1
Bonnie Rockwaller held out her hand for the crowd to see. With her other arm, she clutched the tall, deeply tanned student with the high cheekbones and black hair. On her finger was a gold band decorated with a large diamond. On either side were two smaller rubies.
"Isn't it totally gorge?" She twisted her hand so it flashed in the fluorescent lighting. "Jumah gave it to me special!" Bonnie smiled smugly. "Rubies for my birthstone, and the diamond…well, Jumah knows I just love diamonds!"
The sea of students parted as Kim and Ron made their way through the crowd. "Excuse us, excuse us…Oh great." She grimaced at the sight of her archrival.
Bonnie's radar went off the chart as she sensed an opportunity to torture the redhead. She struck a snotty pose as she drawled, "What's the matter, K? Are you Jelling?"
"So not! You're blocking the door to anatomy class!" Kim tried to step around her and the tall boy, but Bonnie blocked her path.
"Did you see my ring? Jumah, my boyfriend, gave it to me!" She pushed the teen boy forward slightly. "You have met Jumah, haven't you? He's the new exchange student from Kuwait!" With an air of contempt, she said, "Have you been to Kuwait, Kim?"
"Rescued the Emir when I was twelve." Kim replied in an equally haughty tone. "And he still sends me a birthday card."
"Whatevs!"
Ron nudged her shoulder. "I'm going to grab a table, KP. Don't wanna get stuck by the radiator again."
Rufus poked his head out of Ron's pocket. "Ew-hew stinky!"
"See you inside." Kim said cheerfully. The crowd had begun to disperse. Catching Bonnie's evil eye, she frowned. "What?"
Bonnie circled the redhead like a vulture. "I was just noticing, Kim, that you don't have a ring. I guess Ron doesn't know about the rules of gift giving while dating."
"There are no rules, Bonnie. You just made that up. Besides, I don't need a ring."
Kim tried once again to enter the classroom, but Bonnie put her arm across the doorframe.
"Don't need a ring!" Bonnie echoed. "Did you hear that, Jummy? Kim obviously doesn't know the basics of BF-GF gift giving! Not like us!" She ticked them off on her fingers. "Flowers, candy, jewelry! And the most important is jewelry! Always jewelry above everything else!"
"Shallow much?" The red bell above their head began to ring. "Oh great. Now we're late. Thanks, Bonnie."
"Welcome, Kim. And FYI, you're late. Jummy and I have lunch." Bonnie's cold laugh could be heard down the hall as the two teens left for the cafeteria.
"OOH!" Kim snarled and slammed the classroom door so hard it rattled the lockers.
"All right, people listen up!" Mr. Barkin bellowed. "As you who weren't sleeping yesterday know, Stoppable…" He glared at the blonde.
Ron was pushing a row of paper clips at his and Kim's lab table. He looked up at the mention of his name. "What?"
"Yeah what?" Echoed Rufus, poking his head out of his cargo pants pocket.
Barkin growled. "Anyway, today we're dissecting our squids."
"EWWW!" Shrieked the students.
"I KNOW it's gross!" Barkin yelled. "You think I don't know it's gross! It's totally gross! If it were up to me, we'd be cutting up worms like Upperton! But 'Happy Anatomy Farms' sent us a shipment of squid by mistake! It's either dissect them or serve them for lunch!"
Monique raised her hand. "But Mr. B, wouldn't that be an improvement? You know, calamari?"
"'Happy Anatomy' sent them in formaldehyde." Barkin sighed. "Let's just get this over with!"
Kim grimaced as she held the bag with the dead squid inside. Holding it upside down, the cephalopod slid out of the plastic and onto the tray. "Oh this is so gross!"
There were groans all around as the students began to make their first cuts. Ron clutched his nose. "Bad smell!" He squeaked.
Up by his desk, Barkin looked woozy as the stench of thirteen squids wafted to his desk. "Sweet Mama Patton, that's rank!" He wheezed.
As Ron slit the squid with his scalpel, Kim watched him. Maybe Bonnie is right. Maybe gifts are an important part of dating…What am I thinking? She shook her head. Knock it off, Kim. You're letting Bonnie get to you again.
Suddenly Ron deposited something in her gloved hands. "What's this?"
"I'm not sure," He answered. "I was hoping you could tell me."
Kim held it between her thumb and forefinger. "If I'm reading the picture guide right, it's the lateral mantel artery."
"Oh, 'cause I just cut it off by mistake."
"Ron!" Cried Kim. "That'll cost us points!"
"Sorry, KP."
"Fifteen points to be exact." Said Barkin, suddenly appearing above them. He shook his head and made a mark on his clipboard.
Kim gave Ron the evil eye. He grinned apologetically and shrugged. Kim just sighed.
As Ron started cutting again, Kim rolled the artery between her fingers. Stupid mantle artery. She thought. I don't even know what it's for. Hmm…The artery was long, thin and rubbery. She folded it around her ring finger and tied the ends in a knot. Well, it's not a diamond…If she closed her eyes, she could picture it as a twenty four karat gold ring with a giant gemstone placed just so.
Humming, she began to move back and forth. "A dream is a wish your heart makes…" She murmured. Then louder, "When you're fast asleep. In dreams, you will lose your heartache. Whatever you wish for, you…" Kim suddenly realized she was singing at the top of her voice and twirling. She opened her eyes to find twenty-five other students, a teacher, and one naked mole rat staring at her.
Barkin was sitting back at his desk, looking stunned. Her peers began to snicker. Turning red as a beet, she yanked the artery ring off her finger, pulling the glove along with it. Sitting back down at the lab table, she clutched the top of her head and bored holes in the lab table with her eyes.
"You ok, KP?" Asked Ron.
"Yeah, I'll be fine."
"Good, because I'm not." Kim looked up. Ron was holding up his hands and arms, now covered in puffy, red bumps.
"I think I'm allergic to formaldehyde."
"Ooh, ouchies!" Said Rufus.
