"No, thanks."

"What do you mean, no thanks? How can you not want to learn how to swim?" Holly's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly in irritation at the blond boy who'd stopped her in the lot behind Nicky's, when she'd been on her way to Adam's car after checking the bar to ensure that they'd picked up the last of their equipment.

"Water, you and I don't exactly have the best track record. Why would I want you to teach me how to swim?" Valid point, Reid thought to himself. Her voice was politely disinterested, but she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, wincing internally as she felt blisters rupture. The high heels of the boots propelled her from her natural 5'7" to somewhere around Reid's height, and she was able to look him in the eye as he hesitated at her question, trying to find the most convincing edge to his offer.

"Because I feel really bad about what happened last year, and I want to make it up to you." Reid know his voice and eyes rang with sincerity, and smirked behind his concerned mask as he gauged her reaction.

"Really, it's not necessary." Still polite. She glanced over her shoulder when she heard someone call her name; Jeremy was leaning out of the back of Adam's ancient VW van. "I should go," she spoke softly. She pointed over her shoulder in explanation and turned on a heel without waiting for his response, breaking into a limping jog as she neared the van. He watched her as she stepped forward to pull herself into the car, and Adam floored the gas, sending the van surging forward amid gales of laughter from it's male inhabitants. Kyle was rolling her eyes at them from the passenger's seat, lighting a clove as she examined her chipping purple nail polish. Holly crossed her arms over her chest, one hip jutting out, a boot toe tapping the ground. She so resembled the appearance of Reid's own mother when he was doing something irritating that he almost laughed. They beckoned to her from inside, but she made no move forward.

He watched still as the drummer from earlier clambered clumsily from the back door and walked up to Holly, knocking an arm roughly around her shoulders and pulling her towards the open sliding door. She walked awkwardly, body bent as her head was caught under the crook of his arm.

"Fuck," Reid murmured as the beige van sped out of the lot, pulling a cigarette from his pocket. He pressed 2 on his speed dial, 1 being his own voicemail, and addressed the person without greeting. "Let's get out of here. This place blows tonight."

--

"Miss Donnelly?" Holly bit back a yawn as she glanced up at Miss Park, her chemistry teacher. "Might I suggest looking into hiring a tutor? You need this course to graduate." Miss Park spoke quietly, yet the brown haired girl could feel her cheeks flush as eyes flicked towards her from the surrounding tables. Miss Park caught her blush, and laid a hand on Holly's shoulder. "See me after class."

Groaning internally, Holly laid her forehead on her notebook. Fuck.