Alfred did better than his word. He showed up the next day for English planning on breaking every rule he could. He waltzed right in (A few minutes before the first bell so no one would be watching) wearing a cowboy hat, and he draped an arm casually around Ms. Kale's waist. "Morning darlin'." He said in the best southern drawl he could muster (Which was actually really good) "What's say you 'n me lock the door 'n pick up from last night?"

"What the hell are you doing Jones?" She asked, gingerly prying his hand off of her like it was a dead rat. "Annoying me for an hour in class just isn't good enough anymore?"

"Not at all darlin'. How 'bout I swing by after school for another hour too?"

"Give it a rest. That accent's creepy." She snapped, reaching for the metre stick on her desk threateningly. Al had only heard rumors about what happened when you pushed 'The K' too far, but like all freshmen before him, he'd thought they were just stories. Now he wasn't so sure.

"I'm gone!" He said, raising his hands in surrender. "But not forgotten."

"Sadly."

The bell rang, and Alfred flopped into his seat, swinging his feet up onto the desk, and tilting the hat down to cover his face, as he started to doze off.

"Geez Al! Don't do this!" Matt hissed in a muffled tone that told Al, who was now barely awake, that his brother had his face in his hands.

The sound of Ms. Kale's heels clicking on the tile grew louder, and a hand grabbed the hat, and pulled it off swiftly, nearly choking Al with the string attached. He opened one eye, and grinned at her scowl. "You gonna kiss me darlin'?"

"So God help me I will beat you." She hissed. "I'll see you in detention sans inner Texan if you don't mind." And with that, she turned around, and started writing the day's lesson on the blackboard, so she missed the victorious grin on Alfred's face.

This time, he went to detention with a bounce in his step. "You look pretty happy for someone stuck with 'the K' for another hour." His friend Gilbert called absent-mindedly. He was a little more preoccupied in annoying his little brother.

"Of course! I'm getting a date tonight!" He grinned.

Gil dropped the hand that was poking Ludwig's face in shock, then he matched the blond's grin. "My friend, you are a hero. People will praise your name forever more as the guy who died trying to date Ms. Kale. Gotta say, I'll miss you buddy."

"Well I won't deny the hero part, but who the hell in their right mind would date a teacher, really?"

"Ask Ivan about Russian literature sometime, he'll let you know. So who's the lucky girl then?"

"Ly. The Vietnamese girl."

This time, it was Gil's jaw that practically hit the floor. "In that case. I will make sure to attend your funeral… if they find the body that is." He managed, returning to his brother, offering a final sad wave to the teen behind him.

"Hey teach! I showed up, do I get a gold star?" He called, grinning. Blue eyes scanned the room, and found Ly in her seat at the back. "Hey Ly! You're here too? Small world!" He cheered, trying to sound genuinely surprised.

Her eyes flicked up briefly from the notebook she was writing in, and then went straight back down. "Hey dumbass."

"I'll take that as a new term on endearment, okay?"

"Stop talking Jones. I have a headache."

"Sure thing Ms. K! I'll be as silent as the grave." He promised, sitting down next to Ly, and resting his head on the desk, turning so he was watching her write. If he were as artistic as Matt, he decided, he'd probably draw her or something, but he was pretty satisfied in staring until she noticed.

Finally, she paused in whatever she was doing, and glanced up at him, raising an eyebrow as if to ask, 'What?'

Al just shrugged, and flashed her a wide grin, and continued staring until she sighed, and tore another page from her notebook and wrote quickly.

Do you really have nothing better to do than stare at me dumbass?

He blinked at the question, and then scrambled to grab his own notebook, and write a reply.

Not really. Plus, not like you're hard on the eyes.

Ly's eyes narrowed at that, and she turned back to the desk, and continued to ignore Alfred.

What'd I say… write? He grinned at his attempt at cleverness, but she just scowled at the paper on the desk. Come on! You can tell me!

Are you always this annoying?

It's a gift.

Ly rolled her eyes, and stood up. "Can I go to the bathroom K?"

"Go ahead."

"Me too?" Al asked hopefully.

"No."

Pouting, he sat back down, and started to figure out how he was going to ask Ly out. He started to scratch down possible conversations.

Wanna hang out on Friday? No. Too easy.

Will you go out with me? Now that made him sound desperate.

By the time Ly returned, he had about three pages of possibilities, none of which he liked, from pick-up lines to conventional 'will you go out with mes'.

"You two can leave now."

Crap. He was just going to have to wing it.

"Hey Ly!"

"What is it dumbass?"

"It'dbetotallyawesomeifyou'dgooutwithme!" He spat out rapidly, flinching as he did so. Anyone else would've found his expression adorable, too bad Ly wasn't one for adorable.

She stared at the blond in total confusion before asking, "Okay, what?"

"I'm asking you out."

"Are you high?"

"…I don't know…"

Her expression quickly switched from surprise, to its usual annoyance. "Yeah right." She sniffed. "I don't date morons."

"So is that a yes?" He asked hopefully, grinning from ear to ear. With his eyes practically glowing in anticipation. She could almost imagine him with a dog's tail, wagging in anticipation.

Ly almost laughed. Almost. She managed to catch herself before any giggles escaped, and sighed. "I'll think about it."

"Woot!" He cheered, punching the air. "See you tomorrow!" And leaving it at that, he dashed out of the school, where Matt was waiting in the car they shared. "I'm halfway there Mattie!"

"Halfway to what? Reading at a fifth grade level?"

"Geez, you know I'm nowhere near there. Your standards are way too high. I'm halfway to a date!"

"Halfway." He repeated flatly.

"Halfway." Alfred echoed, grinning. "She said she'd think about it."

"You realize that means no, right?"

As the two brothers started to argue again, Ly watched vaguely from her perch on a bench just inside the school. "Hey! Ly! I'm all done with the book club!" Mei's cheerful voice rang out, breaking her thoughts. "Thanks for not leaving without me. I know you don't like waiting."

"I wasn't waiting long. Ready to go?"

"Uhuh! So how was your day?"

She shrugged, still staring at the place where the twins' car had been sitting a minute ago. "Nothing special."