The Ashes Of River

❥ 14| monsters

IT WAS IRONIC that in a class where we learnt about nothing but living organisms, all I wanted to do was make a corpse of the boy next to me.

It was another day at Blackstone and we were repeating yet another practical in Biology, because it had been "one of the worst performed practicals" in Ms Levni's fifteen years of teaching.

Though I loved the subject, she was slowly making me dread her lessons because I had to spend ninety minutes of almost every day sitting next to the cold, miserable boy I called the bane of my existence.

"Are you just going to sit there, glaring at the wall for the rest of the lesson?" I prodded at River. "Look, we both don't like the fact that we've been paired up. But it's been done and there's nothing we can do to change it, so get over it. Stop being an asshole and do your end of the work."

He cocked a brow. "And pray tell, what extra load of work have I made you do? Quit acting like you've been wronged when I've done more than you, Jalal."

"I don't know why I tried being mature with you when you wouldn't know what that was even if it hit you in the face."

"I'm not sitting here just to hear you complain and tell me what to do."

I bit the inside of my cheek. "Fine. I'll get the equipment. You do whatever the hell you please."

I expected him to just sit and watch as I carried everything over, but he was hot on my heels as I walked up to the equipment station.

"I said that I would get the equipment," I repeated. "Doesn't His Highness have something better to do, other than follow people around?"

"Quit that tone. It's irritating as fuck." He grabbed a Bunsen burner. "And the last time I checked, you only had two arms. So unless you suddenly grew more, we don't have the time for you to take countless trips back and forth."

I ignored him, getting half of the equipment from the list and deposited it back at our table. When he returned, I couldn't help but watch as he took his blazer off and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt to reveal tanned, veiny forearms before he wiped down the surface with an antibacterial wipe. I cleared my throat and glanced away, fiddling with the hair bands on my wrist.

"Tie your hair up," he ordered without glancing up. "It's a hazard."

"I was just about to," I gritted out.

"If you're as smart as you say you are, you wouldn't have waited this long to prevent what could have been a serious danger."

"We haven't even started the practical yet," I said slowly. "Maybe if you hadn't spent the last five minutes doing nothing and had gotten up to fetch the Bunsen burner, then maybe I would have recognised the hazard in front of me and tied my hair up."

"Well, I'm not the one doing nothing anymore," he retorted, giving me a pointed look. "Make yourself useful and crush the garlic and mint. Separately."