Obsession (A Jeff the Killer Fanfic)

Chapter 2: Project Partners

   Ah, English class. The bane of my existence. Was ever there a more divine form of torture for those of lackluster creativity? Woe, was me.

Okay, so basically...I wasn't a good writer, at all. I lacked the "imaginative, inquisitive mind," my teacher loved to tell me. I agreed wholeheartedly. My imagination sucked. And so did my grade in the class. You'd think that those with a life so lacking in adventure would write the best stories...nope. And essays about me or my life were a guaranteed fail, because I could fit all of the "adventures" of my life on half a sheet of paper.

  

The only bright side to eleventh grade English was the back seat, where I sat. Sitting in the back kept me away from the annoying, exuberant "popular kids" goofing around in the front, and kept me out of the view of Mrs. Tanner, who was a...well, there's really no other word for it, she was a bitch. Her steely gaze would bring Hitler to his knees, and her discipline rivaled that of a Russian dictator.

   However, the seat also gave me a way to stare- erm, glance at- Jeff, without him taking notice. He sat diagonally from me, and rarely looked back, so I could gaze at him without worry of being caught. I don't really know why I stared...something about him just drew me in. Maybe it was his looks. I did have a thing for the tall, dark types. And of course, there was my lack of a love life. At that point, Andrew the nose picker could have been my type, if he didn't have the hots for Braceface Becky. Yech.

But, nonetheless, I had a pretty sweet desk. With a darn good view of the scenery....the dark, sculpted, absolutely yummy scenery...

   "Class, today we're going to....CONNOR, THROW THAT AWAY NOW!" Mrs. Tanner reprimanded, ripping me right out of my daydream. Connor sneered at her, flipped his sandy hair back, and threw the paper ball he was about to throw at Jeff into the trash. Of course, the girls surrounding him laughed at his attempt to be clever. They laughed at pretty much whatever he did, because they all wanted their chance with the star quarterback of Silver Hills High, no matter how ignorant and completely idiotic he was. Anything to date a pretty face and score some points for their popularity. Ugh.

   "Now, as I was saying, we're going to start a project in here," Tanner said. She took a moment to push her glasses higher up her bony nose, and continued. "Throughout many, many centuries of literature, love has been an important theme. Romeo and Juliet. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Cathy and Heathcliff. Even nowadays, romance is still a main theme in fictional books."

Oh, great. Tanner getting all gooey on us. And making it into some sort of project, no doubt.

   "I want you, with a partner, to delve into this more. Explain, in a detailed presentation, why you believe love is and has been such a fascinating topic for writers throughout the decades. This project will be due at the end of the fourth semester, which is four weeks from now."  

Called it.

    Everyone in the class groaned, including myself, and then looked around, trying to decide who to pair up with. I just looked down at my hands, hair falling around my face like a curtain. None of my grand total of (drumroll, please) three (gasp) friends were in my class. I'd probably get paired with some leftover popular girl, who would whine and complain and make ME do all the work. Not that I wasn't used to that. In every single class, I was the one that did all the work. Too bad that English wasn't my forte, as some unlucky guy or girl was about to find out.

   "Grace." A shrill, whiny voice called my name in annoyance. It was like one of those annoying little mosquitos that buzzes in your ear. You swat it away, only for it to come back a few minutes later, refusing to be ignored.

I brushed the hair from my face and looked up abruptly, trying to find out who had called me. I saw two tall figures in front of my desk; Mrs. Tanner and Jeff. Go figure. I should've known it was her. Her voice was the only one that made me grit my teeth like that.

   "Now, Grace, Jeff here says he'd like to be your partner, is that alright?"  

   I raises my eyebrow in disbelief. Me? Why would Jeff want me to be his partner? I barely knew him, and I'd never spoken a single word to him. I definitely wasn't the prettiest or most social girl in the room, and I had made no indication that I wanted him as a partner earlier.

I glanced up at him. He had a shy, almost fearful look in his eyes. Like he was scared to ask me. I suddenly felt bad for my thoughts. Maybe he was like me, and didn't have a single friend in the class. Maybe he had wanted to work with me because he thought I was the least threatening. I needed to cut him a break, I didn't even know the guy. Still, I couldn't help but be flattered, and a bit dazzled by how much more perfect he was up close. He was my Jace, and I was his Clary, in that I was the tiny awkward girl utterly drawn to his dangerous good looks.

   Swallowing hard, I tore my gaze away from him and looked at Tanner. "Y-yes, that's fine," I stammered. She said nothing but nodded once, and left us, probably going to torture some other poor group.

I didn't know what to say when she left. I realized that I was suddenly alone with Jeff, and my mouth went dry. I swallowed hard and cleared my throat. I attempted to speak to him, but only let out a tiny squeak.

Smooth, Grace. Real smooth.

   Obviously unaware of my nervousness, Jeff sat down in front of me. He was closer to me than he'd ever been before. "Soo, Grace, um...where do you want to do this project?" He had a nice voice; deep, with no traces of a Southern accent. It was a nice change of pace from all the Southern, drawling voices around here.

   Without thinking, I answered, "Oh, my place is fine. You can come over today and we can start, I'll drive."

    Grace. Whoa. Do you really want him at your house? You don't even know him!

   Oops. I had forgotten that he was a total stranger. A guy that I didn't know at all. One that people accuses of being a murderer. Too late. I bit my lip, and waited for an answer.  

   He breathed out, almost a sigh of relief. "Yeah, that'd be great." He smiled shyly.  I opened up my mouth to speak...

   And then, the bell rang. Of all my luck. I was finally going to try and make conversation with this gorgeous being, and class ends. I can't believe I actually wanted English to last a little longer. All around us, people packed up their notebooks and folders, and left. But us...we just kept looking at each other, hardly aware of the world around us.