Deadly Poison

18. Husband and wife

I woke up on time and sat up on my bed, composing my thoughts and starting my day off on a positive note. I have a habit of doing this every morning since a very young age.

I finished my morning routine and got ready for the school. I choose to wear a blue jeans ,a top and a jacket and walked down for breakfast and headed for my car.

On reaching the school building I saw Emilia waiting for me. We both walked towards our classroom took our respective seats and waited patiently for our teacher to arrive.

When the teacher walked in with a glass bowl full of small pieces of paper, everyone was surprised. There was a sense of confusion and murmurs between all the students. The teacher asked for silence and proceeded to quell everyone's doubts.

"I know you all must be surprised to see me with this bowl, but today there is a special activity lined up for you guys. Let me explain the rules. Each of you will receive a single empty chit and you will write your name and return it back. I will mix it up and pick two chits randomly to divide all of you into groups for a special project and this group will last for the entire academic year."
After finishing his explanation the teacher set the group selection into motion.

I was paired with Giovanni. The moment I heard his name mentioned with mine, my heart sank. 'Now I will have to do all the work on my own and on top of that deal with his teasing and name calling' I thought to myself and sighed.

I accepted my fate and walked to the back where Giovanni was seated. I asked his friends Xander and Atlas to make way for me. They had a confused look on their faces and didn't get up, "I am teamed up with your best friend, not that I want to in any way, so please make your way to your respective partners" I said in an emotionless tone and sat down.

With that the first period came to an end. The second lecture was of economics. The teacher continued the activity initiated by the previous teacher. She came with a bowl of chits with profession written on them and randomly assigned all of them to the students.

Giovanni got software engineer and I got interior designer. "Haha you got the profession I am good at" I said to Giovanni realizing the irony of the situation which induced a chuckle from him and lightened both of our moods a little bit.

Before the class ended the teacher told us that she will give s this week to prepare our family budget and provide a report. The special project simply was that the people who were paired in groups had to pretend to be husband and wife and prepare budget for all possible expenses accordingly.

After a few more lectures it was lunch break and I headed for the cafeteria. I grabbed my lunch looked around for Luca and Emilia, after spotting their table I walked there and took my seat.
"God! I am paired with the spoilt bat Giovanni for the rest for the year. My whole year is ruined; I will have to do two people's work!" I complained to my friends.
Emilia rubbed my back and said "I feel you sister, I am paired with Atlas, Giovanni's chum and as useless as him!" she said with her hands raised in the air in exasperation.

Luca was silent so I decided to tease him. "Luca you must be having a good time with our hot and sexy head cheerleader Miss Veronica Ricci"
Luca's calm expression soon changed to a troubled one on hearing my mocking tone.
"Aurora please don't rub salt on my wounds. Veronica is a pain in the ass. She doesn't even pay attention to the instructions given by the teacher, all she does is admire her perfectly manicured fingernails all day long!" He said with a sad smile on his face.

And just like that we spent our entire lunch break whining away our troubles.
Back in the classroom post lunch-break, Giovanni was in a disruptive mood. He didn't leave a single chance to annoy me.

Sometimes he will pull my ponytail; sometimes he will poke me with his legs. I tried to ignore him and concentrate on the lecture but after a while it got a bit too much and I burst out loud, a little too loud "Giovanni stop it! Stop bothering me and let me concentrate in class" The teacher heard my angry exchange with Giovanni and said
"Miss Lombardi I feel you are too smart for this class and we don't deserve your ingenious presence, we are too stupid for that. So please get out of my class!" I had no choice, I glared at Giovanni, who smiled cheekily and I quietly walked out of the class.

After twenty minutes the class was over and I saw Giovanni walk outside, I stamped his leg with all the energy in my body and he jumped around in pain screaming and cursing "what was that for?" he said.
"Don't act innocent, you know the reason" I growled at him.
"I was helping you" he said, I cut him short and asked
"helping me? How by making me look arrogant in front of the teacher and miss what he taught today? Is that how you help people Mr. Romano?" I asked.

"Well you were a nerd and I don't think you need to sit in a boring algebra class, because you know it all. I mean seriously, the teacher wasn't wrong, you are too smart for us stupid lot" he said and burst out into pools of laughter and joined his mates.

Since it was the last lecture it was time to head home, I walked towards my car in the parking lot, thinking on the way about putting this idiot in his place soon and teaching him a good lesson that he won't forget easily.

I was really angry and upset with the events happening throughout the day, I had to accept this challenge and find ways to deal with it. The one positive from the turn of events was that my side gig as Giovanni's caretaker will be lot more easier now with him as my project partner.

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What new twists and turn will the new project partners bring?
Are you excited for the chemistry between our protagonists?