𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐭 • 𝐄. 𝐎𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐧

21 • Goofball

                  ╔═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╗

The incessant ticking of the clock grated on the nerves of the German student, amplifying the atmosphere in the lecture hall packed with 40 fellow students, all in a race against time to complete their English exam final.

Stella eased back into her seat, meticulously proofreading her essay, painstakingly ensuring that not a single mistake marred her work. Letting out a weary sigh, she glanced up and found herself locked in Lizzie's unwavering gaze.

A playful eyebrow arched on the brunette's face, eliciting a mischievous smirk from Lizzie. Their eye contact broke abruptly as a small alarm chimed from Lizzie's phone.

The entire class observed as Lizzie erased the bold "ten minutes left" on the whiteboard. "Five minutes remaining," the blonde declared, her voice carrying over the room, prompting anxious faces to scan their surroundings, seeking reassurance from their peers.

Lizzie froze in her tracks, spotting Stella still reclining in her chair, nonchalantly twirling her pen. The absence of urgency in Stella's demeanor concerned the blonde.

Approaching Stella from behind, Lizzie leaned over her seat, trying to catch a glimpse of her neighbor's work. Whispering, she inquired, "Are you finished?" Stella met Lizzie's gaze, nodding with a wide grin. The blonde hummed as she collected the three papers from the brunette's desk, swiftly skimming through the paragraphs. "Where is your conclusion?"

Panic washed over the brunette as she stammered, "Conclusion? I wasn't aware we needed one." Lizzie pursed her lips, continuing her inspection of Stella's work.

"Might I suggest reading the whiteboard, El," Lizzie murmured quietly into Stella's ear, leaning down to place the papers back in front of her.

The German student's eyes caught sight of a small paragraph, previously unnoticed, which detailed the requirement of a 150-200-word summary. "I can't possibly complete that in five minutes!" Stella stressed, watching as Lizzie chuckled softly to herself. "Four minutes, to be precise," she corrected, striding away.

As the time neared its end, the professor instructed everyone to submit their papers to Lizzie's desk before leaving. The entire class complied, except for Stella, who remained fervently engrossed in her writing. Lizzie sighed to herself, commencing the task of stapling all the pages together to avoid misplacing any work and allowing the German student a few extra minutes to finalize her work.

Five more minutes elapsed, and Lizzie observed Stella exhausting her supply of paper. Stella turned over a page only to discover it had already been written on. Looking up, she found Lizzie perched on her desk, legs crossed, closely monitoring her progress. With a touch of sarcasm, Lizzie quipped, "Having trouble, Miss Peryl?"

Stella's nervousness caused her to chew on the inside of her cheek, as she stuttered, "Um, no." Lizzie reached for a blank sheet of paper from the adjacent stack, pushing herself off the desk. Placing the sheet before Stella, Lizzie was met with a grateful expression. "Danke."

The utterance of that small word brought a wide smile to the blonde's lips. "Just so you're aware, this is highly illegal," she cautioned, pulling out a chair and settling beside Stella, who resumed her work with renewed urgency.

"Oh yeah? More illegal than our relationship?" the brunette retorted sarcastically, observing Lizzie's eyebrows shoot up in surprise at her sly remark.

"You're lucky that you're cute," the exasperated blonde replied.

"That's me," the brunette concluded her sentence with a period, signaling the completion of her task. Stella released her pen, which clattered loudly upon striking the wooden desk. Massaging her hand with the other, she seethed as a sharp pain coursed throughout her fingers.