Wingmen | Redlyn

Part 4: Not a Thing

Big Red's POV

I sit with Ricky in the library during Study Hall, watching as he chews his pencil eraser in contemplation over his math work. I don't think he even notices that he does it. I think it happens subconsciously, but I've noticed it for as long as we've been friends. 

"Hey, do you understand logarithms?" Ricky asks after spending ten minutes on the same question.

"Dude, nobody understands logarithms," I reply. "I'm pretty sure even the people who made it knew it would be completely useless and overly complicated. Sorry. Try Google."

Ricky nods, responding, "Cool, thanks."

He turns his head back down to his work and takes out his phone to try my suggestion. While he's busy working, I should be doing my own schoolwork on the French Revolution, but my eyes keep wandering up to the girl sitting three tables away by herself. She has her dark hair tucked behind one ear while she reads a book. 

Interrupting my daydream comes Ashlyn plopping down on the chair next to me. Ricky doesn't even notice her. He's too wrapped up in trying to decipher the math problem, which is fine, because she's here for me, not him.

"Look at her sitting all alone over there," Ashlyn whispers. 

"What are you suggesting?"

She tilts her head and gives me a look, saying, "You know what I'm suggesting. Go talk to her."

"Uh..." 

My heart is already picking up the pace, and I haven't even agreed to go over yet. 

"Come on," Ashlyn pushes. "Just do it."

"I would, but my mom always told me not to listen to peer pressure."

"This isn't peer pressure. It's positive encouragement. You literally asked for this when you said you wanted me to be your wingwoman."

I nod and try to muster together the courage to go over, but then I realize something.

"Wait, don't you have a class during this perod? You've never had study hall at the same time as me before."

"We had a test, and I finished early," she explains. "Now go."

She gives me a nudge, and I listen, standing up from my chair. When I walk away, I hear Ricky asking Ashlyn where I'm going, and she gives a vague response about me going to follow my heart. As I approach Malaak's table, she glances up from her book and gives me a big smile. 

"Hey," she says. "What's up?"

I sit down and try to come up with a quick reason for why I'm talking to her that doesn't involve me liking her. 

"What book are you reading?"

She tilts the cover up for me to see. 

"The Perks of Being a Wallflower," I read. "I haven't read the book, but I've seen the movie, and it was really good."

"It is," she says with a smile. "You should really read it. The books are always better than the movies."

"No, but some movies get pretty close," I say. 

"Really? 'Cause every time I think of a book that's been made into a movie, my default is always The Hunger Games."

"Oh, no, that was awful," I say. "I mean it wasn't awful, but, you know..."

"Everything was different" the finishes for me. "Yeah." 

She lets out a laugh. It doesn't sound the same as Ashlyn's. It's higher and more adenoidal than hers, but I don't mind it. 

"I really should be working on my story, though," Malaak says, switching topics, "but I'm having some trouble putting your ideas into it in a workable way."

Here's my window of opportunity. I'll take Ashlyn's suggestion to ask Malaak to study with me, and Ashlyn will be so proud. 

"Well, if you want, you could come over sometime, and I could help you look at it."

"That would be fantastic," she replies. "How's Saturday?"

"Saturday works great," I respond. 

She smiles at me, and I feel happy with myself. I can't wait to tell Ashlyn. 

Ashlyn's POV

"So why exactly are you being his wingman?" Ricky questions. 

I've been trying to explain the situation to him, but he doesn't seem to be comprehending it. I don't understand what's so complicated. It seems pretty straight forward to me.

"He likes Malaak," I restate.

"That I know," Ricky responds. 

"And I'm helping him get the confidence to ask her out."

He gives me the classic Ricky look of confusion. "Why are you helping him get together with her?"

"Uh, because he likes her."

"Yeah, but...I don't know. Personally, I don't think Malaak is a good fit for him," Ricky shares. "I kind of thought you and him would be a good couple."

That catches me off guard. Big Red and me? No. Not a thing. Even if I did like him, he doesn't like me, so even if I did think his eyes sparkled, or like how he's quirky in an adorable way, or like when he smiles all softly... 

"No," I deny. "We're not a thing."

Ricky nods. "Yeah, that's clear now that I see you helping him figure out how to impress someone else."

Ricky goes back to doing his schoolwork, but I don't feel like our conversation is settled. 

"I don't like him," I say. 

"Yeah," Ricky replies. "I got that."

"Okay."

"Okay."

I don't like Big Red that way. I know I don't. He doesn't give me butterflies when he smiles the way Emilia does. He doesn't sneak into my dreams at night and steal my thoughts during the day. He's just my friend. 

Soon, Big Red returns, dropping into his seat with a big, dopey grin on his face. 

"Guess what I did," he announces. "I invited her over to study, and she agreed."

"That's awesome," I reply. 

"Yo, nice," Ricky says.

He holds up a fist, and Big Red bumps it, his smile unmoving. 

"You were completely right, Ashlyn," Big Red goes on. "I just had to put myself out there and ask her."

"Yeah," I say. "I'm happy for you."

I am, but for some reason my voice sounds tense. It's probably because Ricky's gotten into my head, and now I'm stuck dwelling on that absurd suggestion that I might like Big Red as more than friends. He's sweet and all, but he's not for me. He's not. I'm pretty sure he's not. I don't know why this is bothering me so much, but I know that as soon as I see Emilia again, I'll forget all about it. 

A/N: Hello. I'm not sure if this is just going the be the chapter length from now on. I think the future chapters will likely be longer, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I hope you are all liking this story so far. As always, I love you all. Also, if you do like it, I'd very much appreciate if you voted and supported me that way. It lets me know what kind of stuff you guys like, because if I know people like it, then I'll make more like it in the future. Thank you! Have a lovely night.