WICKED { #Wattys2016 }

Chapter Eight: Biology

"He what?!" Cordelia blurted out, loud  enough that people in the hallway turned to look at her.

"Keep your voice down." Kendra hissed, "It wasn't a big deal..." She protested, upon seeing the look her best friend was giving her. "He came over and hung out with me." She told her, trying to be nonchalant.

"To comfort you." Cordelia argued, gripping her friend's forearm.

Kendra rolled her eyes. "And?"

Cordelia knew it didn't mean much other than Ethan was a good friend, and yet...she felt a horrid jealousy in the back of her mind.

Kendra and Ethan were her best friends. But she had to be blind to see that their friendship was...different. How? She wasn't quite sure.

She couldn't help but think to herself, 'Why did he go comfort her, and not me?' She quickly dismissed the thought, though she still wondered.

Cordelia debated on whether or not she would tell Kendra any of this, but the warning bell made the decision for her.

"I'm still coming to your place after school right?" Kendra asked, starting to walk towards class.

Cordelia nodded, before they parted ways, and ran into class seconds before the bell rang.

Normally in bio, Cordelia sat in the front of the classroom with Tiana, but when she walked into class, Jared Hawthorne was sitting next to Tiana, who gave Cordelia a look that said, 'What can you do?'

Normally, Jared sat next to Cal in the back which meant that the only available seat was...

Cordelia's stomach did backflips as she hurried to the desk.

"Hi." She greeted in a low voice.

"Hey Love." He greeted tentatively, surprised to see her. His surprise didn't fully register with her however, because her heart was too busy doing a jig at the pet name.

"Is this seat taken?" She asked, to which he shook his head no.

She smiled gratefully, and slid into the seat next to him as Ms. Barry started class.

"I'm not feeling well today, so today we'll be watching a documentary." She said, causing several of the boys in the back of the class to woop.

Cordelia sighed in relief, leaning back into the plastic chair.

The documentary started, showing various images of plant and wildlife while a voiceover talked about evolution.

Cordelia rested her chin on the cool wooden desk, and closed her eyes, deciding the documentary was boring enough she could permit herself to doze.

"I wasn't expecting you to be back so soon." She heard Cal whisper, causing her eyes to flutter open.

"I didn't think you'd be back for another week." He continued.

While her eyes had been closed, Cordelia hadn't realised that Cal had rested his head on the desk as well. So opening her eyes, and suddenly face to face with Cal startled Cordelia to say the least.

"I suppose I wasn't traumatised enough to miss a whole week of school." She joked nervously, her eyes daring to look at his divine lips.