Deviating from the Norm (A "Freaks and Geeks" Fanfic)

Chapter 6 - Academic Flack and Unwanted Feedback

As it turned out, I wasn't the only one who had my eyes opened to the more smarmy ways of Daniel Desario. Lindsay found out first-hand during the whole Karen Scarfolli incident that Daniel may not have been the flawless hunk she imagined he was. But, it was really hard to gauge how much that really influenced her one way or another because that was just the very beginning of when things turned around for her and Kim. No, I think she truly saw a flash of his deceptive side a few weeks later, when it became quite apparent that he was going to flunk the same math class for the millionth time and be doomed to repeat it, and see the sour puss of Mr. Kowchevski, for another year, and she offered to help him study and pass his test... completely unaware of what she was getting herself into. At first, I really think she was under the assumption that she was going to tutor him and he was going to learn, but it soon twisted into something where she handed him all the answers he needed to ace a math test. Anyone could have told them that going that far would throw up a big red flag, but what was done was done and sure enough they did end up getting caught.

Kim and I were hanging out in the courtyard, making small talk while we were both really just doing our own thing (she was dreading her next class and filing her nails, while I was lying atop the only bird-poop free picnic table in the area, gazing up at the clouds drifting by with my hands intertwined behind my head). I liked the braid she had twisted into her hair, and I was working on simply telling her that, but... that simple compliment was suddenly paralyzing to me. Before I could refresh my ability to talk, Lindsay joined us, sounding somewhat concerned with her question of a greeting.

"Hey, Kim, where's Daniel?"

Blondie let out a slight puff of indifference before answering, "I dunno." She looked back to her nails an instant later. "Beats me."

"We have a disciplinary meeting after school," Lindsay informed, though when I watched her speak the words, she looked almost lost in space, as if she couldn't believe her statement was actually a reality. I guess I could understand her disconnect. Before she started hanging out with us, she was a straight-A, quiet student who had never been in trouble in school, ever. A disciplinary meeting was a harsh turnaround to wake up to when she had likely never even dreamed of being one of those 'bad kids' before.

"Ugh." Even Kim's interjection seemed detached.

"Ouchhhh," I exhaled, elongating the word for no reason. Kim's laissez faire attitude seemed to seep into me immediately. Then again, perhaps neither of us were all too concerned with a disciplinary meeting because we were both well-accustomed to them ourselves. Kim had her issues with school and a majority of the student body overall, and when I was playing football and my cocky side was in full-bloom, I got into my fair share of shoving matches and needless confrontations. While I was used to Coach Fredricks bailing me out of any potential punishment for my actions, I was fairly certain that Kim did not have the same safeguard, and had been issued more than her fair share of detentions and threats of suspension.

Kim stopped her filing again and looked back at Lindsay, seeming to realize that this might actually be a big deal for the girl. "You nervous?"

Lindsay just stared at her for a moment before releasing a huff of her own and looking away for a moment. If that wasn't answer enough that, yes, she was nervous but wanted to keep her cool about it, then I didn't know what was.

Luckily, Kim caught on to her reaction right away and did her best to steer her into a sense of confidence on the issue. "You know what, don't worry about it. Daniel gets outta stuff like this all the time."

"Well, I shouldn't feel bad, right?" Lindsay's asked, appearing to try to pump herself up while she plopped down on the picnic table next to us. "Kowchevski's a jerk. I mean, he'll pass the test and then I'll tutor him, and..."