Chapter 2

Lee couldn't be more elated. Telling Holger and Cam the news between period was so exciting it was like nearly peeing yourself from too much soda. The news chimes sounded, the students looking up at the closed-circuit television to the freelance news reporters. Lee's cheeks flushed at the sight of the small-framed figure of his longtime crush Tina Kwee sitting behind the desk.

"Good morning A. Nigma High!" she said cheerily, "I'm—"
"She's Tina Kwee and I'm the reason you're all watching in the first place," her co-anchor butt in rudely, "The more interesting Chaz Monorainian!" Tina rolled her eyes in disgust at the scene-chewing, kicked his chair to roll off camera.
"In today's top story," Tina said, looking at her news report in hand, "a student had collapsed in front of the school, and was revived thanks to the efforts of resident Detentionaire Lee Ping. Come lunch, I plan to get the exclusive interview with him for—HEY!" Chaz had rolled back on camera, attempting to push Tina out of the way.
"This just in; no one cares!" Chaz cut in, "on to more interesting news, a semi-formal dance has been approved to happen next Friday, so everyone get a date and fast!" A small paper airplane glided on screen, landing into the side of Chaz's head and unsettling his hairdo. In a girlish shriek, Chaz tore from the desk, allowing Tina to return to finish the news, which consisted of a change in the lunch menu, a Student Council Meeting, and very little else. Lee sighed contentedly; an interview with his secret crush during a lunch where he isn't spending detention? It couldn't possibly get better! The other students in class turned in their seats, nodding approvingly at the mention of his deeds in the broadcast.
It just did, he thought merrily.

The class bell rang, and Lee grabbed Holgar to go in search for Cam to tell him the news.
"Awesome that Barrage gave you the rest of the week, yo," said Cam, "too bad it's Thursday and not Monday."
"I would have settled for it being Wednesday, for all I care," Lee said. He turned around to check the clock mounted over a line of lockers, meeting face to face with Tina Kwee.
"Hi, Lee," she said, beaming. Lee immediately forgot how to breathe for nearly 15 seconds. His mind jammed on the clutch and shifted gears so he could stand her presence.
"H-hey," he stammered.
"I hope you don't mind if I come to see you in detention for your interview," she said, "I'm sorry to make a request on short notice but—"
"It's fine!" Lee said happily, "Barrage actually let me out of detention for the rest of the week, so I'll have lunch. Y-you can… uhm… j-join me?" His confidence wavered for a moment as he realized it felt like he was asking her out. Cam and Holger, during all of this, hung back to watch if Lee was on the verge of a complete mental shutdown and stood by just in case, like a friend would usually do.
Tina blinked. "Oh, OK, see you in the cafeteria, then," she said, smiling again. She turned and headed off to her next class. Lee began to breathe easy again, his heartbeat leveling out now.
"PING!" Barrage roared from the TV screens mounted in the hallways, "Your ass! My office! Two minutes ago!" Lee's heart stopped a full ten seconds when Barrage called for him, luckily he was revived with a sharp pat on the back thanks to Cam.
"Hey, listen, if you don't come back out alive, can I have your favorite game controller?" he asked.

Author's Commentary: I wanted this chapter to be a little longer than the first, which I realized only after I uploaded the first chapter. I was setting up the scene for Lee to meet the antagonist, but decided due to a lack of how to really go about doing it, I'd introduce her in the third chapter, set her up for the rest of the story. Like I said in the first one, there were a lot of openings in this story that I wanted to establish Lee and Tina's canon relationship, but decided to set the story before that, and deciding the story to focus mainly in a non-canon point in time. There will, in fact, be more Lee and Tina in chapters to come, and the antagonist will appear and be introduced in the next chapter. I have the idea for how it plays out, but I'm having trouble writing it so it doesn't seem awkward.