"Keep your hands still!" Ushas hissed, annoyance lacing her tone as she shot the dark haired girl beside her a glare.

"I am," Ariana replied, biting her bottom lip to force herself not to snap back or say something that she knew would only make things worse. Ushas, after all, was well known for her temper, "I can't help it if my hands have a faint tremble in them that, until today, I was unaware of".

Both girls were in the middle of their chemistry class, standing side by side at one of the lab benches as Ariana held, or at least tried to hold a small beaker with a small amount of clear liquid sitting at the bottom of it, while Ushas was supposed to be pouring another small amount of liquored from her vial into the beaker, combining both substances. After that, they would warm them over a burner and collect the results. Simple…or at least it should have been.

"Your hands are still shacking," she glared at her again.

"Well, perhaps you ought to have chosen a different lab partner," Ariana replied with an edge in her voice, giving her friend a glare in return.

Ushas scoffed, tossing her head to the side in an attempt to get the lock of curly hair that had fallen out of her clip out of her eyes, "Oh, please, as if anyone would want to be partners with either one of us".

Ariana frowned, glancing at her as she sat the beaker back down on the bench, "What do you mean?" she asked curiously.

Ushas's tutted, shaking her head at her, "So naïve," she muttered, sounding caught between amusement and annoyance, "No one in their right mind would want to work with me, the Bitch of the School".

"I suppose you do have a…reputation," she nodded cautiously, "But I don't see what that has to do with me".

"You haven't heard the gossip that's been flying around?" she raised her eyebrows, smirking.

"I don't listen to gossip".

"Don't you ever feel sick from all that sweetness and innocence?" Ushas gave her a patronising look.

Ariana sighed, rolling her eyes as she slipped off her safety glasses, seeing no point in wearing them when they had taken a small pause in their work, "You know, I really do wish people would stop calling me 'sweet' and 'innocent' or any other similar words," she grumbled, crossing her arms across her chest, "Granted, because of my sheltered childhood I may lack a understanding in certain matters that you understand perfectly, matters that I really ought to know more about considering that they are a part of life, but I am trying to learn, Ushas," she sighed heavily.

"You shouldn't be annoyed when people call you 'sweet' or 'innocent,'" Ushas remarked thoughtfully, taking the dark hair girl by surprise, "If anything, you should embrace what people's assumptions of you being 'sweet' and 'innocent'. That assumption gives you an advantage over people who don't know you because no one ever really thinks about those who are marked as being completely harmless, do they?"

Ariana stared at her, looking surprised by Ushas's sudden insight, "I suppose that in that respect using people's assumptions against them does have its advantages," she agreed slowly, trying to work out exactly why she suddenly felt so uncomfortable with the turn in conversation, "Not that I can really picture a moment in my future were I might have to do something like that…but I suppose that if I did…" she trailed off, looking thoughtful before she looked back at Ushas, "I wouldn't use 'sweetness' or 'innocence's' to hid behind, I think I would prefer to use my intelligence…or should I say lack of?"

"Hmm, interesting," the other girl nodded slowly, seeming to be thinking over her friends answer, "So, you would down play your intelligence, make yourself out to be a fool?"

"Knowledge and our mind is our most powerful weapon," she replied, recalling how her tutor and Mother had always told her that, especially when she had been still too young to understand why being 'the Gifted One' made her any different from others her own age. Well, even now she really didn't understand the difference, "People always brush aside those who they think are foolish. I've seen it enough times during my childhood to know that".

"And that is why you and Theta get along so well," Ushas remarked, shaking her head, "You both think alike. I once had a similar conversation with him and he held the same idea on down play his intelligence, if there's anything there for him to down play in the first place".

Ariana sighed, casting her a look, "You know, I do wish people would stop saying that he's not clever," she said, clearly annoyed, "It may not show in his school grades, but there are multiple reasons for that, and some people are just not academically suited. They learn more from experience, rather than through books and tests".

Ushas rolled her eyes, "And this is why half the student body believe you two to be engaged in an improper relationship," she muttered, seeming to be talking more to herself then to the other girl as she refocused her attention back onto the lab bench before them, not appearing to notice that her partner's mouth had fallen open in a rather comical manner, her eyes widening as she stared at her.

"What?" the other girl practically yelped before quickly clapping a hand over her mouth, realising to late that they were standing in the middle of a busy, yet relatively quiet classroom. A few of their classmates shot her a dark looks and she quickly gave them apologetic looks in return, extremely grateful that there Professor had stepped out of the room to collect some more equipment from the store room, across the hall.

"Shut up, idiot!" Ushas hissed at her, grabbing her arm so tightly that she winced, knowing that she was going to end up with a handprint size bruise on her four arm, "Do you want to end up getting sent out?" she glared at her, causing her to flinch slightly.

"Sorry," she murmured, feeling even more embarrassed then she had before as she attempted to pull her arm out of Ushas grip, but only causing the other girl to tighten her hold, "Ushas, let go," she tried to say calmly, but she wasn't entirely sure just how well she managed to hid just how painful her grip was, "You're going to end up breaking me arm".

The other girl scoffed darkly, "Pathetic," she cast her another glare, but nevertheless, released her grip, watching as Ariana immediately cradled her arm to her chest, running her eyes over the already starting to bloom bruises on her wrist, "You need to start learning to control that mouth of yours," she told her, not in the slightest bit guilty about what she had just done, "One of these day's it's going to get you in trouble".

Ariana shot her glare, causing Ushas to merely raise a clearly unimpressed eyebrow back at her, "I think it already has," she replied, her voice surprisingly soft, "Oh, and Ushas? Kindly keep your hands to yourself in future," her voice took on more of an edge, "There wasn't any need to resort to psychical violence".

"Aww, did I hurt you?" she gave her a very fake, concerned look, her voice dripping with sarcasm before she laughed, shaking her head, "Oh, Ariana, you are just so amusing when you try to act intermediating. You remind me so much of one of those Earth creatures…ah, yes," she cast her a mocking smile, "One of those fluffy kittens, all act and no real intention of following through".

"Even a kitten has claws, Ushas," Ariana said coldly, "Now, I want to know exactly what you meant by half the school believing Theta and I to be in an improper relationship?" she questioned, crossing her arms across her chest, ignoring the sharp stab of pain that the action caused to her wrist.

"Oh, it's nothing, really. Just some people seem to think that because you are so often seen together, and that because you both seem to be quite…shall we say 'cosy' with each other, that there must be something more going on between you both. To be honest, I'm rather surprised that it's taken five years for people to start talking. It only took a year for such talk about me to start when I first began spending time with them".

Ariana opened and closed her mouth for a moment, a blush spreading across her face the more she thought over just what Ushas had told her, "What do you mean by 'cosy?'" she finally asked quietly, frowning, "We haven't even hugged before".

Ushas rolled her eyes, shrugging, "You know how people can be around here," she replied, "A girl and boy can't even sit beside each other during meal times more than twice before people start to get a little uncomfortable under the collar".

"But that's…that's ridiculous!" she scoffed, trying to keep her voice down as she did, shaking her head at the absurdity of Time Lords social conventions, "Just because a male and female are seen together doesn't mean that anything…" her cheeks coloured slightly, just thinking about what was being implied, "…improper is happening, nor does it mean that anything will happen in the future, either".

A sly look crossed Ushas's face as she raised any eyebrow at her, "So Theta has never been inside your bedroom before…ever?"

"What…" she spluttered, her cheeks burning even hotter as she stared at her, "You…you already know the answer to that," she finally managed to say, shifting uncomfortably as she turned away from her, her voice stiff, "And nothing, absolutely nothing happened".

"But he saw you in your night things?"

"No! He…I was wearing a dressing gown…"

"Ah, so it was at night?"

"Ushas, what is your point to all this?" Ariana demanded, her tone indicting that her temper was beginning to rise, her cheeks a brighter shade of red then they had been all day, "Because you are already well aware of all of this, and I know for a fact that you have…" she trailed off, shifting uncomfortably.

Ushas raised her eyebrows at her, "Yes?" but the other girl shook her head, causing her to smirk, "If you are talking about the time that Koschei and I…"

The other girl quickly held up her hands, "No, I would rather not hear…"

"Oh, stop being so prudish," she rolled her eyes at her, a touch of annoyance in her voice, "It was only kissing, even you should be able to handle that," she cast her a look before shrugging, "Besides, it only happened once and it was an experiment. You're a scientist, you should understand the importance of experimentation".

"Remind me to never agree to be your test subject in future," Ariana muttered to herself.

A wicked grin crossed Ushas's face, "I do believe that I collected sufficient data on the subject as of present," she informed the other girl, who quickly realised that she really didn't want to know, "But, to return to your first question," she began, the strange smile fading, "The reason why I was asking all those questions is because I was merely trying to show you that perhaps there is reason for such talk".

Ariana frowned at her, considering what she had said, "Yes…but only you, Koschei, Theta, and I know about that night," she pointed out.

The other girl gave her a bored look, "It was only an example," she told her simply, "I had thought that using an example may perhaps help you to understand better, since you can be very dense on the subject," she rolled her eyes once more, "Once again you prove my point".

Ariana began to open her mouth to attempt to argue, despite knowing that the other girl had a very good point, when the school bell suddenly sounded, singling the end of class. Students all around them quickly began to clean up their work area, shrugging off their protective goggles, gloves, and lab coats before moving on to lunch as Ushas and Ariana followed suit.

"Well, that was a wasted lesson," Ariana remarked as reached down beside their lab bench, grabbing her bag and swinging it over her shoulder.

"Oh, please," Ushas scoffed, not bothering to keep her voice down now that it was lunch time, "A Time Tot could have done that work," she laughed snidely, "And they call this the advanced chemistry class".

Ariana winced slightly as they passed there Professor, who shot them both a dark glare, "Well, I thought it was very…entertaining," she quickly lied, nudging Ushas side, "Ah…see you later!" and quickly started to move forward, trying to escape the class room before she could end up getting in trouble.

"Where are you going in such a rush?" she called after her, frowning.

"Meeting with Borusa!" she called back, muttering a quick apology as she accidently stood on someone's foot in the mess of students, "Bye!"

I'm sorry for the lateness of this, I had meant to finish this chapter months ago, but I just could never find the time, nor the motivation. It's not quite how I originally intended, but I really wanted to get this chapter finished before I lost motivation again, but all things going to plan, the next chapter might possibly involve Theta's first introduction to Ariana's parents, so that should be interesting. I hope you liked it, tell me what you thought, please review :)