Project Partners (CLOSED for Shadow)

Kiki sat alone awkwardly at her desk, fiddling with a pencil. The teacher had let them choose their own partners for the upcoming project, and she- of course- was all alone. Nervously twisting a strand of red hair around her stubby pencil, she glanced around the room. Everyone else seemed to have a partner. Being new sucks. There was no way she could do the history project alone- she had missed most of the unit and had no idea where this or that magical family came from, blah blah blah. And there was no way she had that kind of time to kill in the library, what with an upcoming math test on Thursday and having five more textbook chapters to read. The Irish teenager blinked her green eyes as she looked down at the Cornell notes she had been taking, messy handwriting hastily scribbled on meticulous lines, and tried not to cry in frustration. What was wrong with her that she couldn't make any friends? Effing Beata, effing powers. They don't do me a spot of good. I want to go back to Ireland.

Did Declan really have to be here? He couldn't stand being in class and his grades reflected that. All of them were practically in the dirt but somehow he was still scraping by. However, as the professor described their next project, the spring openly groaned and smacked his head on his desk. Thankfully, however, it was just as the teacher told everyone to pick partners. Of course, just like always, everyone else had already grabbed someone and were talking out their plans and what they wanted to do for their grade. Then there was Declan sitting all alone while his brain tried to ignore the pain and agony of sitting through this class while also trying not to think too much about Thomas and what had happened there.

After a while, though, he figured he should try to find someone to work with because he certainly wasn't going to be doing much of the work. Standing up with a huff, his eyes scanned the room until he finally noticed a girl he hadn't seen before sitting alone in the corner. For a moment, the spring continued to look around the room for anyone else, but it looked like all of his other classmates were taken. She was the only one left. Rolling his eyes, he trudged over to her desk stopping just shy of her personal space with his arms crossed in front of his chest. A look of annoyance was etched into his features.

"Looks like we're the only ones left. I guess we're partners for this stupid project now. I hope that you like to work because I want to do as little as possible for this thing..." he grumbled. "Who are you?"

Kiki looked up as a tall young man walked over, blond hair framing his annoyed features. She blinked as he offered to be her partner- well, "offer" really wasn't the correct term. His attitude rubbed her the wrong way almost immediately. Her normally sweet nature did not cover being thrown into such a stressful week and then getting shoved with some pox-faced bollix for a partner for a project she didn't know how to complete. I'm stuck with this guy? Sweet merciful heavens. Well, at least I'm not alone. It really could be worse. The Summer finished writing a sentence on her notes and looked up with a sigh, tossing her red mane to the side and resting her freckled face on her fist. Oh boy, this'll be a long two weeks.

"I'm Kiki Westerly," she introduced herself shortly. "And ya better carry your own weight, ya dosser, cause I ain't been here more'n a week. Do your part of the effin' project and I'll do mine; then hopefully we won't have to interact more than's necessary." She smiled at him, showing straight white teeth. "What did you say your name was, partner?" she inquired sweetly, carefully pronouncing each syllable in an American accent mimicking his own. I guess this should be fun, at least.

The words that Kiki threw back at him brought no reaction out of him other than a stifled chuckle that turned into full-blown laughter. For a second, Declan actually thought she had some kind of potential to stand up to him but he lost it when she tried to change her accent. "I have no fucking clue what a 'dosser' is but never, ever try that accent again. It makes you sound slower than you already are, sweetie," he said, dropping his hands and shifting his weight. "Listen," he picked back up after taking a moment to calm himself down and wipe the smile from his face. "I don't have time for these games. I don't give a rat's ass if you've been here a year or even a few days. I just want to get this over with, alright? So we can at least agree on that, can't we?" he asked, slamming his hand down on her desk to look the girl straight in the eye. "By the way, my name's Declan Rodgers if you ever want to come looking for me."

Kiki raised an eyebrow as the boy laughed, smile melting off her freckled face. She didn't react as he insulted her again, but she could feel her frustration building. Even here in America, no one would take her seriously. I just want to go back to Ireland. But I couldn't very well do that, now, could I? Remember why you had to leave, Kiki. The Irish girl stood up slowly, her fiery green eyes meeting his cocky brown ones. "For your information, a 'dosser' is a slacker. An eejit. Basically, people like ya in a nutshell. About my 'accent,' I'm Irish, styupid. I can tell ya don't care much aboot ya grade, but I'd like to at least try to do this right. So, Declan, I'm afraid we're stuck with each other for now. So, aboot the project..." The redhead opened her textbook with a loud snap. "D'you want ta do a presentation or lesson?"

The boy raised an eyebrow for a moment before letting out a deep breath. With a small eye roll, he grabbed a chair nearby and pulled it up close to Kiki's desk, plopping into it with a huff. "Honestly, I couldn't care less. Lesson, presentation.. what's the difference?" He asked. "I would try to avoid speaking in front of the class if I had my way." He stopped for a moment, suddenly lost in a small train of thought about how that would work out. For only a moment, he shook out his ideas and turned back to the girl. "What do you want to do?"

Kiki sighed, mulling it over. "Well," she said finally. "I was thinkin' 'bout a presentation. It's'a lot easier ta just do a PowerPoint than lecture people. Not that it'll be that interestin' anyways. Anyway, with my lack of knowledge and your lack of givin' a feck, I think we'll need ta do a tad bit more studyin'. How about meetin' at the library tomorra, at four-thirty?" The Irish girl nodded as the bell for the end of class went, standing up and closing her book, not waiting for Declan's response. "A'ight, see ya then!" The redhead grabbed her stuff and walked out of class, not letting the other boy see the smile on her freckled face. This might actually be fun.

As soon as Kiki asked about the time, Declan opened his mouth to say something but immediately got cut off. She seemed to have darted out quickly, not even giving him a chance to respond. Instead, the spring just stared as she walked out the door, her books in hand. when she was finally gone, Declan let out a massive grown as he slumped farther into his chair. "Ah, damn it..." it muttered. He just got played in his own game. He could tell that this was going to be a very interesting project. However, he could tell if it was going to be good or bad.