Girls called Alessandra

CHAPTER 12 - BALLS

"Find a partner, preferably boy and girl. There's too few boys so some girls will have to pair up among themselves. You can perform an existing African poem found in the text or research one on your own which is much more appreciated. Presentation is next week," Ms. Ruan announced before end of period. "Here are the drafts of the esay you made last time. Eugene, if you will? Jude, you should write yours and submit it the next time we meet. That's all."

Another presentation.

This class was not somewhere you would want to spend your four years of high school. It was full of pressure and demands and of course merits.

People like getting appreciated, especially this class Burgundy. People like winning, most especially this testosterone-fired teenagers of class Burgundy. They found their self-worth  in their achievements that played by the rules set up by a bunch of people above them.

Garry was similarly testosterone-laiden yet he did not find it interesting. "Guh, another chance to get laughed at."

His seatmate Thomas had a contrasting sentiment. "Bro, there's nothing better than having fun. It's the one good thing about it. So who's gonna be your partner?"

Cheryl had already glued his eyes on Garry who went ballistic. "No way!"

She rushed over to him. "You need to partner up with him to be fair to both sides. What if he partners up with someone good? The balance will tilt and you're going to lose. Don't forget that he aced the math test last time while you obviously got the lowest."

She spoke so harshly. She was overstepping the line. Garry peered at her, eyes full of unmasked rage. Cheryl backed off a little. He snarled at her, "I won't partner up with him."

"Okay. Don't get so mad I was just..."

Then gently he asked, "Maybe we can-"

"No!" Cheryl immediately declined.

Garry sighed in frustration. If he partnered up with her, he'd surely get an A+ on it.

Alie was having the same dilemma. But not that she found it hard to find a partner. On the contrary, she found it hard to decline them.

They were like suitors lining up one after another. But they were not offering their love. They were trying to take advantage of her kindness and her drive to get a higher grade. Because among the top ten, she was the only girl who had no partner yet.

Girlie - as ironic as it would sound - was not girlish at all so she'd probably pair up with a girl.

Trish was obviously paired with Luke. They were like a cup and a teaspoon. Trish had a chubbiness about her that made her cute and angelic. She was truly angelic too. Luke confessed to her last year. And now their presentation would be filled with love and affection, they only needed to stand there in front and everyone would cheer them on. No acting. No grand words. Just the two of them.

Alie envied that.

She turned down Thomas and the others. She could not decide yet. She just told them, "I'll think about it."

She looked for Mia and asked her, "I don't want to partner up with the boys. Do you have any partner yet?"

"Oh sorry, Alie, Harold already asked me.  We're doing ome from the book. I'm really sorry."

"It's fine."

By the afternoon, Alie found herself without a partner. It was astonishing how fast they paired up.

The truth was for any school class or any organization with no definite line of authority in them, the elements are bound to group into clumps, like space rocks falling into each other by gravity to form larger rocks.