Lab Partners

Lab Partners

A Story by Yari Garcia (Older Profile)
"

This is a short story I had to come up with for my Creative Writing class. Very simple and cutesy-- I hope you enjoy :-)

"

I cringed as Professor Marcus announced our lab partners.  I was stuck with Miley Hatfield, the beautiful-yet-stuck-up cheerleader I’d been crushing on all year.  The bubbly girl sat next to me, her blond hair up in a ribbon, her cheerleading uniform perfectly ironed.  She chewed on a wad of bubble gum that smelled of cherries.

Looks like I’ll be doing the entire frog dissection myself, I thought.  Yeah, I was angry, but at the same time, I didn’t mind doing all the work.  My crush was that bad.

“Look, you don’t have to--” I began, but was quickly cut off by Miley.

“We should use the scalpel carefully to cut through the epidermis,” Miley said, “then use the scissors to carefully cut through the muscle layer.  We don’t want to cut too deep and lacerate the mesentery, lungs, or other organs.”  Miley giggled and gave me a smile.  “Do you want to cut the epidermis or muscle layer?  Oh, we can rock-paper-scissors for it!”

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.  I stared as Miley held out a fist on top of her open palm, the universal symbol for I’m ready to rock-paper-scissors.

“Uh… yeah, sure,” I managed to say before holding out my fist and palm, hoping my hands wouldn’t shake.  I wouldn't be doing the project alone, but that only meant my list of problems increased.  I no longer had the excuse not to ask Miley out because she was stuck up.  She was actually quite lovely…

One, two, three.  I chose rock.

Miley wrapped her paper hand around my fist, making my pulse quicken… my crush on Miley only getting worse.

“I win!”

            I looked at her as she smiled and got to work.  I was floored.

            No, no.  Snap out of it!  I told myself.  This was too good to be true.  At any moment now, Miley would turn to me and do something typical, like tentatively remove my glasses and tell me how much better I look without them.  Typical cool-girl-trying-to-be-nice-to-the-dweeb move.

            “So, how’d you get into cheerleading?” I asked, prompting her to drop her nice-girl attitude and adopt her real, stuck-up one.

            “Well, I just love dancing,” she said simply, “and the school has no dance team, so cheerleading made sense.”  She shrugged.  There was a brief moment of awkward silence as she sort of smiled at me.  “But I highly doubt I’ll be getting a dance scholarship, so…” she pointed at the frog with her scalpel, “…let’s get froggin’.”

            Mmmhh.  I expected her to go on and on about her dreams of being a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.  When that didn’t happen, I finally stopped staring at her cherry lips and leaned in to see her cutting into the frog.

            And promptly fainted.

            There was a clang and a clatter as my world tilted from underneath me, and the floor rushed up to meet my face.  Lightheaded and on the ground, Miley’s face swam around my head, looking down on me, concerned.

            “Julian, are you okay?”  She asked, her voice echoing in my mind.  I saw her leaning down over me, the overhead lights forming a halo around her pretty blond hair.  This was it.  She was leaning in to give me CPR…

            “Don’t worry Julian, I’ll get Professor Marcus.  He’ll know what to do.”

            “No, no, I’m okay,” I said groggily, sitting up.  Then my vision cleared and reality struck me.  There were smiling and snickering faces looking down at me, all around me.  I even heard one student say, “O. M. G.  Really??”

            Embarrassed, I sat up and allowed Miley and Professor Marcus to help me onto a chair, at a desk far away from any lacerated frogs.  I was given paper and pen to write a short essay in lieu of doing the actual dissection.  I groaned internally as I watched Miley work without a partner.  She kept glancing back at me and smiling warmly, making sure that I was okay.  She wasn’t even fazed or upset.  She simply tackled the project herself.

            I was no longer simply crushing on the stuck-up cheerleader like everyone else.  She was smart, kind, funny, friendly…not just some popular girl.  And I knew right then and there--from the reject-who-can’t-handle-a-dissection chair--that I no longer had an excuse to not ask her out.  I had to try.

            And that made me so much queasier than the dead frogs.

 

****

 

            “You either have to go up the hierarchy, or you’ll drag her down to your level.”

            Among the clatter of forks, cheap plastic trays, and laughter, my best friend was making no sense.  “What are you talking about?” I asked Carlos.

            “You, going out with Miley,” Carlos replied, waving his fork in the air for emphasis.  “Either you have to become popular, or she risks her popularity being seen with a dork like you.”

            “Gee, thanks,” I mumbled.  Carlos sounded shallow and stupid, but it sort of made sense.  A quick glance around the crowded cafeteria, and I knew exactly what he meant.

            The cafeteria was perfectly compartmentalized-- the goth students were a blur of black clothing in one corner; the geeks sat at the table closest to the trash cans; the jocks all wore their jackets at the loudest table; and the cheerleaders all looked like someone hit “copy & paste,” over and over again.

            Aside from Miley, of course.  I quickly looked back at Carlos when she glanced my way.

            “Come on, Julian.  Give it up,” Carlos insisted.  “She’d be risking her reputation going out with you.  We don’t fit in anywhere--not even at the geek table!”

            “You’re wrong,” I meant to say it with conviction, but my voice trembled.  Ehem!  “She’s not like that.  It’s been three days since I fainted in class, and she still checks up on me, asks me how I’m doing.  She’s a good person.”

            “You fainted?”

            “Carlos, help me out here.  I really like this girl.”

            Carlos let out an exasperated sigh.  “Dude, you’re just setting yourself up for disaster.  Why ruin what you have?  Can’t you just be her friend?”

            “You want me to be Friendzoned??”  I said with all the drama I could muster.  Really, what was Carlos thinking?

            “Julian, I’ve heard that she’s never even been asked out.  Ever.  Even the jocks are out of her league.”  Carlos leaned back on his chair, the conversation over for him.  He’d made his point, but I wasn’t going to give it up.  Miley had proven to be a really special person, and my crush had grown to such epic proportions that I refused to ignore it.

            “I’m going to be the first one to ask her out,” I stated.  Carlos just looked at me, unfazed, his body language calling my bluff.  So I added, “Right now.”

            This made him lean forward so quickly that his chair made a horrible screeching sound against the linoleum floor.  “Julian-- don’t.”

            I got up before I even knew what I was doing.  I broke eye contact with Carlos and headed boldly to Miley’s table.

            My confidence lowering with each step.

            What was I doing?  I was unpopular, unstylish, un-everything!  As I passed each table arranged neatly by clique, I could feel all eyes on me.  I was breaking all the unwritten rules of high school.  Still, I kept walking-- confidence lowering, heartbeat rising, and profuse sweat possibly happening.

            I reached Miley’s table before I thought of anything to say.

            I had eight different pairs of cheerleader eyes staring up at me, if I even counted correctly in my borderline hysterical state.  “Hi, Miley,” someone said, and I realized it was me.

            “Hey, Julian!” Miley said with a smile.  “Girls, this is Julian, my lab partner.  Sit down.”

            “Um, no… that’s okay,” I said.  “I just wanted to ask you a question.”

            Miley smiled.  “Yes?”

            “Do you want to go out sometime?”  Holy crap, that was loud.  In my nervousness, I must have lost control of my volume.  I braced myself.  No matter what happens, you tried, I told myself, and it sounded stupid, even to myself.

            The time between the question and the answer seemed to stretch forever.

            “I’d like that,” Miley said, her soft cheeks blushing lightly.  “Text you?”

            I nodded my head yes, gave a little wave to all the girls, and turned back to my table, where Carlos waited with a hanging jaw.

            “Didn’t I tell you he was cute?” I heard Miley say behind me, and I smiled.

 

The End

© 2017 Yari Garcia (Older Profile)


Author's Note

Yari Garcia (Older Profile)
This is a short story I had to come up with for my Creative Writing class. Very simple and cutesy-- I hope you enjoy :-)

Honest feedback is welcomed :-) Positive? Negative? Doesn't matter~ tell me what you think ^.^

My Review

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Featured Review

Nice, realistic exchanges between your characters. It was easy to understand where everyone was coming from and why they did/thought what they did. I would normally say the main character falling in love so quickly is too cliche and unrealistic, but in a high school setting, it seems entirely plausible. Teenagers "fall in love" easily and quickly. Enjoyable story.

Posted 6 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Yari Garcia (Older Profile)

6 Years Ago

Hi! Thanks for taking the time to read and offer feedback.
You raise a great point when it c.. read more



Reviews

Nice, realistic exchanges between your characters. It was easy to understand where everyone was coming from and why they did/thought what they did. I would normally say the main character falling in love so quickly is too cliche and unrealistic, but in a high school setting, it seems entirely plausible. Teenagers "fall in love" easily and quickly. Enjoyable story.

Posted 6 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Yari Garcia (Older Profile)

6 Years Ago

Hi! Thanks for taking the time to read and offer feedback.
You raise a great point when it c.. read more
Smartly written and realistically portrayed.
While I'm eons removed from any kind of school, you kept my interest, throughout.
Kudos, Yari!

Posted 6 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Yari Garcia (Older Profile)

6 Years Ago

Hi, Jimmy!
Thank you for taking the time to read and review my story :-) I truly appreciate .. read more

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251 Views
2 Reviews
Added on June 8, 2017
Last Updated on June 12, 2017
Tags: teen romance, young adult romance, young adult

Author

Yari Garcia (Older Profile)
Yari Garcia (Older Profile)

Denver, CO



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