The Scrawl

Anna sat in Calculus Class on Friday morning, drawing flowers on her homework, when he strolled into the class for the first time that year. He calmly explained to their irate teacher that he'd missed the first two weeks of class because he had "stuff to do" and Anna bit her lip to keep from laughing at Ms. Chan's face as she took in her new student.

His thick, messy hair was highlighter-green, and he was wearing something even more audacious than the punk uniform that one would expect to match the hair – a normal-looking outfit of sneakers, slightly baggy jeans, a grey polo shirt and a black backpack. If not for the hair, he could have been any other boy in the class. His gaze – his eyes were also green, she noticed – fell on the only empty seat in the overcrowded classroom, which happened to be beside her. He smiled and strolled over, pausing only to pick up a textbook.

"So, what'd I miss?" he whispered

"All of chapter one &ndash um, derivative rules. Ms. Chan will go crazy if we talk. Are you free at lunch? I can catch you up then, if you want," she babbled.

"Yeah, that works."

"Sure – um, my locker's 224, so we can meet there – if you want," she said, still babbling and blushing now.

"For sure. Hey, what's your name?"

"Anna."

"Hi Anna – I'm Aleksey. I'll shut up now before she shoots one of us," he said, nodding towards the despot at the front of the room before winking and opening up his textbook.