Love and Fandoms (3 page)

"Earth to
Wyatt," Kareem said, waving his hand in front of his face.

"Sorry.
What?"

"Just
wondering if you read last week's Danger Squad yet, Mr. Space Cadet. What, are
you thinking about a girl?"

He took in a sharp
breath, and shook his head hard. "No."

"Sure, sure.
You don't have to tell me if you don't want. I told you about my future
girlfriend, but don't think you need to share. I'm only your best friend."

Wyatt opened his
mouth to say something, but he didn't know what. Before he could, the bell
signifying the end of break sounded, and Mrs. Neely, their Calculus teacher,
opened the classroom door. Instead of saying anything about Mandy or making up
a lie about some other girl, he said, "Yeah, I read the Danger Squad ish. It
was a good one."

Kareem shook his
head, but didn't push it. They filed into the classroom and found seats in the
middle of the room where they'd have the best views of both whiteboards Mrs.
Neely liked to use, as well as the projector screen when she lectured from her
computer. Mrs. Neely had been their Trig/Pre-Calc teacher last year, as well as
their Geometry teacher their freshmen year, and they got along well with her. When
she saw them, she said "hi," and asked about their summer.

MANDY

Mandy sat on her
bed working on math homework, which consisted of nothing but review problems. It
was mostly busy work, though it was getting her back in the math mindset, so
she decided it was worth the time.

She'd almost finished
when her phone buzzed with a text message. She picked it up, expecting either
Luci or Alex, but found one word from Dad. "Dinner." She rolled her
eyes, but couldn't keep back the smile. It would have been easier for him to
call up, as her door stood open, but where would his fun have been in that? She
texted back "potassium," which took only a tap of the "p"
before the word showed up on her quick word bar. She texted that to him enough
to where her phone knew.

Her texting habits
had been such where she would type "k" for "okay," but it
drove him nuts, so he began texting her "potassium." When she asked
why, he told her it was the same as typing "k." It didn't take long
for her to realize that k was the symbol for potassium on the Periodic Table of
the Elements. So now it was their thing, and his lesson had stuck. She always typed
"ok" in texts to others because typing "k" made her laugh
too much.

She set her
homework aside and headed downstairs. Whatever dinner was smelled great. She
got to the table and found chili-topped baked potatoes, one of her favorites.
She knew the grilling about her day was coming, but Mom and Dad let her fix up
her potato with cheese, chopped onions, and sour cream before they started in.

"So?"
Mom asked. "How was your first day as a senior?"

"Fine.
Actually looks like it'll be easier than past years. Trig/Pre-Calc looks tough,
and Honors Language Arts will be a lot of reading, but it should be fun. Most
of this semester's assignments will be an author report and book reports on
five of his or her works." She frowned. "AP only has to do
three."

"You knew what
you were getting into when you signed up for Honors," Dad said.

"I
know."

"Have you
decided on an author yet?" Mom asked.

"Not yet.
Luci had a great idea of doing J.K. Rowling."

"You've
certainly read those enough," Mom said. "You could probably finish
the reports by this weekend."

"Yeah, but if
I decide to go that route, I'll want to compare and contrast the books and movies.
And I'll probably make one of the reports on her non-Harry Potter book. I've
never read that."

"Good idea,"
Dad said. "I enjoyed the Potter movies, but I'm guessing you'll skewer
them."

"I liked the
movies, too." She gave him a wink. "But, yeah, compared to the books,
they're garbage. Besides, Kareem Reynolds gave me the idea for comparing and
contrasting them, so I don't want to do it if he does."

Dad scoffed and
muttered, "Literary nerd."

Mom rolled her
eyes at him, but chuckled. She then reminded them to eat before dinner got
cold. Mandy did, and nodded her approval. She guessed the chili was the premade
stuff from the organic market Mom shopped at and hoped she'd keep getting it.
It certainly wasn't the generic canned junk Dad would buy.

"Who's Kareem?"
Mom asked. "Is he new? I don't remember you ever mentioning him."

"No, he's
been there since seventh grade. He's Wyatt's best friend. I guess I've never
had anything to say about him."

"I wish you
could have stayed friends with Wyatt," Mom said. "He's a nice boy. I
occasionally see him, and we always share a smile and wave. You two used to be
such good friends."

"Yeah,"
Mandy said. Her stomach clenched up a bit as she thought back to that late
summer day so many years ago when they'd shared their first kiss. As far as she
knew, it was Wyatt's only. She'd never seen him with another girl, anyway. Did
he ever look back on it as fondly as she did? "Guess we drifted apart. We
have a class together this year, though. The Comic Book Pop Culture one."

She took another
bite of her chili potato while Dad asked. "How does that class look? Any
Mister Incognito?"

"Maybe. Mr.
Yong said we'll talk a lot about sci-fi and fantasy pop culture. He said it was
easier to name the class after comic books."

"Think he'd
mind if I sat in sometime?"

She laughed and
said, "I don't know, but I can assure you I'd be mortified."

"Even
better."

"You
two," Mom said, shaking her head, but not able to hide her own smile.
"Did you get to spend much time with Alex?"

"Home Ec,
break, and lunch."

"Did you warn
your Home Ec teacher?" Dad asked.

"About
what?"

He raised his
eyebrows.

"Blow up one
microwave and you're branded for life. How was I supposed to know that bowl had
metal in it?"

"Because I
warned you on multiple occasions?" Mom said. "But that's beside the
point. I'm sure you'll do a wonderful job."

"I say it's a
good thing Alex is taking the class, too," Dad said. "You can let him
do the cooking next year and save your kitchen from burning down."

Mandy hurled her
napkin at him. He casually caught it, wiped a blob of chili from the side of
his mouth, thanked her, and tossed it back. She rolled her eyes, but didn't
give him any more satisfaction than that. Not that he needed it, judging by the
smug grin he wore. As they finished eating, she described the rest of her day
and heard a couple of stories from their days at work before excusing herself
upstairs to continue on her homework.

She finished her
math, and then jumped on her computer to research which author she might like
to choose for her report. First, of course, she had to stop by Facebook. She
browsed her news feed, which mostly consisted of obligatory first day of school
posts, and then turned her attention to Chat to see if Luci or Alex were on.
They weren't, but she noticed Wyatt's name. She'd seen him available for Chat
before, but she'd never done anything about it. He hadn't, either, but it
wasn't like he would. From what she knew about him, taking initiative wasn't
his strong suit.

A thought popped
into her mind, and she clicked his name to start a conversation. She typed,
"Hi, Wyatt. Hope your day went okay." She said hello to him in fifth
period, but they hadn't had a chance to talk.

It took only a few
seconds for him to reply.

WYATT: Hi, Mandy.
Good first day for me. How about you?

MANDY: Good for
me, too. Pop culture class looks like it'll be fun.

WYATT: Yeah. I've
been looking forward to it all summer.

MANDY: Me, too.
Though I know next to nothing compared to you and Kareem. Probably most people
in class.

WYATT: From what
I've heard, when Mister Incognito comes up, you're going to school everyone.

She laughed at
that. It might be true. She had a few Mister Incognito trivia and fact books
that she'd read over the years, and most of the information stuck. And it
didn't hurt that she had every available season on DVD, and every episode from
last season, which wasn't yet for sale, on Instant Video.

MANDY: We'll see.
I hope Mr. Yong chooses to talk about it.

WYATT: I'm sure
he will. It's a big part of pop culture.

MANDY: Yeah.

She took a deep
breath before typing the next part. Hopefully he wouldn't think her a total
dork for asking.

MANDY: Hey, do
you think you and Kareem might be interested in doing an after school study
session once or twice a week? It'll help me become a bit more well-rounded in
fandoms, which seems to be our main homework for the class.

WYATT: That
sounds great! I'll ask Kareem, but I'm sure he'll be happy to do it.

MANDY: Excellent!
We can do other homework, and talk sci-fi, fantasy, and comic books at the same
time.

WYATT: When shall
we start? And is the school library the best place?

MANDY: Library
works for me. I have Tuesdays and Thursdays open. I'm happy to do it on one or
both each week. We can nail down specifics tomorrow.

Wyatt's next
response didn't come as quick, but when it did, it made her heart give a little
pitter-patter that only Alex had ever caused. Well, since they started dating
in eighth grade, anyway.

WYATT: Looking
forward to seeing you tomorrow. Signing off.

MANDY: Me, too.
To both.

She then logged
out of chat. Her hands were shaking a bit. What in the world was going on? Yes,
she'd always kept tabs on Wyatt from afar, which she had to admit probably
meant she had feelings for him, but he shouldn't affect her like this.
Especially when she not only had Alex now, but a bright future with him, too.
She let out a sigh, closed her laptop, and grabbed her iPad so she could watch
some Mister Incognito. That would help clear her mind. She could look up
authors for Language Arts later.

WYATT

Wyatt didn't
bother checking if Kareem was available to chat, as he kept himself hidden.
Instead he shot him a text. "Mandy Blake wants to do study sessions so she
can learn more pop culture. Cool with you?" He then went back to his
Physics text, where he had to read chapter one by tomorrow, no doubt the
easiest homework for that class all year. It only took a minute or two for
Kareem to get back to him.

"Sounds good.
She wants to go full geek?"

"Must be it.
Will probably be every Tuesday and Thursday in school library. Talk more in
morning."

"Cool. And
try not to be late."

Wyatt shook his
head and laughed. He never failed to be out waiting in the driveway by the time
Kareem pulled in each morning. Kareem drove him to school every day, starting
last year when he got his license and car. Wyatt had his own driver's license,
but no car. He had to borrow Mom's, which was out of the question on school
days since she usually needed it. He sent back a "Do my best."

"Cool. See
you, bro."

Wyatt put his
phone down, but before he could pick his textbook back up, he heard the garage
door rumble open. Mom called earlier and said she'd bring home dinner, and he
was starving. He hustled out and met her in the kitchen.

"Ah, nothing
like a mom bearing food to draw her teenage son out of his room," she
said.

He kissed her on
the cheek and said, "Welcome home and all, but, yeah, let's eat." He
opened the plastic bag and pulled out two containers. "What did you
get?"

"Free food,
so don't be picky. I'll let you choose. Either a Bacon-wrapped Fat Dog with
jalapenos and mustard, or a BBQ Fat Frank Burger. Someone ordered them but
called a few minutes later saying they wouldn't be able to pick them up. Carlos
snuck us some fresh fries with my promise I wouldn't tell the manager."

"But you're
the … oh, yeah."

"Glad my
sense of humor isn't wasted on you, kid."

She was one of the
managers at Fat Frank's Gourmet Burgers and Dogs, a family restaurant attached
to the Yorba Linda Mall. She was also a substitute teacher for elementary schools
in the area. "Pour us some juice and get some plates. We don't need to eat
out of the containers since we're sitting at the table."

"Do you have
the same shift tomorrow?"

"Yup. I'll
bring us something again, even if it's not free. Don't get used to it, though.
Remember, I start back subbing next week, and then I'll actually have time to
cook. And I'll probably have the closing shift most weekends."

"Jokes on
you. I like your cooking."

"Not sure if
that was a back-handed compliment or a failed insult. Either way, I'll take it.
I'm going to change out of my work duds. Dish up dinner and choose which one
you want. I assure you I'm happy with either choice."

He nodded, and she
left. He put first the BBQ burger and fries on a plate, and then did the same
with the bacon-wrapped dog and fries. He started to move the burger to his
place, but stopped. What if she'd rather have that, despite what she said? He
wanted the burger, but he'd enjoy the hot dog, too, especially with the
jalapenos. Instead he put both in the center of the table so she could choose.

When she walked
back in, she rolled her eyes at him and grabbed the hot dog. They sat down and
dug in. As always when she brought home unwanted orders, it tasted fine despite
sitting under a warmer longer than necessary. He hoped tomorrow, though, that
she'd ask him what he wanted because he'd love to have a chili-cheese dog. Not
that he'd mention it, but if she brought it up.

"So,"
she said after they took a few bites. "School. Good?"

"Yeah. Looks
like it'll be a fun year. Calc and Physics are going to be a lot of work, but
they should be good challenges. And Comic Book Pop Culture will be great."

"Is your
teacher going to sit back and set you and Kareem loose?"

"No," he
said with a snort. "But Kareem would like that. He's already planning on
writing up a list of things Mr. Yong should cover this year."

"Ooh, I'm
sure Mr. Yong will appreciate that."

"Sarcasm
thicker than a vat of honey left out on a cold winter morning," he said,
chuckling.

"Now you're
getting it. But, seriously, tell Kareem not to do that unless he's specifically
asked. Or, if you won't, I will."

"I
will." He wouldn't, but he doubted Kareem would do it anyway. Mr. Yong's
syllabus looked pretty complete. Or at least as complete as they could hope.

"So school's
good academically, but what about the girl situation? Any cute ones in your
classes?"

Any cute girls?
Only the most beautiful, perfect girl in the history of ever. "Yeah, I
guess. But it's not like I'm going to ask any of them out."

She sighed and
shook her head. "I'm sure plenty of girls would love to go on a date with
you. Believe it or not, they're not going to bite your head off. The worst
that'll happen is they'll say no."