A/N:

Hi again!

Here's a surprise chapter since I unexpectedly had time to post today. This counts as the third update of the week, so no chapter tomorrow or over the weekend.

Thank you all again for your continuous support!

-Tera

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The last few weeks had been rather aggravating for Grace. Which was to be expected, given the circumstances.

The honor student did her best to focus on her studies and avoid Cal and Dana when she was in sociology. However, Dana always seemed to find a way to sit both herself and Cal in the desks around Grace – she used every trick in the book, from lying that she couldn't see the board to just flat out pretending that they were all best friends.

Grace had an image to uphold, and one that was threatened by her close call with chemistry last semester. She managed to pull through and maintain her 4.0 GPA, but word somehow got around about her lackluster midterm. She couldn't have people think that she was losing her grip, so making a scene in sociology with a head cheerleader and a popular transfer student was out of the question.

So she stopped putting up a fight and just tried to flat out ignore the two blondes. But even that, with Dana's constant nosiness, turned out to be a challenge. Sometimes she'd even get in a little tiff with Cal after one of them made an off-handed comment. They tried their best to not get in any actual arguments – they didn't need Dana feeding off their drama.

But Grace couldn't feel calm in sociology class. Not while sitting right next to someone she had a falling out with, someone she once really cared about. And it made it especially awkward and difficult when she'd catch Cal glancing at her out of the corner of her eye.

Why am I even conscious of her anymore?

Grace knew the only way to get rid of her muddled feelings would be to completely cease contact with her ex-girlfriend. But, obviously, that wasn't going to be possible with this class.

And I don't even care about sociology.

--

Fifth period ended on the Friday two weeks after classes began. Grace felt an urge to just outright ditch, but the only time she'd ever had an unexcused absence was that one time when she went over to Cal's house for lunch. Grace blushed profusely when she recalled getting pushed against the tall girl's front door.

But once it crossed her mind, she couldn't get the scenario out of her head. The soft touch of Cal's lips, the warmth of her body pressed against hers, the sound of her gasps and breaths.

She was so engrossed in the memory that she found herself walking down the wrong hallway. She tried to act casual as she turned around to get back on track to her sociology classroom.

I need to get a grip, she thought. I'm probably just sexually frustrated. Yeah. It's not that it's about Cal or anything. It's just normal teenage hormones.

Plus, she didn't like Cal at all now. They were enemies again, and their little affair was just a mistake. A mistake Grace wouldn't be making again. She needed to focus on her grades and the other things going on in her life.

Reassuring herself, she opened the door to the sociology classroom. She found herself immediately looking around for Cal, but the transfer student was nowhere to be found. Grace headed over to her desk, relieved. She worried that if she saw Cal's face, she'd start reliving those distasteful memories again.

Since Dana wasn't there yet either, Grace busied herself by taking out her notebook and laying it neatly open on her desk. She set her many pens out beside it for color coding her soon-to-be notes.

Grace braced herself for Cal to walk into the classroom at any moment, but the bell rang and there was still no sign of her. When the door swung open only seconds after the bell, Grace held her breath again, but the only person to enter was Dana.

Mr. Morrison stopped the beginning of his lecture and fixed the cheerleader with a stern expression.

"Nice of you to join us," he said sarcastically.

Dana put on her sickening smile for the young teacher. "Sorry, Mr. Morrison. I just lost track of the time."

Mr. Morrison rolled his eyes. "Have a seat."

Dana did as he said, and of course she headed right over to the desk beside Grace's. Grace was past the point of trying to shoo Dana away, so she was just glad that she didn't have to deal with the blonde's chatter before class. She'd have to be quiet since she arrived while class was in session.

Mr. Morrison cleared his throat and started again. "Alright, so you guys might've remembered from when we went over the syllabus, but we'll be doing a group project that'll span the whole semester."

Grace groaned internally. Ugh, I forgot about that. I hate group projects.

"We're going to be going over the details of that today," Mr. Morrison continued, and began passing out papers containing the instructions to the project. "Basically, you'll be doing a comprehensive presentation and essay on a sociological concept. Your group will decide that concept yourselves, and there will be little assignments and checkpoints throughout the semester."

Crap, I hate semester-long assignments, Grace thought bitterly. They always had to take attention and time away from her other more important coursework.

Mr. Morrison went over some more details about the project, including the fact that they'd have to turn in updates to the group's progress throughout the semester. After he went through the basics, a boy near the back of the room raised his hand.

"Do we get to choose our own groups?" he asked.

"Yes," Mr. Morrison responded. "Groups of only two or three people, but I'll let you decide who to work with."

Dread filled Grace, and she felt Dana immediately grab her arm.

"Hear that?" she asked in her annoyingly sweet voice. "Let's pair up!"

"Hell no!" Grace snapped in a whisper. "Pair up with Cal!"

"But she's absent today," Dana whined. "And who will you pair up with? You don't get along with anyone in the grade let alone in this class!"

"Oh, shut up." Grace snatched her arm away from the cheerleader. But she did kind of have a point. Most of the student body was afraid of Grace or had trouble relating to her. And Grace normally preferred it that way, but it made it a bit difficult when she had to get in a group or pair up during gym class without Jeanette or Megan. This class was no exception to that struggle.

"Come on, Grace," Dana begged. "I'll let you decide everything, I'll just do whatever work you tell me to do."

"You? Doing work? Sounds like some sort of fever dream."

"Graaaace!"

Grace groaned. She didn't think Mr. Morrison would let her work alone given the scope of the project. Plus, it was too much solitary work for a course-load of Grace's caliber anyway. For the sake of her grade, she'd just have to take Dana's word for it.

"Fine," Grace grumbled, and Dana cheered loud enough to illicit a warning glare from the young teacher. "But what are you going to do about Cal? I'm not letting her into the group."

Dana waved her hand dismissively. "Cal's super social, and I think she knows some people in this class. She'll be fine! But you, on the other hand, I worry about!"

"Quiet."

Grace felt relieved that Dana didn't seem interested in inviting Cal to join their group. She probably just wanted to get someone smart to do all the work for her, and even though Cal wasn't stupid or anything, an honor student was more likely to pick up the slack for the sake of a decent grade.

What am I doing? Grace thought, rubbing her temples. She was playing right into Dana's plans.

But before Grace could start regretting her decision too much, Mr. Morrison passed out a sign up sheet for the groups. Dana proudly put both of their names down for a pair, a pearly white smile on her face.

Mr. Morrison collected the sheet after it traveled around the classroom. "Alright, that looks like everyone. There's a few people absent, so I'll just be putting them together in the last group."

Grace sighed in relief. At least she wouldn't have to start meeting Cal after school for this group project. It'd be an unfortunate repeat of her tutoring ordeal with the transfer student.

The bell finally rang and Grace packed up her stuff, standing up from her desk. Dana also stood, but she didn't follow the honor student as she headed for the door.

"Not gonna stalk me out of the classroom this time?" Grace asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope, you go on without me," Dana said with a smile. "I've gotta plead my case to Mr. Morrison. If I get another tardy on my record, my counselor's gonna have my ass."

Grace chuckled. "Well, good luck with that."

Dana waved obnoxiously as Grace started walking away again.

"Don't miss me too much!" she called out after her. "Our project's gonna be super fun, trust me!"