Sunshine & City Lights | Cameron Boyce Story

Chapter 7 ~ Lab Partners

2:15
I'm late for biology, again.
I run full speed from Spanish to the lab, praying that Dr Parsons won't get too mad even though this is regular for me.
"Late again I see, Miss Boyce. Detention, tomorrow after school. I hope you don't have any plans for Friday evening." He says, looking over his glasses and glaring at me as I attempt to sneak into my seat.
Tiredly, I collapse into my chair and do a double take when I notice a new kid sitting next to me.
I get lost in his breath-taking beauty until I hear sniggers from behind and next to me, "Can I help you?" He chuckles.
My cheeks flush beet red, "Sorry, I'm shitty at first impressions. I shut my best friend's head in a locker when I first met her! I'm a strange person sometimes....and I babble a lot...see? I'm Carsen, is what I'm trying to say."
He laughs again. God, even his laugh is beautiful! "Nice to meet you, Carsen. I'm Mateo Benitez, I'm a Spanish exchange student."
"Awesome! My grandpa is Mexican so I-"
Dr Parsons cuts me off, "Carsen, I see you've met Mr Benitez. You can talk to him after my lesson, you wouldn't want a double detention now, would you?"

I sit for a while just staring at the poster-covered walls until I hear the words 'lab partners'. Immediately I snap out of my daydream and let my hand shoot up to query, "Can we choose our partner? Pleeeeeeeeeaaase?!"
"If you'd have been paying attention, you would know that I have already picked your partners and I will now tell you who you are paired with. Listen, Carsen Boyce."
I mock in a whisper, "Listen, Carsen Boyce. Kiss my ass, old man..." Mateo sniggers and I smirk with excitement.
"Okay: Eli and Josh, Olivia and David, Cameron and Kyla." Dr Parsons lists everyone's partners and I wait in anticipation for my name to be called out. One of my best friends, Harper, looks at me with her fingers crossed and we pray that we'll be paired together.
"Chantelle and Bethany, and Carsen and..."
Please be Harper, I'm begging you, please be Harper.
"...Mateo."
There's two sides of my emotions; one being complete joy because I've been paired with the new Latino boy who's fine as hell, and the other being anxiety - I can't be into Mateo, not when I'm with Kai.
"Alright, we'll be starting our assignments second period next Monday. The project is entitled 'Salt: Friend or Foe?' and the objective is to determine whether plants would die when a saline solution slightly less than the ocean's was watered into the soil. Let's discuss the safety hazards."
***
"So I'll see you at lunch?" I smile as I walk out of the lab with Mateo.
He returns the grin and makes eye contact with me, "Sure. It was nice meeting you, Carsen."
Holy Sarah Jessica Parker, you could get lost in those eyes.
Mateo heads off to his third period lesson and I quickly run to my locker to get my shirt for PE.
"Word on the street is that you're throwing a little party for Goody Two Shoes?" Someone whispers from behind me as they wrap their arms around my waist.
I turn around and kiss them, "Hi, Kai."
"Can I please come to the party?" He pouts, I don't even have to tell him he isn't invited.
I still don't know what Cam has against Kai, but whatever it is doesn't matter because almost everyone's coming except my own boyfriend. That's not fair.
Sighing, I decide that if Kai came the worst that I would get would be a death glare from my cousin, "Fine. But only if Cameron doesn't interrogate me and finally stops being such a narcissistic asshole."
"Hey, don't get so cranky. I'll be there anyways, whether I have to sneak in or not." He kisses me one last time before jogging off to his social studies class, "I'll see you at lunch. Love you!"
I yell, "I love you too!"

***
Mateo sits with me and my friends at lunch and I think that all of them have a huge crush on him!
"Hey, I'm throwing a birthday party for my cousin this weekend, you can come if you're free. Kyla, Harper and Avery will be there too." I ask him.
He smiles and nods, "Sure, I'll be there. Text me your address and the times."
"Can't wait to see you there! Anyway, we better get to detention." Harper and Avery say, waving and leaving the cafeteria.
"I should get going too, Carsen. Thanks for the party invite. And I wanted to ask you if you'd like to go out sometime? But as friends, obviously! I know you have a boyfriend..." Mateo laughs nervously.
I give him a reassuring smile and hug him, "Definitely. Monday after school?"
Mateo beams and hugs me back, "I'll see you soon."
After he leaves, someone grabs me by the wrist and drags me out into the hallway. They shove me a little and I hit my back on the lockers.
"Kai? What the hell are you doing?" I grit my teeth and try my best not to yell at him.
"Who is he? Why are you hanging out with him?" He questions aggressively.
I try to wriggle out of his grip but he just pushes me back down, "Kai, stop!"
"Tell me who he is! You better not be cheating on me, Carsen."
"I'm not cheating on you! He's just a friend. He's the new kid so I'm just looking out for him! Back the fuck off!" Finally, I push him off and glare at him.
"Alright, I'm sorry. But you need to understand that I come before anyone else. I love you, okay?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry. It probably looked worse than I thought. I love you too."
Kai walks away, leaving me in complete shock. When the bell rings I wait for everyone to go to class before I run into the bathroom.
I look down at my wrists and see scratches from Kai's fingers. Shaking, I lift my shirt up and notice bruises forming from the impact of being smacked into the lockers.
I can't blame Kai, I think, it's my fault.
I get out my phone and send him a text:
To Kai <3:
please don't do that again.