Chapter Eight: Cursing Like A Sailor
Sophia Crawford

River is the most calloused, cruel and disrespectful person I have ever met.

I thought he was cruel even before he threw the papers—the notes I have made for him to understand what we did in class yesterday better—in the trashcan without a single ounce of remorse in the blues of his eyes.

He just doesn’t care about school, and the fact that he didn’t care about school made my blood boil all over again. Why was I the unlucky one to have been paired with him? If he doesn’t throw in his hands to help me in Biology and the assignment, I would fail to make my grandmother proud and everything will be River’s fault for lacking to cooperate with me.

“Asshole.” I mutter.

Ana falls into step beside me, frowning at me. “What’s got you cursing like that?” She asks. “But seeing that you’re looking in the direction of River, do I even have to ask why?”

I chuckle despite my anger towards River for being so completely cruel. “River threw the notes I made for him yesterday while he was gone into the trashcan.” I sigh, shaking my head. “I wasted an entire period writing it down for him. I thought I was doing something nice, but I was wrong.”

It didn’t exactly anger me that River threw the notes I spent an entire period writing into the trashcan; it angered me because he didn’t care at all. It angered me because he wasn’t even going to try to cooperate with me.

He doesn’t care if he fails, and if he slacks off in Biology, I might fail too and that is something I cannot afford right now.

I cannot afford to disappoint my grandmother. I just really cannot.

“River doesn’t appreciate nice things.” Ana says. “Ask Cole, he knows.”

“I noticed that a few minutes ago when River threw my notes in the trash!” I huff irritably.  “I just wanted to bury the hatred we have toward each other, but him throwing all my hard work in the trash proved to me that he will never change and he will never try to either. He will forever be this cruel and calloused. He might have his own personal problems to deal with… I get that…but honestly, a thank you for trying to help would’ve been appreciated. I was trying to do a nice thing despite our differences.”

Ana frowns when she turned to look at me. “Personal problems?”

My eyes widen on the spot, thinking I compromised River’s panic attack and what happened in the bathroom a week ago, but then I remembered that Ana and Cole talked about the rumours going around about what happened to him and I can use that to take the attention away from the problems I mentioned.

“You know… the rumours that went around…” I quickly tell her. “Surely one of them has to be true, right?”

“Oh, right, yes. I nearly forgot about that. I just thought you found something out about him, seeing that he’s your partner in Biology and all.” Ana says and before we could delve deeper into that conversation about River and his loads of personal problems, the bell for the first class of today started to ring.

Math class.

We start to walk to classroom before we get trampled by the students rushing to get to their classes, but I frown when I didn’t notice Cole anywhere.

Last time I checked, he was with Ana while I wanted to talk to River.

“Where’s Cole?”

“He needed to talk to his coach about something before the bell rang.” Ana says. “You know I always zone out when he talks about football, but he said goodbye at the bathroom already. He said he’ll meet us at lunchtime though.”

I nod and link my arm through hers. Something so little meant the world to me. A week ago, before I entered through the doors of the school building, I didn’t think I would meet any friends seeing that I had a huge nasty scar, but Ana swooped right in and chose me to be her friend, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

When we enter Mr Yuri’s classroom, Ana and I stop in sync.

River and Mr Yuri was having a conversation, but it was very hushed and by the looks of both their expressions, they were not happy at all with each other. It honestly looked like they wanted to grab each other by the throats.

Mr Yuri finds us staring and cleared his throat. “Morning Miss Andrews and Miss Crawford.” He says, giving us a tight lipped smile. “You may take your seats and work on the equations I have written on the whiteboard.”

Ana and I both nod and scurry to our seats.

I thought River and Mr Yuri’s conversation would end too seeing that they didn’t really want us to listen in on their conversation when we entered the classroom, but Mr Yuri leaned closer to River and whispered something we couldn’t hear, and when River spoke next, it was anything but hushed.

“Don’t try to take my things from me next time, Mr Yuri.” River spits out.

Mr Yuri was completely appalled as he looked at River’s retreating back. His mouth was slightly agape and if he wanted to say something to River about his behaviour in his classroom, again, he chose to keep quiet instead.

River avoids my gaze when he passes my desk.

I couldn’t help but gaze at him over my shoulder, and I tried not to make it obvious, but River still caught me looking and I swear my heart stopped beating for a full second when I saw how terrible beaten up he actually looked underneath the lights of Mr Yuri’s classroom.

River’s lip was terribly busted, his eye was still swollen and there was a purple bruise on his cheek and cheekbone, but it wasn’t exactly the bruises that caught my attention. What caught my attention was that River looked exhausted—mentally and physically drained. There were dark circles underneath his eyes and they were red too, probably from the lack of sleep.

River held my gaze for a few seconds before he finally looked away first.

When he threw his hoody over his head and took his notebook out to scribble in it like he did the last time, I knew he started to retreat back into seclusion. And if he’s going to shut everything out, it was going to be difficult to work with him—not that it already wasn’t difficult, but still.

• • •

I was trying to focus on the equations Mr Yuri wrote on the board when I saw Ana staring at the board with a deep, concentrating frown on her face.

“I have no idea what Mr Yuri wrote on the whiteboard.” She says, looking at the equations as if it was some foreign language neither of us understood. “It looks so complicated. There are so many numbers, and one of them is an x! How the hell am I supposed to figure out what x is?”

I chuckle but I frowned just as deeply.

I didn’t have a clue how I was going to figure out the answer for x either.

“I don’t think I have ever seen such a complicated equation before.” She says. “And I usually love Math.”

“I’m going to fail the test next week.” I whine, whispering behind my hand.

I didn’t want Mr Yuri to chase me out of class for talking instead of doing the equations he has written on the board. He would for sure send us to the principal’s office seeing that he was in a foul mood after the talk with River. There was absolutely no doubt about that.

Ana shakes her head, seeming really afraid of that damn test too. “Me too.”

We were serious for a few seconds until the two of us burst out quietly laughing behind our hands.

It was a true miracle that Mr Yuri didn’t hear us laughing.

• • •

Mr Ryan was in a way better mood when I entered his classroom that morning. He actually smiled when he saw me. “I wish everyone could be as early as you, Miss Crawford.” He says with a grin. “But they always take their own time walking to my classroom. Is it boring? My class?”

I return the smile and make my way to my desk before I replied to him. “Your class is not boring at all,” I assure him, “but I did see someone handing out flyers outside.” I tell him. “They’re probably discussing those.”

“Ah,” he says, nodding, “it’s the pep rally next week.”

“There’s a game next week?”

“Sure is.” He smiles. “Are you thinking of coming to the game? The football team would appreciate the support.”

“Oh,” I slowly shake my head, “I don’t know yet…”

Mr Ryan smiles. “You should.” He says. “But just a warning though, the games get very loud and tense sometimes.”

He then grabs a stack of papers he had lying on his desk and starts to pace in front of his classroom as he waited for the students to enter the class. The papers he was holding in his hands were probably the assignment sheets he told us about last week. It also happened to be the assignment I dreaded more than anything in the entire world… because of my damn partner.

The class started to fill up quite fast right after which surprised Mr Ryan.

He winks my way. “I think they heard me complaining that they were always late.”

I chuckle but it disappears fast when I see River entering the classroom.

River doesn’t pay me any attention when he slides into his seat. Hell, he doesn’t even take off his hoody. He just sits there, staring into nothingness with his hands folded and lying on the table in front of him.

Mr Ryan starts to hand out the papers he had in his hands and he only started to explain what it entailed after everyone in the class received one.

I dreaded this assignment more than I dreaded anything in the world. I know I said it before, but now it was starting to really sink in that I had to work with River on this assignment.

Out of all the people I could have been paired with, I just had to be paired with him.

River is very abrasive—he rubs everyone, including me, the wrong way. Just look at what happened last week. He just decided to hate me when the two of us accidentally bumped into each other, and ever since then he had this real hatred toward me.

Even at the support group and in the bathroom when I tried to comfort him.

He was clinging to me when he struggled to breathe, but after that, he returned back to normal and hated me all over again. All that in an eyewink.

River’s also very blunt—he never speaks without thinking first, like with Mr Yuri. He didn’t talk to Mr Yuri as if he was his Math teacher; he talked to r Yuri as if he was an enemy.

In conclusion: River mistreated Mr Yuri through the lack of respect.

Mr Ryan claps his hands, capturing everyone’s attention. “Alright class. The papers I handed to you just now are this month’s assignment.” He grins widely, clasping his hands excitedly before unclasping them again. “I personally think it’s more than just an assignment seeing that it would be fun, but also time consuming at the same time depending on which assignment you’re picking.”

Students groan but Mr Ryan used that as motivation. “You won’t be groaning if you find out what the assignment pertains.” He takes an assignment sheet and starts to read through it with the rest of the class. “This assignment will have two options in which you can only choose one. The first option is to create a habitat diorama of one specific species of your choosing, and option number two is to raise a butterfly and describe its entire cycle in a thousand word essay.”

The butterfly option sounded much more interesting than the habitat diorama.

“The second option, the butterfly and the essay will be time consuming as you will have to take care of the caterpillar until it reaches its butterfly stage. You will find the requirements of option number two on the second page of the assignment sheet. And the habitat diorama’s requirements are on the first page.” Mr Ryan places the paper back onto the wooden desk and nods once. “I will give you a minute to discuss which option you will choose with your partner. If you decide on option number two, please join me at the front.”

I turn to look at River. He was, of course, focused on the sheet lying on the table in front of him and I doubt he heard anything Mr Ryan said, until he started to speak. “I know you want to choose the butterfly option.” He says. “So go to the front and meet with Mr Ryan about it.”

“But we haven’t looked through the requirements yet.”

“We don’t have to.”

I frown at him. “Are you sure?” I ask him. “We’d have to raise a caterpillar until it turns into a butterfly and that cycle takes a lot of time. And then we’ll have to work on the thousand word essay when the cycle is done.”

“Yes.”

“I—”

“Just get the damn caterpillar.” He says before I could say anything else.

I didn’t protest.

I got up from my desk and walked over to Mr Ryan. He smiles yet again, seeming to be proud at me for choosing the butterfly and the essay.

When I walked back to my desk, with the caterpillar in a container in hand, Mr Ryan started to speak again. “If you and your partner chose option number two you’ll need to remember to keep the lid closed at all times, and if you decide to use another container than the one I provided to you, please poke holes in the top so it can breathe, please. We don’t want to commit butterfly murder here.”

The class erupts into laughter.

“This assignment, whether it’s option one or two, will require both of your cooperation and don’t let your partner do all the work. I will be watching.”

River and I look at each other simultaneously.

He looks away first and focused his attention on anything but the assignment we were supposed to be discussing.

I could already predict that River was going to do everything but cooperate.

I lean down, wanting to catch a glimpse of the caterpillar inside, and wondered what the thing was supposed to eat before I remembered that Mr Ryan provided us with a requirement list about the assignment.

“Bark. Grass. Ants. Plants.” River answers and it’s then when I realised that I might have thought out loud. “It eats anything nature-related, really.”

“Bark?” I ask. “Caterpillars eat bark, as in the bark of a tree?”

“No.” River replies dryly. “Bark as in a dog’s bark. Of course the bark of a tree.”

I take back what I said before: River isn’t a blunt person, he’s plain sarcastic.

I roll my eyes at him.

I focus my attention back on the requirements when letters in bold captured my attention: the total time that a butterfly stays in the caterpillar stage is approximately about two to five weeks.

My eyes widen in complete shock.

I lift the assignment sheet toward my eyes, squinting at the letters and wondering if I might have misread those words, but I didn’t.

It really said that the entire cycle of the butterfly will take up to a few weeks and then add another week to write the essay on the entire cycle. I’d have to spend quite a few weeks with River Jenkins raising a damn butterfly.

“Shit.”

River doesn’t look at me when he asks; “what?”

I slam the sheet down onto my desk again. “Nothing.” I tell him. “I just got a paper cut.” I suck on the tip of my finger to make the lie more believable.

River shakes his head and pulls his phone out of his pocket.

• • •

It was my turn buying lunch for us today and when I slammed my chicken salad bowl down onto the ground before me, Ana gave me a questioning look, wondering what the chicken salad bowl did to ruin my mood like that.

“I am quitting Biology.”

“What did he do?” Ana asks, referring to River.

“He didn’t do anything for a change, but I have to work with him for a few weeks raising a damn butterfly.” I tell her, pulling my salad bowl open with force, nearly spilling the contents inside. “It can take up to a month, Ana.”

Cole chuckles lightly. “I chose option number one. The diorama.” He says, taking a bite out of his apple. “I don’t have time raising a damn butterfly. I don’t have the patience for it either. And don’t even mention the thousand word essay.”

Ana smacks Cole across his arm, glaring at him. “Don’t talk with your mouth full.” She says, and then turns to look at me. “Maybe it won’t be so bad.” She suggests. “I mean, maybe you can get close enough to him to figure out what has him so angry and rude all the time.”

“You’re the one who called him the devil incarnate!” I whine. “How am I supposed to work with someone who came directly from the pits of hell?”

Ana snorts, and surprisingly, so does Cole. I thought he would defend River like he did the last time, but I suspect that he realised that River was the damn devil.

“A month would feel like an eternity with River.”

I suddenly regretted taking the damn butterfly option, and what I found really strange is that River was the one who suggested I should take option number two without even going through the requirements with me in class.

He said that I should take what I wanted to and now it looks like he didn’t even care what option I chose, but I don’t think he knows we have to work together for so long and when he realises that we’d have to work together for a few weeks raising the butterfly and writing the essay, he would back out.

“Were the two of you close when you were teammates?” I ask Cole.

He shakes his head. “Not really, but I didn’t have to know him well to know that whatever happened to him was bad and that it most likely ruined him.” He says. “No one quits football and fails all his classes just because…”

“And the rumours?” I ask.

“There were a lot of rumours going around at the time.” Ana says, plucking a blade of grass between two of her nails. “Some were really heart-wrenching and upsetting.”

“What did the rumours say?”

I couldn’t hide the fact that I was super curious to know what happened to River for him to retreat like that, and if he knew that I was trying to fish about his past, he would really hate me more than he already does.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about it at lunchtime,” Cole says, jerking his head toward the bench where River usually sat, writing and doodling in his notebook, “and besides, they’re just rumours anyways. One should know better than to believe them than the actual story about what really happened.”

I nod in agreement.

There was some truth to his words.

If there were rumours spreading about what happened in the accident with Daniel, I would most likely want to believe the actual story than the rumours going around all over school. I wouldn’t want people to create their own stories inside their heads about what really happened because I wouldn’t want them to think I was drunk because I was most definitely sober when the accident happened, and I was aware of all the risks when I drove on the wet road and looked away, and that’s way worse than being drunk and causing the accident that took your boyfriend’s life.

The rumours would say that I was drunk, but I wasn’t drunk, I was sober and I knew the risks when I looked away from the road to kiss him, but I was still stupid and completely reckless, and that caused my boyfriend to die that night.

I would rather let them believe the truth than pity me for making a mistake.

“On a lighter note,” Ana starts, “are you dating anyone, Sophia?”

The question completely threw me off guard and therefore I stared at Ana and Cole with my mouth agape for what felt like a thousand hours before the bell finally rang and saved me from the question I always dreaded to answer them.

“Argh,” Ana whines, shaking her head, “the bell always rings on the most impossible of times. I haven’t even finished my damn salad yet.” She closes the lid to her salad and huffs loudly. “They should add an extra ten minutes at least.”

I chuckle, but it was more of a relieved one than anything else.

I don’t think I escaped the question just yet because it would definitely pop up in the future again, but at least I didn’t have to answer it today when the accident was still so fresh in my mind, so I was grateful when the bell rang.