SOME people were addicted to meth, I was addicted to baking. And so instead of huffing paint next to a rusty dumpster in a deserted alleyway, I found my simple pleasures in the more domestic of arts. 

     My fix came every time I stirred the thick batter with a wooden spoon, watching the concoction grow smoother and creamier with every whip I made. Or when I snuck a quick finger scoop, revelling in the delicious cookie dough taste that overwhelmed my taste buds. Or the best, when I stuck the dough in the oven and watched it rise to golden toasty goodness, the sweet aroma wafting and enveloping me whole.

     Which is why I tried to remind my mom that seriously, I could have been addicted to meth instead of baking, she should consider herself so lucky.

     The woman I called mom shot me an unimpressed look, running her index finger along the flour dusted counter. "Stella, I'm expecting this kitchen to look exactly like when you came in, and before you leave, okay?"

     I wiped the back of my hand against my forehead, no doubt only further spreading the white powder that had covered everything in a five foot radius, and nodded mechanically. "Yes mom," I sighed. "I promise I'll do it."

     While the actual baking might have been on addiction level obsession, the cleaning up part was definitely not. That part I liked to avoid as much as possible, or really until my mom scolded me and I had to I trudge back into the warzone I'd abandoned.

     My mom smiled knowingly at me and crossed the floor to plant a kiss on the top of my head. "Good, I'll be home later tonight, Chris said he'll be home anyway, and leave me one or two cookies."

     I smiled back at her, nodding my head. "Of course. Have fun."

     And with that she disappeared out of the room, leaving me to deal with the mess that was left. I knew that baking was worth it, because I loved it, and I especially loved eating it, but as I examined the dirty bowls and thoroughly covered counter tops, I reminded myself that I really did need to succeed and get a maid one day.

    The biggest hurdle was deciding where to start. If magical powers were to ever exist, now was the time for them to show up.

     Abra Kadabra. Nope, still there.

     "Smells good, what're you making?"

     At the sound of my brother's voice, I purposely turned my back and grabbed a stray dish cloth, very pointedly wiping down the surface and not answering. Suddenly, cleaning become my new favourite hobby. Along with ignoring disloyal traitors. 

     As silence saturated the air, I heard a sigh sound behind me.

     "Oh come on Stella, it's been seriously forever, can't you just forgive me already?" There were hints of desperation in his voice.

     Despite that, I still said nothing, keeping my lips clamped shut and my eyes averted onto my work. I had to press my lips together to repress the smirk, and reminded myself that he was the actual worst. I still hadn't forgiven him for getting me into this entire mess in the first place- to betray his own blood for a mere thirty dollars.

     I would have at least asked for fifty. He wasn't even good at betrayal.

     "Please, I'll do anything," he pleaded, and when I sharply turned on my heel, I saw that his eyes were focused on the crème brûlée cake balls I'd baked earlier. When he noticed my movement, his gaze immediately snapped to me with a sheepish grin.

     I knew it.

     With my hip jutted to the side and my arms crossed over my chest, I sized him up with a calculating gaze. "Anything?" I echoed.

     It was one of the first times I'd spoken to him since the incident, and I could tell he was surprised with the new found turn of events. Little did he know that I'd been saving this moment specifically for when I knew that I really needed it- like right now.

     "Anything," he confirmed with a firm nod of the head. "I'll even let you punch me in the face."

     My eyebrows shot up, unable to suppress the smile that found my mouth. "In the face?"

    "Okay not in the face," he backpedaled hastily. "But like, neck down is all you."

    As he gestured to the rest of his body, I could see his eyes glance over to the little cake balls again, and I knew that I had him in the palm of my hand. Despite the whole Monica incident, Chris broke down from the silent treatment war first, and so the ball was totally in my court.

     "All right, clean all of this up and you can have one cookie and one cake ball," I surrendered, a pleased sigh falling from my lips as I threw the dirty rag at him. With a frown he caught it against his chest, eyeing the catastrophic clusterfuck of mess with distaste.

     "You're lucky you're good at cooking," he grumbled, brushing past me to get further into the hurricane of white powder.

     I grinned cheekily at him. "I'm not just a pretty face, you know."

     "You're not even that," Chris mumbled under his breath, and I made a very mature face at him in return.

     Gathering all of my Tupperware containers and filling them with the cake balls and chocolate chip cookies I made, the butterfly wings begin to flutter against my ribcage. Reese had told me to come over to his house whenever, and soon Wyatt and more importantly Tyler would be there.

      In the back of my mind were my mom's words, about how the way to a guy's heart was through a stomach, and they echoed as I snapped on the Tupperware lids. I was just making it easier for Tyler to fall in love with me.

     I was a thoughtful person like that. 

     Also, I was sure that if I didn't occupy my hands with something that day I would've torn everything in sight to shreds with the amount of anxiety burning in my bloodstream. 

     Once I'd collected everything, I grabbed my backpack and swiped the non-prescription clear glasses that Reese had given me off the table, eyeing them distrustfully. Apparently they were a necessity in completing the ruse, but I personally didn't see how important they were. But when I voiced this, Reese was keen to remind me that I was a girl, and therefore didn't know anything.

     Clearly Reese was not aware that boys were the ones that went to Jupiter because they were stupider. Duh.

     "I'll be next door!" I called into the house with a grin as I heard Chris make a noise of disapproval in the other room.

     And that was why you didn't ruin my life. Reese was going to learn his own soon.

     Stepping up to Reese's front door with baked goods in hand, I breathed in deep, a poo attempt to calm my frazzled nerves, and knocked. Not only a few seconds later and I could hear the thump of footsteps inside, only to be quickly followed with the door being pulled open and that megawatt Reese grin.

     "Well I didn't know I ordered a super sexy teacher today," Reese said with a smug smile.

     I rolled my eyes and pushed past him, into the familiar hallway that I remembered hobbling through before. Reese barked out a laugh behind me, but my eyes were too focused on finding a certain brunette that I'd been anticipating the entire day to pay attention.

    Just as I peered into the living room, a bang sounded upstairs, causing me to jump. This was followed by a loud proclaim of "I smell snacks!" and the quick thudding of feet all the way down the stairs. 

     With eyes wide and brows furrowed I watched as Wyatt torpedoed down the steps and jumped to the bottom with wild eyes, searching the room until they landed directly on my containers.

     "Snacks."

    I paused, feeling a lot like the timid gazelle being stared down by a three hundred pound lion. "Um... yes. Snacks."

     And with that Wyatt returned back to normal, morphing into his cool, laidback demeanour fast enough to threaten whiplash, and grinned at me. "Cool, are they for everyone?"

     Very confused by this rapid change, I nodded dumbly. "I mean, yes, I guess. Yeah. Go for it."

    Wyatt nodded and grabbed the containers from my unresisting hands, proceeding into the living room as if this was an entirely normal exchange and not a least forty different kinds of weird. At my probably dumbfounded expression, Reese broke down into laughter and clapped a pseudo-consoling hand on my shoulder.

    "It's really your fault for bringing snacks. I don't know what else you were expecting," he said between chuckles, giving me a reassuring squeeze as I tried to remember the exact moment that I stepped into the Twilight Zone.

    "Right," I said slowly. "I should've known, shame on me. Hey, has Tyler gotten here yet?" I asked, craning my neck again just in case I missed him.

     Reese scoffed, a smirk digging into his cheek. "Calm down Tiger, he'll be here, you can seduce him soon enough."

    "Okay," I sighed, shoulders dropping in defeat. "Just make sure you guys leave some of the cookies for him. That's like, my entire game plan. Other than these stupid glasses." I scrunched my nose where the glasses were resting against the bridge, the new weight feeling odd on my face.

     "And they will work," Reese insisted, "Seriously, I know guys. This is my area of expertise."

     I shot him a doubtful look, gesturing to my fading red neck. "Okay there Mr. Expert."

     Stepping into the living room, I saw that they had already taken the time to set up a little study center, with pillows strategically placed on the floor and the glass and oak coffee table covered in pens and paper, the familiar thick physics textbook placed on the corner.

    With a sigh I shrugged off my backpack and collapsed onto the couch next to Wyatt, who had taken no time in discovering which treats I'd brought. Despite this, I felt a smile curve on my face, but still shot him a pointed look. 

     "Those are for everyone," I reminded him.

     He looked up, mouth full with cake ball, eyes wide and innocent. "I know," he managed through the dough. Swallowing, he cast me a grin. "These are really good, though. You're not a half-bad baker."

   Feeling a sense of pride swell in my chest, I returned his smile. "Well, you know, I try," I said modestly, beaming. 

    "You're gonna have to bake me some personal treats some time," Wyatt mused, lightly elbowing me with suggestion.

   I snorted. "I thought we already established that my time doesn't come cheap, you gotta be a certain kind of special to get personal treats."

    Wyatt grinned, cheeky. "Oh believe me, Stella, I have my ways. I'm not just a pretty face you know."

   "I feel the exact same way!" I gasped. "Soul sisters!"

    Wyatt laughed, arching a suggestive eyebrow. "Well I guess now we have to have half-naked pillow fights, it's part of the code."

    Just as I dissolved into laughter, Reese stalked inside with lemonade in hand, eyeing us both warily. "The only person allowed to be half-naked in this house is me, so let's not get too excited," he warned us, more pointedly looking at Wyatt, I noticed.

     Wyatt was completely unperturbed by this, shrugging with a grin. "I can always take this back to my place."

    I raised my eyebrows at him in surprise, and Wyatt winked. Reese took the very few inches between us as opportune sitting space, and squeezed himself in, setting the lemonade and glasses down on the table. I didn't know if he actually took Wyatt's quasi-flirting as authentic, because I was pretty sure the blond and I knew it was all in good, harmless fun, but it was entertaining to watch Reese force himself brick-wall like between us. Although I couldn't say I was too happy about having his body right pressed up against mine.

    I figured he just didn't want me getting too friendly with any of his friends, and realized it was much the same feeling I had whenever he shot Savannah or Eva that suggestive grin. Although, he was Satan, and I was a good person, so I didn't understand his reasoning, but I appreciated the feeling was mutual.

     Just as he shimmied himself comfortable, causing both Wyatt and I to shift to accommodate for new space, I heard the front door open.

    A boy I didn't recognize strode down the hallway, with tan skin, a shadow of scruff and messy dark brown hair. I noticed that his one eye was darkened with a violet bruise and his bare arms, revealed due to the black sleeveless shirt he wore, were dusted with scraps and cuts alike.

    The new presence paused in the door way, eyed us up and then left without a word. Nobody said anything else, and other than a faint stiffening of Reese next to me, no one else seemed to register his entrance.

   I didn't feel it was my place to ask, so I just shut myself up.

    And all of that was soon forgotten as a familiar brunette poked his head in the doorway, greeting us with a grin. "Hey guys!" Tyler said, giving us a wave.

    I waved back with enthusiasm, a broad grin lighting up my face as I purposely shifted closer to Reese in a way that I hoped he understood- to make room for Tyler. He seemed to get the idea as he scooted to the other side, and I patted the new empty seat next to me.

    "I didn't know you wore glasses," Tyler said as he sat down next to me, causing my nerves to ignite in excitement.

    I stuttered, feeling a little at loss for words due to the close proximity. His thigh was touching my thigh. We were thigh touching. This was basically the equivalent to thigh sex. I was having thigh sex with Tyler.

    "Yeah, I uh, I'm pretty blind. Blind as a bat. Can't see anything," I stammered, words rushing together in anxiety. "Unless I'm wearing my glasses," I hastily added.

   Tyler nodded, shooting me a smile. "Oh, I never knew. Well you look great, you should wear them more often."

     My face erupted into flames. Now I was going to die happy. 

    "There's lots of things you don't know about Stella," Reese said with a smug grin, earning himself a heated glare.

    "We're soul sisters!" Wyatt chimed, for reasons that were probably only known to Wyatt himself.

    Tyler didn't seem to notice the suggestion in Reese's words, in all true pure and innocent fashion, melting my heart a little as he softly smiled. "I guess so! Have you guys started with studying yet? Sorry I'm late," he apologized, glancing over to the scattered mess of school supplies.

    "Nah, we had to wait for someone to make the lemonade, because apparently it's super important to studying," Wyatt drawled, mocking undertones in his voice. Leaning across Reese and me, he offered the Tupperware box to Tyler. "Cookie? Stella made them."

    Tyler nodded and grabbed one, and I carefully watched his reaction with bated breath. This was the moment he was going to fall in love with me. I gulped as he took a bite, chewing thoughtfully, every moment an eternity.

   "These are really good," he said, and I felt my soul finally whisper goodbye to my body.

     Reese was talking over this moment, clearly not over Wyatt's comment.

    "Okay, I literally cut up lemons for this shit. Do not talk shit about my lemonade. It's fucking delicious. This lemonade is like, top-tier. Billionaires would like this lemonade, Wyatt, billionaires."

     "Aw," I cooed mockingly, giving him a pseudo-consoling pat on the shoulder. "They just don't understand."

   Then studying was upon us, and I rummaged around in my backpack where I found my old physics notebook, filled more with pointless dinosaur doodles than any actual knowledge, but I felt it may be somewhat helpful. As they all brought out their notes, and I realized they were a lot less dinosaur-filled than mine, I felt that maybe Reese was wrong again about how well this plan was going to work.

     The only thing I truly remembered in physics was that Sheldon Rickter started to cry when we somehow got on the discussion of black holes, and everything else was a giant blur.

     I suddenly understood how Sheldon felt.

     "All right," I breathed out, forcing a convincing smile. "Let's learn physics! What part are you guys at?"

     Reese placed one of his notebooks in front of me, and when I sent him a questioning look, he shot me a reassuring smile. "You forgot your book here last time, and we were on thermal energy."

    Slowly I opened the book to find the most precise and detailed notes inside, all neat and no doodles, a stark opposite of mine. Flipping through, I found very detailed explanations of thermal energy inside, and realized that maybe Reese had thought this one through.

     "All right, thermal energy, okay. Any questions?"

     Wyatt raised his hand. "When's our first break?"

***

All right, so! A little late but a little longer than usual too! c:

There will be a part 2 of studying sooner than later, I just didn't want to make a 6000 word chapter, haha. MAKING YOU SIT THROUGH 3000 WORDS OF THIS ATROCITY IS ENOUGH. 

Also, who's excited for more Wyatt? (trick question it's actually just me) (but I will indulge myself) (i am an out-of-control teen i do whut i want) 

dedicated to iwearheelys for being the best! c: