My best friend kicked her Jordan's on to her desk without as much as a glance in the teacher's direction for reassurance that he wasn't analyzing her every move as he usually did.
The fact that Norah Stiller and I had stuck it out as friends this long still seized to amaze me. We were from different worlds; hers a life of traveling to exotic countries every summer, mine hidden in the far corner of my bedroom reading about them. She topped the social ladder as cheer captain; I was somewhere in the middle, weaving in and out of different cliques dependent on my mood. Still, we found that no matter the obstacles laid out before us, we stood strong and remained friends for almost eleven years.
As she stretched herself out in the middle of Home Ec. as if she were lounging out on a towel at the beach rather than the middle of a classroom, I found myself slouching in my seat, hoping that her current position wouldn't attract too much attention, but that was unlikely. Especially since she basked in attention.
"Why did I agree to take this stupid class?" she groaned, throwing her head back so her blonde hair fell back and spilled on to the boy's desk behind her. He tried to ask her to move, eyes darting toward me in helplessness when Norah didn't answer him, or budge even a fraction of an inch.
I threw my best friend a quick, sideways glance. "You needed the credits because you were gone for a year, Norah."
My reminder earned a quiet huff of frustration out of her as I tried to keep my voice hushed so Mr. Frier couldn't hear me. She sighed and sat upright, relieving the boy behind her of having to ask her to move again.
"Don't remind me." She grumbled, groaning so loud that this time she caught the teacher's attention.
I had no doubt in my mind that it was what she wanted to do in the first place. Mr. Frier had it out for Norah, he had since Freshman year when he'd walked into this room to find Junior Eric Howell feeling her up against the wall behind the middle aged, beady-eyed teacher's desk.
"Ms. Stiller, is there something you'd like to share with the class?" He questioned, dark eyes hidden behind a cheap pair of thick rimmed, black glasses.
"No, sir. Sorry." She muttered quickly, glancing around us at the class that had turned in our direction at the mention of her name.
"This class is an easy A, we don't even have to show up." She started again once Mr. Frier had turned his back to us. I gave her a look, but didn't say anything.
She wasn't wrong. Home Ec. was the class for jocks to take when they needed to bring their grades up before they could get benched, it was the class everyone took just so they could mess around, do nothing, and still get the credits needed to graduate.
"Would you please just save this for lunch?" I replied under my breath, "I don't want to get in trouble." Norah sighed, mumbling something incoherently to herself as she let her eyes fall back on the teacher. She would give him a forced smile and flip her hair of her shoulder every time he'd glance back at us, as if she were prompting him to send her out of the classroom.
"As most of you know, I let you guys in on a little secret last week." Norah shot me a confused look at the teacher's words, "For those of you that don't know, we will be starting The Baby Project this semester." I lifted my head in surprise as the whole classroom erupted in groans.
Oh come on, it isn't that bad.
"The Baby Project is something that isn't taken lightly. As simple and ridiculous as it may seem, this project is worth fifty percent of your grade and will give a lot of you the last credit you need to graduate in June." Mr. Frier stood up with an enthusiastic clap of his hands as he spoke, his dark eyes scanning the room.
"For this project, you will be paired with a partner. I know some of you don't want it to be gender specific, so I'll have you come up and speak to me if you don't want your partner to be of the opposite sex. You will take care of a doll for the next few months. At the end of this project you will all do an oral report on the importance or taking care of the doll and what it meant to you." I could feel the energy drain out of me as he finished his speech, trying to ignore all the giggles and laughs that circled around the room at his words.
I'd had this problem of allowing my partners to throw projects on me since freshman year. This had resulted in multiple A's but being pushed to a point beyond exhaustion, and somehow finding a way to blame the partner when it was my fault for agreeing to take full responsibility in the first place.
"When I call your name please move to sit beside your partner, this will be your assigned seat for the rest of the semester." More groans. I saw Mr. Frier shake his head out at the class as he started to read off the names listed on the sheet in front of him.
"Do you think he counts as a partner?" Norah asked, a smirk stretching across her face. I returned the smile, but Mr. Frier cut me off before I could respond.
"Norah Stiller and Gabriel Fletcher." I swear that every head in the room whipped in our direction at the mention of the pair. Gabriel and Norah were the golden couple, the perfect mascots for our school. But were also the type of students who had thrown all the work onto people like me to skate through high school. There was no way in hell either one of them would even attempt the project.
It was beyond me why Mr. Frier would pair them up.
Before I could even have a chance to react to Norah's sudden departure from our table, my name was called.
"Beatrice Lowe and Xavier Morgan." My heart sunk into my stomach at the name.
Why him?
"Now I'd like you guys to get to know each other, and there is no switching partners unless authorized byb me, do you understand?" Mr. Frier was looking in my direction as he spoke, as if the words were meant for me and nobody else.
Did he have it out for me? Out of the thirty five other people in this class he had to pair me with Xavier freaking Morgan?
If there was anyone that had a reputation here at Willow Roads High, it was Xavier. He was cruel, ruthless even, to anyone that would come within a hundred feet of him. He'd had thick, impenetrable walls around him that nobody dared to cross, but somehow left many of the females at the school admiring him from afar.
Yet, he hated cigarettes, leather jackets, and all the girls that tried to swarm him. He took everyone's "Bad Boy" label and did everything in his power to prove it wrong .
"Beatrice." the low rasp in Xavier's voice shook me from my daze. He had sat down in the seat that had been occupied by my best friend seconds before.
"Xavier." I forced out. Up close he didn't look so intimidating. His hazel eyes were almost green in the soft, dim lighting of the old classroom, his mess of dark hair escaping out from beneath the black beanie containing most of his unruly, dark hair.
"So-" I started, but he jerked suddenly, cutting me off. He was so close I could feel the warmth of his breath on my cheek.
"Look, Beatrice. I could care less about this project, or this class for that matter. I figure you already know that though, right? But maybe we can make a deal."
Well, damn. At least he didn't waste any time and got straight to the point.
He was tapping his fingers along the top of my side of the table, his lips tugging into a cocky smirk.
"What's the deal?" I whispered, avoiding eye contact. He yawned, amusement clear in his dark eyes when he saw my irritated look.
Norah. My mind immediately shouted at me. I had always been everyone's scapegoat to get to my gorgeous best friend, it was just something I'd unfortunately grown used to. But Xavier hadn't ever really struck me as someone that would be interested in her, as he was the opposite of everything she was. She was loud, optimistic, happy, popular. He was quiet, seemingly pessimistic, and kept to himself.
"I'll help you with this project, taking care of the stupid doll and everything, under one condition." He made a gesture with his hand as he spoke, almost as he were trying to get the point across without actually saying it aloud.
"And what's the condition?" I could feel my own eyebrows raising at my question, waiting for the boy in front of me to respond.
"If I help you with this project, I want you to set me up with Norah." The words that I had been ready to reply with fell dry in my mouth. Even though the moment he'd brought up his indirect blackmail I had known it'd involve Norah in one way or another, I couldn't help but be taken back he actually had the audacity to say it to my face.
Is he serious? Does he seriously want me to throw my friend under the bus like that, to let him use her, just for his help?
"So if I set you up with her, you'll help me with the project? Why should I trust that you'll actually go through with this?" I huffed, turning away from him when I saw Mr. Frier shoot a strange look our way.
I wanted to hear his response, to see if he was actually serious about the whole thing.
"If there's one thing that everyone knows at this school, it's that I don't break promises. So how about it, Beatrice?" I returned his glare before slowly nodding my head and looking down at the pencil on top of my notebook.
Norah had always told me I should take chances, that I should try new things. She'd be happy if I agreed to this, to let her get a hold of him and give her a piece of her mind for thinking she was nothing more then an object that I was going to sell.
But what if he backs out? What if he finds out that I'm trying to play a game with him too? That I had absolutely no intention of using my best friend like a pawn?
"Okay." I finally choked out, finally cracking under his intense stare, "We have a deal."
****AN***
*Edited*
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~ChasingMadness24