Tiger Stripes (Iida x Chubby reader)

2

The next couple of days went similarly to the project-announcement day, in that nobody talked to each other much. Some pairings were starting to warm up to each other, but the more day-and-night pairings... not so much. At this point, the next day was finally Saturday, and nobody would have to deal with this for another two days.

By the end of the school day, their homeroom teacher made one last announcement. "Before you all go, I want you to exchange numbers with your partners. Seeming as this class has been unusually quiet this week, I'm going to get the ball rolling by having you spend at least a couple of hours with your partner over this weekend. I will know if you didn't by the end of the project..."

"You're fucking joking, right?"

Iida cleared his throat, "L/n, Ms. Harris says-"

"I know, I know," Y/n interrupted then continued under her breath, "Let's get this over with..." The opposites exchanged numbers and y/n tried her best to hide her facial expressions to not seem rude. She was nice to most people, but something about Iida being so proper just shook her up. 

"I will text you to make plans for this weekend. Get home safely, l/n."

She blandly replied, "Alright... thanks."

Like his wishes, she got home and threw her bag into her room - Her mom heard this and popped into her room with curiosity. "What's going on?"

"Nothing..."

"Bull... What's up?"

"Harris is making us do some stupid project that's supposed to last until the end of the year." 

"And...?"

"She chose partners for us and I got stuck with the nerd with a stick up his ass." She threw herself onto her bed and sunk into her angst. 

Her mom then shook her head and sat on her bed, "Y/n... Did I ever tell you the story of how I met your father?"

Y/n looked up at her mother with complete confusion, "No? What does this have to do with me?" 

"Everything."

"How?" 

"Well, you're here aren't you?"

"Ew, Mom!" 

Her mother laughed, "I met him in high school. We were total opposites and didn't have any friends in our class, so in every partner project, we wound up being together because everybody else was taken." 

Y/n's confused gaze softened, suddenly becoming interested. "We obviously had to talk to each other for each project, and eventually we became close." 

"You two were high school sweethearts?" 

"Mhm... So just- Give him a chance, alright? I know you've had your mind on finding love for years now."

"Yeah I know, but-" Y/n gave her sentence some thought, "Never mind..."

Her mom knew exactly what she was thinking and almost teared up, "Don't worry about that. If somebody really loves you, they won't care for what's on the outside..." She touched her hand to y/n's heart, "But for what's on the inside." 

She wanted to listen so badly, but her mind took over, "Everybody only cares if you're skinny or pretty enough, meaning... I have no chance."

"When's your next appointment?" 

"Monday." 

"Talk to her about this." 

Y/n looked saddened, "Alright..."

"Come on, wanna help make dinner?" She asked optimistically.

"I don't know..."

"Ok, well- At least come out into the living room." 

"Alright." 

It was slow on the uptake, but eventually, she got up and sat in the living room. Her phone suddenly went off and she opened it to see a formally written paragraph.

"hello l/n, this is Iida contacting you about the project this weekend. My family and I would be pleased to have you over this Saturday at noon - Please let me know if you can make it. My address is XXXX, XXXX Lane."

Y/n widened her eyes at the message. "Even his texts have perfect grammar!" 

Being her mother, she sensed something was up, "What now, y/n?"

"He just sent a text- no, PARAGRAPH in perfect grammar."

She placed her cooking utensil down and turned towards her daughter, "About what?"

"Harris is making us spend time with our partners 'to get the ball rolling' or whatever..." 

"That sounds nice," She replied trying to encourage her to be optimistic.

"Ehh, I don't know..."

"Come on, how bad could it be?" She observed and tested her food once more, "Dinner's ready."

Y/n got up and prepared her plate, "I just don't want to be stuck studying for hours."

"Neither would I, but maybe he's got something planned?"

"Beats me." She sat down and started her meal.

Her dad then walked through the door, "Smells nice in here," He walked up to his wife and kissed her on the cheek, "You alright y/n?"

"She's got a long project she doesn't want to do."

"How long are we talking?"

"MONTHS!" Y/n groaned.

"Jeez, what teacher is this?"

"Harris." 

Her dad's face scrunched up, "As soon as I met her at parent-teacher conferences I didn't like her."

"Exactly. She partnered us up with people none of us even talk to."

The pity party only continued for a short while, but long enough for her dad to get filled in. "Well, try and make the best of it. Try and actually get to know each other," He looked up at her, "I know how you get..."

"Yeah, yeah," She rolled her eyes. 

After dinner, the three of them sat down in the living room and turned on their nightly show - The current one being RuPaul's Drag Race. Her dad didn't like it, but the girls did so he tried to suck it up. At this point, they were elbow-deep into All-Stars season 2. 

Her mom spoke up, "I swear if Roxxxy wins, I'm gonna shit myself."

"Same with Ginger." 

"Ugh! Her too..."

"I hope Katya wins."

"Either her or Alaska, I love her." She kept an eye on the television, "Come on! Coco needs to go!" 

"I KNOW!"

Y/n's dad was confused with everything they were saying and gave up on trying to understand. Instead, he quickly fell asleep - His instant snores diffusing the sound of the current lip-sync showdown. The girls rolled their eyes and continued watching and judging like their conversations contributed to the outcome. 

Eventually, both y/n and her mother started to doze off, luckily at the end of the episode they were on. And so, they turned off the television and woke her dad up - All three of them heading to bed. 

Y/n hugged both her parents, "Night guys!"

"Night!"

"Goodnight y/n!" Her mom went in for another hug. 

Y/n smiled and headed to bed, quickly falling asleep after plugging her phone in for the night. 

That night, the stress of the day melted away and peace was restored.

1073 words