I was almost late to AP Chem, and I slipped in just as the bell rang. Mrs. Hal already had a detention slip in her hand. It was the first day of school. The least she could do was give me some slack. I looked around to see where to sit, but everyone in the class was scattered though. Nobody was sitting.
"Good to see you will be joining us again this year, Skyler." Mrs. Hal said. It was my sophomore year, and I was almost 16 already. Older than most people in the grade. They just had turned 15, or were going to turn 16 this year. I was the latter.
"Alright everyone!" Mrs. Hal shouted over the kids that were talking. "We will be assigning seats today." She said.
Great. I thought. Just great. Of course she decided to assign seats that day. She called off the names one by one, and everyone did the awkward dance to get to there seat, and to see who their lab partner was going to be this year.
"Skyler Goreman, Hugo Jacobs." She pointed at the two seats three rows back. Hugo. I thought. He was new here. Even though, he still had made connections I could see. He waved his soccer friend goodbye before coming to sit down next to me. He had nice brown hair, and broad shoulders. I wonder if he plays soccer. I thought. I could play quite well. My dad had taught me when I was little.
Someone caught my eye. It was Aaron Jones. He and his little pose were in my Chemistry class. This was going to be a long year.
"The first thing we are going to do is titrations!" She exclaimed. Groans could be heard from throughout the class. Mrs. Hal started to hand out lab papers when I felt a small thump on the back of my neck. I turn around to see Aaron.
"Eff you." He holds up his middle finger in my direction. I look back at him.
"You too." I say, before winking. My sarcasm didn't help. His face turns dark.
"Are they bothering you?" Hugo asks. I turn back around.
"No. Everything is fine." I say. Hugo smiles.
" I don't think we've met. My name is Hugo." He extends his hand. Maybe he wasn't going to be another tormentor for me this year. He actually seemed nice. Something rare to find at South Creek High.
"Skyler. You can call me Sky." I said. I took his hand. It was so smooth, yet firm. A hand I wanted to hold forever.
Stop.
I shouldn't be thinking about that, but I was. Stop it. I commanded myself. Luckily a paper slid into view for me.
"Okay, I'll get us goggles, okay?" Hugo said. I nodded. I turned on the Bunsen burner, and we began.
We were moving really quick. Faster than most people. We had our first round done within a few minutes, and when we were on our 3rd, most people were almost done with their 1st. In return, Mrs. Hal let us do our work outside.
"So, were are you from?" I asked. Hugo looked up from his paperwork.
"Florida." He said. That was common in North Carolina. Tons of people moved north.
"You?" He asked in return. I just shrugged.
"I've lived here my entire life." I said. We both went back to doing our work. I could not help but notice that he would look up at me every once in a while. Finally, he spoke.
"Hey." He said. He placed his hand on top of mine, which was flat on the floor. "If those kids bother you, I'm here. Just ask." He said, pulling back his hand. I nodded my head.
