(✔) 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙗𝙤𝙮 ↳ (𝔃.𝓭.𝓱)

eight !

( ⚠️: strong language!)

     Everly breathed a sigh of relief she didn't know she had been holding in as she stepped out of the house, quietly locking the front door behind her. Finally, she was out of the house, and not just because of the exception of school.

Her reason wasn't much better. Today, she would be meeting up with Zach Herron for their stupid science project. She dusted off her jeans and sweatshirt, huffing in irritation.

They had agreed on meeting up at his house. It wasn't difficult at all to convince Zach. He was too lazy to leave his room anyway, and Everly absolutely was not keen on spending the time at her house especially with her crazy dad and all.

She managed to take the subway going in the direction of Zach's house. It was only a few stops away, which Everly was dismayed about. She wanted to put some distance between her and that boy, and also was dreading the time when she would have to show up at his door.

That time came anyway, and before Everly knew it, she was ringing the doorbell to his house. Dread settled over her as she stood outside on the front steps, waiting. She could hear muffled hurried footsteps and loud voices from inside the house.

     Suddenly, the door swung open and there stood a middle-aged woman with straight dark hair. Her face was taut with tension and she looked irritable before she saw Everly. She broke into a welcoming smile. "Good afternoon. May I help you? " She greeted.

     Zach didn't even tell his mom I was coming, Everly thought, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Instead, she plastered a polite smile on her face.

      "Oh, hello. My name is Everly Wilson. I'm your son's partner for a school project and I was supposed to come over to start on it," She explained.

     The lady's smile only got wider. "Oh, he didn't tell me he was gonna have friends over. Come on in," She said cheerfully, opening the door wider. Everly steps inside and Zach's mom shuts the door behind the both of them. "I'm Zach's mom, Myta." She tells Everly as she leads the way further into the house.

     As they walk into the house, Everly couldn't help staring interestedly around. Her own house was a cramped two bedroom apartment, and it had been a while since she'd ever seen a big house.

     The house was warm and the aroma of freshly baked cookies was wafting in from the kitchen. Music was blasting from the radio in the corner, and there were sounds of laughter and talking coming from the living room. Everly felt a tinge of sadness. This must be nice, to be living in a house that wasn't either awfully quiet all the time, or filled with angry screaming and shouting. A house that actually seemed like a home.

     "Zachary! You have a friend over!" Myta trills as she entered the living room. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, was Zach. He was sitting beside a younger girl, who looked about seven or eight, who was playing with some building blocks.

     Zach's smile vanished as he looked up to see his mom and Everly standing in the doorway of the living room. Zach rolled his eyes, scowling. "You have a friend over," Myta said too sweetly, teeth gritted.

     Zach sighed in defeat. "Hi, Everly." He said shortly. He turned back to face the little girl, who had paid no attention to the disturbance, and continued playing with her blocks.

     Zach grinned and tickled her sides. The girl burst into giggles, dropping her blocks to the ground. "I'll be right back, okay, Reese? I have to go do something," he told the little girl. She nodded, still red in the face and laughing loudly.

     Everly stared in surprise. Of all people, Zach Herron was good with kids? Woah. "Zachary..." Myta said in a warning tone. Zach stopped chuckling and he stood up, letting go of his sister. He dragged his feet to the doorway, where Everly was standing. "Let's go," He told her glumly.

     Behind them, they could hear Myta calling gently out to Reese, trying to get her to stop playing for a while.

     Zach basically stomped up to his bedroom, a sullen expression on his face. Everly grew more and more irritated. She didn't want to be partnered with him either, but she wasn't openly acting like a brat.

     They went into his bedroom, Zach slamming the door loudly behind him. Everly watched in silence as Zach fell onto his bed, kicking his feet up on the mattress as he glared impatiently at Everly.

     When the girl didn't say or do anything, Zach's frown got even deeper. "So? What do we do then?" He asked snappily. Everly's blood boiled as she sat down on a chair by his bed, but she didn't say anything.

     She pulled out a notebook from her bag. "So I thought maybe we could go with the plant system. I was doing some research and I thought we could do either an experiment on how nitrogen fertilisers affect plants, or capillary action of water in plants," Everly said briskly.

     Zach stared blankly at her for a few seconds before saying, "I literally don't want to do any of those."

     "Well, do you have any ideas?"

     Zach shrugged, fiddling with a loose string on his shirt.

     "Well, I have a couple of other ideas. We can do an experiment on pigments in leaves or gravitropism." Everly continued.

     Zach didn't even respond. He didn't shake or nod his head, he didn't even shrug. He just sat there, very still. His face was cold and unreadable.

     Everly's heart was beating faster and she clenched her jaw. Her patience was running very thin. Was this boy just not going to cooperate?

     She bit the inside of her cheek. "Okay, um, would you prefer to do the human body instead?" She tried to sound nice, but there was an edge in her voice.

     No response from Zach.

     Everly sighed in exasperation. "Look, Herron. I know you don't want to be partnered with me, and neither do I. But we have no other choice. Let's just do the work properly, and that's it. We have to try and get along for this."

     Zach's head snapped upwards, and his eyes were narrowed, his lip curled. "Look, Wilson." He mimicked, his voice sharp. "Don't tell me what to fucking do, bitch." He was standing now.

     Everly's mouth was agape, looking indignant. "I was jus-"

     Zach cut her off before she could get the rest of her sentence out. "Because last time I checked, you're just a fucking know-it-all bitch, who thinks she can meddle with other people's business because she's better than everyone else, who thinks someone actually cares about her opinion. Well, wake up, because no one does! No one gives a shit about you and anything you say!" He shouted. His face was as red as a tomato, and there was a fury burning strong in his eyes.

     To Everly's horror, her throat began to close up, and her eyes welled with hot tears. Why the hell are you crying, Everly? You don't cry, and you won't cry, not in front of him.

     She stood up so quickly, the chair went scooting back a few inches. "That's what I am, isn't it? Well, you can do the project by yourself then!" She retorted.

     Zach gave her a withering look. "Nice try, but Ms. Ramirez said we can't switch partners."

     Everly smiled humourlessly. "But she didn't say we couldn't work alone, did she?" She said bitterly.

     "Wait-"

     Everly glared at Zach so ferociously that he fell silent. "Don't talk to me!" Tears threatened to spill out from her eyes. Her voice was about to break. "We aren't partners anymore. And trust me, you don't wanna talk to a know-it-all bitch like me." She said coldly, and with that, she spun on her heel and stalked away.

     Zach fell back silently on his bed, his anger suddenly draining away. What had he done?