Oh, Marcel!

No One Wants You Here

~Ember~

"Now class, I want you to select a partner to work with on this project." Mrs. Anges paced from the desk to the board. "I would also like it to be someone you don't normal work on projects with."

I relaxed a little because I knew I could pick Marcel.

She paused, the marker tip on the board, ready to write.

"Wait, maybe I should pick your partners. Yes, yes that's what I'll go with." Mrs. Anges put the marker back down and grabbed her grade book off her desk.

Marcel was sitting in his seat nervously playing with his fingers. He still kept his head down.

"Ah, okay Amber and Lacie are working together. Timothy and Aaron. Josh and Melanie. Johnny and Jake."  She flipped the page.

Johnny reached over and gave Jake a high five. He didn't seem to be too upset about not being put with Jimmy.

But wait, they weren't friends anymore.

"Ohhhkaay, then we have Amiee and Sara, Austin and Emily, Ember and Veronica."

My heart leaped.

I was with Veronica, someone who seemed sweet and seemed to like me.

What about Marcel?

"And last but not least in anyway, Jimmy and Marcel!" She closed the book seemingly satisfied with her choices. Marcel on the other hand was a wreck.

He was tugging at his collar. He was fiddling with his books. He was squirming in his seat.

Normally he was such a calm person, but he was really freaking out.

Oh how I wish he would look up at me and I could tell him that it was going to be okay.

"Alright class, meet up with your partners right now and discuss when you will meet for this project and I'll write the requirements on the board." Mrs. Anges picked up the blue marker and began to scribble on the white board.

Veronica turned to me, smiling.

"So we get to work together! Hey that's good, huh?"

"Yeah, it is. We can uh, get to know each other better." My smile isn't quite as big as hers.

"Great. Okay so I was thinking that you could probably just come over to my house for the whole thing. Since you just moved here and all." Words came flying out of her mouth. "Oh and I can show you around more if you'd like! Then maybe you could come to sleepovers with me and the girls! Oh how fun right?"

"Sounds fun!" I say, watching Jimmy rise slowly from his desk and walk to Marcel's. Marcel is rocking back and forth now.

"Cool!" I turn back to Veronica and see that her smile has faded.

"Poor Marcel. Stuck with one of the meanest guys in school. Although I've heard him and Johnny aren't friends anymore."

"Yeah. Marcel is pretty nice, huh?" I ask, playing the new kid role.

"Marcel is a sweetheart, unfortunately, he is a disaster elsewhere."  She flips her hair over her shoulders.

"What?" I ask, wanting to know her thoughts about my friend.

"Well he, just, I mean look at his clothes! And those glasses. Hideous." She exclaims.  Marcel is sitting in his desk with Jimmy awkwardly standing there. He is writing something on a piece of notebook paper. It must be his address.

He folds it up and hands it to Jimmy. Jimmy shoves it in his pocket and returns to his seat quietly.

"Whoa that was weird." Veronica nodded towards recent exchange.