Chapter 20: Chivalrous Duels and Realizations

Tuesday, October 23, 2007, math class, 11 am

What the heck is Tyson's problem? Why is he looking at me, and then looking away when I turn his way? Am I supposed to read into that?

Cutting right to the chase, Tyson is completely avoiding me because of that stupid closet kiss thing that happened yesterday. Actually, to be more specific, I was the one who kind of started avoiding him, by getting a ride to school instead of the bus, and hiding out in the bathroom until class started.

And yes, that is very immature of me, but this feels so…different. With Ben it was way more direct and…and expected. With Tyson, I have no idea where any of this is going.

But the weird part was that I kind of like it.

With that thought in mind, I turned to Tyson. He was staring out the window, his gaze slightly hued over with thought. I smiled. Tyson could look so smart when he wanted to.

Sigh. I wish he would tell me what's wrong though. I have no idea what goes through that thick head of his sometimes. It's irritating, yeah, but I like his type well than I like…say, Mark. His type, I mean.

Who is looking at me in his lecherous way, once again.

Seriously, I think that kid has problems. He hits on me all the time, whether or not Tyson is watching. And I happen to notice that Tyson isn't too fond of it. Just today, when I walked into the class, and walked by his desk to get to mine, he tried to look up my skirt.

Let's just say Tyson wanted to punch his lights out for that one. I did too, in fact.

Note: wear jeans tomorrow.

Same day, rooftop, lunch-12: 30 pm

I think I love and hate Tyson even more, if that even makes sense.

Continuing what I was saying before, Mark is the biggest pervert around. Although, with his big brown eyes and dreamy smile, you would never guess it, he is one. And, somewhere along the school year, he got the feeling that I like him.

So, while I was packing up when the lunch bell ring, I saw Tyson coming my way out of the corner of my eye. I blushed lightly, but pretended I didn't see him.

But before he could come, Mark popped up from somewhere and started talking to me, about whatever. Like the weather, sports, school, and the usual.

All the while though, I never saw his hand creeping to my thigh.

Yep, gross.

So, while I was half listening to what he was saying, I felt a light tingly feeling on my upper thigh. I shook it away as something-nerves, dust, whatever. But, when the feeling suddenly became bold and tried to creep up higher, I looked down and saw his hand going upwards.

I screamed angrily and jumped up from my seat, knocking me and him over. Instantly, he got a hold of my waist and pushed my upwards, until I was leaning against my desk, and he was looking down on me.

Internally, I panicked. There was no way this guy would kiss me and take away the feeling of Tyson's lips on mine. Externally, however, I couldn't move. I was stiff as a board and he could have his way with me, as nasty as that sounds.

"Hilary…" he breathed, before his lips lowered……

…and then his hand hung. Something hit him on the head.

And when we looked behind his back, we saw Tyson, his face red with uncontrolled anger, and his arms in a position to throw something. A stapler was lying on the floor.

My eyes widened, and being the motherly person I am, I brought Mark's head down to examine the bump. It was bleeding slightly and it was swelling.

"Why'd you do that?" I exclaimed, my eyes never leaving Mark's head.

Tyson exploded. "What do you mean why did I do that? I did that to stop him from kissing you!" he yelled, his anger radiating off of him.

I lifted my gaze to meet him. "You didn't have to throw a stapler!" I simply stated, letting Mark fall to the floor.

Suddenly, Mark jumped up, and held my hands in his. "Oh, Hilary, I knew you cared for me…."

I rolled my eyes, as Tyson screamed, "You just don't learn!". "Dream on, Mark. You could have been killed."

Mark looked deep in my eyes, and I felt disgusted. "My precious Hilary, why would you care for me if you didn't have feelings for me?"

"THAT"S IT!" Tyson screamed, a red aura surrounding him. He pointed a finger in Mark's direction. "You and me, beybattle after school! You're going down, you stupid perv!"

I gaped at him, as did the class. I mean, Tyson's always been…..a performance, but never about me. It's usually about a battle or one of his friends. Unless I count in that category, of course. Not battles, I mean, that we're friends. Then it would make perfect sense.

Mark shrugged. "Fine, whatever. We'll see who is best for Hilary's affections." He said gallantly, taking my hand and kissing it. My eyes widened and a blush appeared over my face, and then he was out the door and gone.

I looked over at Tyson and watched his expression shift from anger to Mark, to anger at me, which is ten times worse.

"Just what in all the names of heck were you doing?" he cried, looking at me with narrowed eyes.

I smiled sweetly, feeling bold enough to ignite his anger. "I was making sure he wasn't hurt." I answered, leaning against my desk once again.

His eyes blazed with fury. "He was being a sick, twisted perv and you wanted to see if he was okay?" he questioned angrily, his brows furrowed with confusion and uncontrolled rage.

"Um…well, you did throw a stapler at him."

"So?!"

"Why couldn't it be something that doesn't have the potential to kill him? Like a pencil maybe?"

"Who said I didn't want to kill him?"

"Tyson!"

"What, Hil?" he asked, stepping towards me. "I have a right to be angry, since he was hitting on you! You think I'm gonna let him do that after we--"

I interrupted him. "—became engaged, I know. But I can take care of myself, okay? I had that perfectly under control." I stated, nodding my head and crossing my arms over my chest.

He rolled his eyes at me. "Right. So why didn't you do anything when he was trying to kiss you?"

I felt myself flush at that question and I couldn't come up with an answer for a bit. I looked down and I knew the answer, because I was frozen. I was in shock. But that would make me look weak and I couldn't say that. Instead, I said, "Look, Tyson, I appreciate it. I really do. But let me fight my own battles, okay? I can deal with a perv like him on my own terms, and I don't need you to interfere."

"So what are you saying? That I don't need to help you out?"

I sighed and pushed myself off the desk. "No, I'm saying that it's my fight, so let me handle it."

"No." Tyson stated simply, looking directly at me. "If anything's happening with anybody else, it has nothing to do with me. But if it's about you," he paused, "it has everything to do with me. It's become my business since the time he got that idea that he can do this to you. I don't care what you think, you're my fiancée, so shut up and let me fight for you."

I felt myself blush pleasantly, but one part of me, my pride, wouldn't let it go. Instead of smiling, which is what my heart and soul wanted me to do, I narrowed my eyes. "You just don't get it, do you?"

I threw my hands up in the air. "I'm so tired of waiting for you to get it. And I'm not sticking around for you to get the message." I said, before grabbing my lunch and leaving the classroom. I gave him a glare, that wasn't that powerful, before I left.

So, now I'm confused. I'm glad that he wants to help me and fight for me. But can't I fight for myself? I'm not a baby. And I'm sure not weak.

Come to think of it, I've never thought of myself as a damsel in distress. Well, except for when those guys kidnapped me and Kenny, but that's totally different. Now Tyson's just fighting for me.

I like that. He's fighting for me. Just for me. Me, Hilary future Granger. Hilary Tyson Granger.

I think I should stop writing before I go way overboard.

Same day, my room, 8 pm

I ran anxiously from the school, desperate to get to Tyson's match with Mark. I had to run all the way from school, to my house, then to the park, where the duel was going down. There was no way I was letting Tyson fight alone.

By the time I got there, Tyson and Mark were already trash-talking each other. I hate this part. They stare each other down and talk. Like, what the hell?

Anyways, I sighed a breath of relief as I got there. I approached Tyson and placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled warmly when he turned to me. "I know you'll do great." I said meaningfully.

Tyson grabbed my hands in his and looked deeply in my eyes. "Do you really mean that?" he asked, hope filling his eyes.

I smiled once again. "Well, of course you will! Cause you'll be blading with me!" I reached into my pocket and pulled out my beyblade. I pushed a stunned Tyson out of my way and pointed at Mark. "You'll pay for what you tried to do to me today!" I said, anger seeping out of my words.

Tyson, snapping out of his stunned world, grabbed my wrist angrily. "There's no way you're blading with me!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, right. You'd want to blade if the roles were switched, so stop being a pest and let me!"

"No!" he exclaimed, narrowing his eyes. "There's more to this, isn't there? You have an ulterior motive, don't you?"

I blinked. What is he talking about? "Um…he looked up my skirt and tried to kiss me. I think I have an appropriate motive, don't you think?" I asked innocently, but inside I was seething. This is my fight; I didn't need anybody fighting for me!

"I don't care! I challenged him, so it's my fight!"

"Well, you shouldn't have challenged him in the first place!"

"What am I supposed to do? Let him touch you when you're mine?"

I stopped short, my breath catching in my throat. When you're mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. I belonged to someone.

And it scared me. A lot. Now that I think about it, it makes me have these flutters in my stomach.

But anyways, back to the subject. Tyson was staring at me intently, but blushing all the while, and I was about to stammer some unintelligent response back until someone coughed on the other side of me.

"You know, Tyson, why not let Hilary battle me? I mean, I wasn't hitting on you or anything." Mark said, highly amused at our argument.

Tyson growled. "Shut up, you perv! You don't have a right to talk!"

I smiled weakly. "C'mon, Tyson. Let me battle him, please! I want to defend myself for a change!"

Tyson stared long hard at me, and then glanced back to Mark. "If he touches you during the match, I'll swear I'll…"

He didn't finish his sentence, because I threw my arms around his neck. "Thanks, Tyson!" I exclaimed happily, pecking him once on the cheek before turning to Mark. "You're so dead."

Mark's smirk widened into a grin. "Let's make this interesting, shall we?"

Before I could answer, Tyson's voice rang up, as irritated as ever. "What do you mean, interesting?"

He smiled knowingly. "You know, if you win you get something, that whole jazz."

I grinned. "Fine, if you lose you got to stop being a perv. Now let's battle!"

He waggled his fingers. "What about me, Hilary? Don't I get something if I win?" he asked, his lecherous smile growing. I shuddered.

"You're not gonna win though, but fine. What do you want?" I asked, exasperatedly. God, he is so annoying.

He raised his eyebrows. "You know what I want, Hilary. If I win, I get a kiss from you." He said, his smile faltering a bit. I noticed it but didn't say anything more.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Fine, whatever. Can we battle now?" I asked, placing my hands on my hips.

"Wait!" yelled Tyson, grabbing my shoulder and spinning me around. His eyes were burning with emotions and I felt trapped like I had yesterday in the closet. "You're gonna let him kiss you?" he asked sternly, shaking his head as if the thought was impossible.

"He's not going to win." I pointed out quietly. "Besides, I doubt the pretty boy can't even blade." I stated, turning back around. "Okay, finally. Let's finish this quick; I've got homework to do."

I'm going to skip this part, because compared to what happens next. All you need to know is that this guy is actually good, and I was almost this close to being lip locking with that freak. But luckily, I had Tyson behind me and telling me pointers. I don't know if that's cheating, but I'd do anything to win at that time.

So when the crowd dissipated and the only people left were Ben, Tyson and I, I took a good look at Mark. He looked sad and defeated, but still had his proud demeanor.

"Hey," I said, as I walked over to him. I saw a light of emotion as he looked up that I couldn't recognize, but as quickly as it came, it left. "Are you okay?"

He grinned. "I'll be fine after I--" His arms snaked to my waist, but Tyson's angry face made him stop and take his hand away, covering the mistake with a cough. "I'll be fine." He repeated.

I nodded. "That's good. Listen, no hard feelings, its just that I've got this big lug here and I don't think I can handle a fiancée and a lecher, you know?"

He smiled, and walked closer to me. "I understand," he whispered, giving me a friendly kiss on the cheek. He turned to Tyson and said, "You're a lucky dude." Before turning and walking away in the sunset.

I smiled and turned to face Tyson. "Well, I guess we should go---" I sweat dropped as I noticed Tyson fuming. "What now?"

He turned to me, flabbergasted. "What is that guy's problem? He's not yours to kiss!" he exclaimed, glaring deadly at Mark's retreating back.

I rolled my eyes. "And who I am around to kiss then, huh, you?" As soon as those exited my mouth, I regretted it. Why would I say that? Stuff like that is supposed to stay in my head!

Tyson blushed and looked down. "Well, I mean, err….we are engaged, after all." He finally stuttered out, his gaze never leaving the floor.

I narrowed my eyes. "Oh, so you're using the engagement as reason to kiss me?" I asked with a slight irritation in my voice.

He looked up suddenly and took hold of my shoulders. "No way, I would never do that!" he cried dramatically, his grip on my shoulder so forceful that it made me flinch.

"So you'd never kiss me?" I asked eager to hear his response. His face lost its determination and all was left was pure confusion, and I felt a sudden urge to kiss him then.

He smiled softly, his eyes lingering from my eyes to my lips. "I'd never kiss you if you didn't want me to." He whispered, his voice becoming hoarse. I gulped as my eyes traveled to his mouth. And I wondered if I could kiss him again.

But then, I had to be the screw up that I am and I broke away from him, my eyes widened with surprise. He looked puzzled for a second, then angry. "God, Hil, what is wrong with you?"

Instantly, my awkwardness turned into anger. "What do you mean by that?!" I asked angrily, my nose being put in his face.

Tyson's face became a very interesting shade of red, and he smirked. "You're just scared, you big wimp." He stated, still smirking.

I gasped. "I am not a wimp! What would I be afraid of?" I asked.

He looked down at me as he walked closer to me. "Afraid of what you feel. You're afraid of me." He simply stated, looking down at me with blazing eyes. My eyes widened once more. I was afraid of Tyson.

I gulped, backing away from him. I didn't need this. I just broke up with Ben for good, and I wasn't ready. I know I love Tyson, but wouldn't it be better if we just chilled out for a bit?

But of course, being the socially challenged girl I am, I didn't say that. I rolled my eyes and muttered a 'whatever' before turning around and leaving in the direction of home.

"Hilary, get back here! I'm not done with you!" he yelled after me. I kept on walking, but what he said next won't get out of my head.

"And I'm not gonna wait forever!"

Well……………there you go. Tyson is a little OOC in this fic, but anyways review!!