The third-grade class was 10 minutes into the math lesson when a certain ginger-haired boy showed up, his freckled face contorted in what was always a passive anger. He showed no concern towards the fact that he was late for class. There was no note in his hand from the school secretary excusing his tardiness.
The teacher sighed and said to the boy, "you know what you're supposed to do, Reuben."
Reuben Scott said nothing as he stomped his way to the school secretary office. A couple minutes later, the class heard the same stomping feet making their way down the hall to the classroom. As he walked in, now 12 minutes late, the teacher sighed again as she surveyed the classroom for someone to pair this angry, troublesome boy with. He didn't get along with many of the kids in the class, and she was ready to give up on him altogether when she saw Angelie Pitter. She was a small, sweet, intelligent, docile little lady with dark-chocolate skin, long, kinky hair, and large, deep, hazelnut-brown eyes. To the teachers knowledge, Reuben Angelie hadn't encountered each other as of yet. She assigned the two kids as partners, hoping that things would work out between them.
Reuben made some sort of grunting noise as he plopped into the seat next to Angelie. Angelie stopped writing and looked up. Reuben was used to the stares, but this girl's eyes felt as though they were piercing through his soul, having access to his most inner secrets. This made him uncomfortable, so he yelled, "Teacher!"
The teacher, disappointed that there was already a problem, responded with an annoyed "yes."
"Can I have a different partner?" Reuben asked, the discomfort evident in his voice and on his face.
"Why?" The teacher asked, puzzled.
Reuben tried to explain why, but realized that it wasn't a good enough reason to get a different partner. "Never mind" he said with a tone of annoyance. He looked at his paper, skimming through the questions to discover that he only understood half of the assignment given. He looked at Angelie. She was breezing through the questions with ease and only had two questions left to do. He looked at the teacher. She was grading last Friday's tests with a look of keen concentration on her face. Reuben decided that he wasn't scared of this weird girl next to him, so he tapped her shoulder. She lifted her head and looked at him attentively. He started feeling uncomfortable again, but he ignored it.
"What's the answer to question number seven?"
"I don't cheat" she responded. "Sorry" and she went back to finishing her last problem.
Reuben, a little angry, said, "then what's the point of being partners?"
"I won't give you the answer to question seven," she said quietly, "but I can help you find the answer. I'm really good at math." She then proceeded to explain the assignment in the same quiet manner, guiding him step-by-step to the answer for question seven. Reuben, no longer feeling uncomfortable, asked the girl for help with more of the questions. After a while, he was able to finish the assignment.
"Thanks, I guess" Reuben said with uncertainty. He was not used to those words coming out of his mouth. "No problem" she replied with a quick smile.
