Photogenic Frame

The teacher tried his best to get the class back on track since everyone started to voice their thoughts and opinions with much vigor. Mr. Baird frowned when the students in the back were still trying to talk over him after he cleared his throat multiple times.

He wasn't one to be old fashioned like slapping a ruler on the desk or anything, but he completely went silent waiting for the students in the back to sense his utter displeasure with their behavior which was what he was learning earlier in the beginning of homeroom class.

It was probably a good thing that he didn't empty out the emotions on his face into physical actions because Alice actually could imagine Mr. Baird slamming rulers and threatening other objects in the classroom, but she guessed that a win was a win.

The students immediately began to shush themselves with laughter over the next few minutes because when one stopped, another person would begin talking. It was a contradiction because all students that attended the academy were rigid in most classes other than homeroom which was implemented as a requirement.

Eventually, the classroom rang silent, because if anyone were about to press further, it was not going to end well for the students too since they also needed to know the plans for the day and some study time that was reserved toward the end of homeroom.

Alice leaned back in her chair and adjusted the white ribbons in her hair that she expertly watched a tutorial on for an innocent and feminine look, Claudia tilted one of Alice's bows to the side with a smile which Alice responded with a wink.

She swung her eyes to the front and made eye contact with Sophia sitting in the front with a lollipop in her mouth and Madeline being quite poised with her posture.

Alice covered her laugh with her hand, and Madeline cocked her head to the side as if to ask what was funny. She lifted a shoulder to signal that it was nothing.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Mr. Baird stated slowly after all the eyes he was waiting for were finally on him. "This is a new project that is also going to be carried out by the dean to get more engagement with the school. This is a group project which will require no more than four people a group to be tasked with interviewing underclassmen of questions varying about their experiences." 

"Is it going to be graded?" Jordan asked.

"Read the specifications," Mr. Baird answered. "This project won't be worth much at all, so don't worry too much about it. The academy is aiming to get participation and involvement on both sides of upperclassmen and lowerclassmen."

Daniel lifted his hand, and the teacher swung his gaze over to him before dipping his head down to acknowledge him. "How long do we have for the assignment, and when is it due?"

Mr. Baird clicked his tongue. "Well, the interview process begins after I dismiss you all to find your groups as you all are cleared for the whole day. The information gathered should be presented in a slide form which you will turn in to me within three days."

"Three days?" people exclaimed while students were still buzzing with the information that they had a free day for the rest of the day. It was quite a short time frame but definitely doable in a day if one devoted enough time and energy to it.

For those who liked to procrastinate, last-minute timing always seemed to work out, but Alice thought it would be best to get started right away instead of wasting the free time that was blocked to work on the project.

"You heard me the first time. Three days with the last day running until midnight. I will not tolerate tardy work since I will have to send them all over to the dean soon after at the date that he requested," the homeroom teacher muttered. "Gather groups and begin."

The room suddenly got loud with all the students gathering together to try and figure out to outline what they were all going to do. People were immediately trying to make groups, and Alice paused looking over at Claudia to see what she wanted to do.

Claudia looked unbothered, and Alice decided to roll with the flow and ignore the pencil tapping of Noah's. Alice kept an eye on Madeline, but she grabbed the girls next to her before turning around to send Alice and Claudia a wave which Alice gave her an understanding smile since there were no hard feelings on her end.

The guys nearby were calling Noah's name, and Noah looked over his shoulders which made her snicker at the perfect shot created because it seemed as though his whole life was made for perfect pictures no matter the time or pose. 

Noah knocked his knuckles on Alice's desk, and she dipped her chin down in response before he stood up and walked over to the back where the boys were starting to get rowdy. 

"Well, it looks like we should get started," Alice said slowly to Claudia who snorted.