Two Birds [Book One]

[Chapter 8] Blossoming

"Children," Dr. Danner's robotic monotone voice commanded the kids' attention in the classroom. Their heads snapped up from their phones or conversations with their friends to the front of the room where their teacher stood with his hands pleated behind his back.

"Just because there are only a few weeks left of school doesn't mean you're getting off easy,"

"Ay yo!"

"Jerome, quiet." he chastised the boy in the back of the room who was giggling in this hoodie with his head on the desk. Danner continued. "Your final project will be a group assignment with groups of two, maybe three depending on the headcount."

Danner looked down at his desk where a clipboard was laid with the names of the assigned pairings. Shuffling could be heard in the back of the classroom where two boys took out their books and notebooks. "No, you two are not partnered together." The man picks up the worn clipboard and peaks at the best friends sitting in the back of the room out of the corner of the room. "I'm sure you both remember what happened last time," he says lowly, the two freeze while taking out their class materials.

"No, I will be assigning your partners." a cacophony of groans erupted from the room, most loudly from the duo as mentioned earlier in the back. "Yeah, yeah, get all your complaints out now." he looked down at his clipboard, muttering to himself before calling out the first few names.

"Madison and Penny!" the girls cheered to themselves quietly.

Jerome crossed his fingers tight and shook them lightly. "Please not Lily, please not Lily!" he whispers to himself. His pleas were only half-joking. The ginger boy next to him chuckles at his friend's childish behavior.

"Felix and Lily!" Jerome and Monty breathe a long, dramatic sigh of relief while Felix rolls his eyes in response. He begins to gather his things while the Danner continues calling names. Carla picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder, turning in her chair so her legs were hanging off the side, ready to move desks.

"Carla and Monty!" she freezes in her seat, eyes wide. They haven't talked since their argument on Monday and have been avoiding each other like the plague. Monty groaned and banged his head on his desk, Jerome awkwardly chuckled and patted his friend on the back. "Uhm Dr. D?" the teen raised his hand on behalf of his friend. "Are you sure that's a good idea, with what happened last time?"

"I'm sure it will be fine, besides, none of the important books in the library burned down."

"What about the computers-"

"They have been replaced." Danner cut off Lily mid-sentence, her arm still suspended in the air with her arm bent slightly. "Carla, Monty." he addressed the couple currently fuming at the thought of working together. "You two can work at the big table in the corner, naturally I will have higher expectations for you two so you'll need the extra room." his eyes glide back down to his clipboard to continue calling out names.

Felix placed his satchel down on the food next to his and Lily's and scooted his chair closer to hers. "Hey." he greets her with a small smile and wave. "Hi," Lily picked up the paper with their assignment and started reading the directions out loud. "Each partnership will be given a collection of robotic parts and components needed to create a device (any device as long as it has a purpose). Any other needed component for the device must be found in the trash, you cannot buy anything else needed for this project." the girl concluded with the reading and sighed, her head brimming with unfinished thoughts and ideas.

"Since when was this a robotics class?" Felix grumbled under his breath, Lily chuckled in response. The girl was surprised at the sound that escaped her lips at the subpar (at best) joke.

"I know right? I think he just wants to test Monty and Carla, and the rest of us are just collateral." she laughs. Felix eventually joins her in laughter at their small inside joke. They turn to look at their counterparts at the far table behind them. They had already dumped the electronics they were given on the table and seemed to be in a quiet argument from their seats. There was a few feet of space in between the two unlike Lily and Felix's inches of personal space left between them.

"So what should we make?" Lily turns her head back to her partner who does the same as her as he grabs the 'Walmart' branded plastic bag full of robotic components. Looking through the bag together, refusing to acknowledge their closeness, Felix picks up a small tens unit that gives him a small jolt through his finger. He drops it abruptly and swears under his breath, placing the affected skin between his teeth to soothe the pain.

His partner's eyes go wide with shock, without a second thought Lily grabs his hand from his mouth and brings it between them to better inspect the burn. The flesh on the center of his middle finger was sauteed red in a circular pattern. Lily traced her smaller finger on the skin around the burn, pulling back only when the blonde boy in front of her dramatically hissed in pain. She rolls her eyes and chuckles, "Don't be a baby." she gently places a hand over his and curls his fingers into a fist.

Their eyes locked as their unoccupied hands slowly started to interlock over the course of a few seconds. The faces flushed red with both embarrassment and their newfound blossoming feelings for each other-

"SHIT!"

A loud sound of fire igniting alerted both Lily and Felix to the duo in the back. The rest of the small class craned their necks to see the small fire the two "smartest" teens in the class (possibly the school) had somehow started in the fifteen minutes of class.

Danner swings his head up from their previous position laying on top of his folded arm. His eyes zeroed in on the couple in the back, who stood frozen in front of the ever-growing fire. "Mr. Montgomery!" the ginger boy snaps out of his trance and turns his head towards his teacher, whose eyes are practically red with fury. "Ms. Dominguez!" like her freckled companion, Carla bobs her head in the direction of her teacher. "Really, again?!" he screams, quickly standing to reach for the conveniently placed fire extinguisher hung on the wall next to his desk (and underneath his laser).

While Danner put out the fire, the small class moved to the far end of the room, Lily clutching onto Felix's dress shirt and laying her head on his chest, eyes never leaving the smoking table. Monty caught on to this cheesy gesture and rolled his eyes. "No need to be so dramatic, this happens almost every week." he crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall holding himself up.

"It shouldn't happen every week!" Danner snapped and Monty straightened his back. "You two, counselor's office! Now!" he screamed. The two in question jumped but scoffed in reaction and went off to pick up their discarded bags from the smoke.

New beginnings are forming 👀👀