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Malia had a bit of a problem. Actually, she had a huge problem. It was her senior year and she was going to fail History. She’d always thought that Maths would be the reason she’d be stuck in high school for all eternity. Turns out she was wrong.
She’d passed her junior year with a C, and she knew it was only because the teacher had taken pity on her. That teacher had moved away, so now, there was a new teacher. They would probably fail her and then she wouldn’t be able to go to college. She wasn’t expecting to get into one of the great schools, but Community College was better than no college.
The obvious solution was to find a tutor. But that wasn’t going to happen any time soon. Malia didn’t get along with people very well. They thought she was rude and unsocial. She didn’t agree. She was simply honest and was very particular about the people she hung out with. Because of this, her group of friends was small. She could ask one of them for help, but Lydia and Stiles were already helping her with Maths and Economics. Plus, they were really busy with all their AP classes. Asking Scott would be a disaster. He wasn’t much better with History than she was. She’d only take away the time he needed to study.
The only thing left was to suck up to the teacher. That meant being early and sitting at the front of the class. She hated being the centre of attention, but if it got her a C, she was willing to make that sacrifice. But with the second bell only moments away that wasn’t going to happen either. She skidded to a stop in front of the classroom right as it rang.
‘Please, come in, Miss-‘
‘Tate, Malia Tate.’
‘Well, Miss Tate, please take your seat so we can start the class.’
The back of the classroom it would be. She saw that Scott had saved her a seat and sat down with a grateful smile.
‘According to Mr. Emerson you and Mr. McCall should not be seated anywhere near each other, Miss Tate. Please, switch with Mr. Greenberg.’
This couldn’t have gone any worse. She wasn’t just going to fail, she was also going to be bored out of her mind. Who was she going to talk to or ask for help when she was sitting between Greenberg and… a new girl?
‘Hello everyone, my name is Mr. Yukimura. I’ll be your history professor this year. The girl you see sitting there at the back of the class is my daughter Kira. We just moved here from New York. Is there anyone who like to show her around the school?’
Malia looked at the girl, Kira, who was trying her best to crawl under her desk. When that didn’t work, she hid her head in her hands. The little ‘Oh god’ was muffled, but it made Malia smile.
‘I’ll do it,’ she said quickly.
That earned her a smile from Mr. Yukimura and confused looks from her classmates. Well, not all of her classmates, some were looking at Kira with pity in their eyes. Everyone new Malia didn’t voluntarily hang out with new people. They were wondering what she was going to do to the new girl.
When she turned to look at Kira, the other girl was staring at her with wide eyes. Malia hoped her cuteness was equal to her knowledge of history.
~
At the end of class she and Scott were waiting for Kira. The girl hadn’t really appreciated her dad’s interference. Watching the two interact was kind of fun. Kira managed to look pleading and angry at the same time and Mr. Yukimura looked a little remorseful. It made her curious about Mrs. Yukimura.
‘Malia, what are you doing?’ Scott hissed in her ear.
‘I’m getting myself a History tutor.’
‘You can’t do that to her. She’s new.’
‘He-eeeeey, Kira, ready to get lunch?’
‘Sure.’
When the new girl turned away Malia quickly punched Scott in the shoulder.
Stiles and Lydia were a little surprised when Kira joined them at their table, but after introductions were made they both gave Malia a look. The look said ‘Be nice, she’s new’.
It was a little awkward at first, but when Stiles broached the subject of Buddhist Mythology, Kira quickly jumped in. Turned out, Kira was just as much of a research addict as Stiles was. After that, all awkwardness disappeared and lunch time resumed as normal. Except this time, there was someone who actually understood what the hell Stiles was talking about.
By the end of the day, Malia had decided that she was going to keep Kira. The girl was smart, funny and looked a lot sweeter than she actually was. Malia had only just managed to hold back her laughter when the girl had shot Garrett down with only a look.
‘What do you usually do after school?’ Kira asked while they were walking to their next class.
‘On Mondays, I go studying in the library and wait for Stiles.’
‘Oh. You guys dating?’
‘No. He asked me out once, but the huge crush he has on my cousin made me think it would be a bit awkward. He helps me with Economics.’
‘That’s really nice of him.’
Malia shrugged. ‘We’re friends. He helps me with school, I don’t tell Derek about the huge boner he has for him. Although I don’t get why. It’s totally mutual.’
‘You’re blackmailing your friend into tutoring you?’ Kira looked shocked at that.
‘Not exactly. And it’s not like he doesn’t have anything on me. And Lydia helps me with Maths. I don’t have any dirt on her. The only thing I have to do is let her take me shopping.’
‘You mean, you guys don’t just do stuff for each other because you’re friends?’
‘Of course we do. This is just how our friendship works. Besides, I’m not that easy to tutor. The least I can do is return a favour.’
‘I wouldn’t mind,’ it was barely more than a whisper, but Malia was sure that was what Kira had said.
~
It took three days for Kira to become an established member of their group. Lydia picked her up on her the way to school. Stiles threw basically every weird idea he had at her and Scott appeared to be relieved to finally have a sane person in the group. She’d even been invited to movie-night with the Hales.
‘You can watch Stiles and Derek pretending not to flirt with each other,’ Malia told her. ‘But if you’re uncomfortable with PDA, you should probably not sit too close to Scott, Allison and Isaac.’
‘I’ll just sit next to you.’
That had made Malia blush a little. Because of course she’d developed a crush. Lydia had always said that when Malia fell in love it would be fast and hard. She’d been right. Malia had known she was falling for the girl by lunchtime on Tuesday.
Friday afternoon, Malia was waiting nervously for Kira at the library. She was going to ask her to help her with History, but if felt like she was about to propose. She hadn’t been this nervous when asking Stiles and Lydia. But she hadn’t had a crush on them either.
When Kira arrived, after what seemed like hours, Malia chickened out and pretended to be hard at work with her English homework. Her mind was spinning and she couldn’t. She really hoped that Kira wouldn’t notice she’d been on the same page for the last ten minutes.
‘What is it, Malia?’ Kira eventually asked. No such luck.
‘Uhm, well, I was wondering about something.’ The little head tilt Kira did was too adorable. ‘You know how I’m having trouble with history, right? Well, I was wondering, if maybe, if you wanted to, that you could, you know help me out? Perhaps?’
‘I’ll think about it.’
It wasn’t a no.
With five o’clock approaching Malia got more and more nervous. Kira always rode home with her dad and Lydia’s French Club would be done soon. They would have to say goodbye soon and there was no way she could ask again.
When the clock said five, they started packing their stuff. Malia wanted nothing more than to go home and punch something, but she’d promised Lydia to go shopping. Maybe she’d just buy a big box of chocolates and stuff her face while her friend tried on new clothes.
‘Okay,’ Kira said.
‘What?’
‘I’ll help you with history, but I do want something in return.’ There was a smile on Kira’s lips that could only be called sly.
‘Anything.’ And she meant it. She really didn’t care what Kira would ask her.
‘I want a date.’
Wait, did Kira mean-
‘With me?’
‘Of course.’
‘Yes. But it’s not really a favour. I would’ve gone out with you, even if you hadn’t wanted to help me.’
Kira’s smile stretched across her face and Malia knew her own smile was just as wide.
They stood there staring at each other, until someone behind them cleared their throat. It was Kira’s dad. Kira quickly ducked in to give Malia a peck on the cheek.
‘Don’t worry,’ she whispered, ‘I’ll think of more favours you can do for me.’ And she was gone.