Working Boy [Revamped]

Plans

Chase's alarm goes off at 6am, an indicator that it was time for him to get up and get ready for the day. As he heads to the bathroom and brushes his teeth, he realizes that Antwon isn't in the kitchen as usual. He can hear slight shifts of movement from his room, so he knows he's up. From the energy he was getting, he could tell Antwon wasn't in the mood to interact. This was always an issue after a situation involving his mother. Given that she and his uncle were close, he could understand why he'd take issue.

No matter, he had things to do and he'd catch up with his Uncle later. After getting dressed, he goes up to his door and lightly knocks.

"Hey Unc, I'm heading out. I'll see you later."

After waiting for a response he never got, he pulls on his jacket, grabs his keys and bag and heads out the door.

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It's biology class in which they spend their last half of the class working on part of the science experiment for the fair. Today was the day they were to bring in what research material they had so they could be graded.

"Chase Machaelle. Samuel Champion. Please bring your research material to me," the science teacher, Mr. Barns announces.

The boys exchange glances before heading up there, folders and binders in tow. They plop their materials on the teacher's desk, Mr. Barns making short work of reading through it.

"Machaelle, good work as usual. Very thorough, good references," he nods at the Trini. He turns to the blonde.

"And which ones did you contribute to?"

"Uh, the ones in my binder?" Samuel shakes it for emphasis. "I even typed them out this time so it's easier to read."

The old, greying man readjusts his glasses. "Mm, I'm assuming you had help?"

"Well yeah, he's my partner. He's good at knowing where to go look for this stuff."

"You aren't just using someone to carry you through my class again, are you? Just wanna make sure-"

"No, I'm not using anyone to carry me through class. These are my notes that I took down," his voice rises.

"No Mr. Barns," Chase puts a reassuring hand on Samuel's shoulder. "He's not using me. He took down his own information and we gathered and compared them to make sure everything's accurate."

The man eyes him for a bit before relenting. "Alright, I'll take your word for it," he sighs. "98. Go take your seats."

"Thank you, Mr. Barn" Chase thanks, nudging his grumbling blonde companion back to his seat.

After a few minutes of sitting in silence, Chase turns to speak to the other.

"You ever feel some type of way everytime this happens?"

"No shit. It's annoying."

"To be fair, you're not exactly subtle with your disdain for me. I don't blame Barns for feeling the way he does."

"Okay but did I fucking ask?"

"All I'm saying is you may wanna lay off of me or whoever else you like to pick on to do favors. It's your senior year, Sam."

"I'm already doing you a favor inviting you to a fucking party, don't push your luck."

"Mm, okay," he looks him up and down before slouching in his chair, checking his phone underneath the desk. Samuel eyes his phone, then looks back up, staring ahead.