the rows for a thinner book. “This one ought to do the trick.”

     When she pulled the book down, I heard a soft click. Like it was a trap or something. I looked around waiting for something to happen.

    The stone wall began to move. Fiona turned and her mouth dropped as the stone wall seemed to open. A small tunnel appeared, and at the very end was a light.

    “Come on.” I say, starting to walk down the tunnel.

    “We don’t know where that thing leads to Silver!” Fiona yelled at me.

    “Well you stay there then, because I am going to find out!” I yell back. I chuckled when she raced to catch up with me.

    “You want to go down a freaky tunnel by yourself?” She asked as we walked.

    “I don’t mind going by myself, but company would be nice.”

    “You are strange. I like that.” She said.

    “Why thank you.” I say expressionlessly. Not showing my emotions was a trick I learned from my mother.

    Ten minutes later we reached the door. Pulling out my lock pick set that I always had with me, I got the handle free and kept the door open for Fiona. All around us soft green light blazed, and it was coming from objects in the room. Such as the Velociraptor frozen in green ooze.

    “Whoa! Look at all this stuff! We can right our entire report on what science did to keep this stuff frozen.” She said, examining the dinosaur.

    “Science has nothing to do with us.” A voice said behind me, and I turned to see an alien. It looked exactly like how we would imagine aliens. Green, big head, antenna, and diamond shaped eyes.

    “You are an alien! How did you get down here?” She asked.

    “I am the latest to be here.” The alien responded. “The others have been here for quite some time. We were captured and brought here by a man, but I haven’t seen him for a while. I was the first to break out of the ooze.” He said, gesturing to the pile of ooze that had his imprint in it.

    “Amazing! I am going to collect a few samples of it!” Fiona exclaimed, dipping her fingers into the ooze.

    “So what are you doing down here?” I asked.

    “We were caught to be displayed to the world, so humans can see what we looked like. ‘Sup Nessie.” He said, walking by the Loch Ness monster. Nessie had an entire flipper out of the ooze, and he slapped it like he gave her a high five. Nessie didn’t react.

    “So what are you still doing here?” I ask.

    “Well, I’m not exactly able to pass for a human at the moment. So I remain down here, until somebody can come and find me and make me look human.”

    “What if you don’t want to look human?” I asked.

    “What do you mean?”

    “I have a science project due tomorrow, and I was hoping maybe you could be it. Tell my class about the way UFOs work and why do you come to Earth and what not.” I say.

    “Well…”

         The next day (Science class)…

    The next morning Fiona and I stood in front of the class, Albert in between us. He said he didn’t have a name so Fiona and I made one up. At the moment he was wearing pants I had made when I first got into sewing.

    Everybody’s mouths dropped when they saw the alien. I sat there quietly beside Fiona and Albert while they talked about aliens and what aliens do and what not.
    Ten minutes later we let Albert go to pursue his dream of being a television star in Ontario. His ship was waiting on the roof, and we waved goodbye as he zoomed off.

    Fio, who was in the next Science class, heard about our amazing feat. We got an A+ each for the grade, and he got second best with an A. But he was still proud when he showed the class his holographic projection he made out of coat hangers and a couple light bulbs.

    That night Fio came to our dorm.

    “Hey Fiona!” He said, wearing jeans and a band t-shirt. “Hello Silver.”

    “Evening Fio.” I say, brushing out my hair.

    “Hey Fio.” Fiona said from her desk, where she was trying to hack into the school web with her laptop. “Good God this code is hard to crack.”

    “Still haven’t got in yet?” Fio asked, snagging a bag of Skittles off her bed.

    “No. I’ve seen military buildings that didn’t have this much security.” She said.

    “Well, mom and dad said they wanted to have you over so you can tell them about your project. Want to come with Silver?” He asked.

    “Sure.” I say, tying my hair into a braid.

    “Hold on.” Fiona said, squinting at the screen. Then she cursed and scowled. “Yeah I’m coming.”

    We both grabbed our bags from the hooks in our closet before following Fio out onto the grounds. We couldn’t leave out through the bridge but there were complexes around the school built for teachers and staff to use. Telgemier Academy is actually three acres wide.

    Fio led us to a small apartment, knocking on the door before waiting. I thought it was strange that he had to knock on the door to get to his parent’s apartment.

    A tall smiling woman opened the door for us. It was Mrs. Sungsay, her long blond hair tied back and her brown eyes sparkling. She hugged the both of them before hugging me too.

    “Hello Argentum! So good to see you here. Come in.” She said, holding the door open for me. I walked in and saw her husband, Mr. Sungsay, on the couch reading the paper.

    He looked up when he saw us. Clearly he was the source of most of the genes in Fio and Fiona. Red hair (straight red), blue eyes, and a nose that matched his children’s.

    “Hey kids!” He said, getting up to hug them. He moved to me and shook my hand before pulling away.

    “You must be Silver Sharpe, Fiery’s daughter. I knew her and I hope that we will be acquainted just like I was with your mother.” He said before going to help his wife serve dinner.

    Sitting on the couch beside Fiona, we both nibbled on rice and a piece of pecan-covered chicken. It felt good to not have to eat stuff they served in the cafeteria.

    “So girls.” Mr. Sungsay said from the opposite couch. “I heard you got an A+ on your project. My question is who did you bribe to dress up as an alien?”

    “Nobody Dad.” Fiona said, launching into the story. I only half listened, my mind drifting. Instead I was thinking about my parents. If Fiona’s parents knew my mom maybe they knew my dad.

    “Excuse me Mrs. Sungsay-

    “Oh we aren’t in class now. Call us Bonnie and Cam.” She cut in.

    “Bonnie, did you know my father?” I ask.

    “Why yes, yes I did. How is he? I haven’t seen him in ages.”

    “I…I don’t know.”

    “What do you mean you don’t know?”

    “He left my mother and me when I was born.” I say, and she frowns.

    “Oh poor you sweetie.” She said, patting her chest. “I am deeply sorry.”

    A knock at the door saved me from replying. “It’s open!” Bonnie yelled.

    The door swung open and a man stepped inside. He was tall, maybe six five. A chunk of muscles on his chest thinly covered by a dark green shirt. Blackish-brown hair kept neat and tidy and an upturned nose.

    “Ah, evening Peter.” Bonnie said.

    “Evening to you too Bonnie. I was hoping you had enough leftovers for me.” He said, and she got up to spoon some rice onto a plate.

    “Hey Fio. Fiona, did you get your hair cut shorter?” He asked, and she grinned and nodded. “And you, you are new right?”

    “That’s Argentum. Argentum Aurum Luna Sharpe.” Bonnie said from the kitchen.

    “I have a double middle name too.” Fiona whispered. I’m Fiona Honey Fern Sungsay. Fio’s name is Fio Carlisle Thomas Sungsay.”

    “Anyway, I’m Mr. Aaron.” He said, and I shook his hand. “I’m the Physical Education teacher.”

    “Suits you.” I murmur. Fiona smiled. “Call me Silver.”

    “Silver Sharpe eh?” That reminds me, was Fiery your mother?” He asked.

    “Yes, yes she was. But she passed away.”

    “And your father?”

    “Left when I was born.” I say, and his mouth tightened into a thin line.

    “That man. All that man ever thought about was himself. You and your mother deserved way better.” He said, and Bonnie handed him a dish of rice and chicken.

    “It’s okay.” I say quietly to Fiona, who put her arm around my shoulders in my defense.

    “Didn’t deserve her.” Cam murmured.

    “I’ll say. That man never looked up from his work to give anybody the time of day.” Mr. Aaron said. “Much less his wife and child.”

    I remained quiet as I ate the rest of my dinner. Fiona seemed to sense my inner turmoil. I wanted to defend my father but at the same time I knew they were right.

    When I was done, I placed my plate in the sink besides Fiona’s. Fiona shot me a glance before spearing a look at the door. Then she stood up.

    I understood immediately. “Bonnie, thank you for dinner, but Fiona and I have to get to our dorms.”

    “Leaving so soon?” Bonnie simpered. “Well, I can’t get in the way of your studies. Way too much paperwork, if you know what I mean.”

    I didn’t say another word until the door closed behind Fiona. Until we were at least a while away.

    “Oh my God.” I say, putting my face in my hands.

    “I’m so sorry. I know how awkward it must’ve been for you. I’ll talk to them later-

    “You don’t have to do anything.” I say, covering my inner pain with an expressionless face. “It wasn’t your fault.”

    “But…” My look shut her up.

    We walked the rest of the way in silence. I hadn’t been paying attention so when I tripped over the small bundle on the doorstep, I cursed.

    “What?” Fiona asked, pausing.                         

    “Tripped over something.” I say, picking up the small bundle. It was leathery and brown and held together by twine. A small note was tucked under the twine.

         Hello there Silver!

    I made you jacket. I got sizes from Directory this morning, so it fit. Hope you like!

    -Yana

    P.S. I keep fabric so I make more stuff for you.

    Walking into the dorm, I laid the jacket in my closet before settling down with a good book.

    The next morning, our scores were up on the wall outside the classroom. A crowd was already gathered, people coming and going.

    And yes, at the top, were these very words:

         Argentum Aurum Luna Sharpe

    And Fiona Honey Fern Sungsay= A+

Author's Note

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