Hill Coe & Dallas Wayde

~Hill~

"Thank you for joining us Miss Coe" Mr. Stinely said.

"Sorry sir," I said half-heartedly.

"Don't let it happen again. I've already assigned you a partner for the rest of the year. Marcy got here just before you so you've been paired with Dallas," he said and pointed at a shaggy haired kid in the back with a Blink182 t-shirt. His navy blue jeans were ripped on the left side right where the knee was. I gave him my note and went to take a seat next to Dallas. He didn't seem to notice my appearance so I decided not to think too far into it.

"Now that everyone's here and you've all been paired up, we can start learning," he said partly looking at me. He passed out some test tubes filled with strange liquids and handed out sheets of papers with specific instructions. I wasn't quite sure if I should put his name too so I just gave him the sheet when I was done printing my name.

"We will be doing this project for the whole week and there will be a daily participation grade. Don't just give me some shitty answers because I won't accept them" Mr. Stinely said and took a seat in his chair. His back facing us, he went to work on his computer.

I read the instructions front and back in my head twice. I grabbed a tiny test tube and dropped in four drops of clear blue liquid. I waited two minutes and then labeled it as "No chemical change." I went on to the next tube and did the same but with an acid. I gave the mixture two minutes to show any sign of change. The tube began to turn a light green, then a dark foggy green. I labeled it, "Chemical change." Finally I poured four drops of an unknown liquid. Less than a minute later the test tube started to bubble, then got cold. I labeled this one also as "Chemical change."

"There's only two minutes left till the bell rings so pack your things for pre-dismissal," Mr. Stinely said never looking up from his computer. I grabbed our paper and put it into my backpack. I took a seat next to Dallas and looked ahead. I closed my eyes and listened to the noises around me. I could feel a sudden heat on my face but shrugged it off. At the sound of the bell, I got up and headed to Spanish I. It took me two minutes to reach the upstairs building. I walked into the class and couldn't believe what my eyes were telling me. How could this have happened? Dallas was sitting in the back right corner of the room with his head down on the desk. He was in my seat. I didn't want to look like a tattle tail so I decided to pick a different seat. I walked toward his direction and sat in the seat right next to him.

There wasn't much of a difference but being in the back gives you some type of safe feeling. Its like even though you're in the back, nothing can really bother you. I got my Spanish binder out of my bag and began doing the bell ringer. I took a peek at Dallas to see that he wasn't doing the work at all. He had his head up but only to stare at the wall. There was nothing on his desk besides some white ear buds with a green skull on the side. His fingers were moving slowly above his desk to an unknown rhythm in his head. Fearing of him seeing me, I turned back to my work and finished the last two sentences.

"Get out your laptops and study over your flashcards" Mrs. Stephenson said as she put the directions to the website up on the board. I studied my flashcards once in English and then in Spanish. I was never going to pass this class. Spanish was probably my worst subject in school. Mrs. Stephenson made her way around the desks and to Dallas.

"Do you not have anything with you?" she asked.

"No, its my first day here," he said coldly, turning his attention to her.

"I expect something by tomorrow," Mrs. Stephenson said.

"Yes ma'am," Dallas said sarcastically.