The Nerd and The Jock - LT Fanfic

8. Bae feat. The Grinches Again

8. Bae feat. The Grinches Again

Blaze seemed really happy to see them. "Vanessa, Cindy," he greeted them by name, "What's up?"

The two girls shot him coy, flirty grins. "Hi, Blazey," they chorused.

"Are you here to join the club?" Nicolas gestured to our table, where my friends and I sat.

There was a flicker of annoyance in their faces, but one of them just said, "Uh, yeah. What's the club about?" But the speaker made no move to approach us.

Blaze noticed this and chuckled. "Well," he gave their backs a pat, "you have to talk to 'em."

The girls turned to us sluggishly, like grumpy grandmas. Sharon gulped, and Can lifted her chin, and I played with my hands.

The blonde spoke first. "What's this about?" She barked.

"It's a club for advanced kids," I found myself explaining, wincing because how loud her voice was. Was she Vanessa or Cindy? I emphasized, "With Advanced classes."

Blondie and her sidekick looked like they didn't know anything about anything, so I was sure that the word "advanced" just made the hairs on their chins stand up.

To my surprise, Blondie just gave a petulant snort. "What do you guys do there?"

"Nothing," Candice deadpanned.

The two girls laughed humorlessly. "Seriously?"

"No, uh..." I gave Candice a side-eye. She just smiled at the girls, and right then I knew she was messing with the girls. "We just read books. Lots and lots of books."

"Yeah," Shay said.

"Wow, boring. That's it?"

"Yep," Can said, "Are you surprised? Or do you not know what a book is?"

"No, that's not it," Blaze jumped in after Candice's blunt query; I was so distracted by Thot Duo that I almost forgot he was there. He frowned and said, "Temara told me about other stuff. Right, Temara?"

"Uh, right," I said.

"I think you talked about field trips."

"Don't tell me that you guys take trips to libraries," the sidekick teased. No, she did not just say that?

I began, "No..."

"Right. Anyway, I'm joining."

Candice, Shay and I low-key cringed when two simultaneously reached for the joining paper. "I'm gonna sign my name right under Blazey's..." Blondie said.

"But why? You don't even seem interested."

She pulled out a glittery, pink gel pen. She scrawled 'Vanessa' in a bubbly, over-the-top script. "So...? If Blaze joins, then I join. Wherever he goes, I go. He's so cool, you get me?"

Candice stared. "Wow."

"Problem?" Vanessa demanded, while Cindy took the pen from her hand to write her name.

"You're like a fangirl. It's weird."

"No, I'm not."

"Yeah, you are."

"You can't tell me what I am and what I'm not."

"I just did." Can blinked at her -- a challenge. "You know, I don't like you. And I don't appreciate the looks you give Temara when we're at lunch. Weirdo."

"Drop it, Can," I told her. She ignored me.

She squinted at Vanessa. "Who do you think you are? You're peanut butter and jelly as hell, just 'cause Nicolas talks to Temara. Jealousy won't do you good! She will always be ten times prettier than you under that heavy mask of L'Oréal."

Vanessa looked at Cindy and they laughed.

"I'm so not jelly. No one's worried about your friend, Cow... whatever your name is. Stay in your lane, farm animal."

It got quiet. Then,

"Ow! Let go of my hair! Let go, let go!"

Candice had lunged at Blondie from behind the table, grabbing a handful of her yellow locks. Me and Shay jumped in surprise at how fast she was when she attacked at her.

"You deserve to be bald-headed, pig!" Candice shrieked, sinking in her manicured claws. Blaze looked shocked, as if to say, "What the hell happened?"

I couldn't help but laugh a little at the whole thing. Candice, with her nails in Blondie's hair and Blondie struggling to free herself. Blaze staring in bewilderment. And Cindy staring, too, before Blondie barked at her to help her out. Cindy stepped closer to the girls, threatening to get involved, and I had to act, fast.

"Uh, Shay? Can you get the club trophies before they end up on the ground? Whoops, too late." The trophies fell off the table, shaken by the momentum of the fighting girls. "Nevermind, Shay." Shay laughed.

"Candice, let go of her hair!"

"You sure you ain't want me to destroy her edges? 'Cause I want to!"

"Let. Go!"

"Ow, ow, OW! Cindy, you idiot, help me!"

"I'm trying to!"

"Try harder--ah!"

Blaze had jumped in. He pulled back on Vanessa's body, until Candice's grip loosened and couldn't reach her anymore. Blaze tumbled down to the ground with Vanessa on top of him. Cindy tripped over them.

"Ouch!" The girls chorused.

"Dang. That hurt," Blaze sighed.

Candice smirked. "Sorry, brother-in-law. Didn't want to get you in the equation." She let go of the blonde strands in her hands, dusting them off over the table.

My eyes widened at her. "You're crazy!"

"Say that again, Mara!" Shay agreed, just as bewildered. "Why didn't you let go?"

"Firstly, nobody calls me a farm animal. And secondly -- hello! -- did you not hear it when they disrespected our club? It was so not cool."

I shook my head. "You're lucky no one seemed to notice us. You know how much trouble we'd be in?"

Candice rolled her eyes. "I protected us, didn't I? You're welcome, guys. You're welcome."

Shay and I rolled our eyes as Blaze and the girls got up. Blaze dusted himself off, and Cindy tended to Vanessa's scalp.

"Move your hands up! Up, Cindy! Jeez, I swear it feels like all my follicles are damaged." Vanessa sighed as her friend hurried to massage her hair in the right places. Pity swelled in me. Poor girl. Candice has the nails of a cat and it must suck to be at the other end of them.

"Well," Blaze said, bringing me from my observation as he walked to us. He gave Candice a wary look before flickering his eyes back to me. "That was... one heck of a sign-up."

I laughed awkwardly. "Yeah..."

"It's okay. I guess I know the type of people you hang around."

"Candice is something else. But she's a pretty nice girl overall." I shrugged.

"Oh, I'm sure. And I'm sure if I disagree, she might attack me."

I laughed, but Blaze didn't. Wait, was he really afraid of her? I watched him watch her as she and Shay gathered the trophies from the ground. Oh, man, that's so funny.

"Anyway," he said, "I can't wait to see you at this club. You know, this is my first Advanced club."

This just tugged on my heart strings. "No, I didn't know. That's cool. Really cool, actually."

"I guess I see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Can't wait to see you in English again, Temara."

Me too, I didn't tell him. I just grinned like an idiot.