Usernames || A Garmau Fanfic

Eight

We wait in line behind Gene and his crew and watch them smugly turn in the work Vylad and I slaved over last night. Gene catches my gaze, an indirect command to keep mine and Laurance's mouths shut. I bite my lip, anxiously, and stand slightly closer to my best friend. He doesn't say anything.

"I'm impressed, you three. Well done," Coach Dale praises, only causing their egos to swell.

"Whatever." Gene smirks and the three of them head to their seats at the very back corner of the classroom. Laurance and I step up and turn in our own work.

"Thank you, boys." We nod and leave for our own seats. I can still feel Gene's ice cold gaze drilling into my head as we sit down.

"That was more nerve-racking than it should have been," Laurance mutters, grabbing his binder from his bag.

"No kidding." I follow suit.

"Alright, students. Lets get down to business, shall we?" Coach Dale stands behind his desk and gestures to the white board behind him, where he's written the word "PROJECT" in bold, black marker. My anxiety builds in my chest.

Please let us pick partners, I internally beg.

"You will be in teams of no less than three--" Dang it. "--and you will complete a creative representation of the unit we've just finished: the War of the Magi. Along with this, you must write a full two page paper - not one and a half - recapping everything we learned."

I hate high school.

"Due date is yet to be determined, but I'd suggest working on it sooner rather than later. I will give you a few minutes now to pick your partners and brainstorm ideas while I pass out the rubrics. Have at it."

The sound of multiple metal chairs scraping on the floor is heard immediately as students stand to grab their many friends. None of them are talking about the actual project, obviously; they just want to be with their friends. Unfortunately for us, Dale said at least three people per group, so Laurance and I are probably pretty screwed right now.

"What's the plan?" he whispers beside me and I huff, sending a subtle glare towards my favorite teacher's desk.

"Pray for anyone but you-know-who," I respond. He nods in agreement, taking a scan around the classroom. His eyes widen as they lock onto something and there's an idea forming in that complicated mind of his.

"What're you thinking about, Laurance?"

He grins, which only doubles my suspicions.

"Why did I just now think of this?" he asks himself, then he smirks at me.

"You'll thank me later." Is all he says before standing and making his way over to - you guessed it - Aphmau's desk. I get the sudden strong urge to sink under my desk and disappear for the next hour. When her eyes find mine, I know it's already too late. She's already grabbing her stuff and moving over here.

Guess I'll just suffer, then.

"Hey, Garroth!" she chirps and I'm proud to say that I didn't jump. This time.

"H-H-Hey, A-A-Aphmau..."

The stutter stayed, though.

Laurance grabs a chair from the two desks in front of us and spins it around so we can talk easier. She smiles at him as thanks and I have to swallow the jealousy that started to build in my throat. Laurance notices, as he's trying not to laugh as he sits beside me. I subtly smack him in the leg under the desk which gets him to shut up. Kinda.

"So, you guys have any ideas for this thing?" she asks and her eyes are making it so difficult to form a complete sentence.

"Well, you're probably the most creative one in this group," Laurance states. "You'd have better luck with that."