Nomads

Chapter 29

Saying that school on Monday was uncomfortable would be a severe understatement.

Luca had picked Mara up early and taken her somewhere for reading and prayer time, just as he always did, but when they got to school and saw Luca's friends standing at the front gate as if they were waiting for them, they weren't sure what to do. Mara made it clear she wasn't comfortable confronting them as an entire group, so they did the next best thing.

They split up. Luca went to confront them, giving Mara the opportunity to sneak around to the side entrance of the school and get to class without being bombarded by his friends.

Unfortunately, her first class of the day was with Sarah, who had come in just as the bell rang.

"Alright, class. Since Thanksgiving is coming up in a few weeks, I decided that we are going to do a partnered essay about family and thankfulness. And before you get excited, I have already assigned your partners."

A chorus of groans erupted in the classroom, but Mara couldn't help but feel relieved. Now she wouldn't be the only one without a partner after everyone picked their friends.

"Simmer down, class. Listen carefully, because I'm only going to call names once. Joseph and Anna... Naomi and Sarah..."

Mara's heart stopped and her eyes widened in shock before they snapped to where Sarah was seated, looking as if she were about to explode. She felt her stomach churn. This was not going to end well.

"Everyone get situated with your partners and I will explain the assignment in further detail."

Mara watched Sarah get up and collect her things aggressively. The blonde stomped over and fell into the desk beside Mara in a huff.

Mara thought it best to remain silent throughout the whole thing.

"You guys are going to share with your partners about your experiences with family over the holidays. It can be any holiday that is fall or winter related. You could write about what types of holidays your partner celebrates, a specific event that happened on a holiday one year and what happened to make it memorable or impactful, or anything along those lines. I know most of you know each other well enough, so try to come up with something new in order to learn more about your partners. I will be the only one reading the essays, so it can be as personal as you'd like. There will be no presentation."

Mara mentally sighed in relief. She didn't know what she would do if she had to hear Sarah present a personal story of hers to the class.

"You will interview one another and each of you will write a 2000 word essay about your partner. It will be in a short story format, since this is a creative writing class. If you have any questions, come let me know. You have the rest of the class period to get started."

Mara swallowed nervously and turned to look at Sarah, who still looked beyond mad.

"Um, I guess we could start with figuring out which holiday to write about?"

"Christmas," Sarah snapped. "We're writing about Christmas."

"Okay..." Mara bit her lip. "If you don't mind my asking, why Christmas?"

"It's my favorite holiday."

Mara clicked her pen, jotting down a note about it on her open notebook. "Alright, um... Do you want to talk about a special event that happened one Christmas, like your favorite Christmas that you've celebrated?"

Sarah mulled it over. "Yeah, we can do that." She narrowed her eyes at Mara. "Well, go on. Interview me."

Mara cleared her throat, sitting up straighter in her seat. "Um, why is Christmas your favorite holiday?"