Hunter High

Oh, you have got to be kidding him. Morgan cannot fathom this being a serious request, anyone being stupid enough to ask him such a thing, but here they are, the coach of the track team coming to him with a smirk and saying, “Hey, you’re a smart kid. Lily’s failing her English class, and she’s our best runner. Be a good kid and help out your teammate, okay?”

Morgan just stares at him, mouth gaping open like a fish and thoughts going a thousand miles a minute. If he were brave, if he were a man, he would say, “Heck no,” and walk away, but he doesn’t have the courage to do that. Instead, he nods and walks away, fists clenched and manicured nails cutting into his pale palms.

He knows who Lily is, but they’ve never spoken- she’s one of the popular kids, too good to talk to a shy, nerdy boy, even if they’re on the same team. She’s varsity, and he’s barely able to run without working himself up into a panic attack first, giving him motivation to run so he doesn’t die. He doesn’t really have an option though; he said he’d do it (or nodded he’d do it) and he isn’t going to renege on a promise.

So he takes a deep, shaky breath, and approaches Lily from where she’s standing on the track, long legs gleaming in the sunlight and showing more than is technically allowed in the school dress code, and tries not to stare too much. She turns to look at him, blowing a strand of blond hair out of her perfect blue eyes and smiling, turning his cheeks red. “Hey. Morgan, right? Do you need something?”

“U-um. Coach asked me to tutor you in English? I don’t have to, of course-” and he’d rather not “-but if you don’t want me to could you be the one to tell him?” Nice, Morgan. Real nice. Suck it the heck up and grow a backbone, do something yourself for once. It’s not even like he’s all that nice, he could flat out refuse or purposely make her fail, but he’s too much of a wimp to do that. No, he’ll have to do it, at least assuming she doesn’t turn him down.

“-really? Oh, thank you! I was about to get kicked off the team for failing, and I love track. You’ll really help me?”

“Y-yeah, sure. I get good grades, and we’d probably lose if you got kicked off varsity. Do you want to meet up at Starbucks or something after school and I could help you?” God, he’s stupid. This is never going to work out- he’ll be too flustered by her to help at all, and then he’ll get in trouble with Coach for her failing, and he’ll get kicked off the team, and everything will go down the metaphorical drain. He has to try though, and when she smiles even brighter at him his cheeks start to tingle and all of his objections disappear.

“It’s a date, then! I’ll meet you there at four.”

“Sure, a d-date.” Frick.

---

Morgan gets there early, of course, placing his computer on a table between two armchairs, ordering a bolstering drink and sipping at it to distract himself from the oncoming panic. He needs the extra time just to gather his wits about him.

By the time Lily arrives, he's calm, his drink almost gone and the crescent-shaped marks in his palms fading. She orders a drink and waits for it, coming over to him holding not one but two drinks, one of them recognizable as what he had ordered. "Here you go! You're helping me, so the least I can do is buy you a drink like a goshdarn lady in charge of a date." And she giggles, and his calm goes right out the window, replaced with burning cheeks and a muffled squeak.

"O-oh! Thank you..."

“Shh, it’s fine. Now, let’s get to work!”

Once they get into the flow and over the awkwardness of Morgan blushing at every little thing, things go smoothly- a paper that Lily’s been procrastinating on for months and only not had to turn in because she’s an athlete is started and finished, and they move on to writing the assignment that Lily was supposed to do in class today. A poem.

Poetry is not Morgan’s specialty, or even anything close to it. Luna could handle this perfectly, but then, she would mouth off and refuse to teach some ‘dumbutt athlete’, so maybe it’s better that coach asked him, even if he can’t help right now. Or so he thinks, until Lily starts typing up a storm, fingers flying at the speed of light and a bright smile on her pretty face. He takes the opportunity to stare at her, somewhat hiding it behind his computer. God, she’s pretty, and smart even though she’s failing English, and he has no idea how she is because she’s incredible at writing.

And she finishes and beckons him over, and he looks over her shoulder at the poem and freezes in his place, eyes wide and face cherry-red. She’s still smiling, and she starts to read it out loud to him, voice low and musical, her head turned so she can speak directly into his red ear. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray. I see you run dear, and I don’t fear. Come and be my sunshine oh babe.”

It’s not exactly the Odyssey, but it’s good enough for him- or it would be if he really thought it was for him. He just nods silently, mouth working to get out a few simple, broken words. “I-it’s nice. I’m sure whatever guy- or girl- it’s for will love it. Maybe not the best thing for class though…”

“You really think he’ll like it?”

“Y-yes. I’m sure.”

“Good. It’s for you, surprise! This has been a great first date, and I look forward to seeing you again.” And with that, she bounces up, grabbing her stuff, kissing him on the cheek, and fleeing the scene before he can notice the burning of her cheeks.

He stares after her. She… likes him? It’s for him? That actually explains… everything. She failed on purpose and asked the coach to get him to tutor her, or so he assumes, and he is so shocked and proud. He’s good at manipulation, but that was masterful, and makes him like her even more. He can’t wait for their next date.

Base is Gardenia from Pokemon DP.