so comfortable we cannot see the trouble

"Welcome back from lunch," Mr. Lloyd greeted everyone as they went to their assigned seats. "Hopefully everyone's hunger is now satisfied and we can focus on school work."

Groans erupted, causing a soft smile to cover Neve's features. She didn't mind learning, it was something that got her mind off of the reality she was forced to live. Learning helped her gain knowledge and understand things she didn't know before. She loved it, despite what everyone else thought of the topic.

"We're starting on a project. A duo project, to be exact." Mr. Lloyd started once everyone was situated. "As you know, there are many, many levels to Literature - we've already briefly talked about those things in the last few weeks. There's almost too much to learn. And with this being the last year we can genuinely take the time to learn what we can before most of you move onto college or wherever you're going after this - I want to take advantage of it."

Nobody said anything as he spoke, twirling the black Expo marker back and forth in his hands. "That being said, this is something new I'm trying, so I don't know if it'll be as effective as what I usually do. Usually, for those who don't know, we split up the quarters of the semester into a few different sections, reading a book together during that time. We quiz and test on it, talk about it, and reflect on what we've learned. But-" He stopped, stepping forward from the desk he'd been leaning on. 

"I was thinking - what if we make this a little more interactive than just getting together and reading a book? Of course, there will still be the giant tests that come along with it-"

Mr. Lloyd was cut off by groans, one of them being Zach. He dramatically dropped his head onto the desk below him, earning a small chuckle from Neve. He heard this and looked over at her with a cheeky smile, his cheeks growing red in embarrassment.

"I know, I know. But I was thinking instead of the final test like usual, we can do something different. Being my idea." Mr. Lloyd took a while to explain the idea, causing murmurs from some of the students. "This is where the duo project comes in." He turned away from the class and began to write on the board.

It took Neve all of two seconds to realize he was writing the titles of different Novels, some she'd read and some she hadn't had the chance to look at yet. They were the most popular ones you hear about, ones that most only read because they read them in school.

1. Pride and Prejudice

2. Where the Crawdads Sing

3. Divergent

4. The Hate U Give

5. A Walk to Remember

"There are five choices," Mr. Lloyd spoke. "Can anyone tell me what they all have in common?"

"They're books," Someone in the back of the class commented. This earned snickers from other people in the class, causing Mr. Lloyd to let out a chuckle himself.

"Well, yes, but no." He shook his head, "That's not the answer I was searching for. Anyone else?"

It was silent, nobody seeming to care enough to answer. Neve looked at the books, searching her brain for what the answer could be. They weren't all the same genre, and although some might have similarities - they were very different. Her mind looked at the titles over and over again as she tapped her pencil to her bottom lip, unaware of the boy who watching her from a distance.

Then the realization hit her features. Every single book on that list had been adapted into a movie afterward. Whether it be more recent or a long time ago, they were all movies based on books.

Mr. Lloyd saw her expression change, a smile covering his older features. "Miss Mellark, would you like to answer? You seem to have figured something out."

This hadn't been the first time Mr. Lloyd had unexpectedly called on Neve, so she wasn't extremely surprised at the sudden attention. She cleared her throat as her face began to flush a dark pink, something that happened anytime she was called on.

Zach had been one of them. He'd already been watching her, of course, but now this gave him a reason to. He just smiled at her when she looked at him, causing her eyes to quickly snap back to the whiteboard.

"Um, well, they're all books that have eventually been adapted into movies." She answered, twisting her pencil around in her hands.

"Exactly!" Mr. Lloyd exclaimed, throwing his hands out. "I've specifically gone through and picked five titles that the genre didn't matter, but more so they've all been adapted into another form of entertainment - this list specifically movies."

Neve let out a breath as the attention left her, save for Zach. He sent her a quick wink when she looked back at him, only causing her face to grow redder than before.

"This gives more dimensions to the project. Speaking of-" He stopped, picking up a clipboard. "I have papers that will explain everything we talked about today, along with what I expect from you guys. You will split up into pairs of your choosing, and one of these titles will be given to you by me. I specifically didn't want everyone doing the same book, so since there are exactly twenty students in this class, this means each book will have four groups."

"So if you're letting four duos choose the same title anyway, why not just let us get into groups of four?" Dina asked, picking at her nails.

"Ah! I was hoping someone would ask, thank you!" Mr. Lloyd exclaimed, "So the reason behind having duos instead of just groups of four is because I'd like to see what you guys could come up with! If there are two groups, this means twice the information. You and your partner are going to make a slideshow and present about the book you chose. Key plot points, something you took from the book, what you thought of the movie when you watched it after reading the book, something you took from the movie, and the differences you found between the book and the movie. More details will come in the pages I give you as well."

"Well, what if we end up having basically the same slideshow?" Another person asked, to which Dina quickly agreed.

"Don't," Mr. Lloyd simply responded. "And I understand that answer is easier said than done, I get it. But this is why we are split into two instead of four. If you choose the right partner not only will you have your own insight, but so will said partner. Don't worry about keeping your slideshow different from the other groups, just do what you think is best for the slideshow then as we present, you'll see how different it is."

"This doesn't make any sense," Dina scoffed with a smile. "Yeah, not knowing what the other team put on their slideshow means we get the opportunity to put something different, but we also don't know what they're putting means it's GOING to look the same."

"I understand your perspective, Miss Fowler. That is why this is a first-time thing. It's not going to be perfect, I get that, but if you just let the worries of having the exact same project as the other team, that will get you to fail. Your mind is much different than not only your partner's but the other groups in the room. It would be odd that everyone just so happens to suddenly have the same opinions and ideas as everyone else." Mr. Lloyd explained, "I'm expecting some of the stuff to be the same, but that's why there's also an entire section simply based on opinions. Your opinions are not as likely to be the same as everyone else."

"That still doesn't make sense," Dina muttered.

"Well, it doesn't now but hopefully it will." Mr. Lloyd told her, "Now. I'm going to allow you to choose your partners, so don't disappoint and only choose someone you're going to goof around with. This is vital because you want to choose someone who might or might not have the same opinions. I have lots of details and layers to this project, ones that I haven't even mentioned yet. Some of it will be on the paper, some added later."

Mr. Lloyd motioned a hand, causing everyone in the room to bounce from their chairs and find the person they wanted to partner up with. Neve stayed in her spot, unsure of who to ask to team up with for such an intricate project.

Before she could even glance around the room, however, the loud sound of scraping was heard and a desk bumped into hers. She looked over to see Zach had pushed his desk next to her, closing the gap of the little walkway between their desks. "Assuming and hoping you don't have a partner yet?" He made the last part sound like a question, earning a smile from Neve.

"I haven't even moved from my spot, so no. I'm usually last to get into a group when it comes to projects." Neve admitted. She didn't want to admit something that made her seem like such a loser, but it slipped out before she thought about whether she should say it or not.

"Really?" Zach asked with disbelief in his features. "I have a hard time believing that."

"Well when you're constantly moving around, you don't make many friends." Neve shrugged. Although there was a lot of truth behind that statement, she knew another reason that made it so hard was because of Chris. Although Zach knew she'd referred to Chris as a helicopter parent, she wanted to refrain from any details as this meant she'd eventually have to go further into the reason why Chris is the way she is.

Zach softly sent her a half-smile, unsure of what to say. He never really talked about deep topics with his friends, more-so was better at listening than giving advice. But he wanted Neve to open up to him, so even if it was something as small as this little statement, he was going to take what he could get.

"So you'll be my partner then?" Zach asked hopefully, nudging her slightly.

"Yeah," She cleared her throat with a nod. "Yeah, sure."

Zach felt giddy but didn't say much in response. "Cool," He mustered out, his cheeks turning a light pink color.

"Zach!" Another voice exclaimed.

Neve and Zach looked over to see Dina standing at the edge of his desk. She was quick to notice the way their desks were pushed together, but instead of saying anything about that she just sent him a beautiful smile.

"Partners?" She asked, "I promise I won't make you do all the work this time."

Neve felt awkward. It was clear that Dina hadn't realized that Neve and Zach had already partnered up, and she definitely wasn't going to be the one to say something. Although Dina was a nice girl and very kind the few times she did speak to Neve, she seemed like the girl who would raise hell if someone got on her bad side.

"Oh, actually Neve and I are already together." He glanced at Neve and then back to Dina.

Dina glanced at the redhead, looking her over before looking back at Zach. "Oh. But, Zach, we usually partner up so I just assumed we would be together again."

"I wanted to partner with Neve though." Zach's brows pushed together in confusion. He didn't say it rudely, but it was enough to make Dina's face fall as she realized he wasn't going to change his mind.

"Right, yeah." Her eyes moved to Neve before back to Zach.

Neve's face was down, working on some homework from another class as she let this awkward moment pass. Dina stared at her again, waiting for the girl to say something but she didn't. She didn't even look up at Dina, giving the brunette just a view of the top of her head.

"I didn't realize you weren't a natural redhead, Neve." Dina softly spoke.

To anyone, this would come across as a regular comment. Something someone just said after observing the other girl. But to Neve, it felt a little... malicious. It felt like she was saying something to embarrass Neve.

So she just dropped her pencil and sat up straight, preventing Dina from getting a better look at her roots growing in. Neve wasn't good when it came to social situations as is, so she wasn't sure if her mind was just tricking her into thinking Dina meant harm, or if she actually did and Neve's gut feeling was right. "I've just never stated," She simply responded.

Dina's lips pursed together. She didn't expect such a soft response from Neve, only upsetting her more. She didn't let it show, though, since she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of Zach. She just nodded, smiling. "Well, maybe you should just let your natural hair grow in. That's bad for your hair, you know."

"Thank you," Neve nodded, smiling softly at her.

Dina went to say something else, but couldn't. Mr. Lloyd cut her off announcing they needed to hurry and get their partners within the next fifteen seconds or they'd be put with someone of his choosing. Dina rushed away from the desks, pairing with the only other person in the class who hadn't been chosen yet. She didn't seem happy, but Neve didn't pay too much attention as her focus went back to the desk in front of her.

"I didn't know you weren't a natural redhead either," Zach spoke.

"Oh, yeah," Neve muttered. She didn't know what to say without giving out too much information, but she didn't want to lie to Zach and tell him she just wanted to be a redhead. She didn't, she missed her old hair. But if she were to tell him that, he'd want to push her to admit why she even had to dye her hair in the first place.

Which would only lead back to admitting what happened to her.

Part of her regrets letting the roots grow out this bad. She wanted her natural hair back and knew people would immediately notice the difference if she didn't dye her hair, so she went against Chris' wishes and let it grow and fade out without dyeing it again. It was a little ugly at the moment, but nobody had said anything up until this point.

Not even Zach, who for sure had seen her natural roots coming in since he was around her a lot more than Dina was.

"Okay, great!" Mr. Lloyd spoke as everyone was now sitting next to their partners. "So I have ten slips in this bowl here." He grabbed a glass bowl from his desk. Pieces of folded white paper were inside it, mixed around randomly. "One person from your group will come up and grab a sheet, then put your names next to the title you've gotten."

That's how it started. After getting names of who was partnered with who, he began to call them up to grab a slip of paper.

"Neve and Zachary," Mr. Lloyd spoke up.

The two looked at each other, and Zach motioned for Neve to go grab the slip. She looked at the board to see what was left, seeing that the only one that had been filled completely was The Hate U Give. This meant there were four other options left, and she wasn't quite sure which one she even wanted in the first place.

Mr. Lloyd smiled at her and held the bowl out, shaking it slightly. She ignored the shaky feeling in her hands as she put one in the bowl, moving the leftover papers around before pulling one out.

"You don't have to announce what it is or anything, just go write it on the board." Mr. Lloyd told her with an assuring smile, bringing the bowl back to his body.

Neve nodded and turned toward the whiteboard, doing as she was told. Her moves were quick as she grabbed the Expo marker and scribbled hers and Zach's names down, wasting no time in turning and making her way back to her desk.

"A Walk to Remember?" Zach asked, "I don't think I've even ever heard of that one."

"It's good," Neve nodded. "I haven't read the book yet, but I've seen the movie. Quite sad, honestly."

"Oh," Zach mumbled. "Well, we'll make it work."

Neve softly smiled at him, causing him to smile in return.

"Okay, great! Now that we've gotten our teams and books, I'm going to hand out the papers I've taken the time to make specifically for each book." Mr. Lloyd explained, "This - Miss Fowler - to answer your question from earlier, is another way I've thought of to prevent you guys from having the exact same slideshows."

He began to look at the names on the list, scribbling something down on each paper. "Safe of you to assume I didn't think about it, but I knew someone would question it. So I've come up with packets that all have the same instructions and similar content, but different questions. I've made two of each story, the names of the stories at the top of the page but the questions are different. Some have similar or the same questions but I made sure to make them different enough."

After going through the packets, he began to move around the room to give them to the teams. It wasn't long before he sat a small packet down in front of Neve and Zach, Neve immediately grabbing it to look it over.

Zach watched with a smile as her eyes went over the content. Their names were at the top of the packet next to the title of the book, showing that was what he'd scribbled down.

"And don't try to play any funny games either, switching the questions. As I wrote your names at the top of each packet I wrote them on mine as well, I'll be using my copies as my grading sheet." Mr. Lloyd added. "Now we don't have enough time today to get started, but you have more than enough direction on the packets and what I expect."

As if perfect timing, the bell rang. Mr. Lloyd held his hand up to prevent anyone from leaving. "I expect to see some progress tomorrow. If there are any questions, feel free to ask. I'm counting on you guys."

Once his hand moved down, everyone raced to leave the class. Neve took her time in gathering her things, trying her best to not look in Zach's direction as he pushed the desk back to where it was before.

"You wanna- you wanna keep the packet?" He asked, motioning to the paper. "I get a little unorganized sometimes. Probably be best if you did."

"I don't mind doing that," Neve nodded, gently putting the packet in her folder.

 "Hey, I was thinking-" Zach started as he followed the girl out of the classroom. "We're going to need to spend more time on this than just in class."

At the mention of the words, Neve stopped in her tracks. Her hands felt shaky and she slowly turned toward Zach. "What do you mean?" She asked softly.

Zach glanced around before back at the girl with a shrug, "You know, we might have to like... have study dates or whatever."

"Study dates?" Neve softly asked.

Zach's eyes trailed behind her, distracting him from her for a moment. He suddenly grabbed her and gently pulled her to the side of the hallway just as some boys ran through the hall, preventing her from getting bumped into.

When he looked at her again, he was quick to notice how red her face was. "S-sorry," He mumbled.

He didn't let go despite the fact that he'd successfully moved her out of the way, and she didn't bother telling him to let go. "I was just thinking we could meet up outside of school. We have to read the book on top of working on the project and watch the movie. We can always meet at yours, or-"

"No!" Neve quickly exclaimed, backing away from Zach. "I-I mean, I don't think Chris would like that very much." She mumbled.

"So come to mine," Zach offered. "I don't mind."

Neve bit her lip. She didn't know what to do because her aunt would kill her had she found out that Neve had gone to some boy's house, but at the same time, she'd also kill her finding out that Zach had come over. No matter what it was a lose-lose situation, and even if she were to just go to the library every day there still might not be times they'd be able to go.

"I-" She stopped, unsure of what to say. Finally, she sighed, pulling her backpack further up her shoulder. "Let me think about it, okay?"

Zach smiled, "That's all I need. Let me walk you to class."

Neve went to protest but didn't. She wanted to, but before she could even begin to think about what to say, he'd wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her in the direction she'd originally been walking in.

As much as she hated to admit it, she enjoyed this. She enjoyed having someone next to her, wanting to see her. It was rare to get, and now that she had someone willing, she couldn't help but want more.

"Okay," She finally decided.

"What?" Zach asked.

"Come to mine. But you have to leave as soon as Chris is coming back and you can't park in our driveway." She agreed.

"That didn't take long for you to decide," Zach cheekily spoke, nudging her.

"Well, we need to do the project and it's better to do more now than put it off," Neve mumbled, her face turning red. Zach smiled at this as the two stopped in front of her next class.

"Just admit it, Neve. You want to hang out with me outside of school cause you think I'm cool, don't you?"

++

 I hate how I ended this whoopsie

Anyways please comment and vote <3