Lunch At School? – Tyler, open

[Tyler Durnham]

Eating lunch at school was something Tyler only did occasionally, and that was only if he’d brought something to eat. He’d much preferred to eat out, it gave him a break from school, he got the chance to eat something actually decent, and if he’d took a girl out with him for an impromptu ‘date’, she was always very appreciative of the gesture. And Tyler rather enjoyed his girls appreciative.

And he’d been planning on one of those outings today, but a quick glance outside from a classroom window told him he’d be drenched before he reached his car. And while that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, he could always talk a girl into coming with him and they could warm each other up. But that was a good idea in theory only, he couldn’t imagine many girls willingly going out and getting drenched, even with him, and he wasn’t completely sold on the idea either. Besides, he hadn’t lined up a girl yet, something he would normally have spent his class time doing. He’d been distracted though, thinking of his new blue eyed tutor and the ways he could have some fun with her. Had to reward himself for all the hard work he was sure to put in, and he was sure she’d love to help out in that department too. He just had to charm her a bit more, and that could be fun.

So that left few options open to him. And Tyler decided to go with the easiest option, perhaps due to the fact that he wasn’t greatly hungry, and test out the cafeteria. If the food looked really bad, he supposed he could always just order in a pizza. Something he realised as necessary the moment he stepped inside the large room and saw what they were passing off as food.

The food wasn’t the priority though, and he quickly made the call and got it out of the way with as he made his way to one of the few empty tables left and focused on what was important. The women. Namely, just which woman, though he would be more than happy with more than one, would be keeping him company. He’d already attracted nearby attention, and he grinned at the girls who were staring, in awe, at him, wondering which one would bite the bullet and come up to speak to him.

[Alexia Dashwood-Dune]

Still warm from the glow of the victory she gained getting Jay Michaels to ask her out on a date, Lexi had newfound confidence and was striding down the hall with a smug smile and her ratty hoodie clinging tight to her body. Her parka was still with Jay so she had to stuff her hands in her jean pockets to keep warm. Her hair was down in wavy tendrils and her face was lit up. She was pleased as punch and there was one person she had to thank for it.

She needed to find Tyler and scare the crap out of him with her new attitude. Who knows, he might even be surprised enough to grant her another date. It would definitely keep Jay on his toes with her if he found out that she was also stringing along Gould's top player, Tyler Durnham.

Going to the canteen to get her lunch first, she didn't realise Tyler was in there as well until she heard the whispers. The man commanded attention wherever he went. It wasa given seeing that he was so damn good looking and charming and everything a girl would want in a bad boy she wishes she could reform. Lexi wasn't looking to reform any bad boys. In fact, she would like a bad boy to reform her. She already had one in her pocket of course but if she managed to snag Tyler, she was golden.

Grabbing an apple and paying for it, Lexi unzipped her hoodie down to her chest and walked purposefully towards Tyler until she 'accidentally' bumped into him. Casually, she turned and managed to see the look of envy of all the girls who were eyeing him. Biting into her apple, she cast a glance on Tyler with an unperturbed grin. "Oh...sorry. I didn't see you there."

[Tyler Durnham]

Watching out of the corner of his eyes as a couple of girls, each in turn, made a move towards him before backing off, nervous, Tyler was kept highly entertained. It certainly made a man feel good about himself, stirring up that kind of reaction in the opposite sex. Though he was used to it by now, it still never lost its shine. He loved women admiring him. He felt he deserved it, of course, given who he was.

And in his distraction, he didn’t notice the one girl who was actually successful in her attempt to reach him, something he wouldn’t have ordinarily missed. He glanced at the bumper, not surprised it was someone of the fairer sex. Though he did have to do a double-take as he realised who it was. Alexia Dashwood-Dune. Now, he wasn’t expecting her to be the brave one and approach him, he of course believed the collision was no accident. He still remembered the nervous girl who he attempted to advise about Mew, of all people. It still amused him, the thought of any girl actually wanting to date the guy.

Yet, here the girl stood in front of him, seeming like a completely different woman. And he, for one, enjoyed it, this display of confidence. “No apologies necessary.” Tyler drawled slowly, running his gaze over her. She could certainly do with a better wardrobe, one that better accentuated what he was sure was a pretty good body. But he liked the look on her face, almost sexy, in a way.

“It’s good to see you again, Lexi.” he mused, gesturing for her to join him at the table as he took his own seat. “I don’t think I’ve talked to you since...now I remember. How did things go with Mew?” He felt the jealous glares at the girl, and it made him smile all the more. Maybe his lunch could be a bit of fun after all.

[Alexia Dashwood-Dune]

"Good to see you again, Tyler." She said flippantly, taking another bite out of her apple before turning fully to face Tyler. She followed him to the seat he had gestured to and looked around with a raised eyebrow. "Do I have something on my face that the girls want to kill or something?" she chuckled before biting into her apple once more.

Tyler's question was met with a deadpan look and her heart palpitated slightly with a sharp pang. That was an epic fail in her books and will remain so probably for the rest of her life. But she was not going to let Tyler know that. No one was going to know about that. Besides, she was here for another reason. And by God she was going to go through with it even with the thoughts of Mew basically rejecting her over and over and over again.

"It's old news, Tyler. Keep up with the times." Lexi shrugged. "I'm not going to waste my time on one guy when I have the whole school to myself. Those are the words you live by, aren't they?" She asked, her lips in a smirk. "Your advice actually worked, Tyler. This confidence thing...you're kind of good at this whole being a good guy thing. Giving a lowly junior like me some advice for winning over a guy like Mew Fischer." She was deliberately trying to wind Tyler up since she knew he wasn't going to be known as a good guy.

[Wynn Sumner]

Wynn had missed talking to Lexi. She was an inspiration and had him feeling good about himself. If only he knew what had happened earlier!

He had brown bagged it for lunch this day, which consisted of a turkey sandwich topped with lettuce, tomato and ranch dressing, Cheetos, a package of Nutty Bars and a Pepsi.

He looked around the lunch room and found a table with a few other art students who let him join them. He was about to take a bite of his sandwich when he saw Lexi!

Not thinking twice he started to go over to her and froze in his tracks. She was talking to Tyler Durnham! One of the most popular guys in school!

Wynn suddenly felt like a mouse and slowly backed to his table his eyes locked almost sadly on Lexi.

[Tyler Durnham]

If Tyler didn’t know better, he would have started to doubt himself, but he knew better than that. He knew that women would fight over the chance to even be close to him. So though while two women in a row, in the same day, seemed to have no interest in him whatsoever, except for apparently riling him up in Lexi’s case, the fault didn’t lie with him. And the proof was all the girls caught between staring at him, almost lovestruck, and looking at Lexi as though they were about to pounce any moment now. He certainly wouldn’t complain if that was the case, he did enjoy a good cat fight. His money would be on the girl sitting opposite him. “No, not as far as I can see. You look perfect to me.” he grinned, happy to flirt with the girl when it wouldn’t even have crossed his mind before. It was the attitude now on her that aroused his interest.

Now, he wasn’t stupid nor oblivious, so he knew that something was up with the girl and Mew. There was only one conclusion he could come to, that seemed the most reasonable, but even then it seemed almost an impossibility. Mew actually turned her down. Either that or the girl didn’t have the guts to ask him out in the first place, but given the confidence she was showing him now, he doubted that was the case. He couldn’t believe the guy actually turned Lexi down. Besides Bree, who he was sure would have told him if Mew started seeing another girl, he really couldn’t see much female attention being shown to the redhead, so he had no idea why the guy would turn down such a cute girl. Unless Tyler’s original assumption was correct, and Lexi just wasn’t the sex that appealed to Mew. It wouldn’t surprise the footballer.

“As a matter of fact, they are.” he agreed with a smile, not jumping in to defend himself as there was nothing to defend. “And it’s worked out for me very well so far.” he had to point out. It so far had been working out more than just well, but that was pretty common knowledge. And yet the girls still loved him, perhaps even more, because of his reputation. And if that was the case, he wasn’t going to complain in the slightest.

But then she had to go and call him a nice guy, something he wasn’t as thrilled with. He wasn’t a bad guy, far from it, but to his mind, a nice guy was a pushover, a girl’s best friend, not someone they lusted over. Someone like Mew actually, or another of Maggy’s friends, Phil. She was trying to get a reaction from him, that’s why she said it, he was well aware. So he wasn’t going to give it to Lexi, not the one she wanted anyway.

“Well, I do try Lexi.” he chuckled, letting his eyes roam over her again, wanting her to know he was enjoying what he saw. He was busy that night, and over the weekend, but he was happy to start something that he could finish next week. Or perhaps skip class and find a nice little, private spot, after lunch. He wondered just how far he could convince the girl to go when she was alone with him. He bet she was a firecracker, the nerds, the wallflowers, the quiet ones, often were. All pent up energy, he supposed.

“So, the whole school? In that case, may I ask, has any gentleman in particular have your interest so far? I’d love to know who the lucky guy is. So I can copy whatever it is he’s doing right.” Tyler chuckled.

[Alexia Dashwood-Dune]

It was corny of Tyler to tell her she looked perfect. She looked far from it in her ratty hoodie and torn up jeans. But who was she to deny the guy's corniness. If it worked on other girls, it sure as hell worked on Lexi. But of course she wasn't going to show him it did. It would change her whole new perspective. So she chuckled derisively. "You can do better than that, Durnham."

Not noticing the pair of eyes looking at her, Lexi continued her act of coy interest with Tyler. If she knew that Wynn was looking, Lexi would have ran to him and hung out with him instead of trying to get Tyler to ask her out. She didn't even realise just how much she was already changing.

"Tryhard," Lexi smirked, in reference to him saying he was trying hard. She knew it was his tactic, being all suave and saying he's trying even though it came effortlessly to him but she wasn't about to stop him from 'trying' to show vulnerability. It just showed how willing guys were to do anything to get into a girls' pants. It was going to work to her advantage, she was sure of it.

"Oh Tyler...when are you ever going to learn?" She chuckled, patronisingly patting his hand. "If I told you which guys..." she paused deliberately, "I mean...gentleman has my interest, it wouldn't seem fair to you. Especially since you're going to ask me out sooner or later." She smirked. "And Tyler, you disappoint me." She shook her head in disappointment. "I thought you were an original."

[Tyler Durnham]

Oh, he was certainly having some fun with this woman. Personality-wise, she was all but unrecognisable from the girl he had given advice to a few weeks ago. Really, the way she was acting now, someone would think she was a cheerleader, or at least rich and popular. After all, girls like Lexi didn’t often have the nerve to speak to him, let alone speak to him the way she was speaking to him now. All full of confidence and teasing. She was certainly an appetising little thing. Tyler could see himself entertaining her further. It was almost a shame his weekend was all booked up, he would have had to make some plans with the girl tomorrow night. Though it wasn’t like he would be missing out at all, not with the beautiful Sarissa. He couldn’t wait to find out what she had in store for him.

He glanced down at her hand when she placed it over his own, very briefly feeling like an ignorant child, though that moment quickly passed. “Not fair?” He gave a laugh at Lexi’s predictions of how things were going to develop, before resting a hand over his heart. “Why do you hurt me so, beautiful? I am an original. But it doesn’t hurt to learn from the successes, as well as the failures, of others.”

But there was another matter he had to address, one the girl raised. “I’m going to ask you out?” he mused, unable to wipe clean the smile that lit his face as he spoke. “What makes you so confident of that Lexi? I’m asking out of curiosity of course. Though I rather enjoy your confidence. I love a woman who knows what she wants.”

[Alexia Dashwood-Dune]

She panicked for just a bit, thinking of what her next move should be and for a moment, she drew up blanks. Hmm...what was she going to answer him now? "Because I know for a fact that you have been checking me out since I bumped into you. You also can't deny the fact that you would love getting more reactions from your adoring fans if you asked me out and I said yes right in front of them. You know they're going to resent me that much more. And you find it satisfying that you can get such a reaction from them."

Lexi leaned back against her chair and stared at Tyler for his reply. She wasn't sure where it could lead to but it would be interesting to find out. "But Tyler, wouldn't it be more gratifying to know that other people would have to learn from you instead of the other way around?" She asked. Playing on a guy's ego was easy especially when one has an ego the size of Tyler's Durnham's. She was right in picking this guy to flirt with. He was going to cave in. Well at least she hoped her tactics were working. She could very well be playing it wrong and Tyler would walk away.

But she couldn't hope too much for that. She had the confidence part played out. She wouldn't let anyone bring her down. Not Tyler, not Jay, not anyone.

[Tyler Durnham]

Lexi certainly knew what she was talking about, or at least, had to confidence to act like she did. And to think, Tyler had been giving her advice about guys not so long ago. She far from needed that kind of encouragement now from him, it seemed. And she certainly did have a point, she knew him better than he thought, for a casual acquaintance. He had been checking her out, though that was something obvious to everyone close by. She was a beautiful woman, so it really wasn’t a stretch to think that he enjoying the view.

But something else that wouldn’t be obvious to those watching, just by watching, was the fact that Lexi was one hundred percent accurate on his enjoyment of his fans’ reactions. Because, lets be honest, he may not be famous, but that was the best way to describe a good number of the girls watching the two of them now. They followed him around school from time to time, whispered and gossiped about him, and Tyler was sure if there was any, they would plaster up posters of him all over their bedroom walls. He was some sort of idol to those girls, and he loved it.

“Well, as a matter of fact...” he trailed off, his eyes sparkling in amusement as he watched her take another bite of the apple. Tyler then leaned over the table, close enough for Lexi to feel his breath on her lips. He paused at this, letting both her, and the girls watching, wonder just what he was going to do. And then, very slowly, he reached out just a little bit more and took a bite of the apple himself, chewing on it as he pulled back, sinking into his own chair.

“You think I might ask you out for tonight? Or perhaps for over the weekend? I’m sorry to disappoint such a gorgeous woman, but you’d be incorrect.” He smiled just a little more at this, sliding his tongue over his lower lip. “Nice apple. What are your plans for the rest of lunch? I’ve ordered a pizza, it should be here soon. But it really is too big for just me, so I was wondering if you’d like to join me for lunch. Somewhere more private, of course.”