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As they walked to class, neither of them rushed. Luce couldn't help but think that maybe he pitied her. Hell, she probably would, too - she was a mess. Or maybe, he was trying to catch her while her guard was down. Like, throw her off of her game so that she'd continue to slip up and lose the number one spot completely.
Not today, Parker.
Mister Jennings, their mathematics teacher, met them at the door. He only did this when someone was going to be in trouble. "Mister Parker, Miss McClair, you're late. I'm surprised by both of you."
He was one of their nicer teachers, not wanting to embarrass students in front of the rest of the class. Instead, he chose to speak to them before they even got in the room. Even though Peter Parker was her competition, he had done something nice for her - whether it was for suspicious reasons was yet to be uncovered. Their biggest competition had been the internship for Octavius, and that was over.
What was she supposed to do now? She usually had something to work towards and she had missed it, so now she just felt. . . lost.
"It was my fault, Mister Jennings," Luce said quickly before the boy beside her could say anything. "Peter was helping me with something and we lost track of time. I'm sorry."
Peter looked at her with wide eyes, surprised that she was taking the fall. He went to say something but Luce placed a hand on his arm to tell him not to. She owed him that much.
The man thought for a second, before nodding. "Alright. Detention for you Miss McClair after school on Monday; you're good kids but I can't let this slide. The last thing I need is for other students to think it's okay to show up to my classes late. Mister Parker, don't let it happen again, or you'll both be in detention. Please take your seats."
They both slipped into the room and went their separate ways. She found her seat next to Evangeline towards the back of the classroom, whilst Peter sat with Ned near the front.
"Luce, why were you late for class? You've never been late for class," Evangeline said quickly as she sat down beside her.
Opening her book she turned to the page that Evangeline was on. "I don't know. I was a bit shocked after the announcement and wasn't paying attention. And then I literally ran into Peter and made him late, too," she sighed.
"Did you guys get in trouble?"
Shaking her head, Luce looked across the room to Peter. "Just me. He was helping me, he didn't deserve to get in trouble, so that's what I told Mister Jennings. I'm still trying to figure out why he helped me, though."
"Uh, because he's a nice person?" Evangeline scoffed as if the answer was clear.
Peter looked over his shoulder at the girl, a small smile on his face. She didn't smile back, looking to Evangeline to hide the blush she felt on her cheeks, "It can't be that simple. We've been fighting for the top spot for years. It's probably a part of some endgame. I just need to figure it out."
