The Impossible is Possible (Ryden)

Chapter 2

Brendon and Spencer immediately share a look, silently exchanging that they want to be partnered together. To Brendon's horror, however, Mrs. Harris seems to notice this, and she smiles. "Oh, no, no, don't start looking towards your friends. I said that I'm going to partner you, didn't I?"

There's a collective groan across the class, but the woman merely smiles even wider. She begins to pair people up, seemingly at random, and Brendon crosses his fingers and hopes to for Spencer. However, he soon hears the words, "Spencer and Jon, you two can work together", and winces.

Spencer looks stunned by the pairing, but not exactly annoyed. Brendon, on the other hand, is definitely worried. He really, really doesn't want to have to mix with anybody else, and he can't imagine that anybody wants to be paired with him. Mrs. Harris turns to him, with a large smile that makes Brendon's skin crawl. "Brendon, you can work with Ryan. I trust your condition won't stop you making a song, will it? I know it's probably going to be very difficult."

There's a gasp that sweeps across the class, and silence falls. Brendon can feel himself paling, and he's so surprised that he doesn't even have the energy to get offended at her patronising his condition so much. Then, the muttering begins, and he can feel the burn of everybody's eyes upon him. Spencer's eyes are wide, and he shakes his head, looking worried. Brendon gazes at him, hoping that somehow Spencer will be able to sort things out, but his friend merely shakes his head and looks faintly sick.

Oh, great, Brendon thinks, to himself. He's going to be knifed on his second day of school.

"O-okay, then," he manages to say to the smug teacher, and she nods, satisfied.

"Everybody move around so that you're sitting next to your partners, then. You can have this lesson to discuss things and then we shall resume to our normal seats tomorrow, leaving you to work on it at home and in your free time."

The class stands up and casts around for their partners, some moving reluctantly towards each other, others instantly swapping ideas. Brendon slowly stands up, feeling a strange, nervous twisting in his stomach, and glances over at Ryan. Ryan is staring at him, expressionlessly, and has made no attempt at moving. There's a free desk by his side, though, and so Brendon, heaving a great sigh, makes his way over to it and settles tentatively at it. Across the room, Jon slides into Brendon's desk, smiling warmly at a grinning Spencer. Everybody begins to plan, but Brendon has no idea what to do.

Nobody talks to him. That's what Spencer had said. The last boy who'd attempted conversation had nearly been killed. So what's he supposed to do? Before he knows what he's doing, as often happens when he's nervous, he blurts out, "I can play guitar and bass and a bit of the drums, and I really like to sing, but I'm not sure I'd be any good in front of an entire class because I've never done it before, but then again, there's a first time for everything, isn't there? I might be bad but I don't think too many people would sing so it might get us marks for originality, or something, unless I'm really terrible, because then we'd probably just --"

"You can sing if you want," Ryan says, voice a little hoarse, probably from lack of use. Brendon blinks, instantly falling silent. He'd imagined - from what people had said - some kind of menacing, dark voice that would make his skin turn cold. But it had been a soft, almost gentle, without any inflection of emotion.

"Oh. Uh. Okay, then, I probably will. I guess it depends on what other things we use, because --"

"Yeah," Ryan agrees, looking thoroughly bored. He gazes down at his desk, playing with the corner of a journal he'd been writing in, and it seems the conversation is over already. Brendon clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth and looks away from his partner, feeling awkward. He's overjoyed that he's managed to actually talk to Ryan, as it's so unheard of, but he doesn't know if he could even count it as a conversation. It had been more him rambling, and Ryan telling him subtly to shut up.