Beauty and the Dork

Divine Intervention

"I'll meet you guys at the table – I need to make a stop."

Before they could ask more questions, I turned on my heel and sped towards Ms. Donnell's class. I got there, knocking softly on the door. She looked up, smiling widely at me.

"Come in, Eddie!" she greeted, cheery and bright. Ms. Donnell reminded me of a grandma I wish I had – kind and welcoming, while also sharp and witty. She was one of the only teachers who liked me, and vice versa. I tried to keep my love of reading under wraps, trying to maintain my intimidating façade, but she saw through it the first time she met me.

"Hi, Ms. Donnell," I replied, walking into her classroom. She pulled her glasses off her face and smiled at me.

"How can I help you?"

"Um, I've got a bit of an unusual request," I started, suddenly losing my steam. I shook my head. Divine intervention. "Jeff told me that you're assigning partners today?"

"I am," she replied, crossing her arms. I smiled nervously.

"I was wondering if I could ask for a certain partner?" I asked. She turned her head to the side.

"I'm listening."

I cleared my throat and took another step forward.

"I was wondering if you could partner me with Margot Patterson?" I requested. I felt my face flush. "She seems to have a lot of good feedback in class during discussions, and I think I could really benefit from her insight."

She smiled and leaned back in her chair.

"You know, I know that this is one of the few classes you excel in," she replied. I felt my face flush – stay strong. Divine Intervention.

"I could always do better, Ms. Donnell," I quipped. She laughed.

"Very true. Does Margot know you're asking me this?"

My courage disappeared and I felt my face flush.

"No, I just, well, I just—"

"Ah, I see," she said, all knowing. Shit. I looked at my feet – this was dumb. It was never going to work. "I'll take your recommendation into consideration."

I nodded, feeling defeated. I trudged out of the room, feeling stupid from my lame idea.

---

I was dreading to go to English. I was so stupid for trying to be the divine intervention. Ms. Donnell was like a grandma to me, and she had correctly guessed my crush. Nothing was more embarrassing than your grandma guessing your crush.

I walked in, quickly and with my head down, rushing to get to my seat. I glanced up and watched Margot walk in, laughing with one of her friends. She was so pretty – her hair dark and bouncing as she got to her seat and crossed her legs. God, her legs.

Ms. Donnell stood when the bell rang, walking to the front of the classroom with a stack of papers in her hand. She started walking down the aisles of the desks, passing us each a paper.

"As you might have heard, I am assigning partners for the rest of the year. The goal of this is to allow for additional discussion and feedback," she handed me a paper and winked. "And to help me by cutting down on the number of things I have to grade."

Chrissy Cunningham shot her hand up, and Ms. Donnell nodded at her, prompting her to ask he question.

"Are we able to ask for a certain partner?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. Ms. Donnell shook her head.

"I've already made the assignments – which I will announce now," Ms. Donnell answered. She went back to her desk and lifted a notebook to read from.

I looked down at my desk, dejected. I wasn't even paying attention as Ms. Donnell announced the names, people cheering as they realized they were paired with their friends. I was dreading who I was going to be paired with.

"Eddie Munson and Margot Patterson," Ms. Donnell said. I shot my head up, suddenly panicked, and Ms. Donnell smiled at me. Holy shit. She listened to me. Why did she listen to me? I looked over to Margot, wide-eyed.

She was turned to me, smiling brilliantly. I thought I was going to pass out when she waved at me – I awkwardly smiled at her.

"Feel free to move next to your partner – you will need to determine which books you will choose for your discussions and final essay that you will write together. Spend the rest of class discussing."

I couldn't move. I was frozen in place as Margot stood, pulling her bag over her shoulder and walking over to me. I was still petrified when she got to me.

"Looks like you're stuck with me, Eddie!" she teased, sitting in the desk next to me. I watched her as she crossed her legs again, immediately distracting me. I shook my head and tried smiling.

"More like you're stuck with me," I corrected. I felt my heart stop when she laughed at my lame joke. I couldn't believe I made her laugh.

"As if! You always make good points in class. I'm glad we're partners – this should be fun!" she replied, smiling wide at me. I felt my mouth dry and nodded at her – she was glad! She wasn't dreading it! She could have been lying, but it still felt good to hear.

"So, uh, do you have a preference on the books?" I asked, knowing we had to pick three different novels. She shrugged, still studying the paper. I focused on the paper in front of me, trying not to glance at her legs.

"I like anything by Jane Austen," she replied, still studying the list. I nodded, wanting her to have whatever she wanted.

"Okay – we can just do those!" I offered, my voice going up an octave. She looked up at me, grinning.

"No, Eddie – it's a group project. Maybe we pick one by her, but what about you?"

I stared at the list – there was one that was practically leaping off the page at me, but I was too embarrassed to say it. I needed to seem cool to Margot.

"Oh, I'm cool with whatever—"

"Oh, come on, Eddie!" she encouraged. I looked up at her – she was smiling at me, her eyes crinkled and kind. I felt my face flush and forgot how to speak. She looked back at the list. "What about The Hobbit? I've always wanted to read it."

I felt my jaw drop and eyes widened. She had suggested the dorky option that I wanted.

"I mean, uh, we don't, uh, I mean—"

"I think I've seen you read it, right?" she asked. I still couldn't speak. She had noticed me?

"Uh, yeah – it's one of my favorites," I replied. She beamed at me.

"Great – one for me, one for you. Let's pick the third one."

I was blown away. This was going better than I could have ever anticipated. I nodded and we continued to discuss the different options.

---

We had settled on Sense and Sensibility, The Hobbit, and A Midsummer's Night Dream. I was wary about Shakespeare, but Margot had successfully talked me into it, insisting that I would enjoy it. We submitted our choices to Ms. Donnell and were sitting together now, just talking. I was blown away by what was happening.

"Do you want to work on the project after school? I can't today because I've got tennis practice, but I can meet starting tomorrow," Margot asked, opening her calendar and making notes.

"Uh, definitely," I responded, thrilled to have an excuse to further interact with her. I realized what tomorrow was and sighed. "Wait – I can meet tomorrow if it's later in the day."

She looked at me, her brows furrowed. I felt my face heat.

"I've got Hellfire Club tomorrow," I replied. She raised her eyebrows and nodded.

"Oh, got it!" she replied. I felt my face turn red. She continued to write in her planner. "I'll go with you tomorrow, and we can go to my house afterwards to start the project if you can give me a ride."

"No, we don't have to do that – I'll just cancel Hellfire tomorrow!" I replied, my voice practically a squeak. She couldn't come to Hellfire. If she already didn't know I was a dork, this would solidify it.

"Dude, don't cancel it – I'll just crash a meeting. No big deal," she insisted. The bell rang and she beamed at me. "See you tomorrow, Eddie!"

I watched her leave, wanting to throw up and hating myself for trying to force divine intervention.