Gingerbread 9
Author: Marina
Story: The Dragon World
Challenge: Gingerbread 9 (ugly duckling)
Toppings/Extras: Rainbow Sprinkles (Marie)
Word Count: 687
Rating: G
Summary: How Marie met Aaron.
Notes: Aaron needs more fleshing out, like Lindsey does, so I’m working on developing his backstory more fully. Concrit is welcome and appreciated.
“Seating assignments are on the blackboard,” the teacher said, without looking up from his newspaper. Marie shot him a brief scowl as she crossed the floor to take a look.
Her already bad mood deepened further when she saw that he had arranged the class alphabetically by last name in five long rows. Only two desks separated her from the front of the classroom, a position that did not lend itself to the invisibility she had become accustomed to. She found the spot and slumped into it, digging her English notebook and a Sharpie out of her book bag.
More students entered the classroom, and the teacher repeated the same instructions to each of them. Before long, a chaotic cluster had formed around the haphazard diagram, making Marie very glad that she had arrived early enough to avoid it. She continued to mark up her notebook as the others filled in the seats around her.
“Hi.”
She started violently, and regretted it a second later-clearly, the greeting had not been for her, and the others would only laugh. She cast a reflexive glance to her right anyway and found that the boy sitting next to her was, in fact, trying to talk to her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, with an apologetic smile. “I didn’t ruin your work, did I?”
“It’s fine,” she said shortly, not bothering to look down long enough to check. Why is he talking to me?
He offered her his hand. “I’m Aaron Mitchell.”
Marie stared at it for a moment, and then directed her gaze upward to his face. He did not look like the kind of boy that could possibly want to talk to her; the polo he wore suggested a preppy type, and he had a face that could set hearts a-flutter without trying. Her black nail polish, purple highlights, and Sharpie drawings usually sent guys like him running.
“It’s just a hand,” Aaron said, still smiling. “It’s not going to kill you.”
Hastily, she shook it and withdrew. “I know that,” she muttered.
He chuckled at that, much to her annoyance. “What are you drawing?”
“Nothing, really. It’s mostly to keep from getting bored.”
“I can understand that,” he said. “My notes have sketches all over the margins. It helps me concentrate during lectures.”
She gave up on her impromptu art for the moment and shifted in her desk to see him better. “Are you new?”
“Yes, this is my first day.”
That explained it. “Where’d you transfer from?”
His smile widened to a grin. “Would you believe me if I said Germany?”
“Bull,” she said.
“It’s true. My parents are professors at the university. They ran the exchange program over there for several years.”
“Huh. So I guess you’re fluent, then.”
“Natürlich,” he quipped. “Ich spreche sehr gut Deutsch.”
“You even sound exactly like your spit’s going to start flying and hit me in the face,” she said, impressed. He laughed again, and she could not help smiling in return.
“All right, settle down,” the teacher said. Aaron immediately turned to look at him, and Marie reluctantly followed suit. The rest of the class quieted more slowly, and the man quickly grew tired of it. He picked up a stick of chalk and dragged it across the blackboard by its metal grip, eliciting shrieks of pain as the students clutched their ears. “That’s better. Now, the faster we get through this, the happier everyone will be, so let’s get started.”
Marie had never been so happy to hear the nutrition bell ring as she was when it sounded at the end of the period. She had her bag packed in an instant and would have dashed right out of the classroom if Aaron’s voice had not stopped her. “You never told me your name,” he reminded her, with another charming smile.
“It’s Marie Grant,” she said.
“Nice to meet you, Marie. I’ll see you tomorrow if we don’t run into each other later today.”
She secretly hoped they would, but she would rather have died than say so. “Yeah, see you.”
Story: The Dragon World
Challenge: Gingerbread 9 (ugly duckling)
Toppings/Extras: Rainbow Sprinkles (Marie)
Word Count: 687
Rating: G
Summary: How Marie met Aaron.
Notes: Aaron needs more fleshing out, like Lindsey does, so I’m working on developing his backstory more fully. Concrit is welcome and appreciated.
“Seating assignments are on the blackboard,” the teacher said, without looking up from his newspaper. Marie shot him a brief scowl as she crossed the floor to take a look.
Her already bad mood deepened further when she saw that he had arranged the class alphabetically by last name in five long rows. Only two desks separated her from the front of the classroom, a position that did not lend itself to the invisibility she had become accustomed to. She found the spot and slumped into it, digging her English notebook and a Sharpie out of her book bag.
More students entered the classroom, and the teacher repeated the same instructions to each of them. Before long, a chaotic cluster had formed around the haphazard diagram, making Marie very glad that she had arrived early enough to avoid it. She continued to mark up her notebook as the others filled in the seats around her.
“Hi.”
She started violently, and regretted it a second later-clearly, the greeting had not been for her, and the others would only laugh. She cast a reflexive glance to her right anyway and found that the boy sitting next to her was, in fact, trying to talk to her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, with an apologetic smile. “I didn’t ruin your work, did I?”
“It’s fine,” she said shortly, not bothering to look down long enough to check. Why is he talking to me?
He offered her his hand. “I’m Aaron Mitchell.”
Marie stared at it for a moment, and then directed her gaze upward to his face. He did not look like the kind of boy that could possibly want to talk to her; the polo he wore suggested a preppy type, and he had a face that could set hearts a-flutter without trying. Her black nail polish, purple highlights, and Sharpie drawings usually sent guys like him running.
“It’s just a hand,” Aaron said, still smiling. “It’s not going to kill you.”
Hastily, she shook it and withdrew. “I know that,” she muttered.
He chuckled at that, much to her annoyance. “What are you drawing?”
“Nothing, really. It’s mostly to keep from getting bored.”
“I can understand that,” he said. “My notes have sketches all over the margins. It helps me concentrate during lectures.”
She gave up on her impromptu art for the moment and shifted in her desk to see him better. “Are you new?”
“Yes, this is my first day.”
That explained it. “Where’d you transfer from?”
His smile widened to a grin. “Would you believe me if I said Germany?”
“Bull,” she said.
“It’s true. My parents are professors at the university. They ran the exchange program over there for several years.”
“Huh. So I guess you’re fluent, then.”
“Natürlich,” he quipped. “Ich spreche sehr gut Deutsch.”
“You even sound exactly like your spit’s going to start flying and hit me in the face,” she said, impressed. He laughed again, and she could not help smiling in return.
“All right, settle down,” the teacher said. Aaron immediately turned to look at him, and Marie reluctantly followed suit. The rest of the class quieted more slowly, and the man quickly grew tired of it. He picked up a stick of chalk and dragged it across the blackboard by its metal grip, eliciting shrieks of pain as the students clutched their ears. “That’s better. Now, the faster we get through this, the happier everyone will be, so let’s get started.”
Marie had never been so happy to hear the nutrition bell ring as she was when it sounded at the end of the period. She had her bag packed in an instant and would have dashed right out of the classroom if Aaron’s voice had not stopped her. “You never told me your name,” he reminded her, with another charming smile.
“It’s Marie Grant,” she said.
“Nice to meet you, Marie. I’ll see you tomorrow if we don’t run into each other later today.”
She secretly hoped they would, but she would rather have died than say so. “Yeah, see you.”