In comes the beast [Syd]

[Rodrigo Santos]

Man, she was strong for someone so tiny. He turned sharply at her strength and he growled at her, pulling back from her grasp, wanting her to let him go. Didn't she know what she was up against? He shook, pulling his hands away and behind his back, wincing at the pain. He really needed to get out of there. She kept talking and he rolled his eyes.

"Oh yes! You're little miss perfect, ain't cha? Can't do anything wrong, knows absolutely everything and does everything well. But guess what, princesa. Down here in the real world us humans get to have just one talent, if any. And mine's boxing. So fuck off and let me do my thing. Cause some privileged spoiled teacher's pet know it all girl ain't telling me how I should live my life."

She kept talking though and he grunted again, glaring at her with pure hatred and rage. What the hell did she know? She had her life figured out and what? How old was she really? His age? Well, that was fucking messed up! He was pretty sure this girl had never lived a day in her life. So who the fuck was she to think she was better than him?

"Yeah? Ain't that whatcha doin' to me?!" He yelled right back, "Judging without knowing? Ye think I ain't thought about stuff like that? This is what I want to do, and you are absolutely nobody in my life to tell me what I should or should not do. So fuck off, princesa." He tried turning away, walk away from her. She was poisonous. He actually didn't care anymore, didn't care about passing the year and didn't care about their deal. All he wanted was get out of there. Ah, but the girl just couldn't stay quiet.

The mention of his smoking made him turn in anger and glare at her. "Yeah I feel it. But ye tell me what else I can do to keep these down!" He rose his hands and showed her his grown nails and red fingers. He took a deep breath, trying his best to control his anger. "Just leave me alone." He added, turning away and intending to walk away. Really, fuck her. People were watching them and he glared around. Okay, maybe they'd been a tad loud and they were still in a library.

"Ye all enjoying the show?!" He yelled out at people, turning and moving away. Better leave before they got detention for yelling in the library. He so didn't want to deal with her anymore.

[Sydney Emerson]

"I never said I was perfect!" she hissed. Unlike him, she was making an effort to keep her voice down. "I'm anything but." She knew she was intelligent, but everything beyond that she had to work at. It had taken intense training and dedication to become as much of an athlete as she was now. She was still working at understanding how to deal with people and if today was any implication she had a lot left to learn.

She pursed her lips a moment as she considered his words. "You're right. I was too harsh. But you aren't any better. You talk on and on about how learning and education means nothing and is worthless. Well, those things are important to me, just as much boxing is to you. So I got upset and I let my anger get the better of me. So fine, you're right. I'm sorry." It wasn't pleasant, but she could admit when she was wrong.

Her look turned to shock and concern as he showed her his hands. "What the-" He was turning away again. "Wait! Would you just calm down!" she demanded. He wasn't listening to her at all. Of course then they both began to notice the attention they were attracting. She cringed slightly as he shouted back at them.

"Just wait!" she hissed at him as he began to walk away, pulling out of her grasp. She groaned, hesitating a moment, trying to decide if it was worth her time to rush after him. In the end she followed him out the library door. "Are you seriously going to give up just like that?" she called after him as the door closed behind her and she stepped out into the hall.

[Rodrigo Santos]

Rod snorted in disbelief. This girl was something else. Oh sure, she never used the word 'perfect' but she might as well be saying it. He hated her already, since he hated this type of people, envied them too. The kind who never had to work to be good at things, those who never made fools of themselves when trying something, who could master everything because they were so used to being the best. Did she even know what failure tasted like? He truly doubted it. Miss ice queen. No wonder she was all collected. It was like she wasn't a teenager at all, just some weird robot. She was a kid like himself! When did she sleep? When did she party? When did she find time to just be her? He didn't understand her and he was sure he was never going to.

She apologised and his eyes widened in disbelief. Oh come on! How was he supposed to react to that? What happened to miss Spunk? Besides, it only confirmed his previous idea of her: she was perfect. Nothing else to her but rationality and success. It made her... dull in his eyes. Fake. Pity, since she was so pretty. "Hey, you do whatever you want. I ain't telling ya how to live your life." He said, still thinking studying was not for him, "If ye wanna be a nerd, then by all means, be my guest. But don't expect me to be the same."

Ugh. This seemed like a fight two lovers would have, instead of two people who just met. Why did he care so much what she thought anyway? This was so stupid. So he left, and she followed. Curse her.

He stopped at her yelling, rolling his eyes and already feeling tired of it all. She asked him if he was going to give up and he sent her a glare. He really needed a smoke. "Just go away." He said tiredly, licking his lips and rubbing his face in frustration. "This was a bad idea anyway." Plus his fingers hurt too much to even think of studying. He turned once again, already trying his best to pull out his smokes out of his jeans with such long nails. Man, was this girl tiring.

[Sydney Emerson]

Talking to him was about as effective as talking to a brick wall it seemed. She talked but he didn't absorb a word of it. He heard only what he wanted to hear. "Stop twisting my words!" she groaned. Of course by that point he was already leaving. It's like he wasn't even listening to her. Then again, if he was walking away, he probably wasn't.

She shouldn't have followed him. She didn't even understand why she was. It was probably one of those instances where she should just let something go but instead she held on all the harder.

"I'm not just a 'nerd' you know," she said as he finally stopped. "I spent years training harder than anyone so I could learn to be an athlete too. So I get it more than you think I do." She sighed heavily as he fumbled to pull what she could only assume was his pack of cigarettes from his pocket. She swatted away his hand, reaching into his pocket and pulling the pack out for him. Sydney hesitated a moment before handing them to him. "It's a filthy habit by the way," she muttered even as she held them out to him. He was right though, it was his life.

"Look, I'm not trying to turn you into me or anything remotely like that. That's not what I'm saying. Just let me help you. Get your grades up, graduate high school. Maybe you'll never need it. But isn't having more options better?" She wasn't trying to be pushy except that was exactly what she was being. "You're not dumb, you can do better." She offered a small smile, though her tone remained firm. "I held up my end of the deal, okay? Now it's your turn to follow through. Got it?"

[Rodrigo Santos]

Not just a nerd she said and went on about how great of an athlete she was. It made him roll his eyes at her again. What a show off. He hated her even further for it. If she'd been just a nerd, someone who could excel at studies then he would've understand, but to have her be good at everything was just unfair. No wonder she talked down to him, she probably thought herself better and, honestly, he sort of agreed, if her claims were actually true. It was as if he had to try to find something wrong with her. Everyone had their thing, right? He just couldn't see it at all. Well, she probably sucks in the sack. That thought made him feel slightly better.

Rod was about to respond to her when he suddenly felt her hand down his jeans and he blinked in surprise, taking a step back and blushing furiously. "What the fuck is your problem?!" He asked nervously, thinking she'd just gone ahead to... seduce him into studying or something? Funny how he'd been flirting with her so far but have her be forward with him made him uncomfortable. And yet all she did was hold out his cigarettes for him. Oh... So she hadn't- hadn't tried to... He sent her a glare after the way she'd scolded him once again and took the pack from her, careful not to hurt her with his nails. Sure, he should've thanked her and struggled with it, but decided against it. It was her fault he was in this situation anyway.

He turned again, walking from her, but she spoke and made him stop. What a nosy little thing she was. He raised an eyebrow at her as she spoke. "What do you care anyway?" He asked, still uneasy around her. She probably wanted to rub her perfection all over everyone else. He knew the type, competitive little girl who needed to be better than anyone else, probably because mommy and daddy didn't pay her attention. So sick. Yet she was right. He'd made a deal and she'd kissed him. He let out a long breath, moving his hand to once again rub it against his forehead. His abuela would've kicked his ass if she knew he'd made a girl kiss him in exchange of homework.

"Not here." He muttered reluctantly, pressing his lips together for a moment, still thinking it was a bad idea. "I really need to take care of these and I- uh..." He raised his hands for her to look at. Sure, they'd stopped growing and maybe went halfway their usual length, but they were still far too long and hurt far too much for him to be grabbing any pencils. "Yeah. If a teach sees me smoking in the library-" He didn't finish the sentence but shook his head. This was such a bad idea. "Meet me out in the Courtyard, right? Least I can take a smoke when ye make me mad again." He was so going to regret this, wasn't he?

[Sydney Emerson]

His reaction shocked her as he moved backwards and yelled again. To her it seemed completely obvious what she was doing - it never occurred to her that there was a great deal of potential for sexual undertones in that simple act. More confusing though was the way his face was turning red. "Why are you blushing?" she asked after a moment, tilting her head slightly to one side as she looked at him. Of course, it also didn't occur to her that it was probably rude to ask such a thing, especially so blatantly. "What's wrong?" she added as he shot her a glare and just seemed generally uncomfortable all of a sudden.

He asked why she cared and honestly she hesitated to answer. She didn't really know the answer. "I'm not sure," she answered honestly. "Partly because I just love learning and I believe that knowledge can only help a person," she began. Though that was the reason he'd likely scoff at. "Partly because you're different and you challenge me. I'm not in the habit of backing down from challenges. Even if they are a pain in the ass sometimes."

Needless to say she wasn't very good at filtering her words.

Finally he muttered a reluctant agreement and she couldn't deny his reasoning. "Yeah, I don't think the library is our best option." She pursed her lips, considering for a moment. "Alright. It should only take me a few minutes to gather up our books and then I'll meet you there." And he had better show up.

[Rodrigo Santos]

She asked why he was blushing and that only made his face blush further. "I ain't blushing!" He replied childishly, trying to cover his face with one hand and taking a step away from her. She hadn't even realised what she'd done to him! The stupid, innocent... incredibly sexy ice princesa. Wait, sexy? No. He hated her! Still, he couldn't stop thinking of the way her hand felt against his thigh through the jean fabric. He even felt his skin burning. She asked what was wrong and he removed his hand from his face, still flushed from the previous action. "Ye don't just put your hands down someone's pants!" He blurted out suddenly, raising his voice a tad too much. Good thing the hallway was... mostly empty, though he was sure people inside the library could've easily heard him. Wasn't he the one who'd been trying to work her up before? How was it that she could so easily and unwillingly work him up so much? It had to be his hormones. Being a teenager sucked.

After the most awkward moment of his life, she tried explaining why she cared. Oh so now he was a project. Lovely. He grumbled under his breath about stupid girls, jeans and projects, though nothing eloquent enough to create a proper sentence. "If anyone here's a pain in the ass, it ain't me." He replied back with a half glare, still flushed from their previous interaction.

And after agreeing she was already making a plan for it. He blinked and nodded in confusion. Wait- she'd agreed to just leave? Rod walked up to her, looking down at his nails for a moment and stretching his hands out like some big paws. "I- ah. I can help ya carry books." He offered, flushing slightly. What was wrong with him? Besides, carrying anything then would be incredibly uncomfortable. Why was he offering anyway?

[Sydney Emerson]

Her expression only grew more perplexed as he insisted he wasn't blushing while his face managed to grow even redder all the while. She thought about pushing it further - she truly did want to understand after all - but decided that he seemed to be too deep in denial to provide a helpful answer. His sudden outburst about pants though caught her attention. Yet when she spoke, her voice was as calm and confused as ever. "I didn't put my hand down your pants," she said. "I reached into you pocket." After all, the two were still entirely different things after all.

She rolled her eyes as he mumbled incoherently, waiting for him to get that annoyance out of his system. It was starting to irk her, quite literally thanks to her power. Still, she raised an eyebrow as he implied he was not the one who was being a pain. In the end though she didn't comment on it. After all, she wasn't trying to anger him again.

Sydney was surprised when he offered to help her carry their books. "Well, thank you," she said politely, beginning to turn towards the library to gather said books. A moment later though she turned back towards him. "Won't that hurt though?" she asked, her voice softer now and almost thoughtful.

[Rodrigo Santos]

Her cool demeanour and reply made him flush further. How could she be so calm?! "Ya were- like... real close." He mumbled, rubbing his face with the back of his hand. He didn't mention what she'd been close to, though it was pretty easy to imagine what had him so flustered. He'd never met a girl this innocent... or absentminded when it came to these things yet so smart about others. What was her problem? Did she never think about... stuff? He couldn't picture himself thinking like that. Were all girls like that? Not from his experience.

When he offered to carry her books he looked down shyly. What was going on? Why was he so nervous? "Uh... no." He said, though it was obvious a lie. "Nah, I'll be- I'm fine. Just- Ya know. Positioning." He coughed into his hand and took a step closer, eyeing her curiously. "Ye... uh, ya really gonna help, right? not just let me do all the work." He knew his teachers got frustrated with him, so he couldn't see how this girl would be able to teach him. But she was all perfect, wasn't she? He sighed at that thought. What a horrible thing to be. Plus, it made things more awkward for himself. How did you hit on a girl who had no need nor desire to be hit on? Not that he wanted to hit on her or anything, really. Just, she was cute and he sort of liked kissing her before. But she didn't seem to care about that. He grumbled under his breath again. He'd thought he was a good kisser...

[Sydney Emerson]

Sydney really didn't understand why he seemed to be getting more and more flustered. He muttered something about her being close but she didn't really get it. After all, they'd been closer to that when they had kissed and he hadn't seemed to mind it then... It had actually been a rather pleasant experience really... Of course, thinking about that made her own cheeks flush slightly. Not to mention making her all the more eager to change the topic.

She felt his nerves and as per usual, she didn't really understand why. As much as she wanted to understand, she was starting to get used to the confusion he caused her which was admittedly more than most. "Okay, if you're sure..." she said tentatively. She really didn't want to cause him any pain after all. "Alright then, let's just grab our stuff and go then," she said with a small smile.

They walked back into the library and Sydney quickly went about putting her own books and notebooks into her messenger bag before slinging it over her shoulder. However the weight of her - admittedly heavy - bag aggravated the spot where her back had hit the shelves earlier making her wince slightly. However, she was too proud to admit it was bothering her and it's not like she hadn't dealt with worse. So she sucked in a deep breath to erase all traces of pain from her face before looking up at him again. "Alright, ready?"

[Rodrigo Santos]

Rod walked by her, still blushing as people in the library turned to look at them, obviously remembering them as the two who'd made the scandal just a minute ago. He kept his eyes straight though, ignoring the rest of the people, yet his eyes constantly went to the shorter girl's head. He could only see her brown hair moving as she walked, yet it was enough to make his cheeks redden more. Had she really no idea what it did to a guy to be touched... near there?

She grabbed her bag and it was easy to see how heavy it was. Without much thought, he grabbed it from her shoulder and pulled, wanting her to let it go so he could place it in his own shoulder. He held back the wince of pain that wanted to escape when his hand bent around it. "Gimme." He told her, wanting to get out of there and get the day over with already. "I said I'd carry the stuff." He moved to grab his notebook and placed it under his arm so not to bent his fingers unnecessarily.

"Hurry up, princesa." He said, already turning and walking away, not wanting to think much of what he was doing. What? He was a gentleman! That didn't mean he cared for her nor did it mean he liked her. She was still a pain, and the fact that her bag was so freaking heavy was proof of that. Who carried so much stuff around anyway?

[Sydney Emerson]

Sydney looked up at him in surprise as he lifted her bag from her shoulder. "You don't-" she started to say but he silenced her protests before they even really began. "Okay. If you insist," she agreed. Perhaps most girls would have read something into his insistence, but she simply assumed he was merely being nice. She was really just that inexperienced. "Thank you," she added with a smile.

"Oh, and sorry it's so heavy. I carry a lot of books..." she said with a sheepish chuckle. She really hoped it didn't hurt him too much... though she had to admit it was a bit of a relief to not have to carry it herself.

Part of her still wanted to ask why he called her that and yet... She was starting to like it. It didn't really mean anything, he probably called everyone that, but it still made her smile. She quickened her step to catch up to him, pushing open the door. After all, it was only fair since he was carrying the stuff, right? With that, they made their way to the courtyard and for the first time, Sydney was actually feeling optimistic about this whole situation.