BIG SIS

5. Curiosity Didn't Kill the Cat, We All Know it was Timmy

Collin spent the rest of the day trying to find Derek. He was a grade above Collin, which meant they didn't share any classes. Still, they should've passed each other in the hallway at least once between periods. The school simply wasn't big enough for a six-foot something dude to slip by unnoticed.

Derek had probably cut after his little freak-out. Collin was tempted to do the same. Fuck newspapers, fuck the internet - Derek was a primary source when it came to Iris. The primary source, maybe, judging by the boy's reaction. And Collin'd gone and spooked him.

"I'm such a dumbass," Collin muttered.

"Excuse me?"

Collin blinked. Kira Leger stared back, expression caught between confusion and affront. Collin lifted his hands in a warding gesture that no-doubt left him looking like even more of an idiot. "No - I wasn't talking to you."

"Oh." Kira gave him another searching look, then seemed to shrug his behavior off as a weird boy thing. "Can I ask you something?"

Collin wasn't going to be the kind of ass that responded with, you already did. He'd broken a guy's nose for doing that once. "Sure."

"Well, it's about the quiz. In calc," the girl hedged.

Kira's cheeks were red. Collin bit his tongue in an attempt to keep himself from saying something stupid. Seriously, the things people cared about.

"Yeah?" Collin asked.

"I was wondering - that's," Kira paused, took a deep breath, and blurted, "wouldyouhelpmestudyforthetest?"

It took Collin a few seconds to separate the syllables. "You - what? Want me to tutor you, or something?" He laughed, kinda nervous. Kira was top of his class. Collin was pretty sure she was top in the school, calc notwithstanding.

Kira didn't laugh. She looked determined, which didn't bode well. "Would you?" she asked.

Collin opened his mouth. The refusal refused - heh - to roll off his tongue. It probably had something to do with Kira's eyes. They were all large and imploring and - nice, and stuff.

"Sure," Collin heard himself say.

Kira beamed. "Thank you!" she exclaimed and rocked forward, arms out, as if she meant to hug him. Collin did his best imitation of a tree. Kira got the message, and backed off.

"I really don't want to be a bother. Here," she pulled Collin's notebook close and uncapped her pen. Collin watched her ink a row of digits into the paper with wide eyes. "That's my number. Let me know when you're free."

"Cool," Collin chocked out. It earned him another smile, and a wave.

"Thanks again!" Kira called.

Collin stared at the blackboard until the bell rang. He was late for his next class. Neither Derek nor Iris crossed his mind for the rest of the day.

Collin left school in a daze. His moods were generally straightforward – happy or angry, the occasional meh thrown in for balance. He didn't know how to deal with the churning in his gut. Halfway to the parking lot, he decided not to bother. It was probably something he'd eaten.

Butterflies, his mind offered helpfully.

Collin grabbed the stray thought and beat it to death.

The bus was waiting in the parking lot, engine rumbling. It was 3:25. The driver had the tendency to peel off at 3:30 sharp, blind to any stragglers. Collin picked up his pace. The late bus wasn't until 4:30, and he still had a Derek to find.