A Month Of Kaider

Three: More Than A Project

A/N: Thank you to the couple of people who voted :)

Cinder groans along with the rest of her class as the teacher announces yet another group project that involves a different class.

It's always tedious and tiresome to work with another class, none of them appreciating the ice-breakers and awkward decisions that come with new groups.

"It's going to be the old lady's class again, I bet," Winter whispers in her ear.

She laughs back. "I bet you my new headband that it's not."

Winter grins. "Ready to see me wear it then?"

"I'm going to wear it, just you watch." Cinder nudges her cousin, both of them expecting Winter to win the bet and for them to be paired with the boring class as usual.

The two of them almost fall out of their seats when Kai pushes open the door with a smile on his face as he says, "Hello, we were told that the project is commencing in this classroom?"

"Commencing?" Winter asks under her breath, shared an incredulous look with a couple of girls across the room.

Cinder practically glowers, giving her a very pointed look. Winter squeals quietly, "This is him?"

"Don't make me regret telling you!" Cinder hisses, then looks to their teacher, who's currently speaking to Kai as if he's a fellow teacher and not another student.

"Cinder, he's hot. You're a perfect match!" Winter goes on, giggling.

Cinder glares at her but then shrugs. "I agree with the first part."

Winter smiles. "I never thought you'd be the one to fall in love at first sight."

Cinder elbows the other girl but can't help sharing her grin, remembering the discussions they'd had about who would fall in love first, and how.

"He had a galaxy in his jar." Cinder knows her justification isn't strong enough. "And I've not fallen into anything."

"You're hopeless," Winter shakes her head, "I have been a bad influence on you."

Even Kai looks bored as their teacher stops talking to him and starts writing instructions on the board. Kai turns to the girl next to him and rolls his eyes at her, the two of them sharing a smile before telling everyone else the plan.

Cinder feels an odd mixture of sympathy and jealousy, trying her best to ignore the latter.

"So, get into your group-work pairs then," their teacher orders.

Cinder and Winter just stay where they are, having agreed to stick with one another for the classes they're both in. Neither of them are willing to spend so much time getting to know someone else when they could be gossiping with each other, even if it is mostly Winter doing the talking.

"Is your group in pairs?" Their teacher asks Kai, who nods, acting as their group's spokesperson.

"We are. Are you doing it alphabetically?"

"No, you can just choose."

Cinder almost chokes, their whole class exchanging confused mumbles of shock. What exactly had Kai done to make their teacher allow non-alphabetised groups?

Of course, none of them are surprised. Kai's charm is one of the many reasons why he's a prefect in the first place.

Kai flashes their teacher a smile and their class starts moving, sliding into available seats. It's only a few seconds before the chair opposite Cinder is occupied – by Kai himself.