The Chemistry Test

1. lawns and piercings

Day One

"It was brave what you did back there." Mark praised as we ventured out of the Theatre complex and into the Lawn of Misplaced Flowers, a stray patch of grass bordering one of West Burrow High's many clean kept cement pathways.  The Lawn had grown progressively wilder throughout my sophomore and junior years at WBHS, but this year it had definitely broken the record for the messiest patch of nature on the two hundred fifty acre wide campus.

I glanced over at him, his black Converse high-tops laced with stubborn fox-tails, an annoying token from the Lawn. His slender, pale fingers combed through a section of chocolate brown hair before retreating to the pockets of his Varsity jacket.

"I've never been one to turn down a challenge." I smirked. 

"Fair enough."

For a few paces we tread in comfortable silence. Mark frowned up at the sky, where ginormous black cumulonimbus clouds loomed with the silent promise of a thunderstorm. My gaze drifted to the Lawn, where a patch of scarlet flax and the crisp nip in the air between them tickled my bare ankles.

When Mark's eyes met mine, I could tell something had changed, as if the sight of the oncoming storm had altered his mood.

"Think you can pull it off?" Uncertainty flexed through his tone and lingered in his dark eyes.

"I hope so." I pursed my lips, accidentally squashing a slew of Chinese Forget-Me-Nots underneath my shoe. "I'm more worried about Zak than anything. The guy is a brick. Do you know how hard it is to be intimate with a brick?"

I'd expected to get a laugh from him, only to find his brows furrowed and teeth nibbling at his lip piercing. I nudged his shoulder. "What?"

"There's more to him than you think," he muttered, fixating on a point in the distance.

"What do you mean?"

"We used to be friends." His tone was clipped.

"Seriously?" I smiled, humored by the idea that someone as lively and raw as Mark could be associated with someone so intensely into their image as Zak was.

"Surprised?" His eyes flickered to mine.

I widened mine, nodding repeatedly. "Were you guys close?"

"Too close, if you ask me."

"Well, there must be more to him than his brick-like shell if you two managed to be friends. More than just on the surface."

A certain light returned to his eyes as a smirk broke through the corners of his lips. "If you were hoping you'd get personal info on the dude from me, you're sadly mistaken."

"What?" I laughed. "Why not?"

"Gorveau already doesn't like me-"

"For good reason."

"You didn't let me finish." He chuckled, bumping his shoulder into mine.

I raised my hands in surrender as he cleared his throat, "So I don't want to make him even more upset, which I would if I were to give you all the details about Zak."

"Come on, Mark. Just tell me something." I pleaded, weaving my arm with his Varsity jacket sleeve and resting my head on his shoulder. Once he made contact with my puppy-eyes, he caved.

"Fine." He sighed. "Dude plays water polo and lacrosse. He's also got this weird obsession with astronomy, you'll have to ask him about it. He'll go on and on, trust me."