Science Test Gone Wrong

Isaac had one elbow propped up on his desk, running the hand of the same arm through his unruly curls while using his other hand to shake his pen around. He stared down at the multiple choice test, trying to figure out the answers. He almost imagined the letters printed in black dancing around on the white paper, nothing made sense and his mind seemed blank. And yet he had studied almost three hours with the help of Scott and his mom the night before. He had always had difficulties keeping his grades up but he used to think that was due to the fact that his home hadn't really been the ideal place to hit his school books. He let out a stressed exhale and glanced up from his test to check how much time he had left. As he moved his head to focus back on the questions, he realized that his classmate at the next table was falling asleep. He felt for her, but he was also relieved that he wasn't the only one who was struggling. Realizing that his troubled home life wasn't the only reason for his bad grades had made him wonder if his dad had been right to call him stupid, an idiot, useless. He'd sometimes just felt like dropping out of High School altogether, thinking that there was no use in trying anymore anyway. Melissa was having none of that, even though she was one of the reasons he was contemplating making that decision. He felt bad for not pulling his way, knowing that she had enough difficulties paying the bills as it was, even without him living with her and her son. It would probably be a big help if he got a full time job, but it seemed like Melissa just wouldn't let him do it.

Isaac leaned a bit closer to the edge of his desk, towards Valentina as he knew her name was since they had a few classes together. He looked from her to Mr.Harris and back to check if the teacher saw her closed eyes. “Hey, psss!”, he hissed in a whisper to get the girl's attention, which didn't amount to anything. He was about to make another attempt to wake her, but straightened back up and quickly looked down at his test as Mr.Harris came towards them. He slammed a book down on her table which sure did the trick of bringing Valentina back from her slumber. As the rest of the class started laughing about her sleep-drunk stammering, Isaac shot her a sympathetic look and rolled his eyes as she mention at Mr.Harris with his pen.

Isaac had already turned his head back to his test, since Harris had come to the back of the class to wake up Valentina, when a crumpled up piece of paper landed in front of him with a soft thud. He checked for the teacher, making sure he wasn't looking at him, before opening up the note to read it. He couldn't help letting a soft laugh burst through his lips as he read what his classmate had written about one of the most hated teachers of Beacon Hills High School. Of course this sound, which was rather unusual to be heard inside the science lab, got Mr. Harris' attention and made him turn around to look at his student.

“Would you mind telling me, Mr. Lahey, what could be so funny right in the middle of a test?”, the man asked of the teen and walked towards him. The other students' heads head already turned to look at Isaac and his cheeks were turning a soft shade of scarlet as he stuffed Valentina's note discreetly into the sleeve of his cardigan, so he wouldn't get her into even more trouble.
“There's no use in hiding that little communication between you and Miss Martin, Isaac. Give me that note so we can all share your little private joke.”, Mr. Harris continued and held out his open hand to the boy, motioning with his fingers for him to put the paper into his palm.
“What note?”, Isaac asked, making sure to seem innocent as he held on to the note inside his sleeve with the tips of his fingers.
“Quit playing, I saw that piece of paper!”, the teacher said, his voice growing louder with irritation now.
Isaac didn't see any other way, but to get out the note and stuff it into his mouth, chewing on it as the whole class burst into laughter and he could see the anger on his teacher's face.

“That's an F on your test and after school detention today!”, Harris hissed and grabbed the paper from Isaac's desk, almost ripping it as he seemed so frustrated with his student. The werewolf sighed as he didn't really look forward to spending even more time at the school and to disappointing Melissa again.

Isaac's eyes widened when he heard the words coming out of the small girl sitting just one desk over from him. He didn't know his classmate very well, but she'd always seemed like she didn't want too many people to notice her, so it was all the more shocking to hear her speak so boldly to a teacher nonetheless. The werewolf wasn't the only one staring at Valentina, each and every head in the classroom had snapped back to look at her and he could hear surprised murmurs breaking out everywhere. Suppressed laughter could be heard going through the rows of tables as Professor Hershaw seemed to be at a loss of words for a moment, trying to compose himself. But everyone knew, that the teacher was no push-over as some of his colleagues were known to be. Every school had at least one of those teachers who wasn't confident enough to control a group of teenagers and stand up to them, but Mr. Hershaw was clearly not one of those.

Isaac looked from Valentina to the man and back and could clearly see the anger rise up in the teacher's face. He was about to open his mouth, when the girl made another sassy comment, obviously having found confidence somewhere deep inside of her and Isaac couldn't help but chuckle at her words. Of course Mr. Hershaw had to look at him right as he was failing at holding back his laughter and the grin spreading over the man's face wasn't a good sign at all. Valentina didn't seem to notice and winked at her classmate instead. The teacher folded his arms over his chest and stood right in front of both his and the girl's desk.

“If you both think my class is just a joke, you can go ahead to the principal's office and explain what was so funny about it”, Mr. Hershaw told the two of them and stood there with an expectant expression, evidently waiting for his students to pack up their things and leave. Isaac looked over at Valentina and then started to put his stuff back into his bag, a sigh escaping his lips.

Isaac couldn't believe that Valentina would suddenly speak up like that, to a teacher no less. She was usually this timid girl that nobody noticed and who didn't like to be the center of attention. They were quite alike when it came to some things so it was highly unusual for her to act this way. He wondered were this sudden burst of confidence and rebelliousness came from. She was one of those girls who'd stutter and speak so low you almost couldn't hear her when she had to give a presentation in front of the class. Isaac always felt for her when their classmates would make fun of her, it was almost painful to see how uncomfortable she was.

The teen looked down at Valentina's hand when it grabbed his own to lead him out of the class. No she even suggested to ditch class? Who was this girl?
“Who are you and what have you done to Valentina Martin?”, he asked and tried to speak in a mock-serious way, but couldn't keep a grin from spreading over his face. Still, he didn't quite feel comfortable just ignoring Mr. Hershaw's instruction to go to the principal's office and confess what had happened in his class. His life with his dad had always been about following rules with minuteness. Although it mostly didn't help, he made sure to do every little detail right so as to not displease his father. Rules were his lifeline, his way to live by so he wouldn't fall into the black abyss of chaos that was his life. After so many years of making it his priority not to break any laws of conduct, he still had a hard time of doing anything he was told not to.

“I don't know, you heard Mr. Hershaw. He was pretty clear about us going to see Mr. Wilson in his office”, Isaac said and bit his lip uncomfortably. He had his backpack strapped over one shoulder and shuffled his feet awkwardly as he looked up and down the hall, sure that given his luck, they'd be caught if they dared disobey their teacher.