36 questions

chapter 1

My final year of high school, and fucking hell, am I off to a rough start. Oversleeping and missing my train has thrown my morning into chaos. To make matters worse, I have to bike 15 minutes from the station to school, but the wind is mercilessly blowing against me. It's like the universe wants me to be late. As if that's not enough, my brother, in his infinite wisdom, left without me this morning. Apparently, he tried to wake me up and even yelled at my bedroom door, warning that he'd leave without me. Well, he wasn't kidding. Talk about being uptight.

Damn it. Just as I expected, I'm now half an hour late. What a fantastic way to start the first day of school. As I enter the hall where my class is held, a voice catches my attention, sounds serious. Opening the door, I see the entire class briefly glancing at me before turning their focus back to the teacher at the front. Searching the room, I spot my friend sitting at the back, grinning from ear to ear. Of course he finds my tardiness amusing. I make my way over to him and take a seat.

"You only missed the introduction," he whispers in my ear, his grin widening. "A few new kids introduced themselves, but the real deal is that the teacher is explaining our year-long GIP project. It's going to consume our lives from now on." The GIP is a major undertaking that combines all subjects into one comprehensive project for the entire year.

The teacher's voice cuts through the room, grabbing everyone's attention. "You will all participate in the '36 Questions to Fall in Love' test with someone in this class," she announces, a tone of authority in her voice. "Record your conversations and submit them to me by the end of the week. I won't personally listen to each one, as that would be excruciatingly dull. However, I'll review the videos to ensure you've answered all 36 questions and made a sincere effort to be truthful. After completing the test, you'll analyze whether it worked or not and write a thorough report of a thousand words, due on my desk by September twenty-fifth." Murmurs fill the classroom, and Derio starts arguing with the teacher. Frankly, I don't know why he bothers. Guess he just likes to argue with people.

Finally, the teacher manages to regain control of the class. A girl raises her hand, I remember her from last year. I think her name is Lilly. "Yes?" the teacher says as she nods in Lilly's direction "I'm curious about the purpose of this activity. I'm more focused on sciences, and I don't see the connection to my field of study." She tends to be a bit of a know-it-all, but she does have a point.

"Ah, an excellent question," the teacher responds, seemingly pleased. It gives me an odd feeling, almost creeps me out. "I'll explain it in more detail on the twenty-fifth, but let me give you a brief overview for now. Once you complete the report, you'll delve into the concept of love from a biological perspective. What does love mean in a biological context? Which hormones come into play? You'll devise your own method for creating an accelerated love connection between two individuals. You can use anything you like: an alluring perfume, a different set of questions,... be creative. However, your approach must be scientifically supported, and extensive research is required. Each team will then be sent to a school to test their method on others, and the team with the most effective results will receive a 20-point bonus."

Honestly, the whole thing sounds rather dull to me, but at least I'll be paired up with Aiden so I know we'll have a laugh.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Our overly enthusiastic teacher exclaims, clearly way too happy for a Monday morning. "A friend of mine, a couples psychologist who specializes in finding perfect matches, has handpicked the teams for this class!"

Oh, shit.

Our names appear on the whiteboard, accompanied by the names of our partners. Unfortunately, I can't see my name because some idiots are blocking the view.

"Well, well" Aiden chuckles and nudges me. "Looks like you're with Lilly," he laughs, unable to contain himself. "This is going to be hilarious!" I search for his name, and when I find it, I can't help but join in the laughter. "And you're with Eden!" They paired two best friends together with another set of best friends, how original. Aiden and I are both fairly sure Eden and Lilly are extremely gay so the entire 36 questionnaire will be completely useless seeing as they won't be attracted to us anyway.

"So, want to get this over with today? Maybe we can go to a park?" Lilly suddenly appears out of nowhere, causing me to nearly fall off my chair in surprise, she looks rather aggita "Uh, yeah, sure," I manage to stammer out. Aiden's laughter reaches a whole new level, tears streaming down his face. Meanwhile, I sit there, stunned and unsure of what to make of it all.