Lockers and Love

Chapter Eighteen

Ziva and Tony met up with Abby and McGee inside the halls of their school.

"Hey, Guys!" Abby yelled, launching herself towards both of them and wrapping her arms around them. Tony and Ziva looked at each other and smiled. When Abby finally let go, she turned to face all of them.

"Did you guys hear about the summer dance next week? I heard it's going to be beach themed." Tony looked at Ziva and noticed she was smiling. He didn't know whether it was for the dance or because of Abby's energy. Probably both.

"I did not. I have never been to a dance, Abby. This will be fun." Abby's jaw opened slightly and Ziva could literally see her screaming on the inside.

"You've never been to a dance before? How is that even possible?" Ziva smiled at her shocked expression.

"My father would not let me do anything of that sort. It was always studying new languages or whatever form of martial arts I was learning that week. He would always say that things like this were a waste of time." The three of them looked at her sadly. Sad that their friend couldn't live the life that was her own. Ziva saw this and tried to redirect the conversation.

"It is okay. I am here with all of you and for the first time in my life, I am happy." She looked at Tony as she spoke the last few words. He smiled back at her and grabbed her hand with his and squeezed it gently. Tim looked at his watch and noticed they had three minutes to get to class. Tim and Abby headed in the opposite direction from them so they could go to Physics. Tony, still holding Ziva's hand, walked with Ziva to math. They walked in together laughing at some weird joke Tony just made. They sat down next to each other and pulled out their textbooks along with their calculators.

Jeanne had seen them walk in. Seen the way they smiled and laughed with each other. The way Tony's held her hand in his. She used to be that girl. Used to be all his attention desired. Now, this Israeli terrorist had come in and stolen her man. Tony was hers and she would get him back.

Mr. Barnes turned on the projector so everyone could see his screen. Today they were doing Inverse Functions and Reflections. Something Tony was not at all good at. He gave them all a page number in their textbook and told them to follow along. After a few problems, Tony was still struggling. Barnes told them to use the rest of class to work on the remaining problems and if they didn't finish, then it would be homework. He also said they could pair up and work in partners. Tony looked over at Ziva and she smiled. They had always been partners.

Tony felt something tap on his shoulder and turned around to see Jeanne standing there, smiling. She had her things in her hand.

"Hey, Tony. Wanna be my partner?" Tony wanted to roll his eyes so bad. What couldn't she get about leaving him the hell alone?

"I already have a partner. Sorry." With that, he turned back around to look at Ziva. Jeanne didn't like being rejected...or ignored. She had always been handed things from everyone. Well, he knew one thing for sure. That wasn't him anymore. She stomped back to her desk and plopped her things down on it. She pulled out her phone and tapped Tony's name. She would try another way.

Ziva, let go of a very quiet snicker as Tony completely ignored Jeanne. It made her feel good that he chose her over that snitch. Or was it bitch? Same thing. She heard a ding come from Tony's side. She watched as he pulled it out of his pocket and read the message. He huffed. Of course, she would try other methods. Ziva could see something was wrong with him. The anger in his eyes was prevalent.

"What is wrong, Tony?" He looked up at her and showed her his phone. It was a message from Jeanne.

Jeanne Benoit: So the dance is next week and I wanted to ask you if you'll go with me. We could rule this school. I'm sure the terrorist could go and blow something up while we have some fun ;)