Redamancy

Chapter 5: Partners?

Chapter 5

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After what had happened earlier, I tried to distract myself with a book I took from home. I was sat in 3rd-period, waiting for the rest of the class to settle down. Our teacher was late, so I took the time to finish the chapter I had left off on of 'Powerless' by Lauren Roberts. The book has slowly become one of my top 3 favorites as of recently.

Just as I had flipped the page to the next chapter, Mr.Coleman had walked in looking as if he had run a marathon. His hair looked like a mess, and his face was flushed. He hurriedly made his way to his desk before clapping his hands and announcing his presence.

"Sorry I'm late, I got caught up in a meeting. Everyone to their seats now!" As he finished his sentence, the other students in the room found their way to their seats with groans, whispers, and sighs. "I know, I know, but today is a busy day. We'll be starting a new project."

At this, even more groans and grumbles came from the class. I didn't necessarily feel any type of way about the new assignment considering he had mentioned it a couple of days before I believe. I just hoped it wasn't a gro-

"And you will be working in pairs." Fuck.

I looked around the room to see absolutely no one that I knew. Great. Group projects were never my thing. It was either the other slacked off or was too bossy. I let the thought of who exactly would be my partner fill my head as Mr.Coleman went over the directions. That was until I remembered I did know at least one person. I turned to the side to see Ethan seated in the same chair as before while also scribbling away again. It didn't seem as if he had heard anything that was just said as his eyes were solely trained on the notebook on his desk.

Now thinking about it, I don't think I've ever seen him talk to anyone in the class. Maybe he didn't know anyone just like myself. Mr.Coleman finished up what he was saying, and on cue, people stood up to find their partners.

I stayed in my seat just in case I was wrong, and he did in fact have a partner. However, after a couple of minutes of waiting, I realized no one was going to approach him, and he wasn't making any effort to get up either. I took a long deep breath before picking up my bag and making my way over to him. I pulled a chair from a nearby table right beside his desk and sat down. Somehow, he hadn't noticed my presence at all as he continued writing or... drawing?

Just as I peered at his notebook, his head shot upright as his hand shut the book. It took me aback a little as it was closed in the blink of an eye. He had a confused and possibly annoyed look on his face as he finally made eye contact with me. Did I do something wrong already?

"Uh, can I help you?" he asked me before slipping his notebook smoothly into his bag.

"Well, I don't know if you heard, but Mr.Coleman assigned a group project." He raised his eyebrows at me, so I continued, "I don't really know anybody else except you, so I thought I'd ask you to be my partner." His expression didn't change at all. Realizing this was probably a bad idea and that I looked stupid, I shook my head, "It's fine if you don't want to."

After a few seconds of awkward silence and staring, he finally gave me a response and shook his head 'no'. My eyes widened as I wasn't prepared for such a blunt rejection. A little shocked and confused at this, I responded with, "Oh, I understand. My bad." I glanced around and wondered what the fuck I was supposed to do now. It was a little humiliating to have been turned down, but I wasn't about to force the kid to work with me just because we exchanged a couple of words before. Accepting my fate of just having to work alone or with a random, I moved my chair to get up.