[open] Creative Writing

[Allison Shaddix]

Creative Writing was by far Allison's favorite class. It was even above Clothing and Design. While some of the students took to reading their pieces out loud in front of the class, Allison was satisfied with simply turning them into the teacher. Allison knew she was a good writer -the only thing keeping her from an A+ was class participation- but she was absolutely not okay with public speaking. She didn't even like to think about someone other than the teacher reading her essays and poems: the teacher had actually suggested that Allison submit some of her work to a local literary magazine, but Allison had declined.
Allison sat up at attention when the teacher stood up, holding a stack of printed pages containing the class' work. She began passing them out at random. Allison looked at the stapled pages that she had been handed. Her name wasn't on them. Apparantly the teacher had just discovered the concept of peer review. Allison blushed deeply and stared down at her desk, wishing for the first time that the class would end soon. She barely concentrated on the poems before her, and was more than happy when the bell rang.
Before she had a chance to stand up, a few pages with 'Allison B. Shaddix' typed in the header were thrust in front of her face. Apparantly her peer reviewer had something to say to her personally. Allison shrank into herself and looked up to the shoulders of the person holding out the papers.

[Nico Alinne]

<sup>Creative Writing. Nico loved the class more than what might have been considered healthy. It was a way for him to express himself, and while reading his pieces out loud to the class were excruciating and a horrible way to torture a student, in his opinion, he had found his writing improving quite a lot.

When it came to reading to the class, Nico did not participate often. While he could be snarky sometimes, when it came to public speaking, he was terrified and very shy. The teacher always pushed him to read, but more often then not he found himself sitting at the desk while his story poured from the teacher's lips. It always sounded better when someone else read it.

He watched as the teacher handed out papers at random, and he felt nervous. Peer review. What if they didn't like his work? What piece of work was being used in this, anyway? One look at the paper told him exactly what was being used; the poems. Nico's eyes scanned the pages of the story in front of him, and he found himself correcting. It was mostly typos and such, which indicated that either the writer (he glanced at the name and found that it was Allison Shaddix's) had rushed, or they had problems with the computer. He realized that this wasn't necessarily a peer correction and quickly wrote something on a slip of paper advising Allison to type slower.

The bell rang, and he stood up. The teacher had not instructed them on what to do once they finished, so he got up and walked over to her desk. She shrunk back, and he frowned, a little confused. "Uh... I... um... wasn't sure who to give this to."</sup>

[Allison Shaddix]

Allison looked up as the boy stammered:
"Uh... I... um... wasn't sure who to give this to."
She took the papers from his outstretched hand and held them to her chest. All she wanted to do was get out of the classroom. She wanted to stash the poems that she was currently crushing against her shirt in the desk drawer that contained all existing examples of her endeavors in creative writing. She was unable to do either because the boy who has just read her work -a situation no less embarrasing than if he had accidentally walked in on her in the shower, Allison though- was standing next to her, blocking her way out.
She continued to avoid his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Well. Thank you."
A short moment passed and Allison blurted out:
"What did you think?"
She was surprised at herself and felt her cheeks turn pink. But then again, she had never had anyone other than the teacher read anything of hers. Maybe he had liked it. She was suddenly interested in what he had said and more protective of her work. Her hands nervously rubbed the papers she held as she waited for a reply.

[Nico Alinne]

<sup>"Well. Thank you."

Nico gave her a small smile and turned to leave, when she asked him if he liked the poems. He turned back, chewing on his lip and thinking over his words carefully so they didn't sound like he was saying that he disliked them. A lot of the time, he would tell people something, and they would take it as an insult instead of a compliment and a suggestion.

"It was good," he started and paused, looking at Allison and noticing that she had started to blush. "I really thought they were descriptive... but you need to type slower... or... maybe look over them a few times? You had a lot of typos."</sup>

[Allison Shaddix]

Allison looked at her feet as the boy took his time thinking about her question. While she appreciated his thoughtfulness, the anticipation was making her sweat.
"It was good,"
Allison's heart skipped a beat, but the boy continued:
"I really thought they were descriptive... but you need to type slower... or... maybe look over them a few times? You had a lot of typos."
Allison held out the papers so that she could look at the typed words that covered them. She noticed that there were several words circled towards the top of the page, and a note expressing concern about her typing speed on the stack of her work. She blinked sadly a few times. She knew she was never going to be a prize secretary, and the teacher -probably because she was a creative writing teacher- had always looked over her typos. But Allison knew that they did take away from her intended meaning, and that she should try to not take it personally. She had never spoken to this boy before, there was no reason why he would be trying to attack her.
She took a deep breath.
"Yeah. I'll work on that, I guess."
They remained facing each other, the boy standing and Allison sitting at her desk for a few moments. A few moments passed, and Allison spoke up:
"Um, I need to get up, and you're blocking me."

[Nico Alinne]

<sup>There was an awkward silence in which Nico and Allison stared at each other, and he began wondering if there was something he could say to break that, or if she was comfortable with it. Then she spoke up.

"Um, I need to get up, and you're blocking me."

"Oh! Sorry..." He said, feeling embarrassed as he moved quickly out of the way.</sup>

[Allison Shaddix]

Allison stood up as he stepped away. She gathered her things and turned away from him to walk out of the room. Before she actually left, she turne back around to face him once more and gave him a small smile. She stammered out:
"Well, thanks. For getting up. And the review."
She looked down at her feet and then back up, raising her eyebrows slightly
"I guess I'll see you later?"
This conversation was getting more strained by the second, but Allison wasn't sure how to cut it off without ruining either of their days with the rediculousness of a weird good-bye.

[Nico Alinne]

<sup>"Um... yeah," Nico said, clearing his throat awkwardly. Well, this was getting very odd. He had two options: either he could run away, or he could continue to carry out said odd conversation.

"So... um... it was nice... talking to you..."</sup>

[Allison Shaddix]

Allison shifted her weight. Her eyes flicked around, looking for something, anything to focus on other than Nico's face.
Finally she couldn't stand it anymore
"Ok bye!"
She darted out of the room.