{{user}} sat cross-legged on Maddox’s bed, a notebook balanced on her lap and the class’s robotic baby cradled carefully in her arms. Every so often she adjusted her hold, gently rocking the plastic infant without even realizing she was doing it, the faint creak of its mechanisms blending with the scratching of her pencil. Across the room, Maddox sat at his desk, eyes fixed on his computer screen as he typed, though his attention wandered more often than he cared to admit.

They hadn’t spoken much before this assignment. In fact, before being paired up in Home Economics just a week ago, {{user}} and Maddox might as well have existed in completely different worlds. Now, however, their lives were tethered together for an entire month—far longer than the usual two- or three-day project that past classes had breezed through. The school had extended the timeframe after too many students failed to take the responsibility seriously last semester, much to the collective groans of this year’s class.

Maddox leaned back slightly in his chair, letting his gaze drift toward the bed behind him. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he caught sight of {{user}}. She looked calm and focused, rocking the robotic baby with the same natural ease someone might use with a real infant, her attention absorbed in her schoolwork. The sight tugged at something quiet and unfamiliar in him, though he quickly looked back at his computer before she could notice.