Dinner Party

Chapter 4

Hallie's POV

Days passed without much thought, and I had finally gotten used to my routine once more. Beck stopped bothering me, following me silently to the classes he hadn't learned yet. He left me alone during lunch and classes, even going so far as to move seats. As I had predicted, he was a hit among the ladies, spending lots of time with them, both in and out of class. Rumors began to fly about him, and his bad boy look grew, giving him an ominous aura. Someone told me he killed someone, and that was when I stopped listening to the happenings of the teenagers at my school.

 I was grateful that I no longer had to deal with him, but every time I looked at him in passing or at lunch a small pain shot through my chest, making me feel guilty long after he left. 

Ignoring this pain, I forced myself to go on with my schoolwork, forcing myself to put more effort into it than I ever had. Studying for hours every night became routine for me as a way to distract myself from my own emotions, which I was perfectly fine with. After a while, however, ignoring him and my feelings became easier and easier, until my mind and heart treated him just like everyone else; no pains, no guilt, and most importantly, no feelings other than general regard blossomed in my chest. 

About three weeks passed like this, until one day when Mrs Matthews, our Economics teacher decided to give us a "fun" partner project. "Okay, class." She said. "I'll be placing you in groups of three, by random selection from this hat. I don't want any cat fights starting in my classroom. Once the groups have been chosen, I will explain the project in more detail." Everyone groaned when they realized they wouldn't get to pick their partners, even me.

I had Isadora with me in that class, and I wanted badly to be with her on the project, and not just because she was my best friend. At least I knew she would get work done, and actually help me with the project, as opposed to someone like Marie, who would just text the whole time and not get shit done. 

"Alright, first we have... Marie, Jess and... Jackson. Move together please. Jennie, Matt and... Chris. James, Georgie and... Oh Lord." She sighed. "Rick." The three boys erupted in cheers as she rolled her eyes, pointing at them to sit down. "Okay, okay, have a seat." Mrs Matthews continued down the line, calling off names. Some people were happy, others were not. Towards the end, I had a feeling I was going to either be picked last or second to last, just like in middle school dodgeball. 

"Next we have... Rochel, Beck and... Hallie."

Oh shit. 

After explaining what the project entailed, we all split up to work on our assignments with our group. A third of mine glared at me, and I glared right back across the table, opening my computer without breaking contact. 

"Um, okay." Beck started, looking nervously between the two of us from their side of the table. "I was thinking, Rochel and I could work on the slideshow, you could work on the research paper, Hallie, and then we could all finish up the video together. That way we can maximize all of our time, y'know?" Beck said, opening his notebook and using his pen to point at some of the notes he had taken. 

"Actually, I was thinking Hallie here could work on the research paper, the slideshow and be the director for the video. We can be the gorgeous co-stars." Rochel said, flipping her hair and leaning into him, holding his arm. 

"Sure, whatever." I mumbled, already creating a Google Doc for the research paper. I already knew I would be doing all of the work, or at least heavily editing everything, no matter what group I was put in, so I figured it would just be best if I did it all myself. 

"Wait, but that isn't really fair..." Beck trailed off as she gave him a hard look that just screamed, Really? Try me, hoe. I rolled my eyes and got to work, searching for some usable data from credible websites. "At least let me help. Just share the docs with me and I can assist." I nodded, giving in a bit.