“I think I just met the happiest person in the world!” Mason slams the door shut.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” I flick the light switch and am met with blinding light. It’s amazing how dark it gets in the science classroom.

“It is! She was like, WAY too bubbly. Getting excited about everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. We were talking about rocks.” Mason glides to the back of the room, pushing tables and chairs out of the way. He drags out a giant gray bin from beneath the teacher’s desk and begins digging through it.

“Ah, minerals. Yeah.” I kneel down to help him search.

We were looking for our science project. It had gotten lost in the commotion of school life, but now we needed to find it in order to receive a good grade.

“No, seriously,” Mason pulls out a giant cardboard box decorated with tissue paper and casts it aside. “I told her we had geology later and she said, and I quote, ‘Cool! I love learning about rocks!’ like, it’s GEOLOGY, Issac! Who likes geology?!”

“Who’re we talking about, exactly?”

“Emma. I think her last name is Vickers. I sit next to her in English.”

Yeah, Emma WOULD count as the happiest person in the world. She’s always joining group activities, smiling brighter than the sun, and skipping down halls like she owns the school.

I sift through the bin and find a miscellaneous battery. I can feel my glasses about to slide off my face, so I shove them back up as I gingerly place the battery on the ground.

“Man, why’d we have to choose to build a tower out of popsicle sticks?” Mason groans as he leans back from the bin and stands up.

This gives me an anxious thought. “What if somebody broke it?!”

Mason freezes, then turns and stares down at me, fear evident on his face.

We rush to the door, but before we reach it, it slams open, and we both are met with the ever-smiling face of Emma Probably Vickers.

“Hey, Mason! Hey, Issac!” Her hands are behind her back, so I can’t see what she’s holding, but I know it’s something.

“Oh, uh, hi, Emma,” Mason shifts on one foot, plastering a forced smile to his face. “Think maybe we could sneak by you? Somebody might’ve sabotaged our project.”

Emma’s eyes widen, “Oh, no! What’s it look like?”

“It’s kind of tall, and made out of popsicle sticks.” I say, preoccupied with trying to see what she has behind her.

Emma’s smile turns into a smirk.

“What?” Mason asks.

Wordlessly, Emma pulls out her hands from her back. She was holding our project!

“Hey!” Mason and I protest at the same time.

“I saw this the other day and worried it’d get crushed,” Emma explains. “So I kept it safe until today.”

“Well, thanks,” Mason reached for it, “give it to us, though, Emma.”

Emma shrinks away. “Okay, but first, can I join your guy’s’ project group? No one else will let me.” This information doesn’t even dampen her smile.

“We already did all the work!” Mason objects.

“Not the paper! If you let me be with you while you present it, I’ll write the whole paper.”

“I was gonna have Issac do the paper, he’s smart. Most of the time. When he wants to be.”

“Um, I think we should let Emma do the paper.” I had seen Emma’s previous essays, I knew she’d get us an A. Plus, I felt bad.

Mason sighs, “Okay, fine, why not?”

Emma claps excitedly, “Excellent! Now, let’s go, before we’re late!”

Mason and I exchange looks of disbelief as we follow her out the door.