you’re the one who wanted to do the whole project by yourself,” he defended himself. “If you want more help, just let me know. I’ll work something out.”
“As you should!” I hissed. “I only said I’d do the project by myself because I thought you were an idiot. Turns out you can solve some problems better than me, so you aren’t getting out of it anymore.”
“Fine,” he replied, airily, as he reached into his binder. He pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to me. “Work around this.”
It was a schedule. A full schedule.
“You have one afternoon a week free,” I muttered. “Are you kidding? We can’t get anything done with all of this in the way.”
He shrugged. “I’m a busy guy.”
Dr. Strickland started her daily slideshow. When she got to the lab plans, I realized we were about to do our first dissection, so I wanted to pay close attention. Doing it incorrectly wasn’t an option.
My eyes traveled to Adam. He was playing a game on his phone.
“Pay attention,” I hissed. “We only get directions once.”
He ignored me.
Dr. Strickland started handing out what looked like baking trays but with dead frogs instead of cookies. Adam didn’t even look up when she put our tray in front of us.
I grabbed the scalpel and got started. Dr. Strickland’s slideshow had been in-depth, which made me confident to start right away. In fact, by the time my classmates started the assignment, I was almost halfway done.
“Wow, amazing work, Phoebe!” Dr. Strickland said, stopping in front of us. “I’ve never seen a woman take to dissection so quickly. You’re a natural!”
I blushed. “Oh, it’s nothing really—”
“Adam, have you done any work on this?” she asked. “Both partners have to work on the lab project for credit.”
Adam gave her a confused look. She raised her brows.
“Help Phoebe. You aren’t partners so she can carry you through this class,” she scolded.
He rolled his eyes. “Alright.”
I was horrified. I did not want to give him the scalpel—but I did anyway. Rules are rules.
He looked overwhelmed as soon as the tray was in front of him. He snapped on his latex gloves and gave me a nervous glance.
“How do I do this?” he whispered.
“I told you to watch the slideshow.”
He rolled his eyes and started slicing away. There was no thought process, no care. He just sliced until frog organs were everywhere—most not fully intact. He ruined the project—the project I had perfected.
“You idiot!” I shrieked. “You ruined it!”
Dr. Strickland turned on her heel and raised her brows at the sound of my voice. Her dress shoes click-clacked across the classroom as she approached us. The closer she got the more I hated Adam for his moronic contribution. Surely, once she saw the mess he made she would fail us both.
“Oh, Phoebe, I’m sure it’s not that ba—oh wow,” she said, her eyes widening. “You really did a number on your subject there, Adam. Not sure you’re going to get much more out of it to dissect, considering you kind of . . .”
“Sliced it up beyond recognition?” I interrupted, heatedly. “Nice going, Adam.”
“I tried my best.” He shrugged. “If we’re gonna be lab partners, you’ll have to get used to it.”
My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe he wasn’t taking responsibility.
“Adam, you destroyed our project.”
“It was an accident, and it’s not like I give a damn anyway. When it comes down to it, the school will make Strickland pass me.”
“ Some of us aren’t leaning on a football scholarship,” I said beyond angry. “Academics are all I have.”
He gave me a dirty look.
“And my social life is all I have. If I become a science geek, I’ll be giving up all of my friends. My reputation. You need to understand some things are more important than a grade.”
I scoffed. “And you need to understand some things are more important than what other people think.”
He had nothing to say.
We were