In Another Life

Corey

(In Gut Instinct, Vic mentions a promise she made to Corey, I figured I'd write it out, let you guys know what happened)

Her third period on the first day was biology. According to Stiles, it was just memory work. She had a good memory. She learned Portuguese in three months. She sat at a lab desk next to a boy with brown hair and slightly pale skin. He looked at her as she sat down, he looked shocked.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He blinked. "Yeah." He nodded and turned to the front.

"Are you sure?" she questioned.

He nodded. He didn't look at her. And he didn't look convinced.

"What's your name?" she asked.

He looked at her, shocked again. "Um, why?"

She shrugged. "I was wondering. I don't think I know you."

He paused for a moment, his eyes sad. "I'm Corey," he whispered.

Vic smiled at him. "I'm Vic," she whispered. "It's nice to meet you Corey."

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She had no idea what any of it meant. It said something about insurance, health protocoles, and a whole bunch of stuff her dad needed to sign off on.

"You okay?" Corey asked.

She nodded and set the sheet down. "I don't really know what most of this stuff means."

He shrugged. "It's just saying that you can't sue the school board if you get hurt while in class, legal stuff." He opened the sheet to the last page and signed it. Vic opened hers and looked. There wasn't a place for the students to sign. Just the parents.

She looked to make sure the teacher wasn't watching. She leaned closer to Corey. "Why did you sign it?" she whispered. "It's supposed to be your parents."

He blinked, like he was shocked she even noticed. "I, um, I was just doing the date."

"Corey, the date doesn't take that long," she denied.

"Just drop it," he pleaded.

"Ms Stilinski," the teacher called. Vic looked to the front. "Do you see a problem on the board?"

She scanned the Smartboard behind the man. "There's a missing X chromosome. That accounts for Turner's syndrome, right?"

The teacher blinked, like he was slightly shocked at he was shocked she got it right. "Yes, that's correct. Nice work Ms Stilinski."

Vic nodded. She glanced at Corey, but he was already looking at the board.

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"You doing okay?" Corey asked her.

She took a breath. She nodded. "I think so. Just... not everyday you find a body on the hiking trail."

"I can't even imagine what you're going through," he admitted. His stomach groaned as he finished the sentence. The boy went stock still at the sound.

"You hungry?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Didn't have much of a lunch."

Vic opened her backpack and pulled out her extra snacks. Corey stared at the pile on the desk in shock. "Double stuffed Oreos, an apple, Goldfish and five granola bars. It should be enough."

He stared at her. "Why do you have random snacks in your backpack?"

She shrugged. "I get hungry sometimes. I don't like being hungry."

"Why not?" he asked.

"Too many bad memories being hungry," she admitted.

Corey stared at the side of her head before he took the Oreos.

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"Welcome back to school," he greeted. "How was the track meet?"

"Cancelled," she told him. "And to make it worse, we stayed at this really creepy motel."

Corey shuddered. "Sounds like a horror movie."

"Felt like one," she admitted. "Did I miss anything important?"

He shrugged. "Not really." He flipped to a different page in his notebook and showed her.

Vic's eyes went wide. "That's not much? Corey that's two pages."

He shrank away from her for a moment. "I guess I should've given you a warning."

Vic blinked in shock. "Corey, it's okay. I'll just take a picture." She took her phone out and snapped a picture. She set her phone down and started copying it into her own book.

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"Woah," Vic said.

Corey looked at her confused. "What?"

"I'm not gonna lie, you look like shit," she said. It was true. His eyes were red, his hair was stringy and unkempt, like he hadn't washed it the night before. "What happened?"

He shrugged. "Not much."

"Corey," she said softly. "If something's wrong, I can talk to my dad if you want."

He looked at her, alarmed. "No, Vic, it's fine, really."

"Do you wanna talk about it?" she asked.

He pursed his lips and looked around the room. "Not here."

Vic pursed her lips. "Okay, go to the bathroom, end of the hall. I'll knock three times. You can let me in if you still want me to."

Corey blinked, staring at her in shock. But he raised his hand anyway and asked to go to the bathroom. Vic waited three minutes then asked the same. If anyone noticed her going right instead of left... well that wasn't their buisness.

She knocked on the door to the boy's room three times and Corey let her in. He locked the door behind her.

"Corey, what's going on?" she asked.

"Don't tell anyone what you know," he begged. "Please."

"I don't know anything," she pointed out.

"You suspect something though," he countered. "Vic, promise me you won't say anything."

Vic bit her lip. "Corey-"

"Promise me," he pleaded.

There was a look in his eyes. Like he knew she could do something anyway, even if she said yes, even if she promised. She had to believe she would be okay. She knew that, despite everything, she couldn't help everyone. She couldn't help everyone with their problems.

That hurt the most sometimes.

"I promise not to tell anyone without your permission," she swore. "And I promise to try and be there for you when you need me."

Corey stared at her with tears in his eyes.

"Is it okay if I hug you?" she asked.

He nodded.

She walked forward slowly, carefully, her actions mirrored her movements as she wrapped her arms around the boy, her forehead on his shoulder. Corey raised his arms and hugged her, carefully, like he was afraid she would disappear into the wind if he held her too tight.

That last bit hurt, not gonna lie.