Unspoken

Chapter Seven

KACE wasn't able to move when someone grabbed her in the arm. She clearly heard the words, "She already has a lab partner." She didn't expect that Luke would suddenly show up from behind them.

Stephen was also surprised after seeing Luke come up to them. He was wondering why he suddenly appeared and uttered those words. He really couldn't believe that someone other than him and Kace's friends would actually ask her to be her lab partner. "Kace, is it true? Is he your lab partner?"

She couldn't look at Stephen's eyes because she felt guilty. They've always been partners in their projects ever since. Even Nix was getting jealous before but now, she's already used to it.

When Luke noticed that Kace was having a hard time answering, he decided to speak for her. "Yes. I already asked her to be my lab partner."

"And... you agreed?" Stephen was still looking at Kace.

She nodded. "But Stephen... don't think that I don't want to be lab partners with you anymore."

Stephen bit his lip and nodded. "I understand. I... gotta go back to our table now." He walked away from the two.

Meanwhile, Luke was still holding Kace's arm which made the other students look at them in suspicion. When she noticed this, she brushed her arm off of his grip. "S-sorry." He muttered. She didn't answer him. She was still feeling bothered about Stephen. "I'm sorry if I asked you to be my lab partner. I didn't know that Stephen's..." He got cut off when Kace finally spoke.

"You don't have to apologize, Luke. It's not your fault." She said to him as she forced a smile.

He knew from the look of her eyes that she was not alright. Maybe he should just find another lab partner. "If you don't want me to be your lab partner, I can just..." He was stopped again.

"Luke, you don't have to do that. I already said yes to you. I'll just try to talk to Stephen about it later." She flashed him a weak smile before proceeding to where Nix and the others were.

"Kace, what the hell was that all about?" Nix asked her when she reached them. "Are those two fighting over you?"

She shook her head. "Nothing like that. It's just about Chemistry."

Just then, Nix remembered telling Luke to ask Kace to be his lab partner. Maybe that's what this is all about. So it was my fault in the first place. But still, she just wanted to let Kace experience being lab partners with someone else other than Stephen. "Oh, alright then." She said pretending to not know anything.

"Chief, we still haven't recruited anyone. What do we do?" Chester jeered beside them.

"I knew this wasn't gonna work out." Max sighed.

"Stop being pessimistic there." Kenneth nudged him.

"I think we should think of plan B now." Brandon commented.

Kace agreed with him. "Yeah. I think so too."

AFTER lunch, they all proceeded to their next class which was Chemistry. The others who still didn't have a lab partner were now cramming to find one. Kace noticed her bestfriend growing anxious on her seat. She tapped her back. "Hey, are you alright?"

Nix just nodded. She was actually gaining up her courage to ask Stephen.

"Who is your lab partner?"

"Uh... no one yet."

"What? You should just pair up with any of the guys then." She pointed at their friends who were goofing around as usual.

"They... already formed their pairs. Ken and Max. Chester and Brandon." Nix lied. She actually didn't know their pairs. She just said that so she'd have a reason to ask Stephen.