Seymour leaned awkwardly against the door to AP Calculus AB for longer than he would've liked to admit, trying and failing to get the pounding of his heart in his chest to stop. He needed to face Audrey, to find a way to explain why he hadn't been at her game that made him look as… well… as not bad as possible, but he couldn't get his legs to carry him towards her and whatever fate their relationship… friendship would meet thanks to his being a complete failure of a person. Although, he had been one before Orin had practically dragged him into the auditorium and away from the gym, so something like this was basically predestined to happen sooner or later… he just wished it didn't have to be so soon… Seymour instinctively scrambled upwards into a hopefully less awkward looking posture as Audrey suddenly appeared in front of him, having rounded the corner of the adjacent lockers. She was brimming with extremely endearing excitement, not any anger as he had expected. "Seymour! We won the game!" Audrey paused, her expression shifting to contain a hint of confusion. "...What're you doing out here?" Seymour quickly opened the door for her, dipping his head in embarrassment. "...That's not important…"

He continued after a pause, following her to their desks. "But congratulations! I always knew you would." After they had settled down, she looked at the pink lilies he had brought with interest, raising an elegant hand to one of their petals and stroking it gently. "Thanks. These are so pretty… are they for a class?" Alarm crossed her face, and she looked up at him. "Was I supposed to bring something for Botany?" Seymour quickly shook his head, sliding the pot over to her desk. "No! No, they're for you. …'Cause I knew you'd win the game, and your team is the Pink Lilies, and you said you'd like to see some of my other plants besides Audrey 2… and to make up for not being there yesterday…" Audrey's gaze towards him transitioned from intoxicating gratitude and… affection? to also include confusion, and Seymour only realized the full extent of how badly he had just messed up right before she started answering him. "...Audrey 2? You named your butterwort/Venus flytrap hybrid after me?" The possibility of living in isolation as a monk once again seemed very appealing to Seymour. "...I hope you don't mind…"

He looked up at her, shocked, as she let out an adorable high pitched squeak that he was surprised he could hear without dog ears. "Thank you, Seymour. I love them." She stroked the green ribbon around the pot contemplatively for a moment before looking back up at him, not having to look far as the feeling of floating she had bestowed upon him with her reaction to his plant's name had not transferred into actual floating. "So… when will I get to meet her?" After a moment, she clarified. "Audrey 2, I mean." As if it was seeking to spite him specifically, the bell signaling the start of class chose that moment of all moments to butt in, and he hesitantly turned towards the board and away from her several seconds after she had. After an amount of time that felt far longer than the 47 and a half minutes classes were supposed to last, Seymour was able to very belatedly answer her question in the hallway. "Rehearsals don't start until Tuesday, so any time this week would work for me. Or any time that rehearsals aren't happening after this week." Audrey turned to him, confused. "Rehearsals? You're in the play?" Seymour looked away from her, embarrassed that the concept of him being on stage like that was at all shocking… she was completely right that it was, though…

"Yeah… sort of… O-" He stumbled over Orin's name, not wanting to upset her by bringing up her abuser but not knowing how to explain his absence from her game without doing so. "...Orin took me with him to the auditions and wouldn't take no for an answer… so now I'm his understudy for Tevye. I'm so sorry I wasn't at your game, I tried to get out of it, really! I…" Seymour abruptly trailed off at the feeling of Audrey's hand on his wrist, looking back up at her in shock. "Seymour, it's okay! …I know how hard it is to say no to him." His breath caught in his throat at the somber, resigned expression that briefly crossed her face, even as she quickly covered it up again with cheerfulness. "And I hope you get to play Tevye. You'd do so great!" Did she really think he'd do great at this task that almost seemed to have been custom made to accentuate all of his numerous, all encompassing flaws, or did she just want Orin to be incapacitated?

All too soon, they reached the door to her next class, and she paused at the entrance, offering him a grateful smile as he opened it for her. "I'll see you later." Riding the high of that warm goodbye wave she had given him and the friendliness she had graced him with even after he had betrayed her, it took Seymour a while to realize that they had never actually ended up setting a time for her to see Audrey 2. At least they had AP Environmental Science for that… Finally, his next class with her came. He even managed to remember to exchange greetings with her before asking her the question on his mind this time! "So… when do you want to come over and see Audrey 2 and the others? Would tonight work for you?" Audrey contemplated this for a moment. "...Usually on Wednesdays I'd have to say I have a date, but I think Orin's gonna be going over Fiddler on the Roof after school today." At least to Seymour, it seemed like the thought of Orin's potential reaction to them hanging out together after school occurred to them simultaneously at that moment. After a long moment, Audrey perked up slightly and continued. "I'll tell him we're working on the project for AP Environmental Science together."

It almost seemed to Seymour that he would take it better if he told him; he was definitely more friendly with him than he was with Audrey for some reason, but he just nodded instead of bringing this up to her. He certainly didn't know what Orin's reactions to things were once he was behind closed doors… "Good idea." Audrey started to respond, stopping at the sound of the bell. Several seconds later, Mr. Mushnik entered the room, performing his daily ritual of checking to see if Audrey was at her desk before making his way to the front and starting class. Afterwards, in Botany, Seymour waited with bated breath as Orin entered the room and approached them, all smiles that didn't quite seem to reach his eyes as he looked at Seymour. "Well, if it isn't my favorite underclassman." As Orin unceremoniously dumped his stuff beside his desk and sat down at it, Seymour couldn't resist correcting him… in a voice that was quieter than he would've liked… "...I'm a junior…" Orin flashed him an infuriating grin, not having acknowledged Audrey at all yet. "You've gotta understand, it's the same thing from where I'm standin'. You'll get it next year." But he was dating Audrey… who was also a junior… he heard Audrey speak up from his left side, not as quiet as he had been.

"Orin, me and Seymour are…" She trailed off abruptly as he spun around in his seat to face her, his demeanor entirely changed and his posture seemingly strategically adjusted to make himself look even more tall and intimidating. "Somebody talkin' to you?!" Seymour's heart dropped as she shrank away from him. "Oh no. Excuse me…" After a long moment, she continued, a hint of what almost seemed like very well hidden resentment in her voice. "...Doctor." She sighed dejectedly before continuing again. "...If I may?" Orin gave her a triumphant sneer, sending rage flowing through Seymour. "You may." Audrey met his eyes for a moment, almost… longingly? before looking back up at Orin. "...Me and Seymour are gonna work on this project for AP Environmental Science at his house after school today… if that's okay with you, of course." Orin stared at her for a long moment, nodding slightly, before abruptly turning towards Seymour, his demeanor now completely 180d back to faux-seeming friendliness. "That and Honors English 11 are the only classes of yours I've never had, so I'm afraid I won't be of much use to you for this project. You'll be fine, though; you're the plant guy!" His punch on his arm that almost seemed too hard to actually be friendly coincided with the bell, and Seymour managed to force himself to turn towards Mrs. Luce and… mostly pay attention to her lecture after a long moment. He didn't know whether to be delighted that Audrey was coming to the shop after school, infuriated at Orin's general existence, or interested in the various controversies in the phylogeny of angiosperms even though he knew most of this already, and that internal conflict hadn't really been settled by the time the bell rang and he and Audrey started making their way to the parking lot.