Great Minds Think Alike

How this was soothing.
The teacher - Aswan couldn't really remember their name, not yet - droning on in the background.
The familiar smooth scratch of her perfectly-leaded mechanical pencil against thick, lined notebook paper - the best kind. No doodle anywhere to be seen, only pages upon pages of neat and organized notes, conveniently color-coded.
This was Aswan's life now - and to be honest, she was tired, as per usual, but note-taking was second nature to her, as was listening to the teachers. Except...
She sighed. This school was rather insistent on group projects. Or this teacher was - she couldn't tell which. She rarely did well in a group; which was due, probably, to her shortage of friends in that class. She hadn't really had friends since - well...
That was changing, ever since she'd arrived at both Starlight Academy and Manta Carlos in general. Especially since she'd been offered so many opportunities to expand her knowledge. So many people on this island...
All this she thought as she surveyed the class (or as much as she could see - she wasn't exactly the tallest girl there).

Aswan's head snapped up to glance at the girl who had just spoken to her. Dark red hair. Elizabeth, she thought. That was her name. She'd remembered it vaguely from a few days ago, when she'd been called on. From what she could tell, Elizabeth had a good work ethic. That meant she could do her work like she was supposed to. That was a good trait. One that, unlike many of her past classmates, seemed to be mutually assured.
Aswan realized she hadn't replied yet.
"Ahem. Yes. I am Aswan - and yes, I suppose I would work with you." A polite nod. "The teacher is rather insistent on group projects." A sigh. "I have a selection of topics here - if you would like, you can choose one accordingly."

That seemed to have piqued Aswan's interest. "Photographic memory. Quite impressive." A nod, with a renewed respect for this... Possible friend? Acquaintance as of now. Fascinating, to be honest. She herself had never been able to recall much from her older lessons without her ever-present notes. To have photographic memory must have been very useful in-class.
Oh, right.
Glancing over the topics, she finally pointed to one. "I've never heard of this one, not yet." Something, actually, quite interesting - the study of the power of control on a specific power - one, favorably, of the emotionally-controlled variety. "Any opposition for this topic?"