DIFFERENT FEATHERS

Chapter Two: Six Different Worlds

The first thing Maya learned about Westbrook High was that nobody wanted to sit in the wrong place.

The second thing she learned was that Jason Miller apparently didn't care.

At least, that was what she thought when she found him sitting at the table Mrs. Anderson had assigned to their project group.

It was three fifteen on Wednesday afternoon.

The cafeteria was almost empty, with only a few students scattered around the room. Sunlight streamed through the tall windows, falling across tables that normally belonged to different groups during lunch.

Maya arrived carrying her notebook, laptop, and a folder full of papers.

She stopped beside the table.

Jason was already there.

He had his running jacket draped over the back of his chair and one leg stretched beneath the table. His phone rested beside an unopened bottle of water.

He looked up.

"You're early."

Maya glanced at the clock.

"So are you."

Jason shrugged.

"I had practice."

Maya pulled out a chair.

"You finished already?"

"Finished what?"

"Practice."

He gave her a puzzled look.

"Track practice doesn't finish before three."

"Oh."

Maya sat down.

She opened her notebook.

Jason watched her for a moment.

"You're taking this seriously."

"It's a group project."

"Exactly."

Maya looked up.

"What does that mean?"

Jason smiled slightly.

"It means we're probably not supposed to spend our lives preparing for it."

"I wasn't planning to."

"You brought three folders."

Maya looked at the folders.

She hadn't realized how much she'd brought.

"I like being prepared."

"I noticed."

She smiled.

"Is that a problem?"

"No."

Jason leaned back.

"Just saying."

Maya returned her attention to her notebook.

For some reason, his answer annoyed her.

She didn't know why.

Maybe it was because he sounded as though being prepared was something strange.

Maybe it was because she was already nervous about being the new girl, and she didn't like feeling as though someone was judging her.

She opened her laptop.

"Mrs. Anderson said the project is about what it takes for a student to succeed."

Jason nodded.

"Yeah."

"So we should probably start by deciding what success means."

Jason looked at her.

"Or we could just divide the work."

"That's not really the point."

"Why not?"

"Because if we divide everything, everyone works separately."

"And?"

Maya frowned.

"It's a group project."

Jason leaned forward.

"So?"

"So we're supposed to work together."

Jason gave a small laugh.

"Okay."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"No, what?"

"You've been here two days and you're already trying to organize everyone."

Maya stared at him.

"I wasn't organizing everyone."

"You kind of were."

"I was trying to make sure we actually did the assignment."

"And I'm trying to make sure we don't make it more complicated than it needs to be."

They stared at each other.

For a few seconds, neither spoke.

Then Maya closed her notebook.

"Fine."

Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Fine?"

"Fine. We can do it your way."

"I didn't say my way was better."

"You implied it."

"I definitely didn't."

"You did."

He smiled.

"You might be difficult."

Maya couldn't help smiling back.

"You might be lazy."

Jason's smile disappeared.

"I'm not lazy."

She immediately noticed the change in his expression.

It was subtle, but real.

"I didn't mean—"

"You did."

"No. I meant about the project."

Jason looked away.

"You don't know me well enough to decide that."

Maya felt embarrassed.

She hadn't meant to hit a nerve.

"I know."

Silence settled between them.

Then someone dropped a heavy backpack onto the table.

"Good."

Marcus sat down.

"I see we've already started arguing. This is promising."

Maya looked at him.

"Hi."

"Marcus."

"I know."

He grinned.

"You know me?"

"You're the food guy."

His smile widened.

"Finally. Someone understands my brand."

Jason laughed.

Marcus pulled a paper bag from his backpack.

"Anybody hungry?"

"No," Maya said.

"Yes," Jason said at exactly the same time.

Maya looked at him.

Jason shrugged.

"What? I am."

Marcus pushed the bag toward him.

"Emergency cookies."

Jason took one.

Maya shook her head.

"This is going to be interesting."

"You have no idea," Marcus said.

Ethan arrived next.

He placed a stack of books on the table.

Marcus stared at them.

"Are those all for us?"

"No."

"Good."

Ethan adjusted his glasses.

"They're reference materials."

"For an eight-week project?"

"Yes."

Marcus looked at Maya.

"He's worse than you."

Maya laughed.

"I heard that," Ethan said.

"That was intentional."

Julia arrived two minutes later.

She checked the clock before sitting down.

"Three twenty-two."

Everyone looked at her.

"What?"

"You said three fifteen," Marcus said.

"I was delayed."

"By what?"

"Traffic."

"You walked here."

Julia ignored him.

"Where's Emily?"

As though summoned by the question, Emily hurried into the cafeteria.

"Sorry."

She dropped into the empty chair.

"Cheerleading ran over."

Maya smiled.

"That's okay."

Emily looked around the table.

"Are we all here?"

Julia counted.

"Six."

Ethan opened his notebook.

"Let's begin."

Marcus sighed.

"Why does that sound like we're about to attend a board meeting?"

"Because you aren't taking this seriously," Ethan said.

Marcus placed a hand over his heart.

"That hurts."

Emily laughed.

Even Jason smiled.

Maya looked around the table.

For the first time since arriving at Westbrook, she didn't feel completely like an outsider.

They were strange together.

Almost ridiculously strange.

But perhaps that wasn't such a bad thing.

"Okay," Julia said. "The project question is: What does it take for a student to succeed?"

She wrote it on a sheet of paper.

"We need categories."

"Grades," Ethan said immediately.

"Discipline," Jason added.

"Support," Maya said.

"Money," Emily said.

Everyone looked at her.

Emily shrugged.

"It matters."

Ethan nodded.

"Definitely."

Marcus raised his hand.

"Food."

Julia stared at him.

"I'm serious."

"So am I."

He pointed at Ethan.

"You can't study properly when you're hungry."

Ethan considered that.

"That's actually true."

Marcus smiled triumphantly.

"I rest my case."

Julia added it.

"Food."

Maya smiled.

"Family."

Jason looked at her.

She noticed.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You keep saying that."

"I'm not."

"You are."

Jason smiled.

"You're observant."

Maya folded her arms.

"And you're avoiding the question."

Jason looked down at the table.

"My mom."

The mood changed.

Maya immediately noticed.

Jason's fingers tightened around the bottle of water beside him.

"My mom isn't well," he said quietly. "Sometimes that affects things."

Nobody made a joke.

Nobody asked for details.

Emily simply said, "I'm sorry."

Jason nodded.

"Thanks."

Maya looked at him.

She remembered the text she'd seen him receive the previous day.

She hadn't asked about it.

Now she understood.

She wanted to say something, but she wasn't sure what.

So she simply nodded.

Jason noticed.

Their eyes met.

Something about the moment felt different from their earlier disagreement.

Less defensive.

More understanding.

They continued working.

Ethan suggested researching academic performance.

Julia wanted to examine school resources.

Emily offered to interview students.

Marcus volunteered to investigate extracurricular activities.

Jason suggested looking at athletics.

Maya suggested studying the role of friendships and support systems.

"You see?" Maya said. "That's why we shouldn't divide everything."

Jason looked at her.

"You're going to bring that up every time, aren't you?"

"Probably."

He smiled.

"Fine."

"Fine?"

"You were right."

Maya blinked.

"Did Jason Miller just admit I was right?"

"Don't get used to it."

She laughed.

He laughed too.

Across the table, Emily noticed.

So did Marcus.

Neither said anything.

By five o'clock, they had accomplished more than any of them expected.

They had created a research plan.

They had divided certain responsibilities.

They had agreed to meet twice a week.

And, somehow, they had laughed several times.

When they finally packed up, Maya realized something.

She hadn't checked the time once.

The project hadn't felt like work.

Not completely.

Outside the cafeteria, Emily caught up with Maya.

"Hey."

Maya turned.

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to walk together?"

"Sure."

They started down the hallway.

Emily glanced back.

Jason was walking in the opposite direction.

He looked over his shoulder.

Maya noticed.

Their eyes met.

Jason gave her a small wave.

She waved back.

Then Emily spoke.

"He's not usually like that."

"Like what?"

"Talkative."

Maya smiled.

"He wasn't very talkative."

"You made him talk."

Maya laughed.

"I think we argued."

Emily grinned.

"That sounds more like Jason."

"He's stubborn."

"So are you."

Maya looked at her.

"You've known me for two days."

"Exactly."

They laughed.

Behind them, Jason continued toward the gym.

He wasn't thinking about Maya.

At least, that's what he told himself.

He was thinking about his mother.

His upcoming race.

His grades.

College.

All the things that seemed to be waiting for him at the end of the school year.

But as he pushed open the gym doors, he caught himself thinking about something else.

The new girl.

The way she'd challenged him.

The way she'd apologized when she realized she'd crossed a line.

And the way she'd listened when he mentioned his mother.

Jason shook his head.

He had known Maya for less than two days.

She was just another student.

Just another member of a project group.

That was all.

For now.

That evening, Maya sat at her bedroom desk and opened her notebook.

At the top of the page, she wrote:

WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR A STUDENT TO SUCCEED?

Underneath, she wrote:

Grades.

Money.

Family.

Discipline.

Support.

Opportunity.

She paused.

Then added:

People who believe in you.

Her mind returned to the six students sitting around that cafeteria table.

Emily.

Jason.

Ethan.

Marcus.

Julia.

And herself.

Six people who probably wouldn't have chosen one another.

Six people who came from completely different worlds.

Yet somehow, their first meeting hadn't gone badly.

Not perfectly.

But maybe perfect wasn't necessary.

Maya closed her notebook.

She didn't know that before graduation, that table would become the place where they celebrated victories, cried over failures, argued about the future and made decisions that would change their lives.

She didn't know that one of them would nearly give up on college.

She didn't know that another would struggle to keep their family together.

She didn't know that grades would become something much more serious than numbers on a report card.

And she certainly didn't know that the people who had been assigned to her for a school project would eventually become the people she trusted most.

For now, they were simply six students with different lives.

Different dreams.

Different problems.

And one assignment that had brought them together.

None of them could have known how far that first table would take them.