Chapter 56

Chapter 25 Grayson stayed home from school the next day because he had a hard time sleeping. Apparently, his phone was constantly ringing and he didn't even think about turning it off. My dad allowed him to stay him, something Grayson was thankful for. I was even thankful for it. My parents were treating Grayson so kindly. "Alright, class," Tony said when biology started. "We're going to be started a project in groups of three. And no, you don't get to pick your group. I already have them assigned." Most of the class groaned, hating to be assigned to work with others. "For this project, each group is assigned an animal, and you're going to have to research about it. What it eats, how it lives, etcetera. You're also going to have to talk about the inside of the animals. Everything will be explained on the sheet I'll give you." He picked up a piece of paper. "Devon, you're with Loni and Chris." "Can't I be with Thalia when she's back?" Devon asked. Belle silently scoffed and rolled her eyes. Devon was always with Thalia, though she was suspended for two days for taking Grayson's antidepressants. "No, I already made the groups," Tony said. "I won't be rearranging any groups to fit any satisfaction." He turned back to the list. "Belle, you're with Poppy and Grayson." "Whoa," Devon interrupted again. "I can't be with Thalia but you put Poppy with her best friend and boyfriend? That's not fair. You're showing favorites because she's your sister." "Actually, I'm not showing favorites," Tony said. "I'm sorry you don't like it, but you're going to have to deal with it." He continued going through the list and nobody else got complaints. Most people were with at least one of their friends, so that was good. It wasn't just me who got put with my best friend and boyfriend. Then again, I knew I would have been with Grayson anyway. The classes we had together, the teachers always paired us up because of his depression. If he got paired with anyone else, he wouldn't be concentrating at all. For the rest of class, we got to talk with our groups to discuss the project. When we got the animal we were going to be studying, I almost laughed at the coincidence. "We'll be studying the otter," I said. "Ironically, it's Grayson's favorite animal." Belle raised an eyebrow. "Why is it that Grayson likes things that aren't the norm. Most people's favorite animal are dogs, cats, or horses. Otters?" "He's weird," I said. "Should we meet at my house after school?" "Sure," Belle said. ~*~ When school finally ended, Belle was the one who drove me to my house. As soon as we walked inside, I heard Grayson yell, "Poppy! I'm hungry!" "Is that Grayson?" Belle asked with a raised eyebrow. "Hold on a second," I said, going up the stairs and to the guest room, which was now Grayson's room. He was laying on the bed, shirtless, like always. "Grayson, can't you get out of bed and get your own food?" "Nope," he said. "I'm too lazy. I mean, tired. I'm so tired, Flower." I sighed. "We got a project for biology. In groups of three, we have to study the animal you were given." "Who's in my group and what animal did I get?" Grayson asked. "You're with me and Belle," I said. "Which got a lot of complaints from Devon because he isn't with any of his friends. And the animal we got is the otter." Grayson smiled. "Yay. Otters are so cute. Can we adopt one?" "Funny," I muttered sarcastically. "Now come on. Get your butt out of bed and come start the project. Belle's here." "But I'm hungry," he whined. "Then come downstairs and eat," I said, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of bed. He sighed, standing up, so I walked to the drawers and grabbed one of his shirts and threw it at him. "Put it on." Grayson sighed once again as he put on his shirt before following me downstairs where Belle was waiting. "Why are you here, Grayson?" Belle asked. "I thought your stayed home from school." "Yup," was all Grayson said before he went to the kitchen to get food. Belle looked at me with a confused look. "Poppy, please explain." "He lives here now," I said. "It's a long story that I won't go into unless Grayson wants to." Belle just nodded before I told Grayson we would be in the basement, starting our project. A few moments after we were set up and ready to start, Grayson came to the basement with a sandwich, something he normally ate when he was too lazy to cook anything. I turned on my laptop and handed it to Belle, who was fast at typing. "So," she said. "Where do we begin?" I opened my bag and pulled out my biology notebook. "Well, we need to find out the basic things about the otter. What it looks like, what it eats, where it lives, and how it reproduces. We can do that for today, then figure out everything out the next time." Belle nodded and looked at Grayson, who was laying on his back while he ate his sandwich. "What do you know about otters?" she asked. "Besides how cute they are? They're carnivorous, which is why I like them. They look all cute and cuddly, but they're not." "What exactly do they eat?" Belle asked. Grayson took a bite out of his sandwich before answering. "Mainly fish, slow moving ones to be exact. There's also sea urchins, crabs, clams, mussels, snails, and... I can't remember the last one. Aba-something." "Abalone?" I asked. Grayson gave me a thumbs up. "Yeah, that. How did you know that?" I shrugged. "Underwater life amazes me just as much as astronomy." Grayson turned back to eating his sandwich as Belle typed down all the food that Grayson listed. "And where do otters live?" Belle asked. "Uh, the water?" "I know," Belle said, sending a glare to my boyfriend who didn't even notice. He was too absorbed in his sandwich. "I meant, like, which country." "Depends on which otter," Grayson said. "Did we get a specific type of otter?" "Sea," I replied. "Then, the pacific coast of North America," Grayson said. "How do you know this stuff?" Belle asked as she typed into the laptop. "They're my favorite animal." "Yeah, but even I don't know that much about my favorite." Belle sighed and shook her head. It didn't take us that long to finish the rest of the work, considering Grayson knew almost everything we had to include. It was amazing. When we finished, Belle saved the document and closed my laptop. I laid down, resting my head on Grayson's stomach. "Yay, we're done for the day," I said. "I have a question for the both of you," Belle said. "Do you know what you want to study at university?" I sighed. "I don't know. I thought I did, but lately, I've been having second thoughts." "Same," Grayson said. "I thought you wanted to be a lawyer," I said. "I did," Grayson said. "But... I've been thinking about it lately. It will be a waste to go to law school, only to change my mind halfway through. When I go to university, I need to be set on what I want to do. I'm not sure being a lawyer will fit it. And I thought you wanted to be an astronomer." "It's hard choosing what I want to do," I said. "What about you, Belle?" "Nursing," Belle said. "I've always wanted to go into nursing." "That's a good choice," I said. "Any schools?" "I'm probably going to apply to a few," Belle said. "I'm not worried about getting into a really good school, you know? As long as I get into one. I'll possibly try MDC. It's nearby and still in Miami. I don't really want to leave." "I might try MDC," I said. "Once I find out what I want to go in to." "I want to be a vet," Grayson spoke up. "Is that weird?" I sat up and looked at him. "You want to be a vet?" Grayson nodding, sitting up as well. "I love animals and I can memorize a lot about them. I kind of want to be a vet." I smiled at the thought of Grayson helping little animals. "I think it's great." "You should do marine biology," Grayson told me. I thought about that. I did love underwater life. I had to admit, marine biology never came across my mind. But now that Grayson mentioned it, I could see myself going into marine biology. "Yeah, I think I will."