"What do we do?" Jemma whispered into Skye's ear. They'd finished their program in the library the day before and Jemma wasn't sure what they were supposed to be doing during class while everyone else was working on theirs.

"When we're not working in pairs, Coulson gives me another project. I don't know. I guess nothing." Skye said. She pulled a pair of black ear buds out of her backpack. While she was plugging them in, Coulson glanced up at them from behind his own computer at his desk. Jemma slunk downwards in her seat like she was about to get busted for something, but Skye just smiled and continued what she was doing. Jemma guessed that Coulson let her do whatever she wanted when she was finished because she was so advanced.

"Here," Skye offered Jemma one side of the headphones with a smile and a little glint in her eye. Purely out of curiosity, Jemma plugged herself in and almost flinched when she was met by a guitar solo. Skye's eyebrows furrowed in concentration and Jemma watched with interest as Skye opened a program and different layers of sound waves drove across the screen. As she messed around, another female voice joined on top of the male voice and the two songs merged into one. Skye pulled bits from each of the songs and rearranged them into different orders, layers, and places. Jemma never thought she liked rock, but the combination of the songs and the way Skye was slowly piecing them together on her computer made Jemma's foot slowly start tapping the ground and her head tipped a little bit.

The grin on Skye's face was so gratifying that she wished there was some way to make sure she always wore it.

"This is amazing." Jemma told her. She felt eyes on them and turned to realize that Fitz was staring at them with curiosity. Bobbi nudged his elbow and they got back to work.

"It's called a mash up." Skye informed her. She pressed a few buttons and saved her creation to a folder on her desktop that held many more.

"Do you want to come over after school? Maybe you can show me how to do that." Jemma asked. It was one of the few days she didn't have a mountain of homework to do and she'd like to spend it with Skye.

"To your house? After school? Why?" Skye asked. Jemma quickly got nervous again.

"Well, you don't have to if you don't want to, I just like being with you- hanging out with you, and I thought it would be fun-"

"Jemma, Jemma," Skye laughed. "I want to." She smiled, but her face darkened.

"What?"

"I can't. I'm sorry, Leo and I have a date tonight." Skye said apologetically. Disappointment flooded through Jemma's veins, but she tried not to show it.

"You still haven't told him?" Jemma asked. Skye shook her head no and tried to ignore the you-know-what-you're-doing-is-wrong look from Jemma.

"Some other time?" Skye asked hopefully. At least Skye still wanted to come over, Jemma thought.

"Absolutely." Jemma said, probably too chipper. The bell rang and Skye pushed the ear buds and laptop back into her backpack. Jemma watched Fitz walk over with resentment in her eyes and looked away went he bent over Skye's chair and kissed her. It made Jemma want to scream, or at least push Fitz off of her. She hated knowing secrets.

"Meet you there at six?" Skye confirmed with him. He nodded and gave her one last peck on the lips before they separated and Fitz left for his next class.

"See you in fourth, Jems." Skye swung her tattered green bag over her shoulder and slipped out the door. Just as Jemma was about to get up herself, Mr. Coulson called her over.

"Tell him!" Jemma said loudly before she was out of earshot. Skye just nodded and Jemma rolled her eyes.

"At lunch." Skye finally agreed.

"Jemma, may I speak with you for a moment?" He called. One last student hurried out the door and it was just the two of them.

"Please, sit down." He motioned to the seat in front of his desk. Jemma looked around hesitantly before sitting. She'd never been asked to stay after class before, usually only kids who misbehaved ended up stuck with Mr. Coulson.

"I'm sorry I paired you with Skye." He sighed and leaned back in his seat, rubbing the bridge of his nose with two fingers.

"What?" Jemma asked, shocked and confused as to what might be going on.

"She has some... let's say... emotional problems. I was hoping pairing her with someone like you might make her more of a team player, but it appears as if she's just rushed right through the project again." He explained. Jemma opened her mouth to speak, but Coulson wasn't done.

"I know you're friends with Fitz and you can see how he is with Skye, and that's why I'm asking you this. Do you think it would do Skye any good to work with him on the next project?" Even though she knew it wasn't possible, Jemma was wondering if the acid in her stomach was boiling.

"With respect, sir, I'd like to continue working with Skye. I know we finished the project rather quickly, but we did the whole thing together, I promise. I learned a lot from her and I think she enjoys my company." Jemma said. She couldn't stand the idea of losing more of her time with Skye to Fitz just because he was the one that asked her out. Especially under the circumstances, Jemma didn't think it would be a good idea at all for Skye to be working with Fitz if she was going to tell him the truth like Jemma hoped she would.

Coulson seemed to consider this for a while before he folded his hands on the desk.

"Thank you for your concern, Ms. Simmons. Also, please don't tell Skye about our little conversation. I don't think she'd take too kindly to me playing matchmaker." He requested. Jemma nodded and left when she was dismissed.

"Skye and Hunter are team captains." Coach May called out. They were playing baseball today.

"Bobbi," Hunter called out. that was definitely predictable. A little wave of annoyance coursed through Jemma when she realized she would be on Hunter's team and playing against Skye. Because of the odd number of students and the fact that she was last, Jemma was always on whichever team picked first and she grew to expect it. Then something amazing happened.

"Simmons." Skye called out. Her face was completely serious, despite the laughter of their classmates, particularly Ward. Skye was actually requesting her as the first person to join her team. She slowly walked up to Skye's side and returned her slight smile as Hunter continued picking.

"Ward." Jemma could practically hear Skye's sigh of relief when Ward walked to the other team.

"Trip." Skye called out. When the picking was finally finished, they took their places on the field. Skye's team was first up to bat while Hunter's was out in the field.

It was only natural that Skye was up first. She gripped the bat firmly in her fingers and Jemma watched as closely as possible, knowing she was going to be batting next and trying to absorb any athletic knowhow possible before she embarrassed herself in front of everyone. Hopefully she would actually hit the ball this time.

Jemma didn't even realize she was daydreaming until she was woken up by the metallic clang of Skye swinging the bat at the ball with the force of a freight train. Skye took off running and threw the bat behind her. The sound of Skye's hit echoed across the field for a few seconds, until she made it to first. The ball was barely inside the homerun fence and the player it was closest to missed the catch. By the time the ball came anywhere near close enough to being able to get Skye out, she'd already planted her foot on third base.

Jemma had to be pushed by Trip behind her before she could approach home plate. She felt like she was going to be sick. Everyone was watching her and she was about to make a fool out of herself. Somewhere her brain registered that she had to hold onto the bat someone handed her. She could still feel the warmth where Skye had gripped it, so she positioned her hands where the handle was warmest.

Mimicking Skye's position, Jemma stood with her feet spread apart and her knees bent. She looked to Skye for encouragement, who called out a piece of advice. Keep your eyes on the ball.

Jemma felt a little bit better until she remembered who was pitching. Ward smirked at her as he pulled his arm back. Keep your eyes on the ball. Jemma blocked out Ward's face and focused on the ball whizzing towards her. For a split second, she saw the angle she'd have to swing her bat at to make a successful hit. She followed the invisible line she'd drawn and made steady contact with the hard ball.

It wasn't an amazing hit, but it was enough to send a ground ball rolling between second and third base at a decently high speed. Jemma was stunned and surprised she actually hit the ball. She was frozen in place until she noticed Skye running towards her, shouting for her to run, and run she did.

Jemma was absolutely sure she pulled a muscle, but she ran faster than she'd ever run before and stopped at first base. When she looked behind her, Skye was giving her two thumbs up and a huge smile from home plate, though the rest of the class was looking at her as though she'd just grown a second head. Maybe she wasn't as bad at sports as she'd been telling herself. If she had just tried a little harder- or if she had just had the right inspiration.

Near the end of the period, May blew her whistle and called game. Jemma could already tell from way outfield that trouble was brewing when Ward approached Skye where she had been squatting as catcher. The look on Skye's face was more than annoyed when she pulled the mask off her face.

Jemma jogged back to home plate, but she could already see that things had been heating up in her absence.

"Don't touch me." Skye growled. Jemma was definitely shorter than Ward, but Skye looked even smaller when hovered so close to her. Skye was the same height as Jemma, she probably had a good few inches left before she was done growing, so she was equally tiny compared to Ward. Jemma remembered the way Skye had been upset about Jemma using her for protection, and Jemma figured that this situation was one she could easily use to prove to Skye that they were actually friends.

"Leave her alone." Jemma growled, having no regard for her own personal safety or any sense of self preservation whatsoever.

"Are you going to make me, nerd?" Ward turned his attention to her and Skye gave her a pleading look.

"If you're going to insult me, you should at least come up with something creative." Jemma said with sarcasm lining her voice. She felt Skye's hand grasp her forearm, but it was like a switch had flipped inside her and for once, Jemma's fight or flight instincts were on fight mode.

"He's not worth it." Skye's jaw was locked so tightly that the words hardly escaped above a low grumble. When Coach May was turned away, Ward finally let out his annoyance. With one hard shove to Jemma's shoulders, she was stumbling backwards and landing in the dirt. A ferocious, animal-like snarl escaped Skye's throat and she didn't hesitate to punch him in the gut. Ward reacted like a football player with anger issues would: he lashed out. A slap and a push later, Skye was lying in the dirt next to Jemma and Ward was hovering over them angrily.

"Enough! All three of you, to the office!" May had finally gotten a hold of the situation. She grabbed Skye and Jemma by the backs of their shirts and pulled them up to their feet, not hesitating to march all three of them to the principal's office in their dirty P.E. uniforms, an open laughing stock to everyone in the hallway.

"Are you okay?" Skye whispered into Jemma's ear while Principal Hand was talking to Ward. She was going to be talking to each of them individually and then deciding who needed to be punished and what the severity of those punishments were going to be.

"I stopped my fall with my arm, it was a stupid mistake. I'm fine, though. Just a little sore, it'll heal up in no time." Jemma told her quietly, trying to avoid the attention of the secretary working at the desk nearby. Skye took both of Jemma's arms and compared them.

"Your wrist is a little swollen. You sure you're alright?" Skye asked in concern.

"I'm fine, Skye. Are you alright? You're the one he hit." Without thinking, Jemma traced a few light fingers across Skye's cheek, which was still a little pink.

"Hit? Nah, that was nothing. Don't worry about me." Skye smiled, but Jemma didn't believe one word of it. Usually when Skye smiled her eyes sparkled, but her smile didn't reach that far.

"Jemma Simmons." Principal Hand called from her office. Ward glared at both Skye and Jemma when he passed by on his way out.

"That's not fair at all!" Jemma complained when Skye told her what Hand had said. Jemma had gotten away with a warning because of her squeaky clean record, but Skye was stuck in detention for the rest of the week. "You didn't even do anything!" Jemma argued, though it fell upon deaf ears. Skye was hardly paying attention to her.

"What exactly happened?" Fitz asked in concern. They were all discussing the incident over sandwiches. Skye wasn't eating, as usual, though Jemma did try to convince her otherwise. She ended up sucking on a lollipop from the stash Jemma kept just for her.

"Ward was being an asshole and Jemma stuck up for me. He shoved her and I ended up punching him. I'll take the detentions for it, it was so worth it." Skye bit down on the lollipop and it crunched in her mouth, producing a sound she knew Jemma hated. She smirked at the annoyed look on her face.

"Are you both sure you're alright?" Fitz asked them.

"Absolutely. Jemma made me go to the nurse." Skye pulled the stick out of her mouth and flicked it onto Fitz's empty tray to get thrown away with his sandwich wrapper.

"Good for her." Fitz rubbed Skye's shoulder affectionately and gave Jemma a look that basically said thank you for taking stupid, stubborn Skye to the nurse when we all know she wouldn't go herself.

"Are we still on for tonight?" Fitz changed the subject, asking Skye.

"We had plans? I'm sorry, Leo, I promised Jemma that I would hang out with her after school." Skye cringed. She looked back and forth between Jemma and Fitz; both of them were staring at each other. To Skye it seemed like they were arguing over her telepathically in some sort of odd staring contest.

"Leo, we need to talk." Skye sighed and Jemma took that as her cue to leave. Jemma nodded at her for support, and Fitz frowned at the exchange. Skye turned her chair to face Fitz and Jemma rushed out of the cafeteria, not wanting to be there to see the hurt look she knew was going to be on Fitz's face, the one that was identical to the face of a kicked puppy.