None of you guessed who the new character would be, but I also didn't really give you any hints. Unfortunately, this person wasn't on the show nearly enough. *sniff*
This chapter has been rewritten.
Chapter Ten
Pushing up his glasses further up on the bridge of his nose, Milton Mamet glanced up from his book to look around at his other classmates. The noise level had steadily increased every minute their teacher was late. He was surprised no one had stood on a desk, yet, or started throwing paper airplanes. However, he didn't mind the noise; it barely registered to him as he recited the periodic table in his head. He did that often when he was bored and seeing as no one in the room talked to him, he found himself doing it quite often.
Milton didn't have friends. Not here and not at his old school, where he had transferred from a few years back. His classmates ridiculed him for his intelligence and love for the sciences. It wasn't his fault that he enjoyed reading a book more than he liked 'hanging out', well, at least, he figured he would like reading more than hanging out if he had friends to hang out with. There was only so much anyone could do in their small town; they didn't even have a mall, while Milton knew he could go anywhere every time he stuck his nose into a book.
His thoughts were elsewhere when his table was jostled and his tablemate took a seat with a huff. He knew his name was Daryl, but Milton had never gotten the nerve to actually say anything to him. Daryl always looked angry and it kind of scared him, sometimes. He often prayed that no anger would be directed at him because he would have no idea how to defend himself against a guy like Daryl.
Today, though, Daryl didn't look angry. He looked...embarrassed, which was an odd emotion to see on someone like him. Daryl's cheeks were flushed a deep red and he kept his head down.
"Are you okay?" Milton didn't know the words had come from his mouth until Daryl turned to look at him, equally shocked. Great, he thought. Now, he's going to beat me into a pulp for talking to him. It was bad enough that Ed Peletier had made him his new victim.
"What?" Daryl squinted at him, like he couldn't believe that Milton actually had a voice.
"Um. I-I asked i-if you were all right." God, he was such a wuss. No wonder he found himself the butt of countless jokes and shoved into lockers. Well, he might as well commit to it if this was going to be the last time he would ever be able to speak. "So, are you? Fine, I mean."
Daryl looked away from him and placed his forearms on the desk. Milton couldn't help but notice the way his biceps bulged at the movement and gulped. "I'm fine," Daryl mumbled. "Uh. Thanks."
Milton was shocked. No one had ever thanked him for anything. Not even the jocks that would take his homework and copy it. How did one respond to that?
Luckily, their science teacher walked into the classroom and the time for talking came to an end.
Daryl couldn't help but sneak glances at his bespectacled table-mate with slight confusion. They had been sitting by one another all year and the only time Daryl had heard Milton's voice was when he answered a question for the teacher, which was pretty often now that he thought about it. But no one, outside of Carol, had ever asked if he was okay and the way Milton visibly seemed to shake around him gave Daryl the impression that the guy was afraid of him.
He knew he would never hurt the guy, and he saw how Milton would sit by himself at lunch. Daryl went back to the time where that used to be him sitting on his own, all those years before Carol had pushed herself into his life. Not that he was complaining.
The sound of chairs scrapping across the linoleum floor had Daryl jerking his head up to look around. Other students had gotten out of the seats and were now moving around the classroom. Class wasn't over, yet, so he wondered what the hell he had missed.
"They're picking partners for our end of the year project," Milton offered, knowing that he had been looking around the room confused.
"Oh." Daryl turned in his stool. "Do you have a partner, yet?"
"No." Milton's face began to redden with what looked like embarrassment.
"Well, uh, do you want to be partners, then?"
Milton blinked in surprise. Most people only wanted to be his partner because they knew he would give them a good grade and that he would do all the work, but he knew that wasn't why Daryl was asking him, now.
Pushing up his glasses, again, he smiled. "Sure."
After class, Daryl made his way back to his locker to drop off his science book before finding Carol and heading off to lunch, together. He didn't have to go very far to find her because she was already at his locker, waiting.
She smiled, brightly as he got closer, and his heart started to beat fast in his chest. "So. How come you've never given me your locker combination?"
Daryl smirked and rolled his eyes. "Probably cuz I don't want you goin' through my shit." She stepped out of the way so he could put in his combination.
"What do you have in there, anyway?" She tried to peer over his shoulder, but Daryl made sure to get in her way, knowing that it would annoy her.
She huffed when she realized she wasn't going to see anything and placed a hand on her hip. "Don't tell me you have your crossbow in there."
"I should," he grunted. "Especially when you start gettin' too nosy for your own good and I have to shoot you in the ass."
"Watch it, Dixon." She jabbed a finger in his face with a scowl. "I bring you lunch everyday and I can easily spit in your sandwich without you ever knowing it!"
Outside in the courtyard, Daryl spotted their table, one that sat on the outskirts of the wide open area, and saw that it was unoccupied. Most days they were able to eat at the table and others, they would have to relocate to somewhere else in the courtyard. Daryl didn't mind as long as he was able to sit by Carol and eat his lunch, or should he say, the lunch Carol would bring for him.
Once they reached the table, Daryl took his seat across from Carol and watched as she dumped the contents of her paper bag in the middle of the table, like she did every day. Daryl grabbed the ham sandwich he knew was his and took a giant bite. This morning, there had been nothing to eat for breakfast at his house, like usual, so by lunch time he was starving.
After swallowing the large bite, something behind Carol's head caught his attention. Milton. Carol noticed the direction of his gaze and turned around, eyes searching for whatever he was looking at.
"Is there something wrong?" She asked when she turned around to face him, again.
"You see that guy over there? The one with the glasses." He gestured to the table Milton was sitting.
"Milton?" She asked before turning to check that it was Milton Daryl had been talking about.
"You know him?"
"Yeah, I know Milton. We had a class together, once. He seems really nice, but keeps to himself most of the time." Looking back over her shoulder, once more, her brow furrowed. "What about him?"
"He's in my science class. Actually has been sitting by me all year, and he talked to me for the first time today. He's pretty smart, though." His attention went back to his sandwich, where he began to pick of pieces and shoving them in his mouth. "It's a shame that he has to sit by himself."
"I can go over there and ask him to sit with us. If you want."
Daryl shrugged, hoping it put off a nonchalant vibe. "Do whatever you want." He took another bite of his sandwich, and focused his attention somewhere else, but from the corner of his eye, he saw Carol beam at him before getting up to talk to Milton.
Daryl watched her go and hoped Milton took her up on his their offer. No one deserved to sit alone. It sucked.
Several seconds later, Milton trailed behind Carol back to the table and awkwardly took a seat beside her before adjusting his glasses.
"Hey," Daryl mumbled.
Milton said a quick hello back and seemed very nervous. His hands shifted on the table top and his eyes were focused more on the table than the two other people sitting with him. It was clear he didn't know what to do with himself, now that he was no longer sitting on his own.
Carol slid something to him with a large smile. "Do you want a banana pudding?"
It took a few minutes before Milton began to warm up to them. Carol immediately took the opportunity to engage him in a conversation. That was another thing Daryl loved about Carol, she would go out of her way to make sure someone didn't feel left out. She had done it for him all those years ago. Daryl watched the two with a smile.
Milton seemed nice enough. A little strange with the proper way he talked, but otherwise Daryl hadn't found anything wrong with him and he didn't seem to mind that he was a Dixon. Of course, he had been scared of him, earlier, but Daryl hoped that had quickly changed once Milton had talked with him for a bit.
Carol's laugh pulled him out of his thoughts and looked up to find Milton smiling slightly to himself, cheeks flushed and looking down at his now empty pudding cup. Daryl could tell, right away, that Milton liked the idea of having someone to laugh with him and not at him.
Daryl felt the same way.
Carol was enjoying her conversation with Milton and was glad that Daryl had pointed her in his direction. Even though he hadn't said as much, she knew Daryl had wanted Milton to join them for lunch.
She could tell that Daryl saw himself a little in Milton. The outcast. The boy no one wanted to talk to, even though he had a lot of good things to say. She as glad that Daryl had wanted to reach out to someone just so they wouldn't have to go through what he had when he was younger. Before Carol had forced herself into his life.
Their conversation stopped when Milton paused in the middle of his sentence to look over her shoulder and Carol saw Daryl tense from the corner of her eye. Turning around, she was surprised to find Ed standing there and looking down at her with a wide smile.
"Hey, Carol," he said, eyes only on her. Carol could have sworn she heard Daryl's jaw clench, but didn't allow herself to wonder why.
"Hi!" She said, brightly and slightly flattered that he had come over from his packed table to say hi to her. "What's up?"
"Well, I couldn't help but notice that you were sitting on your own, so I decided to come over and ask if you wanted to join my friends and me?"
"What do you mean I'm sitting alone?" Instantly, her smile faded. Oh. Had he really just done that, with Daryl and Milton sitting right there? A surge of anger shot through her and she tilted her chin up.
"No, thank you, Ed. I will not sit with you and your friends. I'd much rather sit with mine." She wanted to yell at him or scream. Mostly, she wanted to punch that smug grin off his face. She couldn't believe had had thought he was cute and nice. Jessica had been right. Ed was a jerk.
Ed snorted. An incredibly ugly sound. "These two are your friends? This dork and that piece of redneck trash?"
The last part did it for her. No one talked about Daryl like that. He had already spent years hearing terribly and disgusting names thrown at him. She shot to her feet so fast, she jostled the table.
"Go. Away," she hissed and shoved him a little. Instead of looking angry, Ed looked amused, which made her even angrier. "I never want you anywhere near me again. Do you understand? Daryl has thought me a few things and I'm pretty sure, I'll be able to lay your ass on the ground if I really want to." She poked him hard in the chest. "Don't make me want to, Ed Peletier."
Ed didn't respond to her. Instead, he looked over her should and looked right at Daryl. "You're going to let your girl talk to me like this, hick?"
Carol gaped at Ed. Had he just said that she was Daryl's girl? Since when? She looked over at Daryl, who just smiled smugly at Ed as he leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. "Hell yes, asshole. And you best believe her, too. She will lay your ass out if she wants to."
"Whatever." Ed slid his eyes back at her, finally looking angry. "I guess it's your loss, babe. That piece of shit will never give it to you good, like I would have." And he stomped off.
Carol's face flamed and Daryl watched Ed's retreating form with a smirk.
Thanks for reading!