A/N: Just some background information, Emily and Alison didn't know each other prior to any of this, and there's no A.
Emily Fields arrived in her fourth period classroom, and she wasn't necessarily ecstatic about it. Emily couldn't think of a subject she disliked more than French, she couldn't grasp the language very well, the teacher was slightly aggravating, and the students in the class weren't her friends to any degree. Although the students are expected to make friends within the class, Emily did the exact opposite by avoiding eye contact with everyone unless it was absolutely necessary.
As Emily settled into her desk, the teacher, Mrs. McMiller, arrived with her arms filled with stacks of papers, with her bag swinging from her arm. As soon as Emily noticed the papers in her teacher's hands, she knew precisely what they were. She had completely forgotten about the test they had taken last Wednesday even though she received several reminders that it would be marked and handed back today.
"Good afternoon class, I hope you all had a good weekend, but I'm guessing you're all anxious to see how you did on your tests." Mrs. McMiller said with unbridled glee as she scanned the faces of her nervous students.
The classroom went dead silent. "The class average out of 110 is 97, and considering the class median of 75, that's not bad." She picked up the stack of tests and started handing them out. Inaudible whispers of profanity came from some students, while other students were practically jumping out of their seats.
Once Emily was given her test, she flipped it over to see her mark in thick red marker. She sighed as she saw her grade and quickly shoved the test into her bag. She was expecting a low mark but not as low as what she got. 56%, what a disaster. Her brain seemed to be dissipating as the year came to an end. She started out with her marks in the high eighties, but it's been downhill ever since. Emily was just content with how close summer break was.
"So since this school year is coming to an end I've prepared a summer project for all of you."
A few scattered groans echoed throughout the class room. "It will be a pen pal project, and all of you will be writing to someone from a different country. The other grade 11 French class will be doing this as well. You each get a number assigned to you and your name and address will be kept confidential, that is unless you become very good friends with this person and decide you want to share that information with them. Although I don't recommend that, it has happened before. And yes, this is mandatory." As Mrs. McMiller continued droning on, Emily started to zone out, thinking about how stupid this project was. She understood why they might do this in elementary school, but high school? Aren't they too old for this?
"I hope you all listened carefully to what I've told you because I'm not repeating myself because of your laziness." Emily mentally cursed for not paying attention. Luckily the teacher also wrote some of what the students needed to do on the chalkboard. Emily read over the information and gathered the important data, hoping she'll remember it because she really doesn't want to write it down.
The bell chimed out to signal the end of the day and Emily quickly stood up and departed from the classroom and made her way to her locker. When she got there, two of her best friends, Spencer and Aria, were waiting for her.
"How do you two always beat me to my locker? Both of your 4th period classrooms are on the third floor!" Announced Emily.
As always, she remained puzzled about how her friends can stop at their lockers after class and still manage to make it to hers before she did.
"We're obviously ninjas, Emily." Spencer joked as Emily stumbled to dump her textbooks into her bag.
"Or you're just a sloth." Aria criticized. Emily stared at Aria for a second before shaking her head, closing her locker and heading down the hallway towards the exit.
"Jeez, Em, what crawled up your ass?" Her taller friend had noticed how irritated Emily seemed to be and couldn't resist asking her.
Emily didn't respond until the three started making their way home.
"Mrs. McMiller assigned us a project two days before school ends and expects us to continue it throughout the break."
"What is it?" Aria piped in.
"We have to do pen pals with someone from a different country, but we don't get to know their name or even what country they're from. I think it's stupid and just a complete waste of time." Emily was now walking noticeably faster than her friends, forcing them to speed up.
"How bad can it be, Em? Maybe you'll get someone cool." Said Spencer as she tried to make Emily feel better.
"I forgot to mention that it has to be written in French, and dropped off at the school whenever I need to send a letter. I have to do it twice a week which is ridiculous! My French sucks, and I don't want to spend my summer in my stuffy room writing to a stranger in a language I hate!" Emily took a deep breath and stopped in front of her house to look at her friends.
"Well at least I'll see you guys tomorrow, unless you can come over today."
"I can't today, sorry." Aria apologized. She looked at Emily and then to Spencer hoping she wouldn't bail on her as well.
"I think I can make it, but I have to drop my stuff off at home first." Emily nodded and smiled, glad that at least one of her friends can come.
The three friends parted ways and Emily stood in front of her house watching them go before she walked up to her porch and entered her home. Since she had the house to herself right now, she carelessly dropped her bag onto the living room floor and made her way to the kitchen to grab a tub of ice cream. Emily cherished the days when her mother was working night shifts, because it meant she could have friends over late and do whatever she wanted. Today she decided on ice cream and a movie to take her mind off of how ruined her summer vacation was.
Emily was startled by the beep of her phone on the table. She picked it up to read the text.
Hey, Em. I'm gonna have to cancel today): My parents want me home to see my sister when she gets back from vacation. But we should definitely hangout soon, with Aria too. See ya tomorrow. – Spencer
Emily was relieved with her friend's cancellation. She was starting to have second thoughts because she wasn't in the best of moods right now and wanted time to herself. She thought back to the pen pals project and how her teacher wrote on the board that they had to have their first letter written today so it can be mailed tomorrow. Emily was not feeling up to doing this, but she needed the grade and she figured the sooner she does it, the sooner she can go to sleep.
The brunette turned off the TV, picked up her bag from where she left it on the floor, and headed upstairs to her room. When she entered, she sat at her desk and emptied the contents of her bag in front of her. She needed to find the test that she had sloppily shoved into her bag earlier today. As soon as she located the paper, she took one last look at it before crumpling it up into a ball and chucking into her garbage bin.
Once she finished packing all of her belongings back into her bag, she grabbed a pen and some paper and put them down in front of her. Emily sat for a few minutes just thinking of how to start the letter. She put her pen to the paper but her mind went blank and she couldn't remember how to greet people in French so she just decided to start by introducing herself.
Je'mappelle Emily
As soon as she finished writing that, she mentally slapped herself for writing her name on the paper. Mrs. McMiller stated multiple times not to mention your name anywhere and Emily did the exact opposite. She crumpled up the failed letter and grabbed another piece of paper to begin another one.
Emily thought for a bit but still couldn't remember any French other than how to introduce her name and the words for apple and potato. There's 2 years of high school French gone to waste. She contemplated using an app to translate for her but she doesn't want to end up sounding like an absolute idiot, so she decided to take a chance and just write it in English. It's not like the teachers will ever see the letters.
Emily licked the envelope to close it and turned it over to write her number on it. Each student got a number that they had to go by to make it easier for the teachers when they mailed their letters.
She picked up her bag from the floor, beside her, and put the envelope into her binder for French class. After putting her bag back down, she got up from her desk chair and flopped onto her bed, not caring about pajamas. It was a long and boring day for Emily Fields.
A/N: I'd like to see how this story plays out and if it gets a decent amount of attention I'll continue. The next chapter will focus more on Alison. Thanks for reading (:
