Conveniently Inspired

Chapter One

They were already conveniently seated together, forcing Skylar to drag herself out of her comfortable spot (back left, by the window: this allowed her to stare mindlessly out the grassy fields when she had noone to talk to, which was, evidently, all the time) to join the existing herd. They didn't even acknowledge her presence. Although, Kaden scooted his chair over so Skylar had room to sit. They seemed to be in the middle of a conversation that, surprise surprise, had nothing to do with the actual discussion.

"-are you going?" Michael Chen asked Hafsa.

"Yup! Can't be high school without football games, ammiright?" she answered. A piece of gum slopped between her jaw.

"Marshall, what about you? Wait, have you guys seen that new tik tok? The one where the guy blows his nose and-" Pretty soon, the topic had changed to the new dancing trend, and Summer was standing up, secretly recording her own tik tok while the rest of the group snickered.

Skylar pressed her lips so tight, she was sure they were permanently plastered like that. She knew exactly what trend they were talking about, and she spent half her life scrolling through social media that she could've done the dance in her sleep. But Skylar lived life with a filter, and she hated it. There was a permanent screen attached to her face like a mask. Any words that tried to come off her tongue had to filter through the screen, and by the time she worked up the courage to say it, the moment was gone. She was too late, and they moved onto the next topic. And then when she knew how to contribute to the new conversation, by the time she recited the words in her head at least three times, that moment passed, too.

It was a brutal, endless process.

At this point, Skylar had given up on trying. Socializing just wasn't for her, and she learned to accept it. So she dragged the piece of paper onto her lap. Tilted her head so her black hair formed a shower curtain, concealing her expression from view. She decided to just work on the answers herself.

About ten minutes later, after Summer was satisfied with her tik tok and posted it, Kaden said, with slight irritation in his voice: "Okay, seriously guys, we probably have to present this in front of the class, and so far we've got nothing."

"Oh, shit. Right. Anybody got any ideas?" Hafsa asked.

"Wait, what's the question?" Michael wondered aloud, pencil tapped against his lip.

"Um, wait which one are we supposed to answer?" Summer squinted at her page.

4. Question 4. Skylar jittered her right leg viciously up and down. God, just say it, you coward, say it-

"Oh, we're supposed to do question 4" Michael said.

"Ooh. Oh yeah. Okay. I got nothing. To be honest, I didn't even do the readings. There's just so much, and I need to focus on physics-"

"Oh my gosh, yeah, me too, wait you're in Mr. Rogers' class too right? Did you do the lab, yet?"

"No, I haven't even started yet."

"Girl, me neither, thank god!"

"Okay, okay good!"

And then the topic was changed to physics class. Just like that. Skylar honestly couldn't keep up with the conversations at this point. She didn't take physics this year. She didn't take any sciences this year actually. Most of her classes were based on the arts or humanities.

A stern cough erupted from behind Skylar, and the rest of her group members whipped their heads up in unison. Without needing to look, Skylar knew it was Ms. Singh. Her presence was booming. "Working hard, or hardly working?" The teacher tilted her head, causing the large red bangle of earrings to swing with the motion.

"Both?" Kaden grinned. He had a contagious grin. Okay, Skylar took back what she thought earlier. There was in fact something of his that she envied. His boyish smile had a certain infectious charm to it.

Even Ms. Singh couldn't stop herself from grinning back. "Uh-huh. Sure. Let's see what you've got then." A protruding silence followed. Tension thick and gray muddled in the air, and nobody seemed able to look the teacher in the eye. Blushing cheeks and coughs filled the quiet.

Skylar inched the paper in her lap further down, until it was fully concealed by the desk. But Ms. Singh tracked the motion and snapped her fingers. "Skylar, what's that you've got in your hands? You've scribbled quite a bit, there."

Skylar gently cleared her throat. Her fingers shook gently as she brought it up. "Would you mind reading it aloud?" Ms. Singh softened her tone when it came to Skylar, and it didn't go unnoticed. Skylar was grateful for it, but she hated how differently she was treated. How fragile the teachers talked to her. Sure, she was shy, but she wasn't some porcelain doll that could fracture at the touch.

Unfortunately, as Skylar read word after word, the wobbling in her tone defied those thoughts. Their group was supposed to discuss whether or not they thought Romeo & Juliette's relationship was based on pure lust, or if there was enough evidence of an emotional connection. Skylar read aloud her notes- mere scribbles in the margins really, but Ms. Singh was clearly impressed. Her eyes continued widening when Skylar rambled on about the significance of the red rose in the balcony scene, and how Romeo specifically picked red to subconsciously foreshadow the promise of blood and death later on.

"Impressive. And was this a group effort, or did Skylar come up with this all by herself?" Ms. Singh glared at the rest in their group. But none of them spoke up. Some even writhed in their seats, staring expectantly at Skylar for the answer.

"Group effort," Skylar said after an awkward amount of time.

"Are you sure?" It was clear that Ms. Singh didn't believe an ounce of that.

"Yes. Everybody helped."

Slight pause. "Alright. I'll make sure to tab that in your participation marks." Her heels clacked against the wooden floors as she moved onto the next table.

Nobody acknowledged Skylar. Nobody thanked her. They just moved onto the next topic of conversation, which was fine because Skylar didn't expect them to show any gratitude. Skylar went back to her own desk. Again, nobody even said bye. She supposed that being in the shadows had its perks. For one, it humbled you. When people ignored you, or abandoned you, you were already in the dark for so long that it didn't even faze you.

Drats, she thought. She forgot her pencil back with the others. When she returned to the group, they were back to making tik toks, but in her peripheral vision, she caught Kaden's eye. He was staring at her. Well, he seemed more preoccupied with whoever he was texting on his phone, but his eyes slid up, sensing her presence. And he held her gaze.

Skylar wasn't used to eye contact. It made her nervous. So she nearly snapped her neck looking away, and it wasn't until five minutes later when the class regrouped that she realized she forgot her pencil.