Special

Chapter 21

'And that's it for chapter seven,' said Mr Cleary after explaining the last few paragraphs of the chapter. He glanced at the clock mounted above the board.

We still had a few minutes left before the next class.

He flipped through his copy of the textbook and scribbled a page number on the blackboard. 'If you turn to page forty-four of your textbooks, you'll find a little exercise.'

The class groaned in chorus.

'Settle down,' Mr Cleary ordered, 'It's straightforward if you've been paying attention the past week. You're also welcome to work in groups of two to four.'

A tumult of chatter and dragged chairs broke out as students rushed to form groups.

'I was here first!' a girl shouted. She argued with another girl about sitting with an adroit boy at a desk in the back row.

'You're allowed to sit in groups of up to four!' Mr Cleary reminded them. 'There's more than enough room.'

Begrudgingly, the girls both sat with the boy.

Rory and Christie moved their chairs, joining Izzy and my ex-lab partner Allie.

Eric was absent as usual.

Within a moment everyone seemed to be in their preferred group. Besides me, Gael was the only one left without a partner.

Fighting a bout of the jitters, I grabbed my books and walked over to his desk. 'You mind if I join you?'

'No,' he replied, 'go ahead.'

I sat down, setting my books on the desk. 'I'm afraid I might not make the best lab partner or pull my weight. I missed school the past week, so I have no clue what's going on.'

He smiled. 'That sucks. I only allowed you to join me because I thought you were one of the best performers in chemistry. I thought you'd do all the work and I'd be guaranteed an A.'

Deadpan, he added, 'I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to leave.'

I stared at him questioningly. Was he serious?

'Just kidding,' he smiled, turning the pages of his textbook.

I returned his smile, opening my books.

Formalities and jokes aside, Gael was kind enough to update me on the work done the past week as much as possible before the bell rang.

The room rumbled as everyone scrambled to pack their books.

'Complete the exercise as homework,' Mr Cleary instructed. 'You have till Friday.'

The class groaned and piled out of the room, causing a commotion.

'Hold on!' Mr Cleary commanded over the noise. 'Chairs as you found them please.'

A cacophony of stomping feet and squeaking chairs dragged across the floor filled the classroom.

Gael packed his books. 'Shall we meet up to finish this off later?' he asked me.

'Sure,' I responded, putting mine away and getting up to leave.

'Does lunch work for you?'

'Yeah.'

'Cool.'

The dining hall was foreign when I entered. It had been weeks since I stepped foot inside. My lunch was packed, so I skipped the long queue to the food station.

Gael waved me over to a table where he sat with Oliver and two other kids I was unfamiliar with.

Allie glimpsed at me when I walked past the adroit table.