No Judgement , Stiles Stilinski ⁴ ✓

[ 11 ] i know it's been a while

011. I KNOW IT'S BEEN A WHILE

THE NEXT DAY, the morning was going by like a slow drag. It was mid-day now, and it was AP Biology class. Scott was jotting some words and arrows down on a piece of paper in front of him, his mind busy conspiring about what Deaton had told him last night—about the rules of the supernatural changing.

"If 99.9 percent of our DNA sequence is the same as other humans, what could account for the missing 0.1 percent difference?" Mrs Finch asked to the class.

When no one raised their hands to answer, Mrs Finch called on the blue-eyed boy, "Theo?"

Theo looked up from his desk, hesitated a moment as he thought of the answer, then said "Um, nucleotides."

"That's right." Mrs Finch nodded, walking around the front of the classroom. She walked over her desk to grab some sheets of paper, giving Theo a moment to lean forward and whisper a question to Scott.

"Scott?" Theo said quietly, making the McCall boy lift his head up and turn around in his seat. "Uhh... where's Aspen today?"

It was the first thing Theo noticed when he walked into class that day. Scott and Kira were both here—but there was no sight of the brunette he was so fond of.

"Um, I'm... not sure," Scott replied honestly, his tone sounded a little stressed, "she didn't turn up to school this morning, no one's heard from her since last night."

"Don't you guys, like... live together?" Theo asked, furrowing his brows.

"Yeah— but when I went into her room this morning, she was gone. Her motorcycle was gone, so I assumed she'd just left for school already, but now... no one knows where she is."

"Is— is she okay?" Theo feigned genuine concern which Scott easily bought.

"She's not answering anyone's texts..." Scott said solemnly, trying not to worry too much. Aspen had left last night on a bad note— and Scott had clearly upset her, Stiles too.

Kira raised her hand as Mrs Finch turned back around, and Scott turned back to face the front of the class as Theo sat back in his seat with a pondering expression on his face.

"Yes, Kira?" said Mrs Finch.

"Can there be more than one species in the same DNA?" Kira asked, lowering her hand.

"No, but there can be multiple sets of DNA in the same individual." Mrs Finch answered, "We call that a 'chimera.' Anyone know where that term comes from?"

Sydney, the brunette who was meant to sit next to Lydia who was currently in the ICU in hospital, raised her hand to answer the question.

"Sydney?" Mrs Finch called on her.

"Greek mythology." Sydney said confidently, "It's a lion with a goat coming out of its back and a tail that ends in the head of a snake."

"That's right, Sydney." said Mrs Finch, "Do you want to read us the full Wikipedia entry off your phone?" Sydney's face fell, and she slowly put her phone on the table with a little embarrassment. "But, that does get us into the next topic of mutation. As you know from the reading, DNA is a fragile molecule. Isn't it, Scott?"

Scott lifted his head up again from his notes, not expecting to be called on, "Or, did you miss last night's assigned reading?" Mrs Finch added.

"Kind of..." Scott said hesitantly.

"Kind of, or yes?"

"Mostly yes..."

"Well, then—" Mrs Finch sighed, walking back over to her desk, "thank you for another helpful transition in topic... Drop forms." She picked up a pile of sheets, and began handing them out to certain individuals, "All those now acutely aware that they do not belong in this class, you should fill one out. The rest will be on my desk."