The Misfits

Ch.8 Group Project

Cecille and Emily, arm in arm, strolled into class. The sight of the Queen Bee with the top-ranked student together earned them quite a few curious stares. In silent agreement, they both took the two seats in the middle of the classroom. Students began to whisper.

"Were those two always that chummy?"

"It's like pigs can fly."

 With one sharp glare from Cecille, the class hushed. Emily raised an eyebrow at Cecille, who returned it with a shining smile. Soon enough, conversations resumed regarding the tweet the Queen Bee had sent out only a few minutes ago. 

"You're not...?" Emily gestures to Cecille, surprised by her lack of reaction despite the new gossip circulating. Cecille giggled. 

"Why should I care about that?" Cecille pulled out a small compact mirror and examined her reflection. Emily scrunched her eyebrows, which Cecille always warned her would earn her early wrinkles. 

"But before-?" Cecille closed the compact mirror with a clank noise. 

"Isn't it what you wanted? It's good they are spreading the word, don't you think?" Cecille smiled with a contradicting look her in eyes, but Emily couldn't quite place why the sight of it caused goosebumps to erupt along her arms. 

"Attention class! The second bell has rung. Take your seats." The man in his early thirties scanned the room as he leaned his hands on his desk. "It seems some of your classmates have not yet arrived." The man stood straight and gave a chilling smile. "Although I do see some faces I haven't seen all year today." His stare was pointed at the tall figure hunched over in the back who kept his head down on the desk. The teacher sneered before looking down at the attendance roster. "Today I will be assigning you all into your groups for the project." Before he could finish his sentence, the classroom door opened with a bang. The teacher removed his glasses and frowned at the two late students. "Mia, you're late." 

Mia wiped her forehead with gasping breathes, "S-sorry Mr.Jenkins." 

Cecille jerked her head up from her phone, narrowing her eyes sharply. Mia flinched as she rushed to one of the two open seats. Mia refused to make eye contact again, but she could still feel the heated stare on her neck from Cecille the whole way to her seat. 

"And you? I assume you're Jake?" Mr.Jenkins kept his stare on the teen trying to sneak his way past. Jake groaned internally and turned to face the teacher with a nod. "Go take a seat."

"Yes, sir." Jake mumbled, as he sat next to the sleeping giant in the back. Jake slumped into his seat, glancing around the room. How funny. The cutter girl is in the same homeroom. A soft snore caught his attention. He frowned a bit and kicked the corner desk. He leaned over and whispered in Ash's ear. "Wake the fuck up, beanstalk." Ash shifted a bit at the sound, peeking an eye at Jake. Jake leaned back with a satisfied smirk.

"As I was saying," Mr. Jenkins resumed, glaring at Jake in particular, "Today we will be revealing the groups you will be in for the project. Let me remind you all, this project is worth 70 percent of your grade for the class, so take it seriously." Mr. Jenkins pulled out sheets of paper with the groups listed on them. "I organized you all by grades, and then I pulled the names at random from each category. The groups are final. Everyone must participate, and I will know if one person is left to do all the work." The teacher gave another cold smile to the groaning students. "Lack of participation is an automatic zero." He paused for the moment. "You can come up rows and find your names laid out on my desk. Front row is first." 

Row by row went up. When it was the middle row's turn, Cecille whined at the thought of being in a different group than Emily. Cecille refused to look at the list and instead gripped Emily's arm.