“You can tell me,” Charlie insisted.

“Ugh. Fine. I think I’m moving soon,” I blurted out.

“What?!” he exclaimed.

“I heard my mother talk to someone about it…” I trailed off, remembering the odd conversation. “It was weird.”

“Man, that sucks,” he mumbled. Then, he nudged me on the shoulder, causing my face to flush. “I’m gonna miss you,” he added.

“Me too,” I replied. “My mother wants me to join a special school for something, according to what I heard.”

“I hope those kids aren’t as horrible as the ones here,” Charlie stated darkly. “If not, just call me up. I’ll beat all of their asses.”

I laughed lightly.

“That’d probably get me kicked out,” I pointed out.

He hung his head.

“You’re probably right,” he agreed.

“Yeah…”

“Then I’ll just threaten them!” he thought up.

I laughed again.

“Nah. It’s fine. I’ll handle it…” I paused. “Somehow…”

I suddenly felt extremely upset. It must have shown on my face, because Charlie immediately rubbed my arm.

“Hey, dude. Don’t worry. We’ll keep in touch, I swear,” he assured me. “I won’t let you go just like that.”

I hid a smile with the back of my hand.

“Stop being such a cheesy dork! Let’s get to class,” I said, pulling him forward, toward our class.

Together, we got through our day. We sat closely in all classes but one. Science… I despise it. I also hate Math, but that’s besides the point. In this class, the teacher had decided to place me with Morgan because we would ‘assist each other well’. I trudged into class and slouched into my desk, dropping my backpack to the ground with a loud thud. The teacher shot me a look, but said nothing.

“Heyy, you still haven’t accepted my apology,” Morgan remarked. I rolled my eyes and ignored him. “Kennithhhh,” he called.

He continued to repeat my name until I, in a flash of irritation, yelled, “What do you want?!”

The class froze and I glared.

“Kennith. Be quiet or leave,” the teacher snapped.

I shrugged and slumped back down. The teacher handed out a sheet, which Morgan rapidly snatched up.

“Your group has been hired by NASA to design a ‘working’ ship whose sole purpose is colonizing the planet Mars. Listed below are a series of topics that NASA has asked your group to research. Since there are so many questions that need to be answered, it was suggested by NASA that each member of your group becomes an expert upon either design, measurements, or design purposes. That means that if someone asks a member of your group about the project, they will be able to answer correctly and tell others where they found their information. You will create the perfect spaceship and explain each component,” he read aloud. “It’s in groups of three… Let’s get Aspen,” Morgan suggested.

“When did I say I would work with you?” I snapped.

“Umm, sorry to say this, but I doubt anyone else wants to work with you,” he answered. “Aspen will probably do it happily, but no one else would.”