A/N: Minor characters in this show don't get enough love. So I wanted to focus on two who I think could have a fun friendship.
Zay and Smackle.
The uptight, exasperated nerdy girl and the super slacker? Mmmm yes please. Also written to practice writing Zay, because I've written him only once. (If any of you have read Love and War, this story comes from the same universe as Stuck)
Rated K+ for Kneecaps
Disclaimer: I do not own GMW but I love writing stupid stuff with the characters!
"Pay attention!" Smackle snapped, briskly clapping her hands twice in front of Zay's nose to bring his drooping eyes back to hers. "I swear you have the attention span of a youth. My niece is in kindergarten and can pay attention better than you."
"Sorry Izzy." Zay yawned, rubbing his eyes to wake himself out of his sleepy stupor. "You're just so boring…"
"Don't call me Izzy." She frowned. "Boring I may be, but I am your best shot at passing this Calculus exam in two days! Lucas requested I tutor you so you wouldn't flunk out of this class. I would appreciate it, Isaiah, if you could make more of an effort to honour your friend's wishes."
"Tell you what. I'll stop calling you Izzy when you start calling me Zay."
"Did you not hear a word I just said?" she said, throwing her hands up in frustration, her monotone drawl fluctuating in indication of her irritation.
"I heard ya, I heard ya…" he yawned again, pulling his textbook closer to him. "So what page were we on anyway?"
She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath in through her mouth and slowly letting it out through her nose to cool herself down. She repeated the process multiple times before opening her eyes and finally addressing Zay.
"We weren't using the textbook." she said through grit teeth, "I was showing you how to determine whether a series is convergent or divergent."
"Convergent or divergent?" Zay responded, completely confused, "Whaaaa?"
"Oh my gosh, I'm going to break your kneecaps with a hammer." she muttered under her breath, rubbing her temple with her fingertips.
"Your face is pretty red. Want me to go get you some sun screen?" He had a shit-eating grin on his face. He loved riling her up.
She ignored his comment. "What is the last thing you remember learning in your class? Clearly, my approach has been all wrong. I need to go step-by-step with you through this."
"Eh…" he shrugged. "Something about triangles."
There was a moment of silence where Smackle just glowered at him, her brown eyes glinting dangerously behind her glasses.
"Triangles. Nothing else. Just triangles. I don't even— I can't—" And she sighed dejectedly, taking off her glasses and cleaning up the fog that had built on the lens with her handkerchief. "Honestly Isaiah, if you would just crack open your textbook every once in a while, this wouldn't be so difficult."
Zay leaned back against the tree they were sitting under, stretching his stiff arms above his head with a satisfied groan.
"It's too much effort for something so trivial, Izzy. When am I ever going to use this stupid stuff again?"
"Don't call me Izzy." she snapped in exasperation. "And Calculus is a very necessary subject in order to measure the fluctuations of change over a period of time in economics. And since you're an Econ major, obviously it's a pretty prominent aspect."
"I didn't understand a word you just said…" he replied languidly, closing his eyes and relaxing in the cool breeze that blew by.
"I give up. I give up! Tell Lucas I've resigned from being your tutor." She slammed her own textbook shut. "You are honestly the most infuriating person I have ever met in my twenty years of life."
"Sorry sugar." He chuckled, clearly not caring one bit that his tutor had given up on him.
"Do you even care that you're about to fail?!"
"Not really…" he shrugged, cracking an eye open and glancing at her. "But you need to loosen up."
"Loosen up? Loosen up?! I was very loose!" She pointed a shaking, accusatory finger in his direction. "It's your fault why I am so not loose right now! You killed all my looseness!"
He let out a short bark of laughter, crossing his legs at the ankles and setting his hands behind his head.
"It's in the seventies today and you're wearing a turtleneck ankle length dress and a cardigan. And probably knee highs."
She looked offended. "This is my lounging outfit! Just because I don't dress like typical students doesn't mean it's bad. There's nothing wrong with it."
"You're right. I'm sorry. Whatever floats your boat."
He didn't sound very apologetic though, and Smackle's eyes narrowed in annoyance, her irritation spiking once again because it seemed like he was definitely insulting her.
"It's a very comfortable outfit." she asserted, feeling the need to defend herself.
"Mmhmm…" he replied noncommittally in boredom.
"It's perfect for studying. And comfortable enough to take quick, efficient naps in."
"So then why didn't you just wear pajamas?"
"Pajamas in public? Preposterous."
He snorted. "Yeah. You are seriously uptight, Izzy."
"Don't call me Izzy!" she eyed a couple of boys playing Frisbee nearby in distrust, leaning away when one caught the Frisbee a little too close to where she and Zay resided on the blanket. "And I'm not uptight."
"Oh yeah? What's your idea of a pastime?"
"A good mystery novel. Or studying."
"Is that all you ever do? Study?" he asked incredulously, watching her with pity in his gaze.
Her face went red hot in embarrassment from his expression. He was looking at her like she was some pitiful human being who had no life, and she honestly did not like it.
"Studying is good. It's healthy. It's how you feed your mind."
"It's also how you become uptight and kind of psycho."
She lifted her chin, looking down her nose at him with a look of distaste. "Maybe I am a little uptight, but I have big dreams, and I can't let any distractions stop me from achieving them."
Zay shook his head in disdain, undeterred by her haughty expression. "You poor, poor girl. Have you ever even gone to any of the frat parties on campus? Or even just out and about in town?"
She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose with her finger. "My course load is rigorous. I'm overloading by seven hours because of a triple major. I don't have time for such paltry adolescent activities."
"We're sophomores in college. Why are you so serious about school? We're supposed to be irresponsible and enjoy life right now." He took a swig of his coke, watching some chatting students as they walked by on their way to the dining hall. "Do you not party at all?"
"I party occasionally, if the need calls for it. Or if it may advance my goals."
"I don't mean one of those civilized dinner parties." Zay corrected, glancing at her like she had two heads, "I mean full-on music-blasting, wild-chandelier-swinging, girls-dancing-on-tables-without-their-tops partying. Have you ever even gotten drunk before?"
"If you must know, yes, I have indulged in consuming reckless amounts of alcoholic beverages for research purposes and decided quite frankly I did not enjoy it. I don't see the appeal."
He did a double take, his jaw dropping in surprise. "Wait, you've gotten drunk before?! When? I wish I had totally seen this. I can't even begin to imagine you completely wasted!"
Her cheeks burned slightly red, and she pushed her glasses up her nose once again. "We are not talking about this. In fact, you shouldn't be talking at all. You should be focusing on Calculus."
"Well, it's not like I can do anything." He snarked, giving her a side-eye. "My tutor quit."
"Well I'm going to try again. I've never quit a thing a day in my life and I'm not about to start now because of some exasperating imbecile. No offense."
"None taken." he grinned, "It's nice to see you lose some control every once in a while."
"Don't get used to it." She cleared her throat. "Apologies for my earlier rash behaviour. As a tutor, I should exercise more control over my emotions and more patience to deal with morons. Again, no offense."
"None taken at all." Zay said, finishing off his coke.
"But I will definitely need a better approach." She mused pensively, chewing on her thumbnail in thought, "Clearly, you need more structure. And organization. And maybe a break every five minutes or so. Or perhaps a juicebox and some animal crackers. Maybe nappy time every thirty minutes."
"Or…" Zay cut in, stretching out the word, "An incentive."
Her brows furrowed. "Elaborate."
"I think I have an idea how to motivate me to study the material." Zay continued, a sly smile on his face. "A little deal that could make this tutoring arrangement work."
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Proceed."
"What do you think of this?" he panned his hands out in front of him dramatically. "If I get at least a B on my Calc exam on Thursday, you have to go to a frat party."
Her nose wrinkled in disgust, "I fail to see how my end of the bargain is a winning situation. I'll have to sit through a disgusting party with gyrating teens and boozed up students while you get to celebrate a decent score."
"Hold on, there's more." Zay continued, knowing he had caught her interest when she glanced at him in slight confusion. "If I get any score less than eighty, I owe you ten mystery novels, and I'll sit through any method you choose to tutor me with without complaint."
"Intriguing." She nodded slowly. "This might just be the best way to get you to crack down on your studies. I like it."
"So we got ourselves a deal or what, Izzy?"
"Don't call me… Oh who am I kidding." She shook his hand, a competitive twinkle in her eyes. "We have a deal, Isaiah Babineaux."