Window

4.

Boredom glazed her features while her empty eyes stared at the piece of paper. The fresh, mechanical pencil sat in her hand, poised above the paper, ready to write down whatever she willed. But no answers came to mind, a sigh slipping through her lips instead.

It wasn't that AP Environmental Science was hard- in fact, it was quite the opposite. It was so painstakingly easy that it made busy work packets like these unbearable to sit through. But somehow Emma managed to always power through them. But at this moment, trying to do work before class, Emma's brain couldn't even manage to make her eyes focus on the words.

"Hey" a familiar voice greeted, managing to attract the attention of Emma. She watched studiously as Dean collapsed down into the desk next to hers, a soft groan slipping from his lips. And then came the famous smile, his eyes especially green.

"Hi" Emma replied, secretly glad to have something else to focus on besides the boring questions that filled the empty packet in front of her.

"I heard we have to partner up in this class. Want to be partners?" Dean asked quickly, watching Emma's eyebrows tug together in confusion.

"You know someone else who takes this obscure class?" she clarified with a chuckle of amusement.

Shrugging, Dean replied, "I know a lot of people," which earned him a small eye roll from Emma who couldn't help herself. Dean noted this, hoping that she understood it as a joke. "So, really, want to be partners?"

Pursing her lips, Emma leaned back in her chair, tapping her pointer finger to her chin as she pretended to think over the decision. "After much consideration, the answer's going to be a yes" Emma responded, watching Dean chuckle as he shook his head.

As he adjusted his position, Emma noticed another wince flash across his face. Leaning forward, Emma allowed the joking expression to melt from her face. "You okay?" she asked quietly, Dean's eyes growing wide at the comment.

He blinked for a moment before his usual resting grin came across his face. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just- I lifted a little too much weight at the gym for the last- two days" Dean explained, clearing his throat before running his hand through his hair.

"Ah" Emma agreed, nodding slowly. "You know, it's not good to lift heavy weights two days in a row. You're supposed to give yourself a day of recovery or else you could strain your muscles" she blurted before she could stop herself.

Dean paused at this, his eyes studying hers. Then a small grin of amusement pulled at his lips, his eyes narrowed in curiosity. "Oh really?" he asked, watching Emma nod. "And who told you that?"

"The weight lifting instructor that I work with" Emma admitted, watching Dean's eyebrows shoot up in shock. "What? I know people" she shrugged, unable to stop herself from quoting Dean's earlier statement.

Laughing, Dean supposed he should stop assuming things about her, considering he was always surprised. "You lift?" he questioned once again.

"Yes. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday" Emma responded, drumming her hands softly on the table as his shock began to make her nervous.

"Well" Dean began, nodding slowly with something like awe, "cool. Very cool."

Emma remained silent, running this response through her head. There was the cool that meant he actually found it impressive, and the cool that meant he had nothing else to respond with because he was so weirded out. Either way, Emma decided leaving his comment to rest was the best option.

But Dean didn't last long in the silence. "What are you working on?" Dean questioned, leaning towards her to read the packet over her shoulder.

Emma tensed, suddenly aware of how close Dean was. There was a underlying scent of leather, a comforting scent like that of your favorite book. It was masked by the hard scent of cologne, some Ralph Lauren brand, Emma guessed.