Lab Partners (Wattpad Books Edition)

HOLIDAY TUCKER

"It was nothing," I assured her. "I hit my head, that's all. It only hurt for a little while. I feel fine now."

She didn't seem all that convinced, but thankfully moved on to another topic of conversation rather than prodding further. "How's El?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. She likes to lock herself away in her room to study all the time. I suspect you've probably had more contact with her than I have recently."

"She can be like that sometimes." She turned her eyes to the laptop open beside her tray and typed in a few things before an outburst of loud laughter across the room drew our attention. Morgan Cook was joking around with a bunch of boys from the football team.

"You know," Holly drawled, her eyes still trained on Morgan, "I've learned some very interesting things about him recently."

"What kinds of things?" I asked, mildly curious.

"Things he would go to great lengths to keep secret," she said cryptically, tearing her eyes from him and looking at me again. "You know you're like a brother to me, right?"

"I guess so. Why?"

"I'm a Tucker. Tuckers protect their family and don't take shit from anyone. I don't like those guys or how they treat you. You say the word and I'll give them what they deserve."

Images of Holly going off on them like a rabid dog had me fighting a smile. She was fierce. She always had been, even before she'd dyed her hair and started dressing in all black.

When we were all little, Ellie and I had been pretty good kids. We didn't make trouble, we were polite, and we stayed out of things that weren't our business. Holiday on the other hand, was mischievous and got herself into all sorts of trouble. When she and El became friends, our lives were turned upside down. She taught El how to have fun, and I had been the subject of more than one of her devious plans during my childhood.

I had thought she hated me at first, but after she stood up for me on the playground when some older kids wouldn't leave me alone, I realized she didn't. She liked to torment me, yeah, but in the end, she always tried to look out for me.

She was still trying to, but this wasn't her fight. It was mine. I wasn't going to have her around forever, so I needed to deal with it on my own.

"Leave it be, Holiday," I sighed, taking a bite out of my tuna sandwich. "I can handle them."

"Whatever you say." She grabbed an apple slice off of her own tray and popped it into her mouth before turning back to her laptop.

"What are you working on?" I asked, taking a bite of a soggy, salty nacho chip and cringing.

"A computer program."

"Hacking into something?" I asked.

"There's not much else to do here. Boring classes with boring people. Only some of them are turning out to be more interesting than I thought they would be."

"Just don't get yourself arrested."

"Don't roll your eyes at me, you know I wouldn't dream of it," she said, smiling and typing away.

The clattering of a tray hitting the table was unexpected. When I looked up, Jordan was standing next to me.

"You lost?" Holly asked.

"No, just wondering if anyone was sitting here," Jordan said, a hopeful but nervous look on his face.

"It's open," I said, though I couldn't hide the confusion in my tone. Nobody ever sat with me or Holiday so why would anyone want to sit with both of us?