Sounds like a Date

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

After dealing with his slightly mangled bike and the soreness on his side from ramming into that car earlier, Kyle had managed to make it to school and played a round of hoops with some friends. Stretching out the muscles had helped, but he knew he was going to bruise. So was the life when one rode a bicycle everywhere. By the time second period rolled around, he was pretty school in every new whisper making the rounds. He blew almost all of them off, but he certainly didn't shut anyone down if they tried to talk to him about it. Unless they dealt with Gabe. Then he told people to fuck off.

Walking into class, he slipped his bag up over his head and dumped it to the floor. He'd actually done his homework the night before, so there was no reason to copy it off of Alexis. He figured it was the least he could do for her, given how many times a week he had her handing over the assignment before the bell rang.

Alexis had made it to class early, now picking up on a daily ritual of handing over her homework to Kyle. She slid the assignment out in front of him as he dumped his bag on the ground and turned in her chair. "Did you hear there's a circus in town?" she asked. It wasn't the typical rumor, but it was the sort she was interested in. She'd seen the fliers all week, but it only really hit her on the day of it's arrival.

"I did hear that," Kyle responded, grinning as he slid her assignment back to her and bent over to dig in his bag for his own book and homework. "There're posters up everywhere, and it was on the news last night." He straightened and dumped his textbook on the table in front of him. Tugging his homework out, he held it up with a proud grin. "You going to go?"

Both her brows rose and Alexis smiled as she put her assignment back in her book. She was impressed that he'd made the effort, especially when he'd have hers waiting for him. "I'm bad about watching the news," she said, taking his homework from him to compare against her own. "But I'd seen the posters. I just kinda forgot about it till it was actually here." She looked up from their homework at his question. "I dunno. Depends on if I find someone to go with."

He was amused that she was double checking his answers, but he figured that was just as good as copying since he had a feeling she would correct anything he'd gotten wrong. He was just proud of the fact that he'd actually gotten it finished at all. "You don't have any of your hot dancer friends to go with?" Kyle asked, folding both arms on the table and resting his head down, still facing her.

"I could ask 'em," she laughed. "They're pretty cool. They might be into it." She wasn't entirely sure on that count, but she could ask. It certainly wouldn't hurt. The worst they could do was turn her down. She wondered, briefly, if Thom was going, but couldn't picture him and Chrissy at a place like that. "What about you?" she asked. "Ever been to a circus?"

"A couple times. I like going to the Big Apple circus in New York, but we haven't gone in a few years," he explained. Family vacations were far and few in between these days. Kyle smiled lazily in her direction. "If your hot dancer friends aren't into clowns and fire eaters, I'll be willing to take you, if you want to go. There might even be a funnel cake in it for you." He thought briefly of trying to set Alexis up with Gabe to get the guy's mind off of Claire, but he immediately put that idea to rest. Alexis wasn't Gabe's type, he'd decided.

It was too bad her family vacations oriented around chasing down monsters, rather than circuses. She wondered how the two had never crossed, since one seemed like a perfect breeding ground for the other. "Hmm... funnel cake," Alexis smirked, pretending to consider her options. If it was cute boy versus girlfriends, Alexis was pretty sure her answer was safe. And if Breezy and Lily wanted to go, they could just go another day. "That may be the deal breaker," she grinned. "When were you thinking?"

He lifted his head, clearly pleased with her response. Not that he ever doubted that she'd agree. His ego wouldn't allow that. Kyle shrugged and straightened a bit in his chair. "What about tomorrow night? I figure we can catch the early show and then go to Kavin's party if you want." Which meant he was asking her to the circus and a friend's party. He certainly wouldn't mind showing up with her as a date-type thing. He'd just have to rein himself in and not drink himself into oblivion the way he usually did. "What do you say?"

Oh. Wow. That sounded like a date. She knew she'd prompted the circus thing, so her mind found a way around that, but actually asking her to a friend's party? It was different than going with Peyton, that was for sure. "I think it sounds like a plan," she said casually, trying not to hop in place at the response. "Do you have a car? Or should we walk it?" she asked. As a carless wonder herself, it didn't bother her to walk all over Marquette. Luckily the circus wasn't far away.

"I have a car," he said with a sheepish grin. "I just don't drive it. I like walking, I guess. If you don't mind, that is. I can just walk over to your house tomorrow night and get you, then we can go do the whole Friday night extravaganza with monkeys, clowns and rowdy teenagers included." If felt like a good idea. He was sure Gabe would approve and it had been awhile since Kyle had taken a girl out.

"I'm good with walking," Alexis smiled. "As one who doesn't even have a car, it's my main mode of transportation. Or my bike. But walking's more social. And I'm better off on my own two feet if the party includes drinking," she laughed. Okay. Stop. You're rambling. Remember how well the rambling went with Thom? Now quit it. While she didn't think he'd renig on the offer, she didn't want to come across like a total dork either. Now she'd have to hit her friends up and find out everything there was to know about Kyle. Too bad most of her friends were new to the school too...

"Excellent, then we'll be two social, walkin' fools. And after the party, maybe two somewhat social, stumblin' fools." Not that he planned to drink himself into a stupor if he had a girl around. He'd just have to pace himself with the beer and not be a total jackass. "Do you know Kavin, by the way?" If she didn't, he might have to invite her to eat lunch with him just so she could meet everyone. It would probably be better that way, and less a pain in the ass for him. His friends would give him a much harder time if they met her after the party, especially with alcohol involved.

Alexis had already decided she'd have to put a limit on how much she had to drink. While it was fun to joke about it, she really didn't want to make a fool of herself in front of him. "I've heard of him, but I don't actually think I've met him. Is he dating Charlotte?" She hadn't seen Charlotte since that day at the library, but she was pretty good with remembering faces and names. She wasn't positive it was the same girl, but with a school this size, there was always a chance.

"Yeah, Charlotte Angel? They just started dating." From what he could remember of his conversation with Kavin. "She sits with us at lunch occasionally. You should sit with us today," Kyle offered. "It'd be easier for me to introduce you to my friends in a more civilized setting than at Kavin's party when they'll all be obnoxious and probably drunk. Not that they won't be obnoxious at lunch, but... it'll be more tolerable."

She wasn't worried about them being obnoxious. Boys in large groups usually were. It was the norm, and she'd probably be a little weirded out if they sat around and ate in a civilized fashion. She imagined them with tea and jam and tried not to laugh. "I think I could swing that," she grinned. "The girls won't mind me missing for a day." Actually, no one would mind her switching tables, since she'd yet to establish a daily lunch routine. She still went to the music room some days, while others she ate outside. It would be interesting to see how things went sitting with Kyle and his friends. "So is it true that Charlotte's all bruised up?" she asked, wondering if he'd know anything about that.

"Yeah, but she got hit in the face by a flying basketball or something." Kyle shrugged. "It wasn't Kavin, or whoever people are saying hit her. Kavin would never hit a girl. Honestly, I'm not sure why the sudden surge in gossip around school, but it's best to just to ignore most of it," he told her. "Once in blue moon is something true." Like Chrissy and Thom. He was still pretty wtf over that entire thing.

Even if she'd had a hard time believing the rumors to be true, it was good to have the truth confirmed by someone that knew the people in question. Alexis hadn't been there long enough to really know what to believe, but it sounded as if Kyle knew what he was talking about. "I understood the flood after homecoming, but it just seems to keep coming. I have a hard time believing all the guys are beating up on their girls in the same week," she said, rolling her eyes.

"It just means people are getting lazy with what they spread around," Kyle said. "And it's usually targeted at the same people. I honestly just think some people don't have anything better to do. Or they're not in a position of 'power' if they're not trying to dick someone over. Which is kind of pathetic and shit, but it happens." Even if they weren't always true, Kyle had to admit some were fun to listen to. As long as they didn't involve his friends.

She wondered if knocking Chrissy off her pedestal was considered dicking someone over, but decided it was better not to ask. She was pretty sure it fit the bill. Luckily, she didn't have to do anything to bring Chrissy down. The girl seemed to be doing a brilliant job herself. Even if the rumors weren't true, they were still pretty bad, and they weren't her doing. Alexis couldn't feel guilty about something she hadn't done. "It's all so soap opera-ish," she said with a shrug. "I guess I'm just always curious where people come up with it. I'm just glad my name's not out there for anything."

"Even if your name does pop up once or twice, I wouldn't think too much of it. But I guess that's easier said than done." He had been the subject of a few rumors, but fortunately he was lucky enough to not be subjected to it all that often. Mostly it was ex-girlfriends scorned, which he didn't really care much about anyway. "I guess there could be a small bit of truth in some? And they just build and grow more exaggerated. But some I think are completely... uhm." He paused briefly, his brows drawn together as he tried to force the word out. "Ridiculous. Like Kavin hitting Charlotte. To me, that's just speculation from a bunch of morons."

"Awesome," Alexis grinned. "At least I know it's safe to sit with you. I might have to protest if I thought I was gonna be attacked while eating lunch." The bell rang and people began to run into the room, attempting to avoid a tardy slip. Alexis looked towards the front, then back to him, deciding they still had a minute or two before the teacher began. "So where can I find you? I have choir right before lunch," she said, meaning she'd be in the choir room, if that gave him any idea of how to direct her.

"Just come to the lunch room. I'll keep an eye out for you and wave my arms frantically so you can spot us," he promised with a grin. He motioned toward his homework. "Does it look all right or am I gonna get a big, fat F when she goes to grade it?"

"It looks good," she smiled, sliding his homework back over to him. "You'll miss number ten, but that's okay. Nobody's perfect." Plus, it would be a little less obvious if occasionally they had different answers. "I'll be there. You shouldn't be too hard to spot."

"If I was going to miss any question, it would definitely be number ten," Kyle told her with a wink. Hell, it was better than missing questions one through ten. That happened often. He tried, but it didn't always work out in his favor. "And yeah, I'll be easy to spot and I'm sure you will be too." He nudged her playfully with his elbow, disappointed when the teacher began class. It was all right, since he'd see her at lunch. He just hoped after spending a period around his friends that she'd still be game for Friday night. One could only hope.