High school au
Your family just moved to the small town of Mulberry. You start going to the local high school, where you meet and befriend a truly interesting individual, the Once-ler.
Mrs. Wocket stood at the front of the room after she finished taking roll. "We have a couple class announcements today," she said, reminiscent of (Name)'s first day. "First I would like to congratulate on those in the football team for their victory on Friday night and thank all of those who came out." There were some loud cheers around the room from the more sports-oriented students who were proud of the win.
"Alright, alright, settle down," the teacher urged after a moment or two of celebration. "This next announcement is really important, I need you all to hear every detail."
(Name) glanced over at the Onceler, seeing him move. He pulled a notepad out and uncapped a pen, intent on making sure he got everything down.
"In two weeks from now, your grade will be taking a school camping trip. The trip will be a week long," Wocket began. "Permission slips will be sent home tomorrow, and each student going will have to pay a small $75 dollar payment to cover transportation costs and stay fees."
The stream of information was paused as Wocket took a drink from the coffee mug on her desk. "The purpose of the trip will be to get you all into nature to experience it and learn, while also partaking in fun activities to improve your team building skills. As for what to bring, you need to make sure you pack enough clothes for a week. There is also a lake, so bathing suits will be recommended. You'll all need pajamas of course, and I'd suggest you bring shower shoes and all the soap you'll need from home. The itinerary is still in the works, but please make sure everything you pack would pass school standards and won't be unnecessary."
Onceler paused his writing and looked up at Wocket, but regarding the trip, she seemed to be done talking.
"That's all I know at this moment. After all, I'm not planning the trip, nor am I going on it. I was just asked to relay some information."
(Name) glanced over as Onceler put the book he took the notes in away. "Hey," she whispered to him. "Can I copy those later? So I can show my parents?" The boy nodded and gave her a small smile.
Wocket checked the time, making sure she wasn't spending too long on announcements for what she had planned. "Now, something more relevant to this class, you all are getting a new project."
There were some scattered groans throughout the classroom. The older woman waited for them to die down before continuing.
"It will be a partner project," she continued. Some of the disconcert in the room turned more into excitement at that statement, although (Name) felt a little uneasy. She crossed her fingers in her lap, hoping Wocket wouldn't assign partners. "And you all will be able to choose your partners."
(Name) grinned as she turned to Onceler, whose eyes were already focused on her as a grin of his own was plastered across his face.
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The two shared a nod, confirming without the shadow of a doubt, they would be partners.
"For this project I have made up multiple different environments," Wocket said, and placed her hand on a small jar full of folded up pieces of paper. "Once you're all in your pairs, I will go around and let you draw an environment from the jar. I will give you a larger paper that goes into detail about the habitat, and you and your partner must come up with an animal that lives there. There must be at least 6 adaptations to suit its habitat, and you also must detail where it stands in the food chain. Your animal can't be the apex predator, however. Also, all projects must have an illustration and it must be colored."
Some of the mood in the room was killed as Wocket went into details for the project, but for others like (Name), the details yielded more excitement. The idea of creating an animal that was completely her own, and the Onceler's of course, just sounded fun. It hardly seemed like a group project.
"If I could have you all stand and find your partners now, that would help when I go around to pass out the environments." (Name) stood and leaned against the wall beside Onceler's desk. He stood next to her, his own excitement written across his face.
After some wait, the pairs were all formed. Wocket began to circle the room with her jar, pausing at each partnership so someone could draw a paper. When she finally made her way to Onceler and (Name), the girl stuck her hand in and pulled out a folded slip. The teacher moved on as she started to open it. Onceler leaned over a little bit, peering over her shoulder at the paper. The words Zomba-ma-Tant were written.
Wocket made her way back to the front of the room. "I have the papers spread out on my desk for each environment. Come up and grab yours, then you and your partner are dismissed for your next class," the woman said with a smile as she sat in her chair.
"I'll grab it," Onceler said. People moved out of his way as he approached the desk because of his height. (Name) chuckled a little, glad is wasn't her going up there. She was significantly shorter than her friend, (then again, who isn't?) and probably would have been stuck in the clump of students around the desk for at least a minute or two before she could grab the paper.
With a small grin, Onceler flashed the paper at (Name) before he put it in his class folder. The bell rang, signalling the end of the class period.
