Let's just say she was intimidated by you because you're so brilliant. That's better than guessing she burst into tears because you're stupid, ugly and/or smelly.

anxiety about working with someone new maybe? thats all I can think of, maybe she's used to working with someone else that she's comfortable with because she knows them.

Any way you look at it, it has to be painful when your assigned project parter cries because they were assigned to work with you. The unspoken question is, of course why? If the poster had intentionally put out an unfriendly “vibe” or even a predatory vibe then it’s really FML for the girl who cried. If the girl who cried was just disappointed because she specifically wanted to be partners with her friend or “crush” then it’s tough, but people get over that. Hopefully either crybaby got the teacher to change assigned partners or OP was able to reassure crybaby that she was going to be able to work with her without a problem. At some point many of us get that kind of rejection and we have to learn to deal with it. I was much more of a nerd than a jock in school and was inevitable among the last few chosen for sports teams in physical education. Frankly the feeling was mutual, I had no interest in sports and just wanted to stay out of the way. The good thing that came from those experiences was knowing that there are things I am good at and things that I am not, and learning to concentrate on things I am good at.