The Way We Feel

03: Zach

The new girl was in his Calculus class as well, Zach noted after lunch. She was sitting in the front again, and he briefly wondered if he should invite her to sit with him. That was the nice thing to do, right? She hadn't seemed overly comfortable with him in History, though, and class had already started. He sighed, rifling through his textbook as Ms. Melbrint called out the page numbers.

"We're now on the last chapter in our Derivatives unit, so your test will be mid-next week. Ensure that you prepare well for it, and pay attention. I'm well aware that your brains have been in near hibernation for the last fourteen days—"

"What's a 'hibernation'?" James called out from behind Zach. Ms. Melbrint momentarily paused for the class to laugh before launching into her speech again.

"Just remember that your days in high school are nearing an end. Most of you are passing the class, but for the few that aren't, you need to work on bringing up your grade. You can see me, Mrs. Bazedi..." Zach stared out the window at the grey, rainy weather. He was doing fine in Calc and he didn't feel like listening to Ms. Melbrint's motivational speech.

Some of his friends were paying attention, others were engaging in paper basketball. Leila seemed to be hanging on to every word their teacher spoke; he wasn't sure if that's who she was as a student or if she just wanted to make a good impression. He decided he didn't care after staring in her direction for longer than most people would call normal and glanced back to Ms. Melbrint

"...now, please do questions one through seven on page 231. You have half an hour. Calculators are up here if you need one." Zach ran a hand through his hair and grabbed a sheet of paper. He felt a pencil poke his back, and turned around.

"How do I do it?" James whispered. Zach pointed to his binder.

"Uh, the notes we took over the break should explain it," he said. James rolled his eyes.

"Don't tell me you actually did that. Who actually does homework over spring break?" Zach shook his head.

"Dude, they took like ten minutes. Just read the textbook and shut up before you get sent to the office." He turned around to his own work, and methodically went through the questions. Seven wasn't that many, until you realized that each one had parts a to h. He inwardly groaned, and checked the clock multiple times during the work period.

After the promised thirty minutes, Ms. Melbrint began calling on people to solve a question on the board.

"Leila, please come write your answer for question 3c." Leila walked up uncertainly, most likely not excited to stand in front of the entire class on her first day. Her answer was correct, though, and Ms. Melbrint seemed pleased. She told Leila to pick a student for the next question, and she looked around the class hesitantly. Her eyes landed on Zach, who gave her a small nod.

"Er, Zach," she said, sounding relieved. Leila returned to her seat as Zach pushed himself up and took her place at the whiteboard.

"3d?" He clarified. At his teacher's nod he proceeded to solve the question, then called someone else up. He returned to his desk and pretended he wasn't on his phone until the end of class, at which point he sauntered over to Leila.

"What's your next class?" He asked her. She looked at him strangely.

"Uh, French. I think. Why?" He shrugged and pointedly waited for her to stand up and walk with him.

"Just wanted to offer help to a new student. I have French right now too, if you want to follow me so you don't get lost." He saw that she was about to decline, but then she must have pushed her pride aside.

"Sure," she sighed, following him into the hallway. He led her down a nearby stairwell; he leaned against the railing as he cursed his prosthetic for the hundredth time.