Upon hearing the names of the people she'd be working on the science fair project with, Ebony couldn't help but roll her eyes and sigh. She'd hoped that she would at least be placed in a group with her friends. It wasn't like there was anything wrong with making new friends, but she knew for a fact that her group was going to be highly dysfunctional. Clyde was a shy and quiet boy, so Ebony knew that he wouldn't be contributing to the project as much as others; he'd need a little push, and she would be happy to give him one. Jacob was the complete opposite of Clyde; he's confident and charismatic. Ebony knew that she wouldn't have to worry about him throwing his ideas out, but wasn't at all thrilled about having to deal with his arrogance. Sure, he was Caleb's brother, but that didn't make him any less of a douche. Thomas, like Clyde, was very introverted, but certainly not timid. At least she'd have one good friend in the group. As for Aria and Oberon, Ebony simply didn't know them well enough to know how they'd contribute to the group project, but she hoped that somehow they'd all manage to work together and "get that shit over with."

When Ebony entered Mrs. Wayne's class at the end of the day, she was very surprised to see Indie sitting in her usual in the back corner. Usually, Ebony would've approached her and kindly ask for her seat back; something about the girl's vibe, however, told Ebony that she didn't want to mess with her, at least, not today. As the girl sat and inspected her nails, Ebony couldn't help but stare at the bandage taped to the side of her head. I wonder what happened, Ebony thought, but instead of asking, decided to sit in the front row in the seat that was usually taken by Ezera. (@King Tai)

When Mrs. Wayne had left them to their own devices, Ebony took this time to pull out her cell phone. She had three unopened text messages from her cousin, all of them saying the same thing.

Sammy: Eb..
Sammy: Eb..
Sammy: Eb..
_{sent 5 minutes ago.}

Laughing to herself, Ebony typed in a quick response before glancing at the time. Sammy was like a brother to her, and almost always sent her messages while he was in his Business Law class at the local community college; he'd always said that it was his least favorite class. As she texted him, Ebony couldn't help but listen in on others conversations, hearing about what they'd be doing over the weekend. As far as Ebony knew, however, she'd be spending her weekend at home, finishing homework and watching old episodes of Grey's Anatomy.

---

Selene wasn't going to lie - it was a relief when the teacher arrived to break up the fight, and no further incident happened. Selene couldn't help but take the opportunity to talk with Wynona a bit longer.

By the end of the week, they had already made plans to go shopping together on Saturday. The mall was a given, and Selene hoped for the discount store - and she had already asked her mother if perhaps she and Wynona could get a lift to the neighboring, larger city to show her their stores? Up to Wynona of course. But no matter how their shopping went, Selene was looking forward to the weekend.

She was a little more nervous, in fact, about Mr. and Mrs. Porter. When she had received her schedule, she had assumed the final class of the day to be a selection and had even contacted the front office after the carnival to ensure she would get the Art class. They had assured her she would, and it turned out they weren't exactly wrong. It was some combination class. While the Art assignment didn't bother her, the need to learn an instrument did. She had managed to skip over the Band in middle school via Theory of Music and didn't know much about the actual instruments. Some sort of keyboard felt appealing to her, though. Perhaps not practical though. She'd ask later.

And finally the science fair groups. Selene had already begun pondering how scientific they could get in their volcanoes: able to try different ingredients, for instance, or try to get ahold of chemicals stronger than baking soda and vinegar. It bothered her a bit how the groups were split - she had set her jaw upon realizing Indiana was the same girl who had impugned upon Amelia's day at the carnival, and they were in the same group. Wynona also being a member helped, but perhaps over the weekend she should mention the incident to her? Just to make sure nothing came up. Ezera wasn't paired with Amelia, but at least wasn't paired with Mitzie either. Considering how the first day went down, it was probably for the best. Selene, however, barely knew any of her group. Sadie had correctly guessed her 'lie', and both Sonny and Sadie were involved in the first day's cafeteria drama. That was all Selene really knew about her group, though. Now seemed like a good time to correct that.

She scanned the homeroom's chaos for any of her group members, unattended and not apparently busy with homework. Once her gaze laid on such a person she got out of her chair with her jacket and made her way over to them.

"Hello! So, I noticed we were both assigned to the same group for the science fair project. I was wondering if you wanted to discuss it a bit?"

'Fighting with your words'.... Poetry was still a bit sore about that. Though she did feel some distaste, the bitter soda water, in her mouth over the whole ordeal on the first day. She had shown her more embarrassing side of being a bit hot tempered in her loyalty. Not to mention upperclassmen were looking on her with more interest than just writing her off as some weirdo hippie girl. The attention was nice at first, but Peotry realized that hard way that it was all shallow in the end. No one actually wanted to know her. They just wanted to be known as someone who knew her.

And then come to find that all that drama had stemmed from something as meaningless and shallow as a childhood argument. Mortified was a better word. The little fae seemed to have her sparkle dampened a bit by the whole ordeal, sinking back into her old obscurity of oddity. And people were all too easy to forget her, if only to go back to treating her as a walking sideshow in street fair.

And the willowy girl shrank even further into herself with her friend Abbie's moving away. Now she had no one who understood her. No one. Sure there were a few distance friends who were amused by her, but there was no one who understood her. Ebony-Gold had her circle of friends. Blakey Boy had his. And Kas... Well, Kassy Boy didn't need to have to worry about the worries and tender pains of a girl like her.

So everything was just fine. Fine. Her parents felt some concern over her odd behavior. She seemed more quiet than usual. More lost in thought. Less of the laughing, free floating butterfly they were used to. But her grandparents insisted it was just the growing pains of adolescence. And maybe they were right. Maybe the lonely ache in her chest and bruised pride would fade and heal over as if nothing had happened. It really had nothing to do with her anyway.

Mrs. Kordos workbook and organizing Mrs. Ford's binder were grand excuses not to talk to others and to most keep to herself, both at lunchtime and at home.

Mr. & Mrs. Porter's art class was giving her some trouble. She just...didn't have enough spark to get into the visual drawing and painting. Mr. Porter tried to talk to her after class, his wife at his side, to help her access an 'outlet for those deeper thorns of emotion' though different creative manners. After all, not everyone was a painter or sculptor.

Her creativity steamed from movement anyway. So this class, with it's mixture of Art, Choir, and Band, allowed her to pursue her deeper problems with more of an 'outlet' in her movement as dance routines and songs to sing. Mrs. Porter and her often discussed new music styles to try dance routines to. As for learning an instrument by the end of the year, Poetry wasn't as worried. Her entire family knew instruments they could teach her after all. Profits of living in a creative hippie home.

And thus the first week went by in a hazy blur. The only problem left was the volcano project for the science fair. Ebony, Kas, Blake, and Sadie were all in a different group from her. Karma punishing for being so foul of temperament, she was convinced. And so she would simply keep quiet around the others in Group Five. She wouldn't offer solutions or take lead. She would just quietly did her section of work for the project or anything else everyone told her to do. That was her plan: Make no impression. Do not get in the way. Do as your told.

Nathaniel was quiet too, so Poetry would be able to say words every now and then to keep from being completely irritating in her reserve. Nicoletta Soriano was... well, herself, Poetry supposed, so there was that. Quinten Rumancek and Lily Westburg, too. They were probably going to be a quiet group save Ace-Ezera. He was like a shining comet among silent stars. He was the one to shine a bit more than all the others, naturally. But maybe that was because she was biased in liking him more than the strangers, since he was Kas's friend.

But she had embarrassed herself in front of him and his girlfriend and Kas, so she wasn't overly exciting in having to bare her shame and speak in the group with him. Taking a seat near those in Group Five, like Quinten and Lily, she took out the stack of library books she had gotten since the first day on Pompeii and Mt. Fuji. A volcano meant links to real volcanos right? Those two were her favorites. Greeks in togas or Edo period people in kimonos. Reading about everyday life in both periods of time, in both countries, had been far more interesting than she had thought.

But hearing Quinten, she suppose they probably wouldn't want to do the project or even talk about it. Lily seemed more interested in Jake anyway. So she stood up again, scooping up her books, pushing then into her backpack with a deep sigh and going back to her usual seat in the center of the classroom. The center. The eye of the storm. People swirling all around her and yet she remained alone and unchanged.

Maybe she should have stayed homeschooled.

Lily and Jake chattered and chatted with Quinten, as he quietly strummed the guitar, and Poetry drummed her fingers on her desk, looking up at the clock. She tipped her head to the side and closed her eyes with a sigh. She could hear the stalking melody of melancholia that had been dragging her down into the deep and heavy ground all week.

Like a statue in ice, her pale hair fell down her back, her pale lashes fanning over pale cheeks. In her soft faded blue shirt and her light colored jeans, with her draping oversized cream sweater, she looked like winter, sitting at her desk, drumming her fingers. Humming to a few chords of the guitar, she sighed and leaned back in her seat, staring at the face of clock, who looked down on her critically.

"I've been left....to lick my wounds/For too long...Down to bone~" She opened her eyes slowly, letting pale water blues wash over the stark cheer that surrounded her without ever seeming to place a caress on her brow.

"Calloused tongue...Itchy teeth...Metal mouth with rubber gums/I can't talk now~" The thin girl seemed to grow thinner in her almost self-inflicted punishment of conversational starvation.

"Hold me for an hour," she whispered softly in her silk soft melody, begging blue eyes up at the clock, "Flowers bloom in less...." The clock stared back at her. "We'll brace this crumbling tower...The harvest of distress..."

"Eeke me out....Make me last/I am a broken ship/A sinking mast..." Caleb mentioned a party or some sort of get together and was inviting Quinten. Another painful ache shot through her chest. It was a wonder her eyes weren't green from the dull vampire of envy that was sapping up all her happiness.

"You filled me up/And made the holes/With fingertips/Red nails and cutting words...Patch me up~" Her face fell and her eyes gazed down with guilt and shame at the desk, ice colored eyes threatening to melt and spill their usually calm waters onto the fake wooden surface.

"Hold me for an hour..." she whispered softly, like a sorrowful ghost attached to this plane by her own agony, "Flowers bloom in less..." Her glassy gaze lifted to the scornful clock once more. "We'll brace this crumbling tower..." It glowered down at her in every ounce of its unforgiving nature. "The harvest of distress..."

Poetry closed her eyes, locking the prisoners there away, behind the cell doors of her eyelids. "Hmmm...hmmmm...Hmmmm......Hmmmm...hmmm~" Ridiculous. She was such a silly, flimsy thing. No wonder she was being punished. She had a wonderful life, filled with nice pictures of smiling people and sunshine, and album books with names and faces of those who said they cared. She should be very happy to be so lucky.

So why did she feel so awful?

"Hold me for an hour..."

"Flowers bloom in less..."

"We'll brace this crumbling tower..."

"The harvest of distress..."



Group One:
Aria Delaney. Oberon Grimbald. Ebony Washinton. Clyde Lee. Thomas Jones. Jacob McKinnon.

@A Tattooed Girl Aria: All together unremarkable. An athlete with poor heart-sick boys falling over her heels and lapping up the dust of her heels, as if she were some sort of Aphrodite.

@mskennedy615 Ebony: Sweet enough, though much like Aria. However it was unclear as to why the beauty wasn't getting more attention. She was, after all, leaps and bounds over many of the usual 'popular girl' cookie-cutout type.

@Klaykid Clyde: Entertaining and all around rather sincerely good fellow, though his awkwardness in expressing such things was a bit painful to bear witness to. Entertaining though, since he was also an admirer of the Aira one.

@Thane Thomas: A companionable fellow. No complaints.

@smarty0114Jacob: A rotten hollow log of greed, lust, vanity, and pride. No asset to the group what-so-ever and no chance at ever changing his ways till he ended up in a dead end job with an unhappy home life. Pitiable, if irritating.

So this was his group for the volcano project? And what were they all up to during the little free-time any of them would have a decent excuse for mingled outside of their 'worthy' peer group? They were messing around. Of course they were. Oberon ran a hand through his hair, stony expression taking on somewhat of an irritated tick to his sharp jaw.

Standing, the gothic gentleman-dress boy loomed over Aria firstly. His eyes were like that of colored glass: no emotion, no warmth, no clue as to what he might be thinking. Expect for the ticking in his jaw. The tiniest hint of irritation.

"We should designate sections of the assignment to each person in the group," his voice poured out of his pierced lips like bittersweet warm coffee, "Equal work, but minimum interaction." The dark boy glanced from Caleb to Ebony to Thomas and back to Aria. "Everyone holds up their own end. Anyone who fails to pull their weight will be reported and," he looked squarely at Jacob, "offered up to get a flat failing grade."

"The sooner it is planned and delegated, the sooner I can be done with such trivial so called 'science' of making a child's volcano," he ran a hand through is hair and let a corner of his mouth tilt up in an almost arrogant smirk, "I have better things to waste time on than something so simple a six year old could do an adequate job at completing..."

---

---

Surprisingly, the week was not so bad except for having to know that his girlfriend and the blue-haired girl having to be lectured about fighting. For the most part, the week went by fairly quick, trying to keep up with homework, flirting here and there, comforting his girlfriend, and so on.

After leaving Mr. and Mrs. Porter, a couple he's come to like, simply because they shared the same last name and the fact that Mrs. Porter was into the music, Ezera felt that their class, he may be able to handle it aside from the art.

Ezera was not very fond about the group he was in. Yeah, this was a perfect opportunity to make more new friends but if they were going to be nasty to him, then he'd just have a new awkward relationship. There was indeed one good thing about his group, Flower(poetry) was in it. Yeah...she seemed to have a rough week, perhaps having an internal struggle. There were a couple times during the week he spoke to her. Yeah, she kind of caught him off guard with the change of personality, but he wanted her to know he didn't feel in different about her from the altercation. He had more respect for plant life and shit like that now but other than that, she was still cool to him, unlike some of the other students he sort of avoided her.

As soon as he walked into class and headed for his usual spot, right in the front corner, directly across from the teacher, he noticed his seat was occupied. The first thought was "Whoa what the fu-huh...what?.." looking at the legs first "Nice.... nice...." he said smiling and brought his view to the thighs and hips "mm-mmm" widening his eyes as he scanned up to the desktop noticing the torso and breasts *clears throat while gulping* and then viewed the face of the individual who took his seat as he raised an eyebrow and smirked before trying to look serious.

He cleared his throat and softly spoke "Uh...heh...yo-you in my seat Br-Brown Suga..." he said with a nervous smirk. He remembered that she usually sat several seat behind him but there was a girl in the back relaxing in Ebony's seat like she owned it. "Did that girl dee-bo your seat? You want me to get it back...for...yo-" That girl...she was the same one that talked shit at the carnival and she look like she could throw down with anyone and not give a damn if you're a guy or a girl. An I don't give a fuck aggressive type. Yeah, Ezera could go ahead and force her but that would look terribly bad on his part and then he may have to fight her and whoever else that has her back and he's not in the mood to get into any shit. He looked back down at Ebony "You know what.....fuck it....you as long as it's you, you can sit in my spot any time you want, Brown Suga." he said going around her to sit down in the seat behind where he usually sat, belonging to someone named...Kelsey or someone?

Taking his seat, he looked upon Ebony and the list of others he was teaming with for the group project. He spoke out once more to Ebony "Psst.....pssssst....hey...Brown Suga...mind if I cal you that? How do you feel about the group match ups? Think this shit will be a disaster? I only have one person I know...well know mostly of but indeed cool with..Flower..uh...Poetry. Are you teamed up with anyone you approve of?" he asked her and looked back behind him and noticed in the very center of the class, Poetry seemed a little to herself.

While speaking with Ebony, he wrote something down on a sheet of notebook paper, crumbled it and tossed it to Poetry's lap to get her attention to look at it. Ezera was waiting for her to look over as he was signalling her to look at the paper he threw so she could look at it.

he wrote to her:

By far, Blake felt that Mr. and Mrs. Porter’s class would be the best one yet. Not only could he now practice piano or perfect his artistic ambition, he could do so in the presence of others! He daydreamed of all the potential combos of instruments, of singing to someone else’s beat or simply sharing his own designs. It was like a dream come true, and he was entirely optimistic when it came to their joint class. In fact, he managed to convince one of the loner kids to play his violin with him. He saw this as a great accomplishment, as he noticed the kid in his neighborhood, but he never really got to speak to him. Blake learned that his name was Nathaniel, but not much after that. Still, it was a good step forward!

Now in homeroom at the end of the week, Blake didn’t really know anyone in his volcano group, and he saw this as the perfect opportunity to make new friends. In fact, he didn’t really know anyone except Sadie. They had first met because Blake admired her brother when it came to performances, and he was glad that he could find a similar interest with Sadie. Sure, they weren’t as close as he was with Ebony or Poetry, but that was just another reason why this project would be good for building relationships. Sure, he felt you really couldn’t get that scientific when it came to volcanoes except maybe talking about how they work,

And the best part was that he didn’t even have to leave his chair. As he scouted the room for his groupmates, one of them had decided to take it upon herself to find her group. It must of been how he wasn’t particularly busy with anything, except reviewing one of his new favorite songs to play on the piano. He didn’t quite remember her name though… It started with a… S? He thought. Regardless, he was happy that she wanted to talk about the project. The faster they would get it done, the faster they could all have free time to avoid worrying.

“Sure, I don’t mind. I actually kinda want it done as soon as we can.” He replied, a confident, warm smile appearing on his face. He didn’t want to scare her off, but instead wanted to make sure that he appeared decently approachable. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Nathaniel staring at Poetry, but was not paying attention to what was occurring, instead focusing on Selene.

Unknown to him, Nathan wasn’t really sure what to think. He wanted to get the project done, but everyone in his group was doing something different. Taking matters into his own hands, Nathan began to write down some potential ideas for the project, wondering to himself if he would have to do it by himself like he’s done countless times in the past.

The triplets were sitting at their desks, bored. Tadhg was listening to music, a headphone slipped through his sleeve. Suddenly, Maeve got up, and went over to Blake.

"Hey, Blake, how's the day been?" she asked him.

Conan also saw someone that he liked, but for him it was Nathan. "Hey," he said, "Are you doing anything after school? You can come round to my house if you like." Hopefully, he'd be able to get to know him better. That'd be nice, and then they could start to be good friends, perhaps.

Despite the fiasco in the lunch room the first day of school, Wynona had been having a pretty stress free and good first week of school. She was actually looking more forward to her time in class rather than being at home, due to the constant bickering and name calling here parents had resorted down to. In respect to any documents that needed to be signed during this initial start up week, she took it into her own hands and forged her parent's signatures so she wouldn't have to ask them herself. Hopefully she wouldn't get caught in the act, but even if she did, it would be worth it.

Math class was on the same level as dread as science class, and Wynona didn't take any interest in the subject. The idea of the workbook was a pain in the ass, but knowing that she had her own choice in completing it she wondered if she could get her older brother's help over the holidays. Mrs. Ford's class was a bit overwhelming with how much perfection was required, but the idea of keeping everything in a binder was a bit of a plus. Wynona liked the idea of things being put together in their right places. Often when things become chaotic Wynona shuts down and blocks everything that is going on around her.

Mr. and Mrs. Porter's class was amazing albeit strange. Wynona loved the ability to show her guitar skills off as well as her art skills. She knew that some of her classmates didn't feel the same way as she did about art and music, but as long as she got a little bit of time in that class to detox from the previous classes, she knew that she would be okay. Mr. Porter also noticed the doodles Wynona had drawn on her legs over the week when she decided to wear shorts on one of the hotter days. He told her her legs were a work of art, and that he wouldn't mind seeing more of it. Wynona shook this off as very creepy, and decided she would never wear shorts in their class ever again.

By the end of the week Wynona was definitely in the groove of how Arrowsmith ran, and after being assigned her group for the volcano project for science. Her group consisted of Maeve ó Faoláin. Indiana Ryder. Caleb McKinnon. Amelia Rashfree. and Tadhg ó Faoláin. Though Wynona hadn't known them very well she hadn't heard too many bad things about any of them. Besides Amelia, who was involved in the fight in the lunch room. Wynona hoped that she wouldn't cause drama for this group as well, but on the other hand Wynona could take care of those things herself.

Sitting in homeroom again as the first weekend approached, Wynona felt relieve. She had already made plans with Selene to go shopping that weekend and with help of Selene's mom maybe venture into the city a bit to look at some of the bigger and better stores. She would admit she was very excited to have plans already with her friend. However, she knew that the volcano project would have to be done eventually as well.

Sitting at her desk in homeroom she looked through her papers as she read through her group assignment again. Looking to all the names. She looked around homeroom class and matched each of the names with the faces. They all seemed to be relatively busy so she decided to wait for someone to approach her about it before she made any moves. She decided in the meantime to work on some homework from earlier classes.

"I'm actually kinda pumped for it,"

Quinten's smile spread almost to his ears and he immediately looked over at her out of the corner of his eye, then back towards Caleb. He couldn't blame his pal, she was one of the prettier girls in their grade. Hell, she always had been. Even in grade school. Any boy back then would have risked cooties to have just simply held her hand. "'Thinking Out Loud', bro?" he gave a light chuckle, but was cut off my Jacob's response.

"I wonder why you're so excited Lover Boy,"

Immediately, almost in sync with Caleb, he turned to glare at Jacob and mouthed, 'Shut up!' Quinten quickly side-glanced Indie before turning to give Jake one last glare, giving Lily a friendly 'hello' smile before turning back to address Caleb's offer of coming over after school to play some COD. There was no hesitation in his reply, he hardly let Caleb finish, "I'm so down. Get to wreck on some noobs!" Quinn smirked, all this time having continued to play the song on his guitar, which now came to a final end. From his right, Quinn could hear Jake inviting Lily over to their house. His face crinkled up in disgust, leaning closer to Caleb as he murmured, "We're gonna need to crank up the surround sound, if you catch my drift."

Suddenly it came back into his attention that Indie had bandages on the side of her head, so he decided to ask lover-boy. Whispering as low as he could so Indie, who sat right in front of Caleb, couldn't hear. "Ey, do you know what happened to her?" After a second of hesitation, he continued, trying to sound as genuine as possible, "Maybe you should talk to her. Ask her if she's okay, man." As much as it could have been taken as teasing, Quinn knew Caleb know him well enough to figure the tone in his voice meant otherwise.

---

---

Peeking up from her science packet that she'd already managed to blow through without trouble, she looks at her binder where she wrote down her science fair project group's names. Oberon Grimbald. Ebony Washington. Clyde Lee. Thomas Jones. Jake McKinnon. In her boredom, she began to draw over Jake's name, then scribbling over it, blacking it out. 'There, perfect,' she thought to herself with a smirk. Looking around the room, Aria scanned from her back left all the way to Clyde who sat right beside her on her right and stopped. He had his head buried in his arms, appearing to be upset. It came to her attention that the teacher had mentioned the girl who'd sat in front of him moved a few days ago. Were they friends? Had to be. Or something at home was going on. Either way, it almost hurt Aria to see him look so sad. Reaching over, Aria tenderly tapped his shoulder twice with a single finger. "Hey, um.. Clyde.." Was that- ..yeah, that was his name. Normally she wasn't bad with names, but for some reason it was a bit difficult to place his at the moment. "A-Are you okay?" From her left came a voice, one she wasn't particularly familiar with.

"We should designate sections of the assignment to each person in the group. Equal work, but minimum interaction." Already, Aria was starting to not like this guy. The way he held himself and spoke to her, he seemed to act as though he thought he was better than the rest of the class.

"Everyone holds up their own end. Anyone who fails to pull their weight will be reported and," strong dramatic pause, "-offered up to get a flat failing grade." Okay, yes. That was understandable and no-doubt an obvious rule among any group project.

"The sooner it is planned and delegated, the sooner I can be done with such trivial so called 'science' of making a child's volcano. I have better things to waste time on than something so simple a six year old could do an adequate job at completing..." Aria half turned towards Oberon at this point and looked him dead in the eye, narrowing her own just slightly when she noticed his smirk.

"There's no need to be a snob. I don't know where you get this.." Aria stumbled on the word she wanted, "-attitude.. but there's no way we're going to be one happy family in this project if you're going to start being that way. However correct you may be in the fact the people who do the least work, or no work at all, will be credited properly.. you could suggest said demands a little nicer." Aria looked from his eyes to his toes and back again, her lips pressing into a thin, frustrated sort of line. "And maybe smile every once in a while. Wouldn't hurt ya, would it?"

“Right... Uh... anyone want to... exchange numbers? Coordinate the project efforts?” meekly spoke Clyde.

It felt like his group had no confidence in him. It was a fair and accurate assessment given the boy's disposition. But Clyde will prove their ideas wrong. He decided this year will be the one to break free from his shell. It will take work, especially when his closest friend was gone and his other friend did not seem like the type to be an all encompassing person. But he was grateful Derek was fond of the boy. This project could be the saving grace Clyde always wished for. That, and it the whole passing grade thing will help too.

"Hey, um.. Clyde.."

There were two taps to his shoulder followed by a feminine voice. Clyde looked to his left, saw that it was Aria Delaney talking to him, and he immediately turned to face forwards. It definitely seemed cold to those who did not know Clyde and his fear of women. Remembering his mishap with Indiana Rider, he vowed to make a better effort in communicating with those of the opposite sex.



She was worried about him? The thought brought a bit of joy to his heart, but he quickly pushed that feeling down and kept his composure. His awkward composure. He turned back to her with nervousness on his face. Her eyes were a dark brown color complimenting her hair which flowed down to her chest. She had a great sense of style and her words sounded friendly with a hint of genuine concern. “Don't be rude,” Clyde thought about himself.

“I-I'm... fine.”

That was a complete lie. Clyde sighed to himself and looked to his desk. Lying to Aria did not feel right.

“Ah... that's a lie,” he mumbled. “I m-mean... I'll be alright. My friend is gone so it feels lonely is all. But... thanks... you know, for your concern. I truly appreciate it.”

A smile crept on his face for a moment before quickly disappearing. Was it creepy to smile at people you are not close to? Maybe. He would have to take care to watch his expressions.

Wait a minute, Aria is in the same group as him.

“So... have any ideas about that, uh, project?”

Two full sentences without vomiting from fear. Abby would be so proud.

After the verbal battle between Amelia and Zia ended with somewhat reconciliation it made Sadie a little happier, but it still affected her bad. After that she just solemnly went back to the table they had sat at. Before she got there she had discreetly put the fruit cup on some random persons table. She didn't feel like eating. The rest of the day she did appear as her normally happy self. The rest of the day blended together until leaving for home.

The rest of the week was used to regather herself. She loved all of her classes and really enjoyed the Porter's class. She also liked that they were able to dance. It was fun dancing with Poetry except that Sadie wasn't able to put her all into it. She was still feeling down from what happened the first day. Normally she would have participated in talking about dancing with Poetry and Mrs. Porter, but she just couldn't bring herself to. The only thing she was worried about for the class was learning to play an instrument. However, she may be able to use this opportunity to learn how to play the Violin from Noelle who has been asking her to give it a try for so long.

The last day of the first week she was just sitting in her seat. She didn't really know what she wanted to do with her free time so she decided to just figure things out for the Science Fair project. She thought over the people who were announced in her group as she wrote down various things she knew they needed and what they needed to do.

The first that came to mind was Blake. At least she knew she would have one friend in the group with her. That should make becoming friends with the others much easier. She was at least looking forward to getting to know him better.

Next was Selene. Sadie didn't know the girl to well. She was happy the girl had tried the other day to attempt to diffuse the tension the other day. Sadie hoped she could become good friends with her. It was a similar situation with Sonny however Sadie was a little frightened to attempt speaking with the boy.

Francisco was another friends of hers. She only barely knew him, but they were good enough friends. The other two Sadie didn't know at all really and hoped that she'd be able to get to know them well. Once she was done inside her thoughts she noticed Selene get up from her seat and heard her go talk to Blake. Sadie quickly finished writing down her list and then hopped out of her seat. She walked two desks back and said, "So, does anyone have a preferred task they would like to do?"

---

---

Derek's week was going crappier than normal. Mainly due to Abbie moving away before at least going on a walk with him. He was half pissed more than ever before half depressed. Made for interesting interactions. Just like all other classes he didn't care for the others. However, he thought the Porter's class would be an excellent excuse to learn how to play the drums. He was gonna have fun irritating his grandfather with the talent he wanted to cultivate.

As he thought about his group for the project he was pretty disappointed. No one who seemed overly capable of doing the work. He just didn't care so he only planned on doing enough for it to count. Lilac and Conan didn't particularly seem the types to add much from being somewhat quiet from what he saw. Cass didn't seem like the girl to even want to do anything. Similar thing with Kelsey. The only person he thought would be interesting was Mitzie. The whole event on the first day of school was amusing to Derek.

Anyway the boy had no desire to really do anything right now. His eyes fell on Clyde. Derek actually felt pity for the guy. His best friend was gone and with how this kid was that wasn't a good thing. Derek felt like he and the kid were in similar mess. They both cared for Abbie in different ways and now the girl was gone. Derek quickly wrote down a short poem on a piece of paper. When he finished he ripped it out of the notebook. He folded the paper up then got up, walked past Clyde's desk, and dropped the paper discreetly onto Clyde's desk.



He made sure he did this while Clyde was turned talking to some girl. Derek eyed Oberon during his dropoff though to see if he had noticed. Once he was done he left the classroom saying he had to use the restroom.

Poetry had been singing softly to herself in whispers, begging Time to move faster. It was becoming a bit of a habit to do that here in school. But then again, she didn't do it because of classes. She did it because of her own actions had most likely killed any potential chance at gaining close friends and she couldn't bare the shame.

Her loose silver-gold hair fell over her shoulders and down her back. In her pale blues, her cheeks only just barely hinting at the warmth beneath the soft skin, the girl not only appeared a ghost... It seemed she was treated as one too. But that was probably her fault too, considering how withdrawn she had been lately. Eyes glazing over, as if sitting for so long was starting to ice her over both outside and in, Poetry practically jumped out of her skin when she felt something hop right onto her lap.

A crumpled piece of paper. Her surprise turned to confusion as she looked up and around. Ezera was looking at her, almost signaling for her to read whatever the crumpled message contained. Dread slid like oil through her veins. Oh trip-tailin' cyclone, there was no way this could be good. What would it be then? An apologetic explanation of how he didn't ever want to talk to her or have her talk to his girlfriend ever again? Or maybe he was good at acting and his anger had reached the tipping point and it would be full on threats?

This is why aggression never paid off. Wilting like a dying flower in vase, she slowly, listless undid the crumpled paper, remembering the lesson the teacher had given on their first day. 'Some things can't be undone...' B*tchin... Her social life was dead it couldn't even come back as a zombie...

But there was no venom hidden on the paper. And as she read the little letter, life seemed to flow back to her cheeks, her back straightening a bit more, her shoulders not shrinking so much like a whipped dog's tail. So he and Amelia weren't mad at her any more? They were going to forgive her? She looked up at Ezera with shining clear-water eyes. A smile split over her face. Bobbing her head, as if to tell him she was alright, she pressed the paper in between her books.

Running her finger through her hair, patting her cheeks till blood rushed back into them, making them bloom just a bit more. She stood, shedding her oversized white sweater. A deep purple tee-shirt with orange and blue mosaic designs revealed her zest was back. A true hippie-chic shirt for a revitalized sensitive. Standing straight, she lifted her arms above her head, stretching out her arms. The willowy fae grinned even though her pale belly showed a bit, and her eyes went over to Quinten and Lily. How unfortunate for them. They'd have a fully charged Poetry Bluebell Carolina Sundance to deal with.

Picking up a few things from her bag, she handed a stapled five page outline to Ezera. Then she moved through the desks over to the small group of popular people. Each step she took was like a step on across air, and she slipped through each small gap with a dancer-like grace that mimicked pure ballet. Standing in front of them finally, she grinned her full hundred-watt sunflower smile.

"Get trippin' and set your eyes on something I drew~" she practically sang in her airy light melody, "Group Five, get hip to this jive~ On this project you'd think you flew~ Keep up with me and maybe you're grades will stay alive~" She giggled jovial music that bubbled up and spilled over her lips.

"Catch it," she practically snapped to attention, though her lips were still tilted in an amused grin, "I already pulled books from the library on two of the most slammin' lava-shooters." She handed copies of her outlined research to Quinten and then placed one by Jacob and Lily. Oh and of course she gave one to Nathaniel and Nicoletta too, but she was more concerned with the cool kids understanding the task master they were grouped up with.

"Pompeii or Mt. Fuji," she grinned brightly, "Both are listed, twisted, and totally rung out of all the info available in our library in the outline I drew up." She put a hand on her hip and held up her copy. "History is somethin' pretty ace wit' me, so I got my wheels spinnin' on day two~ Anyway, it's not like I had much to do~"

She tipped her head to the side, beaming cheerfully, though her pale eyes seemed to gleam with a challenge at Jacob's friend with the guitar, since she all but assumed he'd be the weak link in the group. Populars always had stuff going on, so they were the hardest to work with, but if he made at least a small effort, she'd be down to help him out.



Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he sighed. Of course she'd see him as the villain. His tone hadn't helped any. But this whole situation of having to work in a group had him on edge. If any of them slipped up on their responsibilities and the entire group go a low grade... Well, maybe most parents got mad and yelled, but his... 'guardians' were less conventional. And he had the bruised ribs and fresh itching tattoo to prove it.

The newest addition to the gallery of ugly on his skin was at his neck this time. Pulling on his collar, he tried hard not to itch the damned thing, but it was proving difficult, now in a conflict with their grade's Boxing Aphrodite. His uncomfortable situation was pressing down on his stony features, making him subconsciously glare down his nose at her.

"I apologize deeply if I offended you tender sensibilities, miss, but I am... itching to be done with this entire experience," he looked away from her, trying to keep the edge from his quiet, deep, rolling voice. He rather failed, though he kept his glare from hitting her. He tugged on his collar some more. His uninterested and almost completely bored glower hit Jacob instead. But Aria was demanding his attention it seemed, and from his rather unconsciously rude introduction, he deserved her narrowed eyes.

"And I fear my mannerisms are due to being most unenthused at dealing with..." he held his tongue, eyes coldly sliding over to Jacob before letting a sigh slip from his mouth, "Well." And his stoneset features held their usual cold and somber expression once more. Should he get lower than a C on this project because of that... hollow log, he'd have to exact revenge for any torment he got at home. And revenge took so much energy and time...

"We were never going to work as a well oiled machine, miss," he ran a hand through his hair once more, his cynical gaze hitting the floor by her feet, "As you can already tell, I am not well received by other and enjoy working alone." His gaze softened with something a kin to gentle pity as it fell on Clyde.

"I merely do not wish to spend a large portion of time in this... crowd," he ran that hand over his face, before adding a deep mumble, "It's exhausting..." He let the hand fall to his side, the other hand deep in his pocket. He stayed quiet for a moment when she suggested he smile. The victorian goth gazed at her unblinking for a moment longer.

"Smiling is something to do when you are happy from the bottom of your heart, is it not?" he asked quietly, "Well... If it is... I doubt I'll smile till the day I graduate."

Clyde asked if they had any ideas about the project and his gaze softened with something a kin to kindness towards the tragic boy. He knew how much trouble the other had with speaking aloud. Much less around the girl he liked. His dead gaze returned to said girl.

"Any ideas, hm? Well, I can do the mathematical calculations for dimension and supplies to be used. Construction shall have to be someone else's job however... The project would doubtless be reduced to utter destruction at my.. 'house'. Any writing I can do as well. Tell me, miss, are you willing to protect our little science project at your place? I hear you are good at that sort of thing."

@alexfangtalon Derek had dropped a paper on Clyde's desk, so Oberon engaged the disgusted Aria with his little facts and inquiries. It made him shift uncomfortably, getting so close to talking about his 'home' to strangers such as this. He didn't like it, but Derek was one of those few people who's secrets Oberon actually tried to guard. The guy could get deep and he respected anyone willing to plunge within themselves to seek and purge out their more genuine and undiluted feelings.

---

Selene beamed – well, at least Blake was reasonable, despite her sudden approach. And she still had so much to ask about. “Excellent! Well-“

Before Selene could get much further than that, another student approached. Selene didn’t remember her name; she hadn’t been present on the first official day of school. She also of course hadn’t met her back in middle school. All Selene remembered was that they had some particularly foreign names.

Then again, considering her own family and her Greek-inspired name, there was maybe the slightest touch of hypocrisy there.

“Excuse me, Blake will be available shortly. I wanted to talk with him about our upcoming assignment, though?” Her voice raised its pitch as she talked – a common sign of a question, despite her words barely being phrased as such. It was a shame, to be sure, but best to get as much of this out of the way as possible. “Just, I intend to be busy tomorrow, and I’d like to handle it now, as much as possible.” She put on a smile. Hopefully, the intent would be understood.

Selene was interrupted again, by a third arrival – but at least it was Sadie, who was also in the group, and clearly also considering what needed to be done. A preferred task, hm?

“Personally, I’d like to be on the …I suppose experimental side of things? Sculpting and painting have never been a forte of mine. Though-“ she glanced between the two. “I was thinking maybe we could do more than the basic ‘baking soda and vinegar’ reaction? I am curious as to what else would work.” Granted, it was possible it was more work than the group wanted to do. “I did want to ask, since it may not be feasible to do it on my property – there’s hardly a yard in case things go… wide.” She trailed off before tacking on that last word. She wasn’t exactly expecting to work with hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide, after all. Nothing that strong. But still potentially messy.

"Uh...heh...yo-you in my seat Br-Brown Suga..."

Ebony's head snapped up from her phone with wide eyes, a bit startled until she saw who'd spoken; she hadn't noticed him come into the classroom. She let a small smile form on her lips, though, as he spoke. Brown suga? He said a few words about trying to get her seat back from Indie, which caused her to laugh a bit, but they both knew better. "You know what, fuck it. As long as it's you, you can sit in my spot any time you want, Brown Suga." She nodded her head slightly, watching him as he walked around to take the seat behind her. Ebony wasn't entirely sure whose seat it was that he'd taken, but she was sure they wouldn't mind. She'd just turned back around when she heard him once more.

Psst. Pssssst.

"Hey, Brown Suga. Mind if I call you that? How do you feel about the group match ups? Think this shit will be a disaster? I only have one person I know of. Flower, uh...Poetry. Are you teamed up with anyone you approve of?" Turning around in her seat, Ebony nodded her approval of the nickname and sighed. She raised an eyebrow, though, as he wrote on a piece of paper. She'd only caught a glimpse of the words before he crumpled it up and tossed it towards Poetry. He waited for him to turn back around before she spoke.

"Nah," she said with a questioning look, "Only person I know for real in that group is Thomas. They ain't all that bad, though. What about you?" As she awaited his answer, however, she heard another voice.

"We should designate sections of the assignment to each person in the group. Equal work, but minimum interaction." Ebony shifted her gaze to the Oberon, her eyebrows furrowed. "Everyone holds up their own end. Anyone who fails to pull their weight will be reported and offered up to get a flat failing grade." She took note of the look that he gave Jacob, a smirk forming on her lips. It seemed as though she wasn't the only one with a very strong opinion of the dude. When he and Aria finished going back and forth, she decided to briefly cut in.

"While I do agree that this project is a bit... childish, I do think we can still have a lil' bit of fun with it. Construction can be my job, I guess," she said with a grin, "with a bit of help, of course. We can make it unique; something more creative than your average second grade volcano project... I can even keep it at my house, if Aria can't or doesn't want to." Her gaze then shifted to Clyde. "So yeah, we should most def' exchange numbers."

---

---

Miles sighed as he sat in his chair. In Homeroom, he had really never do anything besides read one of his books. Unfortunately, on that note, he didn't bring a book with him to read. Which just left him to his normal boredom. He had put on his contact lenses that morning, just to spice it up from him usually wearing his thick black glasses. Miles tapped the desk in front of him as he waited for the time to pass by.

Miles had heard the others speak and talk about to the others, as he looked around. He didn't really know his group, and didn't really care to know them at all. They all seemed... what's the word? He didn't exactly think of them as uninteresting, but in a way, he guessed they were. At least, uninteresting to him for now. Miles didn't really get a long with people, and even though most of the group were intelligent and clever, they still just seemed boring and dull.

"When is Homeroom gonna end...?" Miles muttered in a soft quiet groan. He shifted his position in his seat, his boring and somber expression wide and visible across his face. Miles scratched the back of his head, and yawned loudly.

He didn't mean to be that loud with his yawn, but it was too late to take it back. He shifted his eyes across the room to make sure no one was staring at him. Even though he couldn't see it, he was sure someone was staring at him. Oops.

“Excellent! Well-"

Blake looked at Selene with every intent of paying attention to what she was going to say, only for a familiar voice to ring behind him and breaking that attention that he had cast upon her. Turning to face the direction of the voice, he noticed that it was Maeve and gave her a warm smile. He hoped that she was doing alright, along with her brothers, seeing as they were both new here, along with being foreigners. He also loved their accents, and hoped one day that he'd be able to replicate various accents all in the name of acting. That, and he found it pretty cool to do so.

So when he began to open his mouth to say hi, he immediately closed it as his teammate decided to answer Maeve with her own thoughts. Her words sounded harsh to the ear, but Blake detected the intent of what she was attempting to communicate. Seeing an opening, Blake responded with "Nothing wrong with trying to get this project settled, and it's been good Maeve, I'll have to ask you how yours has been later." He stopped there, noticing another familiar face approaching.

This time it was Sadie, but it was also due to the project. He was glad to have at least one familiar face on the project to work with, and since she was very well mannered, he knew she could help him make friends. He stopped that train of thought, focusing on what the others had to say about what they should do. It caused him to ponder what he would want to do, but he felt he could let his more artistic side show in this project too.

"I wouldn't mind creating the volcano, and we could come to my house to do some different experiments besides the regular baking soda volcano if you want. I have a spacious backyard, or we could test it in the front yard... Either way, I wouldn't mind accommodating everyone, it would be pretty fun." he told them, holding a confident smile in hopes of creating, well, hope in them that they'd get this done right, but have fun with it too.




Nathan's stares at Poetry's lamenting was thankfully interrupted by the sound of an Irish accent hitting his ears underneath his earbuds, hastily taking them off to face the voice. Upon seeing that it was Conan, a wave of hidden happiness and nervousness swept across Nathaniel, masking it behind an almost unfaltering, content smile on his face. He was glad that it was his rested and relaxed face, otherwise he'd feel embarrassed. He was asking Nathan if he was doing anything after school, and to a point, he really wasn't. He had planned on doing his regular routine, going to work out at the community center, swim afterward to cool down... Spend most of his day there...Alone...

The thought of hanging out with someone else somewhat terrified him, if he was being honest, let alone with someone he didn't really know. Sure, he somewhat knew Conan, but would he have to meet his parents? Interact for prolonged periods of time? What if he messed up somehow... His interactions with other guys his age was often limited, so it was a decision that, while regularly shouldn't take that long, was taking Nathan quite awhile to answer, let alone think of a decision in the first place. When he realized he was staring, he quickly shook his head to snap out of his trance of thoughts, taking a deep breath so that he didn't sound awkward when he would answer.

"I... I guess I'm free, I suppose. I, uh, don't know where you live though."

---

---

Caleb nodded as Quinten suggested he ask Indie what was wrong. Indie was his best friend, second only to Quinten, but he knew sometimes that she just liked to be left alone. But as he looked her over, he figured that he might as well take the chance. Biting his lip nervously, he leaned across the aisle to whisper to his friend. "Hey, you good? You seem...off," he said, careful to keep his voice low. He knew Indie didn't want her business broadcasted to all of their homeroom.

Meanwhile, Jacob and Lily were forced to interact with their respective groups, separating the two for the time being. Jacob smirked at his own group. They had the goth kid, Creepy Clyde, that photographer chick, some kid he didn't know too well, and the bitch. He shook his head. "I couldn't care less. Slap me with a job and I'll do it," he said nonchalantly. Jacob wasn't an academic, that much was clear to anyone who knew him, and this project was failing to peak his interest.

Lily on the other hand, was thrilled. If there was anything she loved more than people, it was art. And if you thought about it, this was basically a big art project. "I'll help build the volcano! Make it look all pretty! We can totally use my place as a home base too," she said, grinning and bouncing up and down in excitement.

“I m-mean... I'll be alright. My friend is gone so it feels lonely is all. But... thanks... you know, for your concern. I truly appreciate it.” Clyde had smiled but as soon as it appeared, it disappeared. Aria attempted a genuine half-smile back at him, knowing full well what it was like to lose friends to a move. “So... have any ideas about that, uh, project?” During this time, Aria watched as Derek walked down the isle between hers and Clyde's seats, delivering some folded up piece of paper while staring over Aria's head at Oberon. The look alone made Aria slightly uncomfortable, but only in a way that she assumed the kid was staring at Oberon because of his differences with the rest of the class. The one goth kid among the masses. Tall, dark and brooding, himself. Aria shrugged off the encounter and turned her attention back to Clyde to respond to his question. "Actually, I do. I previously did a volcano project at my middle school in the district next door for my 7th grade year. Got a B+ on it. Shouldn't be too hard to re-do."

"I apologize deeply if I offended you tender sensibilities, miss, but I am... itching to be done with this entire experience," Aria glanced down at nothing in particular, her eyes widening slightly as if saying, 'Lord help me.' Turning halfway to face Oberon again, she listened intently to his rant, even though it was pretty pointless. He wanted nothing to do with the group, but wanted to be sure each person was to do their job on account they would all get a passing grade for their group efforts, willingly or not. She saw his gaze fall behind her a couple seats and she knew who he'd been staring at, not particularly caring to follow said gaze. She kept her eyes forward, hearing Oberon specifically call her attention, causing her to come back into focus. Tell me, miss, are you willing to protect our little science project at your place? I hear you are good at that sort of thing."

Before she could respond, someone else piped into the conversation. A voice she'd not personally heard much from since school started. "While I do agree that this project is a bit... childish, I do think we can still have a lil' bit of fun with it." Aria turned to meet the eyes of Ebony. She'd seen the girl a few times outside of the classrooms, seemed to be a pretty chill chick. Aria had no qualms with working alongside her. "Construction can be my job, I guess.. with a bit of help, of course. We can make it unique; something more creative than your average second-grade volcano project... I can even keep it at my house, if Aria can't, or doesn't want to." Her gaze then turned on Clyde. "So yeah, we should most def' exchange numbers."

Mental groan. This was the one thing Aria was trying to avoid, at least for some people, anyway. However, Aria nodded in agreement and played it off like a true sport, writing down her name and number several times on a piece of paper. She began ripping out individual sets as she spoke to Ebony. "I've got some experience with making these.. atrocities. It matters little to me who houses the construction part of this project.. but if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to help with that." She smiled towards Ebony as she handed her one of the paper shreds with her number on it, then giving each of her other project-mates one as well. Even tossing Jacob a crumpled up piece of paper, hitting him square in the forehead, but her number was not written on this paper. They hadn't exchanged so much as a word since finding out they had the same class together, and Aria planned to keep it that way, she just couldn't resist. She quickly turned away with an evil little smirk on her face, her shoulders hunched over slightly as if she was waiting for the blow-back.

yeaн, ι don'т тнιnĸ ѕo.

'Cause baby now we got bad blood
now we got problems
And I don't think we can solve them :b

---

---

With his friend now occupied, Quinten held his guitar up above the ground as he picked himself up off the floor, dusting off his arse before turning to walk back towards his seat. Not so fast. As he went to walk down the isle he sat in, a blonde girl came walking down the very isle, blocking his path. Quinten raised an eyebrow as he looked her over, then realizing who she was. Poetry. Poetry Sundance. One of his project companions. Besides himself, that left Nathaniel Anderson, Nicoletta Soriano, Ezera Porter, and Lily for their group.

"Group Five, get hip to this jive. On this project you'd think you flew. Keep up with me and maybe you're grades will stay alive." There was a few moments pause, but she continued her speech. "Catch it, I already pulled books from the library on two of the most slammin' lava-shooters." Quinten tenderly took the paper from Poetry, skimming over what it had written in ink as she handed copies out to the rest of their group. "Pompeii or Mt. Fuji," Quinten noticed her smile seemed to reach from ear to ear, half wondering if she was just genuinely this peppy or if she was one of those who liked to hide a fractured spirit behind a beautiful smile. He made a mental note to maybe ask her on another day, when they might know each other a bit better. Quinten seemed to always fall for the girls with troubled pasts. "Both are listed, twisted, and totally rung out of all the info available in our library in the outline I drew up. History is somethin' pretty ace wit' me, so I got my wheels spinnin' on day two. Anyway, it's not like I had much to do."

Quinten was busy reading over the paper still as she spoke, but once he realized she'd stopped talking, he glanced up and mentally jumped. She was staring right at him with a particular look about her, causing Quinten to raise an eyebrow at such a peculiar stare. Clearing his throat nervously, finding it hard to put together a simple sentence, thankful Lily had taken the opportunity to speak up. "I'll help build the volcano! Make it look all pretty! We can totally use my place as a home base too," Quinten nodded with agreement. "Sounds like a plan to me. Since Poetry already has quite a bit of the research done already, I'll hop in on construction too, if that's cool? I researched how to build these things. I've actually got a lot of the materials at home. I could bring them to Jake and Caleb's house tonight so you could take it home with you, Lily, so you have it at your place, if you'd like?"

Indiana was just about ready to punch in the face whoever was talking to her right now. She had made it ridiculously clear that she didn't want to be disturbed, so why was some random guy whispering in her ear? Yeah, the big ass bandage on her head wasn't exactly easily missed, but that didn't make it any more of their business. Clicking her tongue, she turned - only to meet the concerned gaze of Caleb. Fuck.

She had purposefully been avoiding him today for this exact reason - the last thing she wanted was for him to be worried about her. Her icy gaze held his for a second and, as if something clicked in her mind, her lips pulled up in a smile and she pulled herself up a little straighter. With one hand holding the off button on her phone to shut it down and cease its constant buzzing, she shifted in her seat slightly so that she was facing him.

"I'm just peachy keen, jelly bean." Her nose scrunched up as she said it, making it clear that she was not 100% serious. Indie's gaze left his for a second to properly take in the rest of the room; finding amusement at Jacob's face as he realised who was in his group, her eyes purposefully sliding past Oberon, to rest on Clyde who was stammering as per usual. If it were perhaps another day, she would have tried to re-introduce herself to him as she felt a particular liking towards him, but for now she left her conversation to Caleb and Caleb alone.

"How are we doing this science fair thing then?" She left her hand fall flat on the table, displaying her intent. "I want ours to be the most magnificent, catastrophic volcano that the world has ever seen." She shot her best friend a mischevious smirk, as he knew that anything she had to do with would most likely end in disaster. Part of Indiana was grateful for this project, as it would be a good excuse to keep her mind off last night. Maybe she could tell Caleb? No. That's not fair on him.

She took a moment to look, properly look, at the boy. She knew Caleb better than she knew herself, she reckoned. She had always preferred his shaggy hair and reserved good looks to his brother's flashy appearance, and his intense blue gaze was always there to comfort her. A week ago, she was have been scolding herself for even daring to think such things; but right now, she didn't give a shit.

---

---

Mitzie walked to her desk before hearing her group, rolling her eyes as she knew no one before getting a piece of paper out and a pen. She wished she was in the group with one girl. She pretended to be straight but she was actually pansexual and she leaned towards girls but she felt like the girl she loved would like someone else as she wondered what to write for her first note. She obviously was not going to sign her name but probably the letter M. She knew Amelia could keep a secret so she would give it to her to give to the girl she was crushing on right now.
Ebony
This is my first note to you but I have a feeling it won't be my last. I like you and that is the truth, it may be just a crush right now but I don't think it will be a crush for too long. Your hair is beautiful by the way. I will never sign these with my name but you will just have to find out who I am if you want to know.
-M
She passed it over to Amelia because she was so scared of giving it to her herself so Amelia was friends with her so it would be better. Amelia got the note and walked over to Ebony. "I have a note for you, I can't tell you who it is from" Amelia giggled to Ebony and passed her the note before walking over to her group.

---

---

From the bright response he received from Poetry, it was as if the dark clouds cleared and the sun started shining down once again. That brought a smile upon Ezera's face noticing one of his partners and you could say, friend, showing the side he was used to seeing, show back up again. Hearing Ebony respond, Ezera turned back around to answer her. "Well I have Flower...Poetry, everyone calls her and others that I don't know but I guess I'll have to get well acquainted with them soon enough..." He responded smiling back at this beautiful cinnamon and maple.

The moment someone else caught her attention, Ezera felt it was time to go ahead and let her be so to get to know his group. He noticed something from the corner of his eye as Poetry brought something to him. Stapled pages, he turned to look at for a moment and then the next moment watching the back of Poetry as she worked her way around the other desks. Ezera turned to Ebony "Excuse Suge, I'll holla back at ya later. Be easy..." he said giving her a warm smile before following to where Poetry was walking to to meet other members of his group.

Walking up behind Poetry, he simply listened in on the conversation, taking a look at the students presently in the same group as himself. Wonder how they'd turn out? From what he was hearing, they seemed quite excited about the project and willing to pitch in to do whatever the needed to do to make it successful.

Ezera spoke up "Anything y'all need me to do. I'm down. Need commentary, project security, theme music and sound effects for the volcano, little lego people, snacks and shit, I got you..." He said not wanting to be a liability to the group.