NINETEEN

I was in social studies class when Madam Sylvia said,"Today we are going to talk about your roots."

"But we're not trees."An anonymous voice said.

The whole class giggled at the joke while the teacher half closed her eyes. She continued,"There's a test tube on each of your tables and I want you to put a source of your D.N.A. into it and write your names on it. I will conduct a test to see which country you originally came from. When you find your homeland, you will have to write a report about it."

I held a strand my hair, to pull it off then it said,"Why are you doing this?!"

"Sorry dude, but I have to do this."

"Why? I make you cute, I protect you from the sun, I harbour lice for you, I do everything, so why?! Is it my fault? Maybe I could change."

"It's not you, it's me."

I pulled but it hurt so I stopped. I wasn't giving up...

I went to my locker to take a pair of scissors but when I opened it, it was empty. The only thing left was one of those toy cameras which have pictures that change at the push of a button.

Cameron...

I went back to class and Mrs. Sylvia was taking the test tubes. I got an idea, but I didn't like it.

I spat a gob of saliva and it dangled over the test tube, being supported by the thin stick of liquid holding it.

I didn't want to touch it, so I shook my head but it ended up landing on my cheek.

"Aaah! Help me! Get it off, get it off, get it off!"

The entire class was looking at me, I was so disgusted till Mrs. Sylvia used a tissue to clean my cheek.

I was so thankful and wondered...

Why is saliva tolerable when in your mouth, but the moment you spit it out, it's unbearable?

I went out of class to chemistry and sadly, my lab partner was none other than... Cameron.

"Finally we're together, in the chemistry lab I can destroy you and make it look like an accident."He said, rubbing his gloved hands together.

"Now we are going to conduct a test for lipids. So take the castor bean on your table and blend it. Then put the crushed beans into a test tube with some ethanol and shake it properly. Then pour water into another test tube and pour the mixture in. If you see it form a whitish emulsion, know there are lipids present in them."

I mixed the blended beans and added them to some ethanol. I poured water into another test tube and I looked at the teacher for a second.

Just then, there was an explosion and small fire balls were flying. I ducked below the table to avoid getting burned.

I got up after the fireworks were over and looked at the small flames scattered around the desk.

The teacher came and saw something silver on the table. She picked it up with some tweezers and said,"Sodium? Okay, who did this?!"

I knew it was Cameron, not only because of his evil smile or his threat, but also because he said to my face that he did it.

I got so furious that I punched that spoiled bully in the nose.

He wasn't expecting that and fell on his back, looking frightened.

"I'm sorry I won't do that again!"He yelled.

That's all I needed to do?

"Fine, you may go."

He scampered away and everyone had their eyes on me, then I heard the P.A. system say,"Tommy Hawkins, move to the Principal's office, immediately."

What had I done?!

I slowly walked to the office and saw Cameron crying then the Principal said,"What happened? Why did you punch him?"

"Because he's been trying to kill me! Literally!"

"Stop lying about my son..."

Your son?!

"Sit right there."She said, pointing to a seat.

I went to sit down, anxiously while she picked up a phone and made a call.

Mark was drinking some coffee when he got a call, he answered it and spat out the brown beverage in his mouth.

"What do you mean Tommy got into a fight?!"

"I don't know how you are raising that child but such unruly behaviour would not be tolerated in this school."

"I'll be right there."

He postponed all his appointments for the day and ran to his car as fast as he could, and he was fast, using his parkour skills to climb down the stairs.

I was sitting on the chair when Mark barged in, in a tuxedo as usual.

He went to take a seat and they conversed, I didn't hear anything apart from,"He must be punished, an indefinite suspension should do the trick."

"No, you can't suspend him, he's a good kid, I'm sure there was a reason."

"My son is not a trouble maker if that is what you are insinuating."

"Then why don't we ask them both?"

She looked at him with a serious face and said,"Fine."

They asked Cameron first and he said,"I was minding my own business one day and then he jumped on a locker and stage dived onto me..."

"What?! That's not true!"I yelled.

"Let him speak, Thomas."The Principal said.

I kept quiet as he continued,"Since then, he had been up to get me, setting traps, throwing stuff at me and more."

The Principal was furious but Mark remained silent. I looked at Cameron eye to eye, with that same face Mark uses to intimidate people and mouthed,"You're dead."

The thirteen year-old freaked out and yelled,"It's not true, I lied! I'm the one who had been setting traps for him and throwing stuff at him..."

"Cameron!"The Principal yelled.

"I'm sorry and I won't do it again, please forgive me."

After that, he got detention for a month and was scheduled for Summer school.

I went home feeling both happy and scared, happy because I was finally free yet scared because I didn't know how Mark would react.

He was silent the whole journey back home. He got out of the car first and walked away, I followed him into his study and he sat down and said,"You shouldn't be fighting in school."

"But he wanted to kill me."

"Then you should have told one of the teachers or me, that's why I'm your guardian."

I looked down as he continued,"It's my fault."

"What?"

"I shouldn't have been performing dangerous stunts like that in front of you."

"It's not your fault, I just got so mad I lost control."

He said,"You remind me of myself."

"What do you mean?"

"When I was in highschool, I met a bully forcing a girl to date him, I went to help her but he pushed me headfirst into a water fountain. I furiously stood up and punched him, he also returned it and we ended up both getting suspended. The girl ended up falling in love with me and we dated till college."

"Lucy?"

He nodded.

I just learned the secrets of the universe...