Tongue Tied *UNDERGOING EDITING*

2. Make It Good

Ariel's POV

Luke freaking Mason can't be my partner.

This can't be happening.

When class ends, I quickly grab my bag and piece of paper. I scurry out the door, squished between a mob of people. I know I have to tell Luke sometime who his partner is. Maybe the teacher already told him why he didn't get to pick a name out of the hat. Unlike all the other people who waved to their new found partners, I simply sat in my chair, mouth agape and in complete and utter shock.

Okay, so maybe I'm going a bit overboard.

"Hey! Hey wait up!" I hear someone call from behind me. I figure they can't be talking to me, but that voice is quite hard to miss. "Hey!" they call one last time. I stop in the middle of the hallway, annoying several other people, and wait for the person to catch up to me. "Finally, you stopped. Your my partner, right?" he asks. I stare down at my shoes, not wanting to make eye contact.

"I won't bite if you look up, you know." I keep myself from rolling my eyes and look up at him, swallowing hard before replying. "Yes." I say, but it comes out quieter than I meant it to be. His confused face changes from a smirk to a smile. "Good." he says. Wait what? I'm about to ask him what he exactly means by that when he starts to talk again. "Now I have a nerd to do the project for me. Make it good." he says, and then turns on his heel and walks away. What? Jackass.

I shake away the words and continue on to second period. This is what you wanted, Ariel. Remember? Now you get to work on the project alone and it willbe great. I tell myself that everything will be ok, but something still doesn't feel right. If I do a kick ass job on this project, yeah I'll get a good grade, but so will Luke when he hasn't done anything. And that's not okay with me.

~~~~~~~~

"Wait, you mean the Luke Mason? As in the biggest player/asshole/hottest-guy-in-the-universe Luke Mason?" Zoey gasps later at lunch. "Zoey, calm down. People are staring to look..." I say, looking around at the few people that are staring at us.

"You haven't answered the question yet!" Zoey whisper-yells. "Yes the Luke Mason. He's my project partner." I confirm for her. "You don't know how lucky you are!" Zoey says and takes another bite of her lunch. "I don't think lucky is the right word. After class he assumed I'd do the entire project for him." I say. "He said that to you? What a jackass." she says, her demeanor instantly changing. "That's what I said." I say.

After lunch, we go to our last two classes. I don't see Luke once, thank God. After school, Zoey comes over to my house to study for a test that we have two days from now.

"What is the equation for velocity?" I ask her when there's suddenly a knock on my door. It swings open revealing my 6'4" brother, Cameron. "Um, you could have waited until I said 'come in' before swinging my door open like Superman." I say, looking back down at my science book. "Sorry, Ariel. I needed to ask you what you wanted for dinner. Mom and Dad won't be home tonight." he says. I look up at him and out of the corner of my eye, I see Zoey staring at my brother. "Zoey? Earth to Zoey!" I wave my hand in front of her face. "Yeah?" she asks, completely dazed. I've known since the sixth grade that she's had a mega crush on my brother, but I choose to ignore it because it grosses me out. Who could ever like my brother like that? The guy who sits on me and tickles me and farts and burps whenever he pleases? Maybe he's just like that at home around family...

"The equation for velocity?" Cameron asks her. We simultaneously look back to Cameron. "How did you know what I was asking her? Were you standing outside of my door listening?" I ask. "Maybe." he says, smirking. I grab a pillow off my bed and chuck it at him. "GO AWAY CAMERON. We're trying to study." I say with a small laugh. "Alright alright!" he says, mimicking surrender by raising his arms above his head and backing slowly out of my room. "And I want mac and cheese for dinner!" I yell to him as he closes my door. "Got it!" he yells back, and I hear his footsteps go down the stairs.

"Ok, for the last time, what is the equation for velocity?" I ask.