"And you're happy about this?" Kristen asked.
"Well, we're all finished with Thoreau," Petey said the name dramatically, "So no matter what the next topic is, it's bound to be less dull than 'Walden'. It's a call for celebration in my book!"
Kristen smiled. "Alright, whatever you say."
"That's the spirit!"
They entered the classroom, or lecture hall. Kristen still was not used to the enormous size of it. Kids were filing in and finding their seats from both sides. Kristen looked around and spotted Jonathan sitting near the back beside a boy with shaggy brown hair that hung over his eyes. He was not looking in her direction, so she was not able to wave like she had hoped to. She turned to Petey.
"Hey, why don't we sit back there?" she said, pointing.
Petey looked. "Okay!" he said happily, following after her as she began to make her way towards the back, "Why?"
"You can meet my tutor," Kristen said.
Petey gasped in excitement. "Your tutor!?"
They reached the back. The boy beside Jonathan noticed them first and stared, confused, prompting Jonathan to finally look up. "Kri--what? Er..." he stammered, surprised.
"Hi!" Kristen said, smiling.
"Uh, hi," he said back, "What are you doing here?"
"I have class here," Kristen answered.
"I know that. I mean, why are you back here?" Jonathan asked.
"Oh, well I thought maybe I... we," she gestured to Petey, "Could come join you."
Jonathan raised an eyebrow, but after a second, he moved his books, vacating the seat beside him. "Sure, I guess," he said.
Kristen grinned and sat beside him. Petey took the seat next to her. "Oh, this is my friend, Petey," Kristen said, gesturing, "Petey, this is Jonathan. He's my tutor."
"Hi!" Petey said, grinning, "I love to hug! So look out in the future!"
Jonathan gave a partial wave, taken aback slightly by Petey's enthusiasm. He turned to the boy on his other side. "Um, this is Sam... my roommate," he said to Kristen.
Sam leaned forward over the table so he could get a better look at Kristen. "Hi," he said.
"Hi," she said back.
He smiled. "So you're Kristen, huh?" he said, nodding slightly.
"Um, yes. Wait, how did you know my...?" Kristen began.
"Oh, this guy here only talks about you all the time," Sam said, elbowing Jonathan, "He blabs for hours at a time."
Jonathan's face reddened and he scowled at him. "That's not entirely true," he said, "I've mentioned you a couple times, but I certainly do not "blab for hours at a time"."
Kristen smiled at Sam. "I see. Anything else I should know?"
"What?" Jonathan said, looking back at her.
"Well I need to have confidence in my tutor," Kristen replied, shrugging, "And Sam here seems to be willing to give me information."
Sam grinned mischievously. "Oh, if you insist," he said, "I've got the low down on Jonathan... Well first off, he sleeps with a stuffed moose..."
"It's deer," Jonathan interrupted.
"Ah-ha! See?" Sam said, pointing accusingly.
Jonathan crossed his arms. "What? Deers are very bold and majestic animals."
"Yeah, sure," Sam said, smirking, "Anyways, he also eats radishes. Raw, whole. Like just takes a bite right out of it!"
Jonathan frowned. "You do that too."
"Oh yeah. Not the point... Anyways, he also has no concept of personal hygiene."
"I don't think that's any secret, bud," Jonathan retorted.
Kristen watched the two banter, amused, while Petey just watched, confused.
"Seems, you've got nothing really dirty on me after all, Sam," Jonathan said, smiling cockily.
"Jonathan is afraid of the dark!" Sam suddenly said quickly.
"What? I am not!" Jonathan cried, "If you've got nothing substantial, don't make stuff up."
"He still wets the bed!" Sam added.
"Now you're just being desperate."
"He has a phobia of cars!"
Jonathan opened his mouth to reply, but froze. Instead, he threw Sam a dirty look and then stared ahead, stone-faced. Sam bit his lip, looking almost sorry he had said anything. Actually, he looked more like he wanted to disappear into the walls.
The sudden tension was killing Kristen. She leaned forward towards Jonathan. "That's okay," she said gently, "I have a phobia of spiders."
Jonathan glanced at her. "Isn't that kind of typical for most girls?" he asked.
Kristen narrowed her eyes. "No, you don't understand. I see a spider on my bed, I will run out of the room screaming and have someone else kill it," she said.
"Well that's not so..."
"And then promptly have the mattress burned."
Jonathan snorted. "What if you just see a spider say... on your kitchen floor? Then what?"
"Then I destroy the kitchen!"
Everyone laughed, Jonathan's sullen mood suddenly forgotten. Sam gave Kristen a grateful glance and she smiled.
At that moment, the door opened and Friedman stepped in. "Good morning, class!" he greeted everyone.
"Morning," everyone chorused.
"Do I have some news for you!" Friedman said, "As you know, we have finished with Thoreau's Walden, which I hope you've all completed your essays for?"
There were murmurs of confirmation all around the room. "Good, good. If you would just stack them neatly on my desk before you go, that would be excellent," Friedman said, "Now, since we're finished with Thoreau, I suppose you're wondering what our next topic will be?"
There were a few grunts from the students, agreeing. Friedman rubbed his hands together. "Well, I wasn't going to do this quite yet, but I decided to bump it up sooner. Our next topic is going to be... fairytales!"
Some of the students began to mumble with one another at this announcement. "What? That's all I'm getting? No enthusiasm? No "hoorays"? No grumbles about "stupid fairytales"?" Everyone looked back at Jonathan. He held up his hands innocuously.
"Before we begin, I want to you to already begin thinking of which fairytale you will want to write your essay on," Friedman continued, "It will be due at the end of the section."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"So what fairytale are you going to write your essay on?" Kristen asked as she, Petey, Jonathan, and Sam all walked out of Friedman's classroom together.
"We're deciding already?" Jonathan asked, shifting his backpack on his shoulder, "It's three weeks away."
"I know, but Friedman did say to start thinking about it," Kristen said.
"Ooh! How about Rapunzel? Petey said, "With the long golden hair and the prince and stuff. Or Snow White! With the poison apple and the seven dwarves."
"Maybe something not with a princess," Sam said, "Like... Puss in Boots or Hansel and Gretel. Hey, Jonathan might like Hansel and Gretel. It's got a giant candy house."
"Just what are you implying?" Jonathan asked.
"Well, you're a big guy and all..." Sam said.
"It's true," Petey piped up.
"You must have gotten that way somehow," Sam said.
"Are you saying I'm fat?" Jonathan asked, raising his eyebrows.
"No, no. Just... big," Sam said.
Jonathan rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said, smirking.
"I think I might like to do the Snow Queen," Kristen said.
"Ooh! Doesn't that one have a reindeer in it?" Sam asked eagerly.
"Ah-ha! See, I'm not the only one who likes deers!" Jonathan pointed out.
"You two!" Kristen reprimanded in good nature. She turned to Sam, "Yeah, it takes the main character to the Snow Queen's fortress to save her friend."
"Cool!" Sam said, grinning, "Be careful. I might steal that from you."
"Steal what?"
Everyone turned towards the new voice. David stood behind them, hands in his pockets. Kristen's eyes brightened at the sight of him. "David!" she cried.
"Hey," he said.
He walked over to her and planted a big, passionate kiss right on her mouth. Jonathan and Sam looked away uncomfortably while Petey just stared wide-eyed and slack-jawed as if he had never seen anything quite like it before.
Finally David pulled back, arm draped around Kristen's shoulder. "So what's going on?" he asked.
Kristen swallowed, catching her breath. "We were just talking about our new english assignment."
"Ah english. Nasty stuff. What is it? An essay?" David asked.
"Yeah. On a fairytale," Kristen answered.
"Ohh, I remember that assignment," David said, nodding, "How many pages was it again?"
"It's fif--" Kristen began.
"Fifteen, right," David said, "I hate english class. Always have, actually. I remember taking your class a couple years back and just sulking the whole way through it."
"A couple years back? So you’re a...?" Jonathan asked.
"Senior," David answered.
Jonathan nodded, crossing his arms. There was something about this guy that was rubbing him the wrong way, and by the way that Sam was looking at him, it seemed he was thinking the same.
"And you are?" David asked, still looking at Jonathan.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Kristen finally spoke up again, "David, these are my friends, Jonathan, Sam, and Petey... Guys, this is my boyfriend, David."
Everyone mumbled their hellos. David nodded at them, then turned back to Kristen. "So anyways, I need to get going," he said, "I'll pick you up at 6:00?"
"Oh um... actually I have this Economic test I should probably study for..." Kristen said.
"An Economics test? Really? You'd rather study for some dumb test rather than go out to the pier with moi?" David said putting on his biggest grin.
Kristen gave a half smile. Then she closed her eyes and scrunched her face. "Okay, fine!" she said, opening her eyes.
"Great! I'll see you at six!" David said. He gave her another sloppy kiss, then turned and left.
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