lost //brance

2

bruce's pov:

my second day in school and i already have a project to do. i guess that's what happens when you join mid-term. the project was for english and we had to make a poster board on a famous poem of our choice. the teacher paired me up with this random girl, sara i think her name was. as i approached her she grinned and swirled her hair through her fingers. i'm hoping that's just something she does. it was barely past 9am and i already have to deal with this shit.

"you're going to be working with me?"

her yellowed teeth and obvious fake tan is all i can focus on right now. it makes her look fake and boring. i could never say that to her face though. i nod as she drones on and on about how she is excited to work with me and how it's so good she is gonna be able to get to know me. i slowly start to realise this arrangement isn't going to work as she keeps talking about her newly manicured toenails. i stand up and walk towards the teachers desk.

"mr smith, i'm sorry but could i please be switched partners?"

he nods and i pretend i cant see sara giving me dirty looks from her desk. she then approaches her friends and begins talking to them. the teacher scans the classroom for any people who don't already have someone to work with. he was about to make me work with this strange looking girl in the corner before a loud slam was heard throughout the classroom.

"the fucks going on in here."

mr smith looks at me and then back at vance and then back at me.

"i know of your high grades in your past schools, so would it be alright of me to ask you to work with vance for this project? i really need his grades to go up or he will be held back a year."

he said it in a hushed tone as to not let vance hear but i could feel vance's eyes piercing into the back of my head. he was obviously listening.

"sure i'll work with vance, thank you mr smith."

we exchange smiles as i turn to vance who was standing aimlessly behind me. i walk up to my empty desk and he silently follows behind.

"hey vance, we're working together on the project but i don't really wanna start it now because of how loud it is in here. do you mind meeting after school today?"

i'm positive that i could have worked fine in the noisy environment. i just thought maybe vance would be able to get more work done if he wasn't being constantly distracted.

"yeah whatever.. bruce right? just meet me at the school gates or something."

he sounded extremely uninterested but i couldn't blame him. it was barely 9 in the morning and we were already having to plan a whole project.

the school day ends up going by extremely slow and by lunch i was completely worn out. most of the day i had just been taking notes for my classes, not really paying attention but also trying not to zone out too much. by the end of the day i was fully ready to go home and have a nap but then i remembered i have to start working on the project with vance. as the last bell rings i gather my things into my bag and head towards the school gates to wait for vance. i expect him to either already be there, or to be one of the first people out of the doors.

after a while of waiting , less and less people come out of the doors. i check my watch quickly and 37 minutes have gone by. the only people still in school are students who are doing after school clubs. surely i couldn't have missed him? i would have saw him walk past, there's no other way to exit the school. after another 10 minutes i begin to walk home as i missed the school bus waiting for vance. after five minutes i come up on a store of some sort. grab n go? as soon as i spotted the shelves of snacks through the windows i could feel my stomach rumble. maybe a snack wouldn't hurt.