Whispers flew around when Hebe got to school with Selina and Aaron. She couldn't catch any of them, but chances were that they were about her coming out of the same car as the both of them. It had been an awkward ride, with Selina driving and Aaron riding shotgun, leaving Hebe alone in the back. There were times during the short ride where he'd snap down the blocker and stare back at her with the mirror. These times required her to look away with the pretense of something interesting outside catching her attention. Once, in fact, it was a dog peeing at a fire hydrant.

Before leaving for her class, Selina noogied Aaron, his hair left in a disarray. "See you, squirt," she grinned, flashing those shiny white teeth again.

"Sisters." Aaron mumbled, walking to his locker and scruffing his hair in a hopeless attempt to revive it. Hebe followed suit, going to her own locker.

Jiro shot her a dark look as soon as she entered the classroom, and instantly, Hebe became upset. She hated when he was mad at her. She'd acted and said all those things on an impulse, and now she knew that she was the girl who should keep shut and hands behind her back when delusional. She got up and walked the two steps she needed to over to Jiro's desk, where he was talking to a new friend--some guy named Calvin.

"Hey Jiro," she said, smiling uncertainly. Jiro ignored her, and the smile was wiped off her face. Wearing a frown back to her desk right in front of him, Hebe was pestered by Aaron now.

"So you ARE dating him, then?" He gave her a sweet smile; at least someone was enjoying her pain. She glared at him and huffed.

"No, I'm not! Why are you so curious?!" Aaron looked at her forlorn face for a minute, and then smiled again.

"You know, your face is going to freeze up that way if you keep on frowning. I don't think you want wrinkles at age fifteen," he answered cheerfully, putting his cool palm on her forehead and pushing her head back.

Mr Lou came in and stood at the front of the classroom, waiting with raised eyebrows and an amused expression for the students to calm down. When finally they got the message, the late bell rang.

"Oh good, right on time," Lou grinned, batting his eyelashes. Hebe felt shivers go down her spine. "Anyhow, today we're going to be starting a project. I've assigned everyone to a group of four." Immediately, everyone bristled and crossed their fingers. Mr Lou, who'd obviously anticipated this, lifted one finger to signal that he wanted to continue.

"I'll tell you your groups after I explain the project," He finished. Sighs flooded the classroom as everyone quieted down. The faster he explained, the faster he got to their groups.

Sadistic teacher, sadistic student, Hebe thought, peeking at Aaron. He was picking at his nails, which were all as long as Hebe's, but somehow prettier.

"We're going to be going over Greek mythology. Each person in your groups of four must research one Greek god or goddess, and you'll create a story with all four. Keep in mind that you need to have them in personality and in tune with what they represent. Like, if you do Artemis, I don't advise you to have her birth a child in your story unless you like having zeroes on your report card. After, you'll have to make a book with your story. It can be a novel or a picture book. If you do a picture book, keep in mind that if you all at art, you shouldn't do a picture book."

Hebe grinned, all her bad thoughts gone. Her favourite part of elementary school was learning about Greek mythology, and now that they were reviewing it, it made her day a whole lot brighter.

"Okay. Group one is..." Hebe shut her ears to him, waiting until her name popped up to listen again. It was another minute until she heard her name. "--Hebe, Mei. Okay, get together and start planning."

Mei? Hebe racked her brain. She'd heard that name before. Tensing up, she realized that it was the girl whose spot she'd taken. She looked for the girl, and found her with two other people. Hebe grimaced and got up to make her way to the trio. They were the other members of her group, obviously.

"Uh, hey. I'm in your group?" Hebe tipped her statement in the way of a question, because she didn't actually know. Mei shot her some penetrating look that had Hebe jumping back a few steps. Aaron stood there, laughing at her reaction, and Jiro ignored her again. Oh snap, Hebe said to herself, and clenched her teeth in defeat. God was obviously not on her side. As always.

"Yah, you're in our group. H'okay, who's doing what god?" Aaron took charge easily.

"I'm doing Hera. You should do Zeus, Aaron." Mei smiled serenely at him, and he brushed her suggestion off with a shrug. A few moments of silence passed. Hebe snuck a peek at Mei, who was looking expectant and staring right at Aaron, waiting for his answer. He made a sour face.

"Actually, that's a good idea. Sure." Aaron looked at Hebe, his eyes joking and light. 'Whatever it takes to get her off my back,' they whispered. He winked and Hebe chuckled. Jiro caught the whole exchange, and his eyes flashed.

"What about you two?"

"I don't care," Jiro and Hebe said in unison. Aaron and Jiro both shot her a questionable look, and Hebe felt her face heat up.

"Uhm. I'll research tonight and give you the answer tomorrow." Hebe improvised. Jiro shrugged.

"Same."

That night, Hebe was researching diligently as she'd said when three MSN IM's popped up. One was from Aaron, another from Jiro, and the last from Mei. They'd all exchanged emails for the project.

aaron yy :] says:
[[hey, what's up. for the grreek thing, i think u should do metis. look her up later. peace. (:

meimei + ay (L) says:
[[keep yur hands off arron betch :@

Jiro says:
[[Sorry. You're forgiven too, btw. What are you doing for the Greek Project?

Hebe grinned and spent the night tapping away at the keyboard.

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[[initiallywritten & added on april 18, 09.