Hollis stared at the board, trying to decipher what Mr. Harris was writing. If there was anything that she was worse at than Algebra, it would be Chemistry. She tilted her head to the side, reading the chemical symbols that meant absolutely nothing to her. She squinted, as if that would possibly help her understand the chemical gibberish. Nonetheless, Hollis copied everything down in the notebook and hoped that Mr. Harris would provide at least some explanation.
While she wrote, she heard the constant whisperings that belonged to Scott and Stiles. Although she couldn't hear just what was being said, the noise itself was distracting. Turning around, she glanced over at the two who were oblivious to her stares.
"Hey," she whisper yelled.
Stiles and Scott looked up quickly, directing their attention towards her.
"Hey!" Stiles said cheerfully, a smile lighting up his face.
Rolling her eyes, she couldn't help but smile. "Can you guys keep it down a bit? Chem is hard enough as it is, and you two talking about who knows what is kind of distracting."
Scott nodded to her words, a sheepish look on his face. "Yeah, yeah. Sure. Sorry."
Stiles also nodded his reply, giving her a thumbs up.
Shaking her head, she turned back to the front of the room. Her eyes landed on her notebook, which was now filled with different chemical interactions. Hollis frowned at the sight of them with a sigh.
The seconds ticked by and she sat there, listening to the tapping sound of chalk on the board. As she sat there, Stiles voice drifted towards her, breaking her out of her thoughts. Again. She was about to turn around and ask him to keep quiet but Mr. Harris beat her to it.
"Mr. Stilinski, if that's your idea of a hushed whisper you might want to pull the earphones out once in a while. I think you and Mr. McCall would benefit from a little distance. Yes?" Mr. Harris asked, though it was more of a demand than a question.
Hollis turned around, seeing the dumbfounded looks on their faces.
"Uh...No," Stiles answered, shaking his head.
Despite his response, Mr. Harris pointed to two empty desks on either side of the room. Reluctantly, Scott and Stiles gathered their things.
"Let me know if the separation anxiety gets to be too much," Mr. Harris said, a pleased look on his face. He turned back to the board and scribbled a few more things on it before turning around again. "Someone tell me what this equation means. How to solve it, what it forms." His eyes pierced the room, taking in the worried faces of the students. "Anyone?" When no one replied, he said, "Hollis."
She looked up to see his attention was focused solely on her. "What?" She asked, wide-eyed.
"Not paying attention already?" Mr. Harris asked, shaking his head. "I asked you to tell me what any of these equations meant. How about this one?" He asked and pointed at a difficult looking one.
"Oh, uhm...." Hollis looked down at her notebook. She nervously flipped through her notes to the previous lessons, hoping to get an idea.
"I'm waiting," Mr. Harris said impatiently.
Sighing, she looked up. "Honestly...I don't know," she answered truthfully.
"I'm guessing you didn't do last night's homework then," Mr Harris said.
"No, I did. I just-" Hollis interrupted.
"If you had, then you'd know the answer. That's two strikes against you, and it's only the second week. Very disappointing."
Hollis frowned at his words. She opened her mouth to respond, to argue again that she had done the homework but no words came out. With a sigh, she lowered her eyes to her notebook and kept quiet.
The sound of a mumble reached her ears but she couldn't make out the words. Apparently neither could Mr. Harris because he focused his attention on the person who spoke the incoherent sentence.
"Did you have something you wanted to add, Mr. Stilinski?"
Quickly, she looked towards Stiles and shook her head in a warning, urging him not to say anything.
"Actually, yeah." Stiles tapped his pen nervously against the desk and looked away from Hollis. "I just...I don't think you're being fair. To Hollis, I mean. Maybe she just doesn't understand this."
Bemused, Mr. Harris looked from Stiles to Hollis and back again. Just when he was about to respond, a student yelled, "Hey, look! They found something!"
Everyone's attention turned to Harley, who pointed towards the window.
"They found a body!" Harley said as everyone rushed from their seats and towards the window.
Although Hollis was curious, she took her time getting up from her desk to avoid the rush of students moving in one direction. She stood up when she noticed Stiles making his way towards the window and quickly blocked his path.
"Hey. Thanks for that. You really didn't have to," she said.
"I wanted to. I mean, he wasn't being fair. At all," Stiles told her with a look in Mr. Harris's direction.
"No, I know. But...I didn't want you to get in trouble, too."
Stiles shrugged but smiled at her.
"You need to see this," Scott said, showing up beside them.
The three of them moved towards the window, where an ambulance was parked outside by the woods. Two EMT's pushed a gurney with a body strapped to it. An uneasy feeling filled Hollis as she watched but she couldn't pull her eyes away from the sight. The murmur of whispers floated around, each person wondering who the victim was and what exactly happened.
They'll probably call this another animal attack, Hollis thought as her eyes trailed the gurney. When the body quickly shot up, everyone screamed and jumped back, including Hollis. She tried to steady her rapid heart, focusing on calming her breathing.
"This is good. He's not dead. He got up. A dead guy can't do that," Stiles said beside her, but whether he was talking to her or Scott she didn't know.
Hollis nodded either way, happy that whoever the victim was had survived.
"Earth to Hollis," Lydia said, waving a hand in front of her face. "What's going on with you today?"
"Sorry." Hollis ran a hand through her hand, giving her a small smile. "I'm still thinking about that poor guy who got attacked."
Lydia tilted her head to the side, giving her a comforting smile. "I'm sure he'll be fine," she told her gently. "And it's terrible what happened but he's alive. Thinking about it all day won't make you feel any better. Trust me, okay?"
Sighing, she nodded slowly. "I guess you're right." Shifting the tray she held, Hollis looked around the cafeteria that was quickly filling up. "Where should we sit?"
"Usual place is good, right?" Lydia asked with a shrug.
Hollis scanned the room, taking in the tables and the people that occupied them. Her eyes landed on a table with two occupants: Scott and Stiles. With a grin, she turned to Lydia. "Let's sit there," she said, nodding in their direction.
Lydia raised an eyebrow as she followed her line of site. "You're kidding, right? Why on Earth would I sit there?"
"Allison will be sitting with Scott so...why not?" She ignored the look on her friends face and gently nudged her forward. "Come on."
Narrowing her eyes, she threw a glare her way. "I hate you," Lydia said sourly.
"No you don't." Hollis laughed, which earned her a smile from Lydia.
"Fine." She sighed as she grudgingly looked across the room. "Let's go."
The girls crossed the room to their table, catching the end of their conversation.
"...We'll figure this out," Stiles said confidently.
"Figure what out?" Lydia asked and took the empty seat beside Scott.
"Uh...Homework. Just homework," Stiles replied, throwing a surprised look at them.
"Well, when you figure out Algebra or Chem let me know." Hollis placed down her tray on the table before taking the seat beside Stiles.
"You're behind in math, too?" Scott asked.
"More like hopelessly lost," Hollis answered. "That and Chem are just...," she trailed off, shaking her head.
"If you need help, I mean, I can help. You know, if you want," Stiles offered.
Hollis turned to him, a smile stretching across her lips. "Yeah, that'd be great actually. Thanks."
"Yeah, sure. No problem," Stiles said, nodding.
"I thought Allison was joining us," Lydia interrupted, directing a small glare in Hollis's direction.
"I'm right here," Allison said, appearing beside the table. She waited until Scott removed the backpack from the seat then sat down. "Thanks. Did I miss anything?"
Hollis shook her head. "Not really. Just talking about math and chem," she said, wrinkling her nose.
Allison made a face. "Glad I missed that conversation."
Hollis laughed and looked up when a few people showed up at their table, filling the remaining seats quickly. When Jackson showed up, she rolled her eyes and knew that all hopes of having a normal lunch were gone. She ignored the small conversation that took place between him, Danny and another lacrosse player. But the next thing that Danny said peaked her interest and she looked towards him.
"So they're saying it's an animal attack. Probably a cougar."
"I heard mountain lion," Jackson said.
"A cougar is a mountain lion," Lydia corrected, rolling her eyes. She glanced around the table, to see that everyone's attention was directed at her. A confused expression crossed her face then as she looked towards Jackson. "Isn't it?"
Jackson shrugged, not interested in the information. "Who cares? The guy's probably some homeless tweaker who's gonna' die anyway."
"So that makes it ok, Jackson?" Hollis asked in disbelief. "Just when I thought that you couldn't get more heartless. You always prove me wrong."
Glaring in her direction, Jackson opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by Stiles.
"Actually, I just found out who he is," Stiles said while he looked down at his phone. "Check this out."
The voice of the news anchor flooded out of the tiny speakers, reaching everyone's ears as they moved forward in their seat to listen to the report.
"-identified the victim of the possible animal attack as Garrison Meyers-"
"I know that guy," Scott said in disbelief, throwing a look around the table. "I used to take the bus back when I lived at my Dad's place. He was the driver."
Hollis sat back in her seat and crossed her arms. She took in the small amount of information she had just learned. A frown rested on her face, and she raised her eyes towards Jackson. "Does knowing who he is make a difference? Or is it just the 'homeless tweakers' you're indifferent about?"
"Hollis, I swear-"
"Can we talk about something slightly more fun, please?" Lydia interrupted and, when she caught Hollis's eye, she smiled softly at her. "Like where we're going tomorrow night," Lydia continued, turning her attention towards Allison and Scott. "You said you and Scott were hanging out tomorrow, right?"
"We were thinking of...," Allison began but paused. "What were we going to do?"
"We hadn't decided," Scott said uncertainly.
"Well, I'm not sitting at home watching lacrosse videos again. If the four of us are hanging out let's pick something fun," Lydia said with a smile. She glanced at Hollis then and tilted her head. "You should join us. It'll be fun." Lydia looked around the table. When her eyes landed on Stiles, she shrugged. "You can come, too, I suppose."
Nervously, Stiles glanced at Hollis who looked just as lost as he did. "I-I don't know?"
Hollis looked from Stiles to Lydia. "Actually, I'm ...."
"Perfect. The six of us it is," Lydia said with a satisfied nod.
Dumbfounded, Scott nervously looked around the table. "Hanging out? The six of us?"
Jackson turned to Lydia, anger flashing in his eyes."When the hell were you going to tell me about this?" He asked, his voice taking on an icy tone.
Scott looked at Allison and lowered his voice. "You want to hang out? The six of us? You and me? And them?"
Allison shrugged, a smile tugging at her lips. "Sure. Sounds fun."
Jackson picked up his fork, his glare directed at everyone at the table. "You know what else sounds fun? Stabbing myself in the face with this fork."
"Sounds perfect. Can we take turns?" She asked, which earned her a laugh from Stiles.
"Oh, come on, Jackson. How about bowling? You love to bowl," Lydia suggested, ignoring Hollis's comment from before.
"Yeah, but with actual competition," Jackson answered.
"How do you know we're not competition?" Allison questioned. "You can bowl, right?" She asked Scott.
"Sort of-"
"Sort of? Or yes?" Jackson asked.
Scott glared back at Jackson. "Yes. In fact," he began confidently, "I'm a great bowler."
Lydia smiled, satisfied with everyone's answer. "Perfect. So, it's a date."
When the final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, Hollis made her way towards her locker. She switched her books for the ones she needed, haphazardly throwing them into her bag. At the sight of her math book, she wrinkled her nose. The subject loomed over her, creating a dark cloud above her head every time she thought of complex equations she would have to face. She picked up the heavy textbook, dreading the homework she would have to complete and the upcoming quiz that would surely result in failure.
"Hey," Stiles said, appearing by her side.
Hollis looked at him with a smile. "Hey." She fumbled with the book, and it slipped out of her hand.
He caught it clumsily then held it out to her.
"Thanks." She shoved it into her bag and looked over at him. "Any news on the bus driver?"
He shook his head with a small shrug. "No. He's in the hospital but I think he has a good chance of recovery. It'll take a while but he's alive."
"That's good." Hollis nodded in relief. She turned back towards her locker, tilting her head as she searched through her books. "Where did my math book go?"
"I just handed it to you. After you dropped it," Stiles said with a laugh.
Confused, Hollis lowered her eyes to her bag and looked through the books she had put inside. When she caught sight of it, she looked towards him with a grin. "I knew that," she joked.
"Sure you did," Stiles said and laughed. Nervously, he moved his hand to the back of his neck. "So, uh, about tomorrow," he started nervously.
"Right, I wanted to talk to you about that, too."
Stiles nodded and waited for her to continue.
"I actually can't go," she said slowly. "Lydia kind of decided for me that I was going but I'm supposed to meet my dad for dinner. He's working late and, well, things are finally good between us and...."
"You don't have to explain. I get it," Stiles said, although the grin he had worn had faded. "It's-it's fine. I'm not a great bowler anyway," he added.
Tilting her head, she adjusted the strap of her bag. "I'm really sorry." Hollis ran a hand through her hair, brushing out the tangles with her fingers. A few silent seconds passed before an idea hit her. "But does that offer still stand? About helping me with math."
"Yeah, yeah. Definitely," Stiles said, nodding. "Did you need help? I mean..., you know what I mean."
Hollis laughed. "I need all the help I can get. There's a quiz this Friday and, if I fail that, then..." she shrugged and paused, letting out a sigh. "I was thinking that maybe we could meet up before I have to meet my dad. That way we could still hang out."
Stiles brightened up at that suggestion and nodded enthusiastically. "Sure. We could, yeah...sounds good."
"Great," she said and smiled. "I'm meeting him at the pizza place like right around the corner from here at like seven. Can we meet there around five?"
"Yep. Five's a good time," he answered with a grin. "Did you want me to pick you up or...?"
"We could just meet there. I'll be at Lydia's after school anyway so I'll have her drop me off on the way to the bowling alley."
"Ok," he said, nodding. "It's a date, then." His eyes went wide after he spoke the words and he shook his head, his hand going to the back of his neck. "I mean, a math...study date. Hangout. Study thing," he stuttered.
Amused, Hollis narrowed her eyes and nodded slowly. "Study date it is," she said with a laugh. "I should get going but thanks again. You're literally saving my life."
AN: So...who's ready for some math tutoring with Stiles and Hollis?! It's coming up in the next chapter. I hope you guys liked this new part. If you did, you know what to do :) Please leave a lovely comment and, better yet, hit that vote button! I love reading all of your comments and, even if I don't reply to each and every one, I still see it. You guys are awesome <3