Date: Sun, 18 Apr 2021 03:13:34 +0000 From: Justin Luong Subject: Remember Me Chapter 23 Chapter 23: For Science! "I'm so exhausted! I can barely keep my eyes open. Not even the thought of cutting into this dead frog can keep them open," I whined as I crossed my arms against the black top table and laid my head atop. There was this lingering stench of chemicals that saturated our class because today was surprise dissect a frog day. Why do we even have to dissect animals in the first place? It's not like Mrs. Scotts is teaching us anything. She literally pulled up an instructional video on the projector while she read another one of her terrible romance novels from the nineties. "Hey Fang, what did you bring for lunch? For some reason, I'm craving frog's legs," Lulu giggled from the table directly in front of us. "I hate you so much," I grumbled. "Don't worry about it. I can handle this solo," Carver confidently said as he shakily held the scalpel in hand. His hand seemed to get ridiculously shaky the closer the blade got to slick, rubbery skin. His focus was razor sharp but his hand wouldn't stop shaking. I couldn't help but to reach out to try to ease his hand. "Uh thanks for the save. I don't know what's come over me all of a sudden." "Is everything okay?" I asked concerned sitting upright. "I can take over. The smell doesn't really bother me. As long as you can keep me awake, I think can do it." "Y-Yeah, e-e-everything's fine. I-It's just the smell. I thought I could handle it but I can't," he admitted averting his gaze while haphazardly dropping the scalpel onto the black top. He shoved the sleeve of his plaid jacket right up against his nose and mouth. He turned his attention to Mrs. Scotts and asked slightly muffled, "Can I open a window? I think I'm going to be sick." "Sure, but good luck opening them. I tried my hand at it for a while until I gave up. I eventually asked Mr. Lane and it still wouldn't budge. I think they're painted shut or something," she said from behind her desk donning a dusty brown industrial mask, the kind with the two vents on the side and a clear plastic eye shield, although hers wasn't crystal clear, but foggy from whatever it was exposed to in the past. She looked absolutely ridiculous. You would think someone teaching biology would be okay with all the quirks and smells that came with it. Carver hurriedly staggered over the east window with his sleeve covering part of his face. He furiously ripped off the thin latex gloves and tried to push the old window up. While he was preoccupied with that, Lulu turned around in her stool facing me. "What's up with him? Everything okay?" she asked. "I-I don't know. He was fine a second ago and then his hand started shaking right when he was going to cut this poor guy open. I should probably go help him though, right? That's what a good boyfriend would do. One sec," I said hopping off of my stool and walking over to help Carver with the window. Carver's face was bright red as he was trying with all of his might. "Hah! I guess Mr. Perfect isn't too perfect after all!" Brock hollered from the back of the class. Carver gritted his teeth as Brock's words influenced the rest of the class besides Lulu and I to laugh like a pack of wild hyenas. Before I could even think it through, I glared back at Brock and barked, "If you don't shut up, I'm gonna shove your frog down your throat till you croak! Or better yet, maybe instead of frog's legs tonight, I'll chop off your legs instead and serve up some Brock legs! How do you feel about that, huh? Back off!" "You tell him Fang! That's my best friend!" Lulu roared from her table. "Gentleman, settle down please!" Mrs. Scotts demanded. "I will not have this sort of behavior in my class. Mr. LeVang, I expect this kind of brutish behavior out of Mr. Hampton but you? I expect better. I expect self-control." "Ooooooooo!" the class cooed. "Carver, would you like to step out into the hallway instead? I know how stuffy it can get during days like this." "Yes, I'd like that thank you," Carver said gulping. He walked past me out the door without saying anything to me. Crap did I embarrass him? Maybe I went too far? "You too, Fang. Maybe some time outside will make you reconsider the words you used today in my class." "But he started it!" "Move it mister!" she demanded pointing at the door. I rolled my eyes and sighed. I should have known better than to pick a petty fight with Brock even if I was only defending someone I love. No one can touch that asshole, well almost. Where's a flight of stairs when you need one? I shook my head, pulled off my latex gloves, and chucked them into a nearby rectangular trash bin. Pushing my way through the door, I found Carver squatted over by a row of lockers, his head between his knees and breathing deeply. "Carver? Carver, what's wrong?" I asked kneeling down in front of him. "I-I'm fine, I'm just trying to get the smell out of my head," he said as he poked his head out and smiled at me. "See, I'm fine." "Are you sure? I've never seen you react to anything like this before. I'm just worried about you. Want me to hold you?" He looked up at me with those sad puppy dog eyes of his and nodded. I smiled slightly and shifted over to his side leaning against the locks. He finally relaxed and decompressed leaning into me as I wrapped my arms around him. "So...do you want to talk about it?" "There's nothing to talk about. I told you it's just the smell. It made me sick." "Is it though? Something's telling me that it's not just about the smell. I don't have any proof but I feel like I can...read you?" There was a deafening silence between us. He kept shifting about in my arms. At first I thought he was trying to find a better position. I mean who could blame him with my bony body. I can't imagine it'd be all that comfortable to lie on. But then it dawned on me, maybe he was just trying to decide on whether or not he wanted share with me what was on his mind. "If you don't want to talk about it, it's fine. I just thought I'd ask. I-I'm really worried about you Carver. I don't like seeing you like this." "You're right," he mumbled. "Huh?" I asked turning my head slightly to him. "It's not just about the smell. It's something else." "Something else?" "This is going to sound stupid." "Doubt it. I'm the one who says stupid things remember? There's nothing you can say that'll make me think that what you're feeling is stupid. But try me anyway, let's hear it." "I'm afraid of—well I'm not afraid, I'm just—," he sighed. "Cutting. Cutting freaks me out." "Cutting? What do you mean by cutting?" "When I was really young, like maybe five or six, I saw someone purposely cut themselves. It scared the living daylights out of me. I remember trying to stop them too and they were so embarrassed that they promised that they'd stop for me and they did...for a while." "When you say someone...do you mean her?" "Y-Yeah," he said softly clearly holding back tears. "I used to get nightmares after seeing her do that to herself, all because of him. Once she realized that that was causing my nightmares, she stopped cold turkey...or at least that's what I thought. She still did it, she just hid it better away from prying eyes. I didn't know about it until she died and I saw all the cuts and the scars from the past." "Carver, I-I'm so sorry, I—." "That's why I freaked out in there," he gulped. "The thought of cutting into that frog made me take a trip down memory lane. I haven't thought about that in so long and then this happened and I was completely caught off guard. It scares me." "I wish I could say you could stay out here if you don't want to but I think eventually you're gonna have to. Don't worry about what Brock says, I'll bite his head off if he says something again." "I don't care what he care about him. He can say whatever he wants. I'm sorry about earlier. If I didn't freak out the way I did, you never would have gotten in trouble. I'll make it up to you, I promise." "Forget about it. You don't need to worry about any of that." "But I feel like shit, on top of everything else that I'm reliving." "Well don't, you did nothing wrong. We all have our trauma, some have it worse than others. I'm your boyfriend and your friend. I know you already know this deep down, but you're safe with me, just like how I am with you." "Thanks, I appreciate it. I've never told anyone about that before and I'm glad it was you." "Well I'm happy you trust me enough to confide in me. You know you can tell me anything." "I know, it's just hard sometimes for me to talk about serious things like that. Sometimes I can't gauge how people will react to my past so I bottle it all up so I'm not a burden." "Yeah I know the feeling. But when you have people in your life you can trust, you don't have to bottle them up. If I'm not enough, you can always talk to my mom. I'm not trying to make it seem like I'm passing your troubles onto someone else because I don't want to deal with them because that's completely not what I'm going for, it's just—she's probably a lot better at it than I am. I would hope anyway, it is her job here," I explained. "I think you're doing a great job, but I'll think about it. Thanks." "So I know you don't want to but do you think you can handle going back to class? There's only like twenty minutes left and we still have to do the assignment and by we, I mean me. I don't want to pressure you into doing anything you're not comfortable with." "Y-Yeah, I think I'm fine and if you promise to stay by my side, I think I can do the assignment. Knowing you're with me, gives me the courage and confidence I need to take my fears head on." "Of course! I'm always by your side. There's nothing you can do or say that'll steer me away. It's like my mom always says, we're attached at the hip. And I do need this A. I'm still just barely passing this class even with all the leeway Mrs. Scotts gives us." "So you're just using me for a grade then?" he laughed standing up and stretching. "Oh yeah, definitely using you for the grade. I need all the help I can get to pass my classes," I joked standing up next to him. "You know I'm kidding about the using you part though, right? Although I do need yours and Lulu's help to keep me afloat. So I guess I'm half lying?" "Well maybe if you stopped putting someone's cock in your mouth, you'd do better in class." "Oh you wanna start that game? Well then you can tell my boyfriend that sex is off the table until I can get an Asian F in Biology." "An Asian F? What's that?" he laughed. "A B average." "Wait average?" "Oh yeah, I've upped the stakes. If my boyfriend can help me keep a B average in all of my classes then sex is back." "H-Hey, that's not fair!" "Well then maybe he shouldn't have started something he can't finish," I smiled as I walked back towards class only to be stopped as I reached the handle. Carver spun me around and whispered, "I really do appreciate you. So thank you for everything, for being supportive and not judging me for my past." "O-Of course." "So how about we forget about the sex thing? What do you think?" "I'll think about it," I said turning around and walking into class. Lulu looked up at me almost as if she was trying to probe my mind telepathically. I shrugged and walked back to my stool. Carver followed behind me and grabbed the box of gloves on Mrs. Scotts desk. Once back at our tables, he tossed the box at me as he slipped a pair back while grabbing the scalpel. "Okay, I can do this," he said to himself. "If there's anything you can't handle, just tag me in okay?" I said while fighting with the latex gloves. I always have a problem putting these damn things on. "I know, thank you, but I think I got this. I've got something to prove and well...I want sex back on the table. Maybe even this table," he winked. "Ha ha, no, not even in your wildest dreams are we doing it on this table, you little perv!" I said finally winning the battle with the gloves only to realize a tear around the palms. "God dammit!" "Language, Mr. LeVang!" Mrs. Scotts said from behind her desk. "Sorry! It slipped out." "That's not the only thing slipping out tonight," Carver said as he sliced open the frog's abdomen and pinned both rubbery flaps to the side showcasing all of its guts. I started to hear nearby snickers and when I looked up found Lulu failing to contain her laughter even with both hands over her mouth. "Carver!" I said through gritted teeth as I hit him with the back of my hand. "Ow! Watch it there Hulk! I have a weapon," he paused and gave me a look. "I'm kidding, I would never hurt you. But I do need my arm for later, if you catch my drift." "I hate you," I said dryly crossing my arms across my chest. "That goes for you too Lulu." "What did I do?" Lulu asked as she spun around in her stool. "You laughed." "I was laughing with you, not at you." I countered her with a stare down. "Okay fine, so I laughed. You would too if you were in my shoes." "It can't be helped. I'm just that funny," Carver said with a smug look. "Oh god," I groaned rolling my eyes and pushing my face into my palm. "Don't push it, Carv." "Carv?" he asked perplexed. "What? You call me Lu all the time. I might as well shorten your name too. Only fair." "I don't know how I feel about that. Sounds weird." "I like it. It sounds cool to me," I chimed in. "You know what, I change my mind. I like it. Carv...has a nice ring to it," he said immediately changing his opinion and nodding his head. "You would like it only after Fang likes it." "I don't know what you're talking about. I've always liked it." "Fang? Do something." "Um...I'm gonna sit this one out. You two can duke it out while I figure out a better way to put on these damn gloves," I said wrestling with yet another pair. "There has to be...a better way...of putting these on! Am I just stupid or something?" Carver and Lulu stopped arguing and just watched me struggle with these gloves. Somehow they found it funny that I was having such a hard time with them that they couldn't stop laughing at me. I stopped struggling and gave in to their infectious laughter. I mean if you think about it, it was pretty funny. Sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself. After laughing for what felt like forever, I decided to forego the gloves and just go in barehanded. I could always wash my hands after and well...my sides ached so hard after that laughing fit I didn't bother trying to put them on again. Carver on the other hand seemed pretty chill all things considered after what he had confessed to me. He never did tag me in but I don't know if he meant for me to notice but I caught him a few times looking back at me smiling while I was busy pinning all of the different organs. It gave me such a warm feeling every time that it was actually difficult to not make it known that I saw him do it each time. "Okay class let's see how you did," Mrs. Scotts said as she got up from her desk and started to walk around the class examining everyone's dissection. As she walked from table to table, she would silently nod. It was her sign of approval. It seemed like everyone was going to get a passing a grade except for when she got to Brock's table. "What in the world? Care to explain yourself, Mr. Hampton?" "What do you mean?" "I think she wants to know why it looks like you tore into it with your bare hands instead of using the knife like everyone else's," his partner said. Her name is Ashley Ambers and she's new this year. I don't know much about her except that she got along with Chloe on day one and they're surprisingly BFFs now. It's weird cause she's the complete opposite compared to her. She has natural sun-kissed skin, a super short, rose gold pixie cut, a button nose, and face full of freckles, and to top it off she's super chill. If she wasn't paired up with Brock right off the bat, I think she probably would have fit in with our group. "Why does that matter? I ripped this little guy open faster than Mr. Perfect over there and everyone else in here." "The point of this lab was to identify and pin each organ and to match each to its function on these pins," she said as she pushed the metal pins with the name of an organ and a short description of its function. "I didn't give the class free reign just to mess around and not do the assignment. I'm truly sorry about this Ms. Ambers. I wish I could have given you a much more competent lab partner like Lulu or Sue over there. And if you want to continue comparing yourself to other people in this class, I suggest you pick someone else. Maybe someone you can actually beat in comparison. I'll see you in detention this Saturday, eight a.m. sharp, Mr. Hampton." "You can't do that! Don't you know who I am?" Brock protested. "I do, and I'll deal with the backlash later," she responded as the bell rang. "And before you go, clean up your mess and while you're at it, all of the other workstations too." "But I'll be late for class!" "Well then, I suggest you work faster and talk less," she said as she walked back to her desk. "Before you all go, I need to make an announcement. I hope you all paid attention to your work because next week there will a hand's on quiz on what you all did today. I expect all of you to pass with flying colors as it will be the exact same lab but without the pins. I will ask you all to identify the organ and you will tell me what each does. Simple enough? Good. Class dismissed." As the rest of us were packing up, I could hear Brock huffing and puffing loudly from the back of class. It's nice to see other people of the faculty, not just my mom and Mr. Lane, stand up against the Hampton name. Didn't think she'd go as far as detention but who am I to judge? I guess Mrs. Scotts is cool. The three of us grabbed our bags and headed out of class. We just barely walked down the hall, maybe a foot away from class when we got stopped. "H-Hey! Wait a second!" Ashley said grabbing Carver's shoulder. "I'm sorry about earlier. I know Brock can be a jerk sometimes." "Sometimes?" Lulu asked staring at her. "Okay, all the time. He's a grade A jerk, top of the class. When people look up the word jerk, his name is written right there in red ink. I hate him, but he's my friend and you guys know the deal with social hierarchy especially when you're the new kid. Friends are hard to come by when there's already established groups." "So what you're saying is that you settled for someone less than your worth?" "Yeah," she sighed. "Well at least Chloe's not too bad." "Oof." "Big oof," Carver and I agreed in unison. "What? Did I say something wrong?" "Let's just say, we're not exactly on her radar. Carv is, but only because she has this very obvious crush, but Fang and I, we're canceled. Wait how did she put it?" Lulu asked. "Blacklisted," I said. "That's the one." "Really? You guys seem really cool and with how much Chloe talks about you guys I figured you were all friends or at least acquaintances, but now that I think about it...they weren't exactly compliments. But in her defense, you guys aren't exactly the most welcoming type, at least not on my first day." "What's that supposed to mean?" Lulu asked crossing her arms. "Sorry, I mean no offense, but you guys are a little...intimidating? The second I walked into class last week, Fang stared me down like I was fresh meat or something." "S-Sorry, I-I have really bad R.B.F. Also I honestly don't remember doing that. Not saying that it didn't happen, but I'm usually really tired from work so I kinda just stare into the abyss so it looks like I'm paying attention, when really, I'm zoning out," I apologized. "I really need to just put my head down from now on. Sorry about that." "Oh that makes sense now. Don't worry about it but um what's an R.BF.?" "Resting bitch face," Lulu said nonchalantly. "This boy is cursed with a face that could kill. Even though he looks mean, he's a cinnamon roll so don't worry too much about it." "H-Hey!" I cried. "Yeah, yeah, I love you, you know that. But anyway, the only person who could penetrate..." Lulu paused as she started to snicker until Carver and I looked at her annoyed and she stopped to regain her composure. "The only person who could...get passed that mean mug that I love so much by the way, is Carv over here. Now they're the cutest, gross couple here in school." "You two are...dating? Like boyfriend and boyfriend?" she asked wagging her finger at us. "Yup, it was love at first sight," Carver proudly proclaimed pulling me closer to him to where my face was smushed up right against his with a huge grin. "And we couldn't happier." "See what I mean when I say gross?" Lulu said eyeing her down. "Huh. This whole time I just thought you guys were just best friends, really close best friends. I guess that explains the constant touching, hand holding, and kissing now." "I don't mean to sound rude but you're not watching us are you?" I asked suspicious and kinda creeped out. "She doesn't need to. You two are definitely at the top of Haven High's PDA list," Lulu added. "Do we really do it that much?" I asked surprised. "News flash, you're doing it right now." "Oh right, we are," I laughed nervously. "Welp, too late to stop now right?" "Right," Carver agreed. "Sorry for bringing that up, I didn't mean anything by it. It's just that Chloe said that Carver was single even though you guys did all that stuff I just talked about. I thought it was weird but I didn't know if it was some weird Midwestern thing. I mean the people here are really nice but the way you two are together seemed a little too nice just to be friends, if that makes sense." "Sounds like someone's up to no good and spreading rumors. Doing what Chloe does best," Lulu said. "Too bad none of it's going to work, I plan on sticking around...if you'll have me," Carver asked. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop asking me that when you know the answer?" "I like hearing it. It makes me happy hearing you say it." "Fine!" I groaned. "I love you, you love me...God I sound like that purple dinosaur. Oh my god, we are gross!" "Well before we go farther down the rabbit hole, do you guys think it'll be alright if we hang out sometime?" "You sure your bestie will approve? Something tells me, she wouldn't like that idea very much," Lulu said. "Well then I guess it'll just be our little secret then." "I like the way you think, Ash. Mind if I call you Ash?" Lulu asked. "Oh please do! That's what my friends back home would call me. I miss it...and them." "Oh that's right, you just moved here. Where are you from?" I asked. "San Diego." "Why'd you come here of all places? There's nothing here compared to California," Carver asked. "Tell me about it. But my parents wanted to move someplace off the radar but still in the states." "Why?" Lulu asked. "Oh! Do you guys have some deep, dark secret that you can't tell anyone? Blink once for yes, and twice for no." "No nothing like that," she laughed. "My parents are in their sixties and they wanted to spend their retirement somewhere secluded, somewhere less hectic from all the hustle and bustle." "Sixties?! Grams is in her sixties. How can you have parents that old?" "Lulu that's a little rude, don't you think? Besides that's not bad. I mean my mom is in her forties," I added. "Fang, your mom is in her thirties, probably mid thirties at best," Carver said. "What? No she has to be in her forties. Are you trying to tell me I don't know how old my own mom is?" "I have to agree with him, Fang. Your mom is really young. How do you not know how old your mom is?" Lulu asked. "I don't know! She doesn't exactly celebrate her birthday so how was I supposed to know? I just guessed forties cause she said she's too old for birthdays. That seemed like a good range at the time, but obviously not." "Ashley? Ashley!" an irritatingly, loud voice echoed down the hall. "Let's go!" "Sorry guys, I have to go. I guess I'll see you around?" Ashley asked right before she power walked over to Chloe's side. "What were you doing talking to those...things?" Chloe snobbishly asked. "Oh I was just—it's nothing, don't worry about it. So how was your day?" Ashley asked as they walked away. "What a sweet girl. I'm going to love corrupting her," Lulu said nodding to herself. "So I meant to ask this earlier, but happened?" "Huh?" Carver asked oblivious. "You know when you freaked out in class. What's up? I feel like I'm out of the loop again." "U-Um, w-w-well I-I—," Carver stammered as he was looking at me for help. "He just got sick. He got one really bad whiff of it and he was about to puke," I chimed in. "Oh. That's it? Well that sucks. At least we didn't have to do cut open a fetal pig. I heard that's what they use in AP Bio and I also heard that the smell just sticks to you like glue. I've heard that even a shower won't help. I don't think I'd be eating pork for a long time after that." Lulu started walking ahead of us as she had to get to the AP hall so Carver slowed down his pace causing me to slow down too. "Thanks for the save again," he whispered. "I don't think I'll be able to share something like that to anyone but you." "Don't mention it. Honestly, I feel like I owe you for telling Lulu we had sex last week. At least now I know that there are some things that even best friends shouldn't know. The boyfriend card does exist, I get it now. Our sex life is private and anything you tell me one on one is also private." "Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me," Carver said pulling me into a bear hug. "I love you so much!" "Hey guys! What the hell? Catch up!" Lulu yelled from the other side of the hallway. "I love you too, now please put me down," I wheezed as my feet dangled off the ground. "Sorry, I got a little excited. We should go," he laughed as he let go. "Good morning everyone, this is Principal Weathers speaking. I would like everyone to report to the gymnasium right away. I have very important news to share with you all. Good day!" he said through the school's intercom system. "Ugh! Another assembly? Didn't we just have one the other day?" Lulu whined. "Wasn't that a fire drill?" I asked as we finally caught up. "It was, but remember how we had an assembly at the end of the day just so Weathers could showboat cause he was able to get the city's firefighters to come last minute and they spoke to us about fire safety?" Carver added. "Oh yeah, well at least we don't have to go to history now." "We have a quiz today, babe." "Not anymore we don't!" "I just want to go to class and learn something!" Lulu cried. "And on the other side of the spectrum, we have this nerd," I said. "What? I can't like school?" "You're the only one who likes going to school. I think you're the only one who wants to be here." "I mean most of the people here suck but I like learning new things. Plus my two best friends are here." "Aren't you forgetting someone?" Carver asked. "Who?" Lulu asked. "Uh...Yuki?" "Dante?" I added. "Oh yeah, they're cool." Carver pulled aside again turning our backs to Lulu. "Did she just, you know, forget about her girlfriend?" he asked. "Yeah...but I think they're going through some things because I tried asking her about it like last week and she dodged the question." "Are they even dating then?" "Uh...maybe? I don't know. She seems very private about her private life." "She's your best friend. What happened to the best friend card? Does that only apply when she uses it?" "Didn't you hear what she said earlier? You're as much her best friend as I am so why don't you ask her then?" "I don't know, maybe if you got sick or something. I'm the second in command best friend." "You stop it." "Hey guys, what are you two talking about over there?" Lulu asked. "Uh...what were we talking about babe?" Carver asked looking at me. Ugh why is it always me who has to save the day. "Um," I said as my mind was drawing a blank. Jabbing my elbow into his side, I widened my eyes at him. Maybe he'll get the hint and say something this time. "Uh boy stuff. Yeah we were talking about gay boy stuff, gay bi boy stuff." "Okay...you guys are weird. Well let's get this crap over with then shall we?" Lulu said leading the way. "Gay bi boy stuff?" I whispered to Carver. "What even is that?" "I panicked. I can't think on the spot." "Yeah, now you know how I feel." "And I appreciate you every single time." "Ugh," I groaned rolling my eyes. The three of us continued our walk to the gymnasium and when we got there everyone was crammed right up by the doors. Something tells me this was a last minute thing that Principal Weathers decided to pull out of his ass today because even the teachers were gossiping among themselves. Lulu snuck around the crowd to try to find out what was going on and when she came back she looked positively beaming. "Something tells me I'm not gonna like what I'm about to hear but go ahead," I said. "I actually couldn't get anything worthwhile." "Then why do you look so...excited?" Carver asked. "Oh that. The vending machines are finally stocked up again so I grabbed us some snacks since it looks like we're going to be here a while. I got all of our favorite things, fruit snacks for Fang, a honey bun for Carv, and for me, a brown sugar pop tart," she said handing us our snacks. "I can still taste the chemicals from lab. I need something sugary to take over. Want some?" Carver asked as he unwrapped the clear plastic bag. Like always, the insides were glistening and sticky to the touch from the glazed bun. "Uh maybe later?" I said. I remember last year when we shared our snacks with each other. Fruit snacks and honey buns do not mix and should never be mixed. I know it all ends up in the same place but I can't. "Okay, I'll save you some," he said smiling at me with his eyes closed as he started to gnaw on it. As we all started devouring our snacks, the masses started to dwindle as the floodgates finally opened and we were all able to walk into the gymnasium. It took maybe five minutes for the whole school to file in onto the pulled out metal bleachers. As always, we found our places at the top of the bleachers all the way at the end to the right so we had the wall behind us and the raised up railing on the right to lean onto. "Here babe, I saved you half," Carver said as he stuffed his neatly rolled up honey bun into my beat up messenger bag. "So what do you guys think this is going to be about? Another hunt?" "Crap I didn't even think of that! It better not be. As much as I would like more money, I don't think I can handle another hunt," I whined. I think I've reached my cap on paranormal activity plus they still haven't made any repairs at the Haven house. The wrath of old man Z still runs deep in this town and even though I'm pretty sure that place is no longer inhabited, I think a lot of people in this town just don't want to deal with it. Who can blame them? If they saw what I saw, they'd probably leave that place alone forever. No point in leaving caution tape lying around. "I second that. Plus why would they have a hunt now? They're a little late on a New Year's hunt. Wait could you imagine if Weathers instituted a yearly hunt? Wouldn't that be wild?" Lulu asked. "Please don't jinx it," I said internally screaming. "I doubt it's another hunt but you never know, he could be announcing something along those lines. Besides working with those two idiots, it was pretty fun." "I don't know if you remember it or not but I don't think we had the same experience." "Well if it's another one, we're not splitting up. I'm not letting you out of my sight, not for anything or anyone," Carver said holding my hand. He then scooted closer to me and whispered, "I still feel like shit for letting myself get paired up with her and leaving you with him. I promise I won't let him get close to you ever again." "Carver, it's not your fault. Besides, it worked itself out in the end. So you can stop blaming yourself, I definitely don't hold a grudge towards you or anything like that." "Yeah but—." "No buts, let's just move forward, okay?" "Okay." "Are you guys talking more about that gay bi boy stuff again?" Lulu asked barging into our conversation. "Hundred percent," Carver answered with a smile. Carver turned to me again and kissed me on the cheek while still holding my hand. "Well cut it out. I think Weathers is going to announce something," Lulu said listening intently. Never in a million years did I think she'd want to listen to this guy of all people. I, on the other hand, rolled my eyes and sighed. Principal Weathers was wearing the same old, ratty brown suit he wore during the hunt's announcement. Honestly everything was the exact same, from his white button up shirt, to his old, beat up dress shoes. If there's anyone who's in desperate need of a fairy godmother, it's him. "Good morning everyone! I hope everyone had a nice holiday break, I know I did," he said super chipper. He pulled his suit jacket with both of his fists and as he said that I'm pretty sure I heard a tear through the mic. "Anyway, I'm sure all of you would like to get back to class so I'm going to make this short and sweet. Next month we will be hosting our first ever science fair. Participation is optional but I hope you all decide to enter because we will be having a magnificent prize for the person who's awarded first prize." "Oh no," I mumbled. I reluctantly looked over at Lulu and I instantly regretted it. She was wide eyed and smiling from ear to ear. She could barely hold her excitement as she kept tapping her feet. "First prize is a summer internship at Chambers Secur—." "Oh...my...God!" Lulu screamed. The way she was reacting you'd think there was a game going on right before our eyes. I was experiencing really bad secondhand embarrassment. "We have to do enter! No excuses because my name is written all over that." "Oh fuck me," I whined shoving my face into the honeycomb-like railing. "What's wrong?" Carver asked. Weathers continued talking about the science fair and Lulu kept losing her shit over all of it that I had to tune it all out. The whole time though Carver kept exchanging looks between me, Weathers, and Lulu. He was really confused as to why I was so bummed out about the news especially since it was deemed optional. He kept trying to get my attention but I just shut down. I really just don't have good experiences with science fairs. The last one was when we were in middle school and Lulu's project accidentally set my hair on fire. It's not exactly a memory I would like to repeat but I fear it's going to happen again. I don't think I can go another round of being called an egghead or caveman or whatever it is they called me. If anything I hope they'll be more creative this time around and less on the nose. After the announcement, the whole school was released to go back to class. Lulu was so giddy about the whole thing that she just couldn't stop showing it to everyone who passed by. She was relentlessly celebrating as we all lined up to head back to class. Thankfully, she had to go back to the AP hall and Carver and I had to go back to history in the other direction. For a split second, I saw Lulu dancing in celebration as she disappeared into the hallway while I kept my head down disappointed with the news. "Fang, what's wrong? You've been weird ever since the assembly," Carver asked concerned as we walked back into our class and sat into our desks. "I hate science fairs with a fiery, burning passion," I complained. "Why? I've never been or done one but they seem fun." "Well you know how Lulu's the nerd of the group? Well she goes all out. I don't remember if I told you or not but the last time we had one, her experiment went horribly wrong somehow and I lost all of my hair. I looked...ridiculously horrendous. I fear I'm going to relive that nightmare." "You're probably just exaggerating. How in the world did you go bald from a childhood science experiment?" "Carver you weren't there! My eyebrows were singed off. It took months for my hair to regrow. Since then, we haven't had a science fair. I like to believe that we're the reason why none of the schools here in Haven haven't done a science fair since that horrible event and I'd like to keep it that way." "What exactly happened? What did she make? I'm curious." "You know those light up sneakers every kid has growing up?" "Yeah I loved mine, but what does that have to do with anything?" "Well Lulu thought it'd be a cool, fun idea to take that concept and use it for your hair. She invented this visor like contraption that you'd put right up against your hairline and by using a combination of light projection and some kind of special aerosol, it would give off the illusion that your hair was different colors without the need of dying it. And it was cool when it worked but the day of the fair, it rained, in fact it was pouring. We never tested it in wet conditions but we figured it'd be fine. Nope, the three of us—." "Three? Who's the other person? Dante?" "Oh yeah, we had another person in our team. We did past science fairs as the three of us and everything worked out without any hiccups. I'm probably misremembering it then because we never had any problems when it was the three of us so it had to have been when it was just me and Lulu. Don't worry about the other person, they're not important to the memory. Um where was I? Right so her invention got wet while I was showcasing it's capabilities. There was a spark and whoosh just like that my head was on fire. I looked like Heatblast from Ben Ten. So long were the colors of the rainbow and only red, orange, and yellow were dancing about on my head. I didn't realize it at first, I guess you could say that I was stunned by the oo's and ah's that I didn't realize that I was actually on fire. It wasn't until my mom pulled out a fire extinguisher on me. And yeah, that was what happened." "Holy shit that sounds...traumatic to the say the least." "Tell me about it," I said slinking back into my desk and burrowing my head into my arms. "Well how can I be of help so something like that doesn't happen again? Maybe I can replace that mysterious third person? What exactly were the roles of the team?" Sighing, I turned back to him and explained, "Lulu is the concept creator and figures out how things work, I'm the guinea pig, and our third person, who's no longer with us, was the engineer. They built everything. I think that's what went wrong with us. We didn't have a builder anymore so it was up to us. Lulu's smart and everything but she's not good with her hands, she's better with chemicals than she is with wires. And I was no help because I'm of average intelligence. We basically winged everything. I guess we were lucky that we actually got it to work in normal conditions." "Well you know from first hand experience that I'm pretty good with my hands," he winked. "But in all seriousness, I think I'm pretty good at building things and doing repairs. I don't know who this third person was so I don't know how my skills measure up but I'm confident that I'll be a better person for the team and I'm willing to try and help if you want me to. I'll make sure whatever we decided to do, you won't get hurt." "So what you're saying is that you want to do it too?" "Realistically, do you think you can get out of it?" "Hah, no!" I scoffed. "But if you're on the team, then I guess I won't be worried as much. Do you think you'll be able to do your knightly duties and protect me at all costs?" "Sounds like a challenge. Count me in!"