It didn't go that bad.

Or at least I thought so, because even though Sage had disappeared after I asked her to be my partner, I got her number, which I think was good.

Satisfied with myself, I quickly went back to my seat and grabbed my backpack, I wasn't surprised to see that Peyton and Kevin were waiting for me, what I did find a little strange was that Kevin did it with a suspicious face and Peyton was just curious.

I paid no attention and was about to leave, but Kevin crossed his arms next to me, "Why did you pick Sage?" he asked to my surprise.

I gave him a quizzical look and shrugged. "Well, no one else seemed to want her, so I picked her." I replied simply.

Kevin continued to stare at me, a frown waiting to blossom on his face. "You want her to do your homework?"

This time it was my turn to frown. "Of course not," I said slightly indignant, "I'll contribute just the same."

Kevin hummed slowly before nodding, seemingly satisfied, "Okay then, I'll worry about you using her like that."

I gave Kevin a somewhat surprised look, as he didn't strike me as the type to worry about others like that, but it was a pleasant surprise.

"You hurt me by thinking so badly of me." I joked, slinging the strap of my backpack over one shoulder, ready to leave.

This time it was Peyton's turn to answer. "It's not that, we just know how much you want to go to Polarica College, so we were afraid you would resort to more extreme measures to get good grades."

I nodded, it made sense, Sage seemed like a typical nerd and I think it would be reasonable for someone desperate to get their homework done to turn to her. She's basically the perfect target for that kind of intimidation.

"Don't worry, I'll never do anything crazy to get a goal." I said and walked out of the classroom, followed by the two boys.

I heard Kevin's voice behind me, his tone was kind of strange. "That makes us happy, Sage is a good girl behind... well, that."

"You know her?" I asked curiously as I walked out of the classroom with the boys.

"Sort of, we went to the same school together in elementary school, we were kind of friends, but well, then things happened. "He waved his hand as we walked, sounding like he didn't want to talk about it.

I nodded again. I understood that Kevin didn't want to talk about it. Instead, I focused on something else. On the ease with which people get to know each other.

It was funny how the world we know is not really that big if you have a wide social circle. Basically, everybody knows everybody else.  That was not my case, but it made me rethink the idea of a theory that says that no matter which living person you choose, you will always be connected to them through only 6 people. It was called the separation theory or something like that.

When I saw it on the Internet, I made fun of it a little bit. Because it said that I could connect to any person through only six people, for example, I have a friend, this friend has a father who works in an airline, in the airline he meets a celebrity, this celebrity meets more celebrities and meets the target person.

Sure, it made some sense, but not so much if the person trying to use it was a social recluse. I feared that the people I knew wouldn't even reach the meager number of 6, and I doubted even more that this limited number of people would connect me in any way to the President of the United States. But now, with a broader perspective, maybe that theory is true.

Sighing as my mind wandered to the most absurd things, I tried to pick up the conversation Peyton and Kevin were having.

"I'm telling you Kevin, Samira is a manipulator, Ethan should choose the wolf girl, she's loyal, like a puppy."

"What? But she has anger issues! She could, you know, beat him to a pulp and he wouldn't even remember it."

"Still, Mirage is more beautiful, haven't you seen her features? They're perfect!"

"But Samira has smaller breasts!"

Yeah, no, I tuned out again, rambling in my head as we walked to another class.

(***)

I saw Sage again in Chemistry.

While Peyton and Kevin and I were sitting at a table chatting and waiting for the teacher to come in, Sage was with two other guys and didn't look comfortable at all, she was uncomfortably stiff and her head was buried in a math book or something.

While they both looked uncomfortable and a bit upset as they used their cell phones.

This time there was no chance to talk to her, so I wished her good luck, because those situations were really uncomfortable in my experience, not only the fact that I was between them, not in the corner, but rather making a sandwich with both boys, but also the fact that the teacher didn't seem to come, which seemed to make her more anxious with every passing moment.

I have to admit that deep down it was a little funny, but I quickly put those thoughts away when the classroom door slammed open and a very grumpy teacher Smith walked in at a slow, almost bored pace.

"Sit down." She said in a low voice, but everyone standing around moved quickly to their seats.

It seemed that the mood of choice for Ms. Smith was to be defeated, but given what she had told me about what it was like for her to work, I had no doubt that it could be a lot worse than just "defeated".

As she walked to the board, she turned to the class and audibly sighed, "Okay, today we're going to look at unions and bonds, again.”

(***)

I didn't know that chemistry could be any more complicated. Sure, there was all that stuff about bonding and stuff, but when you added essence, the difficulty really skyrocketed. I just wanted to play with substances and make color explosions! It was torture, but I was amazed at the ease with which Teacher Smith said it all, if she lacked enthusiasm, she was definitely knowledgeable in her field.

"Go ahead and move a table aside, I have something to discuss with the teacher." I said as the class ended.

Kevin looked at Teacher Smith and frowned. "I don't like leaving you alone with her, Alex."

"Yeah, I have to agree with him, I haven't heard the best rumors about her." He said after looking around for curious ears, Peyton leaned into my ear. "I heard she's been harassing students and all that shady stuff."

I gave him a slightly irritated look. "If she did that, don't you think she would have been fired by now?" I asked, but before they could answer I was already moving. "Anyway, go ahead, I'll be right there."

"We'll come looking for you if you don't come soon!"Peyton said aloud, looking at Ms. Smith as he said that.

I sighed as they left and approached Ms. Smith, who looked at me with mild amusement.

"Sorry, they're overprotective." I said, smiling back at her.

Their purple eyes scanned me before they returned to their sheets. "Don't worry, it's good not to be naive." I sat across from her, causing her to look up. "Yes?" she said, raising her eyebrow when she saw I didn't speak.

Feeling a bit playful, I gave her a slight smile, "Can't I just sit and watch you work, teacher?"

"That would be weird, plus you've never done it before, so I can only assume you have some doubts about my class." She shrugged.

"Almost, I actually wanted to ask you if I could find out my past grades in all subjects by contacting you."