Work Text:
--Thursday—
The halls are mostly empty as you sprint to class. The calls of ‘run Forrest run’ pissed you off but you ignored them as you neared the classroom. The teacher, ready to shut the door, saw you and shook her head. “That was a close one Miss (y/l/n).” You breathlessly smiled to her as you ran in and took your seat. The bell rang. Snickers followed you until class started. You ignored the first couple of minutes of trig to compose yourself. It was the last class of the day, you could get through this. Right? A pen hit the back of your head. Wrong.
You turn around and see her. Cassidy White, the biggest most spoiled brat in school. She has taken to picking on you the most ever since the school year started. She not so subtly flipped you off and you turned around. Trig was your least favourite class, but it was senior year, so you could handle one more year of these people’s shit. Well… It was actually four months and two days until graduation. You had mentally kept track since freshman year. You had worked since then to save up and leave this town. You grew impatient even thinking about it.
You finally decided to pay some attention to the teacher, around the time she had to stop class to wake up the new student. Altair…something. You could not remember his last name. He always ended up falling asleep and would fight the teacher about it.
“That’s yet another detention Mr. Ibn La’Ahad,” she sighed. He just glared at her. The other kids snickered again. He shot glares to every one of them including yourself. You rolled your eyes at him and turned to work on your assignment. Your head began to throb as you thought of everything you needed to do. Your vision slightly swam. You closed your eyes and rubbed your temples. It’s not even Friday and you knew it would be a long weekend.
--Friday—
“Hey! Watch it!” Altair yelled at you. You winced. He elbowed you away from the door and the bell rang.
“Okay you two grow up. Both of you can learn to get along in detention after school today.”
“What!” You yelled. You quickly walked up to the teacher and she raised her eyebrow. “I can’t serve tonight, I have work like…ten minutes after school.”
“I’m sorry (y/n), but rules are rules.” You glared at the teacher. At Altair too when you saw him still standing in the door. His face was hard and emotionless. You hated this guy. Thinking he was better than everyone else just because he was exotic and the top of the class. You angrily sat down at your desk. When the teacher had her back turned, you sent a text to one of your co-workers telling him of your predicament. You glared at your old-ass flip phone before closing it and stuffing it back into your pocket. No longer caring pretending to pay attention, you doodled on your papers.
--One hour later—
Altair POV~
“Okay you two, you shall remain here until your hour is served. And no sneaking out please, Altair.” I sighed, I saw (y/n) shoot me a questioning look and I shrugged at her. I didn’t know what the teacher’s deal was, detention was boring. She left and I was alone with the (h/c) girl. She was pretty, today was the first time I had seen her (e/c) eyes. They were intense and gorgeous. I had three other classes with her. I think. She wasn’t very noticeable, but she looked very stressed every time she ran into the classroom.
“So…(y/n). Why are you always late to/ sprint to class?” I asked several minutes of silence. She turned to me with tired eyes.
“Why do you always fall asleep Altair?” I snorted.
“Simple. It’s boring.” She let out a small smile.
“Fair enough.” She paused a moment, “my locker is across the school…” She opened her mouth as if to add more, but closed it as if changing her mind. I looked at her. I watched as she tied her (h/l) (h/c) hair away from her (s/c) face. She had mentioned something about missing work earlier, I tossed her another glance and watched her angrily text someone on her old looking flip phone.
She sneezed. I looked at her and shrugged it off. She kept sneezing. “Goddammit woman!” I got up and grabbed the tissue box and threw it at her. She shot me a glare and sneezed again. That was when I smelled it. Natural gas. The chemistry rooms were right next door. I cursed under my breath.
“Do you smell gas?” (y/n) asked walking up to return the tissues to their place. I nodded. Her eyes grew wide and she ran back to her seat to grab her bag. “I’m out then.” She reached over to open the door. Grabbing her wrist, I prevented the door from being opened right when the hallway exploded into flame. My heart skipped a beat as I pulled her to my chest when flames went up around us. I wrapped my arms around her and ran over to the end of the room.
Hyperventilating, (y/n) pulled away and grabbed the nearest chair. She grunted while trying to break the window. She wasn’t strong enough to smash the window. Flames drew closer as I grabbed the chair from her and swung it at the corner of the window as hard as I could. Glass exploded on us. I heard a soft cry from (y/n). I looked over to her and saw her beginning to climb out the window. I quickly followed in suit. Luckily the school was only one floor, but it was still a slight fall.
I landed on my feet and helped (y/n) who fell on her back. A few teachers, police, and paramedics ran up to us. (y/n) had cut up her hands when she climbed out the window, and the both of us were covered in burns. Several voices crowded around us and ushered us to an ambulance to treat some of our burns and (y/n)’s hands. Afterwards we had to give our stories to some police and teachers.
Groups of students were also caught in the explosion. Sports kids and nerds alike. A few nerds were injured and a few of us had some second degree burns. (y/n) looked exhausted toward the end, but was soon released. It had been an hour.
“Hey,” I walked up and stood slightly closer so she could easily hear me, “I wouldn’t go to work tonight. And, I’m sorry I made you end up in detention. I was an ass.” She looked at me and gave me a weak nod in thanks. She started to walk away. Home, I assumed. I too made my way to my own.
--Monday—
Your arms burned and your hands were sore, but still you ran around the small two bedroom apartment, getting ready for school. You had woken up late after a long shift at the local restaurant ‘Wings and Beer.’ Triple checking you had everything, you left and half sprinted to school. You were happy you only lived a block from school, and a block from work for that matter. Your stomach growled angrily when you made it to the school. Surprisingly, ten minutes before class. You smiled to yourself, you might actually have a decent day. You saw Cassidy blocking the hallway to your locker.
Turning around, you punched yourself for speaking too soon. Do you really need your English textbook today? You decided it was fine and walked to class. Because of the explosions Friday, the science and math classes are going to be held in the gym until the repairs are completed. Five minutes before class you went to the bathroom to reapply some burn cream and bandages on your arms. You fought the bile rising up as you looked at the burns. You hissed when they came in contact with the air.
The warning bell shook you out of your reverie. You finished up and ran to class. You weren’t late, but everyone’s eyes were on you. You looked down and hoped class would start soon. For such a huge town, the word sure does travel fast. That, or your burns were that obvious under your hoodie. You hadn’t noticed Altair until he was standing beside you.
“How are your arms?” He asked. You looked up at him, he looked different. You couldn’t tell how though. You shrugged lightly in response to his question. He looked to you and nodded. “Glad you are okay.” You could have sworn you saw a small smile on his lips before he turned and took his seat.
What happened to him?