Lauren loved school. She really did. Why get high off drugs when you could lose yourself in the endlessly amazing world around you? There is a cornucopia of information in something as simple as the act of breathing and the food you eat and even hiccups, and Lauren found the pursuit of obtaining all this information more addicting than any drug or drink, though like any addiction, it came at a cost.

For example, the existence of a social life. Here she was, lunchtime, sitting by herself on the west side of the cafeteria against the wall cross legged, eating her usual fare of greens and sprouts and assorted fruits, sometimes a candy bar if she was feeling particularly adventurous.

And sleep. There was many a night where she was up late completing homework, or reading another daunting novel recommended to her by Mrs. P that she couldn't devour fast enough.

She could have graduated her Junior year, but her mom refused, saying she needed to socialize more and actually *experience* high school, try and make some friends and memories out of the one life experience that apparently never ends, and because she "didn't work two jobs and days and nights and weekends for your only friend to be a hippie 40-year-old Chemistry teacher with questionable ethics in allowing a 16-year-old to take home school property!"

Oh yes, Lauren remembered THAT speech like civil rights activists remember "I have a dream!"

Friendship didn't come easy for Lauren, however. Or at all. Most people her age were busy gossiping about the latest celebrity scandal, or who broke up or hooked up, things she has absolutely no interest in.

Also the fact that when faced with a social interaction, her entire body would seize and her brain, which normally wouldn't stop working, would completely abandon her and leave her a stuttering hopeless mess.

Thus, she avoided them whenever possible. She had her Mom and Mrs. P, and that sufficed for her, and that seemed to be fine with the rest of the world. No one attempted to socialize with her, and she made no such attempt with them.

Scratch that, it seemed to be fine with everyone, except one Bo Dennis.

She had managed to get through most of her school day without any further surprise meetings from the brunette, but was infinitely frustrated by her inability to erase her from her mind. Once her brain snagged onto something, it was impossible to break its clutch until the problem was solved or explained.

And that was what Bo had become to Lauren. A problem. A conundrum she couldn't understand, and Lauren *hated* things that couldn't be solved with a simple mathematical equation.

Lauren sighed, setting down her unfinished meal and leaning her head against the cold concrete wall of the building she rested against. Closing her eyes, she tried to control and order her thoughts that bounced around like erratic gas particles.

God she wished she could make them stop. To just be able to hold the thoughts still long enough to discern them, analyze, and compute. Humans were social creatures, and she could not deny her curiosity for things other than science. But the art of socializing (and it *is* an art) was something without consistancy or routine, and she *lived* for routine.

So all she could do was what she always did when faced with such a dilemma. Write it down till her brain magically came up with a solution.

The same loud obnoxious bell range through the quad, signalling the end of lunch period and the mass movement to next period. Standing up, packing up her bag and the remnants of her meal, Lauren headed to the science building, readying herself for the promised interrogation ahead.

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Lauren usually entered the classroom first so she could get the best spot by her beloved teacher, which was also next to all the supplies, equipment cabinets, and fume hood.

And away from most students, who stayed far away from the terror that is Mrs. Peterson.

Today, however, she snuck in after most had already entered, and picked a station farthest away from Mrs. P and closest to the door. She felt her stare the second she stepped through the entrance, and knew her efforts to avoid the impending investigation of her already strange day would be fruitless.

"Alright children! Please pass up your permission slips for this week's experiment! Also have your prelab assignment out and ready for me to sign off, otherwise you cannot begin and you will lose a letter grade!" Mrs. P's deep voice reverberated loudly throughout the entire room, impossible to miss as the blonde sat down on a stool and set her bag down. Mrs. P began her rounds, grabbing students assignments and checking them, making click noises with her tongue if they were unsatisfactory in any ways.

Lauren usually loved this part. She never once got the 'click', and part of her enjoyed hearing her peers be critiqued.

This time, however, the closer she got, the more nervous she became. She knew that Mrs. P knew what she was attempting, and she wouldn't be happy. A not happy Mrs. P was a scary Mrs. P.

She was two students away when Lauren realized her assignment wasn't even out to be checked. Quickly grabbing her bag, she nearly broke the buckle trying to open it to pull out her binder. The click of the tongue grew closer. Clenching her teeth, Lauren was pretty sure she was going to have a heart attack. She pulled open the binder by the rings, not even bothering with the metal tabs. Wrenching out the assignment, she slammed it down onto the counter right as she felt the undeniable presence of her instructor next to her. The loud sound caught the attention of her other classmates, and Lauren shrank as they stared at her with the kind of attention she did everything to avoid.

The older woman silently picked up the pages, pushing down her glasses and looking over the brim. She looked over the pages, scanning the words, not making a sound or making any indication as to her feelings. After a few seconds, she placed the assignment back down onto the counter and looked straight at Lauren, pointing to the papers.

"I don't recall today's experiment having anything to do with the real world implications of David Copperfield on modern society."

Her classmates sniggered. Mrs. P immediately snapped her head around and gave them a look that could level mountains.

"I'm not sure why any of you are laughing, unless it's at yourselves. Her submission of nothing is better than what some of you lot turned in! Now get out your manuals and get started!" she snapped

Lauren shrank in on herself even further, if it was even possible. She wasn't the one being yelled at, but her teachers sten voice was still scary. With shaky hands, she reopened her traumatized binder in search of the correct assignment. She was *sure* that it was the top most assignment. Her essay was for the following period, and she *always* put her assignments in order in which they were to be turned in. Always.

She flipped through all the papers in her binder, her anxiety rising as it became more apparent that her assignment was not in it. It had to be there! She searched and searched, but to no avail. She reached the end of her binder, her required submission to start the experiment she could do blindfolded nowhere to be found. She rested her hands palms face down flat against the counter, controlling her breathing and pushing down the rising panic. She turned to Mrs. P, who was still standing beside her, lips pursed, a rare thing to be directed at her. She gulped.

"I *know* it was here! I checked this morning before I left my house, I had it done almost a week ago! I just...I have no idea where it is! It should be right here!" she exclaimed, her voice breaking in midst of her panic. The fact that her other classmates were now witnessing her imminent breakdown was certainly not helping the unprecedented situation.

**"Well it isn't *here* obviously, and you can't start the experiment without it young lady no exception. Now, retrace your steps. Where could you have misplaced it between this morning and now?" Despite her publicly strict nature, her expression softening, noticing the obvious distress of her star student.

Lauren closed her eyes, trying to control her breathing and keep the stress of the moment from overwhelming her. She vividly remembered her morning routine, how she ALWAYS placed her assignments in the front of her binder in the *exact* order in which they were due that day. She'd check her bag and make sure she had all her supplies, check her hair and personal hygiene, and then get her bike, check the tire pressure and make sure they were at exact safe levels, and then be off to school. Of course this morning she had completely forgotten her lock code and backup key, which lead to her walking to school, which lead to…

"Bo Dennis!" she yelled loudly, rising from her seat, fist raised high like she just solved world hunger. Every student stopped and stared again.

Thank goodness she had no reputation to speak of, at the rate she was going today, even if she had one, it just went out the fume hood. She sat back down, horrified at her outburst.

"Ok Sherlock, now that you have further disrupted my class, you are excused can go find Miss Dennis and retrieve your assignment, otherwise you cannot start the experiment." The mirth in her teacher's eyes betrayed her stern tone.

"You mean *now*!?", Lauren said quietly as the other students lost interest and resumed the experiment. She knew her mentor was having a go at her, though what her intentions were, she had no clue. "I have no idea where she is, how on earth am I supposed to get it from her, assuming she does in fact have it?"

Mrs. P rolled her eyes. "You know she's on the soccer team, so you know she has 2nd lunch, which starts-" her voice was cut off for the second time that day by the obnoxiously loud bell.

"-now. The rest is up to you. You've got ten minutes child! No exceptions!" She turned around and marched back to the front of the class without another word, barking out orders to the other students.

This can't be happening, Lauren thought, her insides clenching as her peers began the experiment, already way ahead of her. She was *always* the first to start and finish, and she hated being behind on anything. Did her favorite teacher seriously expect her to be able to find Bo and get her assignment and back to the classroom in under ten minutes? This meant finding her in the first place in either the cafeteria or out in the quad, not to mention she was most likely around other students very much out of her social circle. If she didn't complete even one lab this semester, however, her grade would drop to a B, which was out of the question.

"Fine!" Lauren grumbled to herself, quickly cramming her belongings back into her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. She stood up, glaring straight at Mrs. P, who had taken her usual place at the front of the class, directing students and scolding any abhorrent behavior, and never even glancing in her direction. She took a deep breath, gathered whatever courage she had, and marched out of the classroom.

Out in the hallway, students were milling around, or on their way to the cafeteria. Luckily they were sparse enough that she was able to quickly make her way out to the quad. She scanned the vicinity, looking for the unmistakeable ruiner of her day. Students were scattered throughout, eating their lunches or relaxing in the midday sun in their respective cliques, taking advantage of the break. None of them that she could see was Bo.

Clenching her bag strap, Lauren breathed out before making her way through the quad to the cafeteria on the south end. She continued to search the quad as she drew closer to the main doors of the cafeteria, still finding no sight of the brunette. She must be inside the cafeteria, which she was hoping against hope from having to enter again, especially after that mornings events. She walked around to the side of the building, preferring to enter from the less watched side entrance she always used.

Opening the glass door, she was met with a cacophony of sound. Loud voices, clanging of lunchware, laughter, the screeching of shoes against linoleum. God she hated that noise, it was like nails on chalkboard, always causing her eyes to twitch. She eyed the clock against the far end of the wall. Her anxiety spiked, seeing that she only had five or so minutes left to meet her gracious teachers deadline. She pushed it down, however, and focused on her mission: finding the girl responsible for making her entire day a mess.

She scanned all the tables, looking for the inevitable clique of sports peeps she would most likely be sitting with. There were the groups you would expect: football, volleyball, swimming etc and of course the few band geeks and choir nerds tortured with second lunch shoved in the far corner tables. The soccer players were who she was looking for, and it only took a few seconds to find her unmistakably perfect head.

The culprit of her entire day of problems and anxiety was seated at the table dead center of the room, of course, surrounded by her soccer teammates. She was all smiles, laughing at something someone around her had said, looking nothing at all like she had just come from an hours worth of extensive physical activity. Her flawless brown hair was now up in a simple ponytail, and even from her current distance, Lauren could see the shine of freshly applied makeup.

Basically she looked utterly perfect, and it made Lauren's heart thump audibly in her chest. She had to walk through a crowd of rowdy popular kids, get her attention in front of her almost equally perfect peers, somehow get her assignment back, and make it back to class in, what, 4 minutes?

There was no turning back now. Her perfect 4.0 GPA was at stake, and she wouldn't let peer pressure get in the way. She breathed deeply in and out, adjusted her bag strap for the upteenth time, and marched her way through the crowd of tables and jocks.

Luckily they were so preoccupied with eating and socializing, maneuvering through them was relatively easy. Lauren kept her eyes locked on Bo, everything else becoming part of the background and unimportant. As she approached the table she realized, however, that she had never actually given thought to what she would say. Would she accuse her of intentionally sabotaging her future? Was it a simple accident?

Yes, it was most likely an accident. Even if it wasn't, she had not way to prove it, and making a scene in front of her friends would be ill advised. No need to cause tension or drama, something she enjoyed about being in the outermost social circle. No drama, no confrontation, no interaction with other members of her species, just the way she liked it.

Except for, of course, right now.

The blonde sidled up to the table just as Bo's head fell back in a deep hearty laugh. There was at least six other people at the table, all of whom were seated in some fashion around Bo, always the center of attention. They took no notice of her, entirely focused on Bo. She sidled up behind Bo and lightly tapped her on the shoulder, hoping to just ask for the assignment and be done with it.

Why Lauren thought anything today would be easy was beyond her.

Bo turned her side to look at her, the laughter still escaping her perfect mouth. Once she got a full look at her, her laughter died off, but the smile gracing her lips only got wider. It was only then that the other occupants of the Bo clique finally noticed her presence.

Feeling the attention of the entire table, including Bo, on her, her newfound courage instantly vanishing and be suddenly replaced by anxiety, her dear and constant companion. Why on earth did she think for a second that no one would notice exactly what Bo had her attention on at any given moment?

"I uh...I think you may have my Chemistry prelab report. By accident, of course! I'm sorry to bother you, it's just I have less than five minutes to turn it in or I get a zero, which would *destroy* my grade and, I mean, you don't need to know all that. I'm not even sure you have it, I just figured because of, you know...Can I have it please, if you have it...?" Lauren rushed out. She clenched her bag, unable to ignore the fact that the entire table had gone silent and was now staring at her like she was crazy.

Which she was, for thinking that it would be ok and unnoticed for her to talk directly to Bo freaking Dennis.

Bo's smile, however, had not wavered, and she was now digging through her own bag. She pulled out a set a papers she immediately recognized as her assignment from the handwriting, and she audibly sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness, I was so afraid you didn't have it!" Lauren rushed out in one breath, reaching for the papers. By then her instinct to run was at full strength and she *needed* to get away from the staring. She could still detect the hum of the room, which meant only the occupants of the table were paying her any attention, which was still more than she wanted. She was confounded, however, by Bo keeping her grip on the papers.

"This'll be the second time today that you didn't say thank you to me for doing something nice for you, just wanted to point that out."

Laurens grip on the papers loosened slightly, dumbfounded by her statement that, if she understood correctly, implied that *she* was responsible for inconveniencing *her*. Yeah, she TOTALLY wanted to risk her precious GPA just to antagonize her, cause you know, that's what Lauren does to people...

...but she *really* needed to get back to class, and her grade was worth sacrificing some of her dignity for.

"Thank you for, "rescuing", my assignment," Lauren forced out, glancing at the clock again, telling her she was down to two minutes. "I really need to go, so, can I have it please?"

Bo nodded, letting go of the papers, but keeping her penetrating gaze and smile towards the blonde. Lauren felt her mouth go dry, and managed to stutter out an awkward "Thanks" and her signature head nod before power walking out the front entrance she normally avoided while evading other students who thankfully paid her no mind.

Back out in the quad, she practically ran back towards the science building straight through the quad, forgetting her usual stealth tactics. She almost mowed over a student just leaving the building, her only focus being to get back to her class before her time was up. When Mrs. P said ten minutes, she meant to the second, no more no less, as she had learned previously.

Once inside, she was grateful whatever students were there before had now vacated the halls as she ran through them with no problem, her heart pounding in her chest and her breathe short as she counted down the seconds in her head.

Catching sight of the classroom door, Lauren could swear this must be the feeling runners get when they see the tape. She sprinted the last few yards, wrenched open the door, power walked between students and the lab counters straight towards Mrs. P, who was helping another student set up their apparatus, and slammed the papers down in front her. This startled the student, but Mrs. P looked at her, completely unphased.

"You're late."

Lauren nearly choked on the air she was currently desperate to take in. No, she was not! She still had ten more seconds when she burst into the room, thanks to her internal stopwatch.

"That, that is completely untrue! I still had at *least* ten more seconds!" Lauren rushed out loudly, the adrenaline that was still pumping through her veins now interfering with her control over her volume. At this point, only the students directly beside them were paying her any mind, the rest too busy still setting up their apparatuses.

"Not according to my clock child. You're thirty seconds late." She clicked her tongue, her hand holding up one of those tiny kitchen stopwatches, it's time stopped at 10:31.

Her teacher *had* to be kidding her. This whole *day*, which was barely halfway over, had to be kidding her.

She was about to open her mouth to argue, when Mrs. P held up her hand to silence her.

"However! If this submission is *perfect*, I'll forgive you my child."

Lauren kept silent as she flipped through her submission. A few nearby students had stopped what they were doing to watch. Apparently her embarrassment was entertaining. Bastards.

"Along with the life and times of David Copperfield, my assignment also did not ask for Bo Dennis's phone number." She held a piece of paper between her index and middle finger, and looked at her over the rim of her glasses with the most satisfied smirk. Lauren felt blood rush to her face as she snatched the paper from her teachers grasp, all too aware that the loud mention of Bo's name attracted the attention of almost the entire room. She shoved the note in her pocket, desperate for the sudden ability to be *actually* invisible.

Her teacher cackled out loud, grabbing a nearby red pen and writing a messy 100% over the cover page. "You can start the experiment now child. Great job!"

Lauren nodded her head, grabbing her assignment before heading back to her station to *finally* start the experiment. Her nerves were shot and the sooner she got into her comfort zone that was conducting experiments, the better.

"Child!"

Lauren nearly tripped over her own feet. She looked back at the source of the shout. "What!?" she cried out, beyond exasperated.

Mrs. P pushed down her thick glasses and looked straight at her.

"I wasn't talking about the assignment."

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A/N: Merry Christmas! I stepped away from my crazy ass family to submit this. Technically I *edited* it, but yeah, probably has some mistakes and inconsistencies. Please point them out if you see them xD

Also just to point out, writing is not my craft, and this story is pretty selfish, if that makes any sense?

Also thank you for your patience!

...also uh uh uh uh I need *one* more note! Uuuummmm oh yes! Eric! I know you're out there! I will wait patiently for your review. I will. I won't eat or sleep till this hapens.

...OKbai! Merry Christmas!