Chapter 3 I tried to explain . ] ] During one group project in our English class , things got really awkward . [ ] When the teacher told us to form groups , the whole classroom went weird . ] ] Everyone else was pairing up , chatting about who they wanted to work with . ] And then there was me . Standing alone like I had some contagious disease . Nobody wanted to be in my group . [ ] I looked around , hoping for just ONE friendly face . ] Nothing . Some people pretended to check their phones . [ ] Others suddenly found the window SUPER interesting . A few just closed their eyes and pretended to sleep . ] I worked up the courage to walk over to this girl who seemed nice enough . ] " Hey , can I join your group ? " ] ] She looked up , eyes all shifty . " Sorry , we're full . " ] ] I counted . There were only three of them . ] " I'm a good student - I was third in our major last semester . " ] Trying to prove I was worth having around . [ ] This guy next to them just laughed . " So what if The Leech gets good grades ? Dylan probably does all her work anyway . " ] " Yeah , he's probably taking her tests too . " " Right ? No way she's actually that smart . " ] ] Everyone started nodding like they'd cracked some big mystery . ] ] " I don't cheat ! " I snapped , my voice getting louder . " I pay my own tuition with my job money , and my living expenses - " [ ] " Oh please . " Some girl cut me off and rolled her eyes . " Nobody's buying that . " ] " Stop acting all innocent . We all know what you really are . " ] ] Chapter 3 That's when Madison's sweet voice cut through the noise . ] ] She'd appeared out of nowhere , wearing this perfectly fake sympathetic expression . [ ] " Come on guys , don't be so mean to Avery . She's just … doing what she has to do . " She paused , this nasty little smirk creeping across her face . " I mean , not everyone has the skills to get Dylan to take care of them for so long . " ] " That takes talent , right ? " ] The whole class burst out laughing . [ ] Like they were stabbing me with every sound . [ ] My face was on FIRE . I wanted to disappear into the floor . ] My palms were dripping sweat , nails cutting into my skin but I couldn't even feel it . ] Finally the teacher had enough . " Avery , just join group three . " ] You should've seen their faces drop . ] But they couldn't exactly say no to the teacher . ] During the whole project , they acted like I didn't exist . [ ] Every suggestion I made got completely ignored . [ ] " What if we approach it from this angle- " ] They kept talking like I hadn't said a word . ] The research I'd done ? Totally useless . 11.0 % Chapter 3 Like I was invisible . ] No , worse than invisible . [ I was a disgusting leech . [ ] Like something they wished would just disappear . [ ] ♡ ( 1 ) ( 0 ) " I found some sources that might help - " [ They didn't even glance at my papers , just pushed them aside . [ ] I tried joining the conversation , but they cut me off every time . [ ] " We already decided . " [ ] " We don't need your input . " ] " Just sit there and stay quiet . " [ ] Finally , I gave up . Just sat there watching them get all excited about their ideas . ] ] 1101 Discover our latest featured short drama reel. Watch now and enjoy the story!