Chapter 3

Hayley was definitely not looking forward to class today. Usually, despite the fact that it was the only class she shared with Aidan, English class was actually her favorite. Hayley loved to read and was happy to discover that most of the books on the syllabus were on her list of favorites. But when she was reading over the syllabus last night, she realized that today was the day that they got their partner assignments for their final projects. Hayley wasn't exactly excited about working with any of her classmates.

"Good morning, class!" Hayley could tell by the diabolical smile on Ms. Davis's face that she had been right to dread coming to class today. Nothing good could come of a teacher with that smile. Nothing! It either meant A) lots of group work or B) a shit load of group work. Either way, Hayley was shit out of luck. Ms. Davis started handing out sheets of paper with what Hayley assumed were the partner assignments for the final project. The syllabus hadn't specified exactly what the final project entailed, but Hayley had little if any hope that it would be at all enjoyable. Just the fact that it had to be done in pairs was enough to make Hayley wary from the start.

"So this is how the final project will work." Hayley looked at the paper she'd just received as Ms. Davis began to explain. She turned it over, looking for instructions or names or something. It apparently wasn't the partner assignment though, but just a blank piece of paper instead.

"Everybody on this half of the room," she pointed to the girl in the middle of the front row and swept her hand to the right, "is going to write down a theme on the piece of paper I handed out. It can be any theme you wish. But you might want to consider the fact that you'll have to do an entire project centered on this theme that counts for 40% of your grade. And you'll have to find some way to tie that theme into at least 3 of the books from the syllabus." Hayley could hear the rustle of about 20 erasers furiously scraping against paper as her classmates tried to get rid of whatever lame ideas they had originally written when the teacher had started her explanation. Morons. They had no patience. Gods forbid they actually wait for full instructions before beginning.

"The people on the other side of the room write your name on the piece of paper in front of you. Now, I'm going to put the themes in one hat," she explained, holding up two baseball caps, "and the names in the other. The people on the right side of the room will pull a name. That person is your partner. The people on the left side will pull a theme. That's the topic of your research paper and project." You could tell that Ms. Davis was really proud of herself for this great idea of hers.

Why is it that every time a teacher thinks of 'new and exciting ways to get students excited about learning' the students suffer? When are they going to figure out we don't want to be excited about learning, we just want to put in our 13 years and get the hell out as painlessly as possible?

To tell the truth, Hayley actually didn't hate school all that much. Quite often, especially in English and history classes, it was rather interesting. She was just fine with school until teachers decided they wanted you to work in groups. Whatever happened to just going to class, listening to the teacher talk, and then going home and doing your homework? That's what Hayley remembered school being like before she was home-schooled. Those were the good ol' days. This new-fangled way of teaching didn't sit well with her one little bit. Not only did she not get to decide with whom she worked, but she also didn't get to decide what the project was about. Hayley tried to channel Brigid and think positively. Maybe I'll get a really good topic and a get a partner that will just let me do whatever I want without bothering me. Okay, so positive thinking wasn't really her forte. Sue her,

Ms. Davis stepped in front of Hayley and held out the hat with the names. There she goes with that creepy smile again. I'm starting to seriously consider the possibility that she's out to get me. Maybe this is the big evil Grandmother was training me for. What's more evil than a group project?

Hayley's hand was shaking slightly as she reached into the hat. There was one name in particular that she absolutely did not want to draw. Which meant, with her luck, she was almost guaranteed to draw it. She pulled out a sheet of paper and opened it slowly. Surprise, surprise. There it was: Aidan's name scribbled on the paper. Shocking.

"Now, everyone get with your partners so we can pull the themes." Hayley stood and walked over to join Aidan.

"Hi Hayley."

"Hey Aidan." He didn't look at her when he spoke, nor she at him. It was no secret that they would both rather be working with someone else. But they held out hope that they would at least get an easy theme. Both seemed to be feeling a tad bit awkward. Absent was Aidan's trademarked king-of-the-world smile and Hayley was having a hard time pretending Aidan didn't exist with him sitting so close to her.

He hadn't said a word to her other than a brief hello since that day in the hall when he'd kind of almost invited her to the game. He was too worried he'd stick his foot in his mouth again. Or that Jessica or someone would show up and ruin things again. He'd bet his life that she hated him. The few times she deigned to recognize his existence, it was to give him a look that plainly said she thought he would need help to move up to the level of pond scum.

For years, Aidan's gift made it possible for him to know precisely what people wanted to hear from him. People loved him because he made them feel exactly how they wanted to feel about themselves. Not because he lied to them, but because he was able to see parts of people that weren't obvious to most and to help those people see that in themselves.