1
The rest of April passed quickly, and the temperature warmed into the new month of May. Everyone was awaiting the end of the school year, and there were many parties all through the rest of the term. Kevin, however, didn’t go to any of them.2
Kevin didn’t talk to Sarah at school, just a couple friendly smiles through the hallways and their classes. Even though they’d shared two classes together, they weren’t attached. Kevin was still a bit embarrassed that his brother had sold out and left him at the party, stranded with her. 3
Mr. Riles, the American History 2 teacher, was the last teacher, as always, to assign them homework. Mr. Riles was an elderly man that didn’t believe that summer “allows a bunch of wild teenagers to throw down everything important in their lives for a measly three months of heat and misery that some call ‘fun’”. He assigned a partnered report worth half their grade about a tragedy or triumph in American History before 1950. Many students gasped at the importance of the assignment, however, they were expecting something big. 4
Mr. Riles explained that the assignment must be composed of two displays for the class, such as a movie, a poster, or others. He also noted that there was to be a two page summary over the historical event that was accurate, if not, perfect. He also stated that each group of partners had to have a different event than the other pairs in the class. 5
“Now, your partners…” he said, turning around and sitting at his desk. Immediately, everyone started bustling around. Sarah quickly turned to her friend, Rachel, as Kevin turned to Ben, while other paired up, noisily. “Quiet down, now! I’m afraid there’s been a change. You will not decide your partners for yourselves. In the past years that people have chosen their own pairs, they have gotten less work done and have goofed off. Therefore, I will decide for you.” The class abruptly quieted down and turned back towards Mr. Riles, who had pulled out a list.6
“The partners are in this order of performance. So the order of which I call you is when you will do your report. Two pairs a day, so Calista and Tommy will go first thing in 3 weeks on Monday. The same day will be Ben and Corey.” The two pairs gave unsatisfied looks, but reluctantly looked at eachother and waved. Kevin waved his friend away and frowned at the realization that they wouldn’t be partners. “And on Tuesday it will be Randy and Patrick as well as Irene and Carrie. Then, Tyler and Zac R. followed by Sarah and Kevin with-” 7
But Kevin did not listen to the next part. He was just as struck as Sarah had been. It took Sarah a second to realize it was her name being called. Even the teachers had called her Soda, except for Mr. Riles who didn’t think of it as suitable. Sarah’s body had shuddered for a moment, as her mind sunk in the fact that they’d been paired together. Kevin was just as shocked, but was relieved when he saw Sarah’s statued body, roughly turn to him and smile politely. 8
Ben punched his arm. “Alright, Kevin, not bad. She likes you. Did you see that smile? Man, do I envy you?” Kevin turned to him.9
“Why?”10
Ben laughed. “Well, if you guys are gonna work together, you’re gonna have to meet up at your houses, which means, working in the bedroom, which totally lands you into position.” Kevin didn’t return his smile. He couldn’t deny that a chance to get to know Sarah a little more would be good. But he didn’t think that he would actually ‘score’ with her. Sarah just didn’t seem like that type of girl.11
Mr. Riles announced the rest of the pairs, but Kevin wasn’t listening. He was nervous, so nervous he couldn’t bring himself to react to Ben’s perverted comment. He didn’t even smile. He looked to Sarah, who didn’t seem really affected by their partnership. She had turned to the side to chat with a friend. 12
For the rest of the hour, the pairs were assigned to get together and choose a topic to do their project on. Sarah nervously sat in Ben’s empty seat and smiled. “Hey, again.” She didn’t seem excited, and yet she didn’t seem horrified as Kevin did. She set down a notebook and a pencil. “I think we should choose five subject, just in case we don’t get the one we want.” Kevin nodded.13
“Okay, umm, the obvious ones are going to be taken. Pearl Harbor is obviously gone, along with D-Day, Titanic, Boston Tea Party and all the other usual ones. I think we should focus on something small, but definitely had a purpose.” Kevin nodded, but his brain was already buzzing. He was just a regular average B and C student, paired up with a brain that would probably do all the work. “Do you have any ideas?”14
Kevin cleared his throat. “Umm, how about something like the California Gold Rush?”15
“That’s not a bad idea, but the Gold Rush was in ’49 and I think it lasted after 1950. I’m not sure but I’ll write it down and look it up tonight online when it ended.” She looked down and wrote in the small, curvy letters ‘Cali Gold Rush’. “Hmm, a lot of people forget it, but what about the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904? That’d be good. Lot’s of stuff happened then.” Kevin didn’t reply, just watched as she returned to her paper and wrote down ‘St. L World’s Fair- 1904’. 16
Kevin felt frantic for some reason. He felt a rush in his lungs. She always surprised him with her personality. She always surprised him with her knowledge and thoughts. She was completely different than what he thought of her while watching her through her window. He hadn’t watched her much after the party for some reason. The night home, he watched her sit in her room eating popcorn and finishing homework, but after that, he hadn’t watched her for a week, which was when April ended. The night after his break, he simply looked out into her window to see if she was home, and she was. She was dancing in her underwear and a tank top to her MP3 player. Kevin was sure that it was Franz Ferdinand or something of some sort. He turned on his own music in his room, and imagined her dancing and listening to the same music he was. Kevin could have sworn his mouth would’ve fallen off from smiling. But after about half an hour of dancing, Sarah collapsed on her bed, and didn’t get up for fifteen minutes. She just laid on her bed, laughing hysterically for no reason whatsoever. He saw her fiddle with her MP3 player to another song and she just watched the ceiling until Kevin was too sleepy to watch her, and went to bed himself. 17
Author notes
Yes, I know I said part 7 would be good, but that was just an estimate, sorry. I know this part is pretty bland, but it leads up to some serious drama! Please hang on, it's gonna get great. I'm writing part 10 or so now, so I'm ahead of schedule so there'll be quick updates. Bare with me!
Part 8! allpoetry.com/poems/1690107
What did you think? Please comment!
Comments
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well... then he didn't get in trouble? I love your writing hun, its real.
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This is an awesome wright.I really like the endding and i do mean that as a compliments
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OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH plz hurry!
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