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“Hey, Phoenix.” I turn to see Chad standing next to me, looking between me and the locker. “You okay?” His lips turn down, and his eyes soften.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I mean, it was always my life goal to get blamed for something I didn’t do and then clean out disgusting slop from a locker, so my life’s complete.” The sarcasm drips from my lips, and Chad smiles.
“Why did they give you the job to clean it?” He adjusts his backpack on his shoulder and looks around the hall.
I shrug and shake my head. “To make my life hell.”
“I can help.” He takes hold of the garbage can and moves it closer to the locker. Then suddenly, he drops his bag and throws an arm over his mouth and nose.
“No, really, I can do this. This is my punishment.” I step forward hold my hand in front of me, trying to get him to stop.
He frowns at the mess. “You didn’t do this, Phoenix. You shouldn’t have to clean it.”
“Well, you’re not the headmaster, so I’m stuck with the job and also detention.” I step toward the locker, taking the bin from him and shoving it under the locker. I reach into the little canvas bag tied to the lip of the bin and grab a pair of rubber gloves. My whole body wants to recoil from the smell, but I need to just get this over and done with.
You know, so I can go sit in detention.
“Let me help. It’s wrong that they’re doing this to you. I don’t know why the headmaster would make you clean this. There are plenty of people who can do this.”
“Careful, Chad. Your privilege is showing.” I side-eye him, and my lips turn up into a smile.
He shakes his head. “It has nothing to do with privilege. It has to do with what’s right. You obviously wouldn’t put rotting food in your own locker. That’s stupid as fuck. And you don’t strike me as stupid.”
I stand there, stunned for a moment. He’s the only person that has actually taken the time to talk to me besides Liz.
Chad reaches into the same canvas bag and pulls out another pair of rubber gloves. We both begin grabbing the slimy goopy substance from inside and throwing it into the garbage bin. The loud plop that comes from throwing it in the bag makes my stomach turn, but the retched smell that burns my nostrils has me turn away and dry heave.
While it takes only a couple minutes to get the shit out of the locker, I still have to wipe it down and try to bleach the smell away. Chad hands me some paper towels from the bag and takes the bottle of bleach cleaner off the side. He steps in to spray inside the locker.
Honestly, I’m a little relieved that Chad is here and didn’t abandon me. He didn’t have to do this. He could’ve walked away or stood there taking pictures of me. But he got right in the mess of this and helped me.
After a shitload of paper towels and enough bleach on the surfaces that it burns my lungs, we finally finish cleaning up the mess.
“Um, Chad, thank you,” I say softly. I look up at him and see him smiling down at me.
“Not a problem.” He picks up his bag and opens and closes his mouth a couple times, like he’s trying to find something to say.
“You okay?”
He runs his hand through his hair and sighs. “Yeah, me just being a chicken I guess.”
“A chicken? You’re a barn animal?” I chuckle.
He gives me this big smile, his teeth so white, so perfect, I almost blush at the sight. “Well, I was going to ask you if you wanted to come to the party tonight.” He looks at me and doesn’t say much else.
“I-I didn’t know there was a party,” I stammer as I take off my gloves and throw them in the trash.
“Well, usually after a game, we head over to whoever’s house and celebrate the win.”
“Kinda cocky to assume you are going to win before actually doing so, don’t you think?” I tilt my head to the side and cross my arms over my chest.
“We’re the Darkwood Ravens. We always win.” He smiles. “Come on, go to the party tonight. It’s at my dad’s house, so you can ride with me, and I’ll bring you back to the dorms after.”
“Will there be booze?”
He nods eagerly. “Shit ton.”
“Well, you did help me clean this shit, so okay. Yeah. Sounds good.”