Annabelle

            The physics class broke into pairs, again. 

Annabelle was left with Jerry, again.

It wasn’t that Annabelle didn’t like Jerry; it’s just that he smelled funny and hardly ever actually helped with the problem at hand.  There were other people that she would have preferred and for the first few weeks of the school year, she had been paired with Heather.  Heather was nice and smart enough to help with the work.  Plus she smelled like apricots, which was a tolerable smell, but hardly as nice as the rose scent that Annabelle wore daily.  At least this is what Annabelle thought.

She completed the task with a few very unhelpful tips from Jerry and left the classroom when the bell rang.

Annabelle couldn’t understand why nobody somewhat normal liked her.  She was friendly and outgoing.  She showered at least once a day if not twice, and smelled like roses as mentioned before.  There was little else that Annabelle could not comprehend; at least that’s what she thought.  And she often shared this wealth of knowledge freely.  In reality, there was little that Annabelle truly understood and it was this misunderstanding that kept her from gaining and maintaining friends. 

However, the perpetuation of this misunderstanding was not entirely Annabelle’s fault.  No one ever bothered to mention it to her.  So she wandered down the hallway saying “Hi!” to anyone who made eye contact with her, but no one extended more conversation than that.

Her next class was English.  This was her favorite, because she was well-read and always had something important to say about the subject at hand.  Today they would be discussing Pride and Prejudice.  Annabelle had read the book and enjoyed the characters portrayed there.

Ms. Newton stood in front of the class with her wispy blonde hair and long spindly fingers, “Get into your small groups and discuss the characters and how the words pride and prejudice relates to each of them.  And class, remember to listen to your neighbor.”

Annabelle was thankful that she had a better group of peers to work with in this class.  Samantha was an athlete, but at least she made consistent Bs.  Tyler was quiet and barely ever had a good thought anyway.  And Landon was a popular slacker who didn’t ever seem to read the book.  He was frustrating but somehow he could make it through class without failing.

Annabelle pulled out her crisp notebook and began to list the characters on the page as well as speaking them aloud.  “Well, first we should start with Elizabeth.  Obviously, she was proud and prejudiced as was Mr. Darcy.  She was prejudiced toward the rich and he was prejudiced toward the poor.  And they were both just too proud to even notice the positives that the other could offer to the world.  Jane, she wasn’t really either of those traits but she felt the effects of them certainly.  I really liked Jane.  She seemed so kind.  I think I have a lot in common with her.”

Landon made a noise in his throat and raised his eyebrows.

“What?  You don’t think I’m like Jane?”

Landon sat back, “No.”

“Did you even read the book?  Or did you just watch the movie?”

“Yes.”

“I thought so.”

Landon shook his head and left the group to approach the teacher.

Annabelle cringed for a minute and then noticed that he was just getting the pass to go to the restroom.  When her fears of being reprimanded dissipated she regained her monologue and proceeded to break down each of the characters for her group.

Fifteen minutes before class ended, Ms. Newton walked to the front of the classroom.  “Push your chairs back.  We’re having a pop quiz.”

Annabelle beamed.  She knew that she would know every question and get the right answer.  And Landon was just now sauntering back into the room from his exceptionally long bathroom break.

“Number one: Who was the central character of the story?”

Annabelle hastily wrote “Elizabeth Bennett” on her paper in her perfect cursive.

“Number two: Who do you believe was the most proud character in the book?”

Annabelle hastily wrote “Elizabeth Bennett” again.

“Number three: Who do you believe was the most prejudiced character in the book?”

Annabelle thought briefly and then looped the phrase “Mr. Darcy.”

“Number four: In a short paragraph, sum up your classmates ideas about what they thought.”

Annabelle hesitated and then her eyes fell to her piece of paper.  She tried desperately to think of what her group had said, but all she could think of was that Landon didn’t think that she was anything like Jane.  She still fumed from this but couldn’t think of anything else to write.  She noticed Tyler, Samantha and even Landon scribbling furiously through their paragraphs.

“Well, that certainly isn’t fair,” Annabelle thought.  “I gave them all of the answers and shared all kinds of information with them, but they didn’t bother to say anything about what they thought.  Now I’m going to fail this stupid quiz.”  She thought all of this but her page remained blank as the bell rang and everyone around her left the room.  She couldn’t move, how could she fail this quiz?  “It wasn’t a fair quiz.  I’ll just have to talk to Ms. Newton about the fact that the group just didn’t contribute anything and that it shouldn’t count.”

She slowly gathered her belongings and headed toward Ms. Newton’s desk.  All she saw was Landon leaning against the desk with a cocky grin.

“Where did Ms. Newton go?”

“Lunch.”

“I needed to talk to her about—  Stop looking at my paper Landon.”

“You just don’t get it, do you?”

“Get what?  I get everything, except you leaving in the middle of our group discussion for no reason except that you couldn’t face me after insulting me.”

He laughed slyly.

“You don’t think I’m smart do you?”

“Oh, I know you’re smart, but you certainly aren’t good with people.  Tyler never talks and yet he groans any time we have group work.”

Annabelle stared into his baby blue eyes and squared her shoulders, even though Landon was at least a foot taller than her.

“Samantha plays three sports during the school year and is involved in at least four clubs and still manages to bring Bs out of every class, including Pre-Calc, which I believe is two years ahead of our grade.  I’d say she was pretty smart too.”

Annabelle didn’t budge.

“But she still manages to keep a pretty core group of friends around her at all times.”

Annabelle thought back to physics and Jerry.

“I did read the book, for the third time.  I find Elizabeth Bennett to be quite fascinating and if I could channel Mr. Darcy I would.”

“You’re no Mr. Darcy.”

“Oh, I know.”

“Why are you telling me all of this?”

“Because of the blank space at the bottom of your quiz.”

Annabelle tightened her mouth.

“You’re smart, Annabelle, but not as smart as you think you are.”  Landon pulled away from the desk and headed towards the door.

“So that’s it?  You’re just going to insult me again and walk out of the door again?”

Landon grinned at her, “You want more?”

Annabelle glared at him.

“Fine.  Annabelle, I challenge you to do something you’ve never done before in your life.  Keep your mouth shut, just like you are right now.  I would suggest losing the glare too, but one step at a time.”  Landon shuffled out of the room before she could respond.

The rest of the day passed without event and Annabelle went home to complete her homework.  She had intended on emailing Ms. Newton, but forgot because she was so consumed by her thoughts and what Landon had said to her.

To be continued…