You're My Hardest Project

I walked through the hallway quietly as I looked at the doors; this part of school was familiar to me, seeing that my English teacher happened to be the same as Rodrick’s. With just this knowledge I was guessing he wasn’t a star student; he and I were a year apart in school and my teacher taught AP freshmen and sophomores while she taught regular English for juniors.
I came to her door and knocked lightly. After a few moments a girl came to answer the door before she rushed back to her seat in the front row. I walked in the room and saw all the students take a glance at me before going back to their work-- well; actually most of them weren’t working. I walked over to Ms. St. John’s desk where she sat grading a few papers. She looked up at me and smiled.
“Oh, Andi,” She said in her British accent (which is quite ironic, seeing that she taught English), “what are you doing here?” I returned her smile.
“For an assignment in my multimedia class I have to observe students-“ I began but she cut me off.
“Mr. H told me about that.” I nodded slightly, “I’m guessing you’re here to observe either Rodrick or Beverly.”
“Rodrick.” I replied simply. Ms. St. John nodded and looked at her class.
“Well, he’s in the back of the room, right there,” She pointed to a guy with long, dark hair and a brown shirt on, practically falling asleep on his desk, “I hate to say this, but he’s a bit of a disappointment…” I stifled a slight laugh, “After class introduce yourself; until then, you can sit at the empty chair by the window.” I nodded and walked to the chair, dropping my bag on the ground loudly which got me a few glares. I just rolled my eyes and sat down, waiting for the last five minutes of this period to end.
As I looked around the room, I noticed a lot of things: this class was definitely for the slower students (my class was already ahead of them in their work), most of them were slackers, and Ms. St. John did nothing to get them to focus their attention on school work (I’m guessing she gave up on them). I stole a glance at one student and saw her staring at me with a confused and slightly snooty look.
“What?” I hissed slightly and raised my eyebrow.
“What are you doing here?” She asked in an annoyed tone. I let out a sigh.
“Well, right now I’m sitting,” I said sarcastically. The girl scoffed and rolled her eyes.
“Don’t be a smart ass; just tell me why you’re in here.” She urged again.
“I’m waiting for the period to be over, that’s what I’m doing.” I replied and turned away from her. I heard her make another annoyed scoff as I slumped down in my chair and began twirling my pencil boredly.
Soon enough, the bell rang and the students quickly packed up their few belongings. I quickly stood up and started walking toward the back of the room, hoping to catch Rodrick before he disappeared. As I made my way back there I saw Ms. St. John stand up and walk toward the door, stopping right next to the door frame. I took in a deep breath before looking at the Rodrick guy who was standing and bent over his backpack.
“Rodrick…?” I asked, suddenly feeling a little intimidated; he was taller than he looked at first and had a bit of a rough expression on his face. He looked back at me confused.
“What do you want?” He asked as the put the backpack over his shoulder. I stared a moment and took in another breath.
“Well… uh… for a project I…” I bit my lip and Rodrick rolled his eyes at me. He started walking away but I grabbed his arm, “Wait!” he looked down at where I held his upper arm then back at my face, “Look, Ms. St. John volunteered you to help me in a project for my multimedia class.” Rodrick looked rather annoyed hearing this as he stole a glance at Ms. St. John who was watching the two of us.
“Why the hell would she volunteer me?” He asked, shaking his arm out of my hold.
“I have no idea, but she did, and now I have to… observe you…” I said, now realizing how odd that sounded.
“Observe me?” He asked with a smirk and a bit of a mock amused voice, “What about me are you ‘observing’?” I shrugged slightly.
“Just you, I guess.” I let out another sigh as Rodrick began walking toward the door. I followed close behind, “I just have to observe your behaviour for the next few weeks and make a presentation about it.” Rodrick looked back down at me.
“Well doesn’t that sound terribly exciting.” He said with sarcasm. I looked at Ms. St. John a moment who walked toward me.
“I have no idea what I’m doing.” I said to her and Rodrick stopped walking to look back at us.
“You have to learn who Rodrick is through what you observe about him.” She said with a shrug, “It’s pretty basic.” Ms. St. John then looked at Rodrick, “And you are not going to back out of this or avoid her.” Rodrick smirked slightly.
“I didn’t even choose to do this; it’s all news to me.” He replied.
“This is her grade, it’s important.” Ms. St. John said and took a step toward Rodrick.
“And why do I care about her grade?” He asked. Mr. St. John had a bit of an exhausted expression on her face.
“Well, if you refuse to care about your own at least care about someone else’s.” She said and I smiled slightly at that comment. Rodrick rolled his eyes.
“Fine, whatever…” He began walking away. I looked at Ms. St. John who pushed me slightly.
“Just follow him and pester him, eventually he’ll stop being so rude.” She said as I nodded then walked out of the room, following him.
“Rodrick.” I said and I could hear him sigh loudly before he turned around to look at me. I bit my lip and looked up at him, “Uh… well, I guess I’m going to need to know what kind of schedule to make; I know you’re not gonna want me to just pop up randomly, so just tell me times that’ll work.” He stared at me for a few moments.
“I don’t really care, just BS everything.” He turned to walk away. My jaw set as I grabbed his arm again.
“Hey, I’m being serious right now; you might as well act a little mature.” Rodrick rolled his eyes and walked with me still holding his arm out from the middle of the hallway.
“Fine, I’ll help you with this stupid project,” he began as he leaned on the wall and I released his arm, “I’m not usually busy, so you can come to my house basically whenever.” He turned around once more.
“Wait!” I felt like I was being really annoying, but honestly, he was hardly any help here, “At least give me your number so I can call you; I don’t think you or your parents will appreciate me just showing up at random.”
“Yeah, yeah…” Rodrick quickly gave me his number, “I guess I’ll get yours too.” I quickly said mine as he began walking away.
“My name is Andi, by the way.” The only thing that let me know he was listening was a ‘hmm’ type of sound that came from his throat as he disappeared around a corner.
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I lied back on my bed and stared the spinning ceiling fan in complete silence. This Rodrick guy was going to be a challenge, but that’s what Mr. H wanted to give me. I just didn’t know that it would be as difficult as it already has been. I expected to be able to handle him, but he intimidated me, which wasn’t good at all, it will only make things more difficult.
I looked at the camera sitting next to me; Mr. H let me borrow one of the good cameras for the week yet I haven’t done anything with it yet. Maybe when I’m with Rodrick I’ll document what happens with pictures. And then I looked at my phone; maybe I should call or text him. I have no homework tonight and maybe if I’m lucky he’s not busy. But maybe I shouldn’t; maybe I should just give him a day.
…But there was honestly nothing to do in this house…
With one last sigh I picked up my phone and quickly sent him a text.
Hey, i hate 2 bother u right now, but would it b possibl 2 do sumthing rite now?
I sat and waited a few minutes till I finally received a reply:
Band practice, just come ovr now
I smiled slightly; I now had something to do. I quickly asked him for his address before I grabbed my jacket, camera, and notebook before I walked out the door. From what I knew he didn’t live as close as I would have liked, but walking to his house wouldn’t be a bother for me, I walk everywhere anyway.
I hoped I wouldn’t be too much of a bother; well, I already was one (I think) but I didn’t want to seem any more annoying than I already was. There was a chance I’d make him look stupid in front of his band or he wouldn’t want me meeting his family. But I was just over thinking things; it’s not like any of this matter, it’s only a school project. But I didn’t want to screw anything up.
I was now walking through a neighborhood and looked at the houses then at my phone, where Rodrick’s text was open. I looked at the address then started looking at the different houses, knowing this was the street he was on.
‘Where the hell is 114?’ I looked at the numbers on the side of the houses but never saw 114 on any of them. Maybe he wrote the address wrong…?
i cant find ur house where is it?
I waited a few minutes but never got a response. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was just lying to me. He probably gave me an address that wasn’t even real because he didn’t want to see me. He wanted nothing to do with me.
So, with an annoyed huff I began walking back to my house, being put in a terrible mood for the rest of the night.