City Lights, Country Nights

43.Extra credit?

Liora strode down the stairs with a huff, her bag slung over her shoulder, and entered the kitchen. "Hey," she greeted Will, Katherine, and George, who all smiled at her.

"Hey Rory, how's the wrist?" Katherine inquired. Liora smiled and nodded. "It's okay," she replied, though her wrist was sore, and she didn't really want to go to school because writing with it was slow and uncomfortable.

"Alright, well, call me if it starts to hurt and I'll come get you, okay?" Katherine offered. Liora nodded as she turned and walked out the door, stopping by Jackie as her eyes found Cole, who was getting into the car that had just pulled up before driving off.

Letting out a huff, Liora glanced down at her phone as it buzzed with a message

Cole: "See you at school."

She rolled her eyes at his nonchalant demeanor, he was acting as if there was nothing between them, especially in front of others. Liora looked up at Jackie with a small smile.

"Well, it looks like I'm playing chauffeur today," Danny announced. Liora closed her eyes, wondering why he couldn't just drive them. He was making it painfully obvious that something had happened. "Well, who has the keys?" he asked.

"I don't have them," Nathan replied.

"He didn't give the keys to anyone?" Danny questioned, looking at Liora, who shook her head. "Nope," she said with a frown, growing increasingly frustrated as she walked down the steps. Somehow, they made it to school before it started. Now Liora found herself sitting in class, painstakingly filling out her worksheet.

Finally, the bell rang, and Liora let out a sigh as she slowly closed the book and made her way to the teacher to hand in her paper.

"Liora, will you stay here for a moment?" he asked, causing her to stop and watch as all the other students walked by. "Look, I know that it takes you a while to write the answers for your work, but if you need help filling out the papers, all you need to do is ask." Liora opened her mouth to say something but stopped.

"Look, I know it's uncomfortable to write. My daughter had a similar injury, and I know it's difficult. But Liora, you're turning in half-finished work, and we only have a little bit left until the end of the year," he said. "So, your teachers and I have talked, and what we're going to do is give you the last couple of assignments and let you take them home so you can have someone at home help you write them out." Liora nodded as she grabbed the papers and made her way out of the class.

Shaking her head, Liora walked to where the track meet was. Jackie was about to run, and she quickly sat next to Grace, Alex, and Skyler with a smile.

"Wow," Grace said, looking at the stack of papers Liora had begun to shove in her bag. "That's a lot of work. Why do you have so much?"

"It's my work from my classes. I can't write it fast enough in class, so they sent it home with me," Liora mumbled, looking over to them.

"You know, I was looking up something that would be difficult when you have a fracture in your wrist," Grace said, looking at Liora. "And one of the things it said was that it's uncomfortable and could cause pain, making you write slower," she said. Liora nodded, already knowing that.

"You know, if you need help, Rory, we can help you," Alex said. Liora gave them a smile and shook her head. "Look, I know you don't like asking for help, okay? But if you need it, really, all you have to do is ask," he said.

"Yeah, I mean, it didn't happen that long ago, Rory, I'm sure it still hurts," Skyler said. "We will be happy to help," he added as Liora looked down.

"I don't want to have to bother anyone with my problems," Liora said. They both shook their heads.

"It's not a bother. We're your friends, we want to help," Skyler said as Jackie ran over to them. "Hey, what's up?" he said as they looked up at her.

"Collins just said she wanted me to run the 400 meter," Jackie said. "Erin's out," she said. Liora looked around.

"So wait," Grace said, "who's running the relay?" she asked.

"Umm," Jackie said, looking around, "also me, and I'm freaking out," she said.

"Hey, hey," Alex said, standing up. "You got this. Just, uh, remember to breathe," he said. Liora raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh! I forgot something in my locker. Watch my stuff," he said and walked off.

"Hey," Liora said, making Jackie look at her. "You know how to do it. You trained and worked for this. Don't be nervous, okay?" she said. Jackie nodded as they watched Alex run off.

"Well, you guys seem... fine," Grace said.

"We are," Jackie said with a smile. Liora looked down. Yes, her and Alex made up, but it wasn't peachy just yet. "We are. We're tuning everything else out. All quiet on the Walter front," she said.

"Interesting, because I heard Cole and Alex still haven't spoken," Skyler said, looking to Liora, who looked away.

"No, no," she said, shaking her head. She wasn't going to tell about her talk with Cole, and she had a feeling it wasn't her thing to tell. "I don't know anything," she mumbled.

"So you do know something," Jackie said. Liora didn't look at any of them as Jackie looked back to Skyler.

"It's not my fault that Nathan shares a room with your boyfriend," he said. Jackie just shook her head.

"Rory, I want to know what you know," she said. Liora shook her head. "Liora, when do you not tell me things?" Jackie added.

"When I really don't know anything?" Liora said, more as a question, as they all looked at her.

"You look so guilty right now," Grace said when someone called for Jackie, causing Liora to look back and watch as Jackie got ready to run, as Alex and Nathan walked back.

"Hey, look who I found," Alex said as Liora watched Jackie.

"On your mark, get ready? Go!" They took off, and the five of them cheered as Jackie ran. They watched her run and win.

"Yay," Liora said, pulling her into a hug. "Oh, you need to shower," she said, letting her go. Jackie rolled her eyes.

"Okay, I've got to get something from my locker, but congratulations, Jackie," Liora said, grabbing her things and walking back to the school and inside.

"Hey, Liora!" Nikhil said, walking out of his classroom, causing Liora to stop. "I was hoping I could catch you, Jackie, or someone," he said as Liora smiled at him.

"Oh, is there something you need, Mr. Choudhry?" Liora asked.

"Cole never got to finish his essay," he said, holding up the papers in his hand. "So I was hoping you could pass along an extra credit assignment," he said.

"Extra credit?" Liora asked, looking at him. She felt as if she might need something like that.

"Only for students that really need it," he said. Liora opened her mouth, but he cut her off. "Liora, you don't need it. The work we let you take home does not mean you need extra, okay? We just want you to be able to finish your work and keep up at a pace you're comfortable with. You have A's," he said. Liora looked down.

"Does he really need it?" she asked, looking at him. "How bad is it?"

"Well, let's just say it might benefit Cole to have some guidance," he replied, looking at her. "Especially with a student who has a good work ethic, despite your current challenges. You have one"

"Alright, I'll get it to him," she said, taking the papers. "Thank you," she added as he nodded.

"Oh, and congratulate Jackie on the win for me," he said. She nodded and walked off, putting her books in her locker before heading out the doors.

"Hey, we're going to go out. Do you want to come?" Jackie asked. Liora shook her head.

"I've got work to do," she said and walked off, grabbing a ride from Danny back to the house.