Chapter Two

I was right so far. Everyone was sitting or grouped up around their desks, talking about Brooklynn. They were discussing why, when, and how she gave up her body to him. It was sick kind of, that people all knew the details. I honestly felt bad for her, but at the same time, I wanted to see how she was taking all this attention. She was in the other homeroom though, so I'd have to see in our first class.

From what I knew about her, she wasn't the attention seeking type of person. She enjoyed her privacy and such, but she did go out with boys a lot. This time, she must've just not cared enough to deny him.

There was about a minute until the late bell rang, and Ellie just stormed into homeroom.

"I'm here, I'm here. No need to worry!"

A couple kids chuckled at her while I just rolled my eyes and proceeded to doodle all over my new agenda. She came back to where I was sitting and took the open seat next to mine.

"Did you hear about Brooklynn? I feel so bad for her."

I nodded at Ellie, "How could I have missed the news when that's all people talk about."

"Now he's only down to three girls that he hasn't slept with in our grade. That means he'll be even more flirty with us, aren't you worried?"

I shrugged, "I'm pretty sure I can handle myself, are you sure you'll be okay?"

She was hesitant to answer, "Ellie, what did you do with him?"

She answered quickly but quietly, "The whole reason I was almost late was that he stopped me in the hall, and he was being all sweet and offering to help, and he just looked so cute and then we made out."

I looked at her with my lips parted a little, "You're kidding, right? Ellie, you can't just give him what he wants. You know he'll just leave you afterwards."

She shrugged, looking kind of mesmerized, "I know, but I can't help it. He's really hot, and now I know that he's a really good kisser. Like how I imagine Zac Efron to be. That good."

I shook my head, "You're unbelievable."

After we had the usual homeroom rules and back to school speech, we headed off in different directions to our first classes of the day. Mine just so happened to be English, one of my personal favorites. Not only because the teacher was young, attractive, and understood teenagers, but that certainly was a bonus. It was because reading was one of my favorite hobbies.

When I walked into the room, the desks were all pushed together in pairs of two with a blank lined piece of paper on each desk. People who had arrived before me were standing around the front of the room, confused as to what was happening. Mr. Porter was standing in the middle of the desks with a bowl full of what I feared to be names on paper.

"Welcome back, students! Everyone file in and stand at the front of the room."

I stood with the rest of my classmates, watching to see who I was going to be having class with for the rest of the year. Once my eyes spotted Connor standing beside some of the other guys, I internally groaned but turned my attention back to the teacher.

"Well, I've been teaching you guys for the past year, but have any of us really gotten to know each other? My goal this year is to get to know my students, but I want you guys to help with that. So, in this hat, I hold pieces of paper with all of your names on it. I will pull two names and those people will be partners for the next couple of weeks. You will spend time with your partner, both in and out of class, then write a biography of the person. We'll then read them so I can also get to know you guys, so be cautious of what you write."

When it was just down to a couple of us, and Mr. Porter pulled out Brooklynn's name, everyone got quiet. She watched as he pulled out a piece of paper and slowly read it.

"Connor."

She then turned to the teacher, and both her and Connor refused in sync.

"Can I switch?"

Mr. Porter looked from Brooklynn to Connor, then to the rest of the students sitting down. Most kids were shaking their head back and forth, meaning that they shouldn't be partners.

Mr. Porter sighed, "I guess I'll pick another, but that's only because I don't like the looks on your faces."

She ended up getting paired with another girl, which probably was a better idea.

If you couldn't already guess where this was heading, I ended up getting paired up with Connor. At this point, I didn't even try to hide my annoyance.

"Why?"

Mr. Porter looked back surprised, "Is there a problem, Elizabeth?"

I looked up at him, shaking my head slightly, "Not at all."

I didn't want to be one of those students this year, especially to Mr. Porter. Connor smirked at me before going to sit at one of the few empty paired up desks, with me following slowly behind him. He still made time to high five one of his disturbing slutty guy friends. I plopped down in the seat next to Connor, letting a sigh leave my lips.

Connor leaned back in his chair, wrapping his arm around the back of mine. I closed my eyes tightly, thinking of every happy thought I could muster up until Mr. Porter finally began his plans for the day.

"I know this is kind of short notice for you all, but it is definitely a short project and I'm sure you'll all have fun doing it. I expect this biography to be written by next Monday, and be prepared to read it. I'll give you guys today to talk with your partners about meeting times and all that jazz. Get started, and I'll be wandering around checking up on all of you."

Connor turned his body so that he was facing me and his leg was pressed against mine. I slightly adjusted my own body so that we weren't touching and I wouldn't feel awkward.

"When should we meet?"

I reached over him and grabbed his schedule off his stuff, scanning it over for any free periods we'd have in common.

"Since I'd prefer we got this done during school hours, how about we meet every day this week during the last period of the day. We both have it free. I'll meet you at the library?"

"A girl who takes control. I can work with that."

After he smirked at me, I could've slapped him there. Fortunately, some people interrupted us.