Three's Company

1.12 | The Wrong Right Reputation

The Wrong Right Reputation

assumption: [uh-suhmp-shuh n]; noun; something taken for granted; a supposition.

    "Does it ever get tiresome?" Felix whispered to Jessica as she sat in Psychology class with her nose in the air, "Ignoring them all?"

    Jessica shrugged as she watched Nova and Ethan, who were engaged in deep conversation about the school musical, which they were both in, and had no time whatsoever to listen to anything that the other two group members had to say.

    "I'm not ignoring your cousin." Jessica Anastos told Felix after pausing for at least a full minute, "I'm ignoring the people who have anything to do with the scum that my best friend used to date."

    Felix nodded, glancing at Ethan to see if he had noticed the blatant insult to himself, his teammates, and his best friend. He did not, and continued to chat away with Nova.

    "But does it ever get tiresome?" Felix repeated, "Do you ever wish you could speak with them?"

    Jessica looked at Felix in disbelief.

    "Of course not. Best friends always come first, no matter the cost of the thing that you have to give up. Don't you agree?"

    Felix nodded.

    "I suppose so. I don't really have a best friend, but I would think that if I did, I would feel the same way."

    He wholeheartedly expected a sarcastic and demeaning reply to come from the Queen Bee after his self-deprecating comment, but Jessica Anastos sat silently in her chair, nose up and away from Ethan Meek.

    "Alright class, listen up!" Ms. Mackelroye always had to shout when she entered the classroom, for it was difficult for any group of students to sit for extended periods of time without becoming noisy to the point of deafness, and Ms. Mackelroye was often late to her classes. "I said listen!"

    The last word got everyone's attention and the words immediately came to a stuttering halt. Nova and Ethan turned away from each other, a bit red in the face with the embarrassment of being part of the cause of Ms. Mackelroye's screaming. Jessica Anastos remained completely still, not moving from her position of haughtiness at Ethan Meek.

    "It's discussion time!" There was a collective groan from the entire class when those words left Ms. Mackelroye's mouth; there was little that was hated more than discussions in Psychology. In most classes, in-group discussions meant that no one was actually going to discuss the topic at hand and that they would instead talk to their friends about weekend plans or homework answers. But not in Ms. Mackelroye's class. She circled the groups like a hawk, ensuring that the only words uttered were those about Psychology and the topic she had assigned.

    "Don't moan and groan at me!" Mackelroye rolled her eyes at the group of students in front of her. "The topic is something I thought most teenagers would enjoy, actually." she paused for a second before continuing, taking a quick attendance on the sheet in front of her.

    "Please turn to your groups and discuss what happens to the brain when attempting to court someone who you really should not be." Whispers began to circulate the classroom. "If you didn't complete the assigned reading, this may be difficult for you to talk about. Hopefully you all read." She flipped over the plastic hourglass on her desk, where she ensured that each discussion topic lasted exactly fifteen minutes, "Begin!"

    Ethan spoke first.

    "Nova, this is perfect for us! Our characters in the musical are dating even though they shouldn't be, so--"