New Horizon [Morganville]

Chapter Thirty-Five

“You’re awful,” Claire pouted and pushed herself off the couch.

“No, wait, wait,” Shane struggled to catch his breath and control his laughter. “I’m sorry, don’t go.”

“I’m going to be late for school, Shane,” Claire raised her eyebrows at him and tapped her watch on her left wrist. “I have to go.”

Shane started to sober up, and he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
“You can risk being ten more minutes late.”

“Shane, I’m already ten minutes late. You’re going to get me into trouble.”

And she was in trouble.

Her science teacher raised a disappointed eyebrow at her as she stepped into the classroom.
“Miss Danvers,” He said and folded his arms. “You do realize that you are twenty minutes late to my class?”

“Yes, sir,” Claire lowered her voice and tried to avoid the other students gazes. “I had some trouble getting here.”

He didn’t say anything else; instead he looked away from her and continued his lecture. Claire looked around the room for an available seat.
There were only two in the whole class, which was surprising. Normally hardly anyone showed up to science class.
One of the desks was in the third row, which meant that would have to sit next to awkward Aaron. But if she chose the seat at the very back of the classroom, she would have to sit next to Dylan. Dylan’s eyes met hers, and Claire quickly looked down as she hurried to the seat next to Aaron.

“H-Hi Claire,” Aaron smiled, but his voice shook slightly. “H-How are you t-today?”

“Hey Aaron,” Claire said sweetly as she smiled kindly at him. “I’m good. How are you? Oh, and what are we working on?”

“I-I’m fine. A-And we’re working with the b-Bunsen burner.”

“Bunsen burner?” Claire raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Wow. I haven’t used one of them since sophomore year.”

“At l-least one of us is smart,” Aaron shrugged, his confidence gradually growing with each second he spent talking to Claire.

“I know you’re smart,” Claire reached out and plugged the plastic tube into the gas tap. She turned to Aaron and handed him the Bunsen burner. “You were in my astronomy class last year, right?”

Aaron nodded, and he seemed to blush a little. “I like stargazing,” Aaron beamed at the thought of it. “A-And to be able to s-see the hundredths of thousands of stars burning up in the sky. I find it m-magical.”

“It is magical,” Claire smiled as she reached for the box of matches the teacher had dropped next to her. “Do you want to light it?”

Aaron nodded and smiled as Claire handed him the small, red box filled with matches. He opened it slowly, and Claire wondered if giving him the box was a good idea. She shook the thought out of her head. Aaron was like her. He’d skipped a few grades and gotten into university when he had just turned seventeen. He’d transferred to Morganville to attend Texas Prairie University. Aaron was smart, but there had been an incident that Claire had heard Myrnin talk about one time.

“C-Claire?” Aaron asked her as he pulled out a thin matchstick.

“Yes?” She smiled and turned to face him, ignoring the set of eyes that burnt holes through the back of her head.