leopard space dolphins » original ✓

twenty eight: monetization

"Come on, we've gotten so many orders from people in the past two days!" I pleaded, leaning onto Elias' arm during chemistry.

We were sitting next to each other in the back of the lab, and I was trying my best to convince Elias to make a new batch. After word got out from Winter Wonderland, my trap phone was blowing up nonstop. Kids from other schools were contacting me, inviting me to come to parties and games to sell. I managed to make some last minute sales at a football game yesterday against Mount Vernon. I might have to rethink being assigned to the away games permanently for sports. That would be the easiest cover: Elias sells in school, and I sell at games.

His weary gaze met my own. It was even worse than Saturday. Underneath his eyes, a deep, dark circles marred his face and made his usually tan skin take on a more sallow color.

"That's a lot of tabs to make, Ember," he said with a sigh. "Why can't we just sell the supply we have on hand now?"

I shook my head. "We have less than 100 left, and my phone has more than 200 unread messages. Honestly, if I contacted everyone who asked for it in the school today, we'd sell out of our supply almost immediately."

"Holy shit," he whispered in disbelief. "I don't know, I need a little more time. I still have other things I have to do after school. I have practice, and I gotta do some things for my dad, too."

My ears perked up at the word "dad". Elias rarely talked about his parents, and I recalled him saying his dad and him weren't on the best of terms because of his sister. "Are you and him cordial now?"

He silently looked down at the lab tabletop, and I almost thought he either didn't hear me or was ignoring me until he said, "something like that. It's complicated."

Abruptly, a hand collided with the table, rattling the glass cabinets that were beneath the large slab of countertop. I shot up to see Mr. Gonzalez, fuming in front of us. Surprised, I picked my head off Elias' shoulder and narrowed my eyes in confusion.

"Time after time, I have warned the two of you about PDA in my classroom. I will no longer tolerate it," he proclaimed indignantly. His face was red, and that was when I knew he was super upset. "You both have dentention after school."

"What?!" Elias exclaimed, a look of anger on his face. "Because her head is on my shoulder?"

"I've let too many things slide as of late." The entire class was staring at the two of us, looks of shock on their faces. No one has ever seen Mr. Gonzalez agitated like this before.

Elias scoffed before sending him a smirk. "Okay, but if I'm gonna be in detention for PDA, I might as well do something worthwhile."

He turned to me and kissed me, holding my chin between his hands. As much as I didn't want to stop, I knew this was going to make things way worse than I needed. After all, proving a point that led to me being in school after hours was not my cup of tea.

I broke away from him and murmured, "chill out, what are you doing?"

"And now it's two days," Gonzalez said, walking back to his desk for the pink detention slips. "I hope you're happy, Mr. Wolfe."

He shrugged, and I was grateful for the bell in that moment, because it allowed us an escape from the room and further trouble.

Temi walked behind us as we were leaving class. "Nah bro, one day with Ember and you already have detention twice. You're coming back to my table, ASAP."

"I didn't tell him to do any of that!" I said incredulously, throwing my hands in the air to show my innocence. "And what is Gonzalez' problem? He's never that wound up."

"I heard he's being investigated by the school," Temi replied as we stopped at his locker. "Apparently a lot of lab equipment went missing over the course of a few months. They think he's selling it for money."

My eyes widened, and I looked at Elias, who was already looking at me. Oh shit, I knew exactly where that equipment was: currently sitting in the pool-house in a makeshift lab that we use every week. We stole the bulk of it back in September and then started taking individual items we needed month to month. I didn't know they did inventory for each and every item.

No wonder he's so mad. The amount of people that he allowed to come and go into the chemistry room throughout the day was a lot. There'd be no to actually pinpoint who took all the items. But at end of the day, he's still responsible.

"Un, wow. That's crazy, I'd be upset too," I replied in a stilted voice, still taking the information in.

"But yeah. E, you're back with me tomorrow, bro," Temi decided, closing his locker. "Love you Ember, but we're about to go on break. Do all that out of school."

"Like you and Valencia?" I inquired, sending him a smirk. She was walking behind him, and I know he didn't see her, but I know my best friend. Her need for PDA was more excessive than anyone I ever met.

"Exactly, like me and—" he didn't get to finish because Vee walked up and kissed him where stood. I laughed, an opportunity to make fun of him planting itself right in the palm of my hand.

"Missed you," she said to him once they broke apart. Then, she looked at me. "Hey, Ember. Hi, Elias."

"Hey, sis. So your boyfriend—" Temi groaned and rolled his eyes, but I had to continue, "—decided that it would be cute to lecture me about PDA, and you just came at the right moment to prove that he is a huge hypocrite. That's all I'm gonna say."

Valencia laughed, while Temi sighed. "Whatever, you're smoking dust if you think I won't kiss her back if she kisses me. I'll see you at lunch."

When they walked off, I turned to Eli. "So is it a yes to the new batch?"

He yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Yeah, fine. I'll try and finish by Friday. Are you still planning on convincing Kaylee to let you go to away games going forward?"

"Yeah, but I don't think she'll have a problem with it," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "But okay, I'll start reaching out to people and finish off the last batch."

He squeezed my hand, and a shockwave coursed through my body at the contact. All this time and something as small as that still sent my heart into overdrive. "I'll see you later."

We parted ways to our next class, and on the way I happened to bump into Carmen, who gestured for me to come in the girl's bathroom. She texted me earlier that she needed some tabs, and I was conveniently around. I looked both ways, before pushing the wooden door open, eager to make some cash.