Love and Fandoms (5 page)

MANDY

Something was
different about Alex, something she didn't like but hadn't consciously noticed
until Wednesday at lunch. As they had the previous two days, they sat with a
mix of friends in the senior quad. Luci wasn't there. She used the school's
open campus policy for seniors to head home to help her mom with her youngest
brother, Ricky. He had Down Syndrome, and her mom homeschooled him. Most
seniors, she found, had the permit needed to get out, but didn't often use it.
With only 45 minutes for lunch, it was more a pain to get somewhere, eat, and make
it back on time. Neither she nor Alex bothered getting one.

She enjoyed some
of the company they shared. Lunch was one of the few times she got to see her
friends Simone and Haylee. Once they made Varsity Cheer, they drifted apart
from her and Luci. Not for any reasons of animosity, but simply because Simone
and Haylee hung out with their cheerleading friends outside of school. Some of
the company at lunch, though, she not only could have done without, but hated
with a passion. That was directed primarily at the Pigs, Duncan Thomas, Holden
Greenfield, and Tyler Navarro, three of the starting offensive linemen on the
football team. They were rude, crude, and the biggest bullies she had ever met.
Though their nickname had been bestowed on them as a compliment from their
football coach, she wasn't the only one that associated them with the negative
aspects of the name. They truly were pigs. Alex never had much to do with them,
but that changed this year. And, unfortunately, she didn't see him dumping them
anytime soon. They treated him like a king, and he ate it up.

To tell the truth,
she wished she could sit with her soccer teammates in the bleachers out near
the locker rooms, but during the week, she and Alex didn't see much of each
other, so it was good to be with him at lunch. He'd be disappointed if she
wasn't there. Or so she thought.

She pulled out her
lunch, which today consisted of turkey and lettuce on sourdough, a sandwich bag
full of mostly mini pretzel twists but also a few potato chips mixed in,
another bag of mixed veggies, an apple, a couple of bite-sized chocolate bars,
and a bottled water. She used an insulated lunch box, so everything still had a
nice chill. As she took a big bite of her sandwich, Alex scoffed under his
breath. She assumed mayo and mustard squirted out onto her cheek, but she
couldn't feel any, so she said, in a joking tone, "Can I help you?"

He looked at her,
a frown strewn across his lips. "Yeah, you could stop eating so much.
You're going to get fat."

Mandy couldn't
breathe for a second. Had he really just said that? Here, in front of their
friends? Most people turned away, embarrassed looks on their faces, but the
Pigs chuckled and focused in harder.

"First off,
this is a perfectly healthy meal. Second, with the amount I run and work out, I
need these calories or I'll waste away to nothing and make myself sick. Plus, I
have Taekwondo this afternoon, so I need the energy. And third, how dare you?
You eat three times as much as I do, and you certainly don't make sure much of
it is healthy."

He gave her a look
as if she'd slapped him. The Pigs groaned as if they agreed she'd wounded him.
Everyone else still conveniently had their attention turned elsewhere.

"Babe, I'm
only looking out for you."

Babe? Since when
had he started calling her babe? "No, you're being a jerk."

"Hey, I know
you look great now. You're hot — smokin' hot — but what about in a few years?
You need to remember that you're the girlfriend of a high-profile quarterback,
a future star. Your main job will be to make me proud, and chunky won't do it."

One of the Pigs,
she thought it was Duncan, but wasn't paying enough mind to tell for sure,
said, "Damn right," while the other two grunted their agreement. She
thought about giving a roundhouse kick to each of their jaws. The Pigs might be
football players, but all three had way too much flab, and that was putting it
nicely, to be making any sort of judgment call on eating.

Before she could
decide whether or not to call him on his comment, Alex continued. "And
that Kung-Fu stuff? Why bother? You have me. I'm more than man enough to keep
you safe."

He knew darn well
it was Taekwondo, and that she mostly did it for the challenge and to be with
Luci. A portion of her mind tried to remain rational, above his part of the
conversation, but the rest of her was too clouded with rage to not strike back.
She put venom in her voice as she said, "I could take you down."

Everyone around
proved they had been paying attention to the argument by letting out muffled
laughs. Even the Pigs chuckled, though she had a feeling that was mostly at
her, that their thinking was no way could a mere girl beat up the great Alex
Jacobs. In all the time she'd known him, the old Alex would have joined in on
the laughter — though, truth be told, they'd never be having this conversation
in the first place. Instead, he stared at her with an intense anger. Then,
after a few seconds, his face softened, and he said, "You know I'll let
you take me down anytime, babe."

That earned an
even bigger laugh from everyone, but she rolled her eyes. When the noise died
down, she said, "Anything else you'd like to change about me?"

He thought about
it for a second, and then said, "You could always get a boob job."

This quieted
everyone again, except for the Pigs, who roared laughter and exchanged
high-fives. She knew he mostly said it as a capper to their argument, to come
out as the victor in his own eyes, but there was also a look on his face that
proved he meant it.

As calm as could
be, she gathered up her things and walked away. She wouldn't cry, not where
Alex or anyone else would see. He called for her to stop and come back, but
didn't chase after her when she kept going. Only the Pigs' laughter followed
her.

WYATT

Wyatt and Kareem
sat in the shade on a planter near the math building. It had been their lunch spot
since freshman year, so there was no need to change it up now, even if it was
on the opposite side of campus from Pop Culture after lunch. Most people ate
closer to the middle of campus, meaning this area, more on the fringe, was
sparsely populated, exactly as they preferred. It made for quiet study times
when they wanted, like today. Both had their noses buried in their Physics
texts while they ate.

"I'm
impressed you two aren't getting drips and crumbs all over the books."
They looked up and saw Allyssa standing in front of them. "Especially if
that's your famous peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwich, Wyatt."

"No, not
today. It's PB&J. But if it was the PBB&H, it still wouldn't drip. The secret's
in the construction."

"You'll have
to show me your secret sometime," she said, throwing him a wink.
"Every time I make one, it's delicious but messy."

His breathing went
a little bit shallow with her wink, but he quickly caught himself and said,
"Yeah, I'll, uh, yeah. Sometime."

She and Kareem
shared a look that he mostly missed. Kareem then said, "If it makes you
feel any better, I'm getting crumbs all over my book." He brushed a bunch
to the ground. "But better the book than my shirt." It was a brown
t-shirt with an outline of the ship, Serenity, from the cult TV show, Firefly.

"Yeah, that
shirt sure is shiny, Captain." They all snickered. "Anyway, shouldn't
you two be talking geek rather than acting nerd?"

"We act nerd
now so we can geek later," Kareem said.

"We're
fighting zombies in Call of Duty tonight," Wyatt elaborated.

"You could
join us," Kareem said, "if you'd only picked the superior
machine."

"I did. It's
not my fault you two fell for the marketing hype."

Wyatt chuckled. It
was an old argument he rarely joined in on. He saw the pros and cons of both
consoles, and the tipping point for him in the decision was that Kareem wanted
the Xbox 360 over the Playstation 3. They'd already talked about upgrading to
the Xbox One soon.

"Anyway, I
came over to see if you guys picked anything up at AD after I left."

"Nah,"
Kareem said. "We'll go back after school to grab the new books. Or at
least I will. Some of us don't know how to collect anymore." He nudged
Wyatt.

"I collect
the ones that either may be worth something some day or that simply look cool.
Otherwise it's better to get them digitally."

"Sacrilege,
man. Sacrilege."

"I'm actually
starting to see the wisdom in that myself," Allyssa said. "Most books
won't be worth the room they take up. And I like the guided reading feature on
ComiXology. I don't jump ahead that way. And I don't have to worry about
ruining the pages when I read."

"It's not
collecting."

"You see me
buy books with bags and boards all the time," Wyatt said. "Just not
most ongoing monthly and bi-monthlies."

"Still."

"Still
nothing," Allyssa said. "You're just being stubborn." She bent
down and patted Wyatt's knee. "Let me know if you see any gems. I probably
won't get there until this weekend."

"Will
do," he said around a lump forming in his throat.

"See you guys
in class," she said, and wandered away, back, presumably, to wherever she
normally spent lunch. They rarely moved from this spot, so he had no idea.

"She knows as
well as we do what titles are coming out today," Kareem said. "Just
like she knows the secret to your little sandwich."

"Some small
presses might put something out that we aren't expecting. And don't diss the
PBB&H. It takes a steady hand and a keen mind."

"Then how do
you manage? If you don't know why she came over here, your mind isn't all that
keen, my friend."

"I don't know
what you're talking about." Okay, so that was a lie, but he wasn't going
to admit it.

"You say six
simple, one-syllable words to her, and you got yourself a girlfriend. Will.
You. Go. Out. With. Me." He punctuated each word by holding up a finger to
count them. Once he used all five on his right hand, he held up the middle
finger on his left.

A comeback didn't
strike Wyatt right away, so he shook his head.

Kareem picked his
Physics text back up. "Pathetic, bro. Pathetic. At least finish your
reading so we can blast zombies tonight."

"Blast you
tonight."

"Oh, just say
the word, and I'll deathmatch you. Then you won't have a girlfriend or your
dignity."

He picked up his
own Physics book, but couldn't help chuckling, which got Kareem laughing.
Anyone passing by would probably think they were having too much fun reading
their textbooks. No wonder they had the reputation for being huge geeks and
nerds.

MANDY

Mandy and Luci
stood in the middle of the circle, ready to begin a sparring session. Both wore
protective vests and headgear. Luci was light years ahead of her in Taekwondo,
but Mandy had picked enough up to keep her on her toes, despite having only
formally been attending classes here at Franklin's Taekwondo Dojo for a few
years now. And then she only did so in the fall and late spring, around school
soccer and her summer league. Besides, Luci had been teaching her moves since
they were kids. Not just basic Taekwondo kicks and punches that were great for
sparring, but various martial art moves that were beyond helpful for
self-defense out in the real world. Moves she would have loved to use on Alex
and the Pigs today at lunch.

They bowed from
their attention stance, and then assumed the fighting stance. Two quick nods
proved both were ready, and Luci said, "Go." Mandy didn't think, but
instead let her rage from the day take over. Luci blocked almost all of her
powerful kicks, but she had to give ground to do it. Mandy drove her from the
circle, a spinning side kick getting the job done.

"Excellent,
Mandy!" Mr. Franklin, owner and head of the dojo, called from across the
room where he was coaching a few younger students. "Too bad I could never
entice you away from soccer to train here year round."

"Yeah,
excellent," Luci muttered. "I didn't realize we were going tournament
speed."

"Sorry,"
she said, and meant it. Not because Luci couldn't handle a full-speed assault,
but because she'd likely make Mandy pay for it in their next few spars.

"What did he
do?"

"What?
Who?"

Luci rolled her
eyes and scoffed.

She puffed up a
bit and said, "How do you know I'm miffed at Alex?"

"Oh, gee, I
don't know. Maybe it's your attitude, your body language, and your extra
aggression in the circle. Those scream boy trouble, and there's only one boy in
your life who could work you up like this. So what did he do?"

Mandy sighed,
deflated, and had to fight to hold back tears. "He was a huge ass at lunch
today. When I pulled my food out, he told me not to eat so much or I'd get fat.
And he wasn't joking."

"He
didn't," Luci said, her eyes going wide. "Doesn't he know how much
you work out? You could eat twice what you do now without gaining an
ounce."

"He said I
was fine for now, but he didn't want me putting on weight in the future. He's
going to be a huge star, and he can't have a chubby girl next to him."

"Alex said
this? That doesn't sound like him."

"Actually,
ever since he got back from Michigan, it sounds more and more like him."

She and Alex,
along with both sets of parents, had visited Ann Arbor that summer to check out
the school. She and her parents had stayed a week, while Alex and his stayed two.
He'd been different when he got home. She hadn't said anything before today,
hadn't even really noticed, but she could see it clearly now.

Luci's next words
came out in a hesitant manner. "You realize this is a break-upable
offense, right?"

"I
know." She sighed. "I almost did right then and there, but I
couldn't. I can't. Not yet. He's always been the perfect boyfriend. I need to
get him alone to find out what's going on."

"Yeah, that's
probably the smart thing to do." Luci grabbed her in a hug. "I'm so
sorry I couldn't be there for you, but my mom really does appreciate my being
home at lunch."

"No, no, of
course. Ricky appreciates it, too, I'm sure."

"Well, he's
happy when I get home, but he's not real pleased when I have to leave a half-hour
later. But with no sixth period, it's not too much longer before I get back
again, so that's okay. He'll get the schedule down in no time."

"He's a neat
kid."

"Yeah. I
don't think I ever told you about the drama over the summer, mostly between
Johnny and Ricky."

"No,"
Mandy said. Johnny was Luci's 13 year old brother who had started eighth grade
this year.

"You know how
when someone's mad or annoyed at someone else in my house, the real names come
out?"

"Uh-huh."
Mandy had heard it often enough. Luci became Lucinda, Johnny became Juan, and
Ricky became Ricardo.

"Turns out,
somewhere near the beginning of summer, Johnny started calling Ricky 'Retardo'
instead of Ricardo."

"Oh no."

"Ricky knows
it's a horrible name to be called, so he was understandably upset. But he
idolizes Johnny, so he couldn't bring himself to vocalize what was wrong. One
day when Johnny didn't know I was near, I heard him say it, and I got
pissed."

"I guess
so."

"He tried to
play it off as if he was kidding, but that didn't matter. I gave him a kick to
the stomach, not too hard, but hard enough so he knew I was pissed. He doubled
over, trying to catch his breath, and when he did, he started crying. Loud. Mom
came in and he blubbered that I kicked him. I admitted it and told her why. She
never raised her voice, only told me that if I heard him call Ricky that again,
I had her permission to kick him even harder."

Mandy let out a
laugh. "What did Johnny think of that? What did Ricky think of it
all?"

"Johnny
stopped crying right away, apologized to Ricky, and limped off to his room.
Drama queen. Ricky found it all amusing. You know how much he loves watching me
do Taekwondo." She gave a grin. "And, I have to admit, it was a
pretty good front snap kick."

Mandy couldn't
help but laugh again.

"Ricky was as
happy as he's ever been the rest of the summer. Every time they were together,
Johnny was great with him. I even noticed it when Johnny had no idea I was
around. I asked Mom if she or Dad had talked to him, and she said no, not
directly. She began printing out articles from the Internet about how words
hurt and others on Down Syndrome in general and leaving them on Johnny's bed.
The closest she came to saying anything was on a post-it note attached to the
first batch of articles. She wrote, 'In case you haven't noticed, your brother
idolizes you.'"

"Your mom is
the coolest," Mandy said.

"Yeah, that's
why I need to go home during lunch, even if it is only for 25 or 30 minutes.
Gives her a few minutes to herself." She gave Mandy a shrug. "You
could always come home with me. My mom and Ricky will be thrilled to see you
every day. And none of us will tell you to not eat so much."

"I may take
you up on that. We'll see what tomorrow brings."

"Are you two
okay over there?" Mr. Franklin called. "Taekwondo works better if
you're not standing around chatting."

"Sorry, Mr.
Franklin," they both said and moved back to the middle of the circle.
Luckily, when their sparing started back up, Luci didn't feel the need to
retaliate for Mandy's behavior in the first bout. And, she realized a little
bit later, after hearing Luci's story, she wasn't dwelling on Alex any more. As
always, her best friend knew how to handle her.

WYATT

Wyatt's Richard
Nixon blasted a zombie, while Kareem's John F. Kennedy took another out. If
there was any mode cooler than the Call of Duty: Black Ops secret zombie mode,
he didn't know it. They ran through the maze, blowing away more and more of the
undead.

"Watch the
one on your left," Kareem said through his Xbox Live headset.

"Got it.
Weapon upgrade for you up ahead."

"Got it.
Thanks, bro."

They kept moving
and blasting, but something from school today ate at him. He doubted Kareem
cared, but he couldn't keep from asking. "Did Mandy seem down to you in
pop culture class?"

"Didn't
notice, bro."

"I wonder if
it's because we invited Allyssa into our group."

"Naw, dude,
we talked about this. Why would she care? She'll probably be glad to get
another girl in the group. Besides, Allyssa's cool, and she knows her
stuff."

"Yeah."
They ran into another zombie-infested room, and chatter died down while they
each took out a dozen or more zombies, both their characters quipping
one-liners as they did so. When they cleared them all out, Wyatt hoped Kareem
would move onto a different subject, but that wasn't his style.

"It's not
like she's going to be jealous of Allyssa or anything. Our girl's got a
soon-to-be Division I starting quarterback on her hands. He's probably going to
be a first round NFL draft pick in three or four years."

"I know. I
doubt it would be that. She just seemed distracted, maybe sad, is all."

"Get that
one," Kareem said, talking about an approaching zombie. Wyatt put it down
with a headshot. "Listen, bro, no one can possibly be happy one-hundred
percent of the time. It simply doesn't happen."

"Yeah. I
probably should have talked to her, though. Made sure she was okay."

"Dude, I know
you're not getting feelings for her. Not only is she totally off limits, but she's
hitched to the coolest guy in school, a guy who actually likes us well enough
to keep even the biggest bullies from kicking our scrawny butts on a weekly,
maybe daily, basis."

"No, I only
want to be her friend. Like back in elementary school."

"From what
I've heard, back then, she was into you. Like way into you. If you like her so
much, you should have latched onto her then."

"I tried, but
on the first day of junior high you wouldn't let me get near her. You said she
and her friends were too pretty for us to even talk to. Besides, she did not
like me like that. We were just really good friends."

He heard Kareem
scoff over the headset. "Man, it's no wonder you haven't asked Allyssa
out. You have no flirt-radar. Like zero."

"Flirt-radar?"
Wyatt said with a laugh.

"Yeah.
Flirt-radar. As in, you wouldn't know if a girl was flirting with you even if
she did it right to your face. Which, I might add, Allyssa has done more times
than I can count in the past year and a half. And I can count pretty damn high,
bro."

"Sounds more
like an app to me. Something you can download from Google Play or the iTunes
store. Something you could use to figure out where all the flirts around you
are coming from."

Kareem didn't say
anything for a few seconds. When his voice did return, Wyatt could tell he wore
that far-off thinking/plotting expression he got when pondering an idea.
"All kidding aside, and ignoring the fact that you couldn't actually
harvest the flirt information, can you imagine how much money we'd make if we
could create an app like that? We'd make so much bank we wouldn't need
college."

"Says the guy
going to Stanford."

"Oh, I'd
still go, but I wouldn't need to. Besides, you could have gone, too, if you
wanted."

"OCU works
well enough for me, and I'll probably get some sort of scholarship there. Plus,
I can stay home with Mom." He didn't want to leave her alone, and Orange
County University was less than ten minutes from their house. Kareem knew this,
so there were no impending momma's boy jokes or anything.

A half-dozen or so
zombies wandered onto the screen, snapping their attention back to the game.
"Let's take out this little group and then heal up," Kareem said.
"Should be a big battle soon."

Wyatt took out
three, while Kareem bagged four. They both grabbed med-packs that dropped and
made sure they were healed up and locked and loaded. As they were getting ready
to go, Kareem said, "But, seriously, Wyatt, Allyssa likes you. Like,
like-likes you. Ask her out."

"I
know." And he did. She really was perfect for him. And if he was going out
with her, it would rid him of his obsession with Mandy, right? That was getting
far beyond dumb now anyway. She was as happy as could be with Alex. A ton happier
than she could ever be with him. Ask out Allyssa and move on with life. It was
the best thing for him to do.

"Ready?"
Kareem asked, his J.F.K. inching forward. "On three."

"Got
it."

"One. Two.
Three."