"Uh, hi!" Dana said, nervously, plopping down into the last seat in the room.
The kid next to her glared over at her for a second and then returned to squinting at the board, pushing their bangs out of their eyes. Dana shrugged and pulled her history notebook from her backpack. She pushed up her glasses as far as they could go and read the words on the board. History project due next Friday, she read. Oh yeah, I forgot about that.
Dana still hadn't even gotten a partner yet. She didn't even have a plan. "Urgh," she groaned, leaning back in her seat.
She heard a clicking from the seat next to her and glanced over to see the kid playing with the pins on their jacket. She realized she'd never even learned their name. After a moment of consideration, she scribbled a note on torn out piece of her textbook. She glanced around, checking for teachers. When she noticed there was none, she discreetly tossed the note over to the kid's desk. Letting go of the pins on their vest, they twisted towards her, with one eyebrow raised. Dana waved her hand in a "go ahead" motion, nodding with a grin on her face.
The kid carefully unfolded the paper, like it was explosive or something. Their eyes skimmed over the words, then returned to Dana's hopeful look. They returned to looking at the scrap of paper. After a moment of stillness, they pulled a pen out of their pocket and scratched a response to Dana's plead of "Hey I really need a partner for that project help me please? :D"
They waited a second before passing the note back over. Dana read the response and sighed in relief. "Thank you!" she mouthed and the kid, whose name Dana now knew was Mulder, smiled slowly and went back to reading the large, boring history textbook.
Dana reread the last part of the note quietly to herself. "Hashtag trust no one," she muttered, shrugging and shoving it into her backpack.
"yeah i guess i can help you with your project seeing as i have no partner, text me at 555-1234 after school so we can plan the project out
#trustno1"