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(SHE WOLF. ) CHAPTER TWO. chemical bonds.
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KATIE AND ERICA made their way back to the chemistry room. Mr. Harris was waiting for them, sitting at his desk. Katie knocked her fist hesitantly against the painted door frame. Mr. Harris looked up at the two girls before motioning for them to come in. He pushed two papers forward on his desk, staring Katie in the eyes as he did so.
"I'm going to leave it up to Ms. Ritchie to decipher whose test is whose," he said. Katie felt her cheeks heat up as her eyes darted from the bright red A at the top of one paper and then to the D in the corner of the other.
"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say mine is the D?" She was trying hard to keep the same no-care attitude she always did, but she could feel it faltering in her voice. Mr. Harris nodded disapprovingly.
"Ms. Reyes, it's entirely up to you, but I'd appreciate it if you would be able to tutor Ms. Ritchie before the upcoming exam," Mr. Harris told her slowly. His voice seemed to take on a much gentler tone when speaking to Erica. Katie bit the inside of her cheek and looked to the ground. Erica's eyes flitted to Katie and then to the tests sitting on the desk. A whirlwind of worries passed through Erica's mind: What if she doesn't want me to? What if she'll be mad that I'm the one helping her? Erica was always wary of people she didn't know well, or of people in general. This wasn't how she'd always been, but it was how people had taught her to be.
After a moment's silence, Katie lifted her eyes to Erica who was already looking back at her. The same list of worries was passing through Katie's head, along with the embarrassment of it being revealed that she was terrible at chemistry.
"Well, do you want to or not?" Katie asked suddenly, eager to get out of this tense atmosphere.
The question caught Erica off guard. She thought back to all the times that Katie had defended her without even knowing her, to all the times Katie had been the reason she felt safe even though the only times they spoke were at their lockers that had been side by side since freshman year. Erica then nodded. "Sure, I'll do it," she agreed.
