*Chapter 66*
After Oliver and Tessa said their kind goodbyes to Penny, Tessa and Oliver slowly began to mosey to their first hour class. The two hung in a gentle silence, the noise of the hallway flood their thoughts, though Tessa knew Oliver was still mulling over everything that was happening. Starting Academy, learning how to properly wreck, she knew it was probably a lot to take in for a small, twenty four hour span. She lightly peered to her younger brother; in his fully grown form, he was dashing. A proper, clean and handsome representation of her father. He stood about half a foot over Tessa, his large structure was proportionate to his height. She felt her heart swell for her younger brother, even though he was a bit taller, and a lot bigger. She lightly nudged Oliver and gave him a sweet smile, though he returned it with a confused smirk.
"What," Oliver huffed with a bashful smile as he nudged her back.
"Nothing," Tessa chirped quietly, she beamed a happy, closed mouth grin at him, "Just proud of you."
"I've only been here for three minutes and already you're proud?" Oliver heaved a small laugh as the two slowly moseyed down the A-Wing, where their first class was.
"Not about Academy," Tessa laughed gently and shook her head, she threw her eyes out to the small, thin crowd of gamers that traipsed to their classes as well, "Just in general. I'm proud to call you my brother, Olly."
"Yeah?" Oliver gave her a kind smirk and furrowed his eyebrows, "I thought you hated me, growing up."
"We're siblings," Tessa cocked an eyebrow and gave him an annoyed look, "It's what we do. Take the sap before it's gone, dude."
"Noted," Oliver nodded and rolled his eyes lightly, though he slid his eyes back to his older sister with a kind, mildly contemplative smirk. He finally beamed his infamous gap-tooth smile, a trait he shared with her, and largely lugged his arm around her shoulder. She exhaled a startled noise and wobbled, though she finally eased into Oliver's arm. He lazily draped his arm off of her opposite shoulder and proudly showed off his sister, "Love you, Tess."
"Love you too, Ol," Tessa said in a kind, gentle tone as she lightly elbowed his ribs.
The two bantered in a fit of gentle nudges and shoves, though they eased once they reached their first class. Tessa beamed an excited smile, though it quickly dipped as she suddenly just realized just who they shared Applied Coding with. She quickly stopped Oliver and pushed on his chest lightly. He harshly furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and peered down at her.
"What's wrong?" Oliver wondered as he gestured his hand a little.
"I-I forgot to tell you something," Tessa whispered quietly as she glanced to the gaping door of their first hour. Oliver glanced back at their class nervously, as well, before he slid his honey brown gaze to Tessa's in a swipe of growing apprehension.
"What happened?" Oliver wondered as his demeanor sunk back to shy insecurity.
"... Selka is in this class, with us," Tessa eased; she was more than floored to see Oliver's kind, confused expression easily slide to a furrowed, brooding anger. Tessa lightly put her fingertips to his chest to ease him, "I'm sorry, I totally forgot to tell you... H-He usually leaves me alone, but-"
"Oh he will, now," Oliver dared darkly as he glared down at his sister, in a protective way.
"Ol, you can't cause a scene, you don't want to get expelled," Tessa eased, "Trust me... There have been several times where I've wanted to lash out at him, but you can't, at Academy... It's sort of a dog-eat-dog world, here... Verbally, anyhow. You have to learn how to quell your physical anger."
"After yesterday?" Oliver chuckled as he lightly shook his head, as if to convey to Tessa that this will be difficult.
"You have to promise me, Oliver," Tessa urged quietly as a few people slipped by them, "You have to keep face. Selka just wants a rise out of me... That's all."
"I'll try," Oliver uttered as he darkly glanced back at their first class.
"And mom and dad thought I'D be the problem, at Academy," Tessa grumbled, though she slipped her hand into Oliver's and squeezed it, "I know you're protective... But he can't harm us, here."
Oliver lightly nodded and peered down into his sister's inquisitive gaze. She nodded in return and gave him a soft smile before she gently began to lead the two into their class. As they moved inside, Tessa gentle motioned for him to follow her as she found her usual seats towards the back corner of the class. She noticed not everyone was here yet, she figured they had a few minutes to spare before the late bell rang. She gently sat down and motioned for Oliver to sit to her right. The two quietly got settled, though Oliver's eyes scanned the room.
"This is a lot different, than I thought," Oliver said to her quietly as the warm room filled their existence with calmness and serenity. He inhaled a reviving breath and gently nodded, "I could get used to this."
"Yeah, I love this class in the morning," Tessa gestured towards the large bay windows that overlooked the courtyard, "The morning sun hits this room just right."
"Seriously," Oliver gently agreed, though in his peripheral, he noticed a certain someone slowly march into the room.
He inhaled a steady breath and kept his eyes glued to Selka as he entered the room filled with quiet, sleepy chit-chat. Oliver felt the wrecking rage in his blood begin to sky rocket, though it hit it's peak once he noticed Selka's eyes slide over to Tessa. Tessa had her attention down into her bag, as she kindly rummaged for a pencil. Oliver harshly furrowed his eyebrows, and within Selka's glance at Tessa, he double-took on Oliver and lightly changed his demeanor. Oliver death glared him across the room and knew it took every last ounce of self control to not go rocketing right for Selka. He tilted his head down and challenged Selka to try it; his subtle, dominant glare was enough to make Selka largely look away and find his seat. The skulking, dominant vibe he had, when he entered the room, quickly sunk as he came to grips with the fact that Tessa's much stronger, bigger brother was now apart of this equation.
"Easy, Ol," Tessa said softly as she lightly held her hand on his larger ones. She pat the backs of his hands with tender kindness as she lightly glanced at the back of Selka's head, "He's not bothering us, just relax."
"I'm trying," Oliver said with a forced, gentle tone. He nodded lightly before shaking his head, as if he had opposing thoughts flitting about in his head, an internal argument Tessa was certain was a massive, inner battle for right and wrong. His nervous eyes held to hers softly, as if to ask her to distract him.
"If it makes you feel better, the last time I talked to that idiot was the day he found out Zane was Zed," Tessa gave him a hopeful smile, which, to her surprise, made Oliver's shoulders finally relax.
"That helps," Oliver lightly nodded, though he kept his concentrated stare to his older sister's, as if she was the only calm thing he could latch onto and stay sane.
"Zed really opened a door, yesterday, didn't he," Tessa said quietly with a knowing chuckle as she continue to pat the back of Oliver's hand, "You used to be the epitome of calm. Now, we can't calm you down!"
"I-I feel a lot better, if that makes any sense," Oliver said calmly to her, "I've been so busy stuffing my feelings. Felt good to let it out. I-I hope you know, I wasn't mad at Zed."
"I figured he was just baiting you," Tessa nodded a little with a small shrug, "You guys have gotten close, anyhow. It was nice of him to play a brotherly role, towards you."
"It helped," Oliver scoffed with a growing smile, "Though, in the moment, I wanted to kill him."
"Yeahhh," Tessa lightly looked away, "Pretty sure he's used to having people feel that way towards him."
"... Sorry for teasing you, in the station, earlier," Oliver said honestly; Tessa shot him an annoyed look.
"Yeah. That sucked," Tessa quietly snapped. Oliver softly rolled his eyes.
"It was just banter," Oliver urged.
"Prod at an open wound, I think it's hilarious," Tessa said in a dull, sarcastic tone, though Oliver gently furrowed his eyebrows and looked down to the counter in a contemplative way. He lightly slid his eyes to hers and gave her the utmost, honest look.
"Talk to me," Oliver said gently, his gentle look of anguished inquisition flinched to mild confusion once Tessa scoffed a small noise of surprise.
"What? About what?" Tessa dared as her cheeks turned red; Oliver beamed and gestured his hand.
"About this open wound of yours. I don't want you to constantly have to go to Penny for these issues you're having," Oliver gave her a dull smile, "You know she just squeals and fangirls over whatever happens to you and Zed, y'know."
"She's given some awesome advice, in the past," Tessa fought, though Oliver's brotherly stare on her only grew.
"I know why you're upset," Oliver started in a gentle tone as he looked down to the counter, he gestured his hand lightly and slid his eyes back to Tessa's in sharp intuition, "Back when you thought Zed was a faux-code, like us, the idea of swapping was something you could afford... Now that it's foreign territory, unexplained and unnamed, you're scared. I've heard the theories of that kind of a swap, with a gamer whose programming doesn't match yours. Some of them good, some of them bad."
"What have you heard?" Tessa wondered softly, though Oliver raised his eyebrows and lightly looked about Tessa's face.
"Well," Oliver hissed through a small sigh, "I've heard it's doable, you get a brand new code color and are considered a rarity in Arcade."
"New code color, like... Red and blue make purple?" Tessa insinuated from her mother and father.
"Not quite," Oliver furrowed his eyebrows, "I've heard some gamers gain gold, bronze, or silver coloring. Sometimes black or white... Even a mixture of a whole slew of colors. Something that you can't simply get from mixing two colors together. A rare code color."
"That's it?" Tessa wrinkled her nose, though she slumped her shoulders once Oliver looked down in mild anguish.
"Well, no, that's just a theory," Oliver's eyes pierced hers, "Something else I've heard is that the user-made gamer's code practically eats the self-programmed gamer's code alive, and... You'd cease to exist."
"What?" Tessa hissed nervously, "B-but... That's just a theory?"
"Yeah, no one knows for certain what happens when a faux-code and user-made gamer swap codes," Oliver eased, "... It's obvious you and Zed haven't discussed this, have you."
"No," Tessa frowned, "I-I'm too scared it'll sort of... Scare him off."
"Scare him off," Oliver repeated with a wide smile as he lulled his face and head into his large hand. He heaved a soft laugh and ruffled his black hair a little before he peered his eyes into Tessa's nervous ones, "You're not going to scare that guy away, I can tell you that much. No matter what you do."
"I don't want anything to stop... Us," Tessa gestured to herself, "I'd be devastated if he dumped me because of the fear of code swapping going wrong."
"Well," Oliver lightly looked away before his honest eyes held to Tessa's, "Do... Do you want to swap with him?"
"Olly," Tessa complained sternly as her face turned red.
"I'm not teasing you," Oliver eased as his gentle demeanor remained just that. He lightly cupped her hand in his large one and eagerly peered at her, "I'm genuinely wondering."
Tessa held her breath and let her gaze glance back and forth between Oliver's honest eyes. She exhaled finally and slumped her shoulders a little as she whispered her answer, "Yes."
"Buuut," Oliver gestured his free hand a little, "You're scared to ask him about it, because of what could or couldn't happen?"
"Yes," Tessa repeated gently, her gaze held so many questions to Oliver's eyes. She furrowed her eyebrows as her nervous gaze deepened, "I-I just don't want to mention it, and have him be totally weirded out, or something."
"He's a guy, Tess," Oliver scoffed as he closed his eyes and beamed for emphasis, "Trust me. He won't be weirded out. You should ask him sometime. Just be honest, surely he'll understand."
"Hey, Zed, lemme uh, just, get some of that code of yours, yeah?" Tessa joked in a dull tone as she pretended to gesture to him, "It'll kill me? Awesome, no biggie."
"Only if done incorrectly," Oliver laughed quietly, "I think there are complications, but I've heard there are ways around being eaten alive by his interior coding."
"Do you know what it entails?" Tessa wondered as she slumped her arm to the counter, though Oliver side-eyed her.
"No, but I know you have your handy-dandy Program Ed. text book taking refuge in your bag," Oliver said slyly; Tessa furrowed her eyebrows at him.
"How did you know that?" Tessa wondered in an embarrassed tone.
"Because, I saw you putting it in your bag this morning," Oliver chuckled, "I'm not blind, or stupid. Just read up on what the book says."
"What if the book is wrong?" Tessa wondered nervously.
"Well, then I guess you're just gunna have to dive in head first to this issue, with Zed, now won't you?" Oliver lightly tilted his head back and forth, in a playful way, to get his point across. He softened with a small laugh and pat Tessa's hand, "Just... Talk to Zed. Maybe he actually has legit answers, and you being too shy to ask is your ultimate downfall."
"You're right," Tessa hissed, "How do I ask?"
"Tessa," Oliver heaved a small chuckle and shook his head; his eyes twinkled with kind annoyance, "I don't know! Does it look like I have experience on the subject-matter?"
Tessa exhaled a hard, annoyed sigh and slumped into her seat. She peered out the windows that hung high above the courtyard. She furrowed her eyebrows lightly and ran over different scenarios in her head, of just how to bring this sticky topic up to Zed. She knew he'd respond well, and be patient, though the mere thought of not being able to express her full heart of love, to him, made her soul want to cry. She sighed, yet again, and let her body relax once and for all. She bit her lip lightly and wondered just when the right opportunity would present itself. She knew she'd have to bide her time and be extra careful, though she almost hoped that Zed would somehow beat her to it.
A/N: You have no idea how many MatPat 'Game Theory' puns I wanted to make in this chapter...