Earthshine

English class went by rather slow. They were studying The Divine Comedy, particularly The Inferno. Rowan knew this by heart, answering questions on the given quiz quickly. The bell rang signaling another class change and she moved on to chemistry.

“So what? You think Derek’s just going to be a peachy, genuine, sweetheart ALPHA?!” Stiles whispered harshly.

“I don’t know… but if he’s the alpha… He’s got to be up to something,” Scott mumbled before making eye contact with Rowan. As she proceeded down the hallway she could feel his hot gaze. Stiles, behind him, tried getting Scott’s attention until following his line of sight. Rowan just raised her brow, walking past them and into the classroom.

“Do you think she heard us?” Stiles questioned, his mouth mimicking weird shapes in accordance to his trail of thinking.

“You might be right.” Scott said, looking after where she’d previously been, “maybe there is something off about her.”

Rowan took the third table back on the left hand side of the classroom. It was one of the few remaining empty tables. She watched as Scott and Stiles entered the room. She noticed the odd angular structure of his face. She followed them until they passed her desk and took the one behind her. Rowan listened closely, catching an airy sound. Is he sniffing me? She thought. She averted her eyes to the bored where she found a framed picture of the Curies. In the reflection of the glass she watched as Stiles smacked Scott’s shoulder, sending him a ludicrous look. They silently entered a gestural conversation.

“Alright, seeing in that McCall and Stilinksi have partnered themselves up-- again, for the sake of everyone else I’m assigning partners today. “Table one: Stilinksi, Argent. Table two: Reyes, Greenberg. Three: Whittemore, McCall. Four: Lahey, Vimur. Five: Māhealani, Davidson…”

Rowan watched has people stood up groaning and taking their new seats.

“What was the McCall? Are we upset about something?” Scott shook his head in response to Mr. Harris. “No? Then I guess everyone is fine with this being an indefinite seating chart until further notice?” The teacher said, obviously targeting Scott.

Rowan kept her distance, but followed Scott and took the lab table behind him. She turned to the right just as her lab partner took his seat. His blue eyes were unmistakable. The teacher began handing out sheets.

“I’m sorry,” the boy spoke. Rowan raised her eyebrows not looking away from the paper given. “I’m no good at chemistry…” For some reason this caused the faintest trace of a smile to appear on her dark lips. She couldn’t deny there was something about this boy. His eyes held something she couldn’t exactly pinpoint.

“Well I’m Rowan,” she answered. This caused the boy to smile.

“Isaac,” he closed the awkward tension. She pondered over the name for a second. Isaac Lahey.

“You’re Camden’s brother.” She spoke. A look of shock crossed his face.

“Y-yeah. How…?” She was sure by the look on his face she’d crossed some line.

“I’m sorry…” she replied honestly. “My sister’s best friend was on the swim team, they’d gone to several parties with him.”

“Yeah that sounds like something he would’ve done…” he spoke looking at his hands.

“My sister is gone too.” She spoke. He looked at her with a sad smile. Isaac went to speak before being cut off by Mr. Harris. The teacher’s cold glare graced them both.

“Ah. Miss Vimur. I trust your chemistry skills are better than Mr. Lahey’s here. Isaac,” he placed a paper face down in front of him. Isaac flipped the corner furthest away from Rowan, avoiding her a glimpse of his failure. “I would look into that before midterm.” The teacher warned. Without looking over at Isaac she could sense the rush of fear again. A cool rush flooding through her bloodstream and hindering her lungs; what was this? She asked herself mentally.

“If you need someone to study with after school…” the words came out before she intended them too. The boy’s head shot up and a smirk crossed his face.

“Yeah.” He smiled. “I’d really like that.” Rowan felt a smile creeping across her lips. “But I have lacrosse right after school… you could always, um, come watch if you wanted,” he looked up at her from under his long eyelashes. “I mean I could understand if—“

“Mr. Lahey!” Mr. Harris called. “It appears I was wrong. It seems you and Miss Vimur have developed a different concept of chemistry. Would you like to extend that chemistry in, let’s say, detention?” He scolded.

“No, sir,” They both replied stoutly. Mr. Harris returned to writing formulas on the board. Isaac lowered his head shuffling through his notes as Rowan did the same.

The bell rang and everyone shuffled out of class like normal. Rowan avoided being near Scott. As she excited into the hallway she felt a hand tug at her fore arm.

“You never gave me an answer,” Isaac stood tall and lean. The particular shirt he wore complimented his eyes. Rowan couldn’t help but take in his full appearance. The only time he’d been visible was during the late evening working around the graveyard. He asked you a question, she reminded herself. It couldn’t hurt to stay a while after school.

“Yeah. I will.” A grin broke out on Isaac’s face, while his hand lingered.

“Great. I’ll see you then,” his hand slid away and he departed down the hallway. A sweet woodsy scent followed him through the hallway. Rowan’s mind felt fuzzy. She’d never felt anything like this before and she was beginning to worry she’d caught something. She glanced back at the boy she’d just met. Her brow soon furrowed as she watched Scott McCall pull him to the side. The words harshly whispered between the two couldn’t be made out but Isaac took the words lightly, removing Scott’s hands from his shirt and leaving halfheartedly. The warning bell sounded and she quickly rushed to class, a fluttery feeling taking over.