I had begun to hate Maths more than I ever had done. What's worse than algebraic equations? That'd be the people sitting behind me. 
"Alfie!" Mr Pool called on him. "What do we do with 69 now?"
"Well sir, if you don't know that I can't tell you." A few sniggers followed but the teacher ignored them and pressed for an appropriate answer.
"What would you do with it?" He tried a different tactic but this only seemed to make things worse.
"Okay, well ya see, sir, I'd slide into someone's dms and ask for a cheeky 69. Maybe followed by a few aubergines and water droplets you get me?" I didn't even need to turn around to see the grin that was no doubt on his face.
"No, I don't and quite frankly I'm getting tired." He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. 
"You look it, sir," Phil said a little more timidly but Mr Pool acted like it had been spat at him.
"That's it!" He banged his palms on the nearest table and glared right at them.
"Calm down, sir," Alfie chuckled but this only poured fuel onto the already blazing fire. "Lester, Deyes, it looks like I have to separate you both."
"Oh come on," Alfie protested but Mr. Pool cut through his complaint.
"Alfie over there, next to Zoe." Was he actually sending him away? I couldn't believe my eyes! He couldn't throw notes at my back if he was no longer behind me. "Unless she's too much of a distraction?"
"Nah, we're good," Alfie slammed his bag onto his new desk at the front of the room.
"Philip, next to Daniel."
The smile that was on my face was immediately wiped away... Phil, friend of Jessica, would be sitting next to me!
"Oooh, bad luck Lester," Alfie chuckled but he didn't realise that it was me who had the worst luck.
"Do I have to sit there?" I felt my face heat up in embarrassment. I didn't want him next to me anymore than he wanted to be next to me. That's what I tried to tell myself but I couldn't stop my heart beating a little faster as he dumped his book next to me and slung his backpack over the back of the chair. "This is so unfair," he muttered.
"Life's unfair, get used to it," I mumbled in annoyance.  Despite himself, Phil smiled slightly before his face went straight again.

Mr. Pool, happy that the disturbance was now sorted, went back to the board and put on a slide full of brand new equations. I quickly got to work. Just because I don't like Maths doesn't mean I'm not good. I just find it incredibly boring because my tutors taught it me non stop to get the formulas drilled into my head.

I could see Phil frustrated next to me. I tried to ignore him at first but it became increasingly harder. He balled his fists in his hair on either side of his head as he stared at his book. I noted he had done only one side of the problem and was stuck on the other.
"Whatever you do to one side you have to do to the other," I stated simply as I started question 5.
"Did I ask for your help, Dani?" He shot at me in a hushed voice so no one around but me could hear him.
"Suppose not, fail if you want to." I shrugged, sounding more confident than I felt. "Not like I care."
He picked his pen up and did what I had told him before taking a deep breath and tapping his pen against the equation.
"You need to-" I began
"Don't talk to me," he muttered. If this were Alfie I would've taken the warning but I wanted to help Phil for whatever reason. I did the division for P and J and slid the solved problem to Phil. He gave me a sharp look but I shrugged as if to say "I didn't talk, I wrote."
After he copied the work, he slid the paper back to me. He worked through the second question alone but I didn't start number six because I was too busy staring at the piece of paper.  In small writing was 'Thanks'. It was such a simple word but I couldn't help feeling a little shocked. Maybe I had been right about Phil, maybe, just maybe, he was nice.