Science Is Math (OC X Dr Xeno)

○.•.One.•.○

“Ya… Yay..” A teacher attempted to stutter out, holding the attendance sheet. A teenage girl sighed, her platinum blonde hair glistening under the fluorescent lights of her classroom. She raised her hand, saying; “Here. It's Yaeko, Yaeko Cheong. But Echo is fine too, Mrs. Wright.” She smiled warmly as she spoke. Her teacher chuckled, saying; “That’s fine… Echo, I’ll try to remember that for next time!” Yaeko nodded simply, leaving it at that, her deep purple eyes as warm and bright as ever behind her thick white glasses.

“It’s literally January and Mrs. Wright still can’t get your name right? Love, I don’t think it’s an accident anymore. You know how teachers can be sometimes.” A boy with deep brown skin, thick black locs, and dark brown eyes said as he walked down the hall beside Yaeko. Yaeko shrugged, saying; “This is Providence High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. They probably don’t get a lot of Asian students, at least not ones that keep their ethnic names. She couldn’t get your name for the first six weeks, Duval.” Yaeko pointed out. The boy, Duval sighed, saying; “Echo, you’re just too sweet to these people.” Yaeko shrugged, glancing over at Duval. She sighed, her smile a little weaker as she saw him, glued to his phone, like he always was. “Listen, Duval, we need to ta-” Before Yaeko could even finish her sentence, Duval interrupted her, saying; “Sorry Love, I have a meeting with my coach tonight, and I need to get home and change. I’ll call you later tonight!” And like that, he kissed her cheek and left. Yaeko watched his back as he left, his locs bouncing as he ran down the hall like he hadn’t just shattered her heart, again. He forgot their anniversary, again. She sighed, adjusting her backpack on her back as she walked down the hallway to the bus lot. She had marching band practice until 6:30, but she liked to watch as the lot emptied, and liked to watch as her supposed ‘boyfriend’ walked another girl to her bus everyday. She watched, heart sinking, as he walked Gia Smile to her bus, giving her a hug as if they were actually dating. ‘What are boys, but life lessons wrapped in pretty faces and smiles?’ -Grandma Ayane.

Yaeko turned, walking to the band room. The smell of pine sol, bleach, must, and fresh wax filled her nose, and she knew what that meant. They were about to either get cursed out, or worked to the bone. But, she wouldn’t want it any other way.

Yaeko sat on the bus at the edge of the seat as the girl beside her yapped endlessly. “Honestly, La Nina and La Nino are just so cool! Speaking of, can you help me with my math test Yaeko? I don’t really need like, help, just someone to help me make sure I have everything down pact, because if I take another zero, my parents will freaking kill me!” The girl whined. Yaeko giggled, saying; “Of course Charlotte, what are academic friends for? But only if you help me with my AP US government and politics homework, I don’t need it, but it’s good to make sure you have everything memorized 100%.” Yaeko said as she poked Charlotte’s nose. Charlotte chuckled, saying; “Yeah, wouldn’t expect anything less from our school representative.” Charlotte pulled at her uniform, her white polo shirt slightly stained with dirt, her Khaki pants matching that. Yaeko shrugged, saying; “It’s lonely at the top, right?” Yaeko looked behind Charlotte at the window, seeing as it rounded the corner to her house, her royal blue polo clean and pressed, along with her black pants. “Alright Charlotte, the next stop is mine, so will tomorrow at like… 1pm work for you? I have marching band practice at 3-6 on weekends.” Yaeko said as she stood up, gripping her backpack and flute case. Charlotte nodded, saying; “Yeah, Saturday at 1 works for me. I have to work at 3:30 anyway. Oh, and Judah told me to tell you he pushed back the date for our senior class pictures, because a lot of people don’t get off work until 9. They are tomorrow at 9:30 instead.” She said as she showed Yaeko the texts briefly. Yaeko nodded, saying; “Alright, oh… And text Judah that I’ll be taking my pictures alone this year… You know I broke my phone last week.” Charlotte raised a brow, asking; “What happened to you taking photos with Duval? You two take photos together every year?” Yaeko sighed, feeling as the bus came to a stop. “It’s… A long story, I’ll text you about it tonight through my laptop, if it decides to work.”

Yaeko walked up the driveway, pulling out her keys and unlocking the front door. Immediately, she was enveloped in the warmth of her home, and the delicious smell of Tonkatsu. She shut and locked the door, announcing her presence. Her dad called out to her, saying; “Annyeong, nae salang! Jigeum jom bappeujiman, oneul bam neoui haluneun eottaessneunji deudgo sip-eo! Salanghae!” (Hi, my love! I'm a little busy right now, but I'd love to hear about your day tonight! I love you!) Yaeko walked into the living room, setting down her flute as she spotted her dad at his desk, working diligently on his laptop. He was an assistant at a huge tech company, so he didn’t have tons of free time, but he always made time for his wife and daughter. So Yaeko learned to appreciate him when he was around, and admire him when he wasn’t.

His platinum blonde hair was short, a little messy too with silver streaks. He was only around 47, but going grey early ran in his family. He was pale, with deep blue rich eyes. He’d grown up in an abusive home, and at first, he didn’t understand what to do with a child. But deep down, Yaeko knew she couldn’t have asked and received a better father.

Yaeko smiled, saying; "(Dad, it's okay. I understand. I love you too.)" She walked into the kitchen, spotting her mother stood above the stove, deep frying pork cutlets. Yaeko smiled, saying; "(Hey Mom!)" Her mother turned around, smiling warmly as she said; “(Hey Yaeko! I'm making tonkatsu tonight! It'll only take an hour, so could you clean Pearl's tank? It's a little smelly and today is feeding day. I bought some mealworms and put them in the fridge.)" She said as she continued frying the pork cutlets evenly. Her long silky black hair was down to her waist, framing her beautiful. Her bright red eyes more of telling her instead of asking, like usual. Yaeko didn’t mind though, she knew her mother just wanted her to be disciplined. Before Yaeko could agree, her father budded in, saying; “Amaya, my love, there’s no need for that, pearl doesn’t eat until after 9, and it’s only 7:05.” Yaeko chuckled. Her parents drifted between Korean, Japanese, and English so much she was almost completely fluent in all three by the age of 12. Her mom, Amaya, sighed, saying; "(Jung-hwa, I understand that. But it's better to be early than late, right?)" Yaeko cleared her throat, saying; “It’s okay, pearl is my leopard gecko, and feeding her now is no stress on me, I promise.” Yaeko giggled as she swung open the fridge, grabbing the cold case of mealworms and walking towards the shoe rack, slipping her sneakers off and setting them down neatly. She trotted up the stairs, setting her bag down in her rolling chair by the door, her flute case too. She set down the mealworms on her dresser, next to a large tank. She sighed, plopping down onto her bed.

Once she was done cleaning out Pearl’s tank, and eating dinner, she picked her up, her white bumpy skin and brown eyes staring at her as Yaeko sat her on her bed, following suit and scrolling through her laptop, the one that was held together by scotch tape, duck tape, stickers, and prayers. Pearl roamed Yaeko’s bed, as usual, while Yaeko scrolled through Facebook. There, on her feed, was the Gia she’d seen Duval with everyday for the past week. Her heart plummeted, as she saw her, sat on his lap, kissing as she posted; “Happy 2 month anniversary!” Yaeko just stared at the screen, before opening the comments, and simply typing; “Congratulations!” A few minutes later, she couldn’t see the post anymore. Duval frantically started texting her, spamming her endless messages. Yaeko stared at her inbox, her inbox exploding from him and her friends. She sighed, before finally texting him; “I’m sorry.” And blocking him. She shut her chromebook, tears welling up in her eyes, when Pearl waddled over. Her big brown eyes so wide. Yaeko smiled, geckos always looked like they were smiling, she was too cute to still be sad. She scooped Pearl up gently, and she crawled up her arm and into her hair. Yaeko chuckled, looking around her room. Countless and endless photos of her family, her friends. What was one boy to the limitless people who love her, and could love her later. Now, did she still sob for an hour? Yes, but that was gonna happen regardless.

Chapter oneeee done!!!