One of the Guys. [ON HOLD]

The Assignment

|Chapter One: The Assignment.|

Tuesday.

Olivia.

She glanced over her English teacher's, Ms. Reed's, syllabus carefully. She wanted to make sure that she had everything she would need for this class. Usually Olivia would have her spiral notebook flipped open to a blank page and would scribble notes furiously onto the lined paper, but today was the first day of school and she didn't need to do that.

Today was such a waste of a day, a waste for Olivia to learn something new. All every teacher did on the first day of school was hand out a syllabus and drone on and on about their rules. If anyone was smart enough they would know that by now on the first day of their senior year, that every teacher since they started high school had the same exact rules. Cheating is not tolerated (i.e. copying homework or glancing at someone's test "by accident"), raise your hand at all times, respect your peers, and so on and so on, etcetera, etcetera. It was the same thing from like seven different teachers every year.

"Now class, I know that I'm not usually supposed to do this, but," Ms. Reed started as she paused to count out six packets for the row she stood in front of. "But I am handing you your research assignment."

Olivia perked up at this announcement. She sat up straighter and twiddled her thumbs impatiently as she waited for a copy of the packet anxiously. The rest of Olivia's classmates groaned in disbelief and some, probably in agony.

"Oh I know, 'Why are you giving us our research assignment now Ms. Reed? It's the first day of school!' Let me just explain before you all get your panties in a twist." She handed the last row their copies and sat on top of her desk with her legs crossed at the ankles. "This is going to be a very important assignment," Olivia got her packet and glanced at the heading. It read: End of the Semester Research Paper. "And I want all of you to get a very good grade on it. Now this project can be on whatever you want it to be on. I will not objectify you guys and force you into doing a paper on some dead guy that you could give a crap about.

"This assignment is going to be on whatever you set your mind to. It can be about some dead guy—but let's face it, none of you will probably do that. You can do it on your favorite sport or athlete. Or someone you look up to or a country or a genre of music. Hell, you guys can even do your paper on freakin' One Direction or Justin Bieber if you wanted to. I just need your research to be thorough. The only thing I ask of you is to actually get primary sources. If you're going to do your paper on One Direction, go to a concert and if you're lucky enough to get backstage passes and meet them, interview them. Or if you're doing it on a sport, ask an expert about it. If you're going to write your paper on different artist, go to that museum and look at their stuff first hand, don't go onto the internet.

"This project will count for fifty percent of your grade and it will be due at the end of the semester. You can even use it as your college essay if you would like, whatever you choose, but it will count as fifty percent for this semester and the ten percent for your midterm. Since I am not giving you a midterm, this research paper will act like it in its place, so in reality this paper is more like sixty percent of your grade. I'm handing you this now so you guys can get to thinking about a topic you would like to do. If you already know what you want to do, tell me at the end of class, if not, your topic choice is due next Monday."

She grinned at the class and hopped off of her desk. "Go on, act like uncivilized fools for the rest of the period." She took a seat behind her desk and began tying away on the keyboard.

Seconds later the classroom erupted with riotous noise. Olivia cringed a little at the sudden loud volume the room had. She stared down at the packet in her hands and thought, What the hell am I going to do my paper on?

Olivia cared a lot about her grades. She would do anything to be at the top of her class, and she was. She studied hard and worked her butt off to be number one of her class. She heard of the examples that Ms. Patterson had given the class, but they were all too generic and predictable. If Olivia really wanted to get a good grade on her paper, she would need a topic that would stand out—something that no one else would even dream of doing.

Something pelted the back of her head softly. She lifted her head from looking at the packet and looked around the room to see where the object had come from. She looked to the corner of the room and saw a group of boys laughing hysterically. One boy stood out to her, Tanner McAdams. He was a good looking guy, with his wavy brown hair that was always styled in a faux-hawk, tanned skin, blue eyes, and obviously toned body. Most girls at Brookstone High School thought he was a God of some sort, she had even heard a freshman say that he was "every girls' wet dream" once, but to her Tanner was just her stupidly obnoxious yet lovable best guy friend.

He smirked at her as he tossed another ball of paper at her. She was so thrown off by the look that he had given her that she had no time to react. The paper ball hit her square in the face. Her nose crinkled at the impact as the group of boys went into a round of boisterous laughter.

She rolled her eyes as she turned around again, when a thought hit her.  She swung around and looked at the group of boys who had stopped laughing at her, but had now started laughing at something someone else said or did (no doubt a perverted innuendo). She watched as one boy pulled another into a headlock and proceeded to give him a wet-willy, and while another turned to flirt with a girl in their class, but was immediately shut down because of his crass words and brash behavior.

A slow grin spread across her face as she caught Tanner's eye again. They were perfect. The most perfect and most unique research paper topic in the history of research paper topics.

_____________________________________________

Dear Fantastic Readers,

So this is my new story. I hope you guys liked it!

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Stay awesome,

Victoria 

'One of the Guys.' © Victoria Migliaccio (ViciousxxVictoria), 2013