Promises We Keep

10

MARCUS POV

Apparently, I must have fallen asleep because when I look over at my phone it says that it's five in the afternoon. I look over at Ken who is walking around the room with different sheets of papers in his hands. He shuffles through some and drops the ones I guess he doesn't want on the floor. I smile at him. He is so chaotic and messy. I watch him repeat the process of turning his room into a garbage can over and over.

I can't believe I just broke down in front of him. I don't feel embarrassed though. I feel.....safe.

I guess he senses my gaze because he looks up smiling at me with a bright smile. I feel my heart flip at that.

Hold on, now. Stop. We're not doing this.

He grabs a plate off of his desk and hands it to me. "You missed breakfast and lunch. Eat."

I look down to find a chicken salad sandwich with lettuce and bacon. I grin, my stomach growling in approval and immediately shove it in my mouth. "This is good. Did you make this?" He nods. "You gotta teach Grace how to make a fucking sandwich," I say. He laughs at me.

Ken watches me eat for a while. "You good?"

I know he's asking about the phone call. Surprisingly, I do feel better. At least now I know, right? My dad is an asswipe. Actually that's his new name, Asswipe and Kaitlin. How fitting.

"I am. Thanks."

He smiles. "So you don't hate me for putting in the idea to call your father?"

"No. I think it helped. I'm still a bit upset but, I don't know. I can let it go. One less thing to be angry about right?"

"Right," he said with a huge grin.

"If you tell anyone I broke down and cried I'll knock your teeth out," I say seriously.

"Whatever tough guy."

I smile at him and nod my head in the direction of the recycling bin he's calling a floor. "What's going on over there?"

"We're going to do an experiment!"

Pfft. "We?"

"Yes. We."

"Look. I'm only in the AP science classes for college. Why would I want to do an experiment?"

"This experiment is going to show you that you, my friend, are nucleation," he says, his expression growing in excitement. He gets up and grabs a sheet of paper.

"Nucleation? Dude, what the hell are you talking about," I ask as he pulls on a hoodie and puts his shoes on. He motions for me to do the same.

I get out the bed and get dressed. Once I am, he stands in front of me shifting side to side in pure excitement. "We're going to put Mentos in a bottle of Diet Coke!"

He's fucking with me. "You want to do what with Mentos?"

"Put them in Coke and watch them explode." He makes a bursting motion with his hands. "Are you in?" He watches me, and it's as if his excitement is suspended in the air above us waiting on my answer so that it can settle.

"Fuck it," I say grinning. "I'm in."

He runs out of the room yelling at me to hurry up because 'science is calling'. I laugh after the idiot and follow him into his car.

He starts it and drives off. "We need supplies," he says with a spark in his eye. I like that spark. A lot of times his eyes are a little dim like he's trying to block any sign of emotion. There are small moments when our eyes lock and I see something swimming around in them but other times he's trying to keep anything out except mild curiosity.