Meanwhile at The Plants Academy
"I just don't know what i'm going to do Diana." A young sunflower whined to her roommate as she buried her head into a pillow. Her best friend rolled her eyes at her as she continued to prepare herself for tomorrow.
"Relax Nebula, you'll be fine. Plenty of people like you and you're extremely popular, whoever you get paired with I'm sure you'll get along with." Spoke her roommate and best friend, Diana, a peashooter. She was trying to calm her friend down the best that she could, but she was just one of those plants that worried too much.
She lifted her head back up "But I don't want some plant who likes me because I'm pretty or popular, I want a plant that appreciates intelligence and is level-headed."
"You sound like you're hoping to find your future husband instead of a good partner." Diana giggled to herself.
"Go ahead and make fun of me, but when I have a nice, smart plant who's always there for me that I fall in love with and we have kids and grow old together and…"
"Nebula, calm down. There are plenty of great guys out there. Plus there's nothing wrong with waiting for the right plant." That seemed to get Nebula to relax.
When they were first roommates, Diana and Nebula had hated each other and were constantly at war with one another. But once they warmed up to each other and began to get used to their personalities, they became best friends.
Nebula thought for a moment before speaking again "As long as William isn't my partner, I'll be fine."
Diana laughed at that "The process has never been wrong, just remember that. Goodnight Nebula." She looked over to see Nebula already passed out on her bed. She shook her head at that as she curled up and let sleep overtake her.
The next day
Diana and Nebula were both walking down to the testing room where they would meet with a former student and be interviewed. The interview included a series of questions involving personality and academics. They had both taken mock versions of these just so they would know what it was like, but that didn't make either of them feel any better about it.
When they got to the testing area, it was set up like an election with dozens of voting booths lining the wall. Diana was assigned number 8, while Nebula had number 45.
They both wished each other good luck and Nebula began to walk over to number 45.
"Alright, you're fine, this is all fine , you've got this." She thought to herself as she entered the curtain. Inside was a small table with a chair on both sides. One of the chairs was occupied by an older looking chomper who gestured for her to have a seat.
"Hello there Nebula, my name is Solomon and I will be in charge of deciding who you will spend most of your time with for the next few years." He stated in a strong, burly voice.
"No pressure…" she sheepishly replied. She could already feel herself shaking and she knew this was going to end badly.
He grinned at this "What's the matter little sunflower, hmm. Afraid that the big, stupid chomper is going to sabotage you on purpose."
She looked up at him in shock "No sir! Absolutely not, it's just I'm a very nervous plant and I sometimes overthink things and ramble on and on and…"
"Say no more, you ignorant sunflower! You know what I think? I think that you'd be good with a plant like William. Afterall he also hates chompers and is constantly talking about himself. You both could be ignorant together, how does that sound." He snapped back at her.
Nebula's eyes lit up in rage "No!" She yelled, actually startling him in the process. "Just because you think I'm some self-centered sunflower brat does not mean I am one. I am intelligent and keep my mind open to anything, and that's what I want in a partner. I don't care if they're weird, or awkward, or unattractive. All I want is a partner who won't judge me just like I won't judge them." She finished, still filled with anger and rage.
Solomon sat there for a bit just staring at her, until he eventually began to smile and even laugh. "Kid, you got heart. You were willing to fight me till the end of time to get me to understand that you're not one to judge. You'd make a great partner for any plant, but I've got a certain one in mind for you."
Nebula looked at him a bit confused until she understood what he was saying. "So I'm not going to be paired with some idiot?" He shook his head no in reply. Nebula began jumping up and down in joy before she hugged Solomon and raced out of the booth.
He smiled to himself "Looks like I found the perfect partner for Static, though people aren't gonna like it." It was fine though, sure it had never happened in school history but there's a first time for everything.
Nebula rushed back to her room to find Diana already waiting there for her. She quickly began to question her friend "Diana, how'd it go? Who'd you get interviewed by? Were you scared? Nervous? Excited?" Diana quickly put a pod over her mouth and shushed her.
"It went great, some guy named James Pod, No, No, Of course." She quickly answered back. "So only a few hours now until we find out who our partners will be."
They both smiled at each other but they also knew what this meant. In a few hours they would no longer be roommates, they wouldn't see each other all the time, and they would eventually be replaced by someone else. They both knew they wouldn't be picked as partners, they both wanted such different things. Diana wanted to go into GMO research to try and create better and stronger plants. Nebula wanted to help the plants on the front line. Neither of them would see the other one for a long time after today.
Nebula looked at Diana and grinned "Hey Diana, how about this. As soon as we're dismissed, we find each other and introduce one another to our new partners."
Diana smiled back at her "Alright sounds good, and we'll make time to see each other at least once a month."
"Of course" They both shared a hug before getting all of their things ready to be moved out. Once they finished that they fell asleep for what would be the last time in their little dorm.
The next day
As they both awoke and got ready for graduation, they found a box outside their room with two graduation robes and hats quickly put them on before rushing down to the grand hall for the graduation ceremony.
When they got there they were put into their seats and told to wait until they heard their name called. Once they heard that, they were to stand up and walk towards the center of the stage to meet their partner. The process took forever but it gave a chance for all of the parents to take pictures and cheer for their kids.
As they sat in silence for a bit, Nebula looked around and saw her mother and brother sitting in the third row. They were smiling at her and looked thrilled to see her graduate. Her mom had always been a lovely and open minded person and that trait spread to herself and her brother. Her father on the other hand was a close minded, stubborn plant who despised lots of other plants.
Diana interrupted her thoughts "Isn't your mom taking you and your new partner out to lunch after this?"
"Hmm? Ah, yes she is. She wanted to be one of the first plants to meet them." Nebula replied.
Diana was about to say something else when the headmaster walked onto the stage to greet everyone. He began talking about how wonderful the students were and how he just absolutely loved all of them. Diana and Nebula ignored most of it because they knew it wasn't true. He hardly knew any of them and spent most of his days locked inside his office.
"And without further adieu, we introduce our first set of partners." He slowly spoke to the crowd of already bored individuals.
As he began to run through the list of names, Nebula got more and more nervous. She would be right after Diana and just hoped the plant she was paired with was a nice and intelligent.
"Next we have a pair that we believe will complement each other beautifully. She is an intelligent peashooter with big dreams and he is a cactus that just needs a push to help him. They both want to research and study GMOs, and will do an excellent job in helping each other. Ladies and gentle plants, your next pair...Diana and Reginald."
The crowd began to cheer but as Nebula looked over at Diana she found her friend actually looked nervous. Reginald was the smartest plant in their class and as awkward as he was, he was never wrong. Diana would definitely feel the pressure in working with him.
As she watched her friend stand up and walk to the center of the stage, she now realized that she would be the next name called. She began to rock back and forth in her seat awaiting the results until the headmaster finally spoke again "Next up is a pair of individuals who are unlike any the school has seen in years. They show true character and above all else, an acceptance of all plants. They have the 2nd and 3rd highest academic scores of their class and I am confident that no matter what they choose to do, they will do an exceptional job at it. Ladies and gentle plants, your next pair...Nebula and Static!"
Nebula stood up and began to walk to the center of the stage, not sure who this static was. She began to realize that while a good portion of the crowd was cheering, some just sat there in what looked to be shock. She didn't understand why until she noticed her partner was now standing next to her. He was an electric plant who was decently tall and looked strong. But the biggest thing that she noticed was that he was a chomper, not that she had a problem with that but she knew why other plants did. And most importantly, there has never been a partnership between a sunflower and a chomper, until now.