Ok, my first try at an Even Stevens fic. PLEASE no flames, I like Larry and Ren. I never see enough of them!
____________________________________________________________________________
Ren Stevens was trying, in vain, to study in her room. Her little brother, Louis, was playing his drums in the room right down the hall. He was playing a very loud version of... well, no one knew what exactly. He was even shrieking along with it, and Ren decided that if she was ever going to get through studying without shoving those drumsticks down Louis' throat, she was going to have to go somewhere else. She called Ruby and asked her if she could spend the night at her place.
Larry Beal was desperately trying to find his math paper. It didn't seem to be anywhere in his backpack. He checked all over the house, and in the yard. He needed the paper done by the next day, so he HAD to find it. Let's see, who sat next to me today in math... Ruby!! He quickly decided to call Ruby and see if she had his math paper.
"Hey, Ren, go get changed and I'll make popcorn." Ruby told Ren, as she perused her DVD collection.
"I thought we were supposed to study, Ruby." Ren said to her closest friend.
"And who's to say David Gallagher won't be on the test." Ruby said, holding up her copy of "Little Secrets" on DVD.
Ren sighed, and went upstairs to change. She had brought her favorite pair of pajamas with her. The top was sleeveless, lavender, and silky, with royal blue stars all over it. The bottoms were short, and the same design. She pulled her hair out of its loose bun and went downstairs.
Come on, pick up the phone! Larry waited for someone at Ruby's house to pick up the phone. He had gotten the number off the school's parent contact list, and could only hope Ruby was the one to answer. He heard a click, and then a girls voice say "Hello?"
"Hi, is Ruby home?" he asked, politely.
"This is she." the voice said.
"Hi, Ruby, it's Larry Beal. Look, did you by chance pick up y math paper with the rest of your stuff when you left the classroom today? I can't find it."
"Hold on, let me check..." He heard the sound of papers being flipped through. "Oh, yeah, here it is."
"Great. Your address is listed here. I'll come by and pick it up." He said in a rush.
"But wait, before you come over here, you should–" Larry slammed down the phone, not even waiting to hear what the girl was going to say. He grabbed the keys to his fathers car, and set off towards Ruby's house.
Ren went downstairs in search of her brush. She rifled through her overnight bag, and just as she found it, the doorbell rang. Being closest to the door, and remembering that Ruby had gone upstairs for a shower, she went to answer it. But as she opened it, her breath caught in her throat.
Larry Beal.
Larry and Ren had been rivals for almost all their lives. She and Larry were the school perfectionists, always competing for the top grade. No matter what happened, they always found some way to get under each other's skin.
But what was he doing here?
What's SHE doing here?
It took Larry a moment to remember that Ren and Ruby were best friends, and another moment to remember it was impolite to stare. He found he couldn't help it, even though his mind was screaming You Idiot! It's Ren Stevens! Snap out of it!
His eyes trailed up and down her body. Whoa! Ren Stevens, when did YOU become such a knockout?!?! He thought. The boy then noticed her attire, and his heart stopped. She was standing in the doorway, for all the world to see, dressed like THAT??? If any of those horny jocks from school happened to see her tonight.... he had to get her away from that door, fast.
Not that he was being NICE or anything....
The first thing Ren noticed was that her rival looked extremely built under his Letterman jacket. The second thing was that she was staring at what could possibly be the biggest jerk alive, and liking what she saw.
He was wearing his Letterman jacket, and a tight black t-shirt underneath, which showed off beautiful abs. A pair of baggy jeans hid his Nikes. He was looking at her with confusion, then interest, then bewilderment. She caught the lengthy once-over Larry gave her, and didn't know how to react. Then, he looked up at her and caught her gaze.
"Stevens, you and your little friend having a sleep-over party?" he said in a calm, but shaky voice.
"May I inquire what your doing here, Beal?" Ren was immediately enraged at the joke, but had the sense to hide it from the jock.
"Picking up my math paper, your little friend took it by mistake. So, is this what a Ren Stevens sleep-over looks like? What, next your gonna break out the nail polish and Truth or Dare cards? 'I dare you to... call Larry Beal and tell him you like him!'"
Ren would have laughed at Larry's imitation if Larry wasn't the one saying it.
"Larry, if you ever HAD a girlfriend who wasn't a complete ditz, you would know we don't always do that kind of stuff. But, given your past track record, and considering the only thing any of your ex girlfriends knew how to say was 'Lets make out', how are you supposed to know the difference?"
Larry didn't want to admit Ren had a point.
"Oh yeah, then what are you doin' in that slinky little number?" He said, gesturing to the pajamas she was wearing.
"And what are you doing in that tight tee? What is that, latex?" She poked the material on his shirt, and both were shocked by the feeling it gave them.
"AHEM!"
They both turned around at the sound of Ruby's voice. She was standing halfway across the room, and watching them intently.
"Are you two finished?" she said, with a giggle.
"Ruby, are you and Ren about to play Truth or Dare? I wanna watch Ren act like a chicken!" Larry laughed at his own joke, but nobody else did.
"Here's your paper Larry. And yes, we were about to play Truth or Dare, but we're waiting for the guys to come over." Larry took his paper, as her last sentence echoed in his mind. What guys? She's actually going to let people see her in THAT? She's practically in lingerie!
There was a knock at the door, and Larry watched Ren go to open it. Bobby Deaver and another jock named Mark came barging in.
"What up, Beal?"
"Nothin'. Came to get my math paper." Larry gritted his teeth, and smiled a fake smile as he watched Bobby look Ren up and down, and give a wolf whistle of approval.
"I gotta get home. See you dudes at school. Where tomorrow, I will get a higher score on that test than a certain Miss Perfect we all know. Gotta Bounce" with that, Larry took off out the door, and on his way home.
"Ren Stevens: A+. Larry Beal: A+" once again, the score was tied. It's always tied... Ren Stevens thought. All week she had waited for those test scores to be posted. It seems that no one else in the grade even got close to that score. A small migraine was making it's way through her tired brain, but got even bigger at the mention of Larry Beal. She wanted to kill him more than ever.
"Oh No, not again!" a voice beside her groaned.
Ren looked in the voice's direction. Larry Beal was standing so close that she could barely breathe. Thinking of the test scores all week, she had thought a lot about Larry. She hadn't seen him all week, not after the slumber party.
Hmmm... I think I'll make my presence known to this pompous jerk...
"Ugh, tied again!!!"
As Larry turned towards the voice, he felt a sharp pain hit his foot. He winced and looked at the foot that pained him, finding a black high-heeled boot stepping on it. He looked at the boot's owner, surprised to find that it was Ren Stevens. She looked at him with mock sympathy.
"Oh, Larry, I'm, like, soooo sorry I stepped on your foot! I, like, totally didn't mean to. I, like, just wanted to see if, like, I stepped on your foot it would, like, actually hurt you." Ren said, imitating a ditz. Then, in her regular voice she said "Oh wait, I can talk like a human being. I'm not your girlfriend."
Larry almost laughed, but made it sound like a "Hmph."
"I see you lost the lingerie. Good. If you'd worn anything like that to school, your rep would be ruined. Not to mention all the guys that'll be all over you. It would kinda ruin the whole smartness thing." Larry joked.
Including me– WAIT a second, where'd THAT come from??? Larry thought, bewildered. Why was he even talking to her?
Ren looked at him, enraged. "Well that's a compliment coming from you. You've made a living of only looking on the outside."
"Like YOU don't look for good looks?"
"I look for both. You however...."
"Alright, fine. If you think you know exactly the type of girls I date, then show me. Be one of them. Act like one of them for one whole week. If you can't, you gotta flunk the next test. I you can, than I will." Larry regretted the words that came out of his mouth the minute he said them. But he knew he couldn't take back the challenge now. Ren's eyes were shooting daggers at him.
"Fine. But wait, hold on. You gotta show me you know my type a well as you think you do. You act like my type, or what you THINK is my type, the same week. Same prizes. Got it?"
Larry gaped at Ren. He hadn't been expecting that. But he shook her hand anyway, and both were surprised by a bolt of electricity running through their veins. They both walked away, thinking of the little bet the just made. And not knowing exactly what was happening next.