Masqueraded Identities

Chapter Four

The next day in AP Human Geography was partner day. Neither Tay nor Mark were in that class, so I very quickly admitted defeat of finding a new friend as everyone in the class began pairing up with each other. No one else was alone. I sighed. Maybe my teacher would just let me work alone.

However, before I could stand up to explain to my teacher my dilemma, Ryan suddenly slid in front of me, pulling a chair from an empty desk.

I jumped in surprise. "You're in this class? Since when?"

"Um, yesterday? Just like you," he said, raising his eyebrows at me, obviously confused.

I stared at him a moment. Was he serious? Wouldn't I have noticed him? I realized Tay and Mark were my only friends at this point and that I wasn't interested in making more, but I feel like I would have noticed him. Or he would have tried to ruin my life by now. Or done SOMETHING to make his presence known.

"Huh," I replied, very intrigued by my ignorance. I shrugged, accepting the partnership. I guess even the ever annoying Ryan Hutchins was better than the walk-of-shame to the teacher. Plus, the dirty look I was getting from one Ryan-obsessed girl in the class was hysterical. I gave her a small wave. She glared harder.

"Thanks for being my partner! I really appreciate it," he said in a voice that I couldn't quite tell if it was sincere, sarcastic, or both.

"Uh, sure," I replied absentmindedly, skimming over the worksheet packet. Maybe I would reciprocate his feeble attempts of talking to me if he didn't give off so many mixed signals all the time.

 Ryan read his, too. I started jotting down an answer to the first question, when Ryan put a hand over mine, preventing me from writing.

"I think there's a better answer for that," he said. I was surprised it wasn't said with a smirk or an attitude.

 "Like what?" I asked. I sucked at geography, and needed all the help I could get.

"First off, dis-"

"Wait! You're just trying to trick me, again!" I exclaimed, suddenly realizing what he was doing. I also realized his hand was still on mine. I blushed and whipped it out from under his.

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Look, Rory, I want a good grade on this, too. Just to prove to you I am not trying to trick you, I will write down the same answer I was telling you on my paper. In permanent marker." Ryan took a pen from his bag and started to write down the answer. I realized it was the beginnings of what he had tried to tell me. Oops.

"Oh," I said again, biting my lip. I do believe I had just won bitch-of-the-year award. "Sorry. I just figured... Never mind. Thank you for your help. And, by the way, my name is Phoebe, not Rory."

Ryan gave me a crooked smile. "Oh, I know. I just like calling you Rory. It sounds like roar. Lions roar. And lions are fierce, just like you."

I raised an eyebrow, feeling humiliated as I felt a blush rush to my cheeks at his subtle compliment. "Um. Thank you. I think."

"Anything to keep that blush on your cheeks! Okay, back to the worksheet. As I was saying."

Ryan then explained to me about distribution, spatial association, and how somehow they fit together to help geographers find out more about culture throughout the world at local and global scales. I was impressed. He was a lot smarter than he let on.

Maybe he wasn't quite as shallow as I gave him credit for. Maybe Tay was right- that he did have a personality underneath all the cocky smirks and attitude-loaded comments. However, it still didn't change the horrible first impressions he had given me. It still didn't make me want to befriend him, but it did at least let me understand where Tay was coming from a little.