They have been walking around the school for the past hour and Skye is beyond bored. This is the third school in two days that they have looked at and it is just as boring as the others. She hates school. She barely even attends. She doesn't know why May and Coulson are putting so much goddamn effort into finding her a good one!
Because they're good people Skye has to remind herself. She's been with Phil and Melinda just over a month now, and she's starting to trust them a bit. They've never yelled at her, never hurt her, never starved her or called her stupid, never laid a hand on her. She had been extra weary around Phil. Skye knows what foster Dad's are like. But May and Coulson are different. They're good and decent and Skye has to keep reminding herself of this.
Okay so she hates school, but she owes them that much to at least try.
Ms. Hill smiles as she talks about the schools computer science program and May smiles encouragingly. Skye just smiles and nods. She already hacked the schools database, and the program isn't that good.
But May, Coulson and Hill don't need to know that.
"Oh, it looks like Mr Banners's class is in the middle of an experiment!" Maria Hill, the Vice Principal of Shield High smiles excitedly as she stops outside the doors of a class room.It's only now that Skye realises they're in the science block. Last time she had been paying attention, Ms Hill was talking up the Maths department. "Would you like to go in and take a look?"
Skye instantly tenses. She doesn't tend to do well around strangers. Or large groups of people. This is one of the many reasons Skye has such a bad track record with school. Large crowds make her nervous. May seems to pick up on Skye's hesitancy and subtly laces their fingers together, squeezing Skye's hand reassuringly.
May has been amazing and just seems to get Skye. Skye doesn't want to get too far ahead of herself, but she is pretty sure she loves May and is starting to think of her more as a Mother than the lady who is fostering her.
Maria Hill is experienced with problem children such as Skye. This is one of the reasons May and Coulson want to send Skye to Shield High. The older woman offers Skye a warm smile as she steps aside and lets Skye see through the small window in the door.
The room looks busy and there is a lot of kids in there. Skye feels her throat start to dry and her heart start to pound, but for some reason Skye is drawn to the room. She is curious. Her old high school had, for lack of a better word, been fucking awful and they never did anything like this. All the kids are wearing goggles and lab coats and Skye is shocked that people actually wear those. She's only ever seen them on TV and in hospitals.
"It does look kind of cool" Skye says shyly and Maria beams at her.
"I will just let Mr Banner know, I'll be right back" the dark haired woman smiles warmly and slips into the classroom.
"Are you sure of this, Skye?" May asks. Skye is still holding her hand and she likes the warmth and the comfort that comes from it.
Skye isn't but she nods anyway. She has to at least try to be somewhat normal.
Maria comes back outside moments later and holds the door open for Skye, May and Coulson. Skye lets go of May's hand and follows Hill into the classroom. Skye expects the class to turn around and gaup at her, but they don't. Nobody even looks up and Skye is grateful for that. Hill leads them to a corner at the back of the classroom and they stand and watch as the students all chat amongst themselves.
Skye jumps slightly as Mr Banner clears his throat from the front of the classroom. All the kids instantly snap to attention. Skye zones out as the older man goes on about health and safety, shooting a knowing look to some kid named Trip.
Mr Banner is talking about rats and dissection and Skye doesn't know what that is but it doesn't sound pretty. The class seems to have paired off and one from every pair makes their way toward the front and collects a poor little white rat. Skye's stomach churns slightly, but she can't help but be intrigued by what is going on. Coulson seems to have removed himself from the room and Skye is sure she sees a smirk spread across May's face.
Skye is startled when a girl sighs loudly and she scans the room until she finds her. The girl is probably the most beautiful thing Skye has ever seen and Skye swallows thickly. Nobody should look that cute in those goofy lab goggles!
"Oh, Fitz!" The girl exclaims in the cutest accent Skye has ever heard.
Skye watches as a boy, Fitz she assumes, bolts for the door with a hand over his mouth. They're yelling something about a cat and Ms Hill excuses herself as she she follows the curly haired boy out of the class room. Probably making sure he hasn't passed out in the corridor.
The girl goes back to her work space with a huff and continues her work. Mr Banner is making his rounds of the classroom, making sure all the students are working safely and correctly when he makes a beeline for Skye and May in the corner.
"You must be Skye" he smiles and Skye decides that she instantly likes this man. And that is something Skye never decides. But he seems really gentle and kind and Skye can't help but like him. Skye nods and shakes his extended hand. "My name is Mr Banner. Ms Hill says you're considering transferring to Shield High?"
Skye looks to May and the other woman just smiles reassuringly.
"Yeah" Skye smiles a bit sheepishly. "It's a lot bigger than my old school. We never did things like this there!"
"Seriously?!" Banner's face is twisted into a look of pure surprise and Skye just shrugs. "Would you like to take a closer look?"
Skye doesn't but Mr Banner is really nice and kind and she feels safe around him so she nods. May is starting to look a little green and excuses herself, promising Skye she will be right outside. Skye smiles before she follows Mr Banner.
"Jemma, this is Skye. Would you mind woking with her?" he asks and when Skye looks up she realises it's the gorgeous English girl from before and her stomach starts to feel funny. Especially when Jemma grins widely at her.
Mr Banner leaves and heads towards Trip, who is currently holding his rat up and trying to make one of the other kids sick.
"First, you'll need these" Jemma thrusts some goggles and a lab coat in Skye's direction. Skye quickly slips the white coat on and sides the goggles on her nose and Jemma grins at her once again.
Skye is sure that if Jemma keeps doing that, she's going to end up a puddle of goo on the floor.
"Right" Jemma nods, turning back to her text book. She slides it across so Skye can see it. "We are in the middle of learning about the respiratory system" Jemma points to a page in her book with a gloved finger and Skye quickly skim reads Jemma's notes. Skye can't help but notice that Jemma is very thorough in her note taking and there is a lot she doesn't understand. Also the way she loops her y is adorable.
Once Skye is finished, Jemma pulls a work sheet toward them, which has instructions written on it. She studies it for a moment before she grabs the scalpel.
"You're not squeamish are you?" Jemma asks, hesitating before she makes the first incision. Skye shrugs. She's not really sure, she's never done this before. Jemma seems way to excited to be slicing up a dead rat, but Skye can't help but find it adorable.
Jemma is talking animatedly about things Skye doesn't understand as she cuts open the rat. It seems second nature to Jemma and Skye figures the girl is one of those genius kids. It's pretty obvious from the way Jemma is handling everything that she has a promising career as a doctor ahead of her.
Skye finally looks down and is met with the insides of a rat. She starts to feel sick and dizzy. Jemma is still chatting to her but Skye can't really hear what Jemma is saying. Jemma is poking and prodding at the poor thing and Skye is glad she skipped lunch because she is sure she would vomit all over the table if she did.
Jemma reaches over and grabs Skye's hand, guiding it towards the rat and the second Skye's gloved finger touches the creature Skye feels the world go black and her legs go numb. She is unconscious out before she's even halfway to the ground. Luckily, Jemma catches her before Skye whacks her head on the table.
Skye blinks awake wondering what the fuck just happened. The floor is cold and hard against her back and it doesn't feel like her bed. She cracks one eye open and comes face to face with the cute English girl and Mr Banner. Skye immediately starts to panic as she remembers how she got to the floor.
"It's okay, don't worry" Mr Banner's voice is calm and soothing and Skye relaxes slightly. It also helps that Jemma is stood above her and smiling down beautifully at her.
Skye tries to sit up but regrets it the second she does because the classroom starts spinning again. With Mr Banner's help, Skye sits back down and stays there for a couple of seconds. He makes her stick her head between her legs, and although Skye feels stupid, she does it anyway. Skye stays like that for a few moments until she hears Jemma volunteer to take her to the nurses office. Mr Banner agrees and both him and Jemma help Skye up.
As Skye stands, she realises that the whole class is looking at her. But nobody is laughing, which is weird. Everybody looks concerned. That's oddly comforting. Skye lets Jemma lead her out of the classroom and into the corridor.
"I'm really sorry!" she apologises and Skye is taken back by it for a second. She's the one who ruined Jemma's experiment, shouldn't Skye be the one apologising? "I just got so excited and carried away. I shouldn't have grabbed your hand like that! Are you okay?"
Jemma is looking Skye in the eye and a warm tingling spreads through Skye's chest as she see's the look of genuine concern in the shorter girl's eyes. And God damn she has the most amazing eyes Skye has ever had the privilege of looking into!
"I'm fine" Skye nods, but Jemma still looks guilty. "I'm really sorry for ruining your experiment"
"You didn't" Jemma offers Skye another smile. "I shouldn't have gotten so carried away. You could have hurt yourself" Jemma is looking at her shoes at this last comment.
Skye notices this and it breaks her heart a little to see Jemma beating herself up so much.
"Nah" Skye shrugs, causing Jemma to look up confused. "Nothing can hurt me!" Skye grins. "Got a thick skull" Skye knocks on her head with a closed fist, causing Jemma to giggle. Oh God, even her giggle is adorable.
They turn the corner and Skye can see the nurses office at the bottom of the corridor. They walk toward it in silence for a few moments before Skye stops mid step.
"Hey, it's Jemma, right?" Skye asks and Jemma nods. "Thank you for that by the way" Skye smiles shyly. "For catching me, I mean"
"Oh please, it was the least I could do!"
"Still, I really appreciate it" Skye shrugged and its now she realises they're at the nurses office and she's sad that Jemma's going to be leaving her now.
The nurse whisks Skye inside, telling Jemma to go back to class and thanking her for bringing Skye. Jemma looks hesitant but she eventually leaves, shooting Skye a quick smile before she leaves. Skye sits in the nurses office, letting the older woman check her over. May and Coulson come bursting into the room like Skye's dead or something and Skye is too touched by their concern to be embarrassed. They're in the nurses office for a while, and Skye heard the bell ding for next period.
She can't help but feel sad that Jemma's gone and she probably won't see her again. She doubts Shield High are going to want her after this.
Skye hops off the bed, thanks the nurse and follows Hill, May and Coulson out of the room. Skye is pleasantly surprised when she see's Jemma nervously pacing in the hall outside the nurses office. Hill quirks her brow at Jemma as if to say what are you doing out of class?! but Jemma just smiles and says she has a study period. Hill just nods and leads May and Coulson to her office down the hall.
"Do you really have a study period?" Skye asks. Jemma looks really nervous and not at all like the girl Skye had seen in biology.
"No!" Jemma looks so nervous and Skye worries she's going to pass out. "I am a horrific liar and Ms Hill totally saw right through me!" Skye can't help but giggle at Jemma and Jemma smiles softly at her reaction. "I wanted to make sure you were okay" Jemma shrugs and looks down at her feet nervously.
Skye feels herself tense up at that. That warmth spreads through her chest once again and dear God she needs to pull herself together!
"You-you did?" Skye asks and Jemma nods in response.
"I was really worried" Jemma admits.
"Well, I'm fine" Skye grins. "Got the doctors note to prove it and everything!" she holds up the note the nurse gave her and Jemma giggles again. "So, Jemma, what class are you skipping?"
Jemma looks terrified at that. She has never skipped a class in her life. But she couldn't stop worrying about Skye and she couldn't move from that spot in the hallway no matter how hard she tried.
"Physical ed" Jemma says it with such disgust that Skye smirks. "Fitz will probably kill me for leaving him to face Ward and his group alone but I had to make sure you were okay"
Skye doesn't like the sound of anybody being mean to Jemma and her fists clench as Jemma mentions Ward and gets a sad look in her eye. Skye doesn't know who the hell this Ward is but she knows she wants to kill him.
"I do hope I haven't put you off Shield High!" Jemma says, pulling Skye out of her thoughts.
"What?" Skye laughs. Quite the opposite. Jemma's probably the thing that sold Skye. "No. Not at all"
"Good" Jemma smiles and Skye feels butterflies erupt in her stomach. "It would be nice to have somebody other than Fitz to talk to. Not that I find Fitz boring!" Jemma adds quickly.
"Is Fitz your boyfriend?" Skye blurts and her eyes widen in shock. She cannot believe she just asked that. She wishes the ground would swallow her whole.
Jemma bursts out laughing like it's the most absurd thing in the world.
"I love Fitz, but not like that. He's just my best friend" Jemma smiles after she recovers from her laughing fit.
Jemma wants to tell Skye that she kind likes Skye like that, but Jemma doesn't think that telling a girl you've only known an hour you think she is cute and has a really cute smile and is just the most adorable girl you've ever seen would go down too well.
Skye can't help but grin at this. She's smitten with Jemma, as cliché and corny as it sounds. They still have two more schools to look at, but Skye's already made her mind up that Shield High is the one for her. May pops her head around the door and asks if Skye is ready to go. Hill follows and tells Jemma to get back to class and Jemma quickly scarpers, waving at Skye as she goes. Skye finds that she misses Jemma and she's not even out of sight yet.
She's really got it bad, but Skye doesn't really care.
"Um, I would really like to go here, if you'll have me" Skye grins and Maria looks excited as she leads Skye into her office.
May and Coulson beam as they watch Skye talk to Ms Hill. They're just as glad as Skye that she picked this school. May shares a knowing look with her husband in the car home. They both know theres only one thing that sold Skye on this school, and judging by the dreamy smile on their daughters face, they know she's got it bad.