Jocelyn’s hand balled up into a fist as her quip was thrown back at her, her eyes widening minutely at the mention of holding his hand. “Ewww. I don’t know where that thing’s been. Hold your own damn hand, freak.” Her chest heaved with an annoyed breath, her eyes rolling in their sockets as he tipped the beaker in her direction. “Do me a favor and drink it all.” Inwardly she was throwing a hissy fit, cussing him out with every possible word she could come up with, and some she made up along the way. She had thought he wasn’t annoying, but he had gone and changed her opinion in a span of a few seconds, simply by opening his mouth. She wasn’t used to anyone talking back to her in the same manner she pretty much talked to everyone, and now that it was happening, she wished she wasn’t so entertained by it. The rest of her classmates would roll their eyes and stomp away each time they attempted to talk to her, but he gave as good as he got, which was unusual. She hated him for it.

“Keep running your mouth and my chicken scratch will be all over your face.” Jocelyn threatened, snatching the beaker back to slide across to her section of the table. “And so help me, if you talk about my butt again, and they’ll be throwing you in the burn shower.” Grabbing up one of the tubes she was supposed to be mixing, she held it out in front of her, her fingers tipping the glass container from side to side. “You really want to piss off a girl with acid in her reach?” She hissed under her breath, adding a growl into the mix so that he got the point. She wasn’t amused at all this time around; annoyed that he had even gone in any direction that could have been construed as flirting had anyone else overheard him. She didn’t need people thinking that she had some interest in the new boy, or any boy at all for that matter. She’d spent the past two years that she’d been enrolled at this school avoiding appearing even slightly interested in being pursued by the opposite sex, she wasn’t about to let some guy she just met ruin the reputation she’d worked so hard to create.

Repeating the process with a new set of components, Jocelyn watched the reaction with the same expression of boredom. Scribbling down the reaction, she intentionally made her handwriting as sloppy as possible, the pen flying across the page with the same brisk strokes as before. If he was going to be a smart ass about everything that she did, Jocelyn would go out of her way to give him something to complain about; it beat the hell out of sitting quietly. She tried her hardest not to be entertained by the constant banter with her new partner, but it did honestly beat sitting there alone and pretending to pay attention. Sure, it cut into her daydreaming time, and her view of the outside was obscured by his head, but it really did beat having someone sit there in silence and watch as she did all the work. Jocelyn hoped that this would be their last class together though, if only to spare herself the risk of getting in trouble; her aunt would never let her hear the end of it.

Once the reaction was jotted down, Jocelyn emptied out the contents and shoved the glass container back onto Tora’s side. “Be careful you don’t inhale too deeply. You may kill the last few remaining brain cells you’ve got working.” She cooed in a sweet voice, her lips curving into a smile that did not reach her eyes, which had darkened with a mischievous gleam. “Wouldn’t want to have to explain to the teacher why you’re sitting there drooling all over yourself.” Her hand rose, index finger extending in a gesture telling him to wait. “That’s right, that’s pretty much all you’re doing now.” Jocelyn returned to stare back out the window, wishing that she could have asked him if he would at least switch seats with her, although she doubted that he would without giving her a hard time about it. He was already proving that he wasn’t going to let her get away with her usual behavior, no matter how much she might try to.

It was his turn to do the next reaction, and Jocelyn realized that she hadn’t even bothered asking what his name was. She probably wouldn’t bother to ask, still only giving him a few days until he became far too annoyed with her constant snippy tone and bad attitude. She wasn’t about to soften up simply because she did not mind the fact that his retorts amused her, and it beat listening to the drabble of other kids in her class. She only really had to deal with him for this class, at least she hoped so, and the rest of the day had to play out before she would learn if they shared any other classes together. There was one class she knew she wouldn’t have to worry about him, even if he was in the same room with her. She could tune him out completely during art class, and that was the one class that she actually enjoyed. Even if he did talk to her, she could ignore him and focus on her work. She hoped that this would be the last class she had to deal with him in, but if not, she’d figure out a way to annoy him until he stopped talking to her all together.