happier

to be or not to be

Cola saw Abby with Mark, the two laughing about something. She knew that Mark liked Abby a tiny bit, even though he didn't want to admit it to the girl. Cola goes up to them, a big smile on her face.

"Hey, Abby, I wanted to run some things by you for the book, if you're up to it. I can show you during lunch." She said, making Mark taken aback. He was surprised that they weren't at each others' throats. Abby, instead of giving her a sassy remark, she nodded, not used to them being 'friends.'

"Y-yeah, just let me know," She said, before turning to Mark. "I've gotta go to class, I'll see you later." She says, giving him a brief hug before walking away. Cola smiles at Mark, before going to her locker. Mark follows her, wanting to get down to why they were being so nice to each other. He stands next to her with a raised brow.

"That was nice. Why are you being so nice to Abby? Usually one word would be said, and you two would be at each other's throats." He asks, making her roll her eyes, letting out a laugh.

"The day you guys went on your fishing trip, the two of us actually had a nice conversation. She even gave me a ride to the boating dock to get my brother and dad." She said, making him surprised and impressed.

"So, what you're telling me is that I'm the reason you two don't wanna kill each other anymore? I mean, the book is bringing you closer together." He says, making her roll her eyes, shutting her locker as they walk away.

"Boy, please. I'm just a loveable person, of course she'd wanna finally be friends with me." He shoves her lightly, the two letting out laughs, as they walk to class.

—

In Mr.Peterson's class, they had a poetry assignment for homework. Cola absolutely despised writing poetry, even though she was good at it. She hands in her assignment, looking over at Pacey and seeing that he was looking for his. She asks if he did it and he says yes, that he seemed to have misplaced it. As he's looking for it, Mr.Peterson walks up to the two, taking Cola's and looking at the boy next to her.

"Mr.Witter, empty-handed, I presume?" He asks, unimpressed.

"No, it was in here. I mean, I had it at my locker." He then finds it, letting out a sigh of relief. He hands it to him and the teacher's brow quirks, reading the title of his poem.

"Ode to the sports car." He said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"Yeah, trust me, they're more exciting than Grecian Urns." He said, making several people laugh around him, but not Mr.Peterson.

"Experimenting with cursive for the first time, Mr.Witter?" He asked, making Pacey look down, a bit embarrassed at their teacher's measly way of making fun of him.

"Listen, I worked hard on that."

"I'm sure. However, you neglected penmanship, and presentation is half of the grade. So, as I see it, you have two choices: You can bring in the poem tomorrow, written legibly and lose points for handing it in late, or you can hand it in as it is, and the highest grade you'll see will be your old friend, the letter 'D.'" Cola furrowed her brows at his harshness.

"That's not fair, Mr.Peterson. He worked hard on it." Cola said, making him look at her.

"Fairness is overrated, Miss Daniels." He said, before turning around and putting the papers on his desk. Cola rubs Pacey's shoulder as he sighs, turning to Jack, who was on his other side.

"Is it just me, or does that man get meaner everyday?" He asks, as Jack sighs, glaring at the teacher.

"It's not just you." Mr.Peterson's head snaps around, looking at the boy who had just spoken. Cola let out a slight gasp, worried for the boy.