SIENNA
A groan escaped me when I saw the subject of the project.
Life in the 1940s
The girl next to me, Hazel, I think it was, smiled sympathetically.
'History not your strong point?' She asked. I nodded. 'Well... I'm quite good at this particular period, but I've never had your technological talent and actually making the PowerPoint slides was gonna be really hard for me so... wanna be partners?' She extended her hand out to me.
'Sure.' The words slipped out before I could even think about it, and I clasped my hand in hers, shaking it. 'Partners.'
HAZEL
'Umm, Sienna? You here?' I called, pushing through the open front door. It was the day after the history project had been issued, and Sienna had invited me round to her house to work on it.
'Come on up! I'm in my room - second door on the left.' a disembodied voice yelled down the stairs. I followed her instructions and found the brunette lying on her bed playing with her laptop.
'What are you doing?' I asked, sitting down on the bed next to her.
'Playing with filters for the slides.' she answered, tilting the screen so I could see it. 'Which looks more authentic? The white one or the tan?'
'Definitely the tan.' I replied. 'And the writing wasn't nearly as simple as that. Try something more elegant and slanted.' She fiddled with the font a little, and then showed me the new result.
'How about this?'
'Perfect. Now we need to work on the actual content. How about a journal from the perspective of someone living in that time period?' And then a fact file about the quality of food and education and stuff?' I suggested. She grinned at me.
'That sounds awesome! Let's get started.'
A week later, and the history class for presenting finally came.
'Ok students, before you start presenting I have a little surprise for you. Actually, quite a big one.' Miss Stacey smiled. 'I will not be judging and marking your projects, Instead, we have a professional who was actually alive during the period. Please be respectful as I don't want to be delivering your parents any heads. May I present, Lord Nico.'
I watched in shock as Nico walked calmly through the door to stand at the front of the classroom. His eyes raked over the other kids, who'd all dropped their heads respectfully. Then his gaze met mine, and he winked.
'Could you please take a seat at the back, Sir?' Miss Stacey asked. He nodded, walking silently to the back and pulling an empty chair out before the teacher continued. 'Ok, class, when I call your name come on up to the front and present your project with your partner.'
Most of the presentations went smoothly, albeit with a lot of nervous stuttering from some students. Then, at last, it was our turn. Sienna set up the laptop quickly and came to stand next to me at the front of the class.
'So, to start our presentation, we will be reading a diary entry we wrote that could have been from this period.' I started. Several of the students nodded approvingly, and the teacher gave an encouraging smile. 'Ok. Dear diary, I'm-'
'Hazel, isn't reading your own diary cheating?' Nico interrupted, speaking for the first time. Low gasps echoed from all around the classroom, and Sienna turned to me, her eyes brimming with confusion.
'What's he talking about?' She asked in a whisper. I ignored her, facing my brother instead.
'Actually, Nico, it's not. I did write it, and it is appropriate for the time period, so it adheres to all the rules.' He stood up, his eyes glinting with concealed humour.
'It's appropriate for the time period because it's from the time period. Bit of an unfair advantage, no little sis?' Queue much, much bigger gasps. Sienna was openly gaping at me at this point
'Schist. Way to blow my cover, Neeks.' I frowned. He smirked, walking towards me.
'That was kinda the point of me coming here. Perce wants you on the council.' Yet more gasps. Seriously, these mortals were more dramatic than Drama Queen.
'But you're already representing our father. Who will I replace on the council?' I asked. He grabbed my arm.
'I guess you'll find out when we get there.'
And my brother pushed me into the shadows, making us both vanish completely.
There is a part 2 to this one as well.