𝑬𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝑴í𝒂 | ᴮᵒʸ ᴹᵉᵉᵗˢ ᵂᵒʳˡᵈ

50: Chemical Reaction

"Don't forget, lab reports by the end of the day. No extensions, no exceptions. Any sad stories you can try. I'm always up for a laugh." Our chemistry teacher said.

"Did you do your paper?" Shawn asked Cory and I.

"No," Cory answered. "Adriana?"

"Yeah, but I'm not giving either of you my answers. This paper is too good to share." I answered.

"I didn't even know there was one." Shawn said. "So what do we tell Sorrell?" "The truth." Cory replied. "That aliens abducted us?" "And ate our papers." "Okay, got our stories straight."

We got up and headed towards the door. "No, no, no, no, Tommy. When I said no exceptions, I didn't mean you. You rest that touchdown throwing arm of yours." Dr. Sorrell said. "Turn your paper in... by the end of football season."

"I play basketball, too." Tommy said. "Well, then just forget about it." The jock left, and we approached the teacher. "Hey, Dr. Sorrell?" Shawn said. "No." He said before Shawn or Cory got to say another word.

Cory pulled Shawn away. "Miss Flores, please tell your two little friends to stop with the excuses or at least find better ones." Dr. Sorrell said.

"I don't want to hear that ghosts froze their homework in ectoplasm or a bird stole it for their nests. Or in some cases, Abraham Lincoln comes back and takes it to frame in the White House." "I'll try, sir." I replied.

Cory walked back over with a smile before he began to let the outrageous and crazy excuses flow like a river.

♥

"He didn't even know my name." Cory said as he pushed open the chemistry lab window. He crawled through, and Shawn followed. "What are you so upset about?" He asked.

"Oh. I don't know. Could it be staying up all night to finish my paper? Could it be breaking into school so my paper's not late? Or could it be losing half my pants on the barbed wire?" Cory rambled.

"I don't know why you didn't just walk through the gate like Shawn and I did." I said. "It was too easy. It looked like a trap." He answered.

"Let's look over here." Shawn said as we wandered the lab. "You know what bugs me the most?" Cory asked. "Tommy, the football hero, gets a free ride for throwing a stupid lucky touchdown."

"Cory, let me tell you something about breaking and entering. You usually don't hang around and vent while you're doing it." Shawn told him.

"He's only fooling himself if he thinks this hero stuff is gonna carry him through life." Cory said. "Oh, yeah. Troy Aikman's really hurting." Shawn replied. "I'm a felon, Hunter. Don't push me."

We went over to the desk. "All I'm saying is, he's heading for a fall if he believes his own hype." Cory continued to ramble.

"Can you two just put your papers on the desk so we can get out of here?" I asked. "If I get the tiniest charge on my record, my dad will freak."

"Adriana-Camila's right." Shawn said as he turned around. That's when the flashlight went out, leaving the room dark. "Uh, oh." He said, hitting the flashlight.

"Check the batteries." Cory ushered. "Okay— okay, but I need a flashlight." Shawn said. "We need matches now. Alright, we're in a Chem lab. There's gotta be matches around her somewhere, right?"

Cory opened a random tin on a desk. "Matches— Ta-da!" "As some famous guy once said, "Let there be light." Shawn said. "Ow! Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Cory exclaimed as the match burned his hand.

He tossed it into a trashcan, which quickly caught on fire. Shawn and Cory exchanged looks before blowing on it. "It's not a birthday candle," I said. "Oxygen will only make it bigger. We need water or something."