By Zephyria “I definitely sent the email, I did. I emailed it early this morning and then went to sleep, really.”
“Hmm.”
The teacher reacted indifferently and opened his laptop. He quickly entered the password with one hand, paused for a moment, and then turned the screen to show Koi. There were many emails there, but the email address he was looking for was nowhere to be seen. The teacher, who had been watching Koi frantically check the email address several times, asked with his arms crossed.
“Did you check?”
“T, this can’t be happening.”
Koi’s vision blurred, and he looked back and forth between the teacher’s face and the screen in desperation.
“I definitely sent the email, Teacher Martinez. I can even show you the confirmation on my email. There will definitely be a record on my email. Really, this is really absurd!”
Despite Koi’s pleas, the teacher didn’t react much. Koi felt despair at his cold attitude, as if he had already experienced these kinds of complaints countless times. The teacher, calmly looking at Koi, opened his mouth.
“Let’s do this. Send me the email by tonight. Then I’ll accept the assignment. But.”
Before Koi could rejoice, he sternly added.
“Rules are rules, so I can’t give you an A. You can go now.”
“Huh? But…”
“I said go.”
The teacher cut him off firmly. There was no room for further pleading. Eventually, Koi turned around with a sigh.
What should I do?
His vision blurred, and his mind went blank. What about the scholarship? How many points will I get? What about my grades? Why didn’t the email go through? Why did I even stay up all night?
This is really absurd…!
Just as he felt a stinging sensation in his eyes from the unfairness and absurdity, the teacher suddenly called him back.
“Wait.”
Koi, who had stopped with tears welling up in his eyes, cautiously turned around. Teacher Martinez frowned, sighed, and added.
“There’s only one assignment left. If you get a good grade on that, I’ll take it into consideration.”
“Huh?”
Koi turned around in surprise. The teacher looked at Koi and continued.
“I’ll tell you what the assignment is next class. This time, you have to meet the deadline and write the content diligently. Got it?”
“Ah, yes, yes! Of course, Teacher Martinez!”
Koi nodded eagerly, delighted. The teacher waved his hand as if to say that was enough, signaling him to leave. Koi couldn’t help but grin and walked out into the hallway with a brightened face.
Walking with naturally lighter steps, he sighed in relief. It was a major accident that the email hadn’t gone through. But it was so fortunate that he had been given another chance.
What will the next assignment be?
He took a deep breath and exhaled, renewing his resolve.
I have to get a good grade no matter what.
*
“This assignment is a team project.”
Startled, Koi widened his eyes and looked at him. The teacher, standing in front of the chalkboard, continued nonchalantly.
“There will be no presentations. Instead, the topic is the same for everyone. You will form groups of two and submit a report on the topic. The grade will be the same for both of you, so please complete the assignment diligently.”
Everything was the worst except for the fact that there would be no presentations. He could accept that the topic was the same. But he had to form groups of two, and from there, Koi’s mind went blank.
Because Koi didn’t have a single friend to team up with for the assignment.
He had never had friends before, but Koi was doing pretty well. Of course, he felt lonely or bored, but after trying to make friends by force and being severely pranked and bullied, he thought it was better to be lonely alone. It was better to study and work part-time during that time. He was so short on sleep that even if he had friends, he wouldn’t have any time to hang out with them.
That’s what he had been thinking, comforting himself until now.
It felt like a huge wall had suddenly appeared in front of him. But he couldn’t give up on the assignment. In most cases, people team up with close friends. The remaining kids had to somehow form groups. Of course, you had to have some level of liking or at least have talked to each other to make a proposal.
In the end, it was impossible for Koi either way. For him, who was at the very bottom of the food chain, group assignments were poison. He was in a near-panic situation when he covered his head.
“This time, I will randomly assign the groups. Now, come out as I call your names and draw a lot from this box. You will form groups according to the names written on them and complete the assignment, got it?”
The teacher finished speaking and looked around the classroom once. It wasn’t a decision made with Koi specifically in mind, but as a result, his words rescued Koi to some extent.
Just as he was sighing in relief, the teacher called out the first name. One person went out, took a small folded piece of paper from the box, and the teacher read the name written on it.
After confirming each other, the teacher called the next student. As one person after another was called, an unnecessary tension flowed through the classroom. Koi also felt his heart pounding inwardly and glanced around the classroom.
Before he knew it, nearly half of the groups had been formed, and the number of remaining students, including Koi, was decreasing.
“Corner Niles.”
The moment the teacher finally called his name, Koi was momentarily startled and hurriedly stood up, only to trip over the leg of his chair and fall on his butt. Embarrassed by the burst of laughter, he bowed his head and rushed forward as if running away.
I want to end this moment quickly.
Koi put his hand in the box as soon as he reached it, took out the first lot he touched, and immediately handed it to the teacher. He quickly turned around to return to his seat when the teacher spoke from behind.
“Corner Niles, the partner you drew is…”
Koi, who had no choice but to stop, heard her voice continue.
“Ashley Miller, where are you?”
In his surprised and wide-eyed vision, he saw the ice hockey team captain raising his hand. Then the teacher said.
“Okay, you two are a team. Now, next…”
The next student whose name was called went forward, but Koi stood there, unable to move.
Ashley Miller and I are on the same team?
Oblivious to Koi’s reaction, who had turned pale and stopped breathing, Ash was still nonchalantly resting his chin on his hand and checking messages on his phone.
*
“U, um, Ashley… Ash!”
Ashley finally stopped and turned to look at Koi at the hastily added nickname. Koi, who had called him over as soon as he came out into the hallway after class, took a deep breath before saying the words he had prepared and opened his mouth.”Um, well… it’s about the assignment. You know? We’re on the same team. So, I was thinking we should talk about how we’re going to do it together.”
There was a lot to discuss, from how to research the data, how to divide the chapters, and who would be in charge of each divided chapter. They would have to meet at least three times to exchange information and make revisions until the report was finished.
Koi thought that he should coordinate Ashley’s free time with his days off from his part-time job to finish the assignment as efficiently as possible. The school cafeteria would be a good place. They wouldn’t have to order anything, so they wouldn’t waste money unnecessarily. But that was only if Ashley agreed to all of his ideas.
He was nervously watching him, when Ashley gave him his usual bright smile.
“Oh, right. Hmm, what should we do?”
He frowned for a moment as if he was thinking, looked up at the ceiling, and then brushed back his hair with a look of regret and smiled.
“I have practice after class. I’d be free after practice, but it’ll be too late, right?”
“No, it’s okay. What time would that be?”
Ashley paused at his eager reply. From that reaction, Koi realized that his response was different from what Ashley had expected. Did Ashley not want to do this assignment? Feeling uneasy, Ashley said with an awkward smile.
“It’ll be very late.”
“It’s okay. I can wait.”
Now that it had come to this, he had no choice but to push forward. At his stubborn words, Ashley sighed as if he was openly dismayed.
“Well, you see…”
Seeing him waving one hand in the air meaninglessly, Koi quickly said.
“Corner Niles. My name is Corner Niles.”
“Okay, Koi.”
Ashley, who readily used his nickname, continued.
“It’s just one assignment, there’s no need to work that hard, don’t you think?”
His smiling face would have won over most people in the world, but Koi was an exception.
“No, I want to do my best.”