The Lab partner from Hell
720 Words
If there was one thing Ava had learned at Ridgewood, it was that peace never lasted long.
And today, peace lasted approximately three minutes.
“Alright, class,” said Mr. Carter, adjusting his glasses as he paced the front of the chemistry lab. “For the next two weeks, you’ll be working on a group experiment project worth forty percent of your grade. Choose your partners wisely.”
The room instantly filled with whispers. People started pairing off, laughing and shuffling seats. Ava already knew who she wanted—her friend Lila, reliable, organized, and quiet.
She turned, catching Lila’s eye.
“Want to—”
“I already promised to work with Jenna!” Lila whispered apologetically. “Sorry, Ava!”
Ava blinked. “Wait—what?”
Before she could look for anyone else, Mr. Carter’s voice sliced through the noise.
“Moreno… and Blake. You’re partners.”
The universe, she decided, officially hated her.
Ava froze. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Ethan looked up from his desk, eyebrows raised in mock surprise. “Guess we’re stuck together, Moreno. Fate’s funny like that.”
Mr. Carter smiled, clearly enjoying the reaction. “I expect top-tier work from the two of you. Consider this an opportunity to… combine your strengths.”
Ava groaned. “Or destroy each other,” she muttered under her breath.
They sat together at Lab Table 4 — the tension thick enough to cut with a scalpel.
Ethan was spinning his pen again. Of course he was.
“So,” he began, “how do you want to split this? You handle the boring stuff, I make it look good?”
Ava shot him a glare sharp enough to peel paint. “You’ll do your half, I’ll do mine, and we’ll both survive. Barely.”
He grinned. “Come on, Moreno. Admit it — you love working with me.”
“Love?” She laughed coldly. “The only thing I love is silence, which you’ve apparently never heard of.”
Ethan leaned closer, lowering his voice. “You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were jealous of me.”
Ava blinked, stunned. “Jealous? Of you? You couldn’t pay me enough.”
He smirked. “You’re definitely jealous.”
Ava grabbed her lab manual and slammed it open. “Let’s just start the experiment before I ‘accidentally’ spill acid on your shoes.”
For the next hour, they worked side by side — Ava scribbling calculations, Ethan recording observations.
At first, they managed to stay civil. But that lasted until Ethan dropped a beaker.
It shattered on the table, splashing solution dangerously close to their papers. Ava jumped up. “Are you insane? That could’ve ruined my notes!”
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Ethan said quickly, grabbing paper towels. “No harm done.”
“No harm done?” Ava snapped. “Do you even care about this project?”
He paused, looking at her more seriously now. “Of course I care. Just… not as much as you care about winning.”
Ava froze. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means maybe you’d actually enjoy school if you stopped treating it like a war zone,” he said, voice calm but firm. “You act like every grade is life or death.”
Her throat tightened. “Maybe that’s because it kind of is.”
Ethan blinked at her, surprised by the edge in her voice. But before he could respond, Mr. Carter announced the end of class.
Ava grabbed her notebook, muttering, “I’ll finish the report tonight. Don’t bother.”
Ethan called after her, “You really need to chill, Moreno!”
She didn’t turn around.
If she had, she might’ve seen the faint, confused look on his face — the first crack in his easy confidence.
That evening, in the quiet of her dorm, Ava opened her laptop and sighed.
She hated him. She had to hate him.
But when she started typing their joint report, she couldn’t stop replaying his words.
“Maybe you’d actually enjoy school if you stopped treating it like a war zone.”
He was wrong. He had to be.
Still, something in her chest twisted — a feeling she couldn’t label yet
- Writer
