You got some esplainin' to do! [Mona Landry]

Today was the day that Ophelia would fail her Chemistry test.

Not only was she about to start hyperventilating at the thought of having to retake the class, she was entirely angry at the fact that she still didn’t understand the study guide that she had set out to complete over a week ago. All the time that she spent hiding in her dorm with not only her chemistry text book (which made absolutely no sense whatsoever), as well as at least three others she checked out from the library, it was all wasted as soon as their teacher passed out the test that was now sitting before her on the desk. In her mind, she was standing up and hitting her head against a wall trying to understand the first page of questions.

After more than likely failing the gigantic packet that was their test, the teacher heaped even more bad news on the miserable students in the class as he said, “Alright, guys, we’re going to start a partner project for our next assignment. I’ve already written pairs, so don’t think you’re going to get in with your friends.”

Ophelia literally groaned, which wasn’t an abnormal reaction in comparison to the rest of the students in the class, who were probably just as sick of chemistry as she was. Not only was she now working on another project, but she had to do it with a complete stranger. Chemistry wasn’t hard enough, now there was a social aspect involved where she had to try as hard as humanly possible not to embarrass herself in front of someone she didn’t know at all. As the teacher read off the pairings, she looked around to see who was being paired with whom—most of the class already knew each other; this period was full of mostly Fire students and Thunder students, and since she had registered late, she was lumped into the second-to-last scheduled class with people she didn’t have anything in common with. She was neutral, sure, but cliques were inevitable within other alliances.

Her attention turned to the front of the classroom as the teacher read off her name, “...Ophelia Holmes, partner up with Mona Landry. Alright class, switch your seats and I’ll pass out your packets. Quickly, quickly! No chatting!”

Mona sat toward the back of the classroom, so before she saw the girl move from her seat, she took the opportunity to hop in the seat next to her; she didn’t want to be in the immediate glare of their teacher’s view, especially once he started grading her test. Everyone was quickly seated, since they had all witnessed what happened when one didn’t follow this teacher’s rules (“PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE!”), and when the packets were handed out, she looked over theirs, and realized it was just a water testing project—that they had to do after school hours, in several different places, including on the lake, and in Maple Hollow. Oh boy, she thought, we’re going to have to get acquainted outside of class. Hopefully this goes alright… Maybe she likes the lake?

She smiled politely at the pretty blonde girl she had plopped down next to; Ophelia had never had a chance to speak with Mona, so she went into this partner project with an open mind, hoping to be greeted with the same courtesy.