It was completely silent, other than the clock on the classroom wall, ticking. The walls were covered with many student-made posters, and some signs with motivational quotes, such as "Do what is right, not what is easy." Effy glanced out of the window to see a few students already leaving campus. She then glanced back at her sitting peers, her pale blue eyes scanning the room. Some of their legs were bouncing in their seats anxiously, waiting for class to be dismissed.
She was supposed to be presenting her family tree project. She stood in front of her poster board, which outlined her family tree back a few generations, decorated with photos and written neatly with different colored markers. She even included pedigrees and visuals of Punnett squares, applying knowledge from an AP Biology class she took the previous year. Her thumbs twiddled with the hem of her shirt as she continued to listen to the ticking clock. The school bell rang.
Effy's teacher, Mr. Briggs, sighed and shut his binder, which was full of grading rubrics for each presentation. He left her rubric blank, other than a few comments about the poster board itself.
"Alright class, that is all the time we have for today. Those of you who have not presented yet will present this coming Monday." Effy watched as her classmates grabbed their belongings and scrambled out of their seats.
"Elizabeth! A word, please," Mr. Briggs waved her over to his desk. She obliged, making her way over.
"Look, I wasn't able to grade you for this presentation because you didn't say anything. Now, I know you're a very bright student who would have made the grade if this wasn't an oral assignment. So, as an alternative, I'd like you to type up what you would have said up there with your poster board. Email it to me by tomorrow, and you may leave now. Have a nice day, Ms. Witwicky," Mr. Briggs said, writing a note to himself. Effy simply nodded and grabbed her backpack, heading out of the classroom.
She let out a long sigh, feeling a little down. Mr. Briggs was her favorite teacher, and it pained her to disappoint him every time she had an oral assignment. She had hoped to ask him for a letter of recommendation one day but was afraid it wouldn't be quite impressive.
Walking towards the front of school, she found her brother, Sam, waving a paper around, and their dad, who was waiting for them in his green car.
"So, I'm good?" Sam asked his father, a pleading look in his eyes.
"You're good," he chuckled, glancing up at Effy. "Hey, sweetie! How was your presentation?" She only shook her head in response, sliding into the back seat of the car. Ron sighed, a concerned look crossing his face. "Maybe next time, dear."
Sam intentionally moved his car seat far back to mess with Effy, who then kicked at the back of his seat. "Ow! Chill out!" He reached his arm into the back seat, trying to poke at his younger sister.
"Hey, hey, hey! Knock it off, the two of you! Sheesh, 17 and 18 years old, yet you both still act like children. Anyways, Sam, I got a little surprise for you, son," Ron said, starting to grin.
Sam looked at his surroundings and noticed that they were driving near a Porsche dealership.
"No, no, no! No way dad! Are you serious?"
"Nope! Are you kidding? I'm not getting you a Porsche as your first car," Ron broke out into hearty laughter, earning a snicker from Effy and leaving Sam disappointed. They drove past the Porsche dealership and into a used car dealership.
Effy had dozed off in their dad's car while Sam and Ron looked for a car. All she heard was something about "40-year-old virgin", "racing stripes", and someone yelling "Four thousand!"
Later that day, Sam had burst into Effy's room, causing her to jump. She looked up at him with a scowl, annoyed that he had disturbed her study session.
"Effy! Mom's making me take you with me to this lake party, she says it's good for you to go outside and see other people, but we gotta go! Now!" Ignoring her protests, Sam practically dragged her with him outside to his new car: a slightly beat-up yellow Camaro, with a single racing stripe, she observed.
They went to pick up Sam's friend, Miles, who slid through the window into the front seat, earning an eye-roll from Effy.
"Dude, are you sure we're invited to this party?" Miles asked as they arrived at the lake.
"Of course, Miles. It's a lake, public property. Can't tell us to leave," Sam replied, observing the area. His eyes suddenly widened. "Oh my god, dude, look, Mikaela is here, dude please I'm begging you, don't do anything weird," he pleaded, exiting the car with Miles. Effy laughed at her brother's expense and decided to stay in the back seat, scrolling through her phone. She glanced up and saw Miles climbing a tree, immediately getting second-hand embarrassment. She saw a football jock starting to get aggressive with her brother and she grew concerned until a girl with long, black hair came between them. She assumed it was Mikaela.
Suddenly, Sam's car radio blasted, "Who's gonna drive you home, tonight?" Effy flushed. What the hell? she thought.
"I'm gonna drive her home tonight," Sam said, in an enlightened state. His sister groaned, pressing her fingers to her temples. She tried shutting off the radio but to no avail.
"...All right, all right, but she's going in the back, with Effy," Miles said, walking towards the car.
"What are you talking about? You've got to go. Please, dude," Sam begged, and Miles left begrudgingly.
"Mikaela! Mikaela, wait! It's me, Sam! Sam Witwicky!" Sam drove up slowly to Mikaela. "I was wondering if I could ride you home," Effy facepalmed. "No! I mean I could give you a ride home, in my car, to your house." Sam shot Mikaela a nervous smile. Mikaela looked between Sam, his car, and Effy, who raised a brow at her, and slid into the passenger seat.
"Hey Effy, how'd you do on that Physics test?" Mikaela gave Effy a kind smile and she relaxed, smiling a bit in return. It was silent for a moment.
"... Effy, why don't you speak?" Mikaela asked. Effy's heart started racing. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then shook her head and stared out of the car window.
"You know my sister?" Sam asked, hoping to steer the conversation away from that particular topic.
"She's in my AP Physics class. Electricity and Magnetism," Mikaela replied and Effy gave an affirming nod.
"You're taking AP Physics?" Sam shot Mikaela a questioning look.
"Yeah? What about it?" Mikaela shot Sam an accusing look back.
"No! Nothing! Just making conversation!" Sam scratched the back of his head nervously and Effy sighed, feeling even more embarrassed for her hopeless older brother. The car radio starts playing Sexual Healing, causing Sam to panic and stop the car. The car started smoking from the hood.
"No, no, no, come on! Mikaela, please, I'm not trying to pull anything, it's this car!" Sam fiddled with buttons on the radio and Effy sunk lower into the back seat, dying of embarrassment.
"Uh-huh," Mikaela stepped out of the car to investigate the hood, and Sam followed. Effy didn't hear much of what was being said, just muffled conversation. It wasn't long until she saw Mikaela fast-walking away from them.
"Mikaela! Wait! Please!" Sam called after her.
The car radio fired up again, "Baby come back!" Effy sighed. Not this again, she thought.
Eventually, Mikaela did come back. They went to drop Mikaela off, the car suddenly "normal" again. Sam and Mikaela said a few words to each other before they said goodbye. Effy went into the passenger seat as Sam came back to the car, cringing.
"I said, 'There's more than meets the eye with you.' Is that stupid or what?" Sam sighed, driving them towards home. Effy smirked and lightly punched Sam in the shoulder to cheer him up. She didn't think it was stupid at all.
"Effy, wanna do a Star Wars marathon tonight?" Sam shot his sister a smile. Effy smiled back and nodded in response. She would love that.