Libraries were nice places to sit down and read and such, but Nate wasn't actually a big reader, so while the quiet was relaxing, she didn't spend a ton of time there. Her parents knew about her poetry and loved to get her collections of poems and such, but it was hard for her to stay focused on them. Every few lines she'd realize she'd become distracted and started thinking about the imagery, or what she would change, and had no idea what she'd read in the meantime, so she'd start over.
So while Nate liked libraries, she didn't usually go there, because she couldn't exactly start painting or playing music or anything. Doodling on paper was perfectly fine, but she could do that in class anyway, so there wasn't much reason to go elsewhere for it.
Class this period was Science, though, so the students had been escorted down the halls to the school library to work on a midyear project with pairs. Despite the intense protests of most of the students, the teacher had insisted on randomly assigning the pairs herself. Since there were an odd number of students, Nate had hoped to be left alone so she could work on the project at her own pace (or, more likely, daydream and turn in something rushed at the end).
The leftover had ended up folded into a different pair to make three, and Nate had found herself paired with a girl named Wendy Fischer. Nate was pretty sure Wendy had transferred here a couple of years ago. She was a very brightly-lit girl, if that made sense; she was a little loud and talkative and liked to be friendly to people. Nate didn't avoid her or anything, but Wendy was awfully chipper and it kind of wore Nate out to be near her. Hopefully they could do their own thing a bit.
The teacher's visible look of concern when the two got paired together didn't help. Neither were great students, though Nate at least wasn't usually too worried about it and had always slipped into a passing grade by the end of the year. If anything it was perfectly fine to pair students of similar grades together; the teachers might like it when the underachievers got paired with ambitious kids who would carry their slack, but the ones doing all the work sure didn't.
The downside of it was that the science teacher was very obviously keeping a special eye on Nate and Wendy, and always seemed to just happen to stand a little closer to their table in case they needed help. Nate had gotten the hint, and was dutifully holding a book open in front of her on the table they were seated at, preparing a discussion.
The projects were supposed to be to give a presentation on a specific planet, which was kind of cool. Space was neat and big and all, though Nate couldn't really say much else about anything besides the very basics (Mars is red, etc.) Sadly, they'd been firmly told not to make posters, which Nate imagined was mostly to prevent people from drawing elaborate alien portraits and such. She would've done that herself, in fairness.
She was sure the text for this would be useful, but every time she tried to read the information she got distracted by the beautiful artist's rendition of Venus on the adjacent page...Wait, they weren't assigned Venus, right? She should probably check with her partner, since Mrs. Thorne was giving them a look again. "Which planet did we get? Saturn?" Nate said in a library-whisper voice to Wendy. "I might need a new book."
Titan of Artistry
Tagging Space-Cake; 8th graders only
[[Wendy Fischer Memories Thread #1]]
"I, uh, I'm not too sure, actually."
Truth be told, Wendy Fischer was hoping Nate Chauncey already knew the answer to that, because she had that very same question in the forefront of her mind. Usually when there were group projects the others would know exactly what to do and guide Wendy through it. It's why she enjoyed group projects. She would get to talk to her 'team-mates', they'd help her out, then she'd become smarter, all while making a friend in the process. It would be fun times. But not this time.
Why even have group mates if you couldn't talk to them? A prisoner in the library where you were forced to stay silent, with the warden science teacher standing right at the end of their table, watching her every move - that was what she felt like. Nate wasn't exactly the most engaging of classmates either, sadly, that which she had soon come to find out when the groups were first assigned. Though, Wendy had tried, she was trying her darndest.
It just sucked so much, that she had forgotten what planet she was even supposed to be presenting. Or maybe she had written it down somewhere, but she forgot, mostly because she had been distracted by the collective sigh of relief from almost all her classmates when Ms. Cheung announced that she had randomly assigned Wendy with Nate. She wasn't sure what that meant, but it was weird.
Were they all tired or something? Too bad there weren't nap times anymore, not like grade school. Or maybe, they didn't like her. Was it because they didn't think she would be a good partner? Or thought she wasn't smart? Or maybe they didn't like Nate. Or maybe it was both. Or maybe she was just overthinking things. It hurt to think sometimes.
Like Ms. Cheung's name for example. It was spelled and looked like they should call her Ms. CHE-YUNG, but apparently it wasn't? That confused Wendy. Ms. Cheung had insisted that her name was pronounced as: Ms. JERN. Like rhymes with germ. But why? How? That didn't even make any sense. Her name looked nothing like how it was pronounced. This had always bothered Wendy way too much, much more than necessary. She had wondered if anyone else ever had the same thought bubble. She liked Bubbles.
That was her favorite Powerpuff Girl.
She turned to look at her teacher. Still there. Still staring. Wendy gave her a big old glossy smile.
Yep that's right. Nothing to see here, Ms. Germ, this sparkly light up smile means that they were A-okay. No need to keep watching. No need to come over here and offer help. It's not like she had forgotten what planet they were supposed to research or what even they were supposed to do. No need to ask.
Wendy had taken a cue from Nate, followed her lead. Her hardcover book was standing upright in front of her, like a shield or barrier, not realizing of course, that her library book was upside down, clear from the way the illustration on the book's front cover dust jacket was facing as she pretended to read. Her pink pom pom pen, had been in constant motion as she pretended to take notes, when really, she was making girly doodles of space related miscellaneous.
It was too bad that, teacher, wouldn't even allow them to create colorful poster-boards for their space presentation. Then surely this group would have owned this assignment. It was a legitimate way to learn. Spatial / Visual learners, that's something that exists too. This was unfortunate for Nate as well.
She'd been excited to be partnered with Nate at the time. A possible new friend and from what she'd seen, she'd made really pretty artwork too. When the pairing was made, Wendy had immediately turned to Nate's direction with a smile, waving over-enthusiastically, until the collective sighs. She had skipped, merrily, over to Nate and excitedly pushed their desks together, which Wendy hadn't noticed made Nate flinch a little at the time.
Now they were in the library and Wendy couldn't stop panicking about that fact that she was completely lost and they'd think she was dumb, and she turned the page of her glittery notebook and she saw the name in purple ink circled several times. Looks like she had written it down after all.
"Oh wait, just kidding. Uranus. It's Uranus!"
She said it proudly. Perhaps a little too loudly.
"I, uh, I'm not too sure, actually."
Truth be told, Wendy Fischer was hoping Nate Chauncey already knew the answer to that, because she had that very same question in the forefront of her mind. Usually when there were group projects the others would know exactly what to do and guide Wendy through it. It's why she enjoyed group projects. She would get to talk to her 'team-mates', they'd help her out, then she'd become smarter, all while making a friend in the process. It would be fun times. But not this time.
Why even have group mates if you couldn't talk to them? A prisoner in the library where you were forced to stay silent, with the warden science teacher standing right at the end of their table, watching her every move - that was what she felt like. Nate wasn't exactly the most engaging of classmates either, sadly, that which she had soon come to find out when the groups were first assigned. Though, Wendy had tried, she was trying her darndest.
It just sucked so much, that she had forgotten what planet she was even supposed to be presenting. Or maybe she had written it down somewhere, but she forgot, mostly because she had been distracted by the collective sigh of relief from almost all her classmates when Ms. Cheung announced that she had randomly assigned Wendy with Nate. She wasn't sure what that meant, but it was weird.
Were they all tired or something? Too bad there weren't nap times anymore, not like grade school. Or maybe, they didn't like her. Was it because they didn't think she would be a good partner? Or thought she wasn't smart? Or maybe they didn't like Nate. Or maybe it was both. Or maybe she was just overthinking things. It hurt to think sometimes.
Like Ms. Cheung's name for example. It was spelled and looked like they should call her Ms. CHE-YUNG, but apparently it wasn't? That confused Wendy. Ms. Cheung had insisted that her name was pronounced as: Ms. JERN. Like rhymes with germ. But why? How? That didn't even make any sense. Her name looked nothing like how it was pronounced. This had always bothered Wendy way too much, much more than necessary. She had wondered if anyone else ever had the same thought bubble. She liked Bubbles.
That was her favorite Powerpuff Girl.
She turned to look at her teacher. Still there. Still staring. Wendy gave her a big old glossy smile.
Yep that's right. Nothing to see here, Ms. Germ, this sparkly light up smile means that they were A-okay. No need to keep watching. No need to come over here and offer help. It's not like she had forgotten what planet they were supposed to research or what even they were supposed to do. No need to ask.
Wendy had taken a cue from Nate, followed her lead. Her hardcover book was standing upright in front of her, like a shield or barrier, not realizing of course, that her library book was upside down, clear from the way the illustration on the book's front cover dust jacket was facing as she pretended to read. Her pink pom pom pen, had been in constant motion as she pretended to take notes, when really, she was making girly doodles of space related miscellaneous.
It was too bad that, teacher, wouldn't even allow them to create colorful poster-boards for their space presentation. Then surely this group would have owned this assignment. It was a legitimate way to learn. Spatial / Visual learners, that's something that exists too. This was unfortunate for Nate as well.
She'd been excited to be partnered with Nate at the time. A possible new friend and from what she'd seen, she'd made really pretty artwork too. When the pairing was made, Wendy had immediately turned to Nate's direction with a smile, waving over-enthusiastically, until the collective sighs. She had skipped, merrily, over to Nate and excitedly pushed their desks together, which Wendy hadn't noticed made Nate flinch a little at the time.
Now they were in the library and Wendy couldn't stop panicking about that fact that she was completely lost and they'd think she was dumb, and she turned the page of her glittery notebook and she saw the name in purple ink circled several times. Looks like she had written it down after all.
"Oh wait, just kidding. Uranus. It's Uranus!"
She said it proudly. Perhaps a little too loudly.