― 𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐓 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐎𝐍𝐄 to hate group projects of any kind. Or, more specifically, he hated being apart of them. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy learning—he actually didn't mind school all that much, being what the majority of people would label as a 'nerd' of sorts. But the moment teachers started paring people up, all it took was a single glance in his direction for his stomach to twist into a dozen knots.

It was always the same situation that played out: He would get paired with someone way more outgoing than he was himself, someone who would expect him to contribute to the conversation, someone who'd consistently bring up the fact that he so shy and quite, someone that would either give up halfway and just do everything themselves because putting the energy into him were too much work—or someone that would simply through the entire project onto him because, "Wow, you're really quiet, huh? You must be a nerd." and those with a higher IQ are clearly supposed to just be a hero and do the entire project by themselves.

This time around, though, his partner was none other than Hazel Moreno. Hazel, who never seemed to stop moving, always doodling in the corners of her notebooks, always humming under her breath. Hazel, the girl who once brought the an entire birthday cake to class and made sure everyone had a piece because she "just felt like it."

And Hazel, the girl in which were now sitting besides him, tapping her pencil against her chin like she was waiting for him to say something.

Elliot shifted a little, uncomfortably, He should probably... talk? Ask her what she wanted to do for the project, suggest a plan even? Elliot wasn't completely certain, but surely something was better than having Hazel continue waiting.

Instead, he stared down to the notebook laid out upon the wooden desk, willing himself to disappear. Seconds began to pass by as the other groups that were formed moved around and began talking to one another about their own projects. He should say something. But the longer the silence stretched, the more impossible it began to feel to break it.

Then—A small tap was felt against his wrist, and he blinked. A tiny, pastel yellow Post-it note sat on the edge of his desk. He hadn't even noticed her writing it.

"You alright? :)" Elliot stared. Taking a moment to completely realise what the other was doing. He took a small glance over towards Hazel. She didn't say anything—just propped her chin in the palm of her hand, watching him with an easy, patient smile. It was if she was waiting for something.

His fingers twitched, and slowly—hesitantly―he picked up his pencil, took the post-it note and flipped it over before writing his short and simple response; "Yeah." before sliding it back to her. The male took a moment to look over the girls reaction however looked away upon catching her eye.

Hazel grinned, grabbing another sticky note, and scribbling something down. "Cool. So... wanna do the research part? I suck at research." 

Upon noticing the girl reach other and stick the Post-it onto a free space on his desk, Elliot had another pause—at least she wasn't putting all the work onto him, right? Then, after a moment's hesitation, he took the note and wrote: "Yeah. You're okay with the writing part?"

Hazel took the note into. Considered it. Then, rather than writing, she gave him a thumbs-up and her seemingly never ending bright smile. Elliot exhaled, the tension that had been build within his chest loosened—just a little. And for the first time ever, a group project didn't seem too bad. For the first time in his entire life, he didn't totally hate it.

◜ ᴘᴏꜱᴛ-ɪᴛ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛꜱ!◞
ᴀɴ ᴏʀɪɢɪɴᴀʟ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ʙʏ @ᴛᴏꜰᴜᴜ-ᴄʜᴀɴɴ
ᵐᵃʸ ᵒʳ ᵐᵃʸ ⁿᵒᵗ ʰᵃᵛᵉ ᵃ ᵖᵉʳˢᵒⁿᵃˡ ᶠᵒᶜᵘˢ-