One day Gemma and Vicky were about to leave their math class. They had just finished the lecture but were on their way over to the library to work on their homework assignment. Gemma wasn't very good at math, and Vicky really wasn't too much better (even though she totally thought she was).
Gemma sat staring at her page blankly. She had finished all of the problems except for the very last one, and that last freaking problem she could NOT figure out for the life of her. After 10 minutes of intense panic zoning out, Gemma finally decided to ask Vicky if she knew what was going on either.
"Oh my god VICKKKYYYY girl do you know how to do number 78?? I swear he is trying to kill us with these damn triple integrals. I'm totally going to fail this next quiz!"
Vicky had no idea wtf she was doing either. But Vicky was the type of girl who didn't care if she was actually wrong as long as people THOUGHT she knew what she was doing.
"Girl you have NO idea how hard that problem was for me. Like after looking at it I literally had to watch dog videos just to calm down because it is just so long. But yeah like I totally know what I'm doing now I swear!"
Vicky did not know what she was doing.
It didn't take Gemma long either to figure that out. Since she was a good friend, she politely listened to Vicky's totally botched explanation, before seeking other, better help.
"Hey girl I totally think you're right but there's that girl Darian from class over there too and I know she's pretty smart so I'm gonna go check with her real quick!"
Darian was a 4.0 mathematics major and TOTALLY knew what was going on. She gladly helped Gemma with the problem and mentioned that she was also a tutor in the math center if Gemma ever needed any more help. Gemma was so impressed and grateful for Darian's more easily understandable explanation, and Vicky could clearly see it from across the room.
Vicky instantly felt boiling rage bubble up from inside her. How DARE some other girl even THINK she is smarter than her?? Vicky is the freaking SMARTEST dammit! Just the thought of Gemma thinking Darian was smarter than her was enough for Vicky to go full psycho.
Gemma got back over to Vicky with the proper answer to problem 78, but didn't notice Vicky quietly seething.
"Okay Vicky sorry but I think Darian is totally right on this one. She showed me how to do it and it just, like, makes so much more sense!"
Vicky had to act fast. She would NOT be one upped.
"Girl are you like sure though? I don't really think Darian is the type of girl to really like, you know, help people? Like the other day I got to class before you, since you were getting your Starbucks, and like I heard her talking to this guy about how funny it is to give people the totally wrong answers when they ask her for help. Since you know, like everyone thinks she's so smart and all. I totally don't think you should trust her. And I mean I even plugged it into WolframAlpha and my way was the way they said to do it too."
Gemma finally picked up on the slight air of salt Vicky had and instantly came to the realization that, not only was Darian right, but Vicky was totally 100% jealous of her. Gemma didn't really know how to react at first, but then she realized what every sane girl would do in this situation.
She reached over and plopped her hand down on Vicky's shoulder, dramatically leaned forward, and rolled her eyes.
"Girl you need to CHILLLLL. Darian is totally right and you know ittt!! Don't be such a jealous biiiooottchhh!"
The two girls looked at each other, burst out laughing, and walked off arm in arm. All was once again right in the world, and their homework was finally finished.
Math Homework from Flickr
Author's Note:
I based this story off of The Greek King and the Physician Douban, from the Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang. In the story the Greek King was sick and no one could cure him. Douban was a doctor who promised to cure the King without even giving him any meds. Douban pulls it off, and the King is super happy. The King's vizir sees all the attention Douban is getting and gets jealous, trying to convince the King Douban is evil. The King sees right through it though and calls the vizir out on being jealous and manipulative. I thought this would be a funny story to retell in a "Mean Girls" way, because the story honestly reminded me of something that would happen in that movie. The main things I changed were just making it in the style of modern girls. Of course it is a little more dramatic than the average girls probably talk, but I have actually met people who fit this depiction to a T. I think it just adds more humor to what was originally quite a serious story.
Hi Sarah, your title hooked me right away! I was looking through the blog stream and your story stood out to me! Haha I love dialogue that you used for the story! Wow, you did a good job of making me so annoyed with Vicky. I really liked how you ended the story too, I am glad that the situation didn’t escalate. I read that story this week too and I would not have imagined changing it in this way! You did a great job!
ReplyDeleteHello Sarah! I really enjoyed reading your story. I think that you did a great job keeping the reader interested in the events, and I truly felt better after the ending. I think you did a great job developing your characters, even though Vicky seemed to get on my nerve. I also loved the dialogue you had because it made me laugh thinking of how the girls communicated. Overall, Great Job!
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah! Your story was a quick and easy read and definitely seemed like something out of Mean Girls. I think your characters were very spot on and great recreations of the king and the vizir. The dialogue was great, again very Mean Girls-esque. Of course I love writing that is really casual and kind of sassy so I might be just a little biased. I think this was the perfect setting to retell your story in because honestly the vizir sounded like a teenage girl! Great story and can't wait to read more of them!
ReplyDeleteSarah, first, I would like to say how much I enjoyed this retelling since you based it off of Mean Girls because that is one of the greatest movies of our generation. I like how you completely changed the entire tone and feel of the original story while also keeping the main story line. It is also a pretty believable story that I could see actually happening.
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job at taking a serious story and making it humorous in the retelling. I like how you modernized it, especially using math as the subject. I feel that most people can relate to that. I’ve noticed that you use Mean Girls as a sort of inspiration in your stories, and I think that’s really cool. It definitely adds entertainment to your stories.
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