Between Two Girls

Chapter 19

"Alright, settle down," the teacher calls out. When the class does, he continues, "We'll be spending the month working on a project. And yes, you will have partners on this."

Everyone groans. The class is difficult enough. But projects are big. As in almost 75% their grades big. Partner projects are a little easier than the individual, but not by much.

"You have ten seconds now to find your partners," he says. "Starting . . . now!"

Almost all the students stand up and scramble around the room, looking for any partners they can work with. Paige has no idea who to partner up with, so she's awkwardly standing by her seat, watching the chaos. By the end of ten seconds, she sees Lucy walking over to her.

"And, time's up!" The teacher goes up to the board and picks up a marker. "Now, who's partnered with who?" He points at a guy near him. "Mark, who's your partner?"

Mark meekly points at a guy sitting next to him. "This one," he says.

"Ok, Mark and Daniel." The teacher writes their names together on the board. "Who's next?"

The students get the idea and call out their names and their partners as he calls on them. By the time he gets to Lucy, she simply says, "Me and Paige."

She might as well have said Stalin and Hitler. Everyone turned open-mouthed at both the girls. Lucy stares back, while Paige hides behind her book.

For some reason, the teacher doesn't notice. "Ok, Paige and Lucy," he says to himself as he writes their names down. "Alright, we all good with the partners? Good. Now, let's talking about what I'm going to have you do."

"I think Lucy liiiikes you," Juli interrupts.

"Really?" Emery asks, being sarcastic. "What makes you think of that?"

"Lucy's sitting next to Paige and says they're partners," Juli points out, missing the sarcasm. "Hellooo." She pauses. "I can't wait for their special day."

"They're not getting married, Juli!" Emery says. "They're not even of age."

"Oh. Well, that's just sad." The party animal pouts. 

"Paige?" Lucy asks. She nudges the bookworm, and Paige looks up. She notices the kids are talking amongst themselves. "Did you hear what the teacher said?"

"Um, no," Paige says. She was busy listening to Juli and Emery. "I wasn't paying attention."

"Yeah," Juli adds. "We're awesome to watch!"

". . . She can't see us," Emery says.

"Oh right. I forgot."

Paige hears a slapping sound in her head. She assumes it's Emery face-palming.

"Do you want me to explain the basics, or do you want to go with the flow?" Lucy asks.

"Go with the flow!" Juli says.

"Have her tell you!" Emery responds.

Paige agrees with Emery. "I guess I can have you explain," she says.

"Well, the main thing we have to do is--"

The bell rings. The kids excitedly get their stuff and run out of the classroom. Confused, Paige looks at the clock. "Already? It was something like 20 minutes."

Lucy laughs. "Your 20 minutes is our 45," she says. She picks up her backpack. "I can discuss this with you at lunch. That alright?"

"I can do that." Paige nods.

"Great." Lucy walks out of the classroom, and Paige follows after her.