Edge of Seventeen, That 70's Show (HydexOC)

seventeen.

A/N: Please bear with me on the science-y stuff lol. I may be a teacher, but science is not my strong suit. Just suspend some disbelief for me lol.

Ree walked into English class the following morning with trepidation, chewing on her bottom lip. She slipped into her seat, breathing a sigh of relief as she realized Hyde wasn't there yet. She wasn't sure if the weirdness of last night was all in her head or if Hyde had felt it too. And why? The only thing she knew was that she wanted things between them to be normal. Which, for them, meant casting insults and sneers at each other all day long.

    Hyde slid into the classroom right before the bell rang, passing by Ree without so much as a glance before he sat down behind her. She frowned, feeling both relieved and . . . disappointed? Had she wanted Hyde to look at her? To acknowledge last night? Ree shook her head as if she could shake the thoughts away, shake the confusion off. She could practically feel his presence behind her, but she forced herself to face forward, to not sneak a glance back at him.

    She let out a loud huff as she realized she was really letting Steven Hyde consume her thoughts. And, for what? Because things had been a little weird between them the night before? The two vehemently hated each other, they had for years, and that's what the weirdness of last night stemmed from. It had been weird because they hated each other, and two people who hated each other shouldn't be in such close proximity. It made logical sense, Ree thought to herself. As the teacher began lecturing, Ree forced herself to pay attention today, flipping to a clean page in her notebook and pointedly ignoring the pro/con list from yesterday.

    Unfortunately, English wasn't the only class she shared with Hyde.

    Ree sat beside Donna in their usual seats at the tall science lab table, chewing on her bottom lip as she stared down the classroom door. The bell hadn't rung yet, but it would soon judging by the ticking hands on the clock.

    "Who are you waiting for?"

    Ree jumped as Donna's voice broke her from her trance.

    "Uh - no one," she said quickly.

    The redhead sent her a blank look.

    "No one," she insisted, forcing herself to not look back, to not search for a certain burnout who was definitely going to be late if he didn't walk in soon.

    "You're a horrible liar, Ree," Donna said with a roll of her eyes. Much to Ree's relief, she let the subject go.

    The bell rang loudly as Hyde strolled into class, heading to his usual seat directly across from Ree and Donna. Ree flipped open her notebook and began clicking her pen incessantly as she stared at the blank lines.

    As their teacher began lecturing, Donna leaned over to whisper in Ree's ear. "Are you okay?" Her eyebrows furrowed.

    Ree forced a smile at her friend. "Great. Amazing. So great," she emphasized.

    Donna sent her a blank look again, and Ree practically cringed. Right, she remembered, Donna always knew when she was lying.

    Their teacher was soon explaining the directions for their experiment, scrawling them on the chalkboard with haste. Ree squinted at the board, copying down the directions in her notebook as her academic mind practically sprang to life.

    "So, we start by combining these two," Ree instructed as she grabbed two tubes of different colored chemicals. She poured them both into a separate container and watched as the liquids bubbled. "And then we write down what happened," she shrugged, grabbing her pen and jotting down the reaction.