Part 3

Coach looked around the room with a smirk on his face, he rubbed his hands again and shouted," Listen up class I want everyone to write their names on a piece of paper, fold it and give it to me. I will then place it inside the baseball cap on my desk."

Coach looked around the room with a smirk on his face. I still didn't get what he was up to, but I obeyed all the same. Dee face still had that 'wilt a plant' look, and she sat at the desk with her arms crossed in defiance.

"Miss Skylark, please write your name down and give it to me as requested."

"Better do as he as he says Dee, you don't want to end up in one of his detentions again." I whispered.

Dee shrugged her shoulders, and did as she was asked. After coach turned his back towards her a smile spread upon her face.

"What did you do Dee?" I asked

"You will see." she replied

Coach lifted the baseball cap from his desk and revealed his plan, "One by one I want you to come up and draw a name from the cap. If you pick your own name, place it back and take another. Starting from the left back of the class come up one at a time, take a name then return to your seat."

One by one, the class took a name from the baseball cap and returned to their seats. Some looked horrified some looked smug at the names they chose.

Stuart Hudson started to laugh when he saw the name written on his piece of paper. However, coach did not share his good humour. He snatched the paper from Stuarts hand, grimaced, looked at it, and spoke.

"Will Sex Goddess, please reveal themselves or the whole class gets detention for the next two weeks."

A giggle erupted from the class.

Couch stared at us. "Let me rephrase, will the person who wrote Sex Goddess as their name please make yourself known."

Dee cleared her throat and raised her hand. A loud laugh erupted once again.

"Miss Skylark, clearly you have a sense of humour, but let us see if you still have one after two weeks of detention. Your classmates should thank you for letting them off the hook. You may now take your seat next to Stuart Hudson."

Coached smiled to himself and announced, "Yes dear students, the name you pick from the cap will be the person you sit next to for the rest of the semester."

Dee stood up with a look of resonation on her face and reluctantly took her place beside Stuart Hudson. He was the only person in our class that sat alone, he was distracting for most of the students and had been caught cheating during tests. Thus the reason he was seated alone. Dee turned to him smiled and said sweetly,

"You lay one finger on me and you will loose your hand."

Stuart replied, "Thank goodness it's only my hand."

Coach blew on his whistle once more and shouted,

"OK, the entertainment is over, please continue to pick names."

It was my turn next. I rose from my seat and walked toward the desk, tripping as I went and nearly falling head first onto the desk. I heard a loud deep laugh, one I that did not recalled hearing before. I looked up and saw the new transfer boy laughing, finding my humiliation a great source of amusement. I didn't know his name only that he sat at the back of the class and never spoke to anyone. He usually had a baseball hat half hiding his face. Coach didn't seem to bother much with him. The boy stopped laughing when he saw me staring at him, he held my gaze. I noticed he had one dark brown eye and one grey one. Strange I had not noticed that about him, but then again I had not paid much attention to him before now. His mouth slightly lifted to one side. Why was he smirking at me?

I put my hand inside the baseball cap and withdrew a piece of paper. I recognised the cap that coach was using, it was the one belonging to the transfer boy. I unfolded the paper, the name Patchy stared back at me. It could only be one person, the transfer boy! I looked to see if coach was looking at me. He was, trembling slightly I lied, "It's my name on the paper."

I refolded the paper, took another and opened it. I could not believe what I was seeing, again the name Patchy scrawled upon the paper. I looked up at Coach, before I could say anything he glared at me and said, "Miss Day, go sit down now please,"

I turned around and on returning to my seat I looked at the transfer boy Patchy, he was still smirking. I was not happy; he gave me the creeps to be honest. He must have put his name in twice. Now I was stuck with him until the end of semester. I looked over to Dee she gave a small wave and sighed.

When the last person had drawn a name, coach told one half of the class to move and the other, my side, to stay put. Patchy threw his text book onto the desk and placed himself in the seat beside me.

I looked at him and smiled, "Hello, I am Norma."

His eyes pierced mine and he gave me a vague smile, or was it another smirk. He did not speak. Briefly, a sense of fear washed over me. I had a feeling this boy was trouble, trouble with a capital T. I distracted myself by starring at the chalkboard. Barbie and Ken looked back at me. They looked liked they were smirking at me too.

Coach said, "Now we are settled into our new seats we can begin. Human reproduction is not a subject for the immature. It is a science and as we said before science is an investigation. I want you to spend the rest of this lesson finding out as much as you can about the person sat beside you. I will of course be checking to make sure you are not writing a work of fiction, so you have been warned."

I sat still, not wanting to make the first move. A smell of baby powder and cigarettes wafting through my nostrils. What a weird combination. I stared at the wall watching the minutes on the clock tick by. My pen and paper were sat on the desk in front of me. I suddenly became aware of Patchy scribbling on his paper. What was he writing about me? He barely knew me and me him. I turned and took a sideways glance at him. He had already written a few paragraphs.

"What are you writing, because you cannot be possibly know anything about me?"

He replied, "Oh you do actually speak then."

He continued to write, I craned my neck to see what he was writing. He had large hands so I could not see much. I also noticed he was wearing, what looked like black nail polish on his thumbnail.

"Do you like manicures," I asked

"What?" was his reply

"You are wearing black nail polish, on your thumb."

I looked up from his work and snorted, "It's bruising under my thumb, not nail polish."

"Oh, sorry," was all I could mutter. My face burned with embarrassment.

He reached over and picked up my empty paper.

"I see you have been busy then." He laughed

I was embarrassed and mad at him but I would not let him make me fail this assignment. I turned to him and asked, "Your full name?"