Mistaken Love ( #TheWattys2017)

School Has To Be Evil

"I'll  see you in Chemistry. " Pete said squeezing my hand quickly before walking away with Darryl to Art leaving me at my locker. I turned to my locker and opened it to get out my grey folder which I kept all my articles and pieces  from English class in.
"Woz  popping? " Lexi asked appearing beside my locker. Lexi was my best mate  aside Pete. She was African American. She was tall,  way taller than me. She was almost Pete's height. She had light brown, honey colored skin with natural kinky hair which she had held back in a bun today. Her full name was Alexandra Rebecca Ewuresi Benson. She is from Ghana in Africa. Her Dad was from there but he moved here when he was 20 and he's  never been back. Neither has she or Any of her siblings who were all born here. Lexi is loud and funny. She loves to draw and she's  pretty good at it too. We became  best friends  in freshman year when  she took the seat next to me in English and we hit it off.
"Nothing? " I suggest  leading her away from my locker towards English.
"Oh come  on. You've  got to do better  than that. It's  September. You're  turning  16 ,Tess! "She nagged as we made our way through  the hall way.
"Blah. " I reply  as we entered  the class
"I'm  going to ask you one more time okay Tessie?. Woz popping? " She says  sliding behind her desk. Lexi doesn't  give up easily. She will pester you  till you give her whatever  she wants. No wonder she is dating Tyler now. She practically  forced him to fall in love with her till it became  as natural as breathing. They've been together  for about 6 months. I'm  jealous  of her honestly. Her slim figure makes it so easy  for her to put on jeans,  she can go out without  a bra and you wouldn't  even notice,  she can wear skirts  without  wondering how huge her behind looks. Most importantly  she had the courage to tell Tyler she had a crush on him and made him fall in love with her like his life depended  on it.
"My body. " I say as excitedly as I can muster to please Lexi.
"That's  good Tee! " She laughs just as Mr. Elcoman  our English teacher walks in. English  is my favorite subject. I love reading and writing too. I started writing poems a few months back. Poems about love. Lexi is the only one who has read them. Because  most of them are  about Peter. Lexi found out I like Peter when she caught me doodling his name unconsciously one day when we were  studying. I practically  had to sit on her back till she swore to keep my secret. Anyway. I want to work in publishing,  it's  been my dream since I found  out you  could read books for a living. Mr. Elcoman  always likes my pieces and constantly  praises my essays.
"Good morning students. " Mr. Elcoman  greets us cheerfully.
"Good morning  sir. " We all sing out.
"Great. So seeing as it's a new month. I have a new project for you guys. " I hear a couple  of groans from the back but Lexi and I glance at each other excitedly. "It's  a pair project. But  I'll  only  tell you the topic after you pick your partners. So please partner up and write down your partner on the paper I'm  passing  round. You have five minutes." He says handing Yvette a plain sheet.
"I call dibs on you Tess. " Lexi says poking my arm.
"Oh no. What would I ever do with the super smart  Lexi as my partner. "I say putting  my hand to my head feigning being  upset. Lexi stuck her tongue out at me. The sheet got to us and I wrote down our names. Finally it got to the back row and was passed back to Mr. Elcoman who glanced at the list for a little  while before he spoke.
"The title of this piece is What Makes You Beautiful. You are each expected to write an essay about your partner which is at least 300 words long about what you think makes your partner beautiful. Go crazy with it. Be experimental with it. Spend time with your partner. I suspect you all picked someone you are comfortable  with so I'm  giving  you only two weeks for this project. "  He pauses and the class groans. "Write about the person like I have no idea who he or she is. Point out facts and characteristics  that set this person apart from others and makes him or her beautiful  to you. "
"Sir ?" Dylan interrupted from the back of the class.
"Yes Dylan? "
"Sir what if I don't  think the person is beautiful? "
"Good question. Then use this essay to find something  that  makes the person beautiful  to you." Mr. Elcoman  replied smugly. I heard Dylan groan from behind me and a few people  giggle. I liked the project. I'd  always admired Lexi,  this would be cool.
"So you start from the basics name, age,  birthday  , favourite  food,  drink, song,passions ,weird fetishes, memorable experience, Anything really. " Mr. Elcoman  adds
"So today I want you guys to plan your schedules so you can meet to work on the essay. Get to work. "