hello, future lover

[Leon]

It was a pretty well-known fact that Leon wasn't a big fan of people. The vast majority of them were just so annoying and dumb. Especially the ones around his age. There were some exceptions, but they were so few and far between that Leon just didn't bother with anyone anymore. Unless, of course, he was forced to. Like now. He had been assigned this stupid school project, complete with a stupid partner. And they had to collect stupid water samples. STUPID.

He head out after school to meet this guy, cuz god forbid the teachers actually give them class time to do this project. He didn't think he'd ever actually met with the guy who was supposed to be his partner before. It was some kid named Kaiden or something who was in the grade above him. They weren't even in the same class. Leon had no idea why they were partners for this. Both their classes must've had odd numbers or something.

He wasn't sure what this guy looked like or how he was supposed to find him. He stood out in the school courtyard and looked around. "KAIDEN," he called loudly, hoping to identify his partner.

[Chase]

Chase had been sitting on one of the stone benches found in the courtyard of Redfern Academy, waiting for his science partner to meet up with him. This project was so lame, and he didn't even know his partner. The teachers in the school had decided to put Chase with a guy from another class, somebody called Leon. It was a pretty stupid idea actually, now that he thought about it. He wasn't sure how they were supposed to know each other when they saw one another seeing as they'd never met before and it wasn't like they were going to hold up name tags or anything.

But suddenly Chase heard someone scream his first name, Kaiden, and Chase rolled his eyes. Oh well, at least Leon had found a way to find him.

Chase looked over and saw the boy that had called out for him. He'd never seen the guy before in his life.

"Hey," he called back, not nearly as loudly. He held up a hand and walked over, slinging his back pack back over his shoulder. Leon looked just as enthused about this little project as Chase imagined he did. Well, at least he hadn't been paired up with someone annoyingly energetic or something.

[Leon]

Leon was taken aback by the breathtaking beauty of Kaiden Chase.

Not really.

He glanced over when some guy called out an unenthusiastic "hey." It was some blond pretty-boy looking guy. He didn't look too happy about the little adventure they were about to have either. "Hey," he greeted back. With mock excitement, he asked, "You ready to go collect some water samples?"

[Chase]

"Oh for sure," Chase said. "You got all your stuff?" After asking Leon about his stuff, he checked his own bag to make sure he had all of the project equipment they'd need.

"And, you're Leon, right?" He wanted to make sure he had his name right so he didn't sound like an idiot later when he called him by it. This would also give him a chance to correct him on his name, because it was weird when people called him Kaiden.

[Leon]

"Obviously," Leon replied in a slightly jerkish way, because he's a slightly jerkish guy. He was so ready to just get this over with. Though he had to admit, his partner could have been worse. He wasn't obnoxiously friendly, or annoying in any other way so far. Of course, it was too soon to know for sure though.

[Chase]

"Just checking," Chase said, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. Jeez, this guy wasn't exactly the most pleasant.

"Well, you can call me Chase, actually. Instead of Kaiden." Leon didn't seem like he wanted a conversation, so Chase didn't go into detail of why he'd rather be called something else.

He and Leon started walking towards the pond at the end of campus, not saying much. Well, not saying anything really. It was awkward. But Chase was used to feeling awkward. He was a pretty awkward person I think. xD

[Leon]

Chase was half-wrong about Leon not wanting a conversation. Leon was a curious person, so after a long, awkward silence, he finally decided to break it by asking, "Why?" Chase wasn't exactly a typical nickname for Kaiden, after all. 'Sides, maybe this would go by a little faster if they talked a bit.

They got to the edge of the pond, and just sort of stood there staring at it impassively. While looking at their reflections in the water, Leon randomly noticed that he and Chase were the exact same height. They were also wearing the exact same bored expression.

[Chase]

"It's my middle name," Chase answered. "I'm named after my dad... it's just easier this way."

Thankfully they finally got to the pond, and the two looked down at it. "Well, it looks just as scummy as always," he mused. He looked up at the surrounding area. At least the cattails and ferns around the pond made it look a little pretty. It was actually a nice sight if you didn't look at the green water.

"I haven't been here in a while, I'd hoped they might have cleaned it up a little by now."

[Leon]

Leon watched silently as a few dead fish floated by slowly in the nasty water. "I'm...not touching this water," he declared, shaking his head. "You can if you want, but otherwise I say we just 'sample' the water from a sink instead. Who's gonna know the difference?"

He took a few steps back, away from the nasty pond, and turned to face Chase. Even though they were the same height, Leon had to look up at him because he happened to be standing on the lower part of the hill that led to the pond. "I think we're done here," he told him. "How about you?"

[Chase]

Chase bit his lip as Leon started to walk away. "I'm not sure... I think I'll just grab a quick sample," he said, more to himself than to his partner.

He kneeled down the slope and dipped a little cup into the nasty pond, making sure not to touch the water. When he got home he'd probably still wash his hands, but he didn't feel like touching the green water anyways.

"I'll just keep it till Monday, so you don't have to touch it," he told Leon as he packed away the water sample. He wasn't sure why Leon was so against the water. Sure, it was nasty, but they'd already come to the pond, it made sense to just grab a quick cup of it.

[Leon]

"I actually think we needed more than one sample...oh well," Leon commented lazily. They had already walked several feet away from the pond by now, and Leon sure wasn't going back. Sardonically, he continued,"What are we even supposed to do with it anyways? Test it for radioactivity?"

School was such a joke. Leon was a smart guy, and he knew it. He also knew that every bit of useful information he possessed had been gained outside of that ridiculous establishment. Honestly, water samples? This was almost as bad as the time they'd had to plant flowers all around the school for no reason.

[Sponsored content]