Chapter 6: How to Connect…I Think…

Zeke wove his way past his classmates to get into the lunch room. He was well aware of the fact that Kyo had a nearby class just like he did, so obviously, they would be alone, for a few minutes. Her comment from yesterday rang clear in his mind and it only fueled him more. Today, Zeke was determined to get her to crack, even a little. He took a seat at the usual table and put down his lunch bag.

Kyo made her way over to the table only to see Zeke sitting at. She paused and sighed deeply in annoyance. Part of her wanted to ditch Zeke and see how long it took him to realize that she was avoiding him and the other part wanted to ask what he was still doing at the Geek table. Tough call. She finally made up her mind and cringed as she walked straight up to the table. Zeke was reading the latest issue of Motor World as she came up to the table. Kyo cleared her throat to get his attention and he looked up from reading about the newest engine.

Zeke's pale, steel-blue eyes gazed directly at Kyo as he closed the magazine. She found it difficult to break her gaze with his since as his eyes were an interesting shade of blue. Never had she seen anything like it before in her life. Now her friend Riley had sky blue eyes and dark hair like Zeke's but her eyes were so generic. I thought his eyes were black, she thought as she blinked. When they got into the staring match that Friday, his eyes looked darker since they were farther away.

"I thought you were going back to your fan club back there," Kyo dryly noted as she took a seat across from him. No way would she sit anywhere close to him. Zeke pushed his lunch away and folded his arms.

"Afraid not," he replied coolly, "I had a deal with Charlie and Virgil and I hate breaking deals." He leaned back in his seat and studied Kyo's expression which hadn't changed a bit. He knew that this was going to be challenging but if she wanted to put up barriers, he wasn't going to let them stop him.

A long silence swept through their table and both loners looked straight at each other. Kyo finally broke the elongated silence between them. "So Loner," she began, "How do you like hanging with the geeks?"

"It's different from being alone," he commented thoughtfully, "Not that I thought that you would classify yourself as a geek." Kyo shrugged at him and replied that she preferred being a geek than being in the limelight. That he could relate to. It was his turn to ask her the burning question he wanted to know.

"So this whole blue ends thing," he noted as he gestured to the numerous blue dyed ends of Kyo's side ponytail, "Where did that come from?"

"This is the result of me having zippo to do over the summer," she replied in a straightforward manner, "My friend was off being a girl in France and I had nothing better to do." Kyo scrunched up her nose at the memory of that miserable summer. Riley was slowly embracing the feminine side of her, something that her mother had wanted her to do for several years. Since Riley was dating and wearing more girly clothes, her mom took her to France for the summer. Once she got back, Riley gave Kyo this filmy tank top from an upcoming designer, hoping to have the girly girl rub off on Kyo. Not a chance. Kyo ended up adding a plain cotton tank for underneath the top, adding straps, and sewing skull embroidery on it. The result? A punk-meets-France top. Riley had a fit when she found out what Kyo did to her gift but in the end, she did appreciate the fact that Kyo had worn it at least.

A small grin tugged at Zeke's lips as he heard Kyo's response. "Hmmm," he mused, "And you have issues with being a girl?"

"Yes, I do in some ways," Kyo mildly replied, "Why? What's it worth to you?" Her response was quick and slightly clipped. The question had caught her off guard and it seemed so unexpected from him. And why was he smiling at her comment?

Zeke shrugged his shoulders before sipping his soda. The awkward silence settled in again and both wondered where Charlie and Virgil were at that moment. Kyo knew that Chester had ditched them for good ever since he became Mr. Fashionable thanks to the Minutemen. Charlie and Jeanette at that moment were eating outside and Virgil was making up a test. Thanks guys, she thought, I just forgave you guys last night over the phone and now you guys ditched me. Joy. The sound of Zeke clearing his throat snapped her out of her reverie.

"Where are you from?" he asked quickly as he tried to save them from the silence. Kyo bit into her lunch and didn't answer right away. Zeke felt nervous since he was asking most of the questions and she was giving guarded answers. Was he asking the wrong questions?

Kyo swallowed her lunch and apologized for the delayed response. "I used to live in Santa Monica, California." She blinked a little as she noticed how uneasy Zeke was looking before she answered. An unsure look haunted his steel-blue eyes. "Okay biker kid, I have a question for you," she began calmly, "Who has blue eyes in your family?"

Her question had eased the tension in his chest and he let out a deep breath. In was a step in the right direction. "Uh," he stalled as he pondered her question, "I think my grandma did and maybe my mom's sister. None of my parents have blue eyes." Odd. Why was she asking about his eyes? Zeke's eyes flickered into a look of curiosity and Kyo quickly spoke up.

"It's an unusual color of blue you have," she explained, "I haven't met anyone with steel-blue eyes. It reminds me of a piece of metal, maybe a piece of polished chrome." He looked straight into her amber eyes before blushing slightly and eating his sandwich. Was that a compliment? Her tone wasn't hostile or defensive, just normal like how she was around Virgil and Charlie. More color flooded his cheeks as he thought about it. If it was a compliment, then it was his first. And it was coming from her.

"It is a good thing," she confirmed his theory, "You ended up being lucky." Okay, so maybe she didn't say the word 'compliment' but it sure sounded like one.

"Thank you," he answered simply. That was all. No tricks, no smooth tone, just a casual, simple thank you.

Kyo leaned back in her seat and lazily commented, "Hey, the biker kid lost the whole 'I'm-So-Smooth' tone. It must be an off day. Lucky me."

Zeke's eyes sharpened a little after her comment and a playful grin spread across his face. "Oh why did you miss it all of a sudden?" he joked back, "Because I can always go back to using it, just for you."

"No, no," she added quickly, "It's good this way. For some reason, people with that talking tone annoy me big time. You sound like a player when you do use that tone." He sat up a little straighter and smiled. It was some progress and at least she didn't attack him with a spork from the cafeteria. The sound of the bell broke the moment and both of them scrambled to get their stuff together.

"Later biker kid," Kyo told him as she walked out of the lunch room. As she walked away, Zeke felt his heart leap and flip 20 times at least. He tried to pull himself together as he ran to his next class but could still hear that very beating of his heart.