Everyone in the group reveal what they've drawn; the short one, who will become your partner in this, is, unfortunately, neither Tammy nor Sam, as much as you would've preferred them to be; instead, Tom. You looked over your red straw, then over at his blue, unsure of what to expect.
"Alright, so Tom, you'll be paired with Tony, and Sam, you and Jo will be the next group," Tammy says, "but first, we gotta prepare. This'll be interesting either way, though." She said, smiling at Tom, who was somewhat concerned and confused, and you. You were altogether unsure of what to think, say or do besides look at the straws and hang your head.
"But which one is the girlfriend?" Jo asked, "and what happens to the rest of us?"
"Well," Tammy started, "the first question isn't so easy. We can either take a vote, or go by color rules, whichever suits this better. If we go by vote, we'll need to raise hands for Tony or Tom individually, but if we go by color rules, blue comes before red, which means Tony will be the girlfriend," she says, looking over the straws one more time and nodding. "As for what the rest of us do, well that's simple; for the first few months, Sam will study Tom's behavior, and I will study Tony's. Jo will record the results. Then we will reverse, to see what results are to be had when different people record behaviors and see if any patterns start to emerge," she says. "So, do we vote, or do we go by color rules?"
"But," you start to protest, "surely this won't last the whole semester, right?" You finally ask, dreading the answer.
"Actually," Tammy says, "it will. Behavior Sciences lasts all semester, and indeed, all year, so you'll need to attend classes, lectures, and such dressed for the occasion; don't worry, I will file the appropriate paperwork, talk with the principal and teachers and inform them about this so you won't have any embarrassing situations. Unless a pigeon flies through and scratches my eye, or I call in sick of course," she giggles.
"But..don't we get any say in this whatsoever?" Tom asks, speaking up.
"Sure," Jo says, "you get to pick whether or not you're the boyfriend or the girlfriend. So, we doing this vote, or going by 'color' rules? Whatever that is," she said, not entirely convinced anything like what Tammy suggested even exists.
Tammy rolls her eyes at Jo, shaking her head, "It's just something I came up with based on the color palette; red comes after blue, green comes after blue, etc, right? It's simple; the color that comes after is the girlfriend, and the boyfriend comes before that. It's based more on placement, and the idea of co-existing on the same plane, but in separate panels, together. Make sense?" Tammy asks, glancing at Jo.
Jo and Sam both nod, while Tom leans over to whisper in your ear, "I don't get this at all." You retort back similarly, though you did get the gist of it, you still weren't sure you followed this kind of rule. The vote sounded better, and this rules thing seemed like a ploy to make sure you were the girlfriend either way.
"I say we go for a vote," you say finally, prompting the girls to look over in your direction, eyebrows raised. "But why?" Sam finally asks, "the color rules are easier. Besides, even if we did do a vote, you'd be the choice," she said. "I mean, Jo, Tammy and I all agree that the color rules are good, so why bother with the vote?"
"It's not that I don't understand it," you said, "but I feel like I'm being unfairly ganged up on here!" You said, a bit too loudly; the teacher looked up from the desk to glance in your direction.
"Everything alright over there?" The teacher asked, staring at your group in particular.
"Everything's fine," Tammy says, "just a bit of a disagreement over something. We'll sort it out," she reassures the teacher, who nods compliantly, and sits back down at the desk, pouring over some basic paperwork and forms. "Look, I'll understand if you think we're ganging up on you, but we aren't. It's basic logistics; Jo, Sam and I all agree with the color rules, and we all agreed on you. Tom is unlikely to protest, as he probably doesn't want to dress like a girl for a year," she glances at Tom, who, despite a feverish protest from you, nods, "so no matter what, we're ending up with the same result; you. Sorry, Tony." She says, though you don't think she really means it.
"Fine," you finally say, giving in, "I guess I have no choice."
"Great!" Sam says, smiling, "but first thing's first; we have to get this squared away with the principal and teachers, at least aside from our own," she says, "I'll help Tammy with that. The second order of business though, is the play itself; since the actors have been decided, we'll need the costumes. Tom's already got his costume on, so that leaves Tony."
You grumble, knowing you had no choice in the whole matter, and nod. "Yeah, yeah. Let's..at least try and hurry it up," you said dejectedly. Tom nudged you gently, muttering an apology in your direction, "don't apologize, you don't have anything to apologize for. I agreed to the group and the project, so I gotta agree to the rules. Even if I'm not thrilled by them," you say to him.
Tom just shrugs and sits back in his chair; you grumble, looking over at your new 'boyfriend', and sigh. How this was going to work out, you had no clue.
"First order of business," Jo said, trying to alleviate the depressive environment cooked up between your appointment as Tom's girlfriend, "is Tony's clothes. Name will come last, but clothes first. So, what're we doing about this?" She asked the group.
"Not anything too girly, I hope," you said, perking up a bit; you could, at least hopefully, keep it from being TOO embarrassing.
"Hmm," Tammy says, looking you over; Sam and Jo also do the same. "He's pretty skinny; could probably fit into either mine or Jo's clothes. Sam's too, come to think of it. What do you all think?" She asked.
Tom raises his hand to speak up, and the girls turned their gazes over to him.
"I'd like to at least say what I like in a girlfriend," he said, "if that'll help or anything."
"Sure," Sam said, smiling, "in fact, it'll help us decide whose clothes Tony will swap with."
"Great," you said, gently banging your head against the desk; you knew Tom's words had weight, and would impact what kind of year you would have to come.
"Well," Tom said, "I really like girls who.."
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