talking to this Ian, that myth has now been shattered big time."
At that very moment, another guy walked by and said hello to Rita. She acknowledged his greeting, and as he walked away, he gave Ian a considerably less friendly glance, which wasn't lost on her.
"Do you know that guy?" she asked him.
"I don't know his name, Rita, but he's in my math class."
Rita munched on a carrot. It was finally starting to sink in just how different Ian's reality was from her own.
"Hey Rita," Phoebe sat down directly opposite the two of them. Betty was also in tow, but sat quietly while her friend launched into a tirade. "I thought you told me you don't him." She spoke as if Ian wasn't even there.
Rita calmly chewed her carrot as she spoke. "I stand by that statement. I still don't know’ idiot Ian’."
This got Phoebe even angrier. "That's not funny."
"I've never been more serious in my life." She turned to Ian. "Hey Ian, do you know anybody named ‘ idiot Ian’?"
Ian put down his sandwich and also spoke in a calm voice. “I’m sorry, I don’t" He looked at Phoebe. "Any problem?"
"I'm not talking to you, idiot!" Phoebe was livid. She turned back to Rita. "I see what's going' on here. This guy delivers your homework for a few days, and in exchange you help him with his."
"Actually, Trish introduced us to each other."
Phoebe now seemed confused. "How come she never mentioned anything about this to me and Betty?"
Betty kept mum. If she were to let on that Trish actually did inform her of the relationship, it would certainly be the end of their friendship.
Ian piped up once again. "I guess you'll just have to ask her about that."
"Will you shut up!" Phoebe's fury was now starting to seem almost comical.
At this point, Rita decided that she'd had enough. "Hey Phoebe, watch this." She yanked Ian towards her and gave him a huge kiss on the lips.
"Eeww!" Phoebe screamed and ran off. Betty started to laugh.
Ian spoke in a mockingly tone, "I thought she'd never leave."
"Rita, have you told Ian anything about what we now know about Phoebe's mom?" asked Betty.
"Shhh, not yet."
"Ah ha," Ian was still in a sarcastic mode. "So you two really have the goods on her, eh? Care to share?"
"I said not yet," answered Rita. "We want to wait till the time is right."
Betty turned to Ian, "Just take our word for it that there's actually a logical explanation for Phoebe's disposition. We're not really sure what it is, but the internet gave us a pretty good hint." She winked at him.
"You know Betty, it might be a good idea for you to go and see what she's up to," suggested Rita. "I'm sure that Trish would appreciate your counsel when Phoebe finds her."
"I do believe you've got a point." As Betty got up to leave, she took hold of Ian and Rita's hands for a moment. "Confidentially, I think you two make a really cute couple." With that, she left and went looking for Phoebe.
Ian spoke. "Rita, there's something I've got to talk to you about."
"Sounds serious."
"Did you notice Steven's weird behaviour in class?"
"Yeah, it's kind of hard to miss when you're sitting right next to him. He seemed out of it. Very unusual for him."
"I'm pretty sure I know why he's feeling down. He saw us kissing in the hall earlier today, and he's sad because he doesn't have a girlfriend too."
"What would lead you to that conclusion?"
"A couple of weeks ago, while we were working on the project, I mentioned to Steven that I thought you were a babe, and he mentioned a girl that he likes. Here it is two week later. We're an item, and he's...well..."
"Might this girl he's taken a fancy to be somebody I know?"
"I don't know. Do you know Sheila?"
"Hmm," She thought for a moment. "That sounds familiar. I think she's in the school play with me. Kind of short, brown hair,..."
"That would be her. He claims she turned down a ride on the Ferris wheel with him in an abrupt manner." Ian finished his sandwich. "You know, Steven is a great believer in setting realistic goals for one's self. I'm sure he'd be happy to have just about anyone as a girlfriend. It doesn't have to be Sheila."
"You know dear, I'm impressed with your concern for him."
"Well he's a great guy. One of the very few people in my life who actually gets my name right.."
Rita's elbow was on the table with her head resting in her hand, deep in thought. "I've got an idea."
"What's your plan?"
"Are you busy tomorrow afternoon, Ian?"
"I was just planning on spending it with you as usual."
"Here's what we'll do. I'll tell Sheila that I'm going to see a movie with a couple of friends and ask her if she'd like to come along. You do the same with Steven. Neither one of them will know exactly what we mean by 'a couple of friends'. Perhaps the fact that the two of us are a couple..."
“ Then?" said Ian "I suppose that's worth a try. Is there any particular movie that you have in mind?"
"No, but there's always at least twelve different ones at the mall. Hopefully we can find one scary enough to make a girl want to grab on to a guy for protection. I just hope it doesn't seem too weird, me coming up to her during fifth period drama and asking if she wants to hang out at the mall tomorrow. After all, we don't really know each other."
"Rita dearie, I think she'll jump at the chance. You don't realize it, but anybody would jump at the chance to hang out with the coolest babe in the school...At least up until today."
"Ian, will you stop with this 'up until today' crap. So far, nobody but Phoebe has actually come up to me and indicated that I am somehow 'no longer cool'."
Ian sighed. "There are still three periods to go, and now everyone has seen us together. Prepare yourself."
The bell rang, the two of them kissed once more, and they were both off to their fourth period classes.
2:03 pm
Phys-ed would be a whole different ballgame today. Felix was out of the picture, and Rita was in. As the boys and girls filed out of their respective locker rooms and on to the field, there was definitely a different ambiance about the class. Although everybody was still giving him dirty looks, at least there was no open booing, like there had been in the previous two classes.
"I take it you are Rita Hammond?" asked the coach, upon noticing an unfamiliar face in the class.
"Yes. I'm normally in the gym, but I had a little accident a week ago. I'm not supposed to do anything that would be too strenuous on my arms and shoulders for awhile."
"That's what it says here," The coach said, as he scribbled something on his clipboard. "Alright, you are exempted from doing any push-ups or pull-ups. Everything else, you do with the rest of the class."
"Yes sir."
With that, he led the class through the usual routine of warming ups. It was a bit strange having the girl who he used to watch in the gym now not only standing right next to him, but occasionally winking at him. It was clear that most of the class had seen them eating lunch together, and knew that they were an item. To say that they were puzzled by this turn of events, would be the understatement of the century. When it came time to do the daily jog around the neighborhood, the coach took into consideration that Felix was not there, and judged that it would be relatively safe for Ian to just run with the rest of the class.
"Alright, everybody jog." He commanded. "And Ian, I don't want to see you coming in last."
"I won't sir," Ian hollered over his shoulder as everyone started off. And indeed, why would he come in last? He now didn't have Felix to avoid, and instead of stopping to watch Rita in the gym, she was n
ow jogging right next to him. They both maintained a place in the middle of the line, and talked as they ran.
"So what's up with Sheila?" asked Ian.
"I had spoken to her. She's on for tomorrow afternoon. Have you spoken to Steven yet?"
"Yup. I ran into him in the hall. It's a go. We really ought to check what movies are playing at the mall."
"And what the starting times are."
Suddenly an all too familiar voice came from behind them "Hey Rita," It was Becker.
"Yes?" She rolled her eyes as he jogged up alongside her and Ian.
"Can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"When we get to the door of the gym, if I stop and jog in place for a minute and stare like a retard at Betty, do you think I'll be able to get her attention?"
She found his sarcasm annoying. "Gosh, I don't know Becker. We'll be passing the gym in about five minutes. Why don't you just give that a shot?"
"Well it obviously worked for him," Becker nodded towards Ian.
Ian kept quiet. For the first time in his life, somebody was actually defending him, and he was reeling at the sound of it. He was now a little too winded to speak anyway.
2:45 pm
When the bell rang, Coach Bert told everyone to hit the showers, and this time, he didn't exclude Ian. Even he sensed that while the other kids weren't exactly giving him anything remotely resembling respect, at least now there wasn't the usual overt displays of scorn. He followed the boys to the lockers, just to be on the safe side.
Ian was putting on his socks and shoes, when Becker, Tim and a few other guys gathered around