Slick Cement

Lab Partners

*Sherlock POV*

-The Lunch Event-

I sit down in my usual corner of the library, tucked away from the rest of the school. The doors open suddenly, interupting my thoughts.

"Where did he go?"

"I dont know. You said you were following him."

"He definately came in here. See? Right there."

Someone's head pokes out around the corner of the shelves, Anderson.

"Come here freak!"

I ignore him, turning back to my maths equation.

"I said come here. Now!"

I stand slowly, trying not to flinch when he steps closer to me.

"Right here."

He points at the ground in front of him, clearly enraged by something else I have done to them.

"What the hell were you thinking? You have no chance with her."

He kicks me suddenly, sending my legs out from under me. I fall hard, slamming into one of the wooden bookcases on my way down. My arm takes most of the impact, stinging as it is sliced open on the corner of the bookcase.

"You cannot have her!"

I yelp when someone kicks my side, I need to get out of the room.

"Someone grab him!"

I scramble up and sprint out of the room, suddenly finding myself on my back. The wind is knocked from my lungs, not anything new, but it still hurts like hell every time. Someone grabs my collar, slamming me against the lockers. Anderson runs around the corner, two of his teamates close behind.

"Where did you think you were going to go? You cannot run from us freak!"

He steps closer, slamming his fist into my face. Whoever is holding me up lets me fall, kicking my side again. I yell for someone, anyone really, to help me. Someone claps their hand over my mouth, effectively shutting me up. I can see someone walk around the corner, fear coursing through me when I realize who it is. A door opens suddenly, a professor sets down the hall towards us. Anderson and his gang scatter, leaving me alone with Molly.

-Back To Class-

"Today I will be assigning partners for your upcoming project, no changing my mind about the pairs."

I barely lift my eyes from my book, almost fully blocking out the teacher. Whatever the project is, I will be able to do it with my eyes closed. My partner is sure to be useless, they always are, but a small part of me is hopeful. Molly is in my class and, no matter how hard I try, I always find myself staring.

"Sherlock and Molly, you two are partners this time."

It takes me a few seconds longer than usual to process this, I can't believe she just assigned us as partners. Molly turns to me, blushing slightly.

"So...I guess we're together then?"

"Yeah. We're...together. For the project. Yes, together for the project."

My cheeks start to burn, what is she doing to me? She turns back to her papers, suddenly very interested in the new handout. I do the same, trying to figure out what just happened. Our teacher finishes explaining the assignments, much quicker than I had anticipated him to. We break off into our partner assignments, room suddenly abuzz with high amounts of complaint.

"Mr Holmes, a word please. You too Mrs. Hooper."

I slowly step out into the hall, followed cautiously by Molly.

"Sherlock, you are the top of the class."

"Obviously."

"And I thought you would like to be Mollys lab partner, at least until she gets settled in. Think of it as...one of your extra credit assignments to get her settled in. Molly this, if it is okay with you, is what we are going to...attempt to work out."

"Of course. Thank you sir."

"Whatever."

Molly looks slightly disappointed by my response, though she quickly brushes it off as we return to the classroom. She sinks down in her chair, biting her lip.

"We should...umm..work on the project. I think. Yes, the project."

"Oh..yeah. That's fine. Absolutely."

Right before the bell rings, Molly grabs my planner from my stack of papers. She opens it to todays page, writing something out in her neat handwriting. I watch her slip it back into the pile, she doesn't think I saw her as I look completely engrossed in the work. We leave the classroom separately, heading off to our next class. It just so happens that we are at my locker at the same time, a slight air of awkwardness hangs around us.

"Call me tonight."

Molly blurts this out suddenly, blushing deep red.

"I...you have my number. In your...your notebook."

She runs off quickly, melting into the crowd.