(Un)Wanted Valentine: Tyler tag Maggy

[Tyler Durnham]

Tyler was usually not one for Valentine’s Day. He could be romantic, when it served him to be, but he found the day too cheesy and commercialised, and on the whole, too sickly sweet for his liking. But, he never failed at what he set out to achieve, which was why he now found himself waiting near Magdalena Veloz’s locker, a dozen red roses in his hands, and dressed in a black Armani shirt and jeans, the outfit most likely worth more than any of the teachers made in a week. The girl had been a lot harder to win over than he had expected, and he had invested a lot of time and effort into the ‘project’ so far. Most girls wouldn’t bother playing hard to get with him, if he showed even an iota of interest, they would jump at the chance. Maggy was different though, she resisted, a lot, and he welcomed the challenged. Even loved it. Most other girls he would have been tired of by now. But he was starting to see, she wasn’t like most other girls. And this confused, puzzled and intrigued the hell out of the youngest Durnham.

He kept his eyes locked on the entryway he knew she would take. If she saw him waiting by her locker, with a bunch of flowers, he believed she would take off. Running from him seemed to be something she was becoming quite adept at. This also bemused him, Tyler could not remember a girl running from him, ever. If anything, they ran to him. He was Tyler Durnham after all. And if Maggy thought that running off would make him lose interest, make him give up the chase, she was very wrong.

[Magdalena "Maggy" Veloz]

Maggy had tried to forget that it was Valentine's Day. It was, in her opinion, terribly disgusting the way people went on and on about it, as though the events of that solitary day were vastly more important than the events of any other day. And it wasn't really the couples she disliked, as much as she thought it was less than romantic to give flowers and chocolates out of a sense of obligation -- it would be more romantic if it were some other time of the year -- but the bitter singles, those she detested. Lacking a date on ONE day out of the year was not the end of the world, but some people were sent spiralling into hitherto unknown depths of blackest depression because they were alone on Valentine's Day. It was stupid.

She had always in the past, however, ignored the day to the best of her ability, pretended that she did not notice all the boquets and cards and teddy bears being bandied about and that she did not hear the whining from the lonely. She wanted this day to be no different, but she knew in her heart that the chances of that were slim. After all, Tyler Durnham had decided to continuously pester her ever since the night of the dance. Even worse, Phil did not seem to care. One minute he wanted to ask her on dates, the next he said well, Tyler is attractive, can't blame you if you want to go with him, don't want to hold you back...It was infuriating.

So it was no surprise to see the bane of her existance lying in wait by her locker. Okay, so bane was a bit harsh. After all, he was easy on the eyes and he was very good at making her knees weak. Only, she knew he was a snake, or at least she suspected that he was, and while her suspicions may have been correct they were made largely on the very suspect evidence that he was a football player and popular. But there he was, waiting at her locker. With roses. For a moment a very weak hope arose within her that they were for someone else, but she knew the truth of the matter. He had made it very clear that he was pursuing her, a fact that vexed many of the prettier, more popular girls and the girls who tried too hard and couldn't figure out why their efforts were going to waste when she, the girl wearing an old Star Wars tee and very large black pants and black boots with chains and spikes on them in complete defiance of Valentine's Day, wasn't trying at all.

She did not want to go by her locker, but she needed her books. Stupid boy. Maybe she could wait until he was gone? But this was Tyler Durnham, he would probably stand there until the last possible minute, so the only way she could get to her books free of him was if she were willing to be late to class, which of course she was not. So she gritted her teeth and marched up to her locker, trying very hard to act like she didn't notice he was there at all. That's right, what smarmy guy with roses every other girl would kill to have wait for her?

[Tyler Durnham]

Finally seeing Maggy walk towards him out of the corner of his eye, she was a hard girl to miss after all, Tyler straightened, turning to face the current object of his attentions. She was far from interested in seeing him though, she couldn’t have made it any more obvious that she was pretending he was the Invisible Man. This made him smile all the more, and made him more determined.

He didn’t get it, he had pulled out all the stops, every other girl would have fallen head over heels by now. But not her, she was a complete mystery to him. As was the fact that he had started to find himself genuinely interested in her. It was no doubt due to her playing hard to get. No one had done that with him before, so he couldn’t help but be interested. He was sure that when he had finally won her over, he would tire of her, just like he did every other girl. He had to, they were completely different after all.

He waited for a moment, not paying any real attention to Maggy, giving time to let doubts creep into her mind. Then, before saying anything, he ran his eyes over her, discretely of course. It was in interesting outfit choice, especially given the day, and that was probably why she picked it, he decided. Her own little rebellion against the day. SO, Maggy did was not a Valentine’s Day fan either. Maybe there were things they had in common.

“Happy Valentine’s Day Maggy.” he spoke softly, now holding out the roses to the odd girl. “I know, it’s a bit corny. I’m not usually one to celebrate the day, but I couldn’t help myself.” Chuckling softly, as though realising he shouldn’t admit that, Tyler’s eyes locked on hers. As much as he pursued her, so far he had stopped short of actually asking her on a date. But as he realised, a change of tactics were in order. “Will you go out with me tonight? We can go wherever you want, just let me take you out.”

[Magdalena "Maggy" Veloz]

Even though she knew Tyler was there she still jumped when he addressed her. He was nothing if not persistent, she had to give him that. She took the flowers, feeling that it would be rude to do otherwise, but a part of her wanted to fling them in his face and run away before he could start touching her again. That had just sent her over the edge at the dance, when he had insisted on putting his hands all over her. And it wasn't as if he was creepy about it, but she didn't appreciate it at all.

"Umm." She bit her lower lip, keeping her gaze on the roses, finding herself actually grateful to him for giving her something to look at besides his (admittedly very pretty) face. "Thank you." She whispered at the boquet.

She was shocked into looking in his face, though, when he actually asked her on a date. Had she heard that correctly? Had Tyler Durnham actually asked her, Magdalena Veloz, on a genuine date? The closest he had gotten previously was when he had asked her for a dance. But one dance, that was not the same thing as a date, especially since she had attended the dance with someone else. She hadn't expected that he would ever go that far, had been sure he was just following her around because he thought it was funny to see her squirm. Unfortunately she wanted to say yes, but then on the other hand the idea of a date was pretty terrifying. It was one thing to go with Phil because he was just a friend and since he didn't like girls that meant there was no danger that he would get ideas. Now if it had been Mew, she had seen his collection of scantily clad plastic anime figures, so she wouldn't even have gone with him, and he was a friend. Sort of.

"Umm." She said again, stalling so she could think of some good excuse not to go. "I...errr...okay." No, wait, that wasn't what she had meant to say! She mentally cursed herself. Now how was she going to get out of this?! She did not want to go anywhere with Tyler Durnham, no natter how pretty he was!

[Tyler Durnham]

She took the flowers, Tyler guessed that was a good sign. And she thanked him, well, thanked the roses it seemed, but that was a start. That was something he could work with. He realised, watching her, that Maggy had a habit of biting her bottom lip, when she was nervous, he assumed. He thought it was cute, but the moment he caught himself thinking that, he shook that idea out of his head. He dated cheerleaders for Christs sake, rich girls, famous girls. He couldn’t be seriously interested in Magdalena Veloz, who was neither a cheerleader, rich or famous, nor popular, or would be considered beautiful at first glance. Not to him, or anyone else that mattered, anyway. Yet here he was, hoping a little too much that she would say yes. Geez, it was annoying. He just always had to win.

And then Maggy looked at him, eye to eye, and he was slightly taken aback at first. She rarely did that, seemingly finding it more interesting to stare at the floor, or the wall, or any inanimate object close by. He was more surprised by her answer though, Tyler had been prepared to talk her into it, the date, expecting her to show the same resistance to him that she had in the past. But she agreed, first off, no persuasion needed. She must be interested in him, he decided. Of course she was, who really wouldn’t be?”

“Great!” Tyler smiled warmly at her, pushing himself off the locker. “Was really hoping you would say that.” He almost couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth. He was sounding nice, genuine, and most of all, keen on Maggy. He must be a better actor than he realised. “So, I’ll pick you up tonight? From your house?”

[Magdalena "Maggy" Veloz]

"My house?" Magdalena did not want to Tyler to come to her house. It wasn't that she was ashamed of the little suburban ranch her family lived in, but she most emphatically did not want Tyler to meet her parents. She was sure that they would fuss, or at least her mother would. Their daughter, invited on a date by a handsome, rich, incredibly normal young man. The normal part was probably the most important part to them, for while they liked Phil he was unrepentently strange and they wanted their daughter to get out of her wierd goth phase, not drop out of polite society altogether. If Tyler came to pick her up then he would have to meet her parents and that would only result in false hope on their part. It was much better if he didn't, then, that way they would probably assume her date was some guy with ear gauges and nose rings and greasy hair or something.

She shook her head vigorously, jerking her gaze back down to the roses. They really were gorgeous and she couldn't quite believe that anyone had actually bought flowers for her, even if it was persistent Tyler Durnham. "N-no, no, not my house." She was almost tempted to say she would pick him up; she had no idea where he lived, but she was sure it was palatial, and she could just imagine the look on his face if she arrived in her pick up, the one with the pimped out wheels. That would be amusing. But she didn't have the guts to suggest such gender-reversal, and instead whispered, "Maybe...maybe we should just meet somewhere."

That lead right back to the problem of where to go. She was sure that every restaurant in town would be packed and she would prefer to avoid crowds, if she could. But on the other hand she did not much want to be somewhere private, because she didn't entirely trust Tyler: she didn't believe he would force himself on her or anything like that, but she was fairly certain he was incapable of keeping his hands to himself. And the enthusiasm with which he greeted her agreement made her a bit uneasy; he was persistent in pursuing her, why wouldn't he be persistent in other ways as well? She wasn't so sure she could deal with that. "Maybe TGI Fridays?" She suggested. Maybe they wouldn't be so crowded tonight, all the couples would surely go off to nicer places than a mediocre chain restaurant.

[Tyler Durnham]

Meeting Maggy’s parents was precisely the reason Tyler had wanted to pick her up from her house. He normally didn’t do the whole parent thing, tended to avoid it like the plague. It led girls to think that his interest in them was more than what it actually was, that he wanted the relationship to be more than short term. Which of course he never did. So, if he had to pick up a girl from her place, he only ever went to the front door if he knew her folks were out, otherwise he would just do the old sit in the car and hit the horn trick. But those reasons he never did it were exactly the reasons he wanted to do it for her. He needed her to think he was serious about her, it was the only way after all he could win her over, Magdalena, who avoided him, never met his gaze, and seemed like she would rather be anywhere but whenever he was near. And then he would win. Besides, driving her just gave him the opportunity to open the car door for her, walk her to the door when he dropped her back home, things women seemed to love.

If she didn’t want that though, there was no point in insisting further, risking her changing her mind altogether. Not that Tyler thought she was likely to do that, she was hiding it well but he was certain she was thrilled he had asked her out. A lot of other girls would not share her feelings on this...unconventional pairing, but there were plenty of other nights, plenty of other times for them. “Sure, if that’s what you want, we’ll meet up instead.” He could always orchestrate picking her up another time. It wouldn’t be difficult, not for him, to find her address, and if he were to show up, say, one morning to give her a lift to school, she could not refuse him.

When it came to dates, Tyler was usually the one in charge, who chose where they would go. Not because he was particularly controlling or anything, in fact he found a woman who insisted on what she wanted, oddly enough Maggy included, sexy. But he did it because that’s what Durnhams did, they took charge. He suggested she choose only in an effort to make her feel more comfortable about the whole thing, perhaps even work her way to looking at him every now and then. Otherwise, and especially given what night it actually was, he would most likely settle for one of the expensive restaurants he often took his dates to, and he couldn’t see those as being somewhere Maggy would fit in entirely. Even then though, he had to bite down a laugh at her suggestion, settling for a smile instead. “TGI Fridays? Fine by me, if that’s what you would like. Are you sure you won’t let me pick you up, Maggy?”

[Magdalena "Maggy" Veloz]

Persistence was so aggravating, Maggy decided. She wanted a guy who would leave her alone if she asked, and that was not Tyler Durnham. He was pretty and he was annoying. Did he have to bring up picking her up again? As if she might change her mind if he asked enough times? Actually, that was a pretty good guess, if he bothered her enough she would eventually say yes just so to get him to lay off. Not that she was going to tell him that, but clearly she didn't need to tell him, he knew or he wouldn't be so insistant.

"Really, it's okay." She told him, trying to make it sound like she was doing him a favor by not making him come pick her up when really she did not want him to. Sure, he had a nice car and she would love to drive in it, but not at the risk of exciting her parents. She did not want them to ask constantly why she had ruined her relationship with that nice young man once Tyler left for better prey. Which he would, right? He couldn't really be interested in her! But he was so convincing when he said he wanted her to say yes, so she wasn't really sure. Maybe he did really like her and he wasn't just toying. After all, he could have gone out with any girl that he wanted, and it was Valentine's Day so he probably had lots of girls trying to coyly (and not so coyly) get his attention. He could have gotten Nicole Cahill or Melodee Riker if he wanted, and he was asking her to be his Valentine. That had to mean something. It was just hard to believe that the popular football player would be interested in her.

"I guess," She hesitated, struggling once again with the earlier temptation to suggest picking him up, and then gathered what little courage she had and said in one very hasty breath, "IfyouonlywanttotakeonecarI'llpickyouup." She took a very deep breath, twisting the roses nervously in her hands, "I mean, don't want to get your pretty car scratched up." She explained in a nervous, too-high voice.

[Tyler Durnham]

With Maggy so adamant about him not picking her up, though she was doing a decent job at pretending, at acting casual about the whole thing, Tyler knew there must be a reason behind it, and it would be that she didn’t want him meeting her parents, there was no other reason that she wouldn’t want him to go to her house, not that he could think if anyway. He found it funny, curious as to why she didn’t want that. Wouldn’t she want to show him off to her family? It wouldn’t be the first, he had dated, though, very casually, a number of girls that were more than keen on showing him off, their rich, handsome, sophisticated ‘boyfriend’ to their families and friends. He didn’t mind it, he liked the attention, and it was a good way to meet other flings, in the girls’ friends and sisters.

And, her suggestion to pick him was laughable at best. Tyler never had a girl oic him up, or even suggest it. So, her offer took him by surprise, and he cocked his head slightly as he studied her, not even bothering to hide his amusement. He was sorely tempted to insist that, no, he would pick her up, but this could be fun in itself.

“It’s just a car Maggy, a scratch wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.” he grinned. It wasn’t as though he couldn’t, or his father rather, couldn’t afford to get it fixed, or even replace it, many times over. But, it happened to be his pride and joy though, his favourite toy, present company excluded, and it would actually annoy him if it got damaged in even the slightest way. Not that she needed to know that. "And I have driven before, I'm sure I could manage to get to your house without getting into an accident." he joked lightly.

“But, sure, you can pick me up, if it’s no hassle.” he smiled warmly, before grabbing out a scrap piece of paper, jotting down his address and pressing it into her hand. He made sure to make the contact last just a little bit longer than was really necessary. “Should be no trouble to find it, hard to miss.” he chuckled softly. “And I can pick you up next time. See you tonight Maggy, and, Happy Valentine’s Day again.” With that, he turned and left her where she stood.