Lena was paired with Max — the loudest, messiest kid in class — for the school science fair.

“Oh great,” she whispered. “We’re total opposites. No way we’ll ever get along.”

But their teacher wasn’t taking no for an answer.

The first day of working together was a disaster. Max spilled glue everywhere and then tried to sweep it under the rug.

“I’m going to lose my mind,” Lena muttered. “This is going to go off the rails fast.”

But the next day, Max came in with a full diagram and apologized out of the blue.

Lena was shocked. “Okay… maybe we can meet halfway after all.”

In the end, their volcano project won second place. They even high-fived.

“Not bad, partner,” Max said.

Lena smiled. “Not bad at all.”

Idioms Used in the Story

1. Get along

Meaning: To have a good relationship with someone.
Examples:

• Do you and your sister get along?
• They don’t get along very well at work.

2. Sweep something under the rug

Meaning: To hide or ignore a problem instead of dealing with it.
Examples:

• Don’t sweep your mistakes under the rug.
• The company tried to sweep the issue under the rug.

3. Go off the rails

Meaning: To become chaotic, out of control, or fail badly.
Examples:

• The meeting went off the rails after the argument.
• His plan went off the rails quickly.

4. Out of the blue

Meaning: Unexpectedly.
Examples:

• She called me out of the blue after five years.
• The idea came to him out of the blue.

5. Meet halfway

Meaning: To compromise; to find a middle ground.
Examples:

• Let’s meet halfway and split the cost.
• They met halfway on the project deadline.