The Alchemy Project

3

August

There's a reason why I've never actually tried to make myself known in high school. A perfectly good reason at that. If I really wanted to, I could be a popular cheerleader with over fifty friends and a hot boyfriend. But I don't want that. It's not me. Well, a hot boyfriend would be great, but the rest of it is a big no-no.

Why?

I could never deal with being around too many people for too long. I'm not sure if it makes sense to say this but I need to reserve energy for at least two weeks before I can use it on going out to a party or something. I have to physically force myself to leave the house sometimes and that's just how it is.

Associating myself with the popular kids is not what I want.

So, please explain to me why I've ended up in the library surrounded by Noah and his three best friends.

What did I do to deserve this?

I always spend my lunch break in the library with a small snack and a book for company, but here I am today with four boys making a hell of a lot of noise and throwing crumpled paper at one another as they eat.

"Hey, Little V, want some?" Blake holds out a large pack of sharing candy.

I shake my head with a small smile and shrink down further in my seat.

"So, why are we in the nerd room?" Blake asks.

"It's a library." I frown.

"What did I say?" He pops a piece of chocolate into his mouth.

I roll my eyes with a smile, "Well I'm here because I want to be."

"Noah said something about a project...?" Dwaine pipes up.

I nod slowly, "Yeah, it's some project that makes up our overall grade for the year if we do it right."

"Oh, speaking of, do you have any ideas yet?" Noah asks.

I nod and scribble down a few more notes into my chemistry notepad, "Tonnes."

"So—"

"What the hell are you doing here with her?"

I groan and drop my head back against the backrest of the chair at the sound of Bethany's voice.

"Oh, hey babe." Noah smiles up at her.

Her lips pull into a snarl and she gestures at me angrily.

"She's my chemistry partner." Noah responds.

"She has a name." I mutter.

Blake smothers a laugh beside me.

"Ugly name, not worth remembering." Bethany smiles.

She prances over to drop herself down into Noah's lap and wraps her arms around his neck protectively.

"Vela Kaira is a beautiful name, actually."

A pair of arms sling over my shoulders and I look upwards to see the face of my best friend Sarah. Her piercing green eyes are glaring over at Bethany and her long dirty blonde hair is tumbling down into my face.