Quiz Day

Today was a day for blood. Nakajima-sensei grinned to himself. The man clapped his hands together.

“Okay class, you know what day it is!” he said. He grinned as he rubbed his hands together.

“Quiz time!” the teacher said. He sounded like a game show host when he said that. The students looked at each other. They already could see where this was heading.

“Split up into two teams!” Nakajima-sensei shouted. The class didn’t move at first. Their teacher clapped harder.

“Get moving! Two teams! Now!” he shouted. The students all quickly got up. Yuki, Shizuma, Annette, and Sasuke were divided up on separate teams. Sasuke turned to Yuki.

“You think we can do this?” he asked. Yuki kept his eyes on his boyfriend.

“We can manage,” he said. He sounded so serious that Sasuke shivered.

“You okay, man?” he asked.

“Yes,” Yuki said. The teacher cleared his throat.

“We shall begin with the first round. Everybody ready?” he asked. The students waited for the bloodbath to begin. Nakajima-sensei pulled out stack of cards.

“Question one: Translate this sentence into Japanese: I went to the store and bought an apple,” he said. Yuki raised his hand.

“Yes?” the teacher asked. Yuki stood up.

“Mise ni itte ringo o kaimashita,” he said.

“That is correct. Two points!” Nakajima-sensei said. Yuki sat down smiling as Sasuke relaxed. A softball question. A little bit to ease everyone into the battle. Things were about to get heated. The teacher changed his cards.

“Question two,” he said. “Finish this sentence: This ___ a pen.” Annette raised her hand.

“Yes?” the teacher asked. The girl stood up.

 “This is a pen,” she said.

“Correct. Two points!” the teacher said. Shizuma rolled his eyes as Annette sat down, grinning. Yuki narrowed his eyes. They were just getting started. Nakajima-sensei straightened his tie.

“Next question,” he said.

Nakajima-sensei always did this with his quizzes with his English classes. Paper and pencil tests bored him. Plus, he really wanted to test his students to make sure they were getting all of this. The other teachers couldn’t understand how he did things.

“Why stress them out like this?” one of the other teachers asked.

“Keeps them sharp and on their feet,” Nakajima-sensei said. “It all gets them to actually learn something. I was a student once. I understand the grind of school.”

“But does it have to end in a shouting match?” she asked. Nakajima-sensei shrugged.

“Hey, it is what it is,” he said. “Some can take it while others can’t.” That didn’t stop the questions from coming.

Today was no different.

They were halfway through this quiz now. Just five more questions. The two teams were tied. It looks like it was going to be another draw. However, Nakajima-sensei had a plan today. Time to draw out the harder questions. The teacher cleared his throat.

“Okay, class,” he said. “Here comes the harder questions. The last one will be worth double points. Remember the team with the highest points will get an A on the quiz.” Nakajima-sensei smirked as Yuki and Annette braced themselves for battle. They had either answered the questions or had to get help from other students. Who was going to win this time? Nakajima-sensei turned to the next card.

“Excellent,” the teacher said. “Next question.”