The Night Tournaments

8 - Flynn

~ A Few Days Later ~

"How's your progress on the lab report?" Bree asked me in Social Studies class on Monday.

"We're almost finished, but there's one pretty important part that Beatrix hasn't worked on yet," I answered. "Also, neat work on the 3D Tree Leaf Model. I saw the photo that you sent."

"Oh, thanks. Most of that was Felix's work, though - I just did the labels and design," Bree pointed out, shrugging.

Just then, I saw Beatrix entering the classroom with her smug blond friend, and I stood up from my seat to make my way over to her. At the moment, Felix Wainscott was the person that I hated the most in Seaside Heights, especially because of the way that he had treated Bree last week (and, yes, I was fully capable of strongly hating someone).

"May I remind you that you haven't finished your diagram analysis on the lab report yet?" I asked Beatrix, crossing my arms.

"Yes, I know, I know," she replied, rolling her eyes and dumping her backpack's contents onto her desk. "But please just call me Trixie. Why does my full name sound so bitter when it comes out of your mouth?"

"Maybe because the dude makes everything that he says sound ten times more acidic than it needs to be?" Felix suggested to Beatrix, smirking.

"That's rich, coming from you," I retorted, hardening my piercing blue eyes. "If your name isn't Google, I would greatly appreciate it if you stopped acting like you know everything."

"Hmm, what a good candidate for a new arch-nemesis," Felix said gleefully, slowly placing his elbows on his desk.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I have better candidates," I spat, taking a step closer to him. Argh, this dude was seriously driving me out of my mind.

"My dearest Flynn, there's no need to be so grumpy," Beatrix intercepted, using her hands to shield Felix from my view. "Do you know why? Because there are bigger problems to deal with! I actually forgot my laptop today, so I have to wait for my mom to drop it off at school. Which means that I won't be able to work on the report until then."

"Seriously? How much more incompetent can you get?!" I exploded, steam practically rising from my nostrils. "Will it get here by lunchtime?"

Beatrix tapped her chin, deep in thought. "Er, yes, but I have Dance Club tryouts during lunch today."

I let out a frustrated sigh and restrained myself from yanking my hair out. "Really? Then, tell me: exactly when do you plan to work on the report?!"

"I'll finish it on time; don't worry," Beatrix answered, yawning. "It's just that it might take a while."

I huffed and puffed as I stormed back to my desk, and Bree gave me a questioning look.

"What was that all about?" she asked.

"Assignment delays, plus a mega-infuriating new kid," I grumbled, distressfully running a hand through my hair. "I don't know what's wrong with those two, but they keep finding excuses to postpone the completion of our project!"

"I know, right?" Bree agreed, shaking her head. "I had to waste a bunch of energy to track down Wainscott last Friday, too. Maybe they were really unruly students at their old school."

"Hey, we should make a hilarious nickname for them," I said abruptly, lowering my voice and scooting closer to her. "I mean, they're clearly deserving of one."

"How about . . . the Demonic Duo?" Bree proposed, her cool brown eyes lighting up. "They both resemble demons of some sort, and, well, they're a tight pair."