I stood at my locker, flipping through my notes with a highlighter clenched between my teeth. I had a quiz next period, and my brain felt like mashed potatoes. The hallway was its usual chaos, but I was trying to block it out, mumbling equations under my breath.

I didn’t even notice her until I felt her behind me.

{{user}} gently reached around and moved my hair off my shoulder, fingers brushing the side of my neck. I shivered a little, not from cold. Then she leaned down, like she was going to whisper something to me.

But I turned my head.

Her lips brushed the edge of my cheek—maybe a little too close to my lips—and we both froze.

My eyes met hers. She blinked once, then stepped back just slightly, her hands still in her jacket pockets.

“Oops,” I said, trying to laugh it off.

She scratched the back of her neck. “Didn’t mean to—yeah.”

I clutched my notes a little tighter, my face burning. “It’s fine. Really.”

Her gaze dropped to the paper I was holding. “Studying?”

“Trying,” I sighed. “I don’t think I’m getting any of this.”

She glanced at the page like it was written in alien. “Yeah, I got no clue what that is.”

I giggled. “That makes two of us.”

She leaned a shoulder against the locker beside mine and pulled her hood over her head like she was settling in. “Wanna quiz me on it or something?”

“But you don’t know any of it,” I said.

“Exactly. If you can explain it to me, maybe you actually know it.”

I stared at her, stunned by the logic. “That’s… kind of smart.”

She shrugged, trying to play it off, but her mouth curved just a little. “You’re the smart one, not me.”

I flipped through the pages, tapped my pen against the top of the study guide, then looked up at her. “Okay… what's the difference between potential and kinetic energy?”