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On Friday, Mr. Berk, my Creative Writing instructor, introduces the class to a new project. "This is a two-person group project. I will be assigning the groups." Moans fill the classroom. "Your assignment with your partner is to write a two-paged essay and poster board about a thing or idea you and your partner have in common. I'm giving you one minute to write or think of an idea in which you will share with your partner once I assign them. One minute starting, now."

I'm tempted to write down lonely but my partner is most likely not lonely. I decide I'll wait to come up with my idea until I know partner's idea. I hear Falene behind me talking to Logan. "I think we should be partners, we're like, perfect. Hey, are you busy tonight?"

"No, I'm free," Logan responds. How could he want to hang out with her? "But, I'm not your guy. Try asking someone else."

Did he really just say that? 

I turn around to look at Logan. He smiles and winks.

"Alright, time's up!" Mr. Berk announces. "I'm handing out a sheet of paper with instructions and the list with your parter. Once you know who you're partner is, pair up with him or her and get started. You have the rest of the block, or fifty-three minutes, to work on this project, which is due next Friday. Take one and pass it back."

Mr. Berk hands the front row of students a stack of paper. The papers slowly make its way back to me. I take one and pass it back. I flip over my paper and go down the column of names until I find mine. When I do, my eyes scroll over to the name of my partner.

I have trouble reading the name. This can't be correct, I think to myself. I take my finger and carefully drag it down the list of names again, just to make sure I didn't accidentally read the wrong name.

Natalie Reyes . . . . . . . . . . . . Logan Hilks

"What!?" someone shouts. I turn to look. Falene is standing up with her hands pressed against the side of her head. I turn to look at the list of names. Once again my eyes scroll down until I see Falene's name.

Falene Warner . . . . . . . . . . Bradford Drath

To Falene, Bradford is like me, a geek. I smile to myself and write KARMA on my arm. I pick up my stuff and join Logan at his desk. I pass Falene and she gives me a dirty look, I hate you. I start to respond, but someone answers for me, Logan. "We know, Falene. You've expressed your feelings many times before that show your hatred to Natalie. You can stop with the I'm cool, I need to pick on the girl I hate most act, okay?" I give Falene the sweetest and most sarcastic smile. She rolls her eyes. 

I turn back to Logan and he's already looking at me. "Does that show my loyalty to you?" At first I don't know what he's talking about, but then I realize he's referring to our conversation about popularity— good guy and bad. I smile and reply, "Yes, it does." I look back at Falene and her face is red and her jaw is tense.

"So," Logan says. "Our project." I turn back to Logan.

"Yes! Our project."

"I'm guessing you're thinking of the subject, karma?"

I stare at Logan. "How—."

"Your arm. It has the word karma written on it," he points out.

I look at my arm, embarrassed because I didn't remember.

"Okay, let's get started. First, I want to know your idea," I say.

"It's reality, that's my idea. It's bad, but—." Before he can finish, I cut him off. "No, I like it! When you mean reality, you mean, you think something's one way, until something happened to you to make realize you things aren't always going to go your way or that you can't live in a perfect world. I've had that happen to me before."

We work on our project for the rest of class, writing ideas and plans for what we want our project to look like and say. When the bell rings the students get up and shuffle out the door. Logan and I are still sitting at our desks, slowly packing our things. 

As Falene leaves, she turns back to look at Logan and I. She scowls and I wave back. When she leaves I ask Logan when he wants to work on the project.

"Lunch?" he suggests. I nod my head and we separate to go to our lockers to drop our things. As Logan heads out, I am stopped by Mr. Berk.

"Oh! Um, Natalie?" Mr. Berk calls. I turn around and walk towards him. "Yes, Mr. Berk?"

He hesitates before responding. "I was wondering if there was anything wrong? You and Falene haven't gotten along very well, that's why I partnered you with Logan. He seems like a better influence on you."

"Mr. Berk, if I may," I start, he gestures his hand forward as a sign for me to continue. "What does influence have to do with why you paired me and Logan together?"

He studies me for a moment. "It doesn't. I just wanted to see you get something that she wanted."

"Mr. Berk, that was nice of you, but I would rather get something if I didn't have any help. I want to achieve things on my own, no help. Thank you though, I appreciate it." I walk backwards toward the door with shy smile on my face and once I got to the door I turned around and left Mr. Berk's classroom.

Just as I'm about to drop off my stuff, Logan appears, scaring me. I never close my binder, so when he surprises me, papers fly. I shove what's left in my binder into my locker and drop to the ground to pick up the fallen papers. 

Logan does the same. 

He helps me organize and put my stuff back into my locker. I grab my lunch and shut my locker door. I give him a funny look. 

"You scared me, you know?" Logan lets out a laugh.

"What took you so long?"

"I was stopped by Mr. Berk. He wanted to tell me that he only paired us up because of Falene," I answer.

"What does being paired up with you have to do with Falene?"

"Well, all teachers and students know I am bullied by Falene— yes, the teachers have talked to Falene about that, but she won't change. Mr. Berk knew that Falene would want to pair up with you. So, when the time came for him to partner students up, he put me with you to make Falene jealous and so I would get something Falene wanted," I explain. "But then I told him I didn't want to get paired with someone who I would make jealous."

We walk through the double doors that lead to the courtyard and find a seat. The sun shines down on us making our backs hot and our face sweat. The sky is clear and blue, occasionally letting out a gentle gust of wind.

By the end of our lunch period, we have a plan for our project. We made a deal to meet at my house tomorrow night at seven o'clock. "Okay, see you then," Logan says as our lunch bell rings.

***

When Saturday rolls around, I notice I am excited. For what? All I'm doing today is meeting with Logan to work on a project for our Creative Writing class. It's 6:43 P.M. and I need to get going if I want to get to Logan's on time. 

"Mom?" I shout, not knowing where she is. Mom comes through the kitchen doorway wiping her hands on a dish rag, raising her eyebrows to continue. "I'm leaving. I have to go to Logan's house to work on a Creative Writing assignment. I'll be back by ten."

"Yeah, just text me sometime while you're there so I know you're okay," she instructs. I nod and head out the door.

I pull into Logan's driveway. A big, beautiful house sits in front of me. I can already tell that Logan's family is very wealthy. My parents are wealthy, but not this wealthy. My mom is a successful actress who stars in movies with other actors and actresses like Kate Winslet, Leonardo Dicaprio, Johnny Depp, etc. My dad is the CEO of a WRJ Music Records. He produces music and signs record deals. He's pretty cool for a dad.

I walk up their driveway nervous I'll do something stupid. Before I ring the door, I admire the house.

I ring the door bell and a tall girl opens the door. She's beautiful and has silky, wavy brown hair. I assume she is Logan's sister. "Can I help you?" she asks. "I was, uh, looking for Logan," I say.

"Oh, you're Natalie!" the girl exclaims.

"Yep, that's me." We stand there awkwardly for a moment.

"Awwwww. Logan constantly—." Before she could finish, Logan appears behind the her and cuts her off. "I see you've met Lily, my sister." Lily grins at me.

"Well, I'll leave you two to your project," she says. Logan shoots her a look that says Be Quiet.

As he invites me inside his house, a grand staircase made of marble in the middle of the entryway sits before my eyes. At the bottom of the stairs, there is a room on either side of the house. The room on the left is a library, shelves stacked with books to the ceiling. The other room is smaller, more cozy, like a study, with a desk and computer. 

I follow Logan into the study. An older man, maybe in his forties sits in a swivel chair typing away at his computer. We enter the room and the man looks up at us and smiles.

"Son!" the man greets, standing up and taking off his glasses.

"Dad, this is Natalie Reyes, the girl from school, who I will be working with for a school project."

"Welcome, Natalie!" He stretches out his hand to shake and I take it.

"Thank you for having me over, Sir, your house is gorgeous," I comment.

"Please, call me Tim," he suggests.

"Um, if it's okay, I would rather call you Sir or Mr. Hilks. I'm sorry, I'm just more comfortable addressing you in a more ... formal manner." I look at my feet.

"That is alright with me," Mr. Hilks replies with a laugh.

After the greeting with Mr. Hilks, we head over to the library where Mrs. Hilks is reading. We go through the same routine with her as we did with Mr. Hilks. Before we leave, I ask Mrs. Hilks a question, "Mrs. Hilks?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Where do you get all these books? It's just so amazing!"

She smiles. "Well, all of these books belonged to family members whom had passed down to the next generation. They are all very old."

I tell her how cool it is to have books from different generations. I thank her and we move out of the library. We continue the tour of Logan's house. Behind the staircase is a large kitchen with granite countertops and beautiful mahogany cupboards. Connected to the kitchen was a large, open-spaced living room with black and white furniture.

As we move upstairs, I am greeted by an open area, supposedly the lounge area to hang out in for Logan and his sister. On both sides of the room, there are two bedrooms. The left room is Logan's and the right is Lily's.

"This is my room, make yourself at home" Logan tells me as I enter. His room is large. The walls are painted a very light shade of blue that I can barley tell the color. On the righthand side of the room is a window that juts out toward the city. The window's jut allows room for a small couch. This window covers seventy-five percent of the wall, letting in massive amounts of light. The view is beautiful, it overlooks the neighborhood and the city skyscrapers. 

His room is so huge, that he has his own work area, probably used for homework. A light brown couch, along with a queen sized bed sits along the wall that divides his room and the lounge. A large flatscreen TV hangs on the wall across from the bed.

Logan sits on the couch, watching me explore the room. "You like it?"

I stare at him in awe. "Uh, yeah I love it! I'd kill to have a room like this!"

I walk to the other side of the room.

The closet is huge also. No surprise there. If he has this big a bedroom, of course he'd have a large closet, I think to myself. The closet is a walk-in. Bins, shelves, and hangers filled with clothes. I move to the bathroom. The shower and bathtub are separate. The shower has glass walls, the bathtub has jets, the toilet is in its own separate room within the bathroom. Then there's the sink. The mirror lines the wall, the lights shine down on you and the sink is modern and beautiful. Cabinets fall down the side of the sink.

I walk back out to Logan, who has moved from the couch to the work area. I stand there and stare at him. He looks back up at me. 

"What?" I'm speechless and I just keep staring. He laughs. I flop my back on the bed. His duvet cover is soft and silky. I run my hand over the top of the covers, feeling its soft, silky texture. When I had finished exploring room and Logan finished the tour, it has been about thirty minutes since I arrived. "Let's get started," I suggest. He nods and we work.

***

It is 8:39 P.M. by the time finished the essay and decide to take a break.

"Want a snack?" Logan asks. I nod and he goes to get it. I walk around the lounge to stretch my aching legs from sitting. While I walk, I turn and Lily's standing in front of me.

"Hey," Lily says.

"Hi," I reply.

"What are you up to?" I tell her about the project. Then she asks, "What are the girls like at school?" I tell her about Falene and my past and how she was so clingy to Logan.

"Can I ask you something?" I ask.

"Sure."

"I like this guy, but he's out of my league. He's nice, kind... but he likes this other girl, Maria Port. She's popular, but preppy. She's always looking for some way to get a guy, you know?"

Lily nods. "I get you. I like to think of it as a triangle relationship. You like this guy, but he likes another girl, who she likes him, but she will date any guy who asks her to. What's his name?" I hesitate for a second. "It's—."

Before I could finish, Logan walks into the room. "Ready?" I follow him back to the bedroom and finish the poster portion of the project.

I check my phone and the screen reads 9:40 P.M. I send my mom a text saying I'll be home soon. She replies instantly and okays the checkup.

We finish the essay and are relieved. "Thank you, Logan. I had fun," I say. He smiles. "Of course, it's good that we got it done early." I smile too. I say my thanks and goodbyes to everyone but Lily, who I can't seem to find. Logan walks me out to my car. When we approach the car, Lily rushes out the front door and straight at me. 

She quickly takes the pen from my pocket and writes on my arm: 513-609-7223. "Text this number and tell me who you like," she assures. "Haha, okay, will do." She rushes back inside the house and closes the door.

I stand outside the passenger door and put my things in the front seat.

Just as I get in my car, I hear Logan's voice. "Good job, Yoda."

Again ... I smile. Then drive away.

From your author, 

     xoxo, kat_4evr