From Tutoring, to Friendship, to More...

Chapter 6: First School Interactions

     The following Monday, Delilah was expecting a regular start to her week. Simple and uncomplicated. Things didn't really go that way for her. She was standing at her locker, her boyfriend, Chaz Freeman was with her. Chaz was your typical, good looking jock. Tall, broad shouldered, square jaw, dark, curly hair. He loved having his arm around Delilah, letting people know they were together.

"Come on, baby," Chaz groaned. "I don't see why you keep making such a big deal about it."
"I'm just not ready for that kind of thing yet, Chaz," Delilah huffed.
"We've done some other good shit," he grinned, which made her eye roll. "And we've been together over two years now."
"Doesn't mean we just have to go and do it," she retorted.
Delilah wasn't opposed to premarital sex, she just never felt ready. While Chaz seems to have been patient with her, he was getting more pushy about it lately. She needed some kind of distraction.

"Hey, Delilah," a familiar voice called out.
Ask and ye shall receive it seemed. She turned around to see none other than Ion Bleaker standing in front of her.
"H-hey, Ion," she fumbled to say.
"Beaker!" Chaz exclaimed. "Sup!? How do you know Del?"
"I'm tutoring her," Ion answered with no hesitation.
Delilah's eyes went immediately wide. Ion noticed, but didn't get why she was reacting that way.
"Aw shit, that's right. I remember now!" Chaz exclaimed. "You helped out my boy, Scotty!"
"Oh yeah, Scotty Rhodes," Ion recalled.
"Kept him from being kicked off the team," Chaz grinned wide. "Del, this dude's a smart mother fucker!"
"Gee, thanks," Ion chuckled. "Ok, so maybe he isn't all bad."
"I gotta get going, baby," Chaz exclaimed, kissing Delilah on the head. "Check ya later! Have a good one, Beaker!"

"Well, he seemed nice," Ion commented. "So anyway, I got some-"
"What the fuck do you think you're doing!?" Delilah cut him off.
"Bringing up what to do with tutoring," he answered with clear confusion.
"Did we say anything about talking at school!?" she asked.
"Yeah, we did actually," he answered. "You said it was fine."
"Isn't that what phones are for?" she asked.
"We're already here though," he replied.
"Don't you understand the way shit works in school?" she asked, although she wasn't expecting a decent answer.
"It really didn't occur to me," he answered. "Everything seemed cool between us after our first session."
"That doesn't mean I just want you walking up to me like we're friends!" she exclaimed.
"Well, this won't work if you won't let me talk to you in public," he explained. "I'm not just gonna be treated like some social outcast."
"But, you are," she said bluntly. "Shit! I shouldn't have said that!"
"Sure, by many people," he retorted. "But not by the people I tutor. Doesn't matter how popular or unpopular they are. I treat them like any other person." He began to walk away, suddenly turning around. "I got you something."
He handed Delilah a book helping with writing for dyslexics.
     "Oh, um, wow," she replied with genuine surprise. "Thanks a lot for that." There was bit of silence before she finally spoke again. "I'm really sorry for how I just reacted."
"It's ok," he said.
"No, it isn't," she said with a slight whimper in her voice. "I just get a bit overly anxious and then I start to lash out and..."
"Seriously, Delilah, it's ok," he replied, placing a hand on her shoulder, then immediately pulling away. "Shit, now I'm sorry. Invading your personal space.
"No no," she shook her head. "It's really ok. You were just being nice." It really did feel ok that Ion did that.

     They both looked at each other awkwardly for who knows how long.
     "I better get to my class now," Delilah exclaimed. That was weird! But it actually felt... nice?"
     "Oh, yeah, uh, me too," Ion fumbled to say. "That was weird! But it actually felt... nice?
     As they walked away to different classes, they were unaware that Bowen had been watching the whole thing.

____

Bowen happened to share a free period with Randy Jennings, Ion's best friend. He would've probably found a way to talk to him regardless, but it all worked out. He was easily noticeable with his thick, shoulder length hair. Bowen sat across from Randy, who didn't seem to notice him at all.
"Hey, Randy," Bowen whispered. "Hey! I need to talk to you!"
Randy continued to just read some random comic book.
"Sooner you answer me, the sooner you can go back to reading," Bowen pointed out. Randy let out a sigh and finally looked at the person pestering his free time. "Hi there! I'm Bowen Chang." Randy continued looking at him. "Del's best friend." Still no reply. "Delilah Gellar. Your best friend, Beaker, is tutoring her."
"Beaker tutors a good few kids in this school," Randy finally spoke, taking his attention back to his comic.
"You know damn well who I'm talking about," Bowen shot back.
"Even if I did," Randy began as he looked back up at Bowen. "So what?"
"So, I think our best friends have a thing for one another," Bowen replied with a big smile.

Randy didn't change his expression.
"Did you hear me?" Bowen asked.
"Oh yeah, I heard you," Randy answered. "Be hard not to, what with you ranting at me for several minutes."
"Don't you think that's exciting?" Bowen asked.
"Last I checked, Delilah was dating Chaz Freeman," Randy pointed out, setting his eyes back on his comic. "And I would assume you know that. Being her best friend and all."
"And I would assume you know Chaz is a giant douche," retorted Bowen.
"You will certainly hear no argument from me on that one," Randy smirked.
     "I don't like seeing Del with him," Bowen admitted. "She's too good for him."
     "I bet she doesn't like you saying that," Randy pointed out, eyes still on the comic.
     "The problem is that Del isn't super confident," Bowen replied.
     "Beg pardon?" Randy asked, once again making eye contact. "I've seen her walk down the halls plenty of times looking pretty confident."
     "Ever heard of a facade?" Bowen asked. "I mean sure, Del knows she's attractive and has killer body." Randy said nothing. "Chaz is her first boyfriend. He asked her out freshman year, and this gave her that boost of confidence. Now, despite the fact that she must know he's an asshole, she stays with him because I guess she doesn't think she can do better, or she owes him something, or some shit like that."

     "Are you wanting to intentionally sabotage their relationship?" Randy asked. "Because, asshole or not, that would be a pretty shitty thing to do on your part."
     "No, I don't want to do that," replied Bowen. "Besides, I think Chaz will fuck things up on his own. What I want is to encourage them to see the good in each other. Then maybe they'll develop some feelings for one another. And I figured that we could give them a slight nudge. Being their best friends and all."
"Pass," answered Randy.
"Why?" Bowen asked in a bit of a whiny tone.
"I don't meddle in others personal affairs," replied Randy. "You want this so badly, go right ahead."
"But I need a second pair of eyes," Bowen explained. "And you're Beaker's best friend, so that must mean you're around him the most."
"I'm guessing you won't leave me alone till I agree to this," Randy sighed. "I'll compromise with you. I won't do or say anything to try to push Beaker towards Delilah." Bowen sighed at this. "However, should he mention her in any way that is not related to academics, I'll relay that info back to you. Sound reasonable?"
"I suppose it will do," said Bowen. "You are aware this means swapping numbers to keep in touch, right?"
"Unfortunately, I do," Randy sighed again.

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Notes: Another chapter! Yay! I'd been thinking of this encounter between Bowen and Randy from the get go, wasn't exactly sure where it would go. Hope you all liked this chapter!

Thanks for reading! ^__^