“Yeah, so far, so good,” I nod, as the girls crowd closer to our group, making me feel a little uncomfortable.
“These are my friends Cara, Ana, and Stacey,” Gabby introduces.
I wave at the girls and say hi as Seb puts his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer. That causes the girl I think is named Cara to narrow her eyes. Hmm, found a mean girl or a jealous ex already?
“Hello ladies,” Seb smiles. Seb and E talk to the girls about spring break while I stand there.
“Shall we head to class?” Alex offers, speaking quietly from my other side.
“Yes, please,” I answer, ducking out from under Seb’s arm. I wave to the rest of the guys and walk to AP Biology with Alex. He introduces me to the teacher, Mr. Davies.
“Nice to meet you, Summer. Alex, you’re the only one without a partner, so Summer can work with you,” he says, handing me a textbook and syllabus. I follow Alex to the second bench on the left side of the classroom.
“Why don’t you have a partner?” I ask, pulling out a stool and opening my backpack for a pen and notebook.
“There was an uneven number of students until you arrived, and I prefer to work alone,” he replies simply, getting himself situated.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I won’t bother you, I promise. We can do our work separately,” I say, feeling awkward and a little disappointed.
“No, Summer, I am sorry,” he sighs. “I have no issue working with you. I did not mean to imply that. I prefer to work alone,as many students want me as a partner for grades or to be close to my family.”
“And I already used your connections to get into the AP Seminar class,” I say, scrunching up my nose. “Now I feel terrible.”
“That is not the same thing, Summer. I offered. You and Zander were going to handle it this morning yourselves if I had not stepped in. Besides, you are a friend,” he replies with a gentle smile.
“I promise not to use you for your brains or your family,” I joke. “Not that I have any idea who your family is,” I shrug.
The teacher calls the class to order. Luckily, we’re starting a new section on DNA today. The first 30 minutes are a lecture where I take notes. This is followed by a one and a half hour lab in which we extract DNA from strawberries. Alex and I get everything set up and work through the steps together. It’s pretty easy, and we’re soon done. The teacher comes over to check our work, then we clean up, and we have almost a half hour left.
“Would you like to go over the syllabus?” Alex offers.
“That’s probably a good idea,” I nod, grabbing the paper the teacher gave me to read through it. It looks like this school has followed a similar order of studies to my school in Virginia, except for one section. “So I haven’t done the mathematical modelling labs in Virginia, but it looks like everything else is similar.”
“We can schedule lab time, and I can take you through those. All the lectures from this semester are available online in your student portal. All your classes should be on there as well. AP English is a discussion class and involves group projects. Miss Miller prefers a different lecture style than other teachers usually do,” Alex tells me.
“That would be amazing, Alex. Thanks.” I give him a genuine smile, so appreciative he would take time out of his schedule to help me get caught up.
“I will consult with Mr. Davies and determine when we can book lab time,” he says, getting up and moving to the teacher’s desk, so I grab my phone to check out the student portal. Creating a login is a quick process, and all my classes are listed there. I browse AP Bio and notice a folder for labs and one for lectures, with dates attached to each file. Easy enough. AP Chemistry has a similar setup. AP English has a list of books and discussion questions attached to each book. There is also a list of group projects. Opening the book list, I realize I haven’t read the three books they’ve already completed. That will require some extra work for sure.
Alex comes back to our lab bench. “I booked the lab for a week from Saturday in the morning. Does that work for you?”
“Yeah, that’s fine, thank you, Alex.” I quickly add a reminder on my phone and inquire about the AP Seminar class. “So, how does the seminar work?”
“My apologies. I should have explained that already. Only a few students enroll in the class. We go to the library during that period and sign in with the librarian. It is a version of independent study. In your case, you will log in to the student portal and follow the schedule for AP History lectures and textbook chapters. You will do the same work as the current AP History class. Seb and Elijah are in that class, so ask them if you need anything.”
“That sounds simple enough. What are you taking for seminar?” I’m curious what the genius has chosen.
“Oh well, this semester I am enrolled in Introductory Biology Two.”
“A college course?” I ask, surprised. Ambitious and impressive.
“Yes. I took Intro Biology One last semester. I am planning on getting as many course requirements out of the way for university as I can manage before we graduate.”
“That’s amazing, Alex, and a smart idea. Zander said you were a genius. I guess he wasn’tkidding,” I wink.
Alex’s cheeks turn a soft crimson as he ducks his head. “Not a genius, but I appreciate the compliment.”
“What about the college biology labs? How do you do those?”
