The Spectrum Force Volume Four - Heather Ray (phonics reading books TXT) 📗

Thank you to everyone who has read the series so far! You guys rock! Thank you to all my friends who have supported me through this project, new friends and old from clear back when I first started this series! You guys are so awesome!

I started this series when I was clear back in high school when I was tutoring kids that were reluctant about reading. When I found out that the website that still had these stories on it was still up after all these years I knew now would be a great time to put them into book format! This is for the kids (that aren't kids anymore!)

that still love this series and now a new generation of reluctant readers! I hope you guys continue enjoying the series!

This takes place on and around February 14, 2000, meaning about a week has passed since "The Diadem."

Friday, February 11th

"Stupid, worthless Calculus... I can't believe

this!"

Tamara Fox continued to grumble as she absently wove through the numerous students crowding Hamilton Walk, the main path cutting through the heart of Dreiser University.

Like all other universities, the core curriculum is mandatory for all students to study. Even Drama majors are required to branch out from their primary courses, to broaden the scope of their learning to such areas as science, foreign language, writing, social science... and math.

Tamara rolled her large brown eyes, fist crumpling the sheet of paper that had put her into such a temper.

"Hey, Tammy, what's... Tammy?"

She blinked twice, turning toward the source of the voice. "Hi, Matt."

He smirked as he hurried to her side. "And since when do you storm past your friends without a word?"

"Since this

."

Matt stared at Tammy's fist, noticing the wad of paper crushed within. Intrigued, he took the sheet and unfurled it to expose a rather low number circled in red ink.

"Ouch," he commiserated.

"The first quiz of the term, and I flunk it!" She threw up her arms in frustration, earning several perplexed glances from the surrounding traffic.

"It's not the end of the world," Matthew offered.

"No... just the end of my GPA. Dobrinksi's giving us another quiz next week, and I'm so

completely lost in class now! I thought

I understood this

stuff..." she snatched back the paper and shook it for emphasis, "..but obviously I didn't

."

Matthew couldn't help a rueful grin as he watched his friend vent her anger. "You said you have Dr. Dobrinski, right? Which class is this?"

"Calculus 101," she spat, as if the very words tasted bitter.

"Then you're in luck; I took the exact same class last semester. And I aced it."

He watched, amused, as Tamara's eyes lit up with awe. "Really?"

"In fact, I even have my notebook."

Tamara clapped her hands, all her frustration fading. "Then let's go!"

Matt watched, mouth agape, as Tamara grabbed him by the arm and practically hauled him up Hamilton Walk. They weren't able to get very far before the crowd had condensed so tightly, no one could slip through. Tammy released Matthew with a huff, standing on her toes to see over the shoulders of the crowd.

"What's going on?" Matt wondered.

"Grid lock. Must be a sorority bake sale or something." Her smile reappeared. "Hey, we can go on the grass and walk around this!"

The pair pushed through the crowd to the yard lining Hamilton Walk, preparing to take a short cut to a less populated avenue. However, Matt couldn't help a little rubbernecking.

"Hey... that's Rachel!"

Tamara turned, and couldn't hide her surprise to see her roommate gathered with half a dozen other students behind a long table, hastily distributing and collecting clipboards and pencils to the substantial crowd.

She also noticed the identical red T-shirts Rachel and her associates wore, with white hearts boldly traced on the back. "Oh. My. God."

Utterly forgetting the urgency of securing a decent calculus grade, Tamara hurried toward the table, and tapped her roommate's shoulder from behind.

"Hi, Tammy," Rachel greeted. Her smile fell at the mischief lurking in her friend's dark eyes. "Now

what are you up to?"

"I simply can't believe my eyes," Tamara replied, "You are the last

person I expected to find on the Valentine's Giveaway Committee!"

Matt frowned. "The what?"

Rachel didn't hear him. "What makes you say that?" she wondered, her tone defensive.

Tamara shrugged. "Well, considering you haven't had a significant other in over a year, I figured romance was pretty low on your priorities."

Rachel's jaw tightened as she became keenly aware that at least one of the surrounding volunteers was paying attention. "Not this again..."

"What's the Valentine's Giveaway?" Matthew interjected, his curiosity piqued.

"It's been a tradition at Dreiser for eleven years," Rachel explained, "Essentially, it's a matchmaking contest. Every year, hundreds of students fill out these questionnaires that try to lock down the personality of the applicant. You know, what you like to do for fun, what types of movies you like, and so on. Then, a winner is selected from the entire batch, and we," she gestured to the other volunteers, "find the best match from the other entrants."

Matt picked up a questionnaire and scanned it quickly. "So it's a blind date?"

"It's so much more than that!" Tamara objected, her face bright with excitement, "The winning couple is treated to a fantastic night on the town! We're talking a limousine and dinner and dancing at a fancy restaurant. And the school picks up the bill."

"Fine... then it's a free

blind date."

"Matt, it's a chance for one lucky guy or girl to meet their perfect match!"

Rachel smiled at Tamara's earnest words. "Well, I wouldn't go that far. The Committee does try to find a solid match for the winner, but still the objective is to have a good time with someone with similar interests."

She then rolled a pencil in Matt's direction. "Care to try your luck?"

He was clearly skeptical. "Even if, by some miracle, I'm picked as winner, what are the chances that a girl for me would even participate in a contest like this?"

With a groan, Tammy picked up the pencil and stuffed it in Matt's surprised hand. "What's the harm in taking a chance? At worst you'll endure a fantastic dinner with a girl with similar interests. At best you'll meet your future wife!"

Matt winced at the comment.

"And most likely, nothing will happen at all. So give it a shot!"

Rachel leaned closer to her young friend. "Just fill it out, Matt," she suggested in a stage whisper that Tamara could easily overhear. "Tammy's not going to let you leave until you do."

With a defeated huff, Matthew pressed the pencil to the questionnaire.

"Now I gotcha!" Craig gloated. A fierce grin lit his face as the samurai warrior launched a brutal combination attack on his adversary, driving her to the edge of the stone stage, balanced precariously over a fiery pit.

He grimaced as the Grecian warrior leapt gracefully to the side, dodging the most damaging swing of the attack.

"I can't believe you're still

trying to get back at me for practice last week," Keith quipped. Whereas Craig's face was tight with frustration, the blonde man only grinned calmly as his thumbs pressed the buttons on the Dreamcast controller with experienced ease.

Craig's frown deepened as his next combination move utterly missed his opponent. He knew better than to deny that his rather embarrassing defeat in the Himalayan mountains last week still grated on his pride.

"If I had anything to prove, I think finding the Diadem just about did it," Craig retorted, his smugness returning as Keith's character lost a few precious millimeters on the life bar.

Both young men heard the exasperated sigh from the couch behind them. "So is this the part where you start insulting each other's mother, or will you jump right to arm wrestling?"

Keith chuckled. "We'll see how mature you

are when Sophitia and I flatten you in six seconds, Jocie."

Jocelyn giggled, leaning forward to get a better view of the television screen between the heads of the two players. "You've got to get through Craig first," she answered, "and I'm starting to doubt that's gonna happen!"

"Ye of little faith," Keith murmured, blue eyes gleaming as Sophitia executed a graceful combination that left Mitsurugi staggering, "He's only another combo away from eating crow!"

Just then, the front door swung open, offering a split second of distraction as a pair walked into the apartment. "...on my bookshelf. It'll only take a minute to get it."

Tamara nodded, following Matthew into the common room. Her dark eyes immediately fell on the trio congregated far too close to the large television, narrowing with a healthy dose of disappointment. Without another word to Matt, she approached her friends, hovering over the couch and glaring down at the blonde head that was totally engrossed in Soul Caliber. "Amazing you have enough time to play games, with Valentine's Day

three days away," she declared, her tone heavy with sarcasm, "I guess that means