"Good afternoon class," Professor Gisbourne began, staring at the drowsy teenagers. Some waved, some nodded, some mumbled something, and one person's head slammed into his desk. Gisbourne hated the two classes following lunch. Most students woke up during second period, but they all seemed to fall back to sleep when the bell ending lunch rang.
"You will be beginning a three-week long group project today," Gisbourne announced, catching some of the students' attention. "It will be worth NINETY PERCENT of your grade," he yelled. The rest of the class jumped and stared at him in shock. "Thank you. The project will be worth twenty percent of your grade, so I expect you to do well on it. I have already chosen your groups, so you can stop trying to sneak glances with your friends. Group one will consist of Mirabal, McLachlan, Osborne, Smith, and Collins. Group two will be Marion Leaford, W. Scarlet, N. Sarcen, A. Sarcen, and R. Loxley. Group three will have Camfie, Barry, Wick, Hobb, and McDaniel. Group four will consist of Millerson, J. Loxley, Margaret Leaford, C. Scarlet, and A. Dale. Please take the rest of the class period to work out what you will do with your group. This will be the only day you will have class time for this project, so I would suggest you work out where and when you will be meeting." He explained what was required for the project and left them to themselves.
The four groups got together to discuss the where, when, and what of their project. Most of the 'popular' people sat in the front of the class, while Robin, Little John, and Much sat in back. Robin gathered his stuff and headed over to his group, while Cecily, Meg, and Alan walked over to Little John and Much, who obviously had no intentions of moving.
"I think the first thing we need to do is decide what we're doing this project on," Will announced, taking over the group. "Does anyone have any suggestions?"
"How about the forest?" Marian suggested. "I heard that they were planning on cutting it down, but there's some activist group opposing it."
"That sounds okay. What did you have in mind for the project, though?"
"We could write the essay on which group we agree with and why, and the visual aide can be a model of the forest or something."
"I guess that could work. Is everyone else okay with that?" The others nodded. "So that takes care of the what. I think we should at least get together later today… After school. But my parents don't want anyone at the house when they're not home; that rules my place out."
"And the library will be way too crowded by that time… And it has to be inside, because I'm already starting to get sick with this weird weather."
"So why not your place, Mari?"
"Rich has a school board meeting there tonight. Nasir? Azeem?"
"We would not get anything done. Our relatives came to visit, so there are about six small children running around the house, and they always want all of the attention," Azeem answered. The four elite frowned as they went over any other places, before Will finally turned to Robin, who was staring out the window wistfully.
"Loxley?" Robin turned to Will, but didn't say anything. "I hate to ask this, but what about your place?"
"Sure."
"Okay… Do you want us to head there when practice is over, or…"
"If you wanna meet me near the bleachers when your practice is over I can lead you there."
"That works. Thanks." Will tried to smile at him, but Robin was already staring out the window again. They had the rest of the period to do nothing in, so Will decided to try for a conversation with the smaller boy. "Um… what's so interesting out there?" Robin continued looking out the window, as if he hadn't heard Will. "Loxley!"
"Wha?" Robin turned again to face Will.
"I asked you what was so interesting out there," Will repeated.
"The forest."
"Why?"
"There was a deer."
"Really?" Robin nodded. "How did you see it?"
"It was at the edges." Robin turned back to the window, feeling distinctly uncomfortable in the group of people who usually made his life miserable.
… At the same time …
"We'll be going to my house after school today to work on it," Little John announced as soon as the three others sat down.
"Why your house?" Meg asked.
"It's a large house, your cousin's got some meeting at your house today, Scarlet's not allowed to have people in her house, and Dale lives too far away for us all to get there," Much answered.
"How do you know all that?" Cecily asked.
"I spend a lot of my time in the office. All I had to do was listen to what was said around me."
"Oh… what are we going to do this project on?" Alan asked.
"I don't care," Little John answered, leaning back as far as his seat would allow him.
"The world after Starbucks has taken over?" Much suggested. Cecily, Meg, and Alan gave him incredulous looks. "What? You know they want to take over the world. Why else would there be building right across the street from each other?" The three of them shrugged and decided to go along with it.
"So what would our essay and visual be?"
"Essay would be about the effects of Starbucks taking over the world, and the visual could be getting Guy a venti upside-down caramel macchiato. Then he'll definitely pass us."
"Guy?"
"Call teachers by their last names when around jocks, Much," Little John ordered.
"Fine. We'll get Gisbourne a macchiato."
"Okay… where are we going to meet? None of us knows where your house is."
"Meet me by the bleachers after school," Much told them.
… … …
Robin fidgeted slightly as he waited for the jocks to show up. When he had told Little John of their plan to meet at the Loxley house, Little John had grinned and told him that his group had too. Of course, then he asked Robin to lead both groups to their house while he and Much got all the supplies they needed. So now, Robin was sitting on the lowest bleacher, waiting for a crowd of jocks to find him. It wasn't normally high on his priority list.
"Loxley?" He heard Will call out. Robin stood up and headed around the bleachers slowly. About that same time, the seven jocks were walking around to meet him.
"Where are John and Much?" Meg asked.
"They asked me to lead all of you back to the house."
"Why?"
"They wanted to get the supplies ready." He turned to Will. "And you can call me Robin." He then turned and headed towards the forest. When he got a few feet and realized no one was following him, he turned back to face them. "Are you coming or not?"
"Where are we going?"
"Mine and Little John's house…"
"Through the forest?"
"…Yeah…"
"Isn't that a long way to walk?"
"Not really. It'll be harder if we stand here talking until it gets dark, though." The jocks shrugged and stepped after him. It was still a good five minute walk through the forest to get from the school to the Loxley house, and it felt even longer to the jocks. It became obvious to them that Robin belonged in the forest. He seemed to know just when and where to step to keep him dry and clean. When the jocks were ready to turn back and get their cars, Robin ducked around a tall bush and motioned them to come around. They sighed and did so, and saw a huge house in front of them.
"We're here," Robin announced, heading to the back door. He left his shoes at the doorway and walked in, waiting in the kitchen for everyone else.
"You live here?"
"Yeah… Why?"
"I always thought that this house was… empty."
"My father grew up here. His grandfather built it." When everyone was ready, Robin lead the way into the living room, where they found Little John, Much, and two sets of supplies.
"It took you guys long enough," Much grumbled when they finally walked in.
"They didn't want to go through the forest."
"Can you blame them? No one wants to go farther than five steps in."
"Only because Mom, Dad, and Jonathan made everyone believe it was haunted," Much laughed. The school elite was shocked to see the three outcasts suddenly so relaxed, at-ease, and… normal.
"Why did they do that again?" Robin asked as he left the room.
"They wanted to keep people out of it. It was their territory, and they didn't want anyone else around it."
"Greedy pigs," Robin muttered darkly as he walked back into the room, carrying ten cups of hot chocolate on a plate.
"Hey, it works for us. And you shouldn't say that kind of stuff here. Dad might hear you."
"He knows how I feel about him."
"Yes, but I'm really not in the mood to play ref tonight, and Much... really shouldn't be allowed to play ref at all."
"You hit a guy once and you're never trusted to ref again…"
"Much, you did not hit him once. You put him in the hospital."
"It was a low blow! He shouldn't have said that!"
"It was true though," Robin spoke up, effectively silencing the duo.
"It still shouldn't have been said," Little John insisted quietly. Robin sighed, and the larger group got the impression that, behind closed doors, Robin was the in charge one of the trio.
"No, it shouldn't have been, but it was. It's true, whether anyone admits or says it, or not. It doesn't bother me anymore. I don't see why it still bothers you."
"It only bothers me when someone who has no right to say anything brings it up!"
"Yeah, well…" Robin let the sentence trail off, then looked around the room. "Let's get started on this project.
… … …
A/N: Okay, this one had some actual substance to it! Yay for me! I will do my best to start writing sooner again, but I had the Senior Exhibition to deal with, and it just… blah! So please review and let me know what you think! Thankies again!
Thanks -
cowgirlnm-1: Thanks for all of the reviews! It really made me want to update immediately... As you can see, I got sidetracked... I love that book... One of my faves...
Heather: I know he seems a bit weak... He's kinda supposed to be when it comes to the fighting. I hope this chapter helped round him out a bit more for you. Thanks for the review!
PhelpsEpoe: Thanks. I know it's a bit rushed, but I hate doing intros into characters... it's more fun for them to just be there... I'll try to slow it down a bit.
