Extra Credit

People in school had learned that Saccharin was Argent’s best friend. They knew that he was always by Argent’s side, that they were best friends, and that nothing could ever come between them. Sometimes people whispered about how weird it was, but that didn’t bother Saccharin one bit. If they whispered about it, it was out of envy for the close bond they shared. No, no, it didn’t bother him at all.

What did bother Saccharin was this group assignment. Sure, he got placed with Argent -- he would’ve gone to the teacher if he hadn’t -- but some girl was with them, too. Even worse, it was some girl that had been making eyes at the one he loved. She kept glancing over at Argent through class, smiling now and again, and even dared to wave once. It was enough to drive Saccharin mad.

But he stayed still in his seat, eyes focused ahead. His hand gripped his pencil so tightly that the wood almost snapped. It didn’t, though. If he did that, Argent would ask what was wrong. And he didn’t want to distract Argent from one of his favorite classes.

“This will be a three-park project about designing a water park,” the teacher said in her annoyingly firm voice. “I expect a rough draft before the start of winter break. You have the vacation to finish it.”

“Can you believe we’re getting a project over winter break?” Argent whispered to Saccharin. “At least it sounds fun ...”

Saccharin glanced over at Argent with a bright smile, and wrapped his arm around his. “Yeah!” he whispered back. “It’s going to be sooooo fun!”

Argent didn’t shrug Saccharin off. Saccharin’s heart felt like it was going to burst with affection. God, he was so warm, and it felt so good to be close to him like this ... Saccharin had to make himself focus on the lesson, but having his arm linked with Argent made that a bit easier.

When the bell rang, though, Argent nearly jumped out of his seat. Saccharin reluctantly pulled away his arm. Argent’s next class was on the other side of the school, so he always had to leave super fast to get there. By the time that girl got over to Argent’s seat, he was long gone. Saccharin glanced over at the girl, forcing himself to keep a neutral face.

She had that ‘girl next door’ look: brown hair in a bun, school jacket tied around her waist, tie half-done, the works. Her eyes didn’t shine nearly as bright as Argent’s -- no one’s ever could -- and her smile made Saccharin want to smack her. Instead, he just forced a grimace that looked like a smile.

“You’re in our group, right, Priscilla?” he asked. God, he wanted to get away from this girl as fast as possible.

“Yep!” Priscilla sounded so annoyingly chipper. She brushed her bangs aside. “I was thinking we could meet after school, but, uh ... our third person took off.”

“He has class on the other side of the building,” Saccharin said casually. “Argent’s my best friend, so I know him really well. I’ll run into him later.”

Take a hint, he thought. Take a hint and know that he’s off limits. He’s mine. Not yours.

Infuriatingly, she didn’t. Not that he could see. Instead, she just smiled politely and nodded like nothing was wrong. Saccharin clenched his books tightly to try and hide his agitation.

“Oh, cool! Hopefully I get to talk to him soon too. I’m excited to work with you both!”

“It’ll be great,” Saccharin said through a mental scream. “I should actually be able to meet up around five after school so we can get started. Would that work?”

Priscilla checked her phone before answering. After muttering god-knows-what to herself, she grinned. “Yeah, that works out great! I’m free starting then. Where --”

“Maybe the diner near school?”

“Perfect, I’ll see you there! I’ll bring some books that should help us. I gotta get to class, so ...”

“Oh, don’t let me keep you!” Saccharin nearly jumped up from his seat. “I have to get going, too.”

He didn’t wait for her response. Saccharin slung his backpack over his shoulder and made his way out of the classroom. There was no way he’d be able to hide the crafty grin on his face for too long, so he had to get away.

Just as he reached the end of the hall, Saccharin smiled craftily. His eyes shone with a malicious intent, and he glanced back to see Priscilla walking the opposite direction. He’d have to stop by the library and grab a few books himself. There was no way she’d be more helpful and useful than him. Never.

Saccharin pulled out his phone and texted Argent almost immediately.

‘Want to meet at the diner when school lets out to work on the project? Priscilla said she’d meet us there.’

Even just typing her name made Saccharin feel ill. He forced his smile to grow wider when he hit ‘send.’ For a few moments, he didn’t even move. His eyes were fixated on the small three dots that meant that Argent was working on a reply.

So kind of him to text immediately ... it showed that he cared. It showed that Argent thought about him and wanted to talk to him. Saccharin’s heart sang with delight at the thought. He’d never show this devotion to Priscilla, even if she tried being friendly to him. No, no.

Saccharin’s phone buzzed. He opened the new message immediately.

‘Sounds good! Will she be meeting us right when we get there? That’s nice of her! :)’

He didn’t hesitate when answering, even though his heart hammered in his chest. ‘Yes,’ he typed. ‘That’s what I heard, at least.’

He had plausible deniability now.

Saccharin waited for Argent to reply, still as a stone -- which he was promptly jostled out of when the bell rang. He cringed, slid his phone in his pocket, and tore towards his class. While his feet were hitting the ground, his head was in the clouds.

Oh, he couldn’t wait to have alone time with Argent later, working together, laughing and sharing fries ...

If only Priscilla wouldn’t show up at all.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was utter heaven. Saccharin and Argent had been sitting at a booth in the corner of the diner, their food splayed out next to their open books, papers, and pencils ... and it was just the two of them. It had been for thirty minutes now. Saccharin couldn’t wipe the dreamy smile off of his face.

Well, he couldn’t stop smiling most of the time. Every time Argent looked towards the door, Saccharin’s smile became tight. Why did he care so much about her showing up? What mattered was that he was here!

Saccharin kept his voice bright, however, when he eventually spoke up. “I remember her saying that she was gonna be here sooner,” he whined. “Why didn’t she show up?”

“I don’t know.” Argent shrugged. “Maybe she’s just running late?”

“Or maybe she’s the woooorst!” Saccharin cuddled up to Argent, trapping him in the corner of the seat. “I’d never let you down like this!”

“I know,” Argent said with a nervous little laugh. “I just hope she gets here soon. We can’t make much headway without everyone agreeing ...”

Why did he think that? Saccharin couldn’t wrap his head around a train of thought like that. Him bringing the extra books should have been the surefire way to make Argent see that this Priscilla girl was completely useless. They could do this project together -- just the two of them! Why didn’t he want to use them?

“Let’s just keep going,” Saccharin persuaded. “She can clear it and stuff when she gets here!”

Argent reluctantly looked at the door one final time, then focused on the drawn-out blueprints and equations on the paper in front of him. Saccharin’s eyes lit up.

“All right.” Argent nodded. “She can look over what we have later. Another pair of eyes never hurts ...”

“But you’re sooooo smart!” Saccharin pouted and clung to Argent’s arm again, not caring that the act made the pencil fly across the table. “You don’t need anyone to tell you you’re right! You’re super super clever!”

Seeing Argent blush made Saccharin’s whole world. He wanted to take a snapshot of it, hide the photo of him under his pillow, and just stare at it. He looked so adorable when he blushed, and it so rarely happened ... and it always went away so fast ...

This blush lingered, though. Maybe he was embarrassed? No, no, no way. Argent was flattered! He always was when Saccharin complimented him. That little shy laugh just proved it. Argent could never look him in the eye after, either. Like now! And it was so cute! Saccharin was going to remember this forever.

And, of course, it was ruined the moment she walked in.

Saccharin glared at Priscilla as she entered the diner. She looked so stupid and worn out in that track uniform. No way would Argent look at her like he looked at Saccharin. No way!

“She’s here,” Saccharin said in a sing-song voice. He wanted to puke. “Hey! Hey, Priscilla!”

Priscilla perked up and looked towards the two of them -- and her expressions as she processed what was going on were utterly priceless. She looked confused, then angry, and then just confused all over again. Either way, she just walked on over, her backpack half-off her shoulder.

“How long have you two been here?” she asked, unable to conceal her bafflement. “I was told five ...”

Argent blinked and looked at Saccharin. “You told her five?”

Saccharin shook his head in a cutesy way, hoping he looked innocent enough. “No, no! I said four!” He paused. “At least, I thought I said four. Did I say five? I’m so sorry!”

If Priscilla had seen the malicious glint in Saccharin’s eyes, though, she’d know he was quite the opposite. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice. She just stood there, looking dumb as a bag of bricks, and then just shrugged.

“I must’ve misheard. Sorry about that.” Priscilla rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “You must think I’m a total flake.”

“No, no, it’s okay!” Argent laughed -- a bright one. A beautiful one. And it was directed at her?! Saccharin bit his tongue so he wouldn’t scream. “It happens. It was just a miscommunication, that’s all.”

At least Priscilla had the good sense to sit across from them. “Oooh, you checked out that book too?” She unzipped her backpack and held up another copy of one of the books that Saccharin had snatched up. How had she found another one!? “So that’s why I couldn’t find it in the school library.”

“Haha, sorry about that!” Saccharin giggled. “I just thought it was such a good idea to get books!”

“Looks like we were on the same wavelength,” Priscilla said with a smile. “Now, what do you got here?”

“Well ...”

Argent’s focus was completely off of Saccharin, and Saccharin hated it. Every second that passed felt like hours, and all he could do was cling tighter and tighter to Argent’s arm as he talked. Priscilla looked at Saccharin oddly once in a while, but he just smiled right back at her.

‘He’s mine,’ Saccharin thought towards her. ‘And you better learn that really, really quick.’

It might take a few more ‘lessons’ for that to get through her thick skull, but it would happen. Others learned, and she would too. All it took was just a push here, a firm reminder there, and just another little plot every other time.

No one would get their hands on Argent.

No one.