Avalance One Shots

Lab Partners

 Ava Sharpe glanced around the lab, looking over her classmates, trying to narrow down her potential choices for a lab partner. The pickings were slim because so many students were out by with the flu. Sara Lance and her friend group of so-called 'Legends' occupied the back two tables. Only two of them seemed to pay even the slightest bit of attention to class. Ray Palmer was the apparent moral center of their little posse, but his eternal cheer and exuberance were completely intolerable to Ava.

Sara Lance was the other. She was leaning her chair back against the wall, black boots propped up on the lab bench in front of her. One pink lip was held between her teeth as she scrawled in a notebook laid out across one leg. Ava had never really talked to Sara before; they didn't run in the same circles and just seemed to be two completely incongruent kinds of people. Still, there had always been something about Sara that drew Ava's attention.

It was in her smirk, her true grin, and the way she carried herself. Sara made it clear that she loved and would protect the members of the little family she had made for herself in the stupid school. Ava respected that. She had an affinity for people who cared deeply for the ones she surrounded herself with. This proved to Ava that beneath all the black leather and sneers and devil may care attitude, Sara possessed a good heart. Ava decided this would be a good opportunity to explore more about her, and maybe assuage some of the curiosity that niggled in the back of her mind.

The professor dismissed them to partner up and begin to work on the packets she had passed out beforehand. Gary was Ava's usual partner, but the flu had taken him out and he was holed up in his dorm somewhere. The rest of the Legends had paired up, leaving Sara watching balefully. Eventually, Ava and Sara were the only ones without partners. The taller girl gathered her books, pens, and notebooks before hauling them to Sara's usual table in the back. Ava smiled nervously when she sat down, hoping against hope that this might go well.

"And then there were two, I guess." Ava said, referring to their being the last two to pair up.

"Yes, well, some would say we are the 'scariest' out of our classmates. Me for my 'bad attitude'. You for your quick wit and sharp tongue." Sara scoffed in response. Ava grudgingly agreed. She was smarter than Ava gave her credit for.

"Hey, no one has ever had a problem with my tongue before." Ava replied before she could filter what she was actually saying. Once it actually processed through, Ava's cheeks dyed bright pink. Sara's grin set her at ease, however.

"Like I was saying. Quick wit and sharp tongue. You might need to look into keeping that in check." Sara chuckled, seeming not to be thrown off by what could have been interpreted as a come on. "Didn't bother me. Personally, I found it entertaining."

"Well, that's always fun." Ava chuckled. "Are you ready to get started on this? Did you take any notes? I noticed your notebook out over there."

"Uhm, not really. Mick actually asked me for help with designing his latest tattoo, so I was working on that. I assume you've taken nearly perfect notes, of course." Sara batted her eyes placatingly. She really wanted the smart, tall, and beautiful woman sitting next to her to do all of the work while Sara just admired her.

"May I look? We can do more work on this at the library later. For now, you can look over my notes. This information will be really important later on. You really need to know this stuff. We can work on it while we work on the labs. Don't think you are going to get out of working on this. Not with me, you won't." Ava quirked one eyebrow at Sara who seemed at a loss for words.

"Yeah, uh, go ahead and let me know what you think." Sara said and they traded composition notebooks. "Damn, your handwriting is actually very nice. Uhm, can I ask you if I don't... understand some of this? It's kind of my worst subject."

"Of course. Do you want to go to the library after and work on it some more?" Ava asked, hopefully, her eyes wide and smiled tentatively once more.

"That actually sounds pretty nice. Just let me text my friends." Sara said with one of her most charming smiles.

They replied with wildly congratulatory cheers in the Legends group chat for Sara's first chance to spend time with Ava outside of school. Sara grinned back at Ava, now excited.

"They're cool with it. We're on." Sara replied.