Fighting for the Strange

Chapter 8: Wagering

Fiona finished the last of the practice equations and tossed her pencil down, stretching her arms over her head. She blinked eyes that felt a little out of focus with the break in concentration. She glanced around to see Meredith, Jordana, and Aura still had their heads over a paper, while her roommate whispered to the other two. Perry was leaning back in his chair, a pencil held between his nose and upper lip, his eyes on the paper in front of him. Only Hyun was still actively writing, a new addition to their study group courtesy of Perry.

As always, Fiona found her eyes drawn to Chay last. He was staring at her. She smiled and waggled her fingers at him, making him flush. She stifled a giggle. He was really too easy, especially for someone whose best friend was like Perry.

She stood, drawing Meredith and the other two girls' attention. She flashed them a smile. "I'm going to head outside for some air. It's stuffy in here."

They all nodded, eyes dropping back to the paper, Meredith's soft voice resuming her gentle explanation. Behind her, she heard the faint scrape of a chair. Chay came to stand beside her. "I'll join you."

Perry dropped his chair back down and winked at Fiona before looking up at Chay. "Shall I join you crazy kids? You might need a chaperone, who knows what kind of shenanigans you'll get up to without someone keeping an eye on you?"

His friend glared and the satyr only grinned wider. After a moment, Chay finally managed a stiff "We'll be fine."

Fiona had to smother another chuckle. He really did wear a giant target on himself and seemed surprised anytime one of them took a shot. It made her curious about how he'd grown up, thought the little she'd gotten from him and Perry told her it was nothing like her own childhood.

Shoving those musings away, Fiona led the way out to the hall. She opened the door outside, but the frigid gust made her think better of that idea, and instead she leaned against the wall beside the now closed door. Chay took up the spot beside her, near enough he could reach out and touch him if she wanted. Or he could do the same.

But he wouldn't. She wasn't sure what she was to Chay, and at times, Fiona didn't think Chay knew either. It was frustrating but not something she was going to question at the moment. Not when their relationship was still so newly repaired she could almost feel the cracks in it.

She broke the silence. "How do you feel about the exams?"

He shrugged. "Well enough, I suppose. These study sessions have helped. Meredith is really good at explaining stuff. She should be a teacher."

Again, he'd left himself wide open. "Not bad for someone who's half human, eh?" Predictably, Chay shushed her, glancing nervously around them. Fiona rolled her eyes. "It's not a big deal. You're too sensitive to the h-word."

Chay grimaced. "I know. I'm working on it, but it's hard to undo years of thinking. It's...It's like they're the worn paths in the grass in the courtyard. I just automatically follow them without thinking."

Her face softened. "I know. I was just teasing. You're doing better, and I know it can't be easy. Especially with what happened with your cousin, I can't even imagine."

Heavy lines radiated out from his mouth as he frowned, before he shook the expression away. "Enough about that. How are you feeling? About the exams? This is still a new school for you and everything."

Fiona smiled. "I think I'll be fine. Exams are exams, right? And unlike you, I get almost twenty four hour access to Meredith. I think I might just do better than you."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really."

A rare sly look spread across Chay's face. "Care to make a wager then?"

"A bet?"

He nodded. "If you do better than me, I have to do something for you. If I do better than you, you owe me something."

Her eyes narrowed even as her mind was already working through possible things she could make him do. Some were...not fit to share with anyone. "We keep requests to PG level, alright?" Even as that threw some of the more interesting thoughts out the window.

Chay smiled. "I hadn't thought of anything outside of that. Did you?"

Fiona couldn't help the heat climbing up to her cheeks. Maybe he wasn't such an easy target after all. "Never mind that, are you sure about this? And will we go by average of all our marks, or who beats the other in more subjects overall?"

"Average overall. And the request must be made before spring break, so neither of us is in suspense too long."

"Alright then, you're on." Fiona held out a hand.

Chay grabbed it in his strong grip and gave it a firm shake. "It's a bet."

"Why do I feel like you know something I don't?"

"I consistently score in the mid-eighties on exams."

"Is that all?" Fiona smiled, while her palms began to sweat a bit. While she did well in school, this was a new place, she'd been learning things that required some knowledge she hadn't already had, and she'd done a bit of catch-up. She thought she might be in trouble, but she wasn't going to let Chay see that, not right after she'd agreed to the bet. She had her pride.

He frowned. "Why? What do you normally score?"

She turned back to the room where the others were. "That is the question, isn't it?"

Chay followed her as she began to walk back, brow furrowed. "You're not going to tell me?"

Fiona chuckled. "Nope. It's more fun to make you sweat. This is war, and I have to use every advantage. Right now I'm in your head."

He stared at her, then grimaced. "You're entirely too good at that already."

"I need some protection against the big bad Thunderbird." Unbidden, the image of Chay as Big Bird popped into her head and she struggled not to start laughing. Luckily, he didn't say anything else as they settled back into their seats and got back to work. Still, that was a picture Fiona wasn't going to forget. She'd have to check with Meredith to see if she knew of Sesame Street, and if she did, she thought her roommate would get a good laugh out of it too.