happier

double date

Mr.Rand asked Cola to see him after class. She passed her Marine Biology midterm, and he wanted to speak to her about it. She walks in and sees a familiar face in the front seat, Pacey. Her smile grows, but she sees that they were in the middle of a conversation when she walked in.

"I can come back if you want me to." She asks, sending a soft smile Pacey's way. The teacher moves to lean against his desk, his smile growing.

"No, you're right on schedule, Cola. I want you to meet your new lab partner." Their eyes widened as they looked at each other.

"I-i don't know if this is the best idea, Mr.Rand. She's too smart for me, I won't be able to keep up." She rolls her eyes, nudging his side.

"Very well, I see no introductions are necessary." The two nod, before smiling to themselves, ready to spend time together working on the project.

—

After school that day, the two were in the lab, looking at the fishes in the tank. Well, Cola was looking more closely, while Pacey sat back, watching her look at the fishes.

"This is so fascinating." Pacey says, sarcasm laced in his tone. Cola rolled her eyes, looking back at her best friend.

"Sorry I don't have any cartoons to keep you entertained, Pacey. It's not designed to be fascinating. It's supposed to be educating." She says, writing down what she saw in the tank.

"Well, thank you, Dr.Schweitzer. Now, refresh my memory as to why we're here again." She lets out a huff, turning back around to face him.

"We're observing the reproductive process of pulmonata snails, and Mr.Rand said that they reproduce more when they're happy, so by varying the contents of the tank, we can determine which factors are most conducive to reproduction." She explains.

"Well, why didn't you just say that? We'll buy 'em a couple of drinks, turn off the lights, and just come back in a couple of days." Cola lets out a snort at his words, shaking her head.

"Pacey, doesn't the fact that you might have to retake Marine Biology next summer bother you?" She asks, going to get more tools for their observation.

"Summer school? It'll never happen. Only morons go to summer school." He says, pulling his chair up closer to hers.

"Yeah, well last time I checked, you were pulling a stellar F-minus. So, without this extra-credit project, Pacey, that your grade will not only place you squarely among the morons, but you may very well be their leader." She flashes him a sarcastic smile and he rolls his eyes, nudging her side.

—

When the two got there the next morning, they found the shells empty inside the tank. Cola's eyes widened as Pacey began fishing in the water to see if he could catch any of the snails that may have been in the water.

"Pacey, you had one job last night. It was to watch the snails. Now look at them, they're dead. Their shells are completely empty." She exclaims, pacing back and forth throughout the room. He looked really guilty as he kept apologising to her. "This is ridiculous. Yesterday, we had a science project and today we have ⅔ of a charm bracelet. Pacey, I don't think this is gonna work out. Maybe we should ask if we can have our own projects separately or I can just do the project by myself and give you credit for it." Pacey was quick to stop her, letting out a scoff.

"Before you run off to Mr.Rand, there is an explanation for this. You know how you said that this experiment was all about seeing which environment was best for the snails? So, I did come in last night, I was watching the snails, and nothing was happening. So I added some food, then I added some water, and there was still nothing happening in there, so I thought the problem wasn't the environment. Maybe the snails didn't like each other. Maybe they just needed to loosen up a little." Cola stares at him in disbelief.