A/N: chapter two! I always love feedback so reviews are greatly appreciated.

Chapter 2: Homeostasis

Biology. That was her first lesson of the day. Misty made her way to the bottom end of the school, passes a range of science labs until she found her own. She peered inside. Rows of children sat, listening intently to their teacher- who was thus far out of Misty's eyesight. She recognised Zoe immediately and she was shocked to find that she was glad Zoe was in there. It would make it less intimidating she supposed.

Misty smiled as she looked upon the window. Decorating the windowsill was an entire jungle of plants. Flowers, shrubbery, fruit- an ecstasy of vibrant colour glowed in the sunlight and lit up the room. The sight of the flowers made Misty feel relaxed for some reason and as her eyes travelled a little further along the wide window, she not only discovered more species of plants, but also a girl who, in Misty's opinion, was prettier than all the plants in the lab. She dressed too old for her age, wearing a scooped long sleeved top and a flowery skirt. Her hair was loose, hanging by her shoulders in wisps of blonde, with a small amount of it tucked behind her ear. The sunlight streaming in through the leaves highlighted her hair and gave across the look of a blonde halo. Misty was awestruck with her- not in a way in which she was with Ms. Goode but in a mesmerised way. So much so, that she hadn't noticed that someone had alerted the teacher of her presence at the door and the entire class was now staring at her through the tiny window in the wood. She took her eyes off the name less blonde and shook her head to wake her from her trance. Fortunately, the haloed girl hasn't even bothered to look her way, her eyes still fixed on the board at the front of the class.

Coughing slightly, Misty wiped the sweat from the palm of her hands on her flowing skirt and turned the door knob. She stood awkwardly in front of the class and it's teacher; a frail woman, with crimped orange hair and a white lab coat, stained with grass and various chemicals. She wore glasses on her slightly hooked nose but Misty thought that over all she looked cute in a way a grandmother would.

"Hello my dear. Can we help you?" The Orange woman asked. Misty detected a hint of a British accent but she didn't know if that was legitimate or not.

"Uhh sorry miss, I was just lookin' fa' ma' class. I think this is it but I ain't too sure," Misty said quietly. Her accent raised a few sniggers from various pupils. It also caught the pretty blonde's attention as she looked up curiously at the Cajun.

"Well my child, please do join us! What is your name?"

"Misty,"

"Well, Misty, please take a seat next to Cordelia. I'm sure she'll be able to get you up to date on our current topic," the woman pointed to the seat next to prettier-than-plants-girl before going back to the test tubes on her desk and finishing her experiment.

Misty's heart race quickened. She gulped as her heels hit the concrete floor and made her way over to the girl.

Cordelia. What a pretty name. Matches a pretty face she mused. Dropping her bag, Misty sat down awkwardly, positioning into her familiar slouch. She noticed how Cordelia sat, upright and straight backed, her legs when crossed neatly, one tucked under the other in a picture of perfection. Misty felt in-superior to her just in comparison. She looked like royalty and she... Well she looked like a careless hippy.

She scanned Cordelia's posture once more before trying to reciprocate. She raised her back and puffed her chest out, underneath the lab bench, she raised her left knee in order to put it over her right, but instead, met nothing but the hard wooden table, indenting solidly into her kneecap.

"Ow!" Misty yelped in a whisper.

Cordelia giggled softly, to Misty, it sounded better than Stevie Nicks. "What are you doing?" She asked with a small smile.

Misty stuttered at how awestruck she was with this girl she had just met. "Oh I'm just- I, I guess I'm tryin' ta' sit like ya'," Misty shrugged.

The girl's smile widened. "But why?"

"Ya' sit real' nice. Back all straight and proper. It's nice," Misty offered a small smile back.

Cordelia giggled again before shaking her head. "I'm Cordelia. You're Misty, right?" She said quietly as to not attract the teacher's attention. Misty nodded. "Okay, so Ms Snow asked me to tell you what we're doing. We're currently learning about Plant reproduction. It's not really that hard- pollination, fertilisation. It's all you need to know really," Cordelia pointed to her textbook to use as a visual aid. "You see? The pollen grain lands on the stigma, and then a pollen tube grows. The male gamete, which is the pollen by the way, travels down the tube and collects nutrients from the style on it's way down. Eventually it reaches the ovary and fuses with the female egg nucleus in the ovule to form a diploid zygote. This becomes a seed," Cordelia finished, proud of what she'd remembered.

Misty nodded. Although most of the foreign plant words went completely over her head- she got the general idea. Most of all, the Cajun was impressed with how much Cordelia remembered without having to consult her notes.

"You're really smart," Misty said. Cordelia dropped her gaze.

"Oh... No- it's just. I don't really have much else to do. I just study, I find biology interesting I suppose," Cordelia smiled, although Misty knew there was a hint of a lie she couldn't miss the sadness that grew on Cordelia's small smile.

"I love biology, truly. But I ain't very good at it. I like the plants, it's just the human stuff I ain't too good at." Misty said.

"Well perhaps I could tutor you? I don't really do much with my time so I'm free whenever you like," Cordelia offered, her smile small but her eyes bright- as if she'd never spent time with another human before.

Misty nodded, although she was careful not to seem too eager. "Sure, that'd be great. Thanks,"

The bell rung just as Cordelia's smile revealed perfectly aligned teeth to match the stars which fate had placed for Misty to meet this girl.