Johanne flinches slightly at the bell, and slumps into her seat. Mr. Nell’s classroom always smelt like beef after lunch, and everyone made sure to tell him that. She listens as he shuffled to the front desk, his jeans wrinkled and his skin dry.

“Let’s discuss symbolism,” He starts and she internally groaned. What the fuck was high-school even about? Why would she need symbolism in zoology? (She wanted to be a zoologist, before it even became a high-demanded job.)

The guys at the back of the class are either snickering about tomorrow nights game or staring down at their crotches. The new girl—who Mr. Nell is eyeing down after every question—Giselle, picks up her own and chews on the edge.

Maybe she’s too observant, too full of thoughts that she doesn’t realize when he steps in front of her and calls her name so loud the class snaps out of it’s trance.

“Johanna, you’ve been taking this class since last semester, you can tell us a little about it, yeah?” His chapped lip curls up and she grimaced, her mascara covered eyelashes fluttering just slightly when she looked up at his lanky frame.

“Um,” She starts.