Chapter Text
It was Monday, usually they were long and atrocious, especially when you have 3 specific teachers who were extremely harsh along with a strict principal. Today the weather was predicted to be sunny but fuck that. It was raining so hard it almost seemed like a flood could start.
Claire, along with her cat MoeMoe, were walking down the wet sidewalk since Claire didn't really have a ride or anything to get to school. It was a mess, water seeping into the hand-me-down hoodie she got from her mother. The droplets hit the pavement with a rhythmic tap-tap that seemed to echo in the silence that filled the mostly quiet neighborhood Claire was in.
She only had a few steps to go, and she'd reach paper school. Once she walked in, the tiles underneath her became soaked with rain drops.
She looked around her. It was pretty much the same as always. Lizzy and Petunia were chatting, Edward and Zip whispering and snickering while Oliver was presumably with Alice as he wasn't seen in the halls. Kevin was busy rambling on to Riley about how she should really fix her behavior, but Riley probably wasn't, anyway. As she was more focused on.. whatever her crazy head was thinking..
The bell rang as Claire made it to her locker, where both Bubble and Engel met up with her, their usual calm and positive self a stark contrast to the gloomy weather.
"Rain got you down?" Engel asked, seeing Claire extremely drenched from the rain.
"I just want to get this day over with.." Claire groaned.
"Um, you studied for the test, right?" Bubble inquired, her voice a mix of concern and curiosity.
Test!? She forgot all about that. This day was already off to a bad start, getting soaked by rain and now a test!? That she completely forgot to study for. Just lovely.
"What test?" Claire asked, trying to play it cool, hoping against hope that she had heard wrong.
"The math test that Miss Circle rambled on about almost all of last week," Engel replied, raising an eyebrow at Claire's apparent forgetfulness.
The second bell rang
"We might wanna get to class, don't want to end up late, now do we?" Engel said, nudging Claire gently as they started to walk towards their first class. The hallways crowded, like always.
Everyone sat down. Miss Circle cleared her throat.
"Sadly, I'm going to have to move the math test you guys have worked so hard to study for to next week,"
Miss Circle announced to the class. A collective sigh of relief filled the room, except for the few overachievers who had studied. Claire felt the weight of failing lift off her shoulders. She was in the clear for the moment, she now had time to properly study
A kid raised their hand
"Yes, Kevin?" Miss Circle sighed. She already knew what he was gonna ask.
"Why did you cancel the test this week?" Kevin asked, his voice slightly annoyed as he took so much time on figuring how everything worked.
Miss Circle took a deep breath before speaking. "The test has been rescheduled due to a majority of the classes grades. I've noticed that a lot of you haven't been doing too well. However, none of you has gotten an F."
*Miss Circle held the paper up to read it"
"I've decided I'm going to move your seating, to help boost the class's overall performance," Miss Circle continued, her voice firm. "Everyone stand up to the side of the classroom,"
Claire's stomach churned. She hated change. She was fine. Why was she getting moved? Did she do something wrong?
As everyone shuffled out of their seats and to the sides of the classroom, the atmosphere grew tense. Almost everyone was disappointed. They got to choose their seats at the beginning of the year and now they were being changed?
Miss Circle walked around with a piece of paper and a stern look on her face. It felt an eternity before she spoke.
"Cubbie, Edward, Engel" She assigned the three students to the group desk.
They awkwardly looked at each other and shuffled to the desk as Miss Circle assigned the next desk
"Ruby, Bubble, and Kevin" She assigned the next group of students.
Kevin rolled his eyes, not looking forward to being paired with any of them whatsoever, preferring to be alone.
"Riley, Lizzy, Oliver,"
The whispers grew as Miss Circle announced the next set of names. Claire felt a twinge of anxiety, hoping she wouldn't be paired with someone she couldn't stand for the life of her.
"Petunia, Zip, and Claire,"
The moment Miss Circle called out her name, Claire's heart sank. Petunia was fine, but Zip!? Of all people?! Why her!?
"Robby, Skell, and Abbie," she assigned the last students to the final group desk.
The class reluctantly rearranged themselves, books and bags thumping onto new desks. Claire took her seat with Petunia and Zip, trying to ignore the awkwardness, and pulled out her math book and pretended to look busy. Zip, noticing her discomfort, smirked.
"Cheer up, Claire. It's not like I'm going to bite," she said, her tone playfully mocking.
Claire shot Zip a glare that could've frozen lava. "I'd like to keep my sanity intact, thank you very much," she murmured under her breath, earning a snicker from Petunia.
"Are you guys just going to argue all period?" Petunia interrupted, trying to lighten the mood with a chuckle.
"No," Claire said through gritted teeth, flipping open her math book to the correct page.
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Class felt like it would never end., with the constant patter of rain outside and the constant speaking of Miss Circle, trying to keep up with her pace was like catching up with a cheetah.
Claire glanced over at Zip, who was scribbling away in her notebook, seemingly unaware of what Miss Circle was writing. She literally only got halfway through the notes before she began doodling random little drawings. Claire rolled her eyes and tried to focus on the lesson, but her mind kept wandering to Zips doodles.
She nudged her shoulder and Zip looked at her confused
"What are you doing!?" Claire questioned in a whisper, pointing to the drawings on Zips' notebook.
Zip smirked, "What? I'm bored."
"Wha-but- the notes!" Claire stuttered, her voice hushed but filled with frustration.
"Relax, I've got it," Zip replied, not looking up from her doodles. "Miss Circle repeats herself like a broken record. I've heard it all before."
Claire rolled her eyes. "really? What if she doesn't want you to be scribbling in her class?"
Zip just chuckled. "She's not going to say anything to me. I'm Miss Thavels' daughter," she whispered back.
"Oh, really so if I just-" Claire slightly began raising her hand, jokingly implying she was gonna tattle on her.
"Don't you dare," Zip whispered back, glaring playfully at Claire.
Petunia leaned in. "I thought you didn't like Zip," she whispered to Claire, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
"I don't," Claire replied, her voice low and serious. "But she's driving me crazy."
Petunia giggled with more amusement than before. "Well, you guys seem to be having a lot of fun over there," she said, raising an eyebrow at their interaction.
Zip's smirk grew wider as she caught the glimpse of Claire's frustration. "What's the matter, Claire? Can't handle a little chaos?" she whispered, her eyes finally leaving her doodles to meet Claire's.
"It's not about chaos, it's about learning!" Claire hissed back, trying to keep her voice down so Miss Circle wouldn't hear.
"Oh, come on," Zip leaned back in her chair, stretching her arms. "Math is math. It's not like it's going to change the whole universe."
"But it could change our grades!" Claire whispered fiercely, her eyes darting over to Miss Circle, who was scribbling away at the board.
Zip shrugged. "So what? Grades aren't everything."
Petunia giggled, hearing them argue, "You guys are like an old married couple."
This caused a few snickers from the nearby desks. Claire and Zip both stopped and stared at her eyes wide, before they both said in sync, "What?"
Miss Circle turned around to look at them, a stern look on her face. "What's so funny?"
Petunia jumped slightly "N-nothing, Miss Circle."
Miss Circle narrowed her eyes before turning back to the board, continuing her lecture.
The rest of the class passed by with a mix of forced learning and sneaky glances at Zip's doodles. Claire tried her best to keep up with the notes, but the distraction was too much. Why was she so entranced with these drawings.. she didn't know?
The bell finally rang, signaling the end of the class.
"Alright, I expect you all to review your notes tonight, and remember, the test is next week. No more rearrangements," Miss Circle said, a hint of a smile on her face as she dismissed the class.
As the students shuffled out of the room, Claire gathered her things, her mind racing with the daunting task of catching up on her math and this newfound entrancement with the drawings and Zip in general.