Crushing On The Geek (Crushing On You) (12 page)

      “That's reassuring,” Hayden said, looking at the box of dye again. The cover showed a happy woman twirling her supposedly newly dyed hair around her head. “Are you sure this stuff is for guys too?”

      “Hair is hair,” she laughed, “It'll work. Just let me work my magic.”

      “I think I've had enough of magic, of any sort, to last me a lifetime,” Hayden sighed, “Magic's what got me into this mess.”

      “Well, then geek boy, let me work my science.”

      An hour later Hayden's hair was brown again. Tamara chose a shade that was dark and chocolatey, several shades darker than his natural color.

      “Do you like it?” she asked.

      “It's a lot darker than my natural color,” he said, “I thought you said it would look pretty much the same.”

      “The darker color looks good though,” Tamara said, “It brings out your eyes.”

      “If you say so,” Hayden laughed, unplugging the hair dryer, “Anything's better than the cross dressing cow.”

      “Poor cow,” Tamara shook her head, “He might have been born that way.”

      “Well, that's good for him, I wasn't,” Hayden laughed.

      Tamara watched as Hayden carried the towel and hairdryer down the hall. She sank into the chair next to the one he had sat in. A yawn escaped before she could stifle it. She was tired and beginning to get hungry. She closed her eyes and rested her head on the table. Hoping, that Hayden wouldn't think she was rude for wanting to go home so soon.

      Tamara wasn't aware of dozing off until someone touching her shoulder woke her up.

      “Sorry,” she murmured, opening her eyes and sitting up, “I didn't mean to fall asleep.”

      “If you fell asleep in one of these uncomfortable chairs, you needed the sleep,” Hayden laughed, “Dinner's almost done.”

      “You're cooking?”

      “No, the delivery place called to say they were on their way.”

      “Oh. How long was I out?” Tamara asked, stifling another yawn.

      “Only about forty-five minutes,” he grinned.

      “Why didn't you wake me up?”

      “Because if you're tired you should sleep. I might have left you there all night if it wasn't dinner time.”

      “My parents would have freaked,” Tamara said, wide-eyed.

      “It was a joke, Tam,” Hayden said.

      “My dad wouldn't have found it very funny. He would have put us both in front of a firing squad and called out the order to shoot himself.”

      Hayden laughed and started to say something when the doorbell chimed and echoed through the house.

      “Crap!” he said turning on his heels, “I hope that doesn't interrupt dad. If he get's out of the zone, he's out of it for the rest of the day.”

      Tamara followed behind Hayden, in case he needed help. Her brain was still foggy from sleep, but moving pulled her into the waking world. After paying the delivery guy (Hayden gave him a tip too), they returned to the kitchen.

      “I have to turn the oven on warm and stick Dad's inside,” he explained, “I don't want to ruin his zone, because I'll never hear the end of it, if I do.”

      “What did you get me?” she asked.

      “I ordered a bit of everything, because I wasn't sure what you liked. My guess would be sweet and sour pork, but I wasn't sure.”

      “How did you know that?” Tamara asked.

      “Lucky guess,” he shrugged.

      “Amber told you, didn't she?” Tamara said.

      “You think I'd call your best friend a interrupt her date just to find out what you liked just so I wouldn't have to wake you up to ask you?” Hayden laughed.

      “You didn't!” Tamara said, “She's never going to let me hear the end of it.”

      “I think she will,” Hayden said, setting out the food, “She kept gushing on and on about how sweet I am.”

      “How did you even get her number?”

      “The same way I got yours: the school directory.”

Chapter Eleven

      Tamara arrived to room five eighty five, fifteen minutes early. She took a deep breathe as she pushed open the door, trying to prepare herself for whatever she might find inside. Her eyes were squeezed shut for a moment before Tamara could gather enough courage to open them and look inside.

      A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she finally opened her eyes. Every last desk, chair, box, and piece of chalk was exactly where it should have been. Tamara made a few quick trips around the room looking for anything out of place.

      “Hey,” Hayden called from the doorway, startling her.

      “Hi,” Tamara said, examining the empty bowls before Sir Bedivere, but not daring to touch them.

      “It worked, then?”

      “Yeah, it looks like,” Tamara nodded, “If they're planning something they haven't set it up yet.”

      “Maybe we're really done with it,” Hayden said, wrapping an arm around Tamara's shoulders.

      Tamara turned to face him and looked up into his brown eyes, grinning, “We did it.” Without waiting for a reply she rose to her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his, wrapping her arms around his neck. She moved away slowly when she heard footfalls approaching.

      “That would be Greg and the others,” she laughed.

      “Why do they always have to be on time?” Hayden chuckled.

      “Because they're geeks.

      “Hey guys,” Hayden said, as the door swung open.

      “Hey,” Greg said, walking several strides ahead of Cindy and her bloodshot eyes, “Sorry, I'm late.”

      “You're only one minute late,” Tamara said, glancing at the clock, “and no one else is here yet.”

      “I used to always be here first,” Greg frowned, dropping his bag haphazardly beside the door.

      “I was excited about practice and wanted to make sure I was here on time,” Tamara lied. Practice was the last thing on her mind when she showed up early. She had to make sure the milk and honey appeased the wee folk, because Tamara didn't think she could live with herself if she was part of the real reason the annual Halloween dance was canceled.

      “Glad to hear it,” Greg said with a half-smile, as the rest of the club clambered into the room, whispering quickly back and forth, “Guys, quit talking about it! If it doesn't have to do with chess or the tournament next Saturday I don't want to hear about it and one of you guys can work with Cindy today. I'm going to practice with the computer. I was hoping to work with Mrs. Kelly today, but she's not going to be here. Go ahead and get started.”

      “I'll grab a board,” Tamara said and fell in step with the rest of the group, leaving Hayden alone with Greg.

      Maybe he can say something to make him feel better, Tamara thought, because I'm not even going to try. Geekmance is beyond me. She waited until everyone else chose their set and took the one that remained.

      Hayden was waiting for her at their usual table and Greg was no where in sight.

      “Is he going to survive?” Tamara asked, sliding into her chair.

      “Yeah, he'll be fine,” Hayden chuckled.

      Together they began to set up the board.

      “Who has my knights?” Cindy demanded, stomping her foot and nearly knocking over her own chess board.

      “Mine are missing too!” another member shouted.

      “So are ours,” Hayden said, lowering his voice so that only Tamara could hear him, “Do you think it's them, again? The milk and honey didn't work, after all?”

      “I don't know. Cindy's pretty pissed, maybe she did it!” Tamara whispered, looking around the room.

      “I heard that!” Cindy shouted. The screech of her chair being pushed back echoed around the room for longer than Tamara believed was normal, “Go ahead, Tamara, say it again, but say it loud enough for everyone to hear. You and Hayden were already here when Greg and I arrived! All that smutt about you wanting to be on time for practice, we all know you don't care about this club and you're only here to get your precious scholarship! You took them! You took the knight pieces!”

      “I did not!” Tamara said, jumping to her feet.

      “Tamara didn't take anything!” Hayden said, “I was here with her the whole time.”

      “Oh and we know all about you too, Hayden!” Cindy said, turning her wrath on him, “You helped her, didn't you? You'd do anything to get the preppy snobby pretty girl to notice you!”

      “I'm not a snob!” Tamara said.

      “Let's just go, Tamara,” Hayden said, taking her hand.

      “No, I'm going to show this four eyed, chess licking nerd what this snob can do to her!” Tamara said, pulling away from Hayden.

      “That's enough!” Greg shouted, finally having realized the room had turned into a mad house. “They didn't take them, Cindy. What the hell would they want with the knight pieces?”

      “To make sure we couldn't practice!” Cindy cried out.

      “Get over yourself, Cindy, the world doesn't revolve around you!” Greg said, slamming the mouse of the computer hard against the desk.

      “Let's go,” Hayden whispered in Tamara's ear.

      “Fine,” she turned on her heels and stomped out of the room, leaving Hayden to catch up. Tamara sprinted down the stairs and didn't quit running until she reached her locker. Her fingers trembled as she put in her combination.

      “Look,” Hayden said, having finally caught up, “Don't listen to her. I mean what she said about you being a snob and stuff, it isn't true. She's just jealous of you.”

      “That's obvious,” Tamara said, wrenching open her locker and tossing her bag inside, “That and she's angry that Greg broke up with her, but that's not our problem. We have bigger fish to fry. We've done everything I can think of to appease the little… little… wee folk,” Tamara spat, “but nothing we do is good enough for them! I don't know what the hell to do now!”

      “Calm down!” Hayden said, “We need to take a breather.”

      “We don't have time for a breather, Hayden, don't you see they're not going to quit until they ruin our lives?” Tamara slammed her locker shut.

      “Well, we won't let them!” Hayden said, crossing his arms, “We just won't let them.”

      “There's nothing else we can do!” Tamara said.

      “We need to find a faerie.”

      “Are you crazy?”

      “Maybe. Do you want this to be overwith, Tamara?”

      “Of course, I do! Do you think I'm enjoying this?”

      “No, but then we've got find one.”

      “And how are we supposed to do that?”

      Hayden thought for a second, “I would have liked to start in the room five eight five, but I don't think we should go back in there today.”

      “So what, we wait until Monday?” Tamara asked.

      “No, we need to move quickly,” he said, tugging on the sleeve of Tamara's hoodie, before taking her hand and walking away.

      “You still haven't told me where we're supposed to find a faerie, Hayden!” she said, taking long strides to keep up with him.

      “Do you remember when you were a little kid and everyone told you not to step on mushrooms, because they're faerie houses?” he asked.

      “No!” Tamara spat, “Why would anyone tell a little kid that?'

      Ignoring her comments, Hayden continued, “And it was supposed to be even worse if you crossed through a full circle of them, called a faerie ring or something like that?”

      “No!” Tamara said again.

      “Well,” Hayden continued, “I never believed it was true either until now.”

      “You think this is going to work?” Tamara asked, stopping and looking into his eyes.

      “What can it hurt? Faeries aren't even supposed to exist, but they do! So why can't they live in mushrooms?”

      “You've lost it,” Tamara sighed, “Even if you're right, which I'm not saying you are...”

      “Quit being a hypocrite!” Hayden snapped.

      “I'm not,” Tamara said, “I'm just saying. Where the heck are we supposed to find a faerie ring?”

      “Well, most likely some where close to the school or the library.”

      “What?”

      “Well, we know they come to take the stuff left with Sir Bedivere and the book was at the library,” he said.

      “Yeah, but they we're also at the hotel ballroom?”

      “Well, if we can't find them here or at the library, that will be our next stop,” Hayden said.

      “Where do we start looking? I know you said here at the school, but I don't think a faerie ring would go unnoticed for very long.”

      “Well, we lived our whole lives without ever noticing faeries until we messed with them, so anything's possible.”

      “Fine,” Tamara sighed in defeat, “lead the way.”

      Hayden took her hand again and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Tamara stopped just inside the door's main enternace to zip her hoodie and pull up the hood, “It's freezing out there.”

      “If I'm right, this shouldn't take long. I mean I don't know how long it'll take to fix this, but I think I know where the faerie ring would be.”

      “Where?” Tamara asked, shoving her hands in her pockets and following Hayden outside.

      “By the football field,” Hayden said, “I've only been there once, when I got lost on the way to P.E., but I remember seeing mushrooms. I haven't seen them anywhere else in this whole damn town, so I'm betting if faeries do live in mushrooms, they live there.”

      “Let's go then,” Tamara sighed and then fell silent. The air was nippy and their breath danced before them as they made their way to the football field.

      “We're here,” Tamara said, “Where are the mushrooms?”

      “It was on the other side,” Hayden said, “Like I said, I really got lost and had to wander around for awhile to find my way back.”

      “Sounds like bad excuse for cutting class,” Tamara laughed.

      “Maybe,” Hayden shrugged and began to jog around the outside of the field. Tamara jogged behind him, thankful for the quick movements warming her.

      “Stop!” Hayden said, holding out his arms to either side of his body. Lost in her own thoughts, Tamara crashed into him before she was able to come to a complete stop.