Pickled

| twelve |

Chapter Twelve

Alex approached Diana during lunch, when she was mid-conversation with Millie and Millie's chemistry lab partner, Patrick.

He tapped her on the shoulder, of all things, just as she was making a comment to Patrick. Diana set down her spoonful of yogurt slowly, then turned in her seat with a look so full of distaste, it could have withered a flower. She didn't like to be interrupted at the best of times, and she was still in a sour mood from what that lacrosse player had said the night before.

Diana couldn't even remember his name. She felt her blood go hot just as she remembered the event – how he called her "Pickle Girl" like she was some kind of workaholic freak.

As Diana turned, glowering, her gaze fell upon Alex. His eyebrows were turned up, almost pleadingly – or in fear, she couldn't tell which.

"Can I talk to you?" Alex asked.

Millie and Patrick had gone silent on the other side of the table, of course, both peering up at Alex as they listened in. Millie knew how upset Diana had been after last night, so naturally she wanted to know what Alex had to say. Patrick was just being plain nosy.

"Right now?" Diana replied coolly, gesturing with her spoonful of yogurt. "I'm eating."

"You could bring your lunch with you, if you want. It will only take a minute." Alex took a second look at her borderline-murderous expression, then, and cleared his throat nervously. "That is, unless, you decide to kill me. In which case it will take five minutes."

Behind her, Millie snorted loudly. Diana twisted back around to glare in her direction.

Really, she was angry with Alex's lacrosse friend, whatever his name was. She shouldn't be mad at Alex, but she couldn't help but wonder if Alex referred to her as the "Pickle Girl" whenever talking to his friends. Why else would the lacrosse boy have said it?

The thought of being labelled "Pickle Girl" at her school was mortifying. There was much, much more to her than that. Wasn't there?

"Fine," Diana finally sighed, but it was mostly just to distract herself from the question she didn't want to answer. She swung her legs over the bench seat, scooping her cup of yogurt off the table as she stood. "I'll be back in five minutes."

"Does that mean you're going to kill him?" Millie asked, placing a potato chip on her tongue with a mischievous look.

Diana narrowed her eyes at the comment. "I haven't decided yet."

Alex laughed nervously.

She followed him out of the noisy cafeteria, yogurt in hand. Alex kept both hands shoved deep in the pockets of his jacket – all the lacrosse players were wearing them today, despite having lost on Saturday. The whole team was a puddle of red and gold at their usual table on the left, and a few stared openly as Diana and Alex walked past. She rolled her eyes with her tongue on the spoon. She was beginning to realize lacrosse boys were even worse than regular boys.

"So," Alex said, once they escaped the crowded lunchroom and were facing each other just outside the doors. "First, I want to apologize about Derek from last Saturday."

"You mean Lacrosse Boy?" Diana asked, somewhat bitterly. She scooped out another bite of yogurt. "I didn't know he had a name."

Alex's lip twitched, but he took a deep breath instead of laughing. "I'm serious. I always knew he was sort of stupid, but I didn't realize he was stupid and a dick."

"The two often go hand-in-hand."

Alex rubbed the back of his neck, as Diana swirled her spoon through the yogurt to distract herself. "I just wanted to say sorry," he continued. "It's not like I haven't mentioned your name around him before. He just forgot everything except where you work. And he's a dick."

She nodded, looking down at the spoon's plastic handle so she could focus and figure out what she wanted to say. "I know. I'm not annoyed with you – well, any more than I usually am."

When Diana glanced up, Alex had finally cracked a smile. "I'll take it."

"Your friend just sucks," Diana said flatly. "You should remind him I have a name, just in case he didn't get it last time. And if he refers to me as 'Pickle Girl' again, I'm going to sock him. You can remind him of that, too."

"Will do," Alex grinned. He crossed his arms and looked up toward the ceiling, as though thinking. "You know, maybe I'd like to see that. Lacrosse Boy getting socked, I mean."

"I wouldn't mind it," she admitted, shooting him a sly look.

"Anyway." Alex reached forward to swipe his thumb across the rim of her yogurt cup, lifting the tiny bit of yogurt to his lips even after Diana batted his hand away. "Let's go back in. I still have a granola bar to eat."

Diana quickly finished the last bite of yogurt before Alex could reach back in for more. "I thought you had something else to tell me."

"Hm?"

"Earlier you said 'first'. What's the second thing?"

Alex coughed somewhat awkwardly as she spoke. Diana watched him through narrowed eyes as he shuffled his feet uncomfortably for a few moments. It was like he was grasping for words.

"Spit it out," Diana prodded impatiently. She had another snack back inside the cafeteria, but Alex needed to hurry if she was going to eat it before Spanish started.

"You took geometry last year, right?" he blurted.

Diana blinked. "I mean, yeah. You know that." She had complained about Mrs. Turnbull's method of teaching on more than one occasion while Alex helped her in the kitchen. "Why?"

"So, um," Alex continued awkwardly. He wasn't even looking at her anymore, instead choosing to focus his gaze on the toes of his sneakers. "I'm in that class now. It's not going well."

She leaned against the painted brick wall with a snort. "Sounds like me with Spanish."

"That's the thing," he replied in a rush. "Will you help me study? Tomorrow night?"

"Woah, slow down," Diana teased. "I never said I was good at geometry."

Alex reached for another swipe of yogurt, but Diana pulled the cup out of his reach. He sighed heavily. "I really need any help I can get, Diana. My grade looks bleak, and so does my future."

Diana would have told him to quit being so dramatic, but she said things like that all the time. She rolled her eyes instead and asked, "Why tomorrow night? Do you have a test Wednesday?"

"Yeah," Alex said quickly.

Her curiousity was turning to suspicion – it seemed like Alex was rushing to get her to say yes. But the lunch period was ending soon and her yogurt hadn't nearly been enough to eat, so she didn't feel like questioning him any longer than she already had.

"Fine," Diana told him begrudgingly. "But not for longer than an hour. I have an essay to work on."

Alex's face split into a grin that nearly made Diana take back her agreement. He leapt forward to hug her before she could stop him, yogurt smearing his sleeve as he wrapped his arms around her. "Thank you times a thousand," Alex said, while Diana attempted to lean back stiffly.

"Yeah, yeah, get off me," she snapped, voice muffled against his shoulder. Alex was grinning even harder when Diana practically pushed him away. She gave him a dirty look, one that wasn't nearly as effective as usual because she was trying not to laugh at his expression. "You have yogurt on your jacket."

"Just where I wanted it," he replied smugly, opening the cafeteria door and gesturing dramatically for Diana to walk through. "M'lady."

She shoved his shoulder as she stepped past him. Diana turned as he followed her inside, deciding to add warningly, "Don't make me regret this."

Alex innocently crossed an x over his chest. "I wouldn't dream of it."