Author's Note: Hi everyone! I hope you are doing well. Just wanted to apologize for the wait. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I really appreciate all of you who are reading this story. If you could please leave a review and let me know what your thoughts are on this chapter and the whole story so far, that would be wonderful. Shout out to TheGoofyCat for reading and reviewing, thank you so much for your feedback!

"And get down on my knees and pray

That they'd go away

But still they'd begin

Needles and pins

Because of all my pride

The tears I've got to hide"

-The Searchers, Needles and Pins

Two weeks had gone by since the start of school, and the homework and studying was starting to really pick up. Always one to get ahead, not behind, Robin was spending her lunch periods in the library. The place was a sanctuary to her: a quiet refuge from the constant noise of students, the smell of old books filling her with peace.

She was putting the finishing touches on her essay about Mary Ware Dennett, a pacifist and the founder of the country's first birth control organization. The history class was assigned to write about an important figure in American history. Predictably, nearly everybody in the class chose to write about a man.

As Robin carefully wrote in her slow, neat cursive, a shadow suddenly appeared over her paper.

"Mary Ware Dennett, huh? Never heard of her."

"JESUS, CHRIS!"

Robin jumped, her heart beating out of her chest. She flipped around to face him, but before she could retort, Mrs. Hoffner, the old librarian, quickly shuffled out from behind her desk towards them.

"Robin Hayes, we do not shout in the library! Don't make me ask you to leave, missy! And Chambers—one more peep out of you, and it's detention!"

Robin's mouth fell open in shock as she watched Mrs. Hoffner retreat to her desk. She had never been reprimanded by a teacher before, let alone in the library. She was even more surprised to see Chris with a smirk on his face.

"What are you grinning about? You almost got detention, and you barely made any noise!"

Chris shrugged. "I'm used to it. And truth be told, it was worth it to see the look of sheer horror on your face. Classic."

Robin rolled her eyes. "It's not funny, Chris."

"Oh c'mon, it's a little funny."

She thought about it for a second: would any other teenager freak out about being threatened with having to leave the library? She could only imagine what her face looked like at that moment.

Robin attempted to stifle her laughter. "Okay, yeah, it's a little funny."

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say you've never been in any trouble before," Chris remarked with a grin, taking the seat next to her.

"Not until you came along, no," Robin teased back.

There was a brief pause, and Robin glanced at Chris. His smile had turned wry, and the expression on his face was somewhat bitter.

"That's what happens when you hang out with a Chambers kid," Chris said sardonically, "Nothing but trouble."

She didn't know what exactly made her do it. But before she realized what she was doing, Robin reached out and touched Chris's arm. He looked at her with surprise, and she quickly retracted her hand.

"I'm sorry, Chris. That's not what I meant at all, I was just joking."

"It's okay," he replied with a soft smile, "I was too, you know."

Robin knew right away that this was a lie. Maybe it had been packaged in humor, but she could tell that underneath his exterior, the sentiment that being a Chambers meant he was "nothing but trouble" hurt him. She decided not to push it and gave him a small smile before turning back to her essay.

"Why are you here during lunch period?" Chris asked.

"To work on this essay for history," Robin replied, not looking up from her paper, "And you know, to get some peace and quiet…the exact opposite of what I'm actually getting."

"To be alone, you mean," Chris said knowingly.

Robin felt a twinge of annoyance. Chris was proving to have the unsettling habit of reading people accurately.

"Yeah, maybe so," she admitted with irritation, "And yet, you know this, and here you still are."

"Well, I'll leave you to it in a minute. I wanted to talk to you about the Vietnam War forum."

Robin furrowed her brow. She wasn't planning on having the forum again: there was no point to it if it was just the two of them.

"Chris, the forum was a complete bust," Robin sighed impatiently, "You saw in homeroom, no one gave two shits. Why have it?"

"Because it's important to talk about the war, we can't stop talking about it," Chris answered passionately, "And because you care so much. It matters to you."

"I mean, yeah, it does, but—"

Chris's blue eyes locked with hers. The intensity of his gaze was uncomfortable, but she found herself unable to look away.

"Don't stop doing something that's important to you, Robin. Even if other people don't give a shit about it."

They continued to stare at each other as Chris's words sunk in. Though it would be easy to give up on it, was that really what she wanted to do? Robin felt so strongly about this war being wrong—she couldn't let the fact that people in Castle Rock didn't seem to care get in the way of her doing what she felt was right. The war took her father from her, and she didn't want to sit idly by until next year to stand up against it.

Robin noticed Chris losing eye contact with her, and suddenly, he broke out into a wide grin—perhaps the biggest smile that she had ever seen on his face. She followed Chris's gaze and saw Gordie Lachance had just entered the library.

"Gordo, over here!" Chris whispered loudly.

Robin groaned. "Apparently being alone is a foreign concept to you."

Gordie approached the table and grinned back at Chris. "Hey, man. Library during lunch period? It's been years in the making, but you're officially a nerd now."

Robin glared at him. He was calling her a nerd too. And admittedly, maybe she was one, but that didn't mean it felt good for someone to say it out loud. He must've noticed the look she was giving him because he shuffled his feet uncomfortably and looked down.

"Oh, err—sorry about that."

"Whatever," Robin said flatly.

Chris sighed. "Gordie, this is Robin. Robin, Gordie. Great start so far, guys."

"Oh yes," Gordie replied, taking a seat across from them, "This is certainly, what's the line? 'The beginning of a beautiful friendship?'"

Robin snorted, and she caught Chris stifling a laugh. At least the guy had a sense of humor.

"Yeah, yeah," Chris said with a lopsided grin, "One of the things I wanted to talk to you about, Robin. I found our newest member of the forum right here."

Robin raised an eyebrow at Gordie. "Really?"

"Yeah, really," Gordie responded, "I'm against the Vietnam War too."

"He's so against it," Chris cut in, "that he'll write about it and the forum in the school paper. What do you think?"

Did anyone actually read the school paper? Robin was doubtful. Apparently she must've looked doubtful too, as Gordie flashed her a look.

"People do read the paper, you know. This may come as a great shock to you, but your average public usually wants to read something other than a textbook."

"Excuse me?" Robin snapped, her temper flaring.

"Don't mind him, Robin," Chris interjected, "He's a snarky s-o-b. Lachance, cool it."

"Fine," Gordie relented, "But I'm proud of it."

"Me too," Chris said with a smirk, "Just save some of it for President Johnson."

"Anything for you, Chambers."

Robin thought about it. Though she was a little put off by Gordie's attitude, she could admit that he was a great writer. Chris was the next best student who excelled all the way around, no doubt. But the only time she was ever truly beaten out in a class was by Gordie Lachance: 10th grade, Creative Writing. That A- on her report card gave her nightmares about failing for almost two weeks.

She could see why Chris thought it was a good idea: not only could the boy write, but maybe if the other students read the school paper when they didn't read or watch the actual news, they would know and care more about the war.

"Okay, Gordie, let's do it," Robin agreed, "Write about the war and mention the forum."

"Roger that," Gordie said, rising from his chair, "What time's the forum?"

"Err—"

"That's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about," Chris added steadily, "If you want more people to show up, we've got to change the time. Friday after school is too hard of a sell."

"Amen to that," Gordie muttered under his breath.

Robin shot him a look before turning back to Chris.

"Fine. When are you thinking, then?"

"How about on Thursdays after school?" Chris questioned, "We could even meet today."

"I can't," Robin answered emphatically, "That's when I tutor Teddy."

There was a moment of silence. Chris's expression was blank, but she caught Gordie rolling his eyes. What was his problem?

"Okay, let's do Wednesdays then," Chris reasoned, "We'll pick up next week, sound good?"

"Fine by me."

"You could even invite Diane to join," Chris suggested, "I'm sure she would."

Robin felt a surge of anxiety. Invite her to join the forum? She had considered Chris's words and thought that maybe she would be respectful towards her and not so outwardly angry, but she didn't know if she wanted to spend time with her. The idea of it still seemed too scary.

At that moment, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

"Come Chris, Mr. Bernhardt's bad breath and differential equations await us!" Gordie proclaimed.

Chris chuckled. "What I've been looking forward to all day. Be right there."

Gordie strode towards the exit, and as she gathered her things, Robin couldn't help but notice Chris linger.

"Well, so much for being alone," she quipped irritably.

"It's not as great as you think it is," Chris pointed out, slinging his backpack over his shoulder, "That's my two cents, for what it's worth."

"So taxonomy is essentially identifying and grouping organisms together based on what they have in common," Robin lectured, "For example, dogs are their own species, which is at the bottom of the rank, meaning that it's the smallest group. Above that, there's genus, so that includes other dog-like creatures, like wolves. Are you following?"

"Uh…yeah. Sure. Of course," Teddy answered, "Dogs and wolves. Got it."

Robin had been informed by Mrs. Turner earlier that day that Teddy had a biology test coming up in about two weeks. Teddy, of course, had no idea.

"What do you mean you have no idea?!" Robin had shouted at him, "How do you not know when you have an exam coming up?!"

"You mean you actually want me to keep track of these stupid fucking things?!" Teddy had yelled back at her.

After he had explained his usual study method of showing up on the day of, finding out there was a test, and cramming (with the occasional peek at someone else's work), Robin told him that studying days, even a week or two, in advance, was the path forward, or she was out. Teddy begrudgingly agreed to start studying now, and Robin was attempting to teach him about taxonomy rank.

"So the ranks go: Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species."

"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down. Domain, kingdom, phy-what now? How the hell am I supposed to remember all that?"

Robin grabbed a scrap piece of paper and wrote the different ranks out.

"We'll use a mnemonic," Robin said brightly as she wrote, "Dear King Phillip Came Over For Good Soup."

Teddy stared at her blankly. "The fuck?"

Robin couldn't help but laugh. "It's a way to remember the taxonomy ranks and hierarchy."

The confusion cleared from Teddy's face and was quickly replaced with a smirk.

"Oh, I get it now. Except ol' King Phillip's gonna be coming over for more than just good soup, if ya know what I mean."

"No, Teddy," Robin reprimanded with irritation, "You've got to come up with one on your own so you can understand the concept."

She held out the pencil for him which he promptly snatched. He gave her a challenging look.

"Alright Robin Hayes, if it's a battle you want, it's a battle you get."

Robin inwardly cringed at his words as he set off to writing. While she certainly wanted to push Teddy, she didn't want a battle—how could she ever want a battle after what happened to her father? Was—was that really how she came off to people? That she wanted to battle, that she liked conflict? She had been trying to get people to leave her alone with her anger. She didn't stop to think about how people would view her because of it.

"Done!" Teddy proclaimed proudly, snapping Robin out of her thoughts.

"Alright, let's see what you got—"

Robin peered at the paper. She then placed a hand across her eyes and took a deep breath to keep herself from reacting. In Teddy's untidy scrawl, he had scribbled the words:

Duchamp Kisses Pretty Chicks Or Fingers Genitals Soon

"Teddy…" Robin sighed with exasperation.

He hung his head as if he felt ashamed.

"I know," Teddy replied with mock solemnity, "It should say 'And fingers genitals soon.'"

Robin lowered her hand from her eyes to her mouth to hold in her laughter. Teddy didn't miss a beat, however.

"Did I actually just make you laugh?! I've done what no man has done before!" he called out triumphantly.

"Alright, alright," Robin said with a bemused smile. She had to admit that there was something about Teddy Duchamp that made her laugh.

Teddy leaned in towards her, his face close to hers. He smirked brilliantly at her, and his brown eyes shone brightly behind his coke bottle glasses. He hadn't touched her, but that electrical feeling was back, whizzing and whirling throughout her body. Their noses were almost touching.

"Maybe," Teddy breathed huskily, "Just maybe, I'll go where no man has gone before too—"

There was a brief pause, then Robin immediately jerked her head back away from him. His words brought her back to reality.

"Excuse me?!" she exclaimed heatedly, "Who the fuck do you think you are to say things like that to me?! And how dare you guess whether or not I've been with a guy or not—UGH!"

"Christ Robin, calm the fuck down!" Teddy shot back hotly, "It's fucking obvious: the sky's blue, the grass is green, and you're a virgin. Big fucking deal."

"Yeah, it is a big fucking deal, and it's also none of your business!" Robin hurled at him.

She had no idea why, but tears began pricking at her eyes. She immediately stood up and turned away from Teddy. As determined as she was to never cry, she certainly wasn't going to let anyone see her do it. Robin took a deep breath and rubbed her chest amongst the silence that had come over them.

"Robin," Teddy started tentatively, "Have you ever kissed a guy, at least?"

She huffed angrily before replying, her back still turned, "And what does it matter to you anyway?"

Robin heard him shuffling his feet.

"I just—I just want to know, that's all…" Teddy trailed off, "Well, shit, no that's not all."

"What do you mean?"

"You know Robin, for someone who is an Einstein level genius, you're pretty fucking stupid."

Robin whipped back around, and instead of anger pulsing through her, it was anxiety. "Teddy, what are you saying?"

"Jesus Christ, I really gotta spell it out for you, huh?" Teddy asked, exasperated, "Maybe I'll use a damn numeric so you can remember."

"A 'mnemonic,'" Robin corrected immediately.

The two stared at each other for a brief moment before bursting into laughter. Robin could still feel the fluttering sensation in her stomach but was at least partially distracted by the moment. The thought that maybe Teddy Duchamp liked her was swirling in her head, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. Teddy wiped his eyes from behind his glasses as their laughter started to subside.

"Robin, oh my fucking god, you never miss a chance to be the biggest damn know it all," he cackled.

"And you never miss a chance to use a word or phrase incorrectly—or to piss me off, really," Robin said good-naturedly.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Teddy replied sheepishly, "For bringing that stuff up and saying what I said."

It wasn't a great apology, but Robin suspected that it might have been the first real one he had made before.

"It's okay," Robin answered, and, after a moment's hesitation, blurted out, "Brad Nelson!"

"No, my name's Teddy—Teddy Duchamp," he said emphatically, giving her a confused look.

Robin smiled. "No. To answer your question. Brad Nelson."

Recognition came over Teddy's face before being replaced with disgust. "WHAT?! Brad Nelson?! That numbnuts?!"

Robin sighed, almost regretting sharing this fact with him. Not to mention, she certainly wasn't happy to say that the guy who farted during her announcement about the forum at the beginning of the year was her first and only kiss.

"It was freshman year at a party. I was drinking. We played 7 minutes in heaven, and I got stuck with Brad. Happy now?" Robin asked, rolling her eyes.

"Thinking about you drinking at a party? Hell yeah that makes me happy," Teddy replied with a devilish grin, "Thinking about you sucking Brad Nelson's face doesn't."

"Yeah, it doesn't make me too happy either," Robin said, frowning.

"Well, sorry that you were forced to make out with him," Teddy responded swiftly, catching her eye, "But Brad's one lucky son of a bitch."

The electrical current surged through her body again. She was finding it harder to ignore—but she had to.

She grinned back at him. "C'mon Teddy. We need to get you ready for this test. We are going to get you to pass this class and graduate."

"Thanks Robin."

"So scientists are discovering new things every day, which is really exciting," Robin explained eagerly, "But as of now we have two ways of dividing up organisms: those that have an obvious nucleus and those who don't. Eukaryotes do, which includes animals, plants, and protists. A prokaryote is a single-celled organism, which includes bacteria."

"Wow Robin, I'm impressed," Teddy remarked in awe, "You're like Marie Curie."

"That's high praise," Robin replied with a smile, "But Marie Curie was actually a physicist and a chemist. She was the one who discovered radium and polonium and helped to develop the theory of—"

"Jesus woman, I asked to be tutored, not tortured."