Stella brushed her hair in front of the mirror and checked her outfit for the last time. The wine red hoodie and ripped jeans were her best attempt at wearing ‘clothes you don’t mind having paint on’ but still looking fashionable. She simply couldn’t go anywhere without at least somewhat stylish clothes.

Like every other morning, Justin came to pick up Stella, and together they headed towards the school.

“How many do you think are trying to skip?” he asked.

“Well, Melanie is coming for sure. Jamie seemed pretty invested too, and I doubt Quinn can escape from him. So, the only potential ditchers are the first graders.”

“True. They don’t know yet what happens if they cross you,” Justin smiled.

“Unless they’ve heard the horror stories.”

Only once had she given a lecture in the middle of a hallway to someone who had skipped a meeting without any notice beforehand and without any good reason. Thanks to it some people had decided that she was an annoying overachiever and nitpicker with zero chill. Stella didn’t let it bother her, even though some decided to not take her seriously because of the reputation.

“But even if the first graders skip, I think we can finish on time,” Justin said.

“Yeah. It’s not a big room in the end, and we’d still have five people working on it.”

“Yeah. We’ll be fine.  And this is a total change of topic, but your dad’s coming home tomorrow, right?”

“He is.”

“That’s what I remembered. Mom invited you all to lunch on Saturday if you want to come.”

“That’d be cool. I’ll let mom know.”

“Cool. Merce is going to a sleepover or something at Victoria’s house, so she’s not home.”

Stella smiled a bit. She just couldn’t get along with Justin’s sister. Even though they had a lot in common in theory, they clashed on a few main principles, such as flaunting off their wealth and not being rude to other people. Luckily, Justin didn’t mind. He knew just as well how annoying his sister could be.

“Will you announce where we’ll meet after school?” Stella asked when they walked out of math class at the end of the first period. “I doubt the principal will let me on the intercom in a while.”

Mrs McTaggart had seemed unhappy with Stella’s previous announcement. It was probably safer to stay away from the microphone for a bit.

Justin let out a laugh and headed towards the teachers’ lounge. Stella directed her steps towards the chemistry and physics classroom.

She wished she could’ve skipped this course, but everyone had to do at least one course of physics. She considered herself relatively smart when it came to most school subjects, but she really struggled understanding physics. On top of that, she had to sit next to Castiel during class. Mrs Styrne had established a seating system where they worked with a partner that would ‘complement’ them. Stella didn’t understand how she and Castiel complemented each other. She and Justin were a much better pair. They worked perfectly together like milk and warm cookies or strawberries and chocolate. Castiel on the other hand was like socks to Stella’s sandals or oil to her water; they should not be mixed together. Maybe they would’ve gotten along better if both weren’t so terribly stubborn.

Stella sat down and she had barely taken her books out when Castiel pushed himself past her chair to his seat next to the window.

“Morning,” Stella said.

“Morning,” Castiel grumbled in response.

Stella rolled her eyes. What a ray of sunshine. At least he replied, unlike when they first started the course. Stella had noticed that the less she talked, the better Castiel would communicate with her. He seemed to think Stella was annoying. Unbelievable.

Ms Johnson did the morning’s opening speech and after that followed Justin’s brief announcement about the meeting place for the painters. When he returned to the class, Mrs Styrne started the lesson.

“Today we’re continuing the topic of electricity and currents with an experiment. I have required materials for every pair. Come get them in an orderly fashion.”

Stella stood up and walked to the teacher’s desk to get their equipment. Mrs Styrne handed her a basket with a small plate, a lemon, lime, mandarin, two coins, a knife and a Multimeter. Stella raised her eyebrows and walked back to the desk. Based on the muttering around class, she wasn’t the only confused person.

“Everyone shut up and listen. I’ll give you the instructions. And if you even pretend to stab someone with the knife, I’ll send you to instant detention.”

Stella listened carefully and scribbled a few notes on paper. The instructions would be on the board as well, but it’d be faster to check the notes.

She started with massaging the lemon against the table to get the juices flowing.

“So, do you want to do something or...?” Stella asked from Castiel.

“I’m sure you can figure this out on your own. I believe in you.”

Stella rolled her eyes and cut two slits in the lemon.

“Could I ask you to at least wash the coins and bring some paper here? I have lemon juice in my hands.”

Castiel sighed but stood up and marched to the sink with the coins in hand. A small queue formed at the sink, and Castiel ended up having to wait in front of Mercedes’s desk. Stella watched with a mix of pity and amusement how Mercedes tried her best to make conversation with Castiel. She really didn’t understand she should forget him. It was obvious Castiel had no interest in Mercedes.

Soon Castiel came back and slammed the coins and a hand towel on the table.

“Thank you.”

Castiel didn’t reply, but from the corner of her eye Stella saw him looking at what she was doing. Progress.

Stella dried her hands and put the two coins inside the lemon and touched the coins with the electrodes of the multimeter. Numbers showed up on the small screen, measuring the electrical current in the lemon.

“Woah.”

Castiel leaned closer to the fruit battery looking vaguely impressed. Stella scribbled the number on the screen in her notebook.

“Do you want to try another fruit?” she asked from Castiel. “I can start writing down some theories about why this happens.

“I guess I can try,” Castie said, trying to sound uninterested. Stella flashed a smile and picked out the coins from the lemon and went to wash them. Castiel had already sliced into a mandarin when she came back.

They spent the rest of the class testing different fruits, and metal objects they found from their pockets. Castiel looked like he almost enjoyed working with Stella. Almost.