Chapter 10
2 Weeks Later.
Brooke was jumpy, to say the least.
World History was her last class of the day, and the entire day was already bad. She prayed it would not get worse with World History. But of course, her terrible luck would insure it, as Brooke had English, which was located on the other side of the school. She reached Dr. Davenport's classroom five minutes after the bell rung, and class had already started.
Of all the days to be late, she thought with dread. Shifting her heavy books to one hand, Brooke opened the door slowly. When the door creaked loudly, the class turned to face the sound and the sucker who was late to one of the most important classes in Junior year. Dr. Davenport paused mid-sentence and sent her a withering glare. Brooke started to walk to her seat, when his voice made her turn. "You're late, Ms. Rogers. That is a warning," Dr. Davenport leaned forward on his cane, studying Brooke's face as she turned her head to nod at him. Her face felt like it was on fire, "Yes sir, sorry." He sighed, turning away and waved a hand. Dr. Davenport resumed his talk about the project.
"Go on then, take your seat." She hurried toward her seat, sliding in front of Ava, who gave her a sympathetic look. When Brooke settled down, she tried to regain her focus and breath. When she tuned in, he was going over the basic information.
"-each be assigned a country, and are to do a thorough amount of research on it's history and culture. Then, you will decide on a certain period, which will be cleared with me, and a 20 page essay and presentation will be due on the what you select. There are more requirements, but since you can read, I assume you will be able to meet those as well. If not... then you are in the wrong class." He cleared his throat, and leaned forward, now brandishing a more intimidating presence. "I expect you to share the work with your partner equally, and if any case is brought to my attention, we will discuss matters then." Dr. Davenport let the threat hang in the air, and his sharp gaze swept over the class.
The class was silent, and Dr. Davenport cleared his throat. "Now, I will read through the list of partners, and I expect you to treat each other with respect. No moaning, or it's a detention." He limped over to his deck, and picked up a piece of paper. Once again, before he spoke, Dr. Davenport cleared his throat, "Ezio Auidtore, Yusuf Tazim, you will have Italy." Brooke barely acknowledged who the partners were because her blood was roaring, and her ears were only tuned for her name. Her palms were sweating, and her pencil drummed against her books. She was not sure if she wanted to know her partner, or if she never wanted to know.
"Aveline de Grandpre and Brooklyn Rogers, you have Turkey." Brooke's eyes went wide. Was that really her partner? She turned her head to look at Ava, her eyes wide with disbelief, and a small smile on her face. Ava grinned, "We are gonna kill this." A wave of relief washed over Brooke, she slumped against the seat.
"Hell yes," Brooke said with a grin, and then turned around before Dr. Davenport got made at her or not paying attention. However, when she looked up, Dr. Davenport's brow was furrowed, but thankfully it was not at her, but rather at the paper.
"It appears I've made a mistake. I switched names," He sighed, and alarm went up Brooke's spine. Was it her? The teenager glanced back, sharing a nervous glance with Ava, and she crossed her fingers she didn't have to switch. His sharp eyes flicked over the paper. "Ms. De Grandpre, you are to be with Mr. Tazim and research Ireland. Mr. Auditore, you are to be with Ms. Rogers and will research Italy." A cold stone dropped in Brooke's stomach. Her eyes grew wide, Oh no.
Why him? Brooke could deal with Ezio in small doses, but this project... her gaze swept over the classroom, searching for the guy who never seemed to go away. Their eyes met, and Ezio winked, sending her a smirk. Had it been a different situation, she would have rolled her eyes. If this was not one of the biggest projects of the year, and she was not amused.
"Now, you'll have the rest of class to get started with your partner. This is one of the select times that I will allow you to work in my class, I suggest you take advantage of it." Dr. Davenport turned to walk back to his desk, and the class started to shuffle around to sit with their partners. Ava got up from her seat, and she gave Brooke a small nudge, "Hey, it could be worse," She said, and Brooke was about to respond, when Ezio slid into the desk next to her.
"Just can't stay away, can you?" He asked, and Brooke narrowed her eyes as she turned to look at him. Ava smiled, "Well, I'll meet up with you later, Brooke." She walked away, leaving them together. Well shit, she thought with a sigh, hanging her head and tried to deal with the situation. She was there for a minute or two, and Ezio regarded her curiously. He wasn't sure if he should poke at her, or leave her alone. Before he could act, Brooke straightened, turning to look at him once again.
"Okay, let's get a few things straight before even trying to work," She studied him closely, and he was watching her curiously. Brooke frowned his amber eyes were playful as they studied each other, until finally, she voiced her question.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked, and he cocked his head to the side, feigning pure innocence that made her roll her eyes. "I just realized how truly beautiful you are," He said simply, and Brooke sighed, running a hand through her hair.
"Alright, first things first," She held up a finger for the first rule, "No flirting."
"Flirting?" Ezio put a hand on his chest, keeping his innocent act going, "Why your mind jump to such conclusions?" This was starting to get old. He opened his mouth to continue, when Brooke muttered, "I have no idea," her sarcasm made him grin, before he went back to his innocent look. "I just assumed we were just having a little playful banter! Dolcezza-,"
"Two." She held up another finger, "Stop calling me Sweetness!" She exclaimed, her voice a little too loud and the few groups looked over with confusion. First, their eyes went to Brooke, who felt color rise to her cheeks, and then to Ezio, and realized what was going on. Everyone around them slowly went back to work, chuckling, and Ezio tried to smother a laugh. "You gotta' be quiet, Dolcezza, people might notice us breaking our own rules." Brooke ran a hand over her face, eyes going up to the ceiling in a silent prayer that she would not be driven insane from this project.
"I swear to god... Ezio, can we just work? Italy means a lot of ground to cover. And since it's such a well-known country, even more will be expected of us," Brooke pleaded him with her eyes, before turning to take out her laptop. She glanced over at him again, knitting her eyebrows together and raising them, finally using her secret weapon. Her puppy dog eyes made him quickly cave, and Ezio sighed dramatically as he took out his laptop,
"Fine." He opened up the computer, obviously unhappy about working. He scrolled his mouse around the screan aimlessly, and then suddenly brightened at a thought that just dawned on him. "We should hang out this afternoon after my soccer practice to, you know... study." His tone was suggestive, and he raised his eyebrows, a smirk on his face.
Brooke rolled her eyes. "As much as I'd love to, I can't. I've got this thing after school," She had no intention of spending more time with Ezio on the project than needed. She had already devised a plan; if they divided everything evenly and did the work separately, then they could meet for a couple free periods a week and keep on task without needing to spend lots of time together. It wouldn't be so bad that way. Brooke pulled out the project sheet, and studied the paper.
She ignored Ezio as he tried to get her attention, and continued to look at the paper, but she was not reading anything. Damn it, he was not letting her focus. At least he was peeved that she refused to turn and give him attention. But it was the feeling of someone breathing next to Brooke's ear that made her turn her head to see Ezio leaning over his desk's edge to read what she was reading. He was pointedly ignoring her, and Brooke felt annoyance settle in. She should have known he would not have taken this seriously.
"Can I help you?" The teenager asked, folding the paper in half, and Ezio turned his head, making an innocent "Hm?" sound. When she met his eyes, he smirked, like he won some sort of game. Ezio said with mock earnestness, "Oh, I'm just trying to understand this project." He grinned, leaning forward and his eyes daring her ignore him now. The little shit... She raised an eyebrow, challenging him. She set down the piece of paper and crossed her arms, "Really?"
He nodded, his eyes not breaking away from hers as he reached down and grabbed the paper. "I saw you studying this piece of paper deeply," He brandished the paper, and leaned a bit closer, "So I joined."
His smirk grew into a grin, and despite the situation, she felt amusement curl up in her stomach like nausea. Don't laugh. Brooke tried to stay straight-faced. You are not funny, she repeated as she glared at Ezio. But she was slipping, and she felt her mouth twitch into what was soon be a smile, then god forbid, a laugh. To cover, she promptly backed away, ducking her head down and running a hand over her face. With her other hand, she placed on his shoulder and pushed him away. Ezio comically flopped back in his desk and spread his arms, his eyebrows knit together in mock confusion, but a triumphant smile on his face.
"What? I'm not allowed to read the requirements of this project?" Brooke raised her head, and turned to look at Ezio, and she cocked her head to the side. "Don't you have the sheet?" His eyes grew wide, "That? Oh, I lost that."
"It was given to us yesterday," Brooke said suspiciously, and he shrugged, "I lose stuff." She tried to tell if he was serious, and it seemed he wasn't. She sighed, "Fine, I'll make a copy for you after school."
"It's a date," He winked, and glanced up at the clock. Brooke followed, her eyes growing wide at how fast the time passed. Somehow they had wasted the entire period, as there was only a minute left of class. Ezio shut his computer, grinning, "Time flies when you're having fun," Brooke blew out her cheeks with exasperation as she closed the computer and then slumped against her chair. "How could this go wrong?" She muttered under her breath and finished packing everything up.
The bell rang, and the sounds of kids flooding the hallways came through the door. Dr. Davenport dismissed the class, and everybody started to file out. Ezio was next to Brooke as they walked out, and he was now investigating her alibi for not studying together tonight.
"It's because I'm helping restore this old boat at the docks," She sighed, focusing ahead, and Ezio's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Really?" Brooke glanced up to look at him, "Yeah, it's a project this dock-master gave us."
"Us?" Ezio asked, and Brooke felt slight suspicion that he may have been acting. However, when she looked up at him, he seemed generally curious, and she shrugged. Besides, what would he do? Freak out about Connor? "A couple guys and my friend, Connor."
"Haven't heard of him," He said, and she shrugged, "He moved here a bit before me and goes to Holy Cross." Ezio stopped, causing her to pause, looking at him over her shoulder, and eyebrows knitting together in confusion. His eyes were wide with recognition, and he said, "Wait, wait, wait. Are you talking about Connor Kenway?" Ezio asked, and Brooke cocked her head to the side.
"Yeah, how'd you know him?" He cursed, running a hand over his mouth, and she felt even more confused. She turned around and narrowed her eyes. "What?" She asked again, annoyance cropping up in her voice, and Ezio sighed. "He's the starting Offensive Tackle for Holy Cross and take my word for it, and don't talk him. Ever."
Brooke narrowed her eyes, "Really?" She let out an exasperated breath, "This whole rivalry thing is ridiculous! I can be friends with whoever I damn-well please; who cares what school they go to." She frowned, and Ezio tried to speak for a few seconds. He was obviously trying to form the right words. When he finally spoke, he sounded exasperated, and completely serious.
"Everybody cares, and if not for yourself, for," He paused, his expression slipping to distaste, "Connor. Holy Cross will rip him a new one if they know you guys are shipmates, or whatever you are." Brooke looked at him with disbelief, and Ezio glanced around, "Nobody is really friends with anybody from Holy Cross, so just don't say anything stupid. Got it?" His eyes bore into Brooke's, and she frowned, "Fine. Let's just get to the printer."
She turned around to walk toward the library, and Ezio followed, a tense silence now falling over them. It was unsettling, she had gotten used to him never shutting up, and being aware that he was right next to her and he never said a word was... strange. Ezio got the door for her into the library, and she muttered a quick, "Thanks," As she ducked under his arm. They went inside, and walked through the many shelves of books into the back, where there was a small work space, with accessible computers and a print and copy machine.
Brooke set her things down, and got out her sheet detailing the project and it's requirements. She placed it under the copier, and turned to Ezio, who was studying her. Folding her arms, and cocking her head to the side, she frowned, "What?" She expected to hear more about who she could and couldn't hang out with, and braced herself for an argument.
"Nothing... Look, Brooke, I think that it would be better if we actually did work together on this. I don't want to just dump this all on you, and I think I might if I don't keep myself in check." He glanced away, obviously nervous about what he was saying, and Brooke felt shock go through her system. What is he saying? He looked at her with raised eyebrows and a helpless expression that reminded her of a puppy, and he continued, "And I wouldn't mind it if you helped me do that, and I think the only way to do that is to actually work together."
Brooke's eyebrows shot up. Was he being serious? His expression was earnest, and she felt herself start to actually want to help him. "Okay," She had no idea how to respond, and suddenly noticed that the copier hummed as it worked. Brooke glanced down at it, and saw the fresh copy of the sheet had come out. She picked up the paper, and Ezio got hers. When she straightened, she saw Ezio smiling slightly, and they traded papers.
"Sounds good, I say we meet up at the Den around six tomorrow, it's a good place to study." He told her, and Brooke couldn't believe she was actually agreeing to anything Ezio said. She nodded anyway, "Sure, six is fine." She put her sheet of paper away and began to gather her books in her arms. "I'll see you tomorrow," she told him, and Ezio nodded, taking out his phone.
"I need your number in case something happens," He said, offering his phone, and Brooke hesitated, she felt uneasy to constantly agree with Ezio. So with her free hand, she pushed the phone away, and smirked slightly.
"I'll give it to you tomorrow," His eyes widened with surprise, and Brooke knew he must have been shocked that a girl actually refused his number. She shifted her books so that she was now holding them with both arms, "I'll see you," She said as she started to walk out of the library. Brooke paused when Ezio called after her, "Oh, by the way, Brooke!" She sighed, now starting to feel amused at the fact that he never gave up. She turned around, a small smile creeping up, "Yeah?" He held up two sheets of paper, and the smile disappeared on her face. "You-,"
"Thanks for giving me an extra copy. I just wanted to be safe, in case I actually lost it," He grinned, and Brooke gave up trying not to laugh at him. Letting out a chuckle of disbelief, she turned around, rolling her eyes, and opened up the library door. She didn't need to turn around to know his expression, she could already tell he was smirking at her while looking everywhere but her face, "I can't wait for tomorrow's date, Dolcezza."
She froze, eyebrows knitting together with disbelief, He was just acting so I'd study with him? Fuck. Brooke furrowed her brow, but then sighed. It was typical of him, and why she didn't see through it... God, he's such an idiot. She turned around, "Its not a date, and I expect you to actually work," the teenager spoke to him as she backed out the door, and Ezio's expression turned sarcastically shocked. "What else would we do?"
Brooke rolled her eyes, and took a step back into the hallway, allowing the door to shut and finally giving her break from Ezio. This was going to be a long project...
I know, I know, I've been really late with updating, and I'm really sorry. I don't really have a good excuse, other then I'm the type of person who, whenever I have free time I do nothing, and when I don't have time, I want to do everything all at once. Needless to say, I apologize, but I had a lot going on this summer, and a major case of writers block. And whenever I actually started to write, I was either extremely dissatisfied, or I liked it, and something would happen and I would lose it. Hopefully, this chapter makes up for it!
On a side note, I may have forgotten to mention that Brooke's friend, Ava, is Aveline De Grandpre, and not just a random name thrown in there ;)
I'll try to update more often, but I can't promise it will be a reliable, constant flow of chapters... I'm starting school soon and that means work once again. Anyway, R&R, and valete!