Wingspan(Paranormal, Young Adult) MAJOR EDITING**

Seven

I didn''t know what I thought would happen, but this wasn't it.

I was put in the system as a first year and my classes were different than what I''d hoped. The people were nice. Mostly. And things were going okay. At least that was until first period came. I cringed when I noticed that I had Toby in my class and, well, he didn't seem entirely fond of me.

Honestly I didn''t know what his problem was. I mean I hadn't been around long enough to personally offend him.

"Yes, alright, settle down now," said" Mr. Baryo.

Truthfully, he wasn't as bad as Kira had made out, though maybe a little crazy, because he sometimes had conversations with himself. Nevertheless, I thought he was okay for a teacher and I didn't mind him so far.

But that changed when he partnered me with Toby.

Also because he was my lab partner, this meant that every assignment we had was graded upon our ability to effectively work together as a team. Even worse, Mr. Baryo had a strict policy on seating arrangements so I couldn''t even sit elsewhere, let alone get someone to swap partners with me.

"To kick start the beginning of another school year I thought it would be appropriate to do a special project, hmm?"" Mr. Baryo passes around a sheet to each table, which seated a pair.

He walks by our tableand then over toward the front again. "Bring me ten rare items on that list by the end of today and you won''t have any homework to do."

It was a list comprised of different plants. Most of which were foreign to me. The list read:Baker''s Larkspur, Wollemi Pine, Gingko Bilboba, Virginia round-leaf birch, Syringa Vulgaris, CordiaBlobosa, Brides Tears, SpartiumScorparius, Thymus Serpyllum, and DiantheraPectoralis.

I look at Toby in hopes of some translation.

"Do you recognize any of these?" I ask him.

He examines the paper we shared.

""Of course I do," he sneers. "You better catch up. I won''t get a bad grade just because you''re slow."

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I search the crowd for him with widened eyes. Thank goodness he was tall. Otherwise I''d have a difficult time finding him among the horde of sleep-deprived students that were pushing past me. Either Wildlife and Agriculture was a preferred class or it was merely overpopulated due to an excess student roster.

I remain focused on the back of Toby''s head as I follow behind him

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We enter a large greenhouse. My eyes going wide as I gaze around at all the greenery. Every plant and herb was split into sections, depending on their families and genus. Iassumed that the numbered markers at the beginning of each row pertained to different categories of plant, which still remained foreign to me.

I couldn''t help but notice (and envy) the luckypeople who were in the front row. They were the closest to the colorful plants, which were easier to decipher.

I pass by a row of dark, leafy shrubs and vibrant green trees. They weren't too tall, about my height, but their roots were so thoroughly etched into the moist soil that I could tell they were lovingly cared for by their owner.

Mr.Baryo clearly did a fine job watching over the school''s greenery.

As I traveled deeper into the nursery, I smelled fresh potting mix and the air was kind of humid. I removed my hoodie as I started to sweat.