Sharpe Stories: The life and legacy of Monica Sharpe

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"I saw what you did." said a mysterious voice.

"huh?" Monica turned around.

"You threw those clothes in the bushes!" said the boy standing beside her.

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"Who are you?" asked Monica.

"Munch. Wolfgang Munch. My friends call me Wolfgang. You, however, can call me Munch."

"Um.. okay." Monica didn't really know why this guy was so upset. "As far as the clothes," she said, "I was in a really big hurry today and stuffed them in my backpack by mistake. I'm planning to come and get them when I leave today"

"Well, that may be so," said Munch, "but this is my school, and you don't trash my School! Put them in your locker!"

"Okay okay," said Monica, backing away, "I got it. I'll put them in my locker."

"Exactly! Because..."

"I know I know," said Monica, "because it's your school."

"No!" snapped Munch, "It's... no that's right. Yes! It's my school!"

With that, he walked away.

Monica approached Copperdale high.

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She took a deep breath, "Well, here I am. The next part of my life, waiting behind these doors."

She opened the doors and stepped inside

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She checked the email she had received from the school yesterday.

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"Glad we sprung for the premium plan with internet access," thought Monica, "First things first: claim a locker"

She walked over to the locker on the end of the left side of the entryway, "Won't forget which one's mine if it's the last one!" She thought.

"Now, it feels like mine!" she said, proudly admiring her awesome decorating skills.

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She threw the clothes in her locker as Munch had said, and checked the email again, "OK, speak with principal Prescott to get classroom assignment."

She wandered around until she found the principal's office.

She walked in the room to find the principal intensely clicking on her computer.

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Monica raised her hand, "Excuse m..."

"Take a seat, please," Said the principal as she continued…whatever it was she was doing on her computer.

"Okay," said Monica. She checked the time on her phone. It was getting close to time for class, and she still had some things left on her to-do list.

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Monica sat down and waited. The principal kept clicking on her computer for a few minutes.

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She waited…

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…and waited…

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"Excuse me!" Monica said, waving her hands.

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"What is it, miss...?" The principal trailed off.

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"Sharpe. Monica Sharpe, ma'am," Monica felt rather awkward, "Sorry for interrupting you, but I need my class assignment."

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"You'll be in class 1, Miss Sharpe." The principal said, rather stiffly.

"Okay," said Monica, "You know, I'm really excited for school today. By the way, how old is this school? Do you have a library? How's the cafeteria food? Are there lots of options? Is..."

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The principal sighed, "Miss Sharpe, I'm very busy right now with, um, important paperwork, yes, and I'd like to finish it before the grim reaper shows up. Now if you don't mind, please, run along."

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"Yes ma'am," Monica said as she got up and checked the email, "Okay. Next up: talk to teacher about class schedule."

As she was leaving the principal's office, she heard the computer say, "Game Over!"

"Important paperwork, eh?" Monica thought.

Monica ran all around the school trying to find the class 1 teacher, but she was nowhere to be seen. Just then, the bell rang. "Well, time to get to class."

Monica followed the line of students headed to class 1.

Class 1 met in room 2. Room 2 was an add on to the original building, built above room 1. As there was no stairway, the only way to get to room two was to walk around the back of the building through what used to be the school garden on the 2nd floor.

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A few students were already in the room. Monica took her seat at the front of the classroom, closest to the whiteboard. She had difficulty seeing it from much further away.

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A blonde haired girl with glasses sat down beside Monica. They both took out their notebooks and pencils.

"Good morning class 1! Welcome to your first day at Copperdale High. I'm Mrs. Coombes, but you can call me Ms. Rita. We'll start with roll call from the front left of the classroom."

"Monica Sharpe?"

"Present!"

"Molly Prescott?"

"Present!"

"Prescott?" Thought Monica "Must be the Principal's daughter."

The teacher continued to lecture as Molly took notes and Monica… stared off into space, daydreaming about all the adventures that awaited her in high-school. "I'll have a boyfriend, I'll be valedictorian, I'll join some clubs…"

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"MISS SHARPE!!!" said a loud voice.

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"Huh?" Monica's thoughts snapped back to reality.

"I asked you a question, Miss Sharpe," said Ms. Rita, "What is the capital of the country of Windenburg?"

"Um… Windenburg…"

"That's correct, Miss Sharpe."

"It is? I mean, it is! Yes, I knew that the capital of Windenburg is Windenburg. Yep!" lied Monica.

Before Monica knew it, class was over and it was time for lunch. Monica hoped that the lunch at this school was better than the lunch at her old school.

After reviewing the choices, Monica said, "I'll have a junior lunch, please."

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"Um… You're not a junior. You're a freshman," said the lunchlady.

"Hmhm. Freshwoman." corrected Monica.

"Right, freshwoman. Either way, you can't have the Junior Lunch unless you're a Junior."

"Please, just this one time? I'll get something else next time."

"Okay. Just this once," said the lunchlady.

"Thanks," said Monica.

As Monica made her way to a table, she noticed a kid wearing a bag on his head. "Wonder what that's about?" she thought to herself. She sat down next to a girl who was just finishing her meal.

"Mmm!" said Monica aloud as she bit into her… whatever those brown things were on her plate.

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"Hey, so you're the new girl," said the girl sitting beside her.

"Yup," said Monica.

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"I'm Kaori. I saw you talking to Munch this morning. Best thing you can do for yourself is to stay out of his way. He runs this school, ya know."

"So I've been told," said Monica.

"Kaori, who's that kid with the bag on his head?" asked Monica.

"That's Jeb Harris, "replied Kaori, "That's all I know. He never says anything much."

Just then, Jeb and Munch sat down at their table.

Monica held in a giggle as Jeb held his brownie up to the mouth on his bag and then made fake chewing noises.

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Munch just stared in disbelieve at what he was watching.

Monica watched as Munch bit into his burger with the force of a cowplant's jaws. She wondered why he seemed to be so angry all the time.

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"Hey, maybe we got off on the wrong foot this morning. I'm Monica."

Munch gave her an annoyed look, and, rather than saying something he just took another bite of his hamburger. (He really did, by the way)

Monica sighed, "I guess he just wants to be left alone."

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After lunch, Monica did some studying in the school library. Thankfully there was no one around to interrupt her.

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For the second and last class of the day, Monica decided to sit towards the back of the classroom, in hopes that she wouldn't get called on again. She couldn't really see the whiteboard, but she figured she'd just take notes on what the teacher said.

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She planned to get through this class without getting into trouble, but unfortunately, Molly Prescott decided to pass her a note. Molly motioned for Monica to pass the note towards Kaori. Monica tried to reach Kaori, but the Ms. Rita noticed and gave her a stern look. She walked over to Monica and tore up the note.

"Could we can try to get through tomorrow's class without any trouble, Miss Sharpe?" said Ms. Rita, with a tone that suggested that was an order, rather than a question. "Yes ma'am, Monica replied, trying to be as small as she could.

After class, Monica tried to talk to Molly.

"Well, it's official. I'm on Ms. Rita's troublemaker list from now on."

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"Next time try to be more subtle, ok?" snapped Molly, "Because of your mistake, I had to text Kaori. I don't have unlimited minutes on this phone, you know. I'm already in trouble for going over my limit last month. If I do it again, Mom will take my phone away."

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"I'm sorry," said Monica.

"Well, you're new, so… it's cool," said Molly, smiling, "See ya later, new girl."

"Actually my name is…"

Molly had already walked away.

"So this is high school," thought Monica, "Four years of this every day? How exciting," Monica said, sarcastically.

I wrote based on what happened in-game. (For example, Wolfgang being mean to Monica right after I dragged and dropped that dirty laundry into the bushes. Had to come up with some reason why he'd do that, and well... that was the only reason I could come up with at the time.) There were several cases of "I need to come up with a reason for that happening" kind of writing. I'm still trying to find balance between writing based on what happens in game, and playing the game according that what I want to happen in the story.