Seafoam //Completed//

Chapter 21

"Are you going to homecoming, Lulu?" Gemma asked quietly, while Miss Denisov wrote down their assignments on the board on Friday afternoon. Lulu looked up from her notebook and stared at Gemma, caught off guard.

"I am, actually."

"With your, uhm, boyfriend?"

"My boy—No, I'm going with Matty," Lulu looked at the other girl, but Gemma wouldn't look up from her own notebook.

"Is there something you want to tell the class, Miss Santiago?" Miss Denisov's sharp voice cut through the silence.

Mentally cursing Gemma, Lulu looked up to the front of the class where Miss Denisov stood with her hands on her hips, waiting for Lulu's response. "No ma'am. I was just asking Gemma to borrow a pen. I forgot mine."

"Well maybe detention will help you remember to come prepared to class, hmm?"

"Detention! For a pen?" Lulu looked back towards Matty instinctively. He shook his head and shrugged helplessly at her.

"Yes, detention for not having the necessary materials required to complete my assignments, Miss Santiago."

Lulu sat there, silently fuming but said nothing.

"Alrighty then! Monday, after school, you will stay here with me for an hour," her teacher said cheerily and turned back around to continue writing on the board.

Lulu shot Gemma a murderous glare but the blonde still never looked up from her notebook. A snicker from behind made her turn around and she saw Zac's shoulders shaking with mirth as Matty gave her a pitying look. Miss Denisov walked down the row of tables and stood in front of Zac with a frightening look on her young face.

"Mr. Ware! Is something funny?"

Zac took a minute to recover but he couldn't hide his smile when he finally answered their teacher.

"Actually, yes," was all he said, lifting a finger to adjust the dark sunglasses on his face.

"Care to explain?"

"I just think it's ridiculous that you're making Luciana stay for detention for not bringing a fucking pen to class."

If the room had felt quiet before, now, there was a ringing silence threatening to deafen Lulu as everyone waited for their teacher to explode. She could see Miss Denisov's hands shaking at her side, the chalk in her hands crumbling beneath her vicelike grip, and Lulu was afraid Zac was going to get his Ray Bans knocked right off of his smug face.

"Well, Zachary. Since you think me so absurd, why don't you keep Lulu company so that she may be further shielded from my ridiculous discipline, on Monday and Tuesday. And Wednesday for that matter."

Lulu's jaw dropped in outrage. "That's not fair!" She didn't care if she was making a scene. Zac was doing it again. He was purposely making her miserable for his own amusement.

"You can blame your boyfriend for that," Miss Denisov slammed her hands on her desk, glowering at Lulu, effectively shutting her up.

Lulu sulked for the rest of the hour, tears burning in the corners of her eyes, trying to ignore all the glances her classmates were shooting towards her. When the bell rang, she didn't wait for Matty to walk with her; didn't so much as look toward his table, afraid to see the smirk Zac was surely wearing.

Outside, a biting drizzle was falling from the sky making her shiver in the cold and the wind had picked up. She looked up to see the rolling clouds bubbling over with unshed rain and spider web veins of lightning illuminating the dark sky. Thunder crashed at the same time someone called out her name making her almost jump out of her skin. When she looked back, she saw Matty, his handsome face etched with worry. He opened his arms and she fell into him grateful for the warmth he provided.