"So, what is our project about again?"
This is the fourth time Isabella's asked in the past hour and the last time Ruby will explain it to her. "Have you even been listening to me?" He firmly tapes the title of their experiment onto the poster board:
Mentos and Coke (The Good Kind)
"I have but I'm trying to figure out how this relates to chemistry," she snacks on some Hot Cheetos with lime, failing to have contributed anything.
He wants to smack his head against the table. Instead, he takes the bag of chips from her, trying to ignore the pout she gives him. "Look, if you have a better idea for this project, let me know because as of right now, this," he gestures to the poster board, "is our Plan A."
"You think Mr. Johnson will appreciate the coke all over his classroom floor? Like, are you going to clean it? Or am I?"
Ruby collapses into the chair across from her, exasperated. "Let's take a break."
At this, she perks up. "Okay!"
He looks at her from across his dining table, all smiles and the essence of pure relaxation. She actually showed up to class today, in a hoodie and sweats, longboard in hand. Skulls and lightning bolts are patterned neatly on the underside. It's like she can't part with it no matter what. Even now, it sits against the front door inside of his house.
"What if someone steals it?" she asked when they arrived at Ruby's house.
"Like who? My four year old neighbor and her parents?"
"Martinez!" she scolded. "You know anyone can just walk up to your front door and grab it."
"You can just buy another one."
Isabella gave him a look close to pouting but not quite. He doesn't even think she realized that she did it. It was kinda cute. Cute enough to sway him, to his annoyance. "But I worked really hard on this!"
"You drew that?" He assessed the design on her board again, much more impressed.
"Hand painted it myself," she smiled, real proud. "It took me a week because I wanted to make sure I got the lightning streaks on point."
Ruby was lucky his parents wouldn't be home until late today. His mom would throw a fit or worse, invite her to stay for dinner.
"So," he starts, not really knowing where he was going with this. Taps his fingers against the table. Jamal's voice tugs at the back of his mind. "What's the deal with you not coming to class? How can you skip so many days and not be in trouble?"
Isabella waits a moment before she responds. Doesn't really know how to, or even the best way to phrase it. "My dad doesn't really mind."
"What about your mom?"
She answers coolly, "She doesn't really mind either. In fact, she's not even here."
His eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Like… She's…?"
She laughs, a little bitter. Remembers the way her mom smelled of vanilla and shoves that way back into her mind where a list of reasons not to care ought to be. "My parents split up about two years ago."
"Damn," he says. "That sucks." That also explains why she's able to skip class so much. Guess Monse was right about that, her parents really don't care. "Are you struggling in your classes then?"
"Nah. Classes are easy. But showing up to certain classes are hard. I love science but the way Mr. Johnson teaches it makes me want to die."
"I feel it," Ruby nods. "His monotone voice sucks the life out of everything."
"Yeah," she says, growing more animated. "It's like, the stuff he teaches in there is so outdated. It's old stuff straight from the textbook. I wish we did more experiments, more trial and error, you know what I mean? Science is supposed to be exciting, it's about life and blowing things up, making drugs." Isabella's eyes glow with passion and Ruby raises both of his hands up jokingly.
"Woah there, I'm gonna need you to lower your excitement level. It's JUST science, you weirdo."
Isabella squints her eyes at him, a smile playing at the corner of her lips. "Hey, I don't judge you for whatever makes you excited."
"You don't even know what makes me excited," he says, fights back his own smile. He thinks of a few things, but not too many make the list.
She leans forward, clasps both hands together, like a student eager to learn. He's a little flustered by her full attention. "Well, why don't you tell me?"
Ruby opens his mouth, but whatever he was going to say was quickly forgotten when he saw her biting her lip. His mind goes blank. Girls who bite their lip were always a weakness for him and he didn't know why. But in this moment, he definitely appreciates how nice her lips look.
"I… Uh," he stammers. "You know. The cool things in life. Like uh, smoking." Such an idiot for saying that but it was the first thing that came to mind.
Isabella snorts, "You definitely don't smoke."
Ruby sniffles, tries to feign confidence. "How would you know? You don't even know me."
"With those baby lungs of yours? Not a chance!" she giggles. "You're like what? 5 feet tall? You're the size of a child, bruh."
Ruby blinks at her. Says slowly, "You just called me bruh."
Never in his life did he ever hear the word "bruh" come out of a girl's mouth before. At least not when talking to him. It was strange because Jamal, Cesar, and Monse were his bros yet Monse never uttered that word either.
"Yeah?" she says, like everyone does it.
"Are you even a girl?" Ruby genuinely asks and the look she gives him makes him want to take that back immediately. Of course, she's a girl. A girl that catches him off guard completely with the way she acts. Ruby hated to admit it, but she wasn't meeting any of his usual standards of how a girl behaves, Monse being an exception. But that's because Monse is Monse. Something about feminism and periods, he vaguely remembers her talking about. Girls were supposed to dress nice, be less… disgusting, and not have Cheeto dust on their fingers. Maybe this girl is a feminist.
"You've never met a girl that says bruh?"
"I've never met a girl like you before."
Pink stains her cheeks and he realizes how quickly that could be taken out of context. On one hand, it sounds like a complete insult which isn't what he intended but on the other hand, it sounds like he's trying to flirt with her which makes him even more embarrassed. Somehow, he manages to mentally convince himself within five seconds that she isn't even his type before she speaks.
"You must not have talked to a lot of girls then." She raises a perfectly angled brow as she gives him a once-over. He takes it in stride.
"I've talked to a fair share," he shrugs a shoulder, tries to play it cool. But right now, he feels the strangest need to impress her. Prove her wrong. He can tell she doesn't believe him by how quick she brushes that statement off.
"You're funny," Isabella says, and he knows he should be offended but her smile stops him from arguing. "We should probably get back to work, partner."
This time Ruby's quick to smile at her. "Will you finally be contributing this time, partner?"
"Hey," Isabella retaliates, picking up the markers. She likes the way he emphasizes the word partner for some reason. "I have a lot to offer." And Ruby doesn't doubt her. In fact, he feels like he already knows.