Beautifully Broken

Chapter Six

"Hey." Amelia says as she sits her bag down on the ground falling into her seat. She wanted to ask where he had been at lunch, but felt like she'll be overstepping her boundaries. They've only known each other for two days, and it wasn't like she was his girlfriend.

He gives her a nod, but doesn't say anything. She frowns at his dismal wondering if maybe she had done something wrong. Before she could ask, Mr. Jackson clears his throat asking for everyone's attention.

"Good afternoon class, so today's lesson is about safe sex. Instead of reading over the material I decided to give y'all an assignment." Everyone in the classroom groans.

"I know I know, but it's a group project so that should make it a bit easier on y'all."

At the sound of that everyone perks up calling out to the people they wanted as their partners. Mr. Jackson holds his hand up and the chatter stops.

"Here's the catch, I get to choose your partner."

Everyones excitement dies down and they go back to sulking. Amelia on the other hand was a little grateful. Now she didn't have to worry about finding a partner. Mr. Jackson walks to his desk and grabs a stack of papers. He starts on the left side of the class, counting out how many papers he needed for each row. Once he hands them to leader of each rows he goes on to say, "I want y'all to fill out this information sheet, and please be honest. This is how I'll be able to figure out who your partner will be."

When Amelia gets her paper, she scans it. Her eyebrows furrow  in confusion.

"Now before you get started let me give you guys some background information. I know we usually don't do this in Health, but I decided to change things up a bit." He walks to his desk, placing the extra papers down. "You guys are going to take care of a baby. Instead of giving each student their own baby, I've decided to partner y'all up. Which is why I'm asking y'all to fill out this information sheet." He grabs one of the students paper holding it up for the class to see. "It's so I can find out a little more about y'all and see who you'll be compatible with."

Sitting the paper back down, he goes on to say, "We'll start this project next week, and I'll go further into details then. When y'all are done you can turn them into me."

He goes back to his desk and sits down. Leaving the class to fill out the thin white paper. Amelia digs through her bag for a pencil. When she find one, at the very bottom, she reads the first question.

What are you looking for in a partner?

She sits back and thinks. What did she look for in a partner? Honesty definitely and loyalty. Her mind wanders to a certain brown eyed boy. Yes definitely honesty. She drums the end of her pencil against her chin, thinking about what else she could write down. She looks over at Ethan, wondering if he was having difficulty, like her, answering these questions.

He was leaning against his right arm. Drumming his pencil against his desk. He didn't have anything written down. By the look on his face though, it seemed to Amelia his body was here but not his mind. He was deep in thought. Not because of the assignment they were given. No it was something else. His eyes drift towards her and he straightens up. Embarrassed that she got caught staring, she looks away staring down at her paper. Warmth floods through her and she didn't need a mirror to know her checks were red.

She continues to work on her paper. Once she's satisfied with her answers, she gets up and turns it in. Mr. Jackson looks up from his computer an easy going smile on his face.