Group Work

The message from Crashcourse has blindsided me, but I didn't really have the time to think about it.

"Okay everyone, that's it for today's Computer Tech class, please make your way into the main hall where Mr Kamoga will be waiting to start his Powered History class," called out the teacher, Ms Krieger, at the head of the class.

As I gathered my gear, I realised that for a brief moment the anxiety had actually bled away somewhat over the course of the class. I'd been able to entirely focus on something that wasn't related to school and it felt… well, good.

Now that anxiety was back in full force.

Micheal was already sitting when I got to the classroom, he made sure to sneer at me as I walked through the room. It was funny how, even after I'd fought against one of the strongest Powered the community had to offer, someone like Micheal was still able to put me on edge.

That being said, I wasn't allowed to blast Micheal with a super-powered gauntlet. That'd make me a villain.

This time around a sat the closest I could to the door. Lunch break was next, and that was one of the times that Micheal tended to seek me out to give me a hard time. I wanted to be out of the door as quickly as possible so I could put some distance between me and him.

It'd be nice to eat food without having to worry about someone coming along to thwack it out of my hand for a change.

Mr Kamoga entered the room with a spring in his step. We all knew the story about how his wife had been caught in an attack by the Coventry Mob a few years back, so the news that Phet had been taken in must have really bolstered his spirits.

It took a few minutes for him to get started, but when he did, he had us break up into groups of four to share our pieces of homework with one another in preparation to share it with everyone else. The group that had the most to say on the subject would win a prize, which in this case was going to be the rest of the afternoon off.

If we managed to win, that'd be a lot of extra crafting time.

That didn't mean that I was looking forward to it, though. As someone who didn't exactly get along with other people group work was never something that really inspired me. It always ended up with me doing most of the work and everyone else riding on my coattails, stealing my ideas.

There was also the fact that no one actually wanted to be in my group, which was also a factor.

By the time I'd worked over everything in my head, most of the class had already joined together in groups of fours, there was only one group with room left. Dan and Lisa. This was not an uncommon occurrence. They didn't get it as bad as I did, but it was safe to say that both Dan and Lisa were outcasts in the class.

Lisa was a tall, willowy sort of girl with mid-length brown hair and high cheekbones. She was also so out of touch with the rest of the world that you could probably have a full conversation with her before she even noticed that you were in the room. I didn't know if it was drugs or if it was just how she was, either way, she wouldn't be much help in a group assignment.

Dan was the polar opposite of Lisa. He was pretty smart, probably one of the smartest people in the class, but he also had no filters whatsoever. Talking to him was always a risk, because he pretty much said the first thing that came to his head, always. No matter what the consequences were. To be honest, being in a duo with Lisa and doing all the work myself would probably be easier than working with Dan.

I sighed and trudged over to the other two as I pulled my homework out of my pack.

The task had been to come up with ways that the rise of Heroes had influenced a post Gold Dawn world, and it was a topic that I'd actually enjoyed writing about… in the early hours of the morning before coming into class.

There weren't necessarily as many points as I'd wanted to make, but the ones that had been made were well thought out and substantiated with real-world examples, so surely that had to count for something?

"I uh… didn't get all that much done," Dan said as I sat down opposite him. "I was a little bit distracted by the news last night, couldn't believe someone actually managed to take down Phet, you know?"

Two minutes passed and he was still rambling on about the Phet fight, I hadn't realised he was such a Powered fan. He did, however, break his non-stop conversation off when someone walked into the room late, one of Micheal's crew.

"Can I be in Micheal's group," the nasaly voice of Decker asked.

"Now now Decker, that wouldn't be fair. You should join Dan's group, there's only two people with him," Mr. Kamoga said, gesturing toward us.

Decker sauntered over to the three of us and sat down with a huff. Suffice it to say, things didn't exactly get better from that point onward.

Micheal's group moved over so the four of them were placed right next to Decker, which let the obnoxious boy talk with them even though he was sitting with us.

"This is what I've come up with," I said, handing my sheet over to Dan in an attempt to get things back on track.

He read it over, nodding all the while. "This really isn't bad, Tristan," He said when he was done.

"Give it 'ere," Decker grunted, snatching the piece of paper from Dan.

Before I knew what had happened, the work I'd forced myself to produce this morning was over on Micheal's table, far away from me.