"Time's up."
Everyone groaned.
"Please pass up your pop quizzes" Mr. Roberts told the class. "I'll start correcting quizzes so you would know your score." Kids began handing out their papers to the person in front of them. Some of them had to be taken away by force for the kids who haven't finished the surprise pop quiz that always come at Tuesdays. So actually, they weren't really a pop quiz of you were ready for it.
"If you haven't finished it, you may finish it at lunch. Just mark is with an "IC" for incomplete, and I will skip those."
Chairs scraped the floor, making me wince at the sound. Kids immediately ran up to the front, quickly searching and grabbing their quizzes to scribble down the two letters. Only a few students were still planted to our seats, having already finished the quizzes. Two of those students were Parker and I.
I grinned at him. "How was the test? Was it hard?"
He smiled back at me from the seat next to me. He moved next to me, having the kid who used to sit next to me switch places with him. Meaning his friends and other kids who usually don't listen in class to just talk, moved near him, not wanting the fun one to leave the group. Though I think they'll be disappointed when they found out he won't be ask fun anymore.
"I don't know," Parker said with a small shrug. "It was a review of what we did last week... so of course it wasn't! I got everything and finished with enough time to double check my work." He told me proudly.
"Can't say the same thing," one of his friends muttered.
Parker turned to him. "How come?"
"Well, it was a surprise pop quiz."
"And what about it?" Another asked.
"I can tell you this much, I was pretty surprise."
They all burst out laughing, even I couldn't help but laugh at that.
"So Parker, I didn't see you go up and put "IC" on your test." One of them pointed out.
"Either you finished it or just gave up."
All of them shared a look and said in unison, "He gave up. Then they all laughed again.
"Actually," Parker said. "I really did finish it."
That made them all stop laughing short.
"Wait, you were actually serious?"
"I thought you were joking."
"You never finished tests. Ever."
"Who are you? Do I even know you anymore?"
Parker rolled his eyes and looked back at me. "They're just kidding."
"No, we're not," they all said simultaneously.
"Well yes, I really did finish the quiz."
A guy crossed his arms. "I don't believe it."
Parker shrugged. "Fine, don't believe it. But if I prove you wrong, you owe me five bucks."
He snorted. "You're on, O'Neil." The two of them shook on it.
"Park-"
"-er," Parker said, correcting Mr. Roberts before he could finish saying the wrong name. Yeah, he did it that much. "And what can I do for you?"
"May you see me after class?" He asked. "I want to talk to you."
The whole class said, "ooh" at Parker. His friends were the loudest.
"Somebody's in trouble," one of them sang.
"Probably telling him that he has an F in this class now."
"Look who's talking," I defended. "You already have an F in this class."
They said, "ooh" again.
He glared at me. "How would you know? What, are you stalking me?"
I snorted. "As if. it wouldn't be worth anything to stalk you. And it's common sense. A stupid kid who doesn't try, you probably have F's in all of your classes. Plus, I work in service, I've seen you in the principal's and counseler's office more than you can count."
Everyone seemed to be in an "ooh" mood.
"W-well," he sputtered. "Whatever. I know I'm right."
"We'll see."
The bell rang. Everyone quickly packed up their things and left the room. I hooked my bag on my shoulder and left the room. The front door was propped open for the next class to go in. I waited for Parker by standing beside the doorway. I didn't want to listen in. It was both Mr. Roberts's and Parker's conversation, between teacher and student. Maybe Mr. Roberts would be congratulating Parker for his good grade on the pop quiz. I know for sure that Parker got a good grade.
"What?" Parker's voice demanded, angrily.
I unconsciously began to lean towards the door. What were they talking about? Why would Parker be mad? Shouldn't be happy if he got a good score on the quiz?
"Now Parker, don't be mad," Mr. Roberts said, trying to calm him down.
Well, I know that he isn't happy. And Parker did the whole opposite Mr. Roberts said.
"How can I not be mad?" Parker retorted. "And how dare you think I did such a thing."
Mr. Roberts sighed. "Parker, we both know that you're capable of doing that."
"Yeah, I know that," he forced out. "But I didn't do it, I swear!"
What didn't he do?
"I know that you cheated on the pop quiz."
Wait, what? Mr. Roberts is actually accusing Parker of cheating on the quiz? He didn't, I know he didn't.
"I'm telling you, I didn't cheat! I know that I may have done it before. But this time I didn't. You can check my work, I got all my answers with this-" when referring to "this" he must have pointed his head.
"Yes, I thought the same thing as well," Mr. Roberts said. "But isn't it likely that you might have copied the work as well from say... a smart young lady such as Naomi?"
"Excuse me?" Both Parker and I said in unison. Though I said it to myself, Parker didn't.
"Well think about it," he said. "Yesterday, you asked Naomi to help you out for the classwork. And today, you happened to move next to Naomi, then the both of you got a perfect score on the quiz."
"We got a perfect score?" Both Parker and I said in unison.
I fist pump the air, but suddenly remembered this isn't the time to be celebrating. Parker was being accused as cheating. Yes, Mr. Roberts has a point. Parker may have a history of cheating. It happened more than once that he asked, well demanded me for my calculus homework. But he didn't do it. I know because we reviewed this topic just yesterday in tutoring. There's no reason for Parker to cheat on a test he already is capable of answering by himself.
"Yes, and it is no coincidence that you and Naomi got the same-"
"It is coincidence, Mr. Roberts," Parker argued. "Just yesterday, Naomi tutored me for calculus and we reviewed this topic."
"Don't lie to me Parker. I know for a fact you have an attention span of a fish."
"Nemo's dad found him," Parker retorted back.
"T-that's not the point," Mr. Roberts sputtered. "I know that you cheated on this quiz and that Naomi helped you cheat. So not only are you going to bring yourself down, but Naomi as well."
There was a long pause. The color in my face drained away. Mr. Roberts thinks that Parker cheated and that I helped him. If Parker really did cheat- No, what am I saying? I know that he didn't cheat.
"What do you mean by that?" Parker growled.
"I mean that I'm giving you the choice of turning someone in." Mr. Roberts said. "You either turn yourself in and Naomi gets scot-free. Or you turn in Naomi and you get scot-free. I know that this isn't the first time for Naomi either to help out a student. You will be doing a lot of good if you turn her in."
Only one of us can be turned in while the other is free. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the trap Mr. Roberts made. The obvious thing would to turn me in, while Parker goes free. But if he did that, it would also prove that he cheated after all. But I don't know if Parker will do that. Now all that's left is to wait and see if he turns me in to save himself. I closed my eyes, slowly pleading that he wouldn't do it. To prove that he really was saying the truth and that he changed.
"So what you're saying is that I can turn Naomi in to save myself?" Parker asked.
No, I can't believe it. He's actually considering this.
"Yes." Was only Mr. Roberts reply.
"And tell me this..."
I thought I trusted-
"Why would I turn Naomi in, when she did nothing wrong?" He yelled. "She didn't help me cheat because I didn't cheat!"
"Parker, this is your last chance-"
"My last chance? Fine then." He took a deep breath. "I cheated, okay? But Naomi didn't help me. So just... just leave her alone. She didn't do anything wrong, she's smart, people force her to help them. It's not her fault."
Either Parker really did cheat. Or he turned himself in for my sake. I don't know whether to hug him for doing this, or punch him for turning himself in when he didn't cheat.
"I knew it. I knew you cheated the second I saw your quiz. Don't think-"
"He didn't cheat."
The two of them turned to the door where I stood, arms crossed. Both of their eyes widened at the sight of me.
"N-Naomi, you were here the whole time?" Parker asked.
"Yeah, and I know for a fact he didn't cheat." I said, walking towards the desk. I leaned towards Mr. Roberts, until I was face to face with him. I could visibly see the beads of sweat rolling down his face. "I tutored him yesterday, and we reviewed this very topic. You have to believe your top student."
"Yes, Naomi. You may be my top student, but you've helped kids cheat in a number of classes. Us teachers only turn a blind eye because you have good grades and a perfect record."
"Then you should turn a blind eye right now, because he didn't do it."
"I won't. Do you know why?" He asked, and before I could ask why, he answered his own question. "It's because Parker probably paid you to say this. This happened more than once for you, I bet. A kid paying you to back them up that they didn't cheat."
"He didn't pay me! And he didn't cheat!" I said. "I could prove it!"
"You can?" Mr. Roberts asked.
"You can?" Parker asked.
"I can," I said confidently, with a smirk.
Mr. Roberts leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "Then prove it."
"Fine." I told him before turning to Parker who wore a nervous smile. His eyes were asking me if I could really prove his innocence. I assured him by whispered to him, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
I grabbed a calculus textbook on Mr. Roberts desk. Then I tugged on Parker's sleeve and lead him to the front board. I cracked the book open to the back of the book that held extra questions of different topics for practice.
"Parker, I'm going to tell you some problems and you have to solve them. Think you can do that?"
"Of course I can," he said, before shooting Mr. Roberts a glare and adding, "because I didn't cheat."
"First question..."
One by one, I told Parker a problem as he wrote it down. And one by one, he solved each and every answer correctly. I kept flipping back and forth of the pages to see the answers. Until I got tired of doing it, because I knew that it would be pointless since Parker is getting them all right. It wasn't until I started playing him and did other topics as well.
Perfect squares, 9k^2+12k+4
"The answer is the quantity of three "k" plus two to the second power." (3k+2)^2
"Correct."
Factoring monomials, 36x^2y and 54xy^2z
"The greatest common factor is 18 "x,y"." 18x7
"Correct."
The quadratic formula, x^2+4x+3
"The roots are -3 and -1."
The degree in polynomials, 5/2y^2+7y
"Trick question. That's not a polynomial."
"Correct."
As this was happening, kids from the next period shuffled into class. They entered, thinking it'll be another boring period of calculus. But they all stopped and stared as they watched a nerd spouting questions and a jock answering them. I glanced at Mr. Roberts who's eyes were widened in disbelief, is jaw hanging out that a fly can easily just fly right in. The both of us were like a team, a team breaking stereotypes of something. When we finished the last question, we turned to Mr. Roberts.
"Do you think Parker cheated on the quiz?" I asked him.
He was speechless, no words came out.
I looked at the class. "Do you think Parker cheated on the quiz?"
"No!" Some of them called out.
I asked it again. "Do you think Parker cheated on the quiz?"
"No!" The voice said louder, more confident.
"We have a quiz?" Someone asked in confusion.
I glared at Mr. Roberts, both Parker and I did. We glared at him with triumph grins and crossed arms.
"I think you owe Parker an apology for accusing him."
"W-well," he sputtered.
It was then the class began to chant the word "apologize" again and again. They hit their desks in rhythm, some using their calculus textbooks and hitting it against their desks to make it louder.
"Fine!" Mr. Roberts said, silencing them. "I'm sorry for accusing you for cheating on the pop quiz," he said before adding, "when it was possible you could have."
"What was that, Mr. Roberts?" I asked, innocently.
"Nothing."
"We have a quiz?" Someone asked again.
I smiled and looked back at Parker, who grinned from ear to ear, now proving his innocence. I asked for tardy excuses from Mr. Roberts. He quickly scribbled them on blanks quizzes, the very quiz that we got a perfect score on. He signed his name at the bottom and handed each of them to us. We snatched it from his hands and walked out of the class. But it wasn't before I turned around and added something before I forgot.
"Oh, and we're dropping your class. Ms. Kennedy-" Mr. Roberts paled at the sound of his rival math teacher "-for linear algebra, it seems way more challenging than this class, right Parker?"
I looked at him and he nodded. "Right."
We closed the door, muting the sounds of cheers and the repeated question if there really is a quiz.
Before I could say anything, I was suddenly pulled into a hug. I let out a gasp as Parker hugged the breath out of me, literally. His arms were wrapped around me, tightening me in the hug. I was left in the uncomfortable and surprised position, tensing at the really close contact. Finally, he let go of me, though he was still holding my shoulders.
"Thank you, Naomi." Parker told me. "Thank you for everything. The tutoring, for believing in me, and for proving my innocence."
I snorted. "Please, I was just trying to prove my innocence."
He frowned. "Really?"
I laughed. "Of course not. I knew you didn't cheat. And I wanted to make Mr. Roberts know about it too."
He pulled me in for another hug, quicker than the previous one to my disappointment. I scolded myself for thinking that. This time he let go of me, and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.
"Let me walk you to class," he offered me.
I shooked my head. "No, it's alright. Besides, you have-"
"-P.E," he informed me.
"-P.E next. It's all the way at the P.E area, I have service at the nurse's office."
"Naomi," he said in sing-song once again. "Don't make me force you."
This again, huh? I snorted and narrowed my eyes at him. "And how are you going to do that, O'Neil?"
He quirked an eyebrow, a smirk spreading across his face. His eyes sparkled at the challenge.
"Like this."
Parker started coming towards me, so I did the obvious this and ran away. But even though I was pretty good at running away, from bullies especially, he was a quarterback in the football team. He grabbed my waist and picked me up, easily lifting me off the ground. I yelped in surprise and begged him to let me go. He of course, didn't. Then he swung me over his shoulder, carrying me like a sack of potatoes. I struggled under his grip, hitting his back, kicking my legs in the air, but it was useless.
"Put me down!" I begged him. "What if someone sees us!"
"Aw, don't worry sweetheart, you gotta trust me on this."
Pausing from struggling, I could feel my cheeks warming. "Sweetheart?"
I did my best to look back and saw Parker's ears reddening. He cleared his throat. "Y-yeah, sweetheart." He repeated. "You like it?"
I shrugged. "I've been called worse."
"Then, sweetheart it is." He declared stupidly.
I laughed, but said nothing. watched as we passed my classrooms towards the nurse's office. There were a few open doors, and some kids peered outside to see us when they heard the commotion. A few of them to my embarrassment did the wolf whistle, wiggling their eyebrows stupidly. Parker laughed at them and gave them the finger.
He tickled me at the side. "So how's the weather up there?"
I giggled, swatting his hand away. "It's alright. How about you take a look?" I offered him.
He snorted. "I doubt you can carry me."
"Yeah, you're right. You're too fat, you'd squash me like a pancake."
He replied with another tickle at my side.
"Parker stop!" I scolded. "I'm tick..." I trailed off. What have I done?
"Challenge accepted," he said, and I could hear the mischievous grin in his voice.
Both of his hands grabbed my side and he began tickling me. I squealed, tears streaming out of my eyes, I begged him to stop. To at least give me a chance to breathe. He paused from tickling me. I gasped for air, catching for my breath. Then before he could continue tickling me, I began tickling his neck.
He stopped walking and sighed. "Nice try, sweetheart. But I'm not ticklish."
I wasn't going to give up. I began tickling his sides, and I knew I hit the jackpot. His body tensed, his arms gripping me, and I heard him force out a cough. Gotcha sucker!
He said through gritted teeth. "Naomi, stop."
"Stop what?" I asked innocently, as I tickled him.
Parker chuckled than barked out a laugh. "I'm serious. Stop." He said playfully.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Naomi," he begged. "Please." Ooh, this is new. Parker is actually begging.
He began to wobble, trying to keep his balance. He was laughing, but trying to stop. He tickled me back, and I started to laugh too as I tickled him. It was a tickle war between the two of us.
"Stop it! I'm going to fall!"
"Timber!" I said, laughing.
But it's already too late. He was falling backwards and fell onto the floor. I toppled over him as Parker gasped for air. The both of us were sprawled on the hallway floor like idiots.
I laughed. "Are you okay, Parker?"
He groaned. "Yeah, I will be. When I get you back!"
I yelped and jumped off the floor. Then I took off running, racing down the hall. I could hear his footsteps coming closer, his yells after me. I had to slow down a bit to take a sharp corner. But when I did, he had caught up with me. He grabbed me from behind around my waist with one arm. Then he lifted me in the air, both of his arms wrapped around me. I squealed, laughing as he did, begging him to let me go. But he just laughed along with me, calling me sweetheart.
"What the hell is this?"
The both of us froze where we were. The first thing I thought were the Musketeers. They must have caught us and I'll be getting a lecture while Parker gets a death threat. But when we slowly turned, it was someone worse.
Raymond.
His face was in a combination of disbelief, confusion, and anger. His hands were balled into fists. He glared at the both of us, looking at the whole scene before him. Both of our faces turned crimson, I could feel Parker's arms tightening around me in protection. But then he awkwardly set me back on the ground. I stumbled a bit, but I caught my balance and stood next to Parker.
"I-it's nothing Ray," Parker said, nervously.
I nodded.
"Really? It's... nothing?" He demanded, the word nothing forced out like a bad taste in his mouth.
"Yeah, Ray." Parker said.
I nodded.
"And you actually expect me to believe that?" He asked.
"Honestly?" Parker asked. "Yeah, I did...."
I nodded.
"This thing you two have-" he said, gesturing towards us "-I don't even have a word to describe it. Well I do, but I don't think you guys aren't going to like it."
The both of us looked at the ground.
"Parker, I don't know what's wrong with you. First, you invite her to our table. Go eat dinner with her. And now I see you two actually groping each other? Why in the first place are you with Nerds-?"
"Hey!" Parker defended. "She has a name." He growled.
Raymond snorted, rolling his eyes. "Yeah? What is it? Sweetheart?"
Cue the blush on the both of us.
"You know what? Whatever." Raymond said, putting his hands up and backing away. "Go ahead and do whatever you want. I don't want to be a part of this. But have this in mind, keep it in your pants."
"How dare-" I stopped and took a deep breath. "Parker and I aren't doing anything. We're just friends."
"Oh, you're "just friends"?" Raymond asked, putting air quotations for that. "As if! The next thing you know, you'll two will be dating and everyone will be calling you some stupid ship name like Naoker or uh..."
"Parkomi?" I offered.
"Yeah, that!" Raymond said.
"Why are you making such a big deal out of this Ray?" Parker demanded.
"I'm making a big deal out of this because I don't want my friend to lower his social status just standing to Ner-" he caught himself when he saw Parker's glare "-Naomi. I don't want rumors going around, ruining your reputation."
"Well, I don't care," Parker stated, going as far as to put his arm over my shoulder and pulling me closer to him. "Let them talk."
Raymond glared at the space that no longer was between Parker and I. His gaze turned to me, making me shrink and stare back at the ground. Then his gaze turned to Parker. I looked between the both of them, knowing they were having some telepathic conversation jocks share. A few seconds had passed until the both of them looked away.
"Why're you here, anyway?" Parker asked.
"I went to look for my good friend, Parker," he said sarcastically on the words "good friend". "We have P.E together, and he wasn't at the locker room, so I went to look for him. Ends up I found him instead."
"I'll meet you there," Parker told him. "I'm walking Naomi to her next period."
"I hate to break it to you," Raymond sneered. "But you're a couple minutes late."
Parker and I held up our tardy excuses in unison, making Raymond's glare hardened.
"Well hurry it up," Raymond grumbled.
He hesitated for a moment, wanting to add something. But instead he stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked towards the P.E area. Parker and I watched him walk down the hall, kicking a piece of trash on the floor, then turned the corner.
The both of us walked silently to my next period, service. None of us dared to even glance at each other. Thanks to Raymond, all I could think is how awkward it is. We finally arrived to the nurse's office. I looked back at Parker who was already looking at me. We both smiled, forced ones really.
"Thanks for walking me to my period," I said before adding. "After kidnapping me, tickling me against my will, and later running into my enemy."
"You're welcome," he said with a smile, though I could see the apology in it.
"Well, I'll see you later?" I asked, hopefully.
He nodded. "Sure."
We parted ways. I hesitated at the nurse's office, watching him walk away, his back turned to me. I wondered, is he really the guy I'm hoping him to be? Or another one to turn his back on me?
Hey, everyone, sorry for the late post. If you have seen my status, yes, I am going to Washington, D.C. I know, awesome! I'll be staying there for five days straight, from 23rd-27th. I'm going to have a busy schedule, so I don't know if I would be able to post my chapters during the time period. Sorry about that. But hopefully this cute chapter will make it up to you. Go Team Parkomi! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. This one has the picking up and tickling scene like in 'It All Started with a Jacket'. The next one will have some more Raymond if there are any Rayomi fans over there.
I gotta go, my plane is boarding soon. I'm speed typing here and my friends are looking at me like I'm some sort of super computer. I won't be able to edit it, so sorry for the mistakes. I'll correct it when I'm in the hotel. Love you all, bye.
RubixCube89201