Luscious Curves

Pilot

Lys shifted in her seat, bored and restless. Gnawing on the end of her pencil, she watched as Dr. Friedman, her English teacher, scrawled an assignment across the chalkboard. The air was still, hot, and smelled of socks, perhaps due to the classroom's unfortunate location above the boys' locker room.

"Alright, kids," Dr. Friedman said at last, her hoarse voice piercing the stale silence. "We're going to be finishing up our last unit before break with a more creative project based on, of course, Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. It would be silly to conduct an entire month's studies on a certain book and then not do our final project on it."

She coughed, then continued: "This book represents a clash of cultures. As such, I would like you and your partner, whom I will assign to you," --the class groaned-- "to research an aspect of either culture and figure out a fun way to present it to the class. This can include making an outfit, bringing in food to share, singing a song, or simply writing an essay."

Lys was sure nobody was going to choose to write an essay. She surveyed the room for people she might want to be partnered with. Nobody. Lys's good friend, Patty, had moved away in the fall, and no one else really understood Lys like Patty did.

"I am posting the partner assignments on the door. The bell will ring in about ten minutes. Please check the list, find your partner, and begin to discuss with them what you are going to do. Projects are due on Friday." With this, Dr. Friedman shuffled her way to the door and tacked a spreadsheet to it.

After the initial crowd died down around the door, Lys peeled herself out of her seat and tripped over to the spreadsheet. Locating her name (Alyssa Moore) in the first column, she was surprised to see that her partner was none other than Kenna Sawyer, a shy quiet girl who Lys had quite a crush on. Kenna had arrived at Lys's school about a year ago, and mostly kept to herself. She had a sketchbook that she was always doodling in, the drawings in which, through no lack of effort on their part, neither Patty nor Lys had been able to catch a glimpse of. Kenna stood at 5' 4", with a generous bust and waist that were kept hidden under giant sweatshirts and her curtains of straight, mahogany-colored hair.

Lys's surprise at being partnered with Kenna, however, was not a result of her gigantic crush. Kenna was painfully shy, and preferred to work alone. Usually, Dr. Friedman did not even bother to partner her up with someone. Apparently, Kenna was unaware of her involuntary participation, as she remained at her desk, her hair showered over her sketchbook as she scratched intently at the page with a nub of a pencil.

Undeterred, Lys made her way over to Kenna and tapped her on the shoulder. In one fluid movement, Kenna snapped her sketchbook closed and whipped her head around. Her brown eyes were wide with fear, and her freckled face was slowly turning red.

"Hi, I'm Lys," Lys said, as an attempt to break the ice. Kenna blinked, but remained frozen in place. "Um, we're supposed to work on the project together, and, um, well I was wondering if you wanted to come home with me to work on it..." Lys trailed off. Kenna made a squeaking sound and nodded her head slowly. She was shaking. Taking this reluctant agreement as a positive omen, Lys grabbed Kenna by the hand and pulled her out of her seat as the bell rang.

"Good afternoon, ma'am," Lys shouted at the bus driver as she bolted down the aisle, dragging poor Kenna behind her. The two girls fell into a seat almost simultaneously. Kenna regained her composure quickly, straightening her shoulders to a painful extent. The rest of the bus ride passed uneventfully, with Kenna staring straight forward and Lys taking this opportunity to gaze wistfully at the silent girl, absorbing every detail. She briefly considered leaning over and giving Kenna a peck on the cheek, but decided against it almost immediately.

The bus groaned its way around the tiny town, weaving through rows of narrow streets lined with houses that seemed too big for their yards. Winston County had grown wealthy around its hosts of specialized hospitals, but somehow, its town of Mulberry Bush had avoided most of the industrialization, and instead, soared in property values. Nearly all the families in town had quite a bit of money at their disposal, and so it was a cheerful place. Small, but cheerful.