Star of the Cosmos

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METROPOLIS

September 23, 11:23 EDT

Claire sat at her usual lunch table with her head cradled in her left hand as she worked on the math homework that she had procrastinated on.

Meanwhile, Cami sat next to her, droning on and on about her possibly failing her physics exam, which Claire couldn't relate to.

In all honesty, Claire would have loved to take physics this year, but she was required to take chemistry first.

A class that she didn't understand whatsoever.

"Like who needs to understand the atomic numbers of copper and iron? Or chemical compounds and chemical reactions?" She sighed inwardly.

"Ugh, I hate Wally and his stupid chem brain." She thought with envy as she calculated the square root of thirty-six before filtering it into a column.

"Are you even listening to me?"

Claire snapped out of her daze to turn to her sister.

Don't get her wrong, Claire loved her sister, but it was so much more challenging to get things done with her around.

Before, Cami would sit with the other popular kids, but now since Claire's little... episode.

Cami's been by her side twenty-four seven.

"Y-yeah, Cami, I'm listening... um, you were talking about your physics test, right?"

"Claire, that was ten minutes ago." Cami deadpanned as she glanced at her watch.

Claire's eyes grew wide in response as she stared down at her watch. Confirming that ten minutes had passed and she only completed one problem on her homework.

Claire groaned before plopping her face down onto the cafeteria table.

"Am I distracting you? I mean, I can go if you want." Cami said sincerely before going to pack up her stuff.

"No, no, stay, please."

Claire inhaled deeply before picking her face up off of the table and exhaling.

"You're not a bother, I promise. I'm glad you're here." Claire stated as she went back to work on her homework, hoping for no more distractions since she only had about 5 minutes left.

But as fate would have it, a loud thud broke her out of her working trance yet again.

This time she looked to her right to find a grinning brunette sitting next to her.

"Oh, great. It's him..." Claire groaned inwardly before raising her eyebrow at the boy with a silent question.

"Alright, let's cut to the chase. I'm sorry for whatever I did to you last Friday." She stated quickly before turning back to her homework and paying him no mind.

"Wait. But I-"

Claire sighed before glancing back up at him with her blue eyes, seeming as if they were piercing through him.

"I'm not in the mood for your belittling today, Trent. So buzz off." She commanded before turning back to her homework, catching the saddened gaze he sent her.

His face turned downcast at her attitude, causing Claire to close her eyes and, against her better judgment, turned to look at her bully.

Or rather, former bully.

"Is there a reason why you're here?" She asked in a softer tone.

His eyes widened like a happy puppy before he flashed his full set of dazzling white teeth.