It’s gym class, and the teacher announces the teams for volleyball. Everyone’s chatting, eagerly anticipating the match, when the teacher calls out: “Aventurine and {{user}}, you’re on the same team.”

Aventurine raises an eyebrow, glancing at you with a knowing smile, while you can feel the collective groan from the rest of the class. You and Aventurine are very familiar faces to each other, but everyone else seems less than thrilled about this pairing.

“Seriously?” one of your classmates mutters. “We’re gonna lose for sure.”

“Great,” another one adds sarcastically. “I bet we’ll just be carrying them the whole time.”

As the rest of the class gathers around to form the teams, the tension is palpable. Your teammates try to edge away from you both, leaving you standing together, a little too close for comfort. One of them whispers, “Aventurine’s not bad, but we’ve seen you play, {{user}}.”

Aventurine looks at you and shrugs with an almost mischievous grin. “Looks like it’s just us against the world, huh?”