♛

I have made a fair amount of bad choices and ended up regretting most of them. Bad choices come with punishments, in which the punishments work as the payment for your wrong decision made.

My wrong decision was choosing to take AP chemistry, aside from the fact that we had to attend two practical lessons a week, I actually had no problem with the subject.

What's bothering me was the punishment I had to pay for this choice, it came in the form of a certain black haired guy. Namely Tyler Bennette.

"Hey partner, how do you actually light up a bunsen burner?"

He was studying the lighter and burner intently as if those were alien objects instead of lab apparatus, making me wonder how did he get into this class in the first place.

Without a word, I gently pried the lighter from his hand and proceeded to light the flame in one swift click.

"Woah, that's some serious fire lighting skills you have there pesto."

"Pesto?"

"And she talks!" Tyler was grinning so widely his face was at risk of being split into two.

"I do talk." I defended. "I just find it a waste of time to reply to your nonsensical comments."

If he had felt insulted by what I had said, he certainly hid it well. "Come on, I was just trying to get to know my lab partner better."

"Put on your goggles, we're about to do some heating." I instructed, passing an excited child-like Tyler a pair of goggles.

"Aye aye captain!"

The rest of the lab session was, to put it simply, absolutely torturous. Tyler was of no help, in fact, I'd actually be glad if he stayed far away from all the chemicals instead.

"Fuck, that was hot! How the hell do we heat this shit if it keeps getting hotter?"

"You're supposed to hold the test tube with a test tube holder."

"You're a genius, pesto!"

Less than a few minutes later, "Uh... are cracks supposed to appear for the experiment to be successful?"

"What!" I rushed to his side, downright horrified by the sight.

Cracks resembling cobwebs were rapidly spreading around the dish, thick white fumes blurring our vision before a deafening 'boom' resonated around the room.

There was a moment of silence before chaos broke out, people were screaming and rushing towards our table.

I didn't even realised I had both my hands shielding my face until the teacher grabbed a hold of them, "Liana? Are you okay? Can you look at me?"

The voice of Mr Cartha sounded distant, almost like I was hearing him speak underwater.

Everything seemed to be going in slow motion until a sudden sharp stab of pain at the side of my skull had me falling to the ground as my knees gave out. 

The last thing I remembered before my head hit the floor was that my
parents were sure to get a call on my first day of school. Just great.

♕

A constant dull ache on the right side of my head was what woke me up from my apparent peaceful slumber.

My eyes peeled opened slowly as they adjusted to the brightness of the room, briefly wondering where I was when memories of the accident earlier came back.

I tried to sit up but only managed to collapse back onto the bed when the applied pressure caused sparks of pain to shoot up my forearms.

Looking at both of my arms, I noted that the front section from my elbows to my wrists were securely bandaged.

Groaning under my breath, I resorted to calling out for assistance. "Um...hi anyone out there?"

A couple of seconds went by before the curtain surrounding my bed was pulled to the side, revealing the school nurse.

"Oh you are awake!" She chirped.

"Yeah...how long did I slept for?"

"Two hours! The last bell just rang so I guess school is over for you!" Her last word dragged on in a sing song voice.

She then proceeded to shift me into a sitting up position and propped a pillow against the headboard for me to lean back on.

"Did you call my parents?" I asked, silently praying that they had forgotten to do so.

"Of course dearie! They were so worried! Oh and your chauffeur will be here in 10 minutes!"

I gave an over exaggeratedly long sigh, dreading the thought of having to deal with two overly protective and dramatic parents.

My parents were the type of people who always took things to the extreme end of the scale, which I guess was partly due to their innovative mind for design.

"Pesto!" Tyler came barreling in like a puppy freed from it's collar.

"You are okay!" He then pulled me in for a hug, turning a deaf ear on the nurse's yap of protest at his action.

"Yeah...I am, you can let go now." I mumbled, my arms dangling awkwardly by his side.

"I am so sorry I swear-"

"Dude you've seen her, she's fine. Let's get out of here." Jordan said in a gruff voice, leaning against the doorframe.

His mere presence instantly dimmed the brightness of the room, his dark figure a stark contrast to the pristine and white walls.

I gave him a dark glare to which he retaliated with a hard stare. Ignorant to the silent competition between us, Tyler tried to interject. "But she-"

"She's stupid for jumping right infront of an exploding dish, get over it bro." Jordan's lip twisted into a taunting smirk.

I had no idea what his problem with me was or if he was just this rude to everyone, but I sure didn't deserve to be treated this way.

Had I not been sporting a mild headache, I would have tried reasoning with him. Albeit, it would have been pointless seeing as how he would have turned the tables against me.

Like how everyone always did.

Deciding to disregard his comment, I looked towards Tyler instead, who was still rambling on about my injuries.

"Tyler, I know you're sorry but-"

"Fuck, you're still mad right? I-"

"No Tyler, I was just going to ask if you're okay?"

"Wait what?" He furrowed his eyebrows, seeming confused.

"Are you hurt? You were there too, you know." I softened my gaze as my eyes connected with his.

"Oh...oh, um just a couple of cuts. I was standing pretty far back."

I nodded, "Next time, I'll do all the heating."

"No promises, pesto." He grinned cheekily, making my lips curl into a slight smile involuntarily.

From my peripheral vision, I caught a glimpse of a mildly stunned Jordan. His eyes burning holes into the side of my face.

Though, the only difference was that it was rid of his usual hostility.