Across the Net

Secret Service?

Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best.  -Theodore Rubin

~~~

"Everyone," the humanities teacher strode into the room pompously, her files clutched to her chest and her round glasses tucked neatly on her nose.  "We're doing a project.  Human culture is a part of humanities.  Humans have to help one other in order to stay in harmony. And we need to do some service for each other."

Whispers erupted all over the room.

"Service?  What does she mean, service?"

"Now now," the humanities teachers slammed her files onto the table.  The class silenced itself immediately.  She opened one of her files and placed her wrinkled hand inside.

"Each of you will take one slip of paper from this stack," she pulled out small slips of paper and threw it onto the table, separating some of them with the force of a rhino.  "There are all the names you can find in this class here.  Just take the paper, read it, remember who you have to do service and be nice to, then crumple it up and throw it into the trashcan."

Everyone started reaching for the slips at once.  My pinkie barely hooked its tip under one.  I breathed out, not realising I was sucking my breath in the whole time.  I disentangled myself from the rush of people and lay the piece of paper onto my palm.

'William Reynolds'

I stared at the teeny tiny piece of paper and felt my jaw go numb. Of all people, it had to be William.

I sighed to myself and tore the paper into little pieces, watching them sway and flutter as they fell into the trash.

"Now do kind things to the person you're assigned to," the teacher said, giving us a serene glance. "Buy candies, write notes, whatever you think is nice. Write down all the things you did and I want a report at the end of the term. You now have the rest of the lesson to write your first note."

I pulled my bangs backward with my fingers and spared a look at William, and saw him grinning at Sofia when she was looking away, his slip with the name of the person he was assigned to still in his grasp. Was he assigned to Sofia?

I pulled out a piece of paper from my notebook and started scribbling on it, my tongue slipping out of my mouth subconsciously.

'Hey William,

This is your secret serice agent.'

I paused, biting on the tip of my pen, bringing the cap up and down with my teeth. What should I write next? I guess I should write down my true feelings.

'I think you're nice and clever, and you've got lots of talents. I really like you and'

I stopped again, crumpled the piece of paper, and aimed it at the trashcan. That sounded desperate and dumb. I looked up. People were still fighting for their slips. Ugh, pathetic gits.

I tore out another piece of paper.

Fifteen minutes had gone by, and my table was littered with crumpled pieces of paper. But I thought I had nailed it with the last one.

'Hey William,

This is your secret service agent. I think you're really nice, and want to get to know you better. Since you can't really send me return letters, I guess I'll have to talk about myself instead. This will be some sort of a diary-letter;)

I love reading, like a HELL lot;) Name a book fandom and I can rant for two hours straight. I also like sports but am not really good at any particular one.

This is just a snippet of who I am. I don't really have time to write a lot, coz we're still in Humanities, but well I'll give you little presents and write you notes often:)

Secret Service'

I set the paper down. I had put too many smilies but I didn't want to correct it. Crossing them out would make the paper imperfect. What's happening to me? Am I becoming too fussy over stupid stuff?

I stopped the flow of my thinking and focused on the class. People were scribbling notes and the teacher was sitting at the teacher's table, observing quietly. My eyes automatically found William, who was scribbling furiously. His tongue was between his teeth. I never knew we had the same habit. I let my eyes wander around for a bit and they accidentally caught Sofia's. She was staring at me the whole time, hand poised on a sheet of blank paper. I immediately averted my eyes and diverted my attention to folding my piece of paper neatly, corner to corner.

"Who're you assigned to?" Georgina, who was right next to me, hissed as she bent over her paper.

"Not telling," I hissed back.

Georgina rolled her eyes and turned to Allison, who was behind her.

They started conversing in whispers. I zoned out amid their chatter.

How should I put the paper in William's hands?  

The idea came a few minutes later. The lockers. I could stick it in. Nice and easy.

I sat back, relaxed, and rubbed my hands together. I seemed to be the first to have finished.

~*~

The lesson ended quickly and I pelted out of the room, determined to get to the lockers before anyone did. I reached them fairly quickly, as the Humaities classroom was near them. William's locker was just two blocks away from mine, and I beelined straight for it. Pushing the carefully folded piece inside the crack, I quickly retreated to my locker, which had a clear view of his. Absentmindedly taking some books out, I watched as he parted with Sofia, making his way to his locker. I held my breath. He reached it, opened the door, and caught sight of the slip of paper. He took it out, and read it, leaning against the locker next to him. I saw his features light up into a small smile as he grabbed a small wad of tape from his locker and stuck it onto the inside of his door. A small spurt of pleasure erupted from somewhere inside me as he did so, and I turned to retrieve my bag, which I had carelessly set onto the floor. I found a note lying on top of it, and read the contents.

'Hello Alex.

I think your style's cool but it looks better on me.

Secret Service

P.S. You're stuck up.'

I immediately knew who it was. Sofia. There was no doubt about it. Stupid Sofia and her disgusting habits. I would be better off if she'd never existed. I looked down at my watch. I was almost late for the next class. Crumpling up the note, I threw it into the trash as I walked out into the school lawn, slinging my bag over my shoulder.

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Hey dudes and dudettes, here ya go, another chapter. Hope you guys like it. Tell me what you think in the comments and vote!!!