Peter sat peacefully on the expansive desktop in the second day of his American History class, scribbling notes onto his slip of paper with the broken tip of a pencil.  It wasn’t a perfect system, but it got the job done well enough.  His eyes wandered around the room to the torsos of the other fifteen-year-olds hunched over desks, pencils in hand, every one of whom dwarfed him like apartment complexes.

                He had a feeling that note-taking times were soon going to be his favorite occasions in class.  Everybody was too busy writing to spend any time staring at him in abject shock like he was some kind of rocket-riding zoo animal.

                Hoping to catch Lisa’s eye, he glanced over his shoulder to her direction in the back corner, though she was too focused on her notes as well.  Her ferocious red locks framed her serene face with even more sheen than the day before.  Peter watched with odd interest as her fingers batted a pencil lightly against her lower lip in thought before she continued writing.  He knew it was awkward to stare in her direction this long, but he couldn’t help it.

                Unfortunately, Peter could also feel the eyes of Sharon, Amy, and Kimmy burning holes in the back of his head with the intensity of their gazes, even without having to look back at them to confirm it.  Swallowing hard, he returned his attention to the teacher’s ramblings.

                “I know this is only your second day of high school, so just so there are no heart attacks before I say the word “project” to you all, let me emphasize something,” began Mr. Browning, clearing his throat as he gazed out over the students.  “This will be due at the end of the semester.  I repeat: end of the semester.  That’s a whole lot of time for you to get going on research like the sensible, time-managing young people I know are hidden in there somewhere.”

                A couple people chuckled awkwardly at the man’s joke, but most just rolled their eyes.

                “All right, so here’s the scoop,” Mr. Browning continued.  “You’re going to be picking an event from American history that interests you.  You’re going to research and prepare a report and presentation as a small group for the class and myself by the end of the semester, and focus specifically on why it relates to the now of America.”

                Groans rippled through the class, and several students bonked their heads onto the desktops melodramatically, folding their arms over their heads.

                Peter, having never been assigned a real project before due to his homeschooling, felt strange to have his interest so thoroughly piqued by the prospect while everyone else seemed to be suffering from the plague.

                “Settle down, guys.  Remember I said end of the semester?  No sweat.  You won’t be picking topics today, because I want you to have time to look through your books for a subject that really captures your attention.  However, I do want you to pick out your partners now.  I want even groups, so form up into clusters of four.  No more, no less,” Mr. Browning said, flipping through some papers in a manila folder on his desk.  “Go ahead and do that now.”

                Although he was interested already, at these words, Peter’s ears really perked up.  He quickly flashed another glance back into Lisa’s corner of the room as all the students began leaping from their chairs and stampeding toward their chosen partners.

                This time Lisa’s gemlike green eyes met his gaze, and a bashful grin was spread over her lips.  They nodded to each other knowingly as she rose from her seat.

                “So how about it, shortstuff?” came Sharon’s velvety voice from behind Peter, causing him to flinch despite the fact he knew it was coming.  “We’re one short back here.”

                Amy and Kimmy were eagerly half-lunged over their desks in order to get closer to Peter, though Sharon remained unmoved in her seat, her smooth fingers crossed properly together over her paper.  Her startlingly light blonde hair was poised as perfectly as porcelain over her shoulders.

                “I… I, um, think I’ve already got a group going,” Peter admitted quickly as he turned around to face the trio.  The effect was instant as looks of disappointment and shocked revulsion colored the faces of the three girls.  Even Sharon, stoic as she was, cringed.

                “You what?” Amy moaned with irritation, wrinkling her nose in apparent disgust, her tanned skin tone blushing.

                “You don’t want to be with us?” Kimmy piped mournfully as her normally cheerful dimples faded from view.

                “Hey, Peter,” Lisa said quietly, still clearly afraid of spooking him with her voice.  She took a stand next to Peter’s desk and gazed down at him with a gentle smile.

                “Oh,” Amy muttered with a huff.  “You again, huh?”

                Lisa bit her lip, looking uncomfortable as she took an empty chair next to Peter’s wildly oversized desk.  “Yeah, it’s me.  Good to, um, see you three again,” she managed uneasily.

                “It’s mutual,” Sharon cut in abruptly.  “So, you two planned a thing ahead of time, or what?”

                “Um, not really.  We just kind of picked right now.  It’s not a big deal,” Peter reassured, sensing the tension immediately resuming from the day before in gym class.

                “Oh, I know it’s not a big deal, shortstuff,” Sharon answered, her words simultaneously delicate and imperious.  “I just thought since we were trying to make friends with you yesterday, you might want to do the same for us now.  That’s all.”

                “I do!  Really, it’s just, um…” Peter stammered, feeling a cold sweat on the nape of his neck.  He glanced up at Lisa, who looked as off-put as he was.  “I’m sorry, I appreciate the offer, but Lisa and I are…”

                “It’s Lisa and you now, hmm?” Amy butted in, raising a curious eyebrow, her tone lilting and obviously sweetly sarcastic.  “That’s fun.  That’s really cool.”

                “Yeah,” Kimmy agreed as helpfully as she could, crossing her arms and looking down at the desk glumly.  “Real cool.”

                “Don’t worry about it, girls,” Sharon demanded softly of her two cronies, though her unblinking blue-gray eyes remained glazed over and trained directly on Peter like a pair of sniper scopes.  “We’ll just find someone else who needs a friend.”

                “Sorry again.  Good luck to the three of you!” Peter said as good-naturedly as possible as he turned his attention more fully to Lisa, who had inched her chair closer to his desk so that she could rest her elbow on the edge.  From the look in her eye as she warily glanced back at Sharon again, he could tell she was just as vexed from the oddly aggressive encounter.

                “Looks like we’re just about squared away now!” Mr. Browning called out as he looked over the room, which by now was mostly split up into sets of four, with the exception of the desks surrounding Peter and one other group of three.  “No need to overthink this.  What’s going on back here?  Still negotiating?” he asked of the unresolved partnerships.

                “More or less, yeah,” Amy said, beaming disingenuously and resting her chin on her fist, her dark locks spilling over her hand.

                “We’ve got mysteries of the past to explore now, so unfortunately I can’t give you guys much longer to figure it out.  How about I just tiebreak this thing?  Let’s see, we’ve got three in the front here, then another three with you,” Mr. Browning counted out, pointing to Sharon, Amy, and Kimmy with these last words before his gaze fell to Peter.  “And then Peter and… Lilly?  No, sorry, Lisa.  I’ll learn names by the end of the month, don’t worry.”

                “That’s right,” Sharon answered with a subtle nod, shooting Peter a glance that iced him to his core.

                “Well, then, Lisa and Peter?  I’m sorry, but I’ve got to give preference to the groups already with bigger numbers and split you guys off.  Can you each just fill in one of the vacancies in the other groups?”

                Peter’s heart sank, and he knew without a doubt he was seconds away from feeling even lower.

                “We’ll take him,” Sharon said reflexively.  “Peter can go with us.”

                “Perfect!  And Lisa, you can go with this group up front, okay?” Mr. Browning said happily, indicating toward the row with a wave.

                Peter looked up at Lisa, and he could see the look of defeated sorrow in her eyes matching his own as she looked down at him with clear lament, her silky red mane drooping over her left eye just a little.

                “See you in Biology,” Peter whispered hopefully to her as she rose out of her seat.  She nodded, a slight smile appearing in the corner of her mouth again, as she made her way to the front of the room.

                “Excellent, we’ve got our groups.  Come up with some possible topics on your own tonight to discuss with your group tomorrow.  Now, let’s get right down to business here.  Turn to page fourteen in your books,” Mr. Browning droned on, satisfied with the distribution and totally unaware of the silent social pressure in a certain corner of his classroom now mounting high enough to break off the needle on a barometer.

                “Well look at that,” Sharon sighed under her breath, leaning forward across her desk, her words slurring heavily enough that Peter was compelled to glance at her over his shoulder again.  He couldn’t help but feel his wrists tremble a little at the sight of her silvery locks draping loosely over the edge of the desk, almost like a waterfall.  “I guess we’ll get to be your friends after all.”

                “Y-Yeah,” Peter answered back with the most amiable grin he could muster despite his frustration at the new grouping, desperate to ease the obvious tension.  “I bet we’ll make something awesome.”  He could see the other two girls out of the corner of his eye leaning back in their chairs, arms crossed and smirks very self-satisfied, particularly in the victorious body language of the tall and toned Amy.

                “You know it, shortstuff,” Sharon responded, drumming her forefinger rhythmically against her cheek.  Her eyes widened for a fleeting moment.  “It’s going to be something really special.”

                “Ahem,” Mr. Browning called out, scratching his forehead and holding the textbook higher in the air as a demonstration.  “Page fourteen, you guys?”

                “We’re ready to go, Mr. Browning,” Kimmy simpered back at him with a cheesy smile as she flipped through the pages.

                “Totally,” Sharon murmured, giving Peter one last soul-prodding glance of her oceanic irises before turning her attention to the book again.

                “Excuse me, Mr. Browning?” Amy asked suddenly just as the teacher was opening his mouth to resume the beginning of the lecture.  “I’m sorry to interrupt.”

                “Yes?”

                “I just didn’t want my fellow group project member to miss anything, and he… doesn’t have a book, see?” she explained innocently, her eyes darting down to Peter while her fingers tapped anxiously against the spine of her text.  “Can I share with him?”

                “Of course,” Mr. Browning said warmly, nodding.  “Peter, I’ll just have you share with Amy for today.”

                “Okay,” Peter grimaced, taking a few steps backward.

                “Cool.  C’mon back, groupie,” Amy intoned invitingly, reaching across the gap of desks again.

                Peter looked up and couldn’t help but flinch at the looming sight the girl’s slender fingers, waggling above him as they descended for their passenger.  She pinched the back of his shirt and plucked him from the desktop just like the day before, letting him dangle for a few seconds longer than necessary over the crippling drop to the carpet below, then deposited him roughly into the fold of her open book.

                Dusting himself off as he rose to his feet and readjusted his rumpled shirt, Peter ignored the intent gazing of the silently entertained class and focused his attention on Lisa: the only teen in the room wearing a look of genuine concern for his wellbeing.

                He gave the shy redhead another smile to let her know he was all right, though in reality, he was just as unnerved as he’d been the previous time.  Luckily, she seemed to accept it, and the distress in her countenance faded.

                “Amy, in the future, I think it would show better manners if you asked first Peter before you, um…” Mr. Browning corrected with uncertainty, clearly mystified with the odd phrasing emerging from his mouth.  “…pick him up again.”

                “Right.  Sorry, Mr. Browning.  It won’t happen again,” Amy lied with a poker face almost as good as Sharon’s.  “Just trying to help out.”

                “I know you are, and I appreciate it, but even so…” the teacher proceeded, shifting his attention to Peter, now perched in the open pages of Amy’s book.  “Peter?  Everything good with you?”

                “Yep, totally.  No problem!” Peter chimed quickly, throwing in a nervous chuckle.

                “Good,” Mr. Browning grunted, clearly eager to drop the awkward subject and move on with the lesson.  He snapped his fingers and pointed at the page, which slowly got all the fifteen-year-olds in the room to turn back toward the front as well.  “Now, I want you all to take a good look at the insert at the top right of the section header…”

                Peter folded his hands behind his back and put all of his concentration into reading the paragraph Mr. Browning had pointed out.  Before he could even begin chewing over the words, though, he saw Amy’s hand flatten itself against the page a few inches away from his feet, her svelte fingers thrumming against the white surface and rattling his shoes with each tap.  She apparently had no intention of stopping.

                The hapless freshman blinked, unsuccessfully ignoring the towering presence of Amy glowering over him just behind, and marveled at just how quickly the idea of this semester project had gone from an adventurous curiosity to the legal sentence it felt like now.