"Alright, thank you Lillian" Ms. Coleman said sheepishly after she regained some of her composure. She knew the voluptuous Brazilian was just like that but even then she didn't exactly know what to expect when she did her introduction.
"Now, let's go with... the little gentleman on your desk" She said while looking at you, giving you a warm, sincere smile that made you blush, though most of your embarrassment came from being suddenly put in the spot. You took another deep breath, trying to calm yourself down. There wasn't enough time to come up with anything that you were satisfied with so your best bet was to simply omit certain things.
"Hello... My name's Blaise Santos" You said, shuddering a little when you noticed that the classroom had gone silent since before you spoke. After telling your name, some murmuring could be heard. You hesitated then, unsure if it was really a good idea to continue, maybe you could try to say the absolute bare minimum to get over with it.
"Ooh, that's not a very common surname around here... Where are you or your family from?" Ms. Coleman asked, making you flinch a little at the first part, though you also noted that both Lillian and Jen's eyes seemed to have lit up and it looked like they were paying attention even more closely to you than before. You closed your eyes in resignation and quietly prayed that you didn't screw yourself over too badly.
"Well, I was born and raised here in Brobdingnag but my family comes from Mexico" You replied.
"The empire of Mexico-Tenochtitlán is the official name but most people just call it Mexico" Ms. Coleman said "Anything you could share about it? As our immediate neighbor and one of our great allies we're going to study quite a bit about them throughout this course!"
She sounded quite enthusiastic and it was hard for you not to feel that energy. Giving limited answers felt like letting her down. Besides, your parents prided themselves in having taught you about everything they could about their homeland to the point that they often said that even though you had only been there a limited amount of times, your upbringing wasn't that much far off from someone born and raised there. In a way, this was your moment and you knew it.
"There are many things I could tell... after all, we have a pretty long and interesting history with the numerous civilizations that rose and fell until the Aztecs unified the land. Tomatoes and Chili peppers are some of our gifts to the world. Mexican chocolate is one of the world's best but it's the Mayans who cultivate the tree and sell us the pods"
"Those are pretty good points. Plus, Mexican cuisine is up there with the Mayan and the Inca ones as some of the world's most renowned. I think I can confirm that many of us love your parents' homeland's food" Ms. Coleman said "I might indulge a bit much on the Salsa Shack but I swear it doesn't really feel like the usual fast food"
You noticed that various students around you nodded in agreement with Ms. Coleman, plus some giggling ensued. Even Jen and Lillian seemed to agree as well but you didn't think much of it.
"I guess it's kind of a blessed land as food grows easily. My grandma even jokes that the Southern jungles are so fertile that if you simply throw random seeds on the ground plants will sprout. My father says that only a true idiot would starve there so... yeah, at least food's not a concern. Other than that, we have a rich history and cool ancient myths. Also several beautiful places people can visit, from mountains to jungles to beaches and even the desert areas have interesting stuff if you look enough. In general, it's a land where nothing's really lacking, as we have many natural resources that have been useful throughout history like our great mines of gold and silver..."
"You know... the very first time the ancient Brobdingnagians saw gold since they left their ancestral homeland in Scandinavia was precisely when they met with Aztec traders. History has it that people had to run back to the libraries and find some of the oldest books and also ask old people about it. The first Brobdingnagian dollars were made with Aztec gold and silver. There were some funny moments throughout this too, since the Aztecs didn't value those metals that highly and instead considered cacao seeds to be more proper currency" Ms. Coleman explained "I guess you're done or is there anything else you'd like to share?"
"T-thank you, I think it's alright" You said. Weirdly, you always felt tense before speaking in public but once you did it tended to go smoothly and only until the end you'd feel the exhaustion.
Another thing your parents took care to teach you was that, saying that it'd be a useful skill to have later in life. It didn't feel like you were too awkward but you were still mildly concerned about having come across as too much of a nerd. But then again, unless your ability to read the room was much worse than you believed, it looked like people wanted you to give more than half-assed answers. But just then, your heart skipped a beat as a blonde Brob girl raised her hand.
"Yes, Chelsea?" Ms. Coleman said.
"I have a question" Chelsea replied and waited for Ms. Coleman's response, which came in the form of a nod of approval "Isn't Mexico mostly a Brob-Gullie country?"
"Oh? Wait, let's not be rude..." The poor teacher was caught off-guard but not as badly as with Lillian. Still, you felt like you wanted to help though this would be closer to walking on the tightrope for you.
"It's okay" You said "It's true. Historically Mexico had been entirely a Brob country, but as waves of European refugees arrived, mostly of Spanish origin, they settled in and ended up merging into the national culture. To this day, Brobs remain the majority of the country's population but Gullies are a significant minority. The hybrid Brob-Gullie population is more numerous than them"
"But you're a Lillie. Aren't they from much farther away across the Pacific?" Chelsea asked. It surprised you a little that her question didn't seem malicious, instead she looked like she sincerely wanted to know.
"Yes, that's also true. Lilliputian's ancestral homeland is the continent of Australia but they live on pretty much every island on the Pacific Ocean and most of the Indian too" You explained "Uhh... But there are small Lillie colonies in Mexico too, it's just that we don't hear much about them" As you spoke, some giggling ensued at your inadvertent pun, which even you chuckled at yourself.
"Yeah, yeah... I know. But seriously, there are a few Lillie colonies in some sections of the North and also pretty far in the south, deep in the jungle. I guess some simply like the weather or the food"
"Or the women" Lillian added with a giggle "Mexican women are usually pretty thick and curvy even if not as much as Brazilian ones" She added with a teasing, smug smirk.
"I... can't really say that's a factor" You said, getting a little nervous as you noticed that Jen was staring at you quite intently. Perhaps because she sensed something, Ms. Coleman regained control of the class and moved on to let other students introduce themselves. You briefly glanced behind yourself and saw Chelsea staring at you with a look you didn't quite understand.
'Damn, that was a close call' You thought, sighing in relief.
Several minutes later the introductions were all done, Ms.Coleman then asked the class to take their History books and go to page number 10, where a political map of the world could be found. [Which you can check here ]
Ms. Coleman then recommended taking notes as she made some important points about the areas that you would be studying throughout your first year, writing on the whiteboard to make it easier for everyone to keep up. Everyone in the class was writing down as she spoke and with that, neither you nor Jen or Lillian realized that there was someone approaching. Unknown to the three of you, a Gullie girl had just thought of the most hilarious prank her limited brainpower allowed and she decided to make you one of her targets.
Despite being far from being called an intellectual, this girl was quite athletic, and climbed up Lillian's desk by one of its legs with surprising ease and without making much of a noise, not even to you, someone who was 1/100th of her size. By the time you realized, it was far too late.
This girl almost looked like your typical cheerleader from movies and series, mildly athletic, modest curves and blonde hair done in twin tails. The look she gave you made you shudder and while it wasn't exactly true hate, you sensed some kind of malice. She smirked evilly, as if she knew what you were thinking and swiftly reached for you, easily trapping you into her hand and making sure to cover your mouth with part of one of her fingertips.
Without uttering a word, she just looked around in search for something. Following her eyes wasn't difficult since she wasn't even trying to pretend otherwise. You then gulped in fear when you saw what she locked her eyes on: Ms. Coleman's seat, an old leather chair that had seen better days a very long time ago, and whose seat cushion was somewhat flattened from repeated use, there was no doubt in your mind that your teacher's large booty also played a role in that wear and tear.
The blonde girl smirked and took one of her hair bands, undoing one of her twin tails. With it and with her formerly free hand she made a makeshift slingshot. She then loaded you, took her aim and before you knew it, you were soaring through the air only to land with a harsh but dull 'thud!' on that very same beaten leather cushion. As you had forcefully faceplanted on it, you couldn't help but notice the warmth that it radiated off, as Ms.Coleman had been sitting there recently. More concerning was a faint reek, but that concern was dwarfed as you felt the ground shake before a large shadow covered the entire seat. You didn't even want to look but you knew what was coming...
