Until the end (Ian Gallagher x OC)

Chapter 13

"It's a buck-50 up front. When you get your S.A.T. results back and see how great Lip did, it's another buck-50." Karen explained the process to the boy as we all stood on the steps outside of the school.

"And we do this today?" He asked back, basketball tucked casually under his arm.

"No, today's session is booked. Three weeks." Karen repeated the rules to him for their plan to work without anyone getting caught.

"So I sit next to you while you take the test?"

"No." Lip shook his head.

"He's pretending to be you. You can't be there." Ian reminded.

"Why would they think you're me?" The guy asked, clearly not understanding. I rolled my eyes in annoyance, sighing at how dense he was.

"Well, I'll have a I.D. That says that I am you." Lip clarified, keeping calm while the rest of us struggled to do so.

"But what if they ask me for my I.D.?"

"I'm going to make a fake I.D." Lip told him.

"But I'm tall." He claimed and we all stood in silence for a moment, processing the conversation.

"Yeah. That's-That's a chance we're just going to have to take." Lip agreed with a nod, humouring the kids questions.

"Yeah." Ian backed up his brother.

"Saturday night. What time can I pick you up?" He handed Lip the money before looking to Karen with his question.

"7:00." She replied with a smile.

"Done." He smiled back, walking off and leaving us alone on the steps to the school.

"You're dating Oompa now?" Lip turned to Karen while Ian and I awkwardly listened in on their unspoken relationship problems.

"He doesn't talk. It's fun." She claimed casually.

"Let's go to class" I started walking into the building, Ian following behind me eager to escape the awkwardness.

~~~

"So, are you guys going to the parent-teacher conference tonight?" Karen asked, sitting on the window sill in the bathroom. The three of us looked at each other before cracking up laughing.

"No." Lip replied.

"Need a parent for that, don't you?" Ian asked back.

"Cheryl is going, but I picked up a shift at Kash and Grab so that I don't have to go in with her." I claimed with a shrug.

"Really?" Ian asked in slight shock.

"You're the smartest girl in school, she shouldn't be worried about your grades," Lip added the reason for his own confusion.

"Well, it's her job to make sure I'm doing well in school" I shrugged back.

"Hey, Louise got an 'A' on the paper you wrote for her English class. How do you keep doing that?" Karen asked Lip with amusement.

"Well, to master the art of the book report, you just take any novel, no matter when it was written, and you argue that the main character is a latent homosexual." Lip started explaining as we all started to hold back laughs.

"Yeah okay" Ian smiled over at me, not buying it.

"No, seriously. Seriously. Now, most English teachers are either gay and agree, or they're straight, but too scared to disagree and get labeled as intolerant." Lip finished, Karen laughing along.