"I don't mind, letting you down easy but just give it time..."

___

"Everyone, take out your textbooks, turn to page five hundred and forty-six and complete the problems I've assigned on the board. Work with a partner if you'd like. If you finish before the bell, you're homework-free for the night."

Day three.

It was the third day of school.

It was only the third day-hump day-and Calum was really pretty sure that ignoring Royce was going to be way harder than he thought.

Didn't mean he wasn't trying, though.

"What're we doing?" She breathes, sliding into the seat beside him after nearly being marked 'tardy' by Sister Mary Magdalene, their AP Calc teacher. "What've we got to do?"

"That," he replies, pointing his pencil at the board. He's fishing for his phone and earbuds, because he always listens to music when he does math, when she sits down and opens her books.

"If you finish, you don't have homework," he says, repeating their teacher's lecture. "And you can work with a partner."

"Cool. Wanna do it, then? Y'know, together?"

See? That was the problem.

The problem was that she kept talking to him. She kept engaging him. She looked too good and smelled too sweet. She was the only reason he didn't skip Calc and the really messed up thing was, he knew she was way too out of his league to entertain all of the dirty thoughts he had about her.

He was too horny and she was too untouchable and what was extra fucked up, was the fact that Calum really couldn't turn down a challenge.

And sleeping with St. Augustine's Golden Girl was currently at the top of his to-do list.

Calum stops untying the strings of his earbuds, but his long fingers continue to play with the cord. "Uh..." He pauses, and before she can say 'Forget it,' or 'Never mind,' he shrugs.

"Sure," he says, tossing his shit back into his backpack. "We can share a book."

Royce grins, "Alright," she says, and Calum scoots his chair closer, angling his textbook towards her so she can read the problems as well. He watches as she copies the assignment from the board to her notebook, and wonders why he's so turned on all of a sudden. She somehow makes the uniform sexy, with that starch white button-up, pleated skirt and tie. That tie is loosely tied, shirt unbuttoned so he can see the lace lining her black bra. Her skin is clear and blemish-free and perfect, and he gets a whiff of grapefruits and papayas each time she flips her hair. She smells so fucking good.

She groans, reading the first problem. "Fuck. Review."

She's also weird as hell.

There she goes, talking to herself again.

His eyes snap from her to his book. "Fuck school," he sighs. God, he hates this place.

And to his surprise, she snorts, biting the corner of her lip as she nods. "Really, though."

Calum gets distracted again because she's licking along the inside of her bottom lip, brown eyes skimming the text. She shouldn't have agreed with him, he thinks. They have nothing in common.

He must stare for like, a few minutes, because after a while, she throws down her pencil.

"Okay, fuck it," she grunts. "I know nothing. This is impossible."

And Calum is about to laugh but he sticks his tongue in his cheek and halts the sounds from escaping.

"Wow," he looks to her blank paper, "And on the first problem, too? That's gotta be some kind of record."

"Very funny," she pushes the book towards him. "You remember Rate of Change? I do not."

"Lemme see."

And Royce leans on her hand, sliding closer as she watches him read.

She doesn't know that the close proximity is a major distraction. He can feel her hair on his shoulder and he can smell the shampoo she'd used, or the perfume she'd sprayed or whatever aroma was around her that was making her smell so damn good.

He peers up at her. "Um..."

Royce lifts a perfectly filled brow. "Yeah?"

He shakes his head, clearing his throat. "Never mind."

She laughs softly, and Calum likes that she's laughing despite the fact that it's possibly aimed at him. "You're so weird," she whispers, and his heart starts beating like it did when he was high, again.

"Thanks?"

"Don't mention it, man."

Calum snorts. Who is this girl? he thinks as his eyes skim over the problem she couldn't complete.

A block of ice starts melting at t=0, where t is time. The rate at which its mass (M) decreases is proportional to the cube root of M. If the initial (at t=0) mass (M) is equal to 5 Kilograms, and it is equal to 3 Kilograms at t=1 hour, find t so that M=0.

He scratches the back of his neck.

"Alright..." He picks up his pencil. "I remember this shit..."

He starts to write. "If we make k a constant, and rate is proportional to the cube root of M ..."

And he draws a lot of numbers and letters and square root signs and Royce fights the urge to play on her phone as he works.

"So, if you set M(t) = 0, and solve for t, you get..." And Calum keeps writing, plugging numbers into a long equation. "3.5," he says at once. "T is approximately 3.5."

He leans back against his chair, pushing his notebook towards Royce with a satisfied smirk so she can copy his process.

"You're welcome."

"Wow," she nods. "Thanks, Einstein?"

"Eh. It's all in a day's work."

Royce rolls her eyes. "I was seriously just kidding. I know you aren't close to being that cool."

He coughs on a laugh. He didn't exactly expect her to say that so he's surprised as hell.

He shrugs. "I mean, I'm here Mondays through Fridays, 8 to 9 AM..."

"Are you," she bats her eyelashes, "I didn't think you were big on showing up to classes, but, hey. What do I know?"

"I mean, I can make exceptions...if you need a tutor..."

She lifts a brow. "You'd tutor me?"

"I mean..." because spending some alone time with Royce doing other things that didn't involve math but did include him plus her minus clothes, was kind of where he was going with this.

He shrugs. "I'm pretty good at most things, so..."

She leans towards him.

He recoils, flinching as her face grows nearer and nearer. He's nearly out of his seat. "What the hell?"

She laughs, now, sitting back. "What? It's not every day I get to be partnered with an actual genius."

He snorts, ducking his head as she laughs, again, at his expense. "What can I say? I-"

"Nothing," she interrupts. "You don't have to say anything," and she's teasing but Calum is staring at her like she's crazy. "I gave you the compliment so take it and do more math."

He scowls and she laughs again.

"C'mon, genius. I don't want homework tonight, if you can't tell."

"Fuck you," he mutters, "What am I, your slave?"

"Whoa," she hikes a brow. "Excuse me? You think slave jokes are funny?"

His face falls. "Oh my god," he shakes his head. He's mortified. "I'm so sorry-I'm an idiot, honestly and I didn't-"

But, Royce begins to laugh. She giggles harder, leaning on him as she does so. "I'm only kidding," she sighs, and Calum thinks he's about to hurl himself off of a cliff, or something. "Honestly, I'm joking. God...The foolishness..."

"Fuck you," he exclaims, snatching her notebook.

"Hey!"

"No," he shakes his head. "No fuckin' way."

"Give it back! It was a joke."

"If you think I'm gonna sit here and do your shit for you while you laugh at me then oh fuck no. You've got another fucking thing coming-"

"Mr. Hood!? Miss Greene!?"

Their heads snap up.

Calum slowly places her notebook in front of her.

Luke snickers.

Calum flips him off beneath his desk.

"If you're going to disrupt the other students," Sister Mary Magdalene begins, "please, let me know so I can write you both slips for detention," and her eyes bore into Royce. "Really, Miss Greene? I expect more from you."

"Yes, ma'am."

Calum slides down in his seat, throwing his arm behind the back of Royce's chair.

"Say. Nothing," she grits out.

"Fuck you," he whispers, inhaling the sweet smell of her shampoo and hair shine. "'Cause I expect more from you, Miss Greene."

"Shut up," she mutters, punching his thigh beneath the desk, "You're gonna get me in trouble."

He yelps and she chuckles, eyes downcast as Sister Mary Magdalene shoots Calum another glare.

He fights a smile, reading the next problem and secretly liking that she's the one going down with him.

A particle moving along a straight line has an acceleration of a = 4...

___

"I thought 'Little Miss Perfect' didn't get into trouble," Calum whispers into Royce's ear as they pack up for class. He can't resist. The bell's rung for passing period, and it's already time for his second class.

Royce places a hand on her hip. "Who exactly are you calling perfect?"

"You, of course," he grins, watching as she rolls her eyes and her hair falls over her face. He fights the urge to touch it, because it looks so soft, but that's pushing a new level of creepy so he refrains. He trails behind her, keeping a slight distance so not to draw attention. He really likes the way her legs look in that skirt.

"I thought Miss Greene didn't get into trouble."

"I thought you were a weirdo."

"A what?"

"Yep," she nods. "And a stoner, but I think that's about right..."

He stares as she taps her chin and he thinks it's cute because she's small and smells good.

He shakes his head. "Where'd you even come from?"

Royce pauses at the bottom of the steps. "Well, when a man and a woman love each other, something magical happens and-"

"Alright, you fucker," he exclaims and she grins. "I didn't ask for Sex-Ed."

"Sounds like you could use a lesson, though."

"You're gonna teach me?" Is what he nearly asks but doesn't.

Instead, he glares.

"Fuck off, alright?" He says, and Calum's head is actually tilted backwards as he watches her bound up the stairway, leaving him, taking the steps two at a time. Their peers are milling around them, swarming in the same black and white uniforms but, as fucked up as it is, all he's focused on is her.

Kill him, now.

He's still glaring at the girl who's managed to fuck him up in just one period. "That's not what I meant."

She plants her hands on the railing, her hair hanging over the rails as she calls down to him, "Good," she replies, "'Cause that'd be really fucking weird."

And Royce turns and jogs the rest of the way to class.

Calum shakes his head because there's no way anyone caught him smiling.

___

first real interaction ayyeee.

okay so now things are about to really pick up and i'm sorry for the pace of the first two chapters but i had to introduce settings and yeah.

THIS GIF. 

i'm really excited. xx

ain't it fun || paramore