The Tech Girl

Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry this isn't more guys! I was planning on getting into something more interesting this bit, but I've got Carpal Tunnel and it was too painful to keep typing :/ So I hope this will tide you over 'till next time!

-------------

The Science project was simple and straight forward. Basically, we needed to find a way to show the steps of Mitosis in a creative medium while still having it make sense. Along with our model, we had to do a comprehensive presentation that went into great depth on the subject. I couldn’t help but chuckle at how easy this project was going to be. I could do a computer generated model using Z-Brush and Maya* and hack into a college database to get the info for the presentation.

When the bell rang, signalling class’s end, I packed up and waited patiently for the jerk who was supposed to show me around. He was currently taking his own sweet time talking to the guy next to him, probably making us late for our next class. When he was finally done with his little heart-to-heart, I followed him out of the classroom, planning on discussing our project on the way to Computer Studies.

“So Eric... about our project... have anything in mind”

“Not yet, I’ll think of something” he snarled back.

I rolled my eyes, this guy has a seriously bad attitude... either that or he was still mad at me about this morning. Probably that latter, come to think of it.

I looked up at him, evaluating how I thought he’d react to my idea. “Well... I have an idea that would get us an A easily, and maybe some extra credit in Computer Studies if we do it right.”

His demeanor didn’t change much as he looked at me, trying to decide if I was yanking his chain or not. “Yeah, what’s this brilliant idea?”

“Well, I can build a computer model and animation that would fufill the project segment, and I can easily get all of the information we need for the presentation bit, without much effort.”

He laughed “Yeah, right. You may have the computer, but I’m supposed to believe you can draw too?”

I stared at him for a second. Did he just laugh at me? Maybe I should kick his ass again, see how much he laughs then. I mean, he had every right to be mad at me... but this was overly hostile. I really wanted to hurt him again, but instead I shrugged “Yeah, I expect you to believe me. I also expect you to give me your email so I can set up a meeting with you to work on this freaking project so I can prove you wrong”

He laughed at me again “Sure, ok. But give me your phone instead, I never check my email”

Grudgingly, I pulled my phone out of one of the side pockets of my fatigues and handed it to him, watching as he punched in his number and saved it in my contacts. He handed it back to me, smirking slightly, and turned to the door we were standing next to. “Well here’s our stop. Try not to sit next to me this time, or I’ll have to hurt you.”

I glared at him “That threat made no sense” I called to his retreating back before following him into the class.

Thankfully, I managed to avoid the awkward “new student routine” as this class was fairly relaxed. Open seating chart and everything. Scanning the room, I tried to find somewhere to sit. After a minute, I spotted an empty seat next to a spunky-looking black girl. Smiling at her nicely, I wandered over and asked if I could sit there. I was a little taken aback my her enthusiastic response.

“Yeah! Sure! Go ahead!” she grinned at me.

I laughed “you’re... energetic”

She shrugged “I’m a bit much for most people. I mean, I’ve got friends, but people don’t sit next to me in class much”

“That’s stupid! They’re not your friends if they can’t deal with you talking every now and again”

She smiled a bit sadly “Yeah, I suppose so....” but her face brightened up again almost immediately “So, I’m Honey, what’s your name?”

I smiled “I’m Sam, I’m new here”

“Awesome! Can I see your schedule?”

I rummaged in my bag for a second before pulling out the, now rumpled, piece of yellow paper and handing it to her. She scanned it quickly and handed it back.

“I’m in all your classes but Science and History”

I grinned “Cool! So can you show me around then? I’m currently stuck with some jerk named Eric... he’s pissed at me because I beat him up this morning and then got partnered with him in Science.”

Her eyes got huge and she gasped “Did you really do that?”

I laughed. “Hell yeah, people should know better than to touch me”

“Wow... just... wow...”

“It’s no big deal really, I gave him a bloody nose and a headache, at most”

She giggled “Yeah, ok. So, do you have your own laptop for do you need to borrow one from the school? Most of us have our own computers for this class”

I pulled my machine from my bag and set in on my desk. “Got one right here”

She ran her hand over the closed lid of the computer. “This looks like an amazing laptop... it gives off that... vibe”

I chuckled “I love this thing, I made it myself, it’s the best thing in the world for my needs”

“And what are your needs?”

“Gaming, music, schoolwork, art, that kinda thing... it’s crazy powerful and can support a full network of computers with its wireless modem, the usual stuff”

She looked at me like I was crazy “The usual stuff?”

“Well, yeah, my family is heavy on the computer tech thing, dad uses some pretty awesome machines for work”

“What’s your dad do?”

“Visual Effects for movies... but he’s a gamer too”

“That’s so cool!”

“So I’m told...”

Someone cleared their throat in front of us just then. I looked up to see a male teacher glaring down at us. “Ladies, you do realise class started five minutes ago?”

I pretended to look apologetic “Sorry sir, no, we weren’t paying attention”

He didn’t buy it, and gave us a lecture on the importance of not being late and paying attention when the bell rang, blah, blah, blah. He let us off on a warning because it was my first day, but ‘we better not do it again or it’s detention for both of us’.

When he was done giving us the third degree, I turned to Honey and mouthed ‘Sorry!” to her for getting us in trouble. She shrugged grinning and mouthed ‘it’s ok’ back.

Mr. Teacher-man went to the front of the computer lab then, and called everyone’s attention to him. “Ok class, today, we will be looking at the layout of websites, and what colors are easiest to read on, then, we will design and build a webpage of our own”

I groaned silently to myself. This was gonna be boring.

------------

*Z-Brush and Maya are computer modeling programs that allow you to create 3-D figures in digital space, then manipulate them however you want. Both are commonly used in the Visual Effects industry