Lollie Parker

Lollie walked inside the classroom with Maya and Riley.

Maya huffed, "Boo, this class."

"Do you even know which one it is?" Lollie asked.

"I'm gonna need a clue." Maya said.

Farkle came into the classroom and started to sing.

"Doo dah, doo, dah, doo doo dah da-da-dah da-da dah!"

"Science." She muttered.

"Morning, Farkle." Mr. Norton greeted, "What's new?"

"I'm reading this great book on anti-gravity. I can't put it down." Farkle said.

"Ha!"

"Ha!"

Maya sighed and the three of them sat down.

"I hate this class."

"Ladies and gentlemen, I invite you to join me on a journey of discovery. Your midterm experiment." Mr. Norton said.

Farkle cheered, "Yay!"

Maya sat beside Noah, Farkle with Riley, and Lucas with Lollie.

"Do I look sleepy to you?" Maya asked Noah.

"In front of you, each team will find a beaker of a clear, liquid solution."

"Oh boy, he's like a sleep machine."

"And next to that and here's where it gets exciting a mystery marble!"

"Good night!" Maya plopped her head in Noah's hand.

"Right after school, precisely at three fifteen, one member of each team will drop the marble into the beaker. The elements in the marble will break down overnight and turn into sludge. Then, the other team member will discover what that sludge is and what it takes to turn the beaker back to clear." Mr. Norton said.

"Who's supposed to do what?" Riley asked.

"Well, that's up to you. You're a team. Divide the responsibilities as you see fit. I've been conducting this experiment for thirty-five years. I've kept thorough notes. Very few have cracked it."

"Well, you could add my name to your journal right now, sir." Farkle said.

"I hope so, Farkle. Let the games begin!"

Lucas faced Lollie, "Okay, You get that?"

"I'm not stupid."

"That's great. All you have to do is drop the marble."

"Why do I have to drop the marble? What if I want to do all the cool stuff?" Lollie asked.

"Okay, Riley, you drop the marble, I'll figure out the sludge, and earn us yet another "A."" Farkle said.

"Okay."

"That's all I have to do?" She asked.

"Well, I am the scientist around here."

"Farkle, I don't understand why I can't-"

"You do want an "A," don't you?"
﹏﹏﹏﹏

That afternoon Riley, Maya, and Lollie walked into the classroom.

"I don't like this." Riley said.

"I don't like this either." Maya said.

"Something's wrong." Riley said, "Why do we have to drop the marble while Farkle, Lucas, and Noah do the science?" Riley asked.

"Why is school over and I don't got a chimichanga?" Maya asked.

"Maya, Lollie, something's wrong. I feel like there's a real problem here, but I just can't see what it is yet." Riley said.

"Well, it's definitely not that the classroom is only full of girls." Lollie said.

"Well look at that." Riley said

"I see nothing unusual." Maya said.

Lollie faced Maya, "There's not a single guy in this room."

"Drop your marble and go." Maya said.

"If you drop these marbles, you are buying into a system where the women, what? Buy shoes? While the men learn the science." Riley asked.

"Shoes. Let's go." Yindra said.

"The system works." Haley said.

"No!" Riley shouted.

They ignored her and left the room.

"Maya, Lollie, I am very disappointed in our sisters. They don't believe we can do what the boys can do."

"Chimichanga." Maya said.

"You two are not going to drop your marble." Riley said.

"Oh, I'm gonna drop my marble, but to make you feel better, I'm gonna drop it like a dude." Maya said.

"Maya takes the inbounds pass. She dribbles down the court. Three seconds left on the clock. Her opponents are tall, useless geese. Maya fakes left, turns right."

"Just stop! Tell me which way you're going!" Riley said.

"She shoots, Scores! Nothing but beaker!" Maya said.

Lollie is held her marble in her hand, "I like science."

Maya and Riley looked over at Lollie.

"You guys want to go get chimichangas?"
﹏﹏﹏﹏

Farkle arrived at school the next day, singing the same song.

"Doo-dah! Doo dah, doo dah, dah dah, dah da-da, dah da-da, dah da-da dah dah."

Farkle quickly stopped and looked around, "What happened? I don't get it. Science is my favorite time of day. What happened? I'm gonna retrace my steps."

"Doo dah, doo dah, doo dah, doo dah, doo, doo dah, doo dah."

Farkle looked over and saw Riley with the marble still in her hands.

"Oh. That's the reason right there."

He proceeded to pass onto the floor.

"It all started with Eve. Women have been treated as second-class citizens ever since. Thank goodness for strong women like Queen Elizabeth, then Susan B. Anthony helped get women the vote, and then Betty Friedan wrote The Feminine Mystique, and then Riley Matthews along with Lollie Parker refused to drop the marble, and then here we are." Riley said.

"Why didn't you drop it?" Lucas asked.

"I want to do the cool science stuff to Lucas. It's not far that you got to do it all."

"You had one job to do." Farkle said.

"You mean, take care of the babies, Farkle."

"What? How long have I been out?" He asked.

Lollie looked down at her watch, "Fifteen solid minutes."

"Lollie and I are taking a stand." Riley said.

"How could you let them do this?" Farkle asked Maya.

"They're on a mission, Farkle. Have you met them?" Maya asked.

"Riley, Lollie, you two don't actually think Farkle and Lucas had you drop the marble because you're a girl, do you?" Noah asked.

"Yesterday every single person in this room was a girl." Lollie said.

"Yes. That's interesting, isn't it." Mr. Norton said.

"What is that?" Lollie asked.

"I'll tell you what it is. It's a redo.
They failed. Lucas and I didn't fail. I want a redo! I want a redo, man!" Farkle said.

"No redo. Equal responsibility.
One shared grade." Mr. Norton said.

"That's right. We should be equal.
Why do you guys think we're the ones who should drop the marble while you figure out the science." Riley said.

"Hey, it's not like you guys begged us to do it." Zay said, "Did you wanna do the science?"

"I was okay with you doing it." She said.

"Do you think she could do it?" Lollie asked.

"Do what?"

"Do all the stuff you did yesterday. Do all the cool science. She didn't have to beg, you don't have faith she could do this stuff. Ask him, Sarah. Ask him do you think I could do this myself." Lollie said.

"Lollie, are you okay?" Lucas asked.

"No, I'm not okay because it's not fair. How do we know what to do if someone is taking over?"

"So, I won't be a scientist." Haley said.

"Why not? It's not just science it's everything. How many female teachers work here? Three. Three that we all know of. It's not just science." Lollie said.

Lollie looked over at Brenda.

"Come over Brenda."

Brenda walked over towards Lollie and Lollie wrapped her arm around her.

"Brenda is just like Farkle. We see Farkle as the super genius and that because he is, but Brenda is just as smart and dropped that marble yesterday. Would it be different if all of the girls did all the science and you only dropped that marble yesterday?"

"Bay window. Bay window, all of you!" Riley shouted.
﹏﹏﹏﹏

Every single girl in the science class sat on or around Riley's bay window.

"Tell 'em, Mommy! Get 'em! Tell them they're a disgrace to our entire whatever."

"Welcome to our home." Topanga said.

Bailey stood with Topanga.

"No nice. Go for the kill." Riley said.

"Unfortunately, Riley, Lollie, this is a serious problem. The girls your age start to drift away from stem subjects science, technology, engineering, math. The research shows that we tend to play the roles we think we're supposed to." Bailey explained.

"Hey, I'm me." Maya said.

"Yes, you are, you Amazon warrior." Topanga said, "Have I told you how fond I am of you?"

"Tell me."

"I am."

Lollie stood up, "She dropped her marble."

"Maya!"

"What? I'm not trying to hurt the girl thing. I'm just lazy." Maya said.

"You can't be lazy and you cannot think that it is more important to be liked than it is to be leaders." Topanga explained.

"Don't talk yourself out of pursuing something because you're afraid of how it's going to make you look. What you need to know is don't let anybody get in the way of pursuing your growth and your curiosity, no matter what you want to do." Bailey said.

"I wanna be the best I can, and I want everybody to like me, and I dropped the marble, and I want your shoes." Topanga and Bailey looked at Sarah.

"I wanna work at the company that makes your shoes. I wanna run the company that makes your shoes." Sarah said.

"Yes." Topanga said.

"Well, if we want it all, then we can't let other people do the work for us." Lollie said.

"Then I'm out." Maya said.

"You're in." Riley said.

"I'm in. It's not gonna take long, is it?"

"The rest of our lives. People think they have power over others and it's not true." Lollie said.

"That's my girls."

"Why's it always gotta be the rest of our lives?" Maya asked.

"That's my other girl."
﹏﹏﹏﹏

Riley decided to move half of the desk on one side of the room and leave the other desk for the boys.

"Oh boy." Mr. Matthews said, "Where are the boys?"

All the boys walked into the classroom.

"Boys! I'm very glad to see you, because I thought there was a distinct possibility you could be What's the word I'm looking for?" He asked.

"Dead." Lollie said.

"We didn't do anything, and we don't deserve to be dead." Lucas said.

"Not saying that you have to be dead." Lollie said, "You're gonna be dead." She whispered.

Zay walked over and sat on Riley's desk, "Not understanding the current climate of the room, Zay chooses to sit here. Men. Am I right?"

"Get out!" Riley shouted.

"Now I get it." Zay said.

He moved towards the other side of the room and sat down.

"All right, does someone want to explain to me how we got here?" Mr. Matthews asked.

"We were in science class-" Farkle started.

Maya interrupted, "They will talk."

"I will listen." Farkle said.

"Okay, guys, calm down. Now, today's lesson is about the battle of Panipat. There were three battles of Panipat. The first was called, the First Battle of Panipat." Mr. Matthews said.

Riley stood up, "You don't respect us."

"How can you possibly think that?" Noah asked.

"I call Farkle Minkus to the stand." Riley said.

"You can't put him on trial, Riley." Lucas said.

The boys stood up, Lollie followed.

"Why not? Didn't he make a judgment about her?" Lollie asked.

"We are really unprepared." Zay said.

"That sucks. Should've prepared. You knew we were going to fight back, so why not prepare?" Lollie asked.

"See ya, buddy." Noah said.

"This isn't just about Farkle or any of the boys. It's about how the mind works and what we hear. It's about how people think a female cannot do a "males" job." Lollie said.

"Yeah, Noah. Didn't you tell me to drop the marble?" Maya said.

"Yeah, I wanted us to do well on the midterm." He said

"Because you have no faith in my scientific abilities."

"Because you fall asleep in my hands."

"Wow. Just wow." Lollie whispered.

"Yogi made me drop the marble, too." Darby said.

"I can't reach the beaker." Yogi said.

"I could have lifted you."

"I don't like that as much as you think."

"I'll tell ya who didn't like something. Vikramajit, the ruler of Gwalior in the First Battle of Panipat. He died. Didn't like it." Mr. Matthews said.

Riley looked at Farkle, "By relegating me to a second class marble dropper, you are stopping me from realizing my full potential."

"Riley, I'm just better than you at this." Farkle said.

"You see Farkle, you don't have faith in her." Lollie said.

"I do!"

"You just said to her that you don't. It's not just how you word things, it's how you say them too." Lollie walked over towards the rest of the boys.

She looked between the front row, "Lucas?" She looked up at him, "Name one thing at school that you're good."

"I'm good at, um, baseball."

"Really? I think you suck. I think I could do better. I think everyone in this room could hit a home run, while only hit the foul balls."

"But you said-"

"I know what I said and now I think you suck."

Lucas sighed and sat down.

"Mr. Matthews is a, eh, okay type of teacher. He has flaws like we all do, but he's just not that great of a teacher and I could name five people to replace him right now."

Lollie looked over at Mr. Matthews, "It hurts, doesn't it. Like, I have no faith in either of you, but I have faith in both of you." Lollie looked over at Lucas, "I saw how your face changed. I think you're an amazing baseball player."

She walked over towards Mr. Matthews, "I think your an amazing teacher, you've taught me a lot, but once you tell someone that you think I'm better at something than you, it changes how they see things."

"Farkle, if you were Riley's friend, you would want her to get better." Lollie said.

"Why don't you want me to get better?" Riley asked.

"I do. There's no situation where I wouldn't want that for you. Riley, I've always been your friend."

"I know."

"I'm sorry."

"Okay."

"I thought some of you just didn't want anything to do with science.
Sarah, you just told me you weren't interested." Zay said.

He walked over towards her.

"It's because I don't stand up for myself!" She shouted.

"Well, I'm gonna hate to see it when you do." Zay said.

"I wanna carry you around like a doll whenever I want." Darby told Yogi.

"Do it."

"Talk it out. Yogi and Darby just did. It's that easy." Lollie looked at Noah, "So easy I think anyone can do. If we just express how we feel about someone or something, life would be a little bit easier."

Noah stood up and hit Lollie in her arm.

"A real friend doesn't let another friend fail. Our failure isn't your fault, Riley. Our failure is on me.
I should have had more faith in you." Farkle said.

"Speaking of failure, there will be a quiz tomorrow on the First Battle of Panipat. It's not gonna be a good day." Mr. Matthews said.
﹏﹏﹏﹏

The boys decided to work together and the girls decided to work together, the only people who were together were Riley and Farkle.

Lucas walked up to Lollie, "Hey."

"Hi."

"Are you mad at me?"

"Yes and no. Yes, I wish you let me do all the science stuff with you, no, because you see where I'm coming from."

"I do. Want to be partners?"

"That would be great."

"Mud-like consistency, copper color, no clear separation of elements at boiling point." Noah said.

"No living organisms. Well, my official conclusion after thorough research and analysis, and try to stay with me now, 'cause this is very technical-" Zay started.

"Yeah, how long you gonna keep talking?"

"Till the bell rings, 'cause I don't know what this stuff is."

"Yeah, uh, you know what that is?"

They looked over at Maya's sludge and saw how big it was.

"How'd she get her sludge to do that?" Noah asked.

"Her sludge is mad at us. Her sludge is a girl." Zay said.

"Something's wrong here." Farkle said.

"What's wrong here is that you're a sexist pig." Riley said.

"Woah Riley, let's talk about that and maybe I'll stop talking for the rest of the week, maybe my life. Do think Farkle sexist?" Lollie asked.

"How could you not?"

"Farkle's going to be Farkle and you're going to be Riley. It's not like he calls you babe, or honey twenty-four seven. We have our moments Riley, but you know Farkle is not sexist. Yes, we have our moments when we say something wrong, but Farkle's not a sexist."

"You really think I couldn't do the science because I'm a girl?" Riley asked.

"Riley, Marie Curie was one of the finest scientific minds who ever lived. Science needs the best minds it can get. What do I care what body it's in?" He asked.

"Well, what do you think is wrong?" She asked.

"Well, I took our sludge ball home last night, and you know what I found? It's a dirtball, Riley. The sludge is sludge. It's mud. That's all it is. I don't understand why this experiment's such a big deal." Farkle said.

"I think I do." Lollie said, "What if the experiment isn't about the sludge at all?"

"There's a lot of layers to experiments, right?" Lucas asked.

"Well, there's what's going on the surface-" Farkle started.

"And what's going on that you don't see." Riley finished, "So what's going on here?"

"Bring me the first sacrifice!" Maya shouted.

The girls sang as they carried Yogi towards Maya, "Adooba hoo hoo! Adooba hoo hoo! Adooba hoo hoo! Adooba hoo hoo! Adooba hoo hoo! Adooba hoo hoo! Hoo!"

"Farkle, this isn't the experiment." Lollie said.

"It isn't?" He questioned.

She pointed towards Maya, "No, that is."

"Mr. Norton." Riley said.

"Riley, Farkle, Lucas, Lollie."

"We have a new hypothesis." Riley said.

"There's more to this experiment than you've been telling us." Lollie said.

"Interesting. Riley, Lollie, care to elaborate?" Mr. Norton asked.

"Yes, but first, we have to go save a life." Riley said.

"Maya, you don't have to sacrifice Yogi." Lollie said.

"We found a solution." Riley said.

"Tell me after we sacrifice Yogi." Maya said.

The girls chanted, "Goodbye Yogi! Goodbye Yogi! Goodbye Yogi!"

"Maya, why do we have to sacrifice Yogi?" Lollie asked.

"Do you got a chimichanga?" She asked.

"No."

"Then cover the boy in cheese."

"Cheesy Yogi! Cheesy Yogi! Cheesy Yogi!"

"If I buy chimichanga will you drop him?"

The girls dropped.

"I didn't mean it literally."

"Ladies, your volcano looks angry." Farkle said.

"Goggles on!" Farkle shouted.

The girls put their goggles on, but they were still coved in sludge.

"And dive under your desks. Did I not mention that?" Farkle asked.

The three girls grabbed the containers of sludge on the table and threw them at Farkle.

"Yeah, I should've mentioned that."
﹏﹏﹏﹏

The girls sat at Riley's bay window.

"I like blowing stuff up." Maya said .

"It's not about that." Riley said.

"What's it about?" Maya asked.

"Who we are now, and who we want to be." Lollie said.

"Everything's their fault. Stupid boys. Everything would have been fine if I could've just sacrificed Yogi. Stupid Yogi." Maya muttered.

"Well, you can't and I gave you your chimichanga so you really can't now." Lollie said.

"Maya, our guy friends are pretty great. Maybe it used to be easier to see that before we looked at each other as boys and girls. Maybe it was easier when we looked at each other as friends." Riley said.

"Riley."

"Maya."

"Lollie."

"Maya."

"If I can't blow stuff up or sacrifice Yogi, then I just don't care about being good in science." Maya said.

"Well, you have to. We all have to.
The stuff we're learning now, science and math, whatever, it matters that we know what they are." Lollie said.

"We can't let other people think we'd rather have it easy for us." Riley said.

"No, I want things to be easy for me." Maya said.

Lollie sighed, "No, you don't. Because then you won't know anything, and you won't have as many choices later. in life and that's really going to suck."

"You think I could be a scientist?" Maya asked.

"I think if you were a scientist, the world would be a very dangerous place." Riley said.

"Awesome."

"But if you don't believe you could become a scientist, then it's even more dangerous."

They suddenly heard kicking noises from downstairs.

Once downstairs they saw Ava and Auggie coved in dirt.

Mr. Matthews looked back at the girls who were coved in sludge, "I don't wanna know. Get outta here."
﹏﹏﹏﹏

"Our partner's got this." Farkle said.

Riley, Lollie, and Maya all walked into class.

"Hi, guys." Lollie smiled.

"Oh, you're talking to us?" Noah asked.

"I literally talked to you last night."

"They are. I go where they go." Maya said.

"You tell them yet, Farkle?" Riley asked.

"Nope. This is your marble to drop." Farkle said.

"Yeah, I was waiting for you, partner." Noah said.

Maya smiled and sat down.

The rest of the class walked in, "They're all here." Zay said, "Aw, they came to cook us up in these little beakers and eat us and talk about us, and I don't like being talked about."

"We don't either, but we're gonna be the best thing we can be no matter what anybody says." Sarah said.

"That's right, Sarah." Riley said.

Lollie smiled, "This is an experiment none of us should fail."

"And it's one of the most important ones we'll ever do." Farkle said.

"Well, we seem to have settled back into our original positions." Mr. Norton said.

"Riley, Farkle, Lucas, and Lollie, I believe just before things exploded, you were about to present some findings?" Mr. Norton asked.

"In middle school, girls tend to drift away from science. Isn't that right, Mr.Norton?" Riley asked.

"It's been happening so many years, I started to keep a record. Not many figure out my experiment, but those that do have always benefited from the lesson." Mr. Norton said.

"We let what happened in here come between us. It's sludge, and it muddies up what we think about each other. All of us have unlimited potential. Our beaker is clear." Lollie explained.

"Because Riley and Lollie didn't drop the marble." Lucas said.

"Why not?" Mr. Norton asked.

"I felt like if I did, I would lose a part of me that was valuable. I like science, and I like figuring stuff out." Riley said.

"For thirty-five years, I've been running this experiment. Every year, the vast majority of girls agree to drop the marble without even thinking about it. The boys do the science. Unfortunate, but true. This is the age the girls begin to lose interest and that is a bad result." Mr. Norton said.

"So the real experiment is us." Maya said.

"It is, Maya. Don't lose interest."

"Wide awake, sir." Maya said.

"All right. Everyone lift up your beakers. Now, look through them."

"I can't see you." Noah said.

"Yeah. All this stuff is in the way." Maya said.

"It is beneficial for young men and women to realize right now the value of working together as equals in all things because when you do, the results are-"

"Clear." Lollie said.

"Nice job, partner." Farkle said.

"Partner."
﹏﹏﹏﹏

"Hi, Daddy."

"Norton." Maya and Lollie said.

"Girls. To what do we owe this unexpected pleasure?" Mr. Matthews asked.

"We thought we'd keep you company on your walk home."

"That's very nice of you. Are you out of pizza money?" Mr. Matthews asked.

"No, we're paying for you this time." Maya said.

"You too, Mr. Norton." Riley added.

"Really? Thanks."

"Wait, wait, wait. Since when do you three pay?" Mr. Matthews asked.

"Since men and women are equal." Maya said.

"We're big-time feminists now." Lollie said.

"Good for you. Where'd you learn that?"

"Science class." Maya said.

"Of course."

"This school is pretty messed up." Mr. Norton said and walked out.

Word Count: 3999

Episode: Girl Meets Stem

Pages: 60

I don't know if I'm a feminist.

update lol: why did i say that ^^