The Chemistry Test

14. lip gloss and robotic smiles

Day Eight

The Hollingsworth BBQ had us all a little shook. Emett had told my parents what happened at the lake, who in turn told Hayward Hollingsworth, Hunter's father, who was furious with Mark and Damon's rash actions.

Not gonna lie, I wasn't happy with them, either. They'd made an inexcusably inappropriate scene at a public event, surrounded by hundreds of bystanders, and not to mention the crowd of young children just a few meters away. It was easy to sympathize with Hayward. If it were my property, I'd be livid, too.

Nevertheless, Mark was busted up. He had the right to be scared of Damon, especially now that he knew what the guy was capable of.

In the span of time which Gorveau spent sipping a swampy colored smoothie and typing viciously into his laptop, I chatted quietly with Mark.

"Zak keeps looking over here." He muttered, nonchalantly diverting his eyes past mine.

"Well, Mark, he's probably noticed all of this." I upturned my palms, acknowledging his injuries. An entire side of his neck was black and blue from where Damon had grabbed and punched, his upper lip was swollen the size of a dime and plum in color. Not to mention how busted and scratched his knuckles were.

"What? My flawless face, you mean?" A smirk tugged at the corners of his lips.

I rolled my eyes. "Sure, Galassi."

"Hey, guys." A familiar voice chimed behind us. I flipped a few locks of caramel hair over my shoulder to meet a pair of blazing azure eyes.

"Hey, Zak." I smiled. Mark, next to me, remained silent in the space when one without history with Zak would have said hello.

Gorveau's beady eyes casually observed our conversation, flickering between us and his computer screen.

"You guys are comin' to my lacrosse game today, right?" He looked in between the two of us. I exchanged a brief glance with Mark before turning back to him. "It starts at 4."

"Well, I have something-" Mark started.

"Yeah, we can make it." I beamed up at Zak. Mark narrowed his chocolate eyes and parted his lips as if to protest, but remained silent. "Who are we playing?"

"Springfield." He scoffed, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

Springfield High was West Burrow's arch rival. They cheated at every opportunity they could, trashed our campus after a big loss, and generally were shitty people.

"Kick ass." Mark's intense chocolate eyes locked onto Zak.

A sliver of a smile flashed across Zak's face. ""Course."

My mind reverted to the picture Mark had shown me of he and Zak and Willow. Zak's smile had been so wide, so genuine, so happy; a different Zak than the one I was used to seeing. A Zak who was real, one that wouldn't destroy me at the end of the chemistry test.

The boys shared a moment of silence, as if they both wanted to say something but neither of them was willing to initiate conversation.

Something told me it had to do with her.

--

"Oh my God." Gwyn wailed. "This class is so boring."

Populski had been in the middle of one of his famously tedious Art lectures for the past half hour, leaving half of AP Studio Art in a drooling, zombie-like state.

I shot Gwyn a sympathetic smile over my shoulder. Her swampy, mascara lathered eyes twinkled at me. "Let's talk."

My fingertips numbed at the thought of girl talk, but I raised my eyebrows out of politeness.