Strawna was feeling the fear with this latest school assignment - a group project with vague instructions.
She sat at one of the back cafeteria tables re-reading the directions.Pair up with a student from another class to create something, she read to herself. You and your partner will have a month to complete your project, and after that you will present it and an explanation about the creation process to the school.
On the back of the sheet was sketches she'd made of dresses she felt she could sew together within that timeframe, so that was not what was making her nervous. It was finding someone to partner with that was getting to her.
Strawna looked over longingly at one of the other tables. Sitting on the end was the girl who had caught her attention at one of Ms. Dirge's art shows weeks before with her gorgeous homemade dress.
Blanche. Beautiful Blanche. The girl who makes the all-black look work and who rises above the reputation of the rest of her classmates.
It would be lovely to have Blanche as a partner, Strawna mused to herself. Blanche's eye for fabric would give me ideas I've never considered before. Blanche's sewing skills could come in handy if my sewing start to slip. Blanche could be the one to model the dress as it gets presented...
But then doubts began to creep in. Someone like Blanche must be working with someone already, Strawna thought. Or if not, there must be a line of people wanting to ask her.
"I'm not concerned about the project," Blanche stated to her friends. "Ladies don't chase."
"Yeah, but ladies do get assigned to loser jocks who make them do all the work if they don't pick someone by the deadline," Duzer argued back.
"It's really not that bad, Blanche," Cleo agreed. "If it comes down to it, you can always bully someone into working with you like Duzer did."
"You say that like it's a bad thing-."
Blanche dismissed both of her friends with a wave. "If you girls wish to embarrass yourselves you can. Someone will be along any minute to ask me."
If Strawna really was going to ask Blanche to partner with her it needed to be soon; the deadline for picking someone was the end of the day. Why am I hesitating, Strawna questioned herself, trying to get back into her earlier positive mindset. Working with Blanche would be a good thing!
The internal pep talk was enough to get her to stand up and take a step away from her table and towards Blanche's.
The next steps didn't come as easily. Strawna already walked slow, but the emotions she was feeling - the excitement about talking to Blanche, the nervousness about what might happen if she did, the concern about the project itself - only exasperated her usual pace. Getting one foot in front of the other was all she could do, and she hoped she wasn't drawing attention to herself.
Blanche spotted movement out of the corner of her eye and glanced towards it. She didn't recognize the student coming towards her nor was she sure how to take the stare she was getting.
She looked back at her friends to gauge their reactions. It was what she expected them to be, unease from Cleo and suspicion from Duzer.
Once again glancing at the student coming towards her, Blanche noted that she didn't really seem like a threat. She then noticed a familiar piece of paper in her hands and decided to take a third view of the situation, curiosity.
Strawna finally reached Blanche's table. She tilted her pupils down at Blanche so she knew she was there to see her specifically, but before she could say anything-
"Can I help you?" Blanche asked with her usual Southern charm.
The way she spoke was music to Strawna's ears. It would have stopped her in her tracks if she was moving and could have made her cry if there weren't so many other things on her mind. To hear such a familiar way of talking from anyone at this school was delightful enough, but from Blanche?
That, and the way Blanche was looking at her expectantly with those soft, dark eyes, got Strawna to tear open her mouth and say something.
"Do you wanna work with me on the assignment?"
Blanche crinkled her nose in mild disappointment. It's presumptuous to just ask, she thought, certainly someone who sounds like that would know.
Strawna noticed this reaction and fortunately already knew how to correct her mistake.
"Oh! My manners!" She held out her hand. "I'm Strawna. I'm in Mr. Tutnor's class."
That's better, Blanche thought as she relaxed her face and took Strawna's hand, not to shake it but to pull herself up so she could make proper eye contact. "Blanche. Pleasure."
"Pleasure indeed." Strawna tilted her pupils back up to match Blanche's eye line and let her hand linger under Blanche's for just a moment more. A wave of relief washed over her.
"I was thinkin'," she then continued, pulling her hand away from Blanche's and flipping over the instruction sheet to show her sketches on the back, "we could sew something together for the project?"
She let Blanche pluck the paper out of her hands to look over. "I remember seein' you during the art show, and that dress you made was real pretty." Strawna subconsciously ran a finger over one of her wrist stitches. "I can sew too, so maybe you an' I can make a dress together? You wouldn't even have to use your own materials if you don't wanna, I have some of my own-."
Blanche was too focused on the sketches to respond. From the way the drawings were laid out she could tell Strawna was telling the truth about knowing how to sew, so she likely wouldn't have to do all the work if she agreed to the partnership. But the designs were so basic, just some pleat dresses with plaids and polka dots for patterns.
She peered at Strawna to judge her reaction to the silence. She was still staring at her, but with no malice behind her eyes. It seemed to give off more than just a polite patience, too, something more friendly. Whatever it was, it perked Blanche's interest.
"These dresses aren't quite my style," she at last replied, handing the sheet back to Strawna, "so we would need to use one of my designs for the project."
Strawna was surprised Blanche agreed so quickly. She couldn't think of a reply, so she just nodded in agreement and started folding up the paper to hide away in her pocket. But her nerves suddenly returned and made her hands fumble, so she crumpled it into her pocket instead.
Blanche covered her mouth to hide her chuckle. That was kind of cute, she thought.
"I guess we can let our teachers know that we're workin' on the project together," Strawna said, composing herself again. "Do you wanna meet after school to pick a design?"
"No," Blanche disagreed, titling her head thoughtfully. "I'll have to get my sketchbooks first. I'll bring them to school tomorrow, and we can meet up in the afternoon."
"Okay, I can bring some of my fabric with me tomorrow too. I'll see you then."
With that Strawna turned to start her slow walk back to her own table, her mood and pace increased. Blanche agreed, she cheered internally. She's spending time with me, for a whole month! Her face felt hot from the excitement.
Blanche watched her leave for a few seconds, then sat back down and looked towards her friends, a slight grin on her face. "I told you someone would ask me first."
She got an annoyed "humph" from Duzer and a confused look from Cleo.
"Don't you keep a sketchbook in your locker?" Cleo asked. "You don't need to wait."
"Why, do you think I'm desperate?" Blanche asked back, placing her hand on her chest. "Desperation is beneath me. Ladies leaving them wanting more."
That, and she kept all her best designs at home.