Never Judge a Book By Its Cover

Chapter 2

"When two atoms share an electron, they form a covalent bond…"

With a sigh, Ash tuned out his chemistry teacher, Professor Rowan, and continued to stare off into space.

No matter how enthusiastic a teacher was on a subject. It didn't make learning the material any less painful. Unless one actual enjoys the subject.

Unfortunately, Ash didn't fall under that category for any of his classes and his poor grades reflected his struggle against the great evil known as school.

"...To further your learning, I am assigning you a project," Professor Rowan said.

Hearing the word "project" instantly snapped Ash out of his daydream.

"This project will be done in groups of two and you and your partner will be expected to give a short presentation," Professor Rowan said as he handed out handouts to the first row of the class.

With just a glance, students silently asked their friends if they wanted to be their partner as the handouts were passed out.

Meanwhile, Ash cursed his bad luck of having to do a project all by himself.

"One more thing, I'll be assigning your partner."

Loud groans were heard throughout the class when this important detailed was revealed.

Not missing a beat, Professor Rowan started to name who the partners will be.

Ash's heart started to beat faster in anticipation as he waited to find out who his partner will be.

"Calem and Dawn… Ash and Serena-"

"WHAT!?"

Everyone turned towards Calem after his outburst.

"Why does the loser get paired up with Serena and not me? I demand that me and Ash switch partners."

"Calem, if you expect me to switch partners just because you don't like-"

"I agree," a voice spoke up from the back of the class.

Turning to look at the owner of the voice, the whole classroom was met with the quiet loser himself, Ash Ketchum.

"I don't think me and her would make such a great team. I would much rather work with somebody else."

Everyone, including Serena, was shocked from the indirect insult Ash threw at Serena.

Recovering quickly, Professor Rowan immediately tried to diffuse the situation. "Ash, I made these teams up by paring everyone by their grades. So, the person with the highest grade in the class"-gestured towards Serena-"got paired up with the person with the lowest grade." He gestured towards Ash. "Now, if you want to graduate, you should keep quiet and accept the gift I gave you."

Embarrassed, especially since the class was now snickering at the revelation that he had the lowest grade in the class, Ash lost his voice. However, another student spoke out.

"But Professor, I should be the one with Serena," Calem demanded as he stood up from his seat. "You can't possibly think that paring a loser like Ketchum with the goddess Serena is a good idea!"

"Well now that I think about it," Professor Rowan said while doing a mock thinking pose.

Immediately, Calem's hope built up.

"Your grade is just as bad as Ash's."

As quick as it came, his hope quickly left as the class now snickered at him.

"So, like Ash, you should be happy that I paired you up with a smart student like Dawn. Besides, social standing mean nothing outside of high school."

Being put into his place, Calem sighed in defeat as he sat back down.