Before You Go (Book 1, the Before series)

Chapter 4 | Bananas and Biology

OKAY, NOW IT WAS OFFICIAL. My life sucked.

It all started on a perfectly ordinary day, weeks after the car breaking down, weeks after stressing over pop quizzes in Math and Chemistry when somehow, Mendoza Mycell—the girl whose locker Charlotte filled with sand—accidentally set fire to the Chemistry lab.

We were doing an experiment I didn't really understand, with Mendoza as my partner. I was noting down what we were doing, and the next second when I looked up, steam was pouring out of the beaker and suddenly I was pulling Mendoza down to the ground one second before the entire thing exploded, causing shards of glass to fly across the lab, and fire catching onto papers.

The smoke was so thick that they had to evacuate the entire school and wait for the fire department and ambulance.

The chemistry teacher, Mr Potter, shot Mendoza and me a sharp look as he went to talk to the principal, no doubt to tell him who had almost burned down the school.

I stood off to the side awkwardly while everyone tapped away at their phones.

"Thanks," Mendoza said to me quietly.

I frowned. "What for?"

"Saving me back there."

"Oh," I nodded, "your welcome."

There was silence for a while other than the blaring of the sirens until...

"Do you want to eat lunch sometime?" I asked a little hesitantly. I had never been good at making friends.

Mendoza smiled in a way that lit up her entire face. "As long as we don't blow up the cafeteria."

I grinned. She was going to be an amazing friend.

==== ☠ ====

"No way, vampire diaries is way better."

Mendoza snorted. "Is it? Elena cries too much, and I don't even get the Stefan-Caroline thing."

Isaac thought it over. "Maybe, but Damon is hot."

"Okay, you're right about that."

I chewed my nuggets silently, amusedly watching Mendoza and Isaac fight over literally everything. I had introduced them not too long ago, and I found out some pretty interesting things.

"So," I drawled, "You watch the vampire diaries, Isaac?"

He turned red.

"And to think of all the marathons we could have done together!" I continued.

Mendoza failed to hide a snigger as Isaac looked suddenly relieved. The nerve of my brother! It was hard to find a guy who even watched a single episode of tvd, and here he was, a mega-fan, and he didn't even tell me.

I shook my head, faking displeasure. "I am so disappointed in you, brother dearest."

Isaac rolled his eyes. "I think this would be a bad time to mention that I marathoned Grey's Anatomy too?"

Mendoza and I exchanged a look before we pelted him with lettuce.

==== ☠ ====

I was sitting in Biology, doodling in the margins of my notebook when something hard hit my leg.

Whipping around, I tried to figure out who just kicked me. I narrowed my eyes at Charlotte, who was sitting right next to me.

Rolling my eyes, I continued to draw what looked like...a banana? She kicked me again, making my hand jerk and a line of blue to cross down my page. Gritting my teeth, I moved my chair as far away as I possibly could within the small desk.