Royally Blue

Chapter 4

YUSUF POV:

'How are we ever going to get any work done? I feel bad for the boys!'

What was her problem? She made the whole thing so uncomfortable. Especially when she gazed at me with her grey, owl-like eyes, almost as if she was staring right into my soul. It was creepy. Man, did I get an earful from Shawn later on, though? I guess I was at fault. She was only kidding, and I took it too seriously. I always do it. I'm honestly surprised how Layla hadn't given up on us earlier. It's my fault she felt the need to go to him. So I had to let it go. Dang it, I wasn't paying attention to my book. As I was looking for the last part of my book that I was paying attention to. I felt someone's sharp gaze at me. I didn't bother looking up and continued reading after finding my spot. Someone took a seat next to me, causing me to look at who it was. It was her, what's she doing here? "What are you doing here?" I asked, my tone a little bit sharper than I intended. "This is my class. Where should I be if not here?" She countered back, no doubt offended. "No, like here, why are you sitting next to me?" I said, pointing the seat she was sitting on and then at me. "Layla said this is my seat." She said while raising one of her thick, arched, slightly messy eyebrows. Even with her attitude, she's pretty, even though she's all covered up. She's kinda short, though, probably 5'2 or 3. I stared into her eyes. They were quite pretty, really. I decided that was enough staring and went back to my reading. Soon, the bell rang, signifying that class was about to start. No matter, I can still finish my chapter by the time the teacher finishes taking attendance.

A minute passed by, and I marked my page after finishing my chapter. Another minute went by before Mrs. Ivan was done taking attendance. She got up from her seat, approached the front of the class, and started speaking. "Listen up, class. This is regarding what our class will do for the projects this semester. After some thinking, I have come to the decision that our focus will be on ecology. We will need to get at least 6 projects done. Before any of you guys ask, no, you will not be choosing your partners. I will let the sticks of doom decide who your partner will be." The sticks of doom are the popsicle sticks with everyone's names on them. Back in 2007, one of the classes that she taught took to calling the sticks as the sticks of doom, since Mrs. Ivan only called on someone through the sticks when no one ever had an answer, to raise their hands.

Mrs. Ivan walked to the front of her table, where she always left the sticks of doom. She reached in and informed us of the first pair. "Alright, first up, Layla and Felix." Before she could move on. Layla interrupted, "Mrs. Ivan, could you please, please, pleaseeee change my partner. I won't be able to focus on the project if I'm with him." She said it in such a pleading tone that even I would have said yes. She even put her palms against one another and placed her hands under her chin. "I guess..." But before Mrs. Ivan could finish her sentence. It was Felix's turn to interrupt. "No, please don't! Mrs. Ivan, if I'm with her. I'm bound to get interested in Ecology, and since she's so strict, she'll be able to keep me on task. She could help me pick up my grade in this class!" He even had the pleading tone and face on. He also put his hands in the same position as Layla. Out of the two of them, Mrs. Ivan would most likely give in to Felix. His grade in the class has dropped a lot, and Layla has a way of making the most boring things seem as though they're the most exciting thing on earth. Mrs. Ivan sighed, looked at Layla, and informed her of her decision, with an apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry, Layla, I hope you can help Felix bring his grade back up." Felix's face brightened, and his hand went up in the air. Meanwhile, the complete opposite happened to Layla.

Mrs. Ivan placed the two sticks on the table, reached in again, and announced the next pair. "Next up, Shawn and Fatimah." Well, what are we gonna do with you, Shawn? It'd be a miracle if he managed to lower his gaze for two periods straight. He might be too busy trying to get me to not take everything seriously to be staring at Fatimah, or maybe it'll be the other way around.