"Ok guys, start picking out your teams," Mr. Vallas said.
The boys in the court started forming their groups and deciding roles, while George and Mario stood off to the side, looking around a little lost.
"What do we do, man?" George asked, scanning the court.
"I don't know," Mario muttered. "Let's see who's left by the end. Maybe Marcus or Lazagna will take us onto their team."
"Don't they already have their own friends to join?"
"They're twelve people, George. They can't all play in the same team," Mario replied, still searching the crowd for them.
"Good point," George said with a nod.
"Ok, there they are, let's go," Mario said, signaling George with his hand.
The two walked over toward Marcus and Lazagna.
"Ohh, guys, what's up?" Lazagna said, stretching out his hand.
Both of them dapped him up.
"Good, nothing special," Mario replied. "Do the two of you want to join ourrr team?"
"Yeah sure, buddy. We were just figuring out how to split things anyway, so I guess this is a perfect solution we've got here."
"Of course it is. Anyways, into more important matters." Mario slammed the back of his right hand into his left palm. "Who's going to be our final teammate?"
"Well, it looks like everyone else already settled their squads. Probably one of our teachers will fill in," Lazagna suggested.
"I guess," Mario agreed.
"Alright, which team doesn't have five players yet? Raise your hands, please," Mr. Vallas asked in his calm, low tone.
The four boys raised their hands.
"Very well," Vallas said, stretching his shoulders. "Ok boys," he pointed toward them, "you'll have either me or Mr. Rose on your team. Until Mr. Rose finishes his class, you can start doing warm-ups to get in shape and stuff like thaaat."
The boys in the school's basketball team began jogging around and stretching. Meanwhile, across the campus, Emily sat in class, wrestling with a different kind of problem. She was still trying to figure out how to find out more about the mysterious tribe on the island.
"Alright, kids," Mr. Rose clapped his hands to bring attention. "To recap, for your exceedingly handsome, tall, blue-eyed, blonde-haired teacher's exam before Christmas break, what is it you should remember?" He turned to the board and began sketching maps and symbols. "How the emperor of Byzantium promised protection and riches to the people in Anatolia so they'd stay loyal to the empire. Then how Muhammad started the religion of Islam, what the Quran is, the Hegira, and what jihad means. Also why the Catholic and Orthodox churches split apart, how it started, and etc."
He tossed the chalk onto his desk and leaned back. "Any questions? Doesn't even have to be about history. Could be about life, the meaning of it, and other beautiful stuff like that."
The room fell silent. After a few moments, the bell rang.
"Ok, good luck with the upcoming exam, two weeks away," Mr. Rose reminded them. Nearly the entire class bolted out the door instantly. "And don't forget to open the book past its cover."
As he gathered his things, a quiet voice called out.
"Sir, wait up."
He turned slightly. "My, my. Thought you'd turned into a ghost, Mrs. Emily. Why so quiet today?"
"Sorry, sir. I've been… doing a small hustle."
"I hope that isn't going to affect your marks," he said, closing the classroom door. "The semester's final exams are coming up. Don't underestimate them."
"Of course not, sir. It's just… I need a small history lesson from you."
"Weren't you paying attention during class?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Not really," Emily admitted, "but don't worry. I already know everything for the exam."
"I worry not," he sighed. "But if you're going to write a perfectly bad score, do me a favor don't write at all. Saves me time."
"Haha," Emily laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind."
"Are you going to ask the question, or not? I have other matters to attend to."
"Oh, yes." She cleared her throat. "What happened to the Jews that lived here?"
He froze for a moment. "Very specific question. How did that come up?"
"Well," Emily said, her voice picking up, "I recently found out about the heroic act of our mayor and metropolitan back then. Curiosity got the better of me, and I wanted to know more specifically from a professional like yourself."
Mr. Rose hummed. "Well, it's difficult to explain in a few words. Do you want to know the whole thing, or only after the mayor declared he was the only Jew on the island?"
"After."
"The Germans executed him and the metropolitan," Rose said slowly. "And the Zakynthians hid the Jews until the end of the war. Of course, I'm skipping over the German pressure, but in short that's what happened."
"That's it?" Emily tilted her head. "We just hid them, and everything was fine?"
"What else did you expect?" he asked curiously.
"Was there a monk offering something to the mayor? Like… a solution to save the Jews?" she pressed.
Mr. Rose looked genuinely puzzled. "I've never heard of such a story, Emily. Where did you hear it from?"
Emily hesitated, unsure if she should reveal the truth. "I can't explain it, sir. Nor do I think it's best to say."
Rose's face tightened with concern. "Did you check any history books about that event?"
"Yes, I did," Emily sighed. "I went through all the ones in the school library, and most in the center library. Found nothing."
He rubbed his face. "Then try the senior high school in town. There's a history teacher there who has lived here his entire life. A friend of mine. Tell him I sent you; maybe he'll share something. He knows more than me about these stuff."
"Thank you, sir," she said sincerely. "I really appreciate it."
"No problem. But I still need to know—where did this interest come from?" He pressed.
Emily inhaled deeply. "Let's just say… it was a dream. Or a vision if you will"
"And that has made you so stressed out?"
"It's kind of hilarious, isn't it?" She giggled nervously.
He shrugged. "Very well, Emily. I should get going. I hope you find the information you want."
"Thank you, sir. Good luck with the team."
"Luck won't be enough," he muttered under his breath.
"Oh, wait a second," Emily called out to him.
"What is it?"
"What's his name?"
"George Papadatou."
"Thank you very much sir, sorry for the inconvenience."
"It's ok miss Emily."
Mr. Rose entered the gym, where the boys were still warming up.
"Good morning, Mr. Vallas," he greeted, setting his bag in the office.
"Good morning to you too, Mr. Rose."
"How are things turning out?"
"In terms of training? Not bad. In terms of winning the championship?" Vallas sighed, stepping out of the office. "Let's just hope the other schools are as bad as us."
"No way we're this bad," Rose protested. "A lot of these boys have played basketball before. They're not just smoking 24/7. And you think we still don't have a shot at winning?"
"I'd call it being realistic. Then again, the other schools have rosters just like ours."
Rose nodded. "What did you expect? But if they've got that rivalry well, that's where the real challenge will start."
"Indeed. Anyways ok boys, gather here please! We need to set up the matchups!"