"You need to get a boyfriend!"

"No, I don't."

Kenzie continued to follow Ashley down the halls, undaunted by the blatant refusal.

"Come on!" she persisted. "There must be some special guy out there! Who do you think is cute?"

"I don't think any of them are cute," Ashley sighed. She wished Kenzie would pipe down. The people they passed in the hall were all turning to watch.

Kenzie was a couple inches shorter than Ashley, with black hair and olive skin. She was honest and kind, but sometimes Ashley felt like Kenzie acted too much like a child. It was good, but it made her feel like a babysitter.

"What about Matthew?" Kenzie tried.

"No."

"Fabian?"

"No."

"Johann?"

"Kenzie please . . ."

"What about Nathan?"

"Are you even trying anymore?"

"There's got to be someone!"

"No. I'll see you later," Ashley told her, seizing the opportunity to get away as soon as they reached Mr. Cliffton's class. Kenzie smiled and waved, quickly disappearing among the crowd of students traveling through the hallways. Ashley dropped her backpack beside her desk and sank into her seat.

"I heard you and Kenzie," Johann said from his desk.

"She's always trying to pair me up with someone," Ashley told him.

"Do you have anyone in mind for when you finally get a boyfriend?" Johann asked.

"No, and it's not something I really think about."

At that moment the bell rang and Mr. Cliffton stood, waiting for the class to fall silent. Before long it did.

"Good afternoon, class," he told them.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Cliffton," the class recited. At Ashley's high school, classes ran on a rotating block schedule. There were six periods. Students saw three of them each day. Monday could be an A day, with classes 1 3 and 5. Tuesday would then be a B day, with classes 2 4 and 6. Wednesday would be an A day again, only the class order would be 3 5 1. The cycle would continue. A1 B2 A3 B4 A5 B6 and back again. It took a little while to get used to.

"Today you'll find out who your partner will be," Mr. Cliffton told the class, holding up a bag of numbers. "You've already been sorted. I will pass out the papers to each student with the number of your partner written on it. Numbers and names will be listed on the board. Do not share the number you receive."

Mr. Cliffton turned on the projector. On the board was a list of names and numbers. Ashley scanned them quickly. No Beast Slayer, or any other name that easily identified Johann. Cinder was number five on the girl's side, sandwiched between Hillary Clinton and Terra.

Mr. Cliffton walked down the rows of desks, handing out slips of paper. Ashley watched as Johann took his paper. He glanced at it and scanned the board, smiling when he found the name.

"What?" Ashley asked.

"Her name," he responded, not elaborating further.

Mr. Cliffton handed Ashley her piece of paper. She hesitated a moment before opening it. 11. She scanned the board. There he was. The name she would be writing to for three and a half months.

Charmed.

"All letters can be placed in these bins, in the properly numbered sections," Mr. Cliffton announced, standing back at the front of the room. The last student had received their number without Ashley noticing. "Students can deposit letters at any time during the day. Remember, keep an official copy of each letter for your final grade."

"This'll be interesting," Ashley told Johann.

"Mhm. I wonder who the girl is," he said.

"I wish it was me," Ashley sighed. "At least then I would know what to talk about."

"The chances are like, one in seventeen," Johann pointed out. "And besides, he probably made sure we wouldn't know who our partners were. I'm sure whoever you got is a nice guy."

"I hope so. Good luck with your girl."

"I'm going to need it, with the name she chose."

That evening, Ashley sat at the kitchen table with a pencil in hand and an empty piece of lined paper in front of her. She assumed she would have to make the first move, and would probably wait a long time for a response. She wondered vaguely what she should write to him about. After five minutes of work, she eventually had a finished letter in front of her.

Charmed,

It's very nice to meet you. I'm Cinder, as you already know. I guess we'll be writing partners. I'll try not to make this awkward.

Pretty interesting assignment Mr. Cliffton gave us, huh? I hope it isn't worth too many grades. I'll try not to bother you too much with letters. But I will send enough to get me an A. And I guess this is the first. Talk to you later.

Cinder

Ashley reread it, shrugged, and put it on top of her backpack. That was a problem for another day. Hopefully the project would be in the bag, along with the A.