Perspective

Reese's Perspective

Reese’s P.O.V

          I rolled my eyes as Mr. Martin droned on and on about hydrocarbon combustions or whatever. When is that information ever going to be useful in real life? When will I, when I’m rich and famous, need to know the proper way to show a covalent bond between two oxygen molecules? Never.

          I sighed and looked out the window, allowing my mind to wander to more important things. Like how many carbohydrates I had consumed during lunch, and the interesting way Jamie had been staring at me. I mean, he was cute, well-dressed and incredibly nice, but he just didn’t compare to Cameron. He made a great distraction, and it was fun for me to believe we had some sort of love-at-first-sight connection. I wasn’t sure if we did. When he’d walked into the room, I’d thought he was super fine, and that I immediately needed to call dibs on him, just in case. Judging by the way Peyton had been eyeing him up, it was a good call.

          It had been pretty annoying that he’d left with Cora, but I’m sure she put in a good word for me. It also benefited me though, that Cora had left, because that left me alone with Cameron. Well, not alone, exactly, but close enough. I looked over at him. He was sitting next to Henry, who was staring at me, I realized. I smiled at him, and Henry turned away, seeming embarrassed.

          Cameron wasn’t staring at me, though, he was watching Mr. Martin as he lectured and was writing down whatever was on the board. That made me do a double take because I wasn’t writing down a thing. I quickly pulled out my favourite purple-ink pen and a piece of paper, but it was too late. Mr. Martin started erasing everything and I gave him the biggest dirty look I could muster.

 “Okay, everybody get your lab partner and head to a lab bench. You’ll be testing for acids and bases, so grab some litmus paper, phenolphthalein solution and red cabbage leaves to test with. The actual substances you will be testing are coffee, lemon juice, hydrogen chloride, potassium hydroxide, Pepsi and window cleaner. They can all be found at the back of the room. Make sure to record all your observations on a table which should be handed in at the end of class.” Mr. Martin’s mustached face smiled as though had just given us a great present. “Begin.”

I groaned. Not only did I not have a clue what was going on, but this meant I got to spend the final forty-five minutes of class with my horrible lab partner, Kieran Glover.

“Hey there,” His slightly yellow teeth grinned at me as I approached. I scowled in disgust, not bothering to reply.

“I’ll go get the stuff, but next time it’s definitely your turn.” Kieran said as he headed to the back of the class to get the lemon juice and whatnot. Kieran wasn’t like most druggies who hang out at the back exit of the school during lunch. Most of those boys would just ignore me, accepting I wasn’t a part of their group and that I was a part of something much more preppy and fashionable. But Kieran thought that we were somehow equals, which was both endearing and disgusting at the exact same time.

He came back with a spot plate full of little bits of different coloured liquids, and then disappeared again. I took the time while he was gone to turn to Cameron, who was at the lab bench behind me texting while his partner, Susie Hill, did all the work.

“Have fun at lunch?” I asked him, with a smile on my face. I prayed that the Benefit silky finish mocha sorbet lipstick I had got on my last trip to the city was doing its job.

He smiled back. “It was good, sucks that Cora had to leave so early though.”

I tried to be sincere as I replied. “Oh yeah, definitely. And that she took Jamie with her.” I hoped that would make him some sort of jealous, that I was interested in someone else.

Cameron did look jealous, but not because of me. “Yeah, I could have gone with her, he didn’t really have to.” He muttered.

“Um, yeah. He’s super cute though,” I went on, continuing with my jealousy tactic. “Do you think you could put in a good word for me?”

Cameron paused for a moment, jade green eyes lost in thought. Then, he suddenly smiled. “Of course! That’s actually a really good idea.”

I gave him a puzzled look. Why was he so enthusiastic about this? He was supposed to be begging me to love him instead. He was supposed to be telling me how he had always loved me from the start. This was not how it was supposed to go at all. I frowned, knowing my on-the-spot plan had backfired.

Kieran approached the lab bench carrying beakers and test tubes, so I turned back to him.

“What exactly is going on?” I said, running a hand through my hair.

“We’re testing for acids and bases. It’s really pretty simple. Kind of surprised you don’t understand, considering it’s probably the easiest lab ever.” Kieran smirked at me, his dark brown eyes full of smugness.

“Right, Kieran. Don’t act like you’re so smart, I know you’re high right now.” I folded my arms over my chest as I spoke.

“That may be, partner. However, I am high with a seventy-five in this class. And what do you have?” He asked as he stuck a small piece of cabbage into a clear liquid.

“That’s private info. Sorry.” I said haughtily, leaning on the lab bench with my chin in my hands. No need to let Kieran know I wasn’t passing.

“Yeah, I figured you were failing since you never help me with a single lab.”

“I do so. When we did the frog dissection, I got you that extra pair of gloves.” I pointed out; even though I had a feeling he wouldn’t count that.

“Oh yeah,” Kieran smiled at me. “That was really impressive when you did that. Why are you failing this class? That right there should have earned you a hundred percent.”

          I rolled my eyes. “No need to be sarcastic.”

“No, more than that; a hundred and ten percent. It should have a set a new world record.”

“That’s enough, Kieran.” I huffed.

“Sorry, it just really amazed me.” He grinned. I realized it was kind of cute when his eyes crinkled like that. At least he had one thing going for him. His outfit sure wasn’t helping much.

“You know,” I told him. “You would look really good in an emerald green polo. Or a deep blue long sleeve. Go shop at Abercrombie or something.”

He laughed at this, almost spilling the liquid in the beaker. It looked like Pepsi. “I think if I walked into Abercrombie, I would get kicked out.”

“Not if I went with you. I’m like a God there.” I smiled playfully.

“And I think that if I wore Abercrombie, my friends would beat me up.”

“So? Who cares?”

“Well, me, for one.”

“Your friends are all huge druggies anyway,” I scoffed. “You’re better off without them.”

“They’re my friends for a reason, Reese.” Kieran smiled softly, light from the windows revealing golden tones in his auburn hair. “Because they accept me.”

“I accept you.” I lied.

“I doubt that, considering you’re the one telling me to change who I am.”

I shrugged, and then went silent. I was surprised at myself for even bothering to have some sort of a conversation with Kieran, and to have it be mildly interesting. I watched him as he worked, and took the liberty of writing down everything he told me to into our observation table. For a high person, he was pretty smart.

At the end of class, Mr. Martin said that we had to have a diagram of the pH scale on his desk first thing tomorrow. That didn’t work for me because I didn’t even know what a pH was.

I followed Cameron out of the class and went with him to his locker, claiming to be waiting for Cora, since they always meet up between classes. However, Cora never showed up, and I got Cameron all to myself. This made me happy because who the heck cares if you know what a pH is when you’ve got a hot boy by your side?

Exactly, no one.