The Baby Project *unfinished and discontinued*

Chapter Twelve

Tyson seemed to hesitate for a second, and he looked away briskly from me. I raised my eyebrows and looked at hom more closely. He seemed to be troubled, but surely the great 'ol powerful Tyson doesn't get troubled over 'girl problems'.

"Or not, it's fine." I said quietly, not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable. What we had going right now was awesome, it meant I got a break from all the name calling and stuff like that. His eyes looked over at me, but his posture didn't change. He sighed, raising his hands to ruffle his hair.

"You think your friend is so perfect, Maya? She isn't." he started. Instantly, he had my attention. I shifted myself so I could face him, now concentrating on what he was going to say.

"I may be an ass, but that doesn't mean I'm not smart. It doesn't mean I can't catch cheaters like the rest of us guys. From the start, she was just a fling. You know, someone you go out with just for the sake of it. I didn't actually care about her. It may sound terrible, but it's true. It's something I have to do if I want to keep my title." I was listening closer, making sure I was taking everything he said in. He was making it sound like he was king. Before, him talking about Sarah like that would have made me angry. But now, now that I consider Tyson some sort of 'friend', I was making sure I heard his side of the story first.

"It's really not that great of a story. School had just ended ya know, and I thought it'd be nice to just go say goodbye to her. So, that place where you guys usually put your bags, that's where I went. Sarah was there, sucking face with the Rowley dude. So I ended it, right there and then. Not like I actually cared though, hasn't been the first time. But it wasn't me who broke her heart, Maya. If I had liked her in the first place, it would have been her who broke mine."

I didn't know what to say for starters. Hearing this sent bees into my brain, making my judgement fuzzy. It was like I couldn't think. Sarah and..Rowley? Rowley was an okay kid, sure, but he's not one who I'd ever consider..sucking face with. Maybe that's why she seemed so eager to trade partners, she wanted to be with Rowley and not Tyson.

"It makes sense, really. She seemed happy to trade partners with me, extra happy.  I thought you just dumped her, because you could." There was something else that was troubling me, something I wasn't going to say outloud. How did he know where I put my bag? He probably just saw me there once and it stuck to in his mind.Tyson was smiling lightly, but he still wasn't looking at me. I looked around, and noticed that the time was starting to go faster since Tyson stopped being an ass. It was almost 5pm, i probably should be getting myself something to eat, but I was comfortable and didn't really want to move.

"I still don't understand one thing." I said carefully, turning to fully face him again. He raised his head to look at me, shrugging his shoulders lightly.

"What?" he asked, shifting his posture to get more comfortable. It was a simple question really, one I've probably asked a thousand times before.

"How come you are such an ass. How come you need to be 'king?'. Why don't you just find a girl who you really like and ask her out? Not just for a fling, but because you can see yourself spending the rest of your life with her?" Okay, so maybe that came out longer then I had expected it too. But it was a genuine question, he should be able to answer it without any questions.

Tyson shrugged, leaning back against the couch frame. He looked at me, and I couldn't help but admire his eyes. 

"It's how I've always been, it's just what I'm used to. Like you, you're used to being a nerd, you have your ways of doing things. It's the same for me, It's really all I know I guess. Now, why do I need to be king? It's not really a why question, it's just who I am. The others treat me like some bigshot, so why not just take advantage of that?" He didn't seem troubled answering these, but he still hadn't answered my last question. I sat patiently, waiting for him to continue. It was obvious he was hoping that I'd forget about the girl question, but I really do want to know.

"And as for the girls," he continued, smirking. It was obvious he knew I wanted him to continue. "There really are no decent girls at Oakwood! And I'm not lying, it's 100% the truth. Sure, maybe there's this one girl who I really like. I could never tell her though, she hates me for all I know." So he liked someone. That, for some reasons, was really the only thing I bothered to take notice of.

"Who is she?" I asked, trying to make it sound like I didn't really care. But in all truth, I did care. 

He hesitated before answering, "You won't know her. She hangs out in a different part of the school to you. You'll like her though.. she's sweet, she's funny, she's really smart, she's so pretty..and she has the biggest heart.." I couldn't help but smile listening to Tyson say those things. It was obvious he really liked this girl.

"I think you should ask her out. Just go for it. Out in the blue. If you can't be truthful about liking her, then there's no point liking her at all. It's like back in primary school, when we had our little 'crushes' and it was forbiddon to tell anyone. This is highschool, we haven't got long untill we graduate. It's different not, if you don't speak your love outfront then it'll be gone before you can do anything about it."

Wow, I didn't mean for it to sound like a lecture, but probably came out that way. He was looking at me strangely, like he didn't know what to say. He shifted his posture one more time, to look at me full on now.

"Have it your way Princess." he said slowly, bringing his hand up to ruffle his hair awkwardly again. Have it my way? What does he mean have it my-

But my thoughts were interupted as six words slipped from his mouth.

"Will you go out with me?"

What?