Seaward Pines Academy has always reminded Merci of a cemetery. Today, she arrives in a car inexpertly driven by Roli, who is practicing his very poor driving skills. The medical gear that Merci’s mother uses in her job as a physical therapist shifts in accordance with Roli’s erratic driving. Merci, flustered by the fact that dropping off the twins has now been added to their morning routine, and she is on track to be late to her meeting with the stickler Miss McDaniels, begins to squabble with her brother. Her mother has also neglected to sign the permission slip that would grant Merci the ability to attend the upcoming tryouts for the soccer team.

Merci’s mother asks her what her meeting with Miss McDaniels is about, and Merci begrudgingly tells her that she has been assigned to the Sunshine Buddies Club as a part of the mandatory community service that she must complete as a condition of her scholarship status. Both she and Roli must complete 60 hours of unpaid labor every year, while maintaining a B+ average. This has never been a problem for the genius Roli, who gets straight As and spends his community service hours working in the science lab as a teacher’s assistant.