Chapter 18

                “Before you start, I want you all to remember that frogs have internal and external similarities to humans.” Mrs. Jamison said, as she walked around the classroom in her white lab coat. “When you’re following the steps to dissection, I want you to look out for anything you see that might look familiar to you. You might be surprised at what you find.”

                I stared at the slimy frog that was laid out in front of me, as I held back to urge to pinch my nose. Jared glanced over at me, letting out an amused chuckle. “Are you ready, Riley?” he asked, pulling on a pair of latex gloves over his hands.

                I let out a groan, before lowering my goggles so that they were fixated on my eyes. “No.” I bluntly said, before picking up the instructions sheet that was laid out on the table. I took in a deep breath, before reading out the first step aloud. “Okay, step number one, laid the frog so that the belly is facing up.”

                Everett, who was to my right, leaned over me to flip the frog over. “Easy enough.” He muttered, before sulking back in his seat.

                I shot him a look, before my eyes shifted down to the second step. “Make your first incision by slicing horizontally across the throat.” I immediately winced after the words escaped my lips, as I passed the tool to one of the guys. “Who wants to do that?”

                A shrill immediately rang in my ears, as everyone in the class turned to the back to see who screamed. We all found Stacy backing up from the frog that was in Jonah’s hands, looking as if she would burst into tears any minute. “Get that away from me!” she screeched, her nasally voice making my head start to spin. “Mrs. Jamison, tell him to stop!”

                Mrs. Jamison immediately rushed over with a trash bucket in her hands, as Victoria puked her guts out into it. Mrs. Jamison then proceeded to turn to Jonah, who still had the rubbery frog in his palms. “Jonah Van Dubois,” Mrs. Jamison hissed, looking furious, “I would suggest you put that frog down right now before I give you an immediate zero for this lab.”

                Jonah, who had a weak smile across his face, placed the frog down slowly. “Sorry, Mrs. J.”

                Mrs. Jamison shot him a glare, before crouching down to make sure if Victoria wasn’t dead. When Victoria pulled her head out of the trash can, her face was pale, and she still looked a bit queasy. When she looked down at her blonde extensions, and noticed that she got her own guts in it, she let out whine. “My hair is ruined!”

                “She’s fine, everyone!” Mrs. Jamison turned back to all of us, as we watched the scenario unfold upon us. “Get back to work!”

                I suddenly didn’t feel too good as well, as my head began to throb. “Riley?” Everett asked quietly, leaning against my ear. “You’re okay, right?”

                I snapped back into reality, ignoring the pain that was burning in my head. I gave him a shaky smile, before nodding quickly. “I’m fine.” I said, my voice not sounding too convincing as I handed him the scalpel knife. “Can you slice the throat?”

                Everett looked at me uneasily, before reluctantly taking the blade from my hands. With a quick cut, he sliced the throat open, lifting a load off my shoulders. “Thanks.” I gave him a weak smile, before continuing on with the third step.

*

                Jared, Everett and I all agreed to go to Everett’s house after school to finish up the questions that followed after the lab. We sat around his living room, the exact same spot on the floor where Everett and I literally kissed a few nights ago. I tried to push that thought away from my mind, as I put all my focus into the work. After all, the faster we get over with this frog dissection project, the better. I was still a bit worked up from all of the intestines we pulled out that little frog a few hours earlier.

                A phone suddenly went off, as we all turned to where the source of noise was coming from. Everett let out a low grunt, before fumbling in his pockets to reach out his phone. His eyes started at the lit up screen of his phone, before he let out a sigh. “It’s my dad,” he explained, before getting up from the carpet, “I have to get this.”

                “It’s alright.” Jared shrugged. He let out a breath of relief as he slammed his textbook close. “I think I need a break from all this work anyways.”

                Everett nodded, before exiting the living room to speak to his father. I rubbed my eyes, which were sore from reading and writing for several hours already. My bottom was starting to burn from sitting on the ground in the same position for too long. “I’m so tired.” I let out a yawn, turning to Jared with moisture in my eyes.

                “Same.” Jared let out a chuckle, before looking up at the clock to read the time. “It’s seven already? I have to head home soon for dinner.”

                I frowned, tilting my head to the side. “But, we still have a few more questions to go.” I pointed out. “Can’t you ask your parent’s if you could skip out for tonight?”

                Jared groaned, before shaking his head. “I don’t think I can.” He muttered under his breath. “My neighbors invited my family to have dinner at their place, as a welcome.”

                I pressed my lips together tightly, before nodding. “It’s alright, I guess.” I mumbled. “I’ll just finish the questions myself and give you and Everett the answers before class tomorrow.”

                Jared began getting up, as a grin spread across his face. “You would do that?” he asked, as I nodded. “You’re awesome, Riley, a total lifesaver.”

                I chuckled, before rolling my eyes. “Whatever, Jared.” I got up with him, as I began to escort him out to the front door. “You should get going soon, it’s getting dark outside.”

                “Why are you so quick to ask me to leave?” Jared asked teasingly, a smirk forming on his lips. “Are you that eager to have your alone time with Everett?”

                My eyes widened, as I immediately backhanded Jared on the shoulder. He let out a wince, as he rubbed his arm in pain. “No, Jared!” I hissed, as I heard footsteps shuffling down the stairs. “Would you keep it down?”

                Jared opened his mouth to tease me even further, but before any more embarrassing words escaped his lips, Maria came down from the stairs. “Riley, you’re still here right?” she quickly said, her eyes finding mine. “Oh, thank God you are. I need you to give me the notes Mr. Wilkins gave us in History today.”

                “I’ll give them to you later.” I said, frowning. “You were in class today, though. Why don’t you have them?”

                Maria raised an eyebrow, before rolling her eyes. “Who has time to take notes when you’re sleeping?” she asked, as her eyes narrowed over my shoulder. Maria finally noticed Jared the entire time he was standing right behind me. “Hey, who’s this?”

                “Oh, this is Jared.” I moved aside, jabbing my elbow to gesture over to him. “He’s partners with Everett and I in Biology. He just moved here a few days ago.”

                Maria seemed to take extra interest into Jared, because I noticed that she was barely paying attention to what I had said. I glanced over at Jared, noticing that he had a dazed look in his eyes, too. I blinked awkwardly, before clearing my throat loudly. The two of them snapped out of their intense gaze in each others, as Maria’s cheeks turned red. “Oh, Riley, did you say something?” she asked embarrassedly.

                “No.” I sarcastically said, rolling my eyes.

                Jared scratched the back of his neck, before giving Maria and I a small smile. “I really should get going now.” He mumbled, before waving at the two of us. “I’ll see you guys at school.”

                He gave Maria one last look, before closing the front door behind him. Maria immediately turned to me with a beam, her face glowing. “Was that the new guy that you said you met?” she asked, unable to stop grinning. “Oh my Lord, he is so gorgeous! I don’t think I’ve ever met a guy that’s as hot as he is!”

                I was just about to open my mouth to tell Maria how love-sick and ridiculous she sounded, but someone else decided to do that for me.

                “If you think he’s the hottest guy you’ve ever met, then you’ve obviously never met me.” Everett suddenly came from the kitchen doorway, holding a plate with a piece of cake on it. He shoved a fork full of chocolate cake in his mouth, as Maria stuck her tongue out at him.

                “Get off your high horse, Everett.” She said, before scrunching her nose up in disgust. “And gross! You’re going to be my brother in a month. Don’t even say stuff like that!”

                Everett shrugged. “I’m hot.”

                Maria let out a groan, before shooting a glare at Everett. “You’re unbelievable!” she snapped, before marching up the stairs.

                “Unbelievably hot!” Everett shouted loud enough for Maria to hear from upstairs. I leaned against the doorframe, suppressing a laugh between the bickering siblings. Everett turned to me, a small quirk on the corner of his lips. “So, I guess Maria’s got a thing for Jared now, huh?” he asked.

                I shrugged, giving him a faint smile. “I guess so.” I said. “Jared was pretty whipped when he saw Maria, as well.”

                Everett chuckled lightly, before running a hand through his hair. “Well, I guess there’s nothing for me to be jealous about now.”

                I raised an eyebrow, frowning at him curiously. “Jealous?” I repeated. “What were you jealous about?”

                Everett’s dark pupils began to dilate, as he swiped his tongue over his bottom lip. “I was just jealous of how much attention you were giving Jared.” He said lowly, his voice obliviously husky. “But, I don’t have anything to worry about, do I?”

                I daringly stared into his eyes for a longer moment, holding his captivating gaze. I tilted my head to the side, as a small smirk formed over the corners of my lips. “Not at all.” I whispered, before brushing by his shoulder to go give Maria the notes she had asked for.

*

                “I told you, I’ve got this under control!” I heard a hushed voice hiss, as I peered over the aisle in the grocery store from where the sound was coming from. “Katie, have a little faith in me, would you?”

                I recognized Cassandra’s wave of blonde hair immediately, as I watched her clutching onto her phone with frustration, all while checking out cereal boxes at the same time. The look on her face was full of stress, as I watched her bury her face into her palms. “Katie, I’ve got to go now.” I heard her say, a little bit quieter this time. “I’ll send you the details later.”

                When Cassandra hung up on the phone with Katie, she shoved her phone into the back pocket of her jeans. Her hands reached up the top shelf to examine a box of corn flakes. I decided to approach her, but she didn’t notice me until I stood a good foot by her side. She literally jumped when she saw me, as her eyes went wide. “Shit, Riley!” she let out a deep breath of air, her hand touching her chest. “You almost gave me a heart attack!”

                “Sorry.” I apologized sheepishly. “I would’ve said something earlier, but you were busy on the phone with Katie.”

                Cassandra’s face went pale, as her lips parted. Her face resembled ‘a deer in headlights’ perfectly, as her jittery fingers flew up to her hair to tuck her bangs behind her ears. “R-Really?” she stuttered. “How much of our conversation did you hear, exactly?”

                Cassandra immediately looked suspicious, but I decided that it was best not to question her, yet. “Not much,” I said honestly, “just the part where you’ve said that you have everything under control. What were you talking about, anyways? I thought you and Katie weren’t close friends anymore.”

                Cassandra began to dwindle with her fingers, refusing to look me in the eye. “I was just telling her that I’ve got our research paper under control.” She said, a little bit too quickly. “She doubted me, that’s all.”

                I narrowed my eyes towards her, a tight smile appearing across my face. “Really?” I asked bitterly. “I didn’t know that Katie suddenly started to care about her grades.”

                Cassandra laughed weakly, before shrugging. “Well, she does!” she forced a grin upon her face that never reached her eyes. She stared at the rose gold watch that was latched around her wrist, before letting out a dramatic sigh. “Oh, look at the time. It’s already four! I should be heading to Max’s house by now.”

              My ears immediately perked up, as my head whipped towards her. Cassandra was going over to Max’s house again? I immediately felt an emptiness in my stomach, disappointed that Max and I were no longer as close as we used to be. The two of us used to tell each other everything, no matter how irrelevant or pointless it was.

                Cassandra must’ve noticed the immediate foul expression I had on my face, because she gave me a small smile; a much more genuine one this time. “I know you and Max aren’t on the best terms right now,” she started off, “but I hope you know that he really misses you.”

                I raised an eyebrow, wanting to roll my eyes. I highly doubt that Max has said that, because if he did, he would’ve made the effort to make amends with me right now. “He said that?” I asked with sarcastic disbelief.

                Cassandra looked uneasy, before she sighed. “Well-“

                I suddenly felt remorse and anger, as I crossed my arms. “Exactly.” I cut her off with a scoff. “Tell Max I said hi.” I muttered sarcastically.

*

                For my upcoming Saturday, I was going to spent it with Maria, along with her mother’s other bridesmaids to go to the bridal boutique in downtown. Mrs. Lopez had booked an appointment to reserve the entire boutique for ourselves to find the perfect bridesmaid’s dresses. There would be four bridesmaids in total, including Maria and I, along with Mrs. Lopez’s two close friends. There would be one maid of honor, who was Mrs. Lopez’s sister, Maria’s aunt. All six of us met up at the bridal boutique early that Saturday afternoon, and we already began to decide on our color palette first.

                Sally, the assistant that would be helping us find the dresses, handed us a large binder with colors of various dresses. “Pick any color you want,” she said, directing her words towards Mrs. Lopez, since she was the bride, after all, “we have all different kinds of colors.”

                “Oh, I definitely want to go with something blue.” Mrs. Lopez said almost immediately, her eyes glowing as she scanned through the pages of various blues in the binder. “The wedding is in December, after all. I think it would be very appropriate to have something blue, to resemble the winter season.”

                “I have just the idea!” said the maid of honor, Tricia, the sister of Mrs. Lopez, pointing at a royal blue. “This color would look beautiful on all of us.”

                “I don’t know.” One of the bridesmaids, Kina, also a friend of Mrs. Lopez’s, interrupted. Supposedly, Tricia and Kina had an ongoing feud since high school, and the two would disagree on anything, no matter what it was. I’ve already heard the two argue six times since we’ve arrived here, and it’s only been an hour. “I kind of like this one better.” Kina pointed to an aqua blue shade.

                “Well, I think the color is too bright.” Tricia retorted. “It would look juvenile on me.”

                Kina narrowed her eyes at Tricia, before snorting. “That’s because you’re getting old and have wrinkles.”

                Tricia’s guard immediately went up, as she shut down into defense mode. “You take that back!”

                “Don’t you tell me what to do.” Kina hissed, as the two women stood up to face each other.

                Mrs. Lopez looked tired, as she stood up to separate the two bickering women. “We’re grown women here,” she started off, looking disappointed in both Tricia and Kina, “why are you two acting so immature? Even Maria and Riley here, who are half your age, are acting more adult-like than you two.”

                I peered over at Maria, who looked evidently fed up with it all. She was slouching in her seat, as she closed her eyes, her long lashes batting down on her high cheek bones. As soon as Tricia and Kina both settled down, Mrs. Lopez turned to our assistant, Sally. “I’m sorry for all of the commotion.” She apologized on the behalf of her bridesmaid and maid of honor. “Please show us your best dresses in these two colors.” She said, pointing to both blues that Kina and Tricia had picked out.

                “Very well.” Sally smiled, as she went into the back room.

                As the older women started to talk amongst themselves, and Maria slowly drifted off into a deep slumber, my phone began to vibrate softly in my back pocket. I reached the phone out, noticing that I had a text message from Everett. I bit back a smile, almost satisfied that he hadn’t deleted my number after all these years.

                ‘Are you making progress?’ He asked. I could almost picture him asking me that exact question in person, a sarcastic smile forming on the corners of his lips. I smiled at the thought, as I began to type back to him.

                ‘We haven’t tried on anything, yet. Although, I’ve heard the same bickering from two women six times, already, if that counts as anything.’

                ‘Let me guess, is it aunt Tricia and Kina going at it, again?’ I reread the text a couple of times, getting a light chuckle out of it.

                ‘How did you guess?’ I texted back.

                ‘Let’s say family dinners never go well with the two of them sitting at the same dinner table.’

                “I’ve found a couple dresses in these two colors for you all to try on.” Sally came back from the storage room with a rack of dresses; royal blue on one end and aqua blue on the other.

                ‘That’s funny.’ I typed back quickly, sending him the message, before creating another one. ‘I’ve got to go now. It’s time to try on the dresses. I’ll talk to you later?’

                ‘Sure. Call me after you’re finished.’

                I read over the text message, as a faint smile appeared on my face. I shoved the phone back into my bag, as the five bridesmaids went to the dressing rooms to try on the first dress; a satin turquoise dress that had straps with a plunging neckline. The shiny blue fabric wrapped around my body nice and snug. It was very comfortable, I had to admit, but the shiny bright color just looked atrocious.

                The five of us stepped out from the dressing rooms as we were done, as I peered over at the other women. Maria was beside me, looked dissatisfied at the hideous dress. “Mom, please tell me that we’re not getting this one.” She said immediately.

                Mrs. Lopez suppressed a laugh, as she shook her head sadly. “It looks like this won’t be the