Forest City Chapter 14 -Me Time-

    Cobalt straightened his back and balled his hands up into fists. I watched as Monty straightened his glasses and stepped a little closer towards Cobalt, almost as if he was hiding from Bonnie. Speaking of which, she stood before us her arms crossed and one foot tapping.

    "I want to talk to Mac alone," Bonnie started, "Don't worry because I won't do anything to harm h- them."

    "I don't trust you Bonnie, never again, you leave Mac alone," Cobalt replied.

    "I don't care whether or not you trust me, I just want to talk to Mac, alone!" Bonnie snapped back at Cobalt.

    "It's fine, Cobalt, I'll go with her," I replied, "I can fend for myself.

    "What class do you have next," Bonnie asked.

    "Chemistry," I answered.

    "I'm going that way, as for you two," Bonnie demanded, "you aren't going that way, so, get to class!" Bonnie had an air of superiority about her, when she made her demand, Cobalt obliged and as he was walking away, he glanced back at Bonnie and let out a low and threatening growl.

    "So," Bonnie started, "my mom has you down on the guest list for her upcoming party."

    "Oh, I u-uh met her last night,"I stuttered and thought, I may or may not have told her we were friends.

    "Well, she has you listed down as my friend," Bonnie replied with a hint of aggression, "what did you tell my mom!?"

    "I-I, she probably... my aunt is her friend... she maybe just assumed," I stammered.

    Bonnie cooled down, "Whatever you told my mom isn't true, but she will kill me if she finds out that I- YOU lied."

    "Bonnie, I'm so sorry, she told me some things about your brother and I felt bad," I tried to reason.

    "We can pretend to be friends for that night, then... I never want to speak to you or Cobalt, EVER again!" Bonnie threatened, I watched as she made her way into the Biology classroom next to the Chemistry room.

    Pretend to be friends, I thought, what if that doesn't work, what if we actually do become friends or even worse, I'm put on the guest list again. I made my way into the Chemistry room, it was a classroom, but was bigger and had more equipment.

    Mr. Jackal adjusted his goggles and started, "Any reason why you are late Summerwood?"

    "Mrs. Lanigera kept us after the bell," I replied, then noticed a slip of paper amongst my notebooks in hand.

    Mr. Jackal straightened his back and continued, "Find your seat Summerwood," he was an old mangled looking dog with a hunched over back, I can't tell you if his goggles were for seeing or if his memory was just fading and he kept them on all the time. He constantly wears a lab coat at all time, I remembered what Clov had written about Mr. Jackal in her journal. He finally finished, "Hope you weren't out playing those video games with your friends."

    That part punched me in the throat practically, I knew Jackal had seen me walking with Monty yesterday, but I hoped he hadn't put the pieces together that I was hanging around Cobalt. Mr. Jackal was constantly referring to my father when he talked to me, mainly because he had my father in his class.

    I found my seat next to Toni, we had the same Chemistry class which was nice to know, so I didn't feel so bad about constantly being compared to my dad. Toni smiled, then faced towards the front of the class.

    "How did you get here so early?" I whispered.

    "The first rules of safety..." Mr. Jackal started, I cut his voice out.

    "Oh, I know a few shortcuts, plus, I'm a horse," Toni answered, "this old dog is so boring."

    "I know, I think he hates squirrels," I replied.

    "Yeah, he hates me too, you know because I'm trans," Toni finished, "Probably should listen to this old geezer."

    Mr. Jackal made eye contact with Toni and asked, "What is the third rule safety rule, Toni?"

    "I-I uh," Toni stuttered.

    I swiftly pointed to a piece of paper in front of me.

    "Rule 3 says that, we are not allowed to wear hats in the Chemistry room," Toni said word for word.

    "Aye, that's right, Toni," Jackal motioned his hand and pointed at Toni's beanie, "Make sure you can see and if you need one there are rubber bands to pull your hair back."

    Toni's hair was a deep blue color with pink highlights, she had a black beanie pushing down on her hair that covered their eyes. Toni slipped me a note.

    If you want to add me to your notebook, I'm Toni, 18, she/her, transgender, and a lesbian, the note said. I took the note and placed it on the front of my notebook on the first page.

    "Don't worry about Mr. Jackal, he used to do that with me last year," Cobalt started.

    It was lunchtime and I had worked up a huge appetite, Aunt Hazel insisted that I ate cold lunch, she even packed Cobalt some lunch too. Monty sat down at the table, he also brought cold lunch, it doesn't seem like anyone here really likes school food.

    "Sorry if the food is all vegan, we aren't meat eaters and Hazel has a gluten sensitivity, I think it might be contagious," I warned Cobalt.

    "I don't think that is possible," Monty replied he had my notebook in hand and was writing about Toni, I decided to just let him take the notebook when I wanted to learn about someone new here. Monty had ties with a lot of people around the school, he could easily be the most popular kid at school, but... well he- "I am a social outcast and proud," Monty stated proudly and handed the notebook back to me.

    "So what did Bonnie have to say?" Cobalt asked with a hint of sarcasm.

    "Well, you know how my Aunt Hazel has a little get together with the ladies," I replied, "I may or may not have told Mrs. O'Hare that Bonnie and I were friends..."

    "You what!" Cobalt said in shock, "You absolute idiot!"

    "Yeah, Mrs. O'Hare put me on the guest list as Bonnie's friend and she is not too happy about that," I replied, "We decided to just pretend to be friends for the night, then never speak to each other ever again."

    Monty snorted out into laughter and said, "Did you decide that or did Bonnie decide that!"

    "Bonnie did," my voice lowered.

    "Well, here's the thing, did she mention me at all?" Cobalt asked, "I have a feeling that if I showed up anywhere in the conversation that I'm going with you."

    "Why is Cobalt living with you again?" Monty stepped in.

    "It's complicated, but if Hazel doesn't want me around anymore, I'll crash at your place," Cobalt replied to Monty.

    Monty nodded his head in agreement and said, "I'll tell my dads later on today."

    I started typing in Bonnie's number in on my phone and sent a text to her.

    Macadamia has joined the conversation.

    Mac: 12:08 "SOOOOO what are the plans."

    Bonnie<3 has joined the conversation.

    Bonnie<3: 12:10 "Oh, the plans, my birthday is on September 14th. Try to wear something fancy or casually fancy."

    Mac: 12:12 "Was Cobalt invited?"

    Bonnie<3: 12:13 "Yes! My mother had the audacity to invite that stupid little..."

    Mac: 12:15 "Well, I'll make sure that he avoids you at all cost."

    Bonnie<3: 12:18 "No, Mac! You don't understand! I have to be around everyone at my party, including you, and including Cobalt!"

    Mac: 12:19 "I'm sorry Bonnie."

    Bonnie didn't text me back, I have a feeling she's quite upset with me and is not going to text me back. I felt genuinely sorry for her, it's not her fault that I had to go to her birthday part, it was not her fault that Cobalt had to tag along with us, and it's not her fault that her brother ran away. I could not fathom how much pain she was going through, so much, to lash out at anyone she sees.