Vanilla And Cocoa

Chapter 26 "Tailspin"

TW: Attempted Suicide, Attempted Overdose

I'm so sorry.

-

Justin didn't show up to school the next day.

I was nervous but I had to get what I had to done.

Including presenting my project with Ashley Larough.

We set down our pretty looking plants on Ms. Jester's desk before making eye contact for a moment, nodding.

We might hate each other's guts but we had one similar thought.

We were not going to fail this class.

That's why we kind of cheated.

We smiled prettily for the class and got to work. "Our project was exceptionally hard in the beginning because of personal reasons but, in order for us to get this done, we needed to set that aside," I began.

It was mostly true but we hardly did any work.

Ashley began her explanation of how the plants were placed under different conditions and grew differently.

The most work we did was having to find different sized placed that looked a reasonable size. Ms. Jester wasn't going to look that deeply into this god-damned project.

"...and Plant D grew a total of 13 centimeters in it's condition of more moonlight than sunlight."

And maybe a little of persuading flower shop owners.

I cleared my throat. "In conclusion, our plants did not grow well with a considerable amount of moonlight in comparison to sunlight."

Ms. Jester examined the plants and hummed. "Good work, ladies."

Ashley and I exchanged a victory nod and headed back our seats. "But I must ask..."

I looked up and saw Ms. Jester frowning. "Why is there a sticker on the bottom that says, "Property of Blooming Domain?""

I ignored Ashley's panicked glance and smirked. "That's because it is."

There were snickers and whispers around the classroom. Ms. Jester raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"The Blooming Domain sells plant pots. I mean, if you wanted us to make our own, you should have said so. Is that a problem?" I asked, tiling my head.

Ms. Jester grimaced and placed the plant back down. "I suppose it's okay."

"Great, so, what about that A plus?"

"Don't push it, Ms. Vasten. I can still take points off for pissing me off."

Sounds like abuse of power to me.

She clicked her tongue and moved onto them next group. I heard a whisper of my name and I looked around confused.

I heard it again more urgently and looked behind me, spotting Zay with a impatient expression on his face. He pointed down to his phone and then pointed to me.

Check my phone?

I cautiously pulled it out of my pocket and saw that I had numerous messages.

The first I saw was Drew's.

Drewtf

Did you get a cryptic ass message from Justin or was it just me?

Next was Zay.

Playboi

Check your phone!!! I think something weird in going on!

And, finally, Justin's.