An Equal Trade

Who: Alexis and Kyle
When: 2nd Period
Where: Chemistry class

It had been a fairly normal day for Kyle so far. He'd gotten to school early enough to take over the gym with a few friends and shoot some hoops and bullshit before school actually started. Classes came and went as usual, and nothing really seemed out of sorts for Kyle. Except the round of rumors that continually picked up speed through the halls until they were hard to ignore or miss. Like Chrissy dating Thom Harkin. He'd really thought it was just another bullshit rumor, but it seemed like this time it was true. Which was fucking bizarre and Kyle was fairly certain that Thom and Chrissy dating might just be a sign of the apocalypse. It also made him wonder if Thom was aware Chrissy might be knocked up - but he was guessing a big fat fucking no on that one.

Kyle said goodbye to Hunter and walked into the science room, dumping his bag on the table and pulling out his cell phone to check his missed texts, waiting for his lab partner to arrive to see if she'd actually finished the homework. Kyle had walked Chrissy home and then played video games for most of the night, forgetting he even had homework until this morning.

Alexis had done her homework, though that was because she'd finished it off at work. Once she got home, she'd gotten sucked into Kingdom Hearts till it was time to go to bed. She'd beat it eventually, though she was generally in no rush. While she liked video games, she saved them for the time when she was bored with no where to go. Walking into science class, she dropped her bag on the lab table and slid into her seat. "Morning, Kyle," she said with a small smile. "Do your homework?"

Kyle looked up from his phone when Alexis appeared and shot her a bright - and what he hoped was charming - grin. "Morning, pretty girl. Of course, I did my homework. Actually..." He pulled out his notebook and science book. "Mind if I look at yours to double check my answers? You seem to get this chemistry formula shit a lot better than I do." Kyle had a feeling she'd see right through the act. Alexis didn't seem like most of the blonde bimbos he charmed into doing his homework for him, but it never hurt to try.

"I thought about writing up a second copy, but you wouldn't want loopy handwriting," she said, taking her homework out of her bag and setting it up on the table next to him. "Go for it. Just don't get caught," she smiled. She really didn't care if he copied her chemistry homework. It didn't effect her grade, and if she didn't do it, she wouldn't have understood it well enough for the test. "What do you do in classes like English, where you have to write papers?" she asked.

He hadn't really expected her to agree - some girls were stuck up bitches when it came to their homework - so when Alexis placed her work out for him to look at, Kyle flashed her an incredibly pleased grin before he pulled her work toward him. "Ah, damn, you're awesome. Thanks." He got to copying the formulas, careful to make a few different in case the teacher got suspicious that the two of them had exact answers. "I do those," he said, shifting his gaze from her homework to his own, his pencil moving quickly over the notebook paper. "Or I find someone to help me out if I don't have time with practices and shit." He actually had his tutor to help him, but Kyle didn't like to talk about that too much. "With homework I just have to set my... uhm... priorities. Chemistry was low on that list last night."

"What was high on your list?" she asked, turning in her seat to watch him copy her paper. "You're on the football team? Or the hockey team?" Both teams were in season at the moment, and she hadn't attended a game for either, so she wasn't sure which. Of course, if she intended on becoming a cheerleader, she might have to start attending games of some sort. She wasn't sure if they'd even let her try out, but with people coming and going from Marquette the way they did, there was always a chance that they might have a spot available.

Kyle chuckled, penciling in the next answer. "Robbing a prostitute," he answered, pausing a brief moment to let that sink in before he lifted his gaze away from the paper to her face. "I was playing Grand Theft Auto. But no, no football. But hockey, yes. And basketball actually. I had hockey practice last night, then I got distracted by the shiny video game when I got home. I owe you for this," he told her, motioning to the homework. "I'd let you copy the next assignment, but I have a feeling you probably prefer to do the work yourself so you know the answers, right?"

Both brows rose in reaction to his answer, never for a moment thinking he was telling the truth. When he provided the explanation, she laughed, quickly catching on. "Apparently video games were big last night," she smiled. "And I'm sure I can find another way for you to make it up to me. I wouldn't do the homework if it didn't provide me with a way to learn the assignment. So, yeah, I'll end up doing it anyways." It was just in the way her brain worked. Writing it out made the material absorb far better than just listening to the lesson or reading it in a book. "Hockey season's set to start soon, right? Now that homecoming's over?" That sounded right to her, but she wasn't entirely certain. She'd never followed hockey before.

Cocking an eyebrow suggestively, Kyle's grin turned flirtatious. "Anyway you want me to make it up to you, just let me know, pretty girl. I'm always eager to show my appreciation." Finishing off the homework with a flourish, he pushed the paper back over to her and wrote his name at the top of his own. The teacher would probably have a hard time reading his handwriting, but what else was new? "Yeah, we've got our first game coming up. You should come check it out." Hockey definitely wasn't as big a draw as the football or basketball games were. Which sucked sometimes, since they were consistently good every year.

A blush rose to her cheeks as she giggled softly and shook her head. A couple months of sitting next to him had taught her that he probably didn't mean anything by it. The boy was just a natural flirt. "With a grin like that, I'm not sure you have an equal trade in mind. This took effort, you know," she said, sliding her homework back in front of her as he finished copying it. "Maybe I will. I hear you guys are good. Hockey doesn't have cheerleaders, does it?" She was pretty sure it didn't, which made it a fairly stupid question, but it seemed like every other team had cheerleaders, so why not?

"Hey, I think the trade I could have in mind would be plenty equal," he protested playfully, folding his arms on the table and leaning in a bit toward her. "Actually, it might benefit you more than your homework benefits me. And just so you know, I give plenty of effort, in everything I do." So yeah, he was a flirt. When faced with a cute girl who gave him such blatant openings, it was near impossible for him not to flirt. "We don't have cheerleaders, no. Most of 'em don't want to stand around the ice in those skirts. Why? You thinking of joining the squad?"

While her face made an effort in turning Rudolf Red, Alexis laughed it off. "It might benefit me? What's that supposed to mean?" she asked. She'd seen what guys could do to a girl's reputation. Chrissy and Kaysen, while opposite ends of the spectrum, were good examples. "I was thinking about it, but since I can't do more than a somersault, it's probably a no go. I don't know how I forgot that cheerleaders need to know how to tumble," she shrugged. "Luckily, the dance team is holding auditions today, so I may give that a try. Doesn't mean I can't come cheer at a hockey game, though. Sounds like you're in need of it, uniform or not."

His grin, if possible, grew a bit wider. "I guess that's something you'd find out when the time came, right?" It was even better when the girls didn't quite pick up on the innuendo. "Fuck tumbling. All they do is stand around, bounce up and down and yell. Rarely do I see tumbling." Hell, he didn't even know what tumbling was. "If you've got balance to do the pyramid, I'd say you should be fine, but yeah, what the hell do I know? I know a girl who's trying out for the dance team after school too... so good luck with it. Between you and her, it's just a better excuse to come watch you guys do your thing." He couldn't help but wink at her. "Plus, joining the dance team means you won't have to deal with Chrissy, so that's just another reason to bypass cheerleading, right?"

He had to be joking. Alexis couldn't consider any other possibility. Her lips pressed together as she laughed quietly, then bit her lip. She could talk the talk, but when it came down to it, Alexis had never even been kissed. She usually did a better job at hanging out with boys than actually flirting with them. "I don't know that I'd like to be ten feet off the ground and relying on girl's like Chrissy not to drop me," Alexis said, even if she was aware that Chrissy would never be placed on the bottom of the pyramid. "Who do you know that's trying out?" she asked. "And you'd really come to watch the dance team?"

Kyle was joking. Sort of. He couldn't help himself around pretty girls, but he figured Alexis was used to it, given he'd been flirting with her almost every day since she'd started. He never thought much about it - it was just instinctual to him. "Pssh, yeah, Chrissy would never be on the bottom of any pyramid," Kyle replied, voicing Alexis's thoughts. "But she can be a pain in the ass, so it would probably be more enjoyable for you to avoid cheerleading, though you'd look cute in the uniform. There's this girl name Lily in my computer class who's trying out. She was the chick bouncing around the dance floor all night at homecoming." He didn't actually recall seeing Alexis at homecoming, though he assumed she'd been there. "And yeah, I'd come watch. Why not? Hot chicks in tight outfits." He flashed her a wolfish grin. "What guy would say no to supporting that?"

"Hopefully I'll look just as cute in a dance uniform," she smiled. "I wasn't at homecoming, so I wouldn't have seen her. I guess I might meet her later today." Lily was a name she was pretty sure she could remember. "You'd think that kind of reasoning would bring more girls to the hockey games," she smirked. "Or maybe it does. You start to learn who goes for what, right? Now I'm gonna be looking for you to come watch if I actually make the team." She had no idea what might be involved in trying out for the dance team, but she liked to dance, so why not? It seemed worth it to find out. If it didn't work, then she could start looking into cheerleading again. Maybe learn how to do a cartwheel.

"You can look at it however you need to look at it," Kyle told her with a grin. "And yeah, I'll definitely come watch." He'd already promised Lily he would. It helped that both girls were easy on the eyes. "But you've got to come watch a couple hockey games so it'll be an equal trade off. Guys in a lot of padding, skating around after a puck and slamming each other into the walls. Not many girls can resist that, you know?"

Alexis had to laugh. Kyle sometimes came on strong, but at least he made her smile. Some guys wouldn't risk a negative response, yet he just seemed to roll with it. "It's not the padding," she smirked. "But when the padding comes off? Mmmm... I could live with that." She'd always been into guys after they'd been roughhousing, working out, rocking out, or doing anything that made them look... tousled. While she didn't want them to stink, there was something nice about a little bit of boy musk. And how inappropriate was that thought at the moment? "I bet the hockey team is great fun to hang out with after winning a game."

"Yeah? So when I take all my padding off, I should come out and find you then?" Kyle asked flirtatiously, leaning against the table casually with his upper body as he studied her. He chuckled a bit in his throat. Not a lot of girls were into the sweaty, rough sport action thing. Some were. He'd dated both kinds. "And yeah, the hockey teams a lot of fun, but only when we win. Most of the guys on the team are pretty competitive. They don't like to lose. Neither do I, for that matter. Usually when I want something, I get it." His eyes drifted to her lips briefly - mostly out of the flirty atmosphere than anything serious. And to see what she'd do.

"Maybe," Alexis said as she playfully gave him a once over. It was fun to daydream, but she wasn't all that sure what she'd do if he actually came to find her. Probably melt into the floor. With a look like that, Alexis wondered how she was going to get through class today. In response, she scraped her teeth against her bottom lips, then laughed quietly, her shoulders gently shaking. "We'll see about that, won't we?" she teased, eyes meeting his. The teacher called attention to the front of the room, but she held his gaze just a second longer, a shiver running through her till she looked away.

He couldn't help but grin at her respond. Damn, she was cute. He always liked it when they blushed, or got flustered. But it was even better when they caught on and flirted back. "Yeah, guess we will." He straightened in his seat, not minding that his chair was a bit closer to hers than usual. If their elbows touched throughout class, well that wasn't something he couldn't really help now, was it? It would just be telling if she stayed where she was and didn't move.