Only For You ▻ Scott McCall [3]

9

The following morning, Veronica sat beside Scott in AP Biology as she always did. Once Mrs. Finch was done writing on the board, she turned to the class, "If ninety-nine point nine percent of our DNA sequence is the same as other humans, what could account for the missing point one percent difference. Theo?" She called out, pointing to Theo, who was now sitting behind Scott instead of at the back of the class.

"Um, nucleotides." He answered in a calm tone.

"That's right," Mrs. Finch replied as she nodded her head.

Veronica glanced down at what Scott was writing and she immediately noticed that it wasn't about class, it was about all of the things Deaton had told them before he left. Veronica turned her head to see Kira raising her hand, "Yes, Kira?" Mrs. Finch spoke up.

"Can there be more than one species in the same DNA?" Kira asked curiously, causing both Scott and Veronica to turn to her.

"No," Mrs. Finch replied, "But there can be multiple sets of DNA in the same individual. We call that a chimera. Anyone know where that term comes from?" She questioned as she began to walk around the classroom.

 Veronica immediately raised her hand, knowing the answer, "Veronica?" Mrs. Finch pointed to the female Alpha.

"Greek Mythology," She answered with a confident smile, "It's a lion with a goat coming out its back and a tail that ends in the head of a snake."

"That's right, Veronica," Mrs. Finch told her, "How did you know all of that?"

"I did a project on it during eighth grade at my old school," She informed her as she turned to Theo, who instantly looked up, remembering himself doing that project with her.

"That gets us into the next topic of mutation." Mrs. Finch spoke up to the whole class, "As you know from the reading, DNA is a fragile molecule. Isn't it, Scott?" Scott immediately looked up once hearing his name, "Or did you miss last night's assigned reading?"

"Kind of," Scott replied quietly.

"Kind of or yes?" She questioned him.

Scott looked down at his paper, ashamed, "Mostly yes."

"Well, then thank you for another helpful transition in topic." She spoke up as she walked over to stand beside her desk, "Drop forms. All those now acutely aware that they do not belong in this class, you should fill one out."

 As Mrs. Finch walked around the classroom, she placed drop forms on the desks of the people she thought needed them. She then walked over to her desk and placed them on top of it, "The rest will be on my desk."

 The class was then dismissed and Veronica got up from her seat, making her way into the hallway. She stopped and frowned when she saw Scott standing in front of the pile of drop forms. He glanced over at Mrs. Finch, who didn't seem too happy. Scott sighed before picking one up and following Veronica out of the classroom. Veronica wanted to ask him about it, but she didn't want Scott to get offended or anything.