Chapter 9: Sharp

I stare at myself in the (unnecessarily elaborate) full length mirror. I look like a much more stylish version of my usual nerdy self. I mean, I don't usually look like a stereotypical nerd, but in comparison to the snappy, polished guy in the mirror, I usually look like a complete dweeb.

"So, Todd? Final verdict?" Raymond asks, bringing me back to reality.

"W-wow," I manage to stutter out.

"Told you he's the best," Zach murmurs smugly from his chair, but he's not smirking as usual. He's examining my appearance too- I can see his eyes flicking over me in the mirror (I'm watching him through the mirror. He's looking at my actual body). I'm not sure whether to be self-conscious or not, because while I usually would if anyone looked at me like that, ever, I don't look like I usually do. And while this transformation would be enough to make me feel super outgoing and confident regardless of who was looking at me in any other situation, Zach currently is the exception to that rule. Mostly because he also just received a Raymond-makeover.

Since he's looking at my physical body, I decide it's safe to sneak another glance at him in the mirror. He looks sharp. I've never seen him look this good at school- which is fair. Most people don't get this dressed up on weekdays.

I notice Raymond watching me a moment later. He's smirking a little, and I immediately blush and avert my gaze, knowing that he saw me looking at Zach. Though, I really only glanced at him for a second, and he's been studying me for what feels like several minutes.

"I'm assuming that was a good 'wow', unless for some reason you don't like looking like a sharp-dressed man," Raymond comments, and Zach's gaze flicks to him, finally giving me a chance to breathe.

"'And every girl crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man'," he immediately sings in a low growl-y voice that sends a chill down my spine, and Raymond leans over to give him a high five.

"Thanks, hon. Now I've got somewhere to be, so I'll see you tomorrow for your talk show appearance."

Zach waves, and Raymond disappears out the door. Zach pushes himself off the chair, sending it in the opposite direction as he stands. He comes over to me, slinging an arm across my shoulders and meeting my gaze in the mirror. His smirk is back in its usual place now, though more sly than gleeful. He doesn't say anything, so (feeling awkward) I ask, "Why would Raymond come today if he's just going to have to do it all over again tomorrow?"

He turns to meet my gaze (not in the mirror), and my throat goes dry when I do the same and see how close our faces are. I shift away a little and swallow. The corners of his eyes crinkle a little in amusement.

"Raymond's a perfectionist. So he'll come the day before to get a run-through, since the first time will often take a while. Then, the day of, he can pretty much cut the time it takes in half. It's a good system."

I nod a little, still kind of tense from his close proximity. Is he doing this on purpose, to try and make me uncomfortable? Is he even aware of how close we are right now? Or...

From what I can tell, he does this kind of thing pretty often. Every few days at school, he'll have a new companion, and they'll be glued to his side the whole day. His parents seem to have done the thing with the rules a lot, and clearly they've had enough situations to consider it necessary and compose the list. And Raymond mentioned him bringing other people to his practice styling sessions before. So he probably does this a lot. And I can't help but wonder- why? What does he want from me? Every possibility I can come up with makes me more anxious than the last.

I swallow again and carefully shift so his arm falls from my shoulders, then step away (trying to be inconspicuous, but it's really hard, so I don't think it worked at all. I probably made it worse). "So... what now? Homework, right?"

His eyes flick over my face, and I see a hint of that thing he does- the searching, the inspecting- before he smirks again and says, "I'm sure you've been anxiously awaiting that."

"That's me. The teacher's pet. I love homework. So?"

He grins and goes to the door, holding it for me. "Sure. Good thing we have a couple classes in common."

I exit, waiting a moment for him, then say, "Right. Three out of four. Quite a coincidence." After a moment I realize that's stupid, because it's not a coincidence. The fact that we have so many classes together is probably the exact reason why I'm in his house right now. He wouldn't have noticed me, otherwise.

"A little, yeah. What do you have third period?"

"Biology. You?"

"Biology?" His eyes have gained that wild spark from earlier.

I shrink back a little, immediately thinking through his parents' rules for something I did wrong. Don't correct him, expect him to do stupid things, and don't try to stop him. Nothing seems to match up with me taking biology (unless he's super religious and against science?), so I just nod a little, still watching him warily, and ask, "What about you?"

"Nothing. Maybe I should drop into your biology class sometime." His eyes glint wildly, and he's grinning like a predator. What the heck?

"I think it's... um, full. And besides, I'm in 30. You'd have to take 20 first."

He frowns a little. Shoot, did that count as correcting him? Or trying to stop him from doing something stupid? I don't even understand what the heck is going on. I decide to try and ask (and do it now, before I talk myself out of continuing the conversation, which really does seem like a bad idea right now).

"Um... if you want to take biology, though, why don't you? Or, I guess, why didn't you?"

He presses his lips together and trains his gaze in front of us as we go down the staircase to the main floor. It's kind of a relief- I'm a little less anxious now that he's not looking at me.

"I had a full course load last year. Couldn't take it. And... I guess it slipped my mind when I was applying for classes this term." He shrugs, but his entire demeanor has changed, so I'm pretty sure he's lying. I decide not to push, though, because now the conversation has kind of ended and I really don't want to bring it back up again.

We walk into the kitchen and I grab my bag to get my homework out, kind of relieved that I'm going to have the chance to get something done tonight. I look over my shoulder at Zach, seeing that he seems to be setting up at the kitchen counter, so I pull out my physics homework (not wanting to work on my biology project after that conversation) and set it on the counter as well. As I settle onto the stool, though, my gaze rests on a clock on the microwave.

9:45.

My eyes widen. I was supposed to be home 45 minutes ago- well, technically I was supposed to be home long before that, but he said he'd take me home by 9:00! I stand abruptly, knocking over the stool. Zach glances up at me.

"What's wrong? We're doing homework. I thought that was like, your whole thing."

I ignore that. "You said you'd get me home by 9:00!"

He glances at the clock, not seeming at all bothered by my clear panic. "And? That's over eleven hours away."

Oh my dear- "9:00 p.m.! That's when my parents get home!"

He rests his chin in his hand. "Okay. And?"

"I'm supposed to go straight home after school and do my homework! If I do anything else, if I go out for groceries or something, I'm supposed to tell them beforehand! Holy heck, I am going to be in so much trouble when I get home..."

"Then you're not in any hurry to get home, right? I mean, if they already know." He's still so unbelievably calm. I gape at him.

"No! I need to get home right now! I needed to get home forty-five minutes ago! No- no, I needed to be home about fifteen minutes after school ended, because that is how long it takes me to walk, and I should not have gotten in your car at all- oh my gosh, what was I even thinking?!"

"That I have a really cool car and riding in it would probably be the best thing you'd ever get to experience?"

"It'll be the last thing I ever get to experience, because as soon as I get home, I am dead. My parents are going to kill me."

He rolls his eyes. "Fine. Let's go."

Thoughts on Todd's makeover and the millionaire staring at him? How about the millionaire's odd reaction to hearing that Todd's taking biology? How about Todd realizing the time, and the millionaire's response to that? How do you think Todd's parents will react? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments!

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