By Wednesday, the sun had returned, but the puddles in the courtyard still reflected the sky like pieces of glass. Rhaine liked stepping around them. Maya liked stepping in them just to annoy her.
"You're such a child," Rhaine muttered as Maya deliberately stomped into a shallow puddle, splashing Eli.
"She's testing my patience," Eli said, brushing water off his jeans.
"That's my job," Maya replied with a grin.
They reached the history classroom and found the seating rearranged into pairs. Mr. Tan was already at the front, shuffling a stack of papers.
"Alright, class," he announced, "you'll be working on a partner project. It's worth 30% of your grade, and you'll be presenting next Friday."
Maya leaned toward Rhaine. "We're so doing this together."
Mr. Tan began reading off names from a list.
"…Maya Santos and Eli Park."
"What?" Maya said, sitting up straight. "No fair, I want Rhaine."
"You'll survive," Eli said, smirking.
Rhaine glanced around, already calculating who was left. That's when she heard it.
"Rhaine De Fuentes and Sam Alcaraz."
Her stomach dipped.
---
Sam slid into the empty seat next to her, looking entirely too pleased. "Guess we're stuck together again."
"Guess so," Rhaine said, keeping her tone neutral.
Mr. Tan handed out the assignment sheets. "You'll be researching a historical event of your choice and presenting your findings. I expect depth, creativity, and equal contribution."
Sam skimmed the page. "Any preferences? Or should we just pick something we both find interesting?"
Rhaine hesitated. "World War II?"
"Classic," Sam said. "We could narrow it down maybe focus on the women's resistance movements?"
That caught Rhaine off guard. "You're into that kind of history?"
"I'm into people who fight for what matters to them," Sam said simply.
For reasons Rhaine couldn't quite explain, she didn't look at Sam after that.
---
At lunch, Maya slid into the seat across from Rhaine with her tray. "So. You and Sam. Again."
Eli sat beside her. "It's destiny."
"It's random pairing," Rhaine corrected.
Maya grinned. "Destiny."
Rhaine ignored them, picking at her sandwich. "We're just doing a project."
"Sure," Eli said, "but the way she looked at you in class? Yeah, that's not just project energy."
Rhaine rolled her eyes, but her ears felt warm.
---
That afternoon, Rhaine and Sam met in the library to start their research. The quiet hum of the place made every small sound feel louder—the scrape of a chair, the turn of a page, even the soft tap of Sam's pen against her notebook.
They spread their materials across the table. Sam leaned in to read over one of Rhaine's books, her shoulder brushing Rhaine's arm.
Rhaine's instinct was to move, but she didn't.
"You take neat notes," Sam said, glancing at her handwriting.
"Helps me remember things," Rhaine replied.
Sam smiled faintly. "You're… very put together."
Rhaine frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Just that you seem like you always know what you're doing," Sam said. "It's… intimidating."
Rhaine wasn't sure if it was a compliment or not. "I'm not intimidating."
Sam met her eyes. "You kind of are."
Before Rhaine could respond, Maya's voice called softly from the next table over. "Boo."
Rhaine jumped. "What are you doing here?"
"Supervising," Maya said, sliding into the empty seat beside Sam like she owned it. Eli followed, holding a bag of chips.
Sam didn't seem bothered. "You two always crash her study sessions?"
"Only the important ones," Maya said with a wink.
Eli nodded. "We're quality control."
---
By the end of the hour, they'd decided on their topic: the French women's resistance network during WWII. Sam had suggested it, but Rhaine had agreed almost immediately it was focused, under-discussed, and strangely fitting.
As they packed up, Sam glanced at her. "My place or yours tomorrow? For working on the slides."
Rhaine hesitated. "Mine's quieter."
"Perfect," Sam said, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "See you after school."
---
That night, Rhaine sat on her bed, laptop open, half-working on the outline. The thought of Sam in her house tomorrow kept distracting her.
It wasn't a big deal. It was just a school project.
She repeated that in her head until it started to sound like a lie.