Author: Jadelyn Tate

Story: Hotheads

Pairings: Warren/OC

Disclaimer: I own Dakota and her family (though anyone who reads my other stuff will undoubtfully recognize some random names (grins)).

Summary: Whe n.

Author Notes: I have way too many fics going on right now. Sheesh.

“Hey Dakota,” Holly greeted the other girl once the two found themselves in their Elementals class three hours later. Dakota made a face as she sat down. Nearby, one of Icicle’s cronies flipped her hair over her shoulder as she sneered at the two girls. Holly ignored her.

“Rough afternoon?” she asked sympathetically. Dakota merely grunted as she upended her backpack on the table. Mrs. Tsunami preferred students sit at the four chaired tables with corresponding elements but with Holly controlling shadows and Dakota blowing stuff up, they usually sat alone; their powers were the only non-traditional elemental powers in class.

“Peace at twelve o’clock,” Holly suddenly muttered before slinking into the shadows. Dakota finally looked up, a look of utter confusion on her face as her hand stalled in its scrambling to find her pencil.

“What?” she asked and then frowned when she couldn’t find Holly. She turned around, thinking the girl had moved to her other side and came face to, well, chest of a very familiar freshman. Uh oh.

“Look, I really am sorry about freezing you and everything but Aunt Lynda complained all last semester about the budgets and cutting into other funding and how much yours and Stronghold’s fight cost, not to mention the whole situation with G-string and--”

“Will you shut up so I can talk?” he interrupted her. She craned her neck up, taking stock of the fact that Warren was two feet taller than her. I feel so tiny!

“Thank you,” he muttered. She blinked, unsure if he was thanking her for not babbling anymore or for stepping in and stopping him from doing something stupid.

“I wasn’t going to do something stupid!” he snapped, anger flaring in his eyes. She made a face.

“Did I say that out loud?” she asked with a wince. He nodded, his eyes still flashing. She made another face.

“I didn’t say you were stupid, I said what you were going to do was stupid,” she told him as the elderly teacher came in.

“Mr. Peace, find a seat please!” Mrs. Tsunami called. Warren rolled his eyes and plopped down next to her as Holly rematerialized on her other side.

“And for the record, she was so not worth getting detention over,” she mumbled as she tried finding her homework from the night before. Warren didn’t say anything, merely watched as she flipped through her papers. Finally, just as Mrs. Tsunami reached their table, Holly snatched a paper out of the pile and handed it to Dakota. Seeing her homework, the girl grinned and handed it to Mrs. Tsunami who smiled good-naturedly. As Mrs. Tsunami walked back to the front, Dakota grabbed her bag and stuffed everything but a notepad, her pencil, and her book back into the backpack.

“You know what she said about Layla,” Warren finally spoke quietly and Holly and Dakota both nodded. Mrs. Tsunami started talking at the front as Dakota bent her head down with the pretense of taking notes.

“Half the school did, Peace. She’s still not worth it in the end,” she repeated. Warren frowned, idly flipping his pen through his fingers.

“Why not?” he asked, honestly curious. Very few students at Sky High were willing to stop him from doing something that even he knew was stupid. In fact, the last time a group of students had done so, he’d met Layla, Genta, Thoel, and Popsicle. He turned his attention back to her when she shrugged.

“Because Icicle is a self-centered egotistical bitca with a brain the size of a pea. She’s never going to do anything worthwhile except screw up or turn villain. And when that happens, Karma will swoop in and deal with her,” she murmured. Warren snorted.

“She has a point, Warren,” Holly ventured quietly. The pyro raised an eyebrow. Holly smiled slightly, “Carleigh is the most hated sophomore in the school and she slandered one of the school heroes and screwed over another school hero. She’s NOT in anyone’s good graces at the moment.”

Dakota snorted, “You realize how many people took out their phones when I made that comment about her not talking? Almost everyone did; she’s not well-liked, despite what she leads others to believe.”

“Honestly, you’d be better off with someone else. Anyone else really,” Holly murmured, her courage rising with the knowledge the infamous hot head hadn’t fried them. Yet.

“Oh really? And who would that someone be?” he asked. Dakota looked up, saw his smug expression, and snorted.

“Please, I’d take Taylor over you any day. He, at least, can smile,” she told him with a grin to tell him she was joking. He looked offended.

“I am so much better than Popsicle,” he muttered as the teacher came by with a work-sheet. Once Mrs. Tsunami was out of hearing distance, Dakota snickered.

“I have known of you since middle school and I have yet to see you smile,” she pointed out and he shot her a smug grin. She rolled her eyes.

“A real, honest to St. Helen smile, not a I-smile-because-I-have-to smile,” she told him and he scowled as Holly giggled.

“I smile when I feel like it,” he retorted as he grabbed his book. She rolled her eyes again.

“Uh huh, sure you do,” she muttered as she flipped her own book open. Glancing at Holly, she wasn’t surprised to see the other girl was already half-way finished.

“Fine, if you don’t think you’re my type, who do you think is?” he asked. She raised an eyebrow.

“Williams or Ortiz,” she replied with a smile. Warren gaped at her. She nudged him under the table with her boot, causing him to look down at his paper as if he’d found an answer. Nearby, Mrs. Tsunami grinned though she kept her mouth shut.

“Layla or Genta?” he asked incredulously and she nodded slightly, flipping through the chapter on counter-active workings to other elements.

“You obviously get along real well with Williams; Ortiz has that whole rebellious thing going down and could keep up with the hectic lifestyle you oh-so-happily make for yourself,” she explained, causing Holly to snicker.

“Too bad both have boyfriends,” she commented, sending a sly look at her cousin. Dakota rolled her eyes skyward.

“St. Helen, save me from conniving cousins,” she pleaded. A soft snort caused her to look up to find Mrs. Tsunami peering at their work with amusement. Dakota smiled sheepishly and bent down to continue.

“So you’re not straight?” Warren asked wickedly once Mrs. Tsunami had moved out of normal hearing range. Dakota’s head shot up as she gaped at him, stunned. He merely grinned fiendishly at her.

“Where the hell did you get that from?!” she asked in a strangled voice as Holly tried and failed to stifle her giggles. An odd strangled cough from the front was missed by the three students. Warren raised an eyebrow and Dakota mentally replayed the conversation in her head. She scowled.

“I like both of them but no, I’m not a lesbian. I’m straight, thank you!” she whispered hotly to him as the bell rang. He stuffed his things in his backpack and then leaned down so his mouth was by her ear.

“Good to know,” his breath was hot against her ear and she involuntarily shivered. He smirked, straightened, and walked out the door leaving behind a gaping Dakota and cackling Holly.

“He did that just for the shock value, didn’t he?” she asked. Holly nodded, still laughing. Dakota scowled.

“Why that evil little….” she trailed off, muttering to herself as she and Holly left.

Up at the front of the classroom, Mrs. Tsunami finally let loose her own laughter once the room was completely devoid of students. Not for the first time she thanked the heavens that nearly everyone forgot that she could and did hear everything said in her classroom thanks to her gifts.