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| project buddies |

She was nervous.

Nervous about who her partner would be.

Partner for the first assignment of the term, that is.

Rue tapped her feet against the floor, anticipating the final result as their professor called out the pairs of students who would be working on the project together.

For her, this was an opportunity and one she didn't intend to waste. So she hoped that she got someone clever, bearable at the least.

She shouldn't have been surprised when their Professor Blyton called out Avery's name against hers. The boy was more than happy as he waltzed over to stand next to her. She gave him a quick look that lay somewhere between indifference and curiosity.

Once they were done being sorted into pairs, the professor marched out of the classroom, asking them to follow her. The students were confused, but did as they were asked. This was one of the reasons why Rue loved Professor Blyton. She was stricter than any other teacher that she'd ever met. But her unique ways and motivating talks always made the students look forward to her classes.

'Alright, now for the first assignment, I want you all to get at least three photographs. They should be something that captures this season.'

'So autumn stuff? Okay,' Avery mumbled as he took down notes in a blue notebook. Ironically enough, he was writing in blue ink too. Rue wondered if the boy owned anything that wasn't blue.

'...You have one week. Today, I want you to get inspired. Walk around, interact. Go on now!'

'Like "now" now?' Avery asked out loud, still not used to the idea of spending a class outside the classroom.

'Yes, "now" now, Mr. Black.'

'Come on, let's go,' Rue added, motioning for him to follow her as she walked off along with the crowd of "paired up" students. The blue haired boy walked next to her, looking around at the trees and the sky.

'It's autumn right now, so we should go for a more orange and grey palette.' She stated, thinking further. 'Maybe the trees or maybe even a shot of those pumpkins growing out at the back.'

He smiled.

'But that's what everyone is doing.'

She looked around. It was true. A group of two girls stood underneath the fading orange trees, another taking a picture of a single leaf, turning brown.

'So what do you reckon we should do?'

'Why don't we go for memories? Things that remind us of autumn not just by seeing them in some stock photograph, but because we've connected them with an experience?'

'I like the way you think.'

'So, what's the first thing? What's one thing you did every autumn as a kid?'

'Hot chocolate. With cinnamon.'

'There you go. Now all we need to do is scout a couple of cafes and find that perfect shot.'

She couldn't help but grin. The idea was brilliant. She kept thinking about it as they walked out the campus gates and into town.

'Not bad.'

'What's not bad?'

'You being a project buddy.'

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