on the REBOUND (On Hold)

Chapter 24

HAYWOOD'S POV

"So who's the unlucky girl?" I drawl. Longan McDonald's face has turned from faint pink to red to puce. It's really pretty amusing to watch him squirm. Poor boy had been practicing silly pickup lines on a sexy looking green MnM painted on the wall of the empty Choc Lodge when I stumbled upon the queer sight. I mean, people usually practice in front of mirrors right? He's gone so shy that even the tips of his ears have a tinge of pink.

"Come onnnn, tell me which trashy girl you were gonna ask out. I thought we were good friends."

Longan merely shakes his head.

"I uh... I was just reading up on pick-up lines for fun haha!" Longan laughs unconvincingly.

Liar. Longan is the worst liar ever.

"Oh really? Hit me with one."

"Well urm..." He scrolls through his phone feverishly, elated that he got let off the hook and I bought his crummy story (which I have not), "you're mixed blood aren't you?"

"Uhuh?"

"Are you half-Chinese, half-angel?"

"HAHAHA WHAT??? Oh my god Longan, I thought you were good at flirting!"

"I AM! With random girls yes, not with the girl I like."

"AH HAHHH! So there IS someone you like. Come on, spit it out."

"No. Why should I?"

Stupid defiant Longan!

"I told you about Tyler." I negotiate.

My god, I really hope he says Tasha, it would be her dream come true! Dancing with him had been the highlight of her orientation, though she said he didn't seem to have enjoyed the pleasure of her company as much as she'd hoped...

Or maybe it's Renn! They actually look much more compatible cuz she's got the sporty vibe too. And, he's been ever so nice to her all along. Renn-gan! Oh no, Lo-Renn sounds like a much better ship. ALL ABOARD THE LO-RENN SHIP!!!

"Hay, you told the whole freagging world." Longan replies dryly as he throws me an almond Magnum (my absolute favorite!) from the freezer.

"Stop being a little biatch. I'll help you wing if you tell me who she is." I gnaw on the cold delicious morsel, which slips down my throat and provides much-needed relief in the hot weather.

"Really?"

"Yea, I'll help you catch this rare Pokemon, bro."

A fleeting and uncharacteristic look of defeat suddenly crosses Longan's face as he bites into his honey and oats granola bar with a loud crunch. I probably imagined it because his face is smooth and inscrutable as before in a blink of an eye. Wordlessly, he gets up from the chair and paces about the room briskly as though he were racking his brains over something important.

Gosh, watching him go around in circles sure is making me dizzy. I better start on my Chemistry lab report.

"Hay," Longan finally manages when I'm two pages into titration techniques and possible sources of error, "can you come along with me to HHH to help me catch my Charizard? Scottie and his girlfriend Prissy will be there."

"Oh, she's a Charizard eh? Fire-spitting feisty type?"

"Only on the days she transforms. Most of the time she's a Charmeleon with a friendly flame."
A small smile graces Longan's handsome features as he talks about his crush. This girl is a lucky one.

Man, if only I could make Tyler smile like that.

Wake up, Hay, we talked about this. No more thinking about T-Y-L-E-R.

I shake my head and quickly bury myself in the lab report, determined not to waste yet another brain cell on Tyler. Longan settles beside me and begins doing the same.

"Longan, are you made of copper and tellurium?"

"Uhm... Some people call me iron man, but never copper and tellurium."

"Oh my god you jackass, the answer is supposed to be 'yes, cuz I'm Cu-Te.'"

"You think I'm cute?" Longan gives me a mock hopeful look and flutters his long lovely lashes at me, to which I roll my eyes and stomp on the butterflies that have randomly appeared in my stomach.

"Ok, here's another one. What is the element with the symbol 'Ah'?"

Longan flips through his periodic table and scans through it once, twice...

"I can't find it." He pouts like an adorable little boy. Gosh, he's really in a playful mood today.

"It's the element of SURPRISE!" I declare proudly.

"... You're lame as hell, Hay." Longan replies, with a deadpan expression.

"And you're sodium, fluorine, iodine and neon."

"What?"

"You're sodium FINe."

"HAHA! Stop it, Hay, you always do this. You distract me so much I can't concentrate."

"Ok, ok, sorry for being such a fun person to hang out with. Let's study."

I turn my back on Longan and continue with my lab report.

"Do you think we have chemistry?" Longan pipes up out of the blue, as I mentally subtract the final volume from the initial volume of the titrant.

38.7 - 23.4 is

...15.3 cm3

"Yea sure, we have Chem lecture tomorrow afternoon." I murmur absentmindedly.

Shit, does phenolphthalein turn pink in acidic or basic solutions?

A quiet plonk of the door brings me to my senses and I realise Longan has left with his backpack and I'm all alone.

Why? What did I say?

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A/N: Thanks for all the votes and comments lovelies! Y'all keep me going. Proud to say we've hit over a thousand views and over 200 votes ❤️❤️❤️