noted → calum hood | #Wattys2015

one

Melanie unfolded the paper that had been slid onto the cold surface of her desk, trying too hard to be casual as she read in a desperate attempt not to get caught.

"do you understand what he's talking about?"

She'd recognize Luke Hemmings' handwriting in a heartbeat; just neat enough to be hardly legible. All that she had gotten out of the seemingly never-ending math lesson was that the graph was supposed to have two lines, also never-ending, though the single parabola she had sketched insisted otherwise.

"have you not been taking notes?"

"does the note we're passing count?"

Melanie looked over what she had written, her dark brows furrowed in equal arches as she read. It seemed that even though she put more effort into today's lesson than Luke, yet still just as confused.

Neither of them enjoyed asking questions during class, or at all for that matter. Google seemed to have gained their trust more than a textbook throughout the semester; no matter how many times Mr. David called on them to answer in class if they didn't know the answer, then they didn't know the answer.

The pair kept their hands down for a reason.

However, with their final exam approaching closer and closer as the days went on (it was nearly a month away, but that wasn't going to stop Melanie from overreacting about it), the stress kicked in as it seemed that their entire class with the exception of one or two forgot what they were doing.

"I wish. should we try to stay after school next week for tutoring?"

"you're funny, mel."

The seven minutes left in the class dragged on, similar to the other days Melanie didn't have the slightest idea on how to solve the equations. She was intelligent without a doubt, but some subjects decided to take the long way on the road to comprehension.

And it just so seemed that math was one of those stalling subjects. Lucky for her, this was the last required math credit she needed in order to graduate.

"why are there supposed to be two lines?"

Melanie slid the note to Luke, who tossed it right back in what seemed to be a matter of seconds.

"because math doesn't make sense."

A smirk fell upon the younger girl's lips as she began to copy down the material from the PowerPoint slide into her math notebook. Certainly, Luke could wait a moment for her to ask another question and him to reply a smart-alec answer, no? "Eventually," Mr. David began to draw the graph with a fading, blue dry erase marker that left a squeaking sound on the board. "These two lines will cross again, but you won't see that on your calculator or any graphs."

"I thought they were never-ending and would never meet?" Spoke a girl named Alexis, who happened to have been held back a grade due to her failing her junior year. But hey, sometimes taking three AP classes and constantly ditching school can do that to you.

"Technically." Melanie slumped into her seat as she tried to wrap her head around two, never-ending lines meeting eventually on a graph where they go opposite directions.

"how the heck will the two lines ever meet?"

"do I look like the teacher, melanie? I have no better understanding than you do."

She placed the note underneath her desk, planning to pick it up at the end of class instead of making a bunch of noise while trying to put it in her bookbag. "Your homework is to complete the front page of the packet, and the second page front and back," Mr. David counts the students per column of desks and passes a stack of packets to the first desk in each. They take one and pass the rest of the homework assignments behind them, the process until everyone in their group of desks have received one.

As they begin to pack up their belongings, Luke turns to speak to Melanie. "Do we have a quiz in chemistry today?" He was half-expecting the same lame joke Mel always told ("Na." "Oh my God, are you serious Melanie?"), but received a simple "no, I don't think so" instead.

Luke knew that she was running on a lack of sleep (who could blame her for staying up and watching '90's cartoons on TeenNick until three in the morning, though?) and that the caffeine from the iced tea she had at lunch was nearing the end of it's effect. So he picked up her book bag and placed it on her chair as he slung one strap of his own over his right shoulder. Grabbing Melanie's extra books, he followed her out and to the science lab; lucky for her that they shared three classes together back-to-back.

//

(AN: I randomly came up with this idea today while doing my homework and I'm so excited to write it!

thanks for reading!)