Solivagant

~1.2 - Karla~

I stepped into the classroom, my eyes instantly drawn to the back row of tables. They were all individual desks, the sight making me roll my eyes in annoyance. We're already trapped here for seven hours a day, so why can't we get more comfortable seats?

Sighing, I started towards the back of the room. There was an empty seat in the left corner next to the window that was practically calling my name. It wasn't too hard to weave around people crowded by their desks to chat for the last few seconds of passing time. The only problem I ran into, was one that I literally ran into. I bumped a long haired blonde on my way to the back of the room. Her sparkling brown eyes glowed with hatred as I continued on my way. She growled. "Watch where you're going bitch."

I rolled my eyes. I wouldn't have run into you if you had been in your seat, imbecile. The bell rang the moment I slid into the empty seat at the back. There was a man in the front of the room that I hadn't noticed before with shaggy blonde hair. He sat behind the teacher's desk, his hazel eyes glowing softly behind his glasses as he studied all of us. I shrunk back in my seat a little as he looked at me, clutching my sketchbook tighter. He smiled reassuringly, giving me a small nod of greeting. I hesitantly nodded back, smiling slightly. Maybe he'll be a good teacher. Quickly, I shook my smile away.

I set my sketchbook on the desk and flipped quickly to the first clean page. The teacher stood, smiling big. "Good morning class. I'm Mr..."

Apologizing silently, I tuned him out. Intro classes were always the worst. You couldn't get me to pay attention in them with all the money in the world. They were just so boring—covering rules you already knew and making you participate in the stupidest ice-breakers. With my pencil in hand, I pictured the classroom in my mind as clearly as I could. I was trying a new drawing method: observing something for only a few moments before closing my eyes and drawing that object—or in this case, the classroom. I bit my lip in concentration, slowly making a rough sketch of the image in my head. The smartboard is at the slightest angle to the left, the teacher's desk is on its left with a black office chair behind it, the door on the left wall, three windows equidistant from each other on the right facing the courtyard, a-

The soft thump of a backpack hitting the floor next to me made my pencil pause for a moment. I hated sitting next to people. Hated it with a passion. Every time someone sat beside me, it ended disastrously and I moved schools. I gripped my pencil tight. Just leave them alone. Ignore them. I reminded myself. Nothing bad could happen if I pretended they weren't there. With that thought in the background, I continued my blind sketch.

Until the words "group project" slipped through my focus.

My eyes snapped open in surprise and I jerked my head up to gaze at the teacher. "Goddamn it." I breathed, squinting at the tiny print on the smartboard. It listed off who we were partnered with, as well as the book we were apparently supposed to do a joint report on. And I thought he could be a great teacher. I leaned forward over the desk, shoving back when I heard the crinkling of paper. "Shit." The word came out a bit louder than I had meant it to be, though the only thing truly on my mind was the sketchbook. The drawing was actually pretty decent, but it had started to crinkle in the corner when I had leaned over. I smoothed it out carefully and closed the book, setting it off to the side.

I leaned forward again without the hindrance of my sketchbook, squinting at the tiny print. Damn, why does he like such miniscule words? I leaned forward even more, not even touching the chair anymore. I scanned the list for my name. I was paired with... Diego?

Slowly, I sat back down. The school bully. The violent school bully. Why me? I didn't know what to think. I hadn't even known he was in the class until I had seen I was partnered up with him. I sighed in resignation. If I was partnered with him, there was nothing I could do about it. Besides, I didn't want to wimp out on a simple project, did I? It didn't take long to scan the backs of the heads in front of me. None of them had the same earthy hair as Diego. I sighed, turning to get up and ask the teacher to just work by myself. That was when I found myself staring into his dark eyes.