Chapter 6: Cameron

I kept my goggles on in case of any chemical fogging. I stared at her as she poured in the beaker for the required measurements. I rested my hands on the black table, watching with an eyebrow raise. She was pouring it too close to the beaker. I winced when it splashed on top of the table. She was pouring way too much. She stopped her motion and turned to me with an eyebrow raise. "What?"

"You're supposed to pour 2 ml of sulfur," I told her, trying not to seethe.

"I did. I read the paper." I tossed the paper in front of me, it almost sliced my finger.

"Hey, I could get a paper cut like that!" I caught it on time to avoid the sharp edges. Paper cuts freaking hurt!

"Baby." She went eye level to see the measurements.

"It's too much, let me do it." I attempted to get in front of the beaker.

"I got it. I did it right."

"You didn't, let me do it."

"I already poured it, we have to mix it with the vinegar."

"Wrong, it's the hydrogen peroxide."

"No, wait let me see it." She took the paper from the blacktop table, rereading it. I rolled my eyes, taking the tube for the measurements. "No, it's not that one."

"Yes it is," I told her. "I have photographic memory."

"Oh, my god, you're such a genius! I should just let you do everything!"

"You should."

"No, it's this one. Let me do it."

"No, I got it!" I tried to pull the tube away from her, she gripped it tight. The tube dropped on the floor and she gasped.

"Look what you did!" The shards shattered into pieces on the classroom floor. She went to the floor.

"Don't pick it up with your bare hands, there's a broom and dustpan at the corner. Go get it."

"This was your fault, you clean it." She stood up, meeting my gaze with a hard stare. I watched her nose flare twice.

"Stop being so dramatic, you're making a scene," I told her in a hushed tone.

"You're making a scene, I was doing it right."

The sound of whoops broke from my memory as I recounted that day, it was her fault, she should have listened to me. I wouldn't be here. I made sure my room was tidy before she arrived. I mean, it's always tidy. I still straightened up. I cleaned my frames, took out my laptop and a coding file I've been working on for a few months. I found it calming. I did some sessions, waiting for her to arrive. If I was lucky she would say something came up and I could write the paper by myself. I already made my own outline from my food diary, dating the meal times for extra credit. A soft knock hits my door, "Shit." I placed my laptop on the side of the bed, standing up to answer. I opened the door with a crack. It wasn't Caroline. It was Kat from the party. Her hair was down and straight, her skin was red and fiery. "Kat, what are you doing here?" I asked with a frown.

"Really? Really?" Her voice raised up. She let herself in, pushing past me and she crossed her arms over her chest, frowning.

"Is there a problem?" I asked, shutting my door halfway. I had plans of studying.

"You haven't called me, in like two weeks!" She shrieked, throwing her hands in the air.

"Yes I did."

"No you didn't."

"Ok," I pulled out my phone, showing her my call history. We exchanged numbers the night of the frat party. I remembered calling her twice and she didn't pick up. I showed her my screen. She was still frowning, I tapped and scrolled to the dialed number. "I called you twice and you didn't pick up."

"Oh. Well, I was hung over." She rolled her eyes, turning away.

"And you didn't see the missed calls?"

"My phone's weird. You should have called again."

"I assumed you were busy, classes have started." She pouted. I raised my eyebrow. Oh, god did she think we're together?

"Sorry, I'm sorry for coming in here so short and abrupt. I missed you. I missed seeing your face. You wouldn't think I'd remembered your room?" her voice lowered in a simpering register, walking toward me. I brought her here that night, we made out and went to third base. She passed out and I let her sleep in my bed. But she's assuming we're together. I scratched the back of my head, flipping around my room. Trying to look for the right words to say to not make her mad or sad or miscommunicate.

"Look I'm sorry you missed my calls but I don't get why you're upset."

"I'm not. I just wanted to see you, hear your voice. I actually wanted to come if you had plans today. We could get something to eat."

"I'm busy right now, can we do this later?" I gestured to the door for an exit.

"Are you just saying that to get rid of me?" Her voice quivered and bottom lip trembled.

"No, I have assignments. Don't you have assignments?"
"I do but I don't do them immediately. God, you're such a nerd. A hot nerd." She tugged on the hem of my shirt, lifting it up. I pulled her hands away and sighed.

"I don't have time for this, you gotta go."

"Are you meeting someone?" She frowned.

"I am. My project partner."

"Project partner. Huh." She pouted her mouth suspiciously. "Is that what you call your fuck buddies?"
"No," I frowned.

"Who?" Two soft knocks rapped on the door. Caroline stood in front of the doorway, pushing it all the way with a quizzical look. Her hair was in a ponytail this time, glasses tilted on her nose. She stared at both of us and her notebook clutched to her chest. It reverted back to high school when we passed by in the halls. "Is this a bad time? The door was open."

"Really? Her?" She scoffed, pointing at her with an incredulous expression.

"We're working on a project," I told her.

"Sure, that's probably a euphemism for sex."

"Gross," Caroline said in a disgusted way. Yeah right, she is the last person I would sleep with. "Should I come back another time?"

"Caroline, come in," I said, pulling the door wide open.

"Whatever," she scoffed again, passing by Caroline with a light push to the shoulder, slamming the door. Caroline widened her eyes. "She seemed nicer at the party." She stepped in with three steps and browsed the room from wall to wall. "Hmm," she hummed.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing. Which one is your side?" She asked, pointing to both sides.

"The left one," I said, pointing to my neat bed.

"May I sit on it?"

"What else are you gonna do, lie down?" She rolled her eyes, stepped toward the bed and sat down gently. I shook my head, sitting on the edge. She was wearing a black hooding today, it was larger than her. She's in one of her moods today, the sarcastic one. I moved closer, our knees bumped. "Sorry."

"It's fine." She turned on her computer, pulling up the word document. "Ok, so since we didn't agree on anything the last time, I decided to do a compare and contrast venn diagram for our food diaries instead of a list."

Caroline and her Venn Diagrams. Of course, I should have expected this.

She sighed out in an annoyed way, shaking her head. "I did an outline for myself." I opened my file and showed her what I got. I barely slept a wink last night.

"Show me what you got."

"Well, outlines are better than venn diagrams, easier to understand." She scoffed.

"I can't believe you," she muttered.

"What?" I massaged the bridge between my nose.

"I put in the work for this, I'm doing my best to make this a group effort and you are always assuming you know better."

"I do know better," I said with a shrug.

"Cameron, can't you just agree on something? A compromise? Negotiation?" Her eyes were blazed in anger. She's one of the few girls that maintained eye contact when we spoke. She never looked anywhere on my face. Like she wanted to read my mind. It didn't wander or roam. I made sure our gazes were steady. She was the type I had to keep up with.

"I didn't kidnap you."

"You act like you're being held hostage. I'm willing to work with you. I came here hoping you would agree with me. I stayed up all night doing this. I'm exhausted. You're being difficult. Like always."

"I'm not difficult." I shook my head.

"You are. From the first time I met you, you've been stubborn, picky and unreasonable. It's annoying. You're annoying."

"You're annoying," I shot back.

"Oh my god, nice comeback." She laughed.

"You know what your problem is?" I frowned.

"What?"

"You think you know it all. Like that time you assumed Chloride was a nutrient."

"It is a nutrient. A micronutrient You can see in all the food packaging ingredient labels."

"It's not, it's part of a plant."

"A plant you can get nutrients from, what do you think animals eat?" Her forehead crinkled when she frowned deeper.

"That didn't help when you poured it in the beaker." I shook my head.

"Oh, my god, this again. That wasn't my fault. You didn't listen. And that was sulfur mr I have photographic memory."

"It was sulfur and hydrogen peroxide," I corrected. "You added Chloride."

"No I didn't!"

"Ok, this is getting us nowhere." She stepped to my table, resting her hand on it for a beat. She yawned in her fist, shaking her head to wake herself up.

"You're right. We won't get any results if we keep arguing."

"Another agreement, I should write this down." She walked over to the bed, taking out her planner with the pen attached to the cover. She unclipped it, scribbling on the page with a smirk.

"You're notating our agreements?" I asked in a dull tone.

"Proof that you care." I underlined and wrote the date down. 

"Ha ha." I sat on my bed, shaking my head.

"Ok, so instead we should talk. Get to know each other." The way she said the words made it sound like she was in pain. She sat on the bed as well, pulling out the syllabus with the list of books. We had a week to turn in our first part and she's thinking this was a joke. She handed it to me, I took it with ease. We could prove to coexist in the same room.

"Huh, I never considered that. Yeah, we can do that." She pulled out her notepad and scribbled again.

"Is that necessary?" I asked with a blank stare.

"Yes. Um, what is your favorite book?" She asked.

"The Great Gatsby," I answered.

"The Great Gatsby?" She questioned, the tone in her voice hilted.

"You have a problem with the Great Gatsby?"

"He was delusional."

"Delusional?" Her words made me stand up.

***

We were arguing again. We moved on from books to our project. We were ahead and discussed our presentation slides. We got stuck arguing about background colors. She said blue would be easier to read the words, I said white since it goes with everything. Another hard knock came on my door. I told them to come in. Daniel peeked his head with a soft smile.
"Hey, there is a lot of yelling in here. We assumed it was loud sex, but we heard your voices only. This isn't some type of dirty talk between you two?"

"Ew. Why does everyone assume we're having sex?" She grimaced.

"No," I told him with a frown, "we're working on our project."

"Oh, well carry on. Hey Caroline." He waved.

"Hi Daniel," she smiled. He shut the door behind him. I sighed and we made eye contact again.

"Ok, agree to disagree. Another time, grade grubber."

"I don't do that anymore." She clenched her teeth as she typed in the notes rapidly, a pensive expression on her face when she was in concentration as no one was around her. I checked her computer, nodding to the words on the outline. "Now all we have to do is edit."

"I can do that," I suggested.

"I'll email the draft to you." The whoosh from my phone notification went off.

"Well, at least we made progress today."

"We did. Well done." I almost gagged at my words.

"You too." Her mouth curved into a small smile, she packed up her belongings and headed out. Wow. This was a first. We almost ripped each other's heads off but came out unscathed. I scratched the scar on my elbow, she was still at fault.