Some of you thought Marriage Ed was a little cliche, but I can’t really think of any other projects .. I’ll try to put a twist to it.

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“Our project will be on Marriage Ed,” Mrs. Knies began, “You and your partner will experience what it is like to be married.” Then she gave us a hard stare, “And nothing physical is allowed.”

Some of the girls started giggling like crazy. I rolled my eyes.

“You will have to earn money, like real married couples do. Real money. Yes, that would require a job. You and your partner have to work together on that job,” she continued, “You will report back to the counselor at least once every week, to prove your progress.”

Joy, I thought sarcastically. Not only do I have to be pretend married to Seb, now I have to spend more time with him.

Mrs. Knies spent the rest of class talking about what we were required to do.

“Did I mention this yet? This project decides your final grade for the quarter.”

“What?!” I was so shocked, I didn’t realized I said it out loud.

“Is there a problem, Julie?”

I glanced over at Seb, and then back at Mrs. Knies. “Is there any possibilities of getting a new partner?”

“No, my decission is final,” she was so trying to torture me.

“Please, I’ll do anything!” I was literally begging now.

“Wow, that hurts,” I turned to look at Seb. He had one hand over his heart, pretending to be insulted.

I brushed my brown hair out of my face as I glared at him.

“Sorry Julie,” Mrs. Knies said just as the bell rang. Everyone rushed out of the classroom, whispering about Marriage Ed. I bet they were excited. “I’m sure you and Seb will do fine!”

I knew I had to give in. I sighed, faked a smile and said thanks. I walked out of the classroom with Seb following.

I ignored him as I walked to my locker. Liv and I always met at my locker after second period, since we have next class together.

“Ok, so let’s just get this over with,” Seb started to say, “What kind of job are we deciding on?”

I was just about to answer when I saw Liv’s dirty blonde hair in the crowd.

She slowed down when she saw Seb.

“Oh hey, you guys met.”

“Umm, ya, we’ve met ..” Seb started

“.. Because we have the same classes,” I interupted him.

“Oh, that’s cool,” she didn’t look so happy about it. Then she smiled. “I heard you guys have Marriage Ed. I’m so glad I don’t have Mrs. Knies!”

“Isn’t the whole grade doing it?”

“Really? Well that sucks.” Liv said, “Who did you get paired up with?”

“This guy,” I pointed to Seb, and rolled my eyes.

“Oh.” I could tell Liv was not happy about that. Then I remembered why. Right, the date. Liv liked to have her guy all to herself.

“Anyways, I’ll, uh, leave you guys alone since you .. ” I made some weird gestures with my hand. I was pretty sure they knew what I was talking about.

“Actually, we’re going to be late if we don’t hurry up,” Liv said. She turned to Seb and asked, “Same class?”

“Yup,” He answered as he followed us.

We got there and I took my usual seat; next to Ethan. Ethan was like the popular jock in stories. He was captain of the football team, no surprise there, and pretty good-looking.

“Hey,” Ethan said as I sat down.

“Hey,” I replied as I reached into my backpack for my homework. I groaned as I realized I forgot to do the last question. I turned to Ethan. “Hey, could you give me the answer to the last question? That’s all I need.”

“You want an answer from me?” He looked surprised as he handed me his paper.

“Thanks,” I replied as I jotted down the answer and handed it back, “I owe you.”

“You do,” He agreed, “I already have something in mind.” He actually looked a bit embarrassed.

“I won’t kill myself.”

He laughed, “You really thought I wanted you to suicide?”

“No, but you know, just in case,” I crossed my arms in front of my chest and smiled.

“Ok, so ..” he started to say, but got interupted by the teacher.

“I’ll owe you later,” I whispered to him. I turned to say something to Liv, but saw that she was talking to Seb.

The rest of class went by as usual; utterly boring. Throughout class, I kept thinking of what Ethan wanted.

After class, Hollie was waiting for me outside. We had the next class together. I turned to say “see you later” to Liv, but she was talking to Seb again. He kept on walking with her, even though our class was in the other direction. Well then. I guess they were getting closer now.

“Hey Julie,” Hollie was the captain of the cheerleaders. You would probably think that she and Ethan were together, but you would have thought wrong.

“Did you get your partner for Marriage Ed yet?” she asked. Was Marriage Ed like, the only thing the school was talking about now?

“Yah. I got paired up with the new guy, Seb.”

“The one Liv was walking with?” Hollie asked.

I nodded.

“Well lucky you! He’s cute. But I think Liv wants him too.”

“Liv already has him,” I said, “He asked her out this morning.”

“I thought he was new. Didn’t he just come this morning?”

“Yah, but Liv’s pretty. He probably fell in love right away,” I made sure to keep my voice even.

She looked at me, and didn’t say anything as we got to our class.

“Well, I’m sure he’ll make the right choice,” Hollie said. What did she mean by that? Did she think I liked him to? I don’t. I’m pretty sure of that.

I noticed Seb was already in the classroom, talking to some guy. I looked around and the only seat that was empty was the one behind him.

Today’s my lucky day, I thought sarcastically.

Through the whole class, I thought Seb was going to turn around and talk to me at some point. It was almost like he was giving me the silent treatment.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I poked him on the back with my pencil. He didn’t do anything. I poked him again and he turned around really fast.

“What do you want?” he asked, irritated. Geez.

“I need an eraser,” I lied.

“You have one,” he pointed to my desk.

I looked down to see my eraser sitting right there, in front of me. I blushed. Stupid eraser.

“Yeah, but my eraser’s not working well.”

He picked up his eraser and handed it to me. “Keep it.”

I put my arms on my desk and buried my face in them.

“Julie? What is the answer?” I looked up to see a question on the board.

“Uh, A?” I guessed.

“Correct,” The teacher said, surprised, “But please pay attention.”

I tried to pay attention, but I couldn’t. Why was Seb suddenly ignoring me? Was it something Liv said? He was with Liv before .. all this happened.

Why did I care anyways? I closed my eyes and told myself to just forget about it. The past is the past. And anyways, relationships were never meant to last.