[center] [img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/181010/0499a81b536a5f2d39c9db3285c0a952.png[/img] [img]https://i.pinimg.com/236x/34/c6/30/34c63002fb60420f08a6cb415e83dd51--franco-brothers-baby-daddy.jpg[/img] [/center] [hr] Assemblies had never been fun at his old school. Generally they meant an hour of listening to the principal drone, half-hearted claps for the preps getting awards and playing a game of ‘Who can nap the longest before the teacher catches you?’ with his mates. He turned his head to look at the empty seat on his left he’d saved for Bea. She hadn’t turned up and with a teacher standing on the stage testing the microphone it was looking increasingly like she wasn’t going to before it started. He should have known being in a hall full of people wouldn’t be her thing. Too overwhelming. [b]“Hello seniors!”[/b] He didn’t recognize the lady on stage, but she must have commanded at least some respect as the talking dropped to hushed whispers and most of the eyes in the hall focussed forwards. The admin hadn’t told anyone what the assembly was supposed to be about, but rumours were it concerned the upcoming Homecoming dance. Hopefully they’d realised the mistake of cutting the budget in half last week. It had been an unpopular move- no one wanted a half ass dance for their senior year and there was surely no way a school like this was really struggling for money enough to be penny pinching. [b]“As you all know, our school’s Homecoming dance is scheduled to take place next Saturday evening. I’m sure you all have your little outfits picked out and all of that, maybe even have an idea of who you’d like to attend with.”[/b] He’d brought the subject up with Bea a few days ago. Too be honest, he still wasn’t sure if the blushing and stuttering had been because she was too embarrassed to say yes or too embarrassed to say no. It was a little worrying. Not that being embarrassed was out of character for Bea, but she’d been acting strangely ever since the night of the party. Perhaps he’d come on a little too strong with the kiss. Was it him or her who initiated it? The night was still a little blurry in his memory, fogged by alcohol and the rush of the experience. She’d almost seemed to brush off every attempt he’d made about talking about it- he was planning on bringing it up again today if he saw her. [b]“But we’re actually changing things up a little this year.”[/b] At this, expressions changed in the audience and the whispers dropped even further into silence as everyone leaned forward in interest. [b]“See, we’ve noticed that even though most of you all have been with us here at King’s since preschool, there is a severe lack of group unity, particularly in this graduating class. It was especially put into perspective after the colorful incident in the parking lot last month and that is not what we want. King’s Academy is a prestigious school that prides itself upon its values, and some of the core values we attempt to ingrain in each of our students are friendship, empathy and, above all, respect.”[/b] Oh god, what kind of bullshit were they planning on subjecting them to now? ‘Group unity’ was always the kind of crap teachers talked about before they handed out detentions for shit uniforms or dropped a mandatory assembly on everyone. [b]“So for this homecoming dance, I’ll be in charge of deciding who attends the dance with who, with a little help from these bowls here,”[/b] she explained, gesturing to the mysterious bowls on either side of her. [b]“The left bowl has the names of every male student in this class, and the right bowl has the female names. I shall pick a name from each bowl and announce it until everybody has been partnered.”[/b] The crowd seemed almost stunned into silence at the announcement, probably shocked at the blatant abuse of power the school was exhibiting. After a few seconds the students burst into unhappy, subdued matters. Or not so subdued in the case of some. Seemingly deaf, or perhaps just not giving a shit about the mood of the room, the teacher began the proceedings with a wide grin on her face. Dipping a long-nailed hand into each of the glass bowls- what was this, the Hunger Games? - she extracted the small slips of paper and began announcing names. Jordan didn’t recognize many, to be honest, and it didn’t help that she was going all formal with the surnames. The only ones that stuck out was Bea’s and his own. Of course it would have been too much for the admin to put them together- they seemed to have gone out of their way to pair established couples. Varma and Martin… the names swirled around in his head. Varma sounded familiar- possibly the Indian guy with long hair he’d met briefly at Santiago’s party. Martin meant nothing to him however. Hopefully Bea would know. With a reminder of how absolutely [i]essential[/i] to their grade their attendance was, the teacher dismissed them. The hall was full of frenzied talk and unhappy groans as people compared their partners. Jordan ignored most of it, pushing out his chair and making his way to the green exit sign. Bea was just outside, perched on the edge of the parking lot kerb. She seemed unperturbed by the flood of pissed-off students coming from the hall, and as he got closer he noticed the headphones over her ears and the cigarette in her hand. A small sketchbook was balanced over her outstretched knees, a half complete drawing of a face covering the page. [b][color=8c5bff]‘Bea?’[/color][/b] Still a little grumpy from the assembly, he only managed a small smile. [b][color=8c5bff]‘Don’t you know those things are bad for you?’[/color][/b] he said, gesturing at her cigarette.