Erica wasn't surprised that she had been partnered up with the new girl. She had been at a doctor's appointment the day Finstock had given the assignment. It wasn't like she had expected someone to volunteer to work with her- since that stupid Youtube video had gone viral, her hopes for even the most minimal human decency had completely diminished.

She glanced at the girl out of the corner of her eye. Even with the library empty, Gloria seemed to radiate hostility. The girl was at a table by herself, scrolling through her iPod with an intense look of annoyance on her pale features. Erica bit her lip, recalling a few of the rumors about the aloof brunette. That she had been kicked out of her last school for fighting, for blinding a kid, for bringing a knife to school… Stop it, the blonde chided herself, trying to steel her nerves and remain positive, you don't even know her. She's probably just as uncomfortable as you are.

Erica squared her shoulders. It was time to stop stalling. She hugged her books tightly to her chest and made her way over to her table. Maybe they could be friends. Maybe she hadn't seen the video or heard about her epilepsy. A small flicker of hope rose in her chest. Maybe she wouldn't care.

The blonde cleared her throat as she stood beside the new student. With a smile, the strongest she could manage, Erica offered her hand, "Hi, I'm-"

"Seizure girl," Gloria finished, choosing to ignore her hand in favor of wrapping the wires of her earbuds around her iPod. "I know."

"Oh." She let her hand fall back to her side. So much for getting to know the new girl.

The brunette looked up at her with stoic features, brown eyes dark and harsh in the library's bright lights. "Are we gonna do this or what?"

"Um, sure." Erica faltered under the stare, unnerved by the direct eye contact and her inability to read any amiable emotion in it. Just malice and irritation. It made the Reyes girl feel like she was being studied by the world's most disagreeable scientist as she slid into the chair diagonally across from her. "Did you have any ideas?"

Gloria shrugged, but thankfully shifted her gaze. Her heel bounced restlessly, each little click of the boot putting the blonde a bit more on edge as she spoke, "Dunno. Never really cared much for Economics."

"But you've taken the class before?"

Another shrug. Her eyes, rimmed in thick black liner, flickered around the room, never staying in one place too long before shifting again. "I never finished it."

A thousand different scenarios ran through Erica's head on why that could be. Gloria was maybe a year or two older than her, if she had to guess. When she turned that imposingly stoic glare back at her, the younger girl quickly dropped her gaze to her books. She heard the brunette give a huff of amusement, but didn't look up. Instead, Erica just uncapped her pen, "Well, we could…"

When her voice trailed off, Gloria tilted her head. In a slightly condescending tone, she prompted, "We could…?"

"We could start an online store." Erica blushed. "For whatever it was we were selling…get some sales that way."

"Hm." The brunette nodded. "Well, anything's better than going door to door."

The blonde winced as the other girl sniffed with disinterest. Biting her lip as her slender fingers fiddled with her pen, Erica explained, "Actually that's kind of a requirement…at least fifty local sales."

"I can get us fifty local sales."

Erica's brows rose with surprise, her eyes flickering over to the girl in front of her. Gloria's intense stare had shifted to her once again, her lips shifted in a malicious smirk that put the blonde on edge. In a small voice, Erica asked, "Really?"

"Mhm."

"Are you sure? I mean-"

Gloria sneered at her, baring her straight white teeth in a manner more akin to a growling dog than teenage girl. "I said I'll do it."

"Okay," Erica jotted a note down on the outline's margin. "We've got a month, so we don't have to figure out all the details right now…"

The dark haired girl arched a brow at her, "That your way of telling me I can go?"

"I… sure, if you want."

Gloria stood. She shrugged her leather jacket on, pulling her long brown hair out from her collar as she spoke, "When do you want to meet up again?"

"Um, whenever's good with you, I guess."

"Hm." Gloria grabbed her satchel and slung it over her shoulder. The worn black leather of it was just a touch lighter than her coat. "I got band practice just about every day after school."

Erica gathered her things, carefully tucking the page away in her notes before sliding her books into her backpack. "What lunch do you have?"

"Forth- and judging by the cringe, I'm guessing you have fifth." The brunette frowned.

With them both standing, and with Gloria in three inch boots, Erica felt incredibly frail. Perhaps it was the way the other girl was dressed- in ripped black pantyhose under a pair of obscenely short black denim cut-offs and her open jacket exposing a tank top that showed off the swell of her breasts. It seemed overtly sexual, almost hostile in its way and frankly it made Erica feel like a little girl by comparison. She swallowed, not wanting to be caught staring and slipped her backpack on.

"Well," Gloria went on, either ignorant to the younger girl's leering or perhaps ignoring it, "practice usually wraps up by five. We could meet up after, but my mom has a thing about having people over."

"The library closes at six…I guess we could meet at my place over the weekend," The blonde offered. The idea didn't exactly thrill her, but they didn't seem to have much of an option. She didn't exactly feel welcome in the local teen hang outs, nor were they the best place to study.

The brunette nodded, clearly just as unenthused as she was. Her eyes swept over Erica, taking in her heavy, shapeless sweatshirt and loose fitting mom jeans with a frown. Gloria glanced out the window only to find it was raining. With a sigh, she asked, "You got a ride?"

"What?"

"A ride." The girl grit out through clenched teeth as she avoided the younger girl's gaze. "Like a car or someone coming to get you?"

Erica laughed nervously, "Oh, no I was just gonna-"

"Come on." Gloria jerked her head, and crooked a finger in a demeaning, demanding way as she turned to leave.

The blonde shifted anxiously from foot to foot as her gaze went to from the girl's back to the window. It was still pouring rain and with her parents working late shifts and no money for the bus, she knew she'd either have to walk or accept a ride with the supposedly unstable girl in front of her.

The dark haired teen turned back in the doorway with an arched eyebrow and her gaze unsettlingly level as she drawled, "Well? You comin' or what, Blondie?"

Still a bit hesitant, Erica edged forward. "If you're sure, I'd really appreciate it."

Gloria seemed to falter at that, but the only response she gave was an indifferent shrug. Erica offered a weak smile in return and moved to join her. The two fell in step as they made their way through the long hall that led to the parking lot.

"So…" The younger girl fiddled with the hem of her baggie sweater. "You're in a band?"

Dark eyes flickered over to the blonde. "Yeah."

Erica didn't notice Gloria's gaze dropping to her anxious fingers as she cleared her throat. "Oh."

"How 'bout you?"

"What about me?"

Her shoulder lifted absently, tone just as apathetic and curt as it had been all day as she asked if Erica had any interests outside school. "You know," she added as an afterthought, "besides epilepsy."

"That's not really an interest." Erica scowled, her brows furrowing as they stopped at the doors. The light that shone through the glass doors was dim, but the brunette still caught the shamed blush that crossed the blonde's features.

Gloria didn't resist the urge to smirk at it. It was kind of cute. Instead of commenting, she just pulled the door open and gestured for her to take the lead. At least, she did until a thought struck her and she grabbed the blonde by the arm. Erica's whole body tensed, body jerking away from the other girl, but the brunette didn't notice. She shoved her bag against the shorter girl's chest. Erica fumbled with it, the worn leather soft under her fingers as Gloria stripped out of her coat. For a moment, the blonde was completely bewildered- did she expect her to carry it for her? Is that what was happening? But before the thought could really sink in, the satchel was snatched from her hands and slung back over the older teen's bare, pale shoulder.

"Here," Gloria stepped closer, ignoring the way Erica took a nervous step back out of reflex and hung the jacket over the girl's head in a makeshift hood. "Hold that until we get to the car."

The car, as it would turn out, was a lime green Trans Am that looked like it had seen better days (and those days had been excruciatingly long and hard on the vehicle), but Erica didn't comment, just got in. Beside her, the other girl did the same, throwing her bag carelessly in the back as she glanced over at blonde. "Address?"

"84 Donahue." Erica smiled at her, brushing some stray droplets of water from her cheeks. Her hand strayed to the black leather jacket and she blushed as she handed it back to her, "Thanks."

Gloria shrugged and tossed it in the back. It fell in a heap next to her bag. She pulled a ring of keys from her back pocket and started the engine. It sputtered a moment before it roared to life along with the radio. Erica cringed as a heavy metal song blared from the speakers, the song distorted by static and bass. The driver turned it down a touch, but not off.

"Any ideas on what we could sell?"

Erica ran a hand through her thick, frizzy hair. Her gaze flickered to the older girl, to the beads of water running down the valley of her breasts and how tightly her black tank top hugged her pale skin and she quickly righted her stare. Peering out the windshield, she fought off a blush as she answered, "I'm not sure…I know a lot of kids are making food or selling subscriptions, so maybe we could go a little further than that."

"Hm." Gloria pursed her lips, leaning back in the worn leather seat as she flicked the wipers on. "My mom's got a soap shop."

"…that's nice?" The passenger replied with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"I know how to make soap, shampoo, facial scrubs, that kind of thing." Dark brown eyes flicked over to her lighter ones. Erica was almost positive she had seen a glint of humor in them, but they didn't linger long enough for her to be sure.

"We could make brochures for the art portion…" The blonde shook her head with a huff. "It's so weird Finstock wants an art portion."

A crooked smile cracked across Gloria's face, the first one Erica had ever seen on her. The dimples were a bit of a surprise, but she stayed quiet and tried not to stare at them as the older girl spoke, "Yeah, he, uh, doesn't really strike me as the artistically inclined type."

"Must be an outlined requirement."

The brunette said nothing, just continued to smirk as she pulled onto Donahue Avenue. They drove in silence a few moments, the static crinkling over the stereo, drowning out most of the vocals to the metal song. As she came up to the house on the corner, the Trans Am pulled to a stop.

Erica unbuckled her seatbelt and pulled her backpack into her lap. Her hand stilled on the door's handle. She glanced at Gloria, who was fiddling with the radio, and cleared her throat. When brown eyes rose to her face, she smiled at her. "Thanks for the ride."

Gloria blinked in surprise, a small smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth as she drawled, "No sweat, Blondie."

Still grinning, Erica slipped out of the Trans Am and out into the rain.

A/N: My first femslash. I'm so proud. And yes, I realize Gloria is a bit of a bitch. Still, I'd love to hear what you guys think of it.