His smirk slid as his name was called with… Who's that? He looked around the room to see a girl who everyone was looking at sympathetically. "Uh, miss?" He stuck his hand up in the air, sitting up. "Can we maybe switch partners with someone?" His friends snickered behind him. "I mean, no offense, but I barely know this…Ferrin."
i'm bored who wants to do a one-on-one? (closed)
Fern’s face began to heat up. The rudeness! Sure, she wasn’t popular, but she thought most people at least knew her name. Her friends all gave her sympathetic glances. She put her head on her desk with a sigh of humiliation. “No, Zavian, I’m afraid you can’t,” She said. “That’s the point of having partners. Meeting new people.”
"But miss…" He glanced over to see her placing her head on her desk. His grandmother's voice came to his mind. "Everyone deserves kindness, shouldn't they?" He pushed it away. Not now. He sighed and his gaze fell to his desk. His friend, Jay, pushed him a little. "Bro, at least you won't fail." He snickered, for which Zavian returned the push.
Ms.Gonzalez glanced at him before going back to looking around the room. “No, you may change partners. Any more questions? No? Then get with your partner and come get a paper with the rules and the rubric on it.” Fern sighed as her friends all walked off or turned to each other. She stood up slowly and reluctantly. Of course she got partnered with a total jerk. Everything in her life had seemed to go wrong lately, even if she still had a pretty good life as far as the big picture went.
All his friends took a turn in pushing him as they stood and walked away. He stood up slowly, taking hi precious time as he walked over. Jay walked behind him and gave him a not so gentle push towards her. He stumbled for a second before walking up to her. He looked down to her and sighed, running his hand quickly through his hair to get it out of the way.
“Hi,” she said tersely, a blush still lighting up her face from embarrassment. “So glad that you finally settled for the nerdy girl,” she added sarcastically. She glared at him as she adjusted her glasses, a few splotches of paint visible on her hands from hurrying to finish a painting that morning.
"Hey there, watch it. I don't want this anymore than you do." He sat down in the seat closest to them. He didn't feel like staring into her glare, knowing that he deserved it, so instead he kept his eyes to his maroon shoes. "What's you plan then?"
Fern huffed, knowing full well he didn’t want it. She sat down in the desk next to him. “Well, I have a video camera at home, and four siblings to act in it, so there’s that,” she said. “Other than that, I don’t know. I’m smart, not a robot.”
"So, that's good. All you need to do is plan it and we'll pass. Cool." He stood up. What are you doing? If he got a bad report that was sent directly to his grandma, he knew she'd be disappointed and upset for a few minutes before forgetting it again. Everyone else might find it relieving, but he found it keeping him awake at night with the possibility she might not remember him the next day. He quickly pushed his thoughts away and turned his back to her, walking towards Jay who seemed to be as miserable as him.
“Well that was brief,” she muttered to herself. Her friends Ally and Drew, who had been partnered up, got their paper and sat by Fern. “It sucks that you were partnered with that douche,” comforted Drew. Ally nodded. “Yeah,” Fern sighed. “It’s obvious he wants nothing to do with me.” “So? He’s obviously a jerk anyway,” Ally added. Fern nodded. “You’re right,” she agreed. She stood up. “Might as well get our paper since I doubt he will.” She walked over and took one from the teacher.
Jerk. The name rang in his head. His head lowered a little as he walked to Jay, tapping him on the back. He turned around, obviously thankful to have a distraction. "Dude, I swear- this class." He let out an exasperated sigh. "What do you say we skip?Just walk right out?" Zavian smiled a little. "Anything to get out of here." Jay stood up and they both headed to the door. "Hey!" Jay's partner called them back…And they completely ignored it as they walked to the door. He looked around to see Ms.Gonzalez helping someone, back turned. Their smirks could be seen from anywhere in the room as they turned the handle. They could also be seen as they left their faces, the principal standing just outside the door. "Where do you think you're going?" He crossed his arms. Zavian held his hands up, surrendering in return. "Just going to the bathroom." The principal looked at him with a disapproving look. "That's what you've said. Every. Single. Time." He sighed and turned to the teacher. "Ms.Gonzalez, did they ask your permission to use the restroom?"
Ms.Gonzalez, while sometimes strict, was a very kind woman. She could sense that the two of them needed some help. “Yes,” she replied. Fern’s jaw dropped. They did not ask and she knew it, but she wasn’t awful enough to contradict the teacher and get them in trouble, so she quickly shut her mouth. She simply stared at the desk in front of her. Why did he want to escape her partnership so badly?
The principal glanced back and forth between the two boys before sighing and walking off without a word. They looked at each other slowly, both surprised with what had just happened. "Dude!" They did a small fist bump before continuing out the door. Zavian heard the entire classes suprise. Their first few steps seemed to echo through the empty hallways.
Ms.Gonzalez frowned as she watched them go. “Boys,” she called after them. “I assume that you know what you’re doing for the project, and that you won’t take too long in the bathroom.” She knew there was a high chance of them leaving for the rest of the day, but she wanted to give them a chance to fix their mistakes themselves before she had to step in. She was also fairly new to teaching and hoped that they wouldn’t push around now, but she gave these boys the benefit of the doubt.
They closed the door behind them, not acknowledging what she said. "To be honest, I haven't even read it," Jay said with a laugh. A part of him wanted to go back, he couldn't risk a fail or a report. He also knew the teacher was new which means no standard to live up to. They walked past the bathroom. "Are you sure we shouldn't go back?" Jay looked to him in suprise. "Who are you and what have you done with the Zave I know?" Zavian forced a laugh as they continued to walk past a few restrooms.
Ms.Gonzalez sighed as she closed the door, disappointed. Fern gritted her teeth in frustration as she went back to work by herself. She hated doing all of the work, which ended up happening a lot. People would choose her and she would think it was because they wanted to be friends, but they’d just end up using her smarts. She felt like crying. Why had she gotten stuck with someone who obviously hated her as well as doing all of the work? And why did she care?
(I has of the idea)
Ooh what is it?//
(Ok soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo what if they get a little behind amd the teacher's like y'all gotta finish it up, and so they have to work on it at home (maybe she realizes that Fern's doing all the work) but they can't go to her house for some reason and so they have to go to his and she gets to see who he really is or something?)
Ok how about her parents are throwing a family party or something?//
(Yeah, sounds good)
Zavian had continued to walk in late and out early, Jay behind him, for the rest of the week leaving Fern all the work. It was a few days before the project was due- and Zavian knew it. Yet, he still walked through the halls, laughing and joking. Until the principal caught them. This time, he took them back to class, practically dragging them by the ear. "I've heard that you've been skipping a class in which you have a big project." He opened the door, motioning them back in. "In you go. One more catching and I call home." They surrendered and walked in.
Fern barely glanced up as she worked on the project, angry at him for abandoning her.
Zavian laughs. "Feisty!" He continues to chew his with emphasis as he sits down and leans back. "So, how close are we to finishing?"
Fern glared at him. “Only halfway done, no thanks to you,” she snapped. “Normally I might’ve gotten farther but I’ve been so busy lately. So are you going to actually help me now that you’ve finally been caught?”
He pretended to think for a moment. "Uh, I'll think about it." He sat up. "When is this due again?" If they were truly behind, they wouldn't have enough time to work on it in class.
“Next Monday,” she replied. “That’s not very far away, wise guy. And in case you haven’t noticed, it probably won’t be done unless I work my ass off all weekend and probably not even then. It’s not only my grade that’s gonna suffer, though I doubt you care about that.” She sighed. “Whatever. It’s not like you’re the first one to do this to me.”
A twinge of guilt hit and he quickly pushed it away. "Daaaannng! Okay, I get it, we don't like each other." He smirked a little. "You don't have to act like that. Look, if we don't have enough actual class time, then you'll just work on it at home, right?"
Fern looked into his eyes with an annoyed frown. “Yes, if we don’t get it finished, I’ll do the work,” she said, feeling a twinge of hurt. She thought he might at least offer to help out that way, but she was just getting her hopes up again. “But will you at least help me out during class now?”
He looked straight into her eyes, smirk still present. "And if I don't want to?" The voice rang in his head again. Jerk.