Misfits

twenty-four

"What the hell. How is that even possible. No way."

I turned around to where Gene was sitting and held the sheet of paper up.

"Gene, did you see that? How the hell did we only get 70 percent?"

The boy just shrugged and averted his gaze with a frown. His reaction bothered me.

I stood up and walked over to his desk without wasting another second. Nobody minded anyway, everyone was too busy with their own grade and talking to their own assigned partners.

"So this just doesn't bother you at all?" I asked as I arrived at Gene's desk. He just gave me another lazy shrug, not bothering to look up at me.

Rolling my eyes, I dropped down on my knees so I was more on his level.

"Gene, this is a grade I would normally get. We were supposed to ace this assignment. You never get grades this low, do you?" I tossed the paper at his desk so he could have a closer look. "Do you now? Why don't you fucking talk?"

"Hey, everything alright?" Trevor asked, chiming in from Gene's right. Of course he was sitting next to him.

I shrugged and looked back at Gene. "I don't know, if your dumbass friend opened his mouth for once, I could tell you."

Trevor frowned. "No need to get all worked up. Let me see." He reached for the paper, and his eyes briefly scanned over it until he found the mark. "I don't see the problem. 70 percent aren't too bad."

"Duh, but Gene was involved in this. Shit, he wrote like, the whole thing himself," I replied, the annoyance in my voice steadily growing stronger. "I get 70's. Gene doesn't. This doesn't add up, and he just doesn't fucking care."

Finally, Gene sighed. "Because it's not that important. So what we got a low grade? We'll have to write plenty other assignments, anyway."

Trevor nodded. "Yeah. Sucks for now, but you'll get plenty of chances to score a higher grade."

I rolled my eyes in annoyance. "I'm sorry, can you turn away and mind your own business again? This is only concerning Gene and me."

"Yeah. Turn away and shut up," Gene mumbled without looking at any of us.

Surprised with his reply, I looked at Trevor to wait for his reaction. He briefly studied his best friend's face before giving in and turning away to chat with another classmate.

Just as I was about to open my mouth again, Gene dismissively pushed the paper towards me and crossed his arms.

"I don't care. I don't give a fuck about this grade. Take it or leave it. I honestly couldn't care less."

I hesitated, not sure how to react. I knew how to handle the usual cheerful and over-the-top-friendly Gene. I had no idea how to talk to this empty shell that couldn't even raise their gaze to meet mine.

So I just stood up and went back to my own desk, not taking the assignment with me. It was useless for me, anyway.

And there went my dream of finally getting a good grade with Gene's help.

"What was that?" Gill asked once I sat down. I briefly glanced back at Gene who was still just staring at the ceiling, not paying attention to anyone or anything.

"Gene's been replaced by aliens and it's freaking me out," I replied, my voice lowered.

Gill's eyes lit up. "I told you it's because of their argument, and the whole thing with Derek. Ha! I was right all along."