The Other Side [boyxboy]

The Other Side {10}

                Math class had me reconsidering my plan to fix things with Taliesin.

                "Taliesin Leonard, if you stab me with a pen one more fucking time I'm going to stab you to death with it," I warned.

                Mariah furrowed her brow. "Your middle name is Leonard? What kind of name is Taliesin Leonard?"

                "A family name. The Leonard part, not the Taliesin part. Take that one up with my parents," Taliesin said, and stuck his pen directly into my side again. "I'd quit poking you if you'd quit ignoring me. What'd you get for number five?"

                I smacked the pen out of his hand. "I got a restraining order."

                He frowned. "Well, that's not a very mathematical answer. I think you're going to fail this class, Gabriel Giovanni."

                "Okay, see, that name isn't bizarre. That's a normal name," Mariah said.

                "Are you doing your work, or are you just sitting here judging our names?" I said.

                "I'm judging your names," she said. "Taliesin Leonard? Seriously?"

                "Listen, take it up with my grandfather for it being his name. I don't know what to tell you," Taliesin said with a shrug. He glanced at me as I snickered. "Shut it, sunshine. We can't all be Gabriel Giovanni."

                I smiled a little at that. Growing up, my mom used to call me her little dark cloud because of my hair. I'd admitted once to Taliesin that I didn't like it, because it made people think she called me that because I was moody. So Taliesin had started calling me sunshine instead, because he said then people would know I was a happy person.

                "Mariah, quit dragging his name and do your work," I said.

                "Wait, give me the answer to number five. I got 27," Taliesin said.

                Mariah turned to him in horror. "27? I got 238."

                "Uh...I got 27 too," I said.

                She picked up her calculator, dropped it to the floor, and stood up. "I need to go for a walk before I choke to death on my own stupidity. I'll be back."

                "She's going to bomb this class," Taliesin said, looking at her worksheet and letting out a whistle. "Yikes, now that's a scary sight."

                "She'll get tutoring, I'm sure," I said, flipping her paper over so Taliesin would quit staring at it. I turned in my chair and set my worksheet on his desk. "Let me see what you got for number seven. I wasn't sure if I did it in the right order."

                "Looks fine to me," he said, spinning his paper so I could read it over.

                We worked out the last few problems together and turned in our worksheets. I sat back down, leaning my arms against his desk.

                "More tea tomorrow?" he asked.

                "I wouldn't say no," I said.

                "Got it. Hey, speaking of tea, Kayden showed me this coffee shop on the outskirts of town. Quiet little place, kind of hidden. Want to head there after school?" he offered. "My treat. They have a really good iced tea, lot of flavor variety."

                I hesitated for a moment, because I'd been intending to go talk to the principal. But I could do that in the morning. I'd probably have a better time of it if I met with him in the morning. I could email him tonight to set up a quick meeting.