the asmodai ↣ style

Chapter Five

Chapter 5: Like a Bludgeoning to the Head

For once, Stan was actually glad the only classes he had with Kyle were history and PE. He found it was amazingly easy to avoid someone when they were on the other side of the school learning about vector calculus, dynamical systems, and the chaos theory while he was taking good old algebra.

And it was easy to avoid him between classes, too, because Kyle was sort of easy to spot from a distance, what with the Jewfro and lime-green hat.

Lunch was an entirely different matter, however.

Stan slunk into the school library, tray in hand, and cast a passing glance at the librarian. Stan was fairly sure you weren't supposed to be eating in the library, but then, the librarian seemed more interested in his magazine of poultry porn than what the students were doing.

The school employed sadistic racists to teach history, hard-assed women of dubious sexual orientation to teach physical education, male nurses, and convicted chicken molesters to manage the library. Stan wondered who, exactly, was in charge of hiring.

He was planning on sitting by himself, rather than join the guys that played Dungeons and Dragons, but then he noticed Wendy, half-hidden behind a stack of books, and decided to join her.

"Mind if I sit?"

She looked up from the book she'd been flipping through so fast he was surprised she hadn't given herself a paper cut, and her eyebrows rose several notches.

"Why?"

"... Because we're friends?"

Her eyebrows rose a bit more. "We're friends?"

"We're not not friends, right?"

"... I suppose," she said, clearing off a space for him. Stan put down his tray and pulled up a chair, and then he glanced at the spines of the books, which were all about Chile.

"I didn't know you were a library troll."

"Neither I you," she shot back, then relented. "I'm not usually, but this assignment is an absolute nightmare. I mean, God, at this point I wish I'd gotten Hitler. Is your group already done?"

"Um," Stan said. "Actually, we haven't really started."

Wendy looked shocked, then apprehensive. "Well, I hope you're done by Thursday."

"Wouldn't want to break your date, huh?" Stan tried to keep the jealous note out of his voice. He really did. Wendy frowned at him.

"So why are you eating lunch here, then?"

"Er. Just... enjoying the atmosphere." Wendy gave him a look. Stan resolutely avoided her gaze.

She sighed. "Stan, are you avoiding Kyle?"

"I'm not avoiding him, I'm just, um... not talking to him."

"Why?"

"Well. Um. I think Kyle might... you know..."

She sighed again and closed her book. "Stan, you're being ridiculous."

"Why?" he said, zoning in on her. "Has he said anything to you? Has he-"

"This may shock you, Stan - astound you, even - but when Kyle and I get together to study we don't talk about you. We actually study."

Stan huffed and started digging into his food. Wendy drummed her fingers on the thick volume of Chile foreign policy.

"Why don't you just talk to him?"

"No way," he said quickly.

"Stan, do you think it's at all possible you think Kyle has a crush on you because you might want him to have a crush on you?"