Read Through Two Colors :: Partners

My heart dropped.

Adrien was my partner for the biggest history project of the year. It was worth over fifty percent of our grade.

“You may now move to go sit and discuss what you and your partner’s project will be,” Ms. May said.

I then got up out of my seat and walked swiftly to Adrien’s desk, holding my history binder and pencil in my hands. I pulled up a chair from an empty table and sat down next to Adrien.

“So what do you want to do the history project over?” I asked, as if nothing ever happened between us the other day.

“I don’t know,” Adrien said.

“Well, we could do our project on industrialism, new technologies in warfare, or something else that we have already learned,” I said. “Or we can get real wild and go over something we’ll learn later on this year.”

Adrien stared at me as if he didn’t know what to say, his face full of hurt.

“New technologies in warfare,” Adrien finally said after what seemed like forever. “We can maybe make a fake gun or something.”

“Maybe,” I said, tapping my pencil on the paper in my, now open, binder.

Adrien watched me silently as if unsure what to say.

“I…,” Adrien started. “Can I talk to you later, alone?”

I looked up from my tapping pencil to see guilt in his eyes.

I quickly gave in and said, “Sure.”

Adrien gave me a small smile.

“When?” I asked.

“How about after school I’ll take you to Nuggets?” Adrien said.

Nuggets. That was my sweet spot and Adrien knew it. I was a sucker for my favorite chicken nuggets in the whole world.

“Deal, but you’re paying,” I said.