The Tech Wiz

Chapter Two

I let out a long sigh when I looked over at the table that Aiyana, Ji-Hun, Wyatt and I used to sit on to find it already occupied by senior girls. I tightened my grip on the metal tray I had in my hands as I wondered if I should approach them and ask them to move. I was the only one here today, the other three had things to do. Mrs. Jones had called Ji-Hun and Wyatt, while Aiyana had some class representative duty to attend to.

I bit my bottom lip as I let my eyes wander about the room for a free seat.

"Move it." I heard someone say as they passed by me, bumping my shoulder with theirs, and making me stagger a little to the side. The small plastic cup of ketchup spilling a bit on my tray, but I didn't quite have the energy to be upset today.

After looking about for two more minutes and not finding a place to seat I started to get worried and wondered if I could eat outside. I looked about for Caleb, but it soon dawned on me that he never spent time in the cafeteria anyway so he was probably in the art room eating lunch and not here.

"Hey, why are you just standing around?" a voice said. I blinked, realizing that I'd spaced out before turning to find Felix standing right beside me. I felt my face warm up at the sight of him. He was looking straight at me with a smile as he held on to his tray. He was wearing pale blue jeans with a dark-colored top.

"Well?" he repeated, making me let out a string of words in apology as I looked down at my tray of food.

"I'm sorry. I can't find a place to sit, that's all," I mumbled as I looked about the hall again.

"You can come and sit with me. It's usually just me and Simon, but he's in the tech lab at the moment helping Mr. Grey set up for his next class."

"Oh... Thanks," I mumbled, a little shocked at his offer. I watched him smile at me before following him to the table at the corner that I often stole glances at during lunch. I waited for him to sit down before taking the seat across his.

He didn't attempt to talk to me after he settled down, and just went about eating the soggy fries the cafeteria had provided. I looked away from him when I noticed that my glance had turned into a stare before making to eat as well. Felix seemed at ease, but the silence made me paranoid.

"Thanks for handing the file over to Ji-Hun," Felix suddenly said, making me look up at him. He was holding a fry in his hand and the other hand held on to his phone as he strolled with his thumb.

"It's no problem," I mumbled, grabbing the can of coke on my tray in an attempt to keep my shaking hands distracted. It was at times like this that I thanked the heavens for my skin color. Being dark meant people usually couldn't tell when I was blushing or flustered, which was a relief.

"Ji-Hun told me that you're good with computers." Felix looked up. "He said that you could help with revamping the school's website, but are you up for it?"

"Sure," I muttered, scratching the back of my neck as I tried not to look away from him.

Lame answer Ben, very lame.

I thought to myself as I watched him nod at it anyway. I started to feel a bit panicked, wondering if he was just going to keep asking me questions as I gave him one-word responses.

Well, at least it's not gibberish this time.

A voice said in my head as I looked down at my plate of fries that were probably cold now. He didn't seem to be interested in saying anything else and I finally relaxed and continued eating. I found myself checking the time before letting myself look at Felix briefly.

There was still twenty minutes left until lunch was over, meaning I still had twenty minutes sitting at the same table as him. If I'm lucky maybe Aiyana would finish her impromptu meeting soon and walk into the cafeteria and spare me the awkwardness. I'd them have a reason to leave, and maybe eat more freely instead of worrying about the thought.

"What are you thinking about?"

I almost choked on the fry I'd just tossed into my mouth when Felix suddenly spoke up. I tapped my chest, trying to lessen the effect of coughing out of sudden shock.

"I'm sorry for startling you. I'm not very used to not talking," Felix said, letting out a low laugh as he dropped his phone. "I usually talk to Simon, but he's not here as you can see."

I watched as Felix gave me an awkward smile before he picked up the can of soda on his tray. He brought it to his lips, taking a sip. I looked away, feeling a bit odd for staring.

"It's nice to know that you're good with Tech. I always thought it was just math since you're always going for math-related contests," he said. I looked straight at him, trying to will myself to say something- anything. Now that I knew he was actually making an effort to talk to me, it would look bad to just stare at him.

"Yeah, you could say that I like messing with tech..." I trailed, looking down at my hands. I was a little surprised that he didn't know seeing I was the national dumping ground for faulty phones and laptops in our school... But what did I really expect? He was a senior and he probably didn't pay attention to anyone who would have mentioned it.

"I'm also good with numbers. Basically, I'm good with anything numeric."

I said as I chuckled right after. "This is odd. I feel like I'm bragging," I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck as I let out another nervous laugh.

"Nah, you're good at it you should enjoy your bragging rights," Felix laughed as he raised his can of soda in a mock toast. He looked ridiculous with the serious face he was trying to pull. I soon found myself laughing freely for the first time since I got to the table.

Somehow we started talking about computers and we soon delved into video games. I found myself relaxing at that. It was something I was familiar with as well as loved, so I could freely talk.

"Does the new edition suck that much?" I asked, referring to a game I had on my PC. Felix had updated his and was complaining.

"It sucks balls... Don't update the game on your laptop. Keep the version you have now, it's ten times better." Felix advised as he picked up his android phone from the wooden table's graphite surface. I smiled, noting something I hadn't due to my nervousness. He had a Deadpool phone case.

"You like Deadpool?" I asked without thinking.

"I like everything Marvel, and of course I like Deadpool, how else am I supposed to ship SpideyPool?"

"Are you... Are you shipping Spiderman and Deadpool?"

"Maybe... Probably," Felix said just before winking. I blinked in surprise, watching him laugh lightly as he raised his phone to his face before typing away. I felt my face warm up as I looked at him.

Did he... Did he actually wink at me? I shook my head, scolding myself. I might have just Imagined it. Plus, just because he shipped two fictional male characters didn't mean he could be attracted to boys in some way, but the fact he did meant that he wasn't awkward about it like some of the kids in school. It was ridiculous sometimes. Aiyana had told me that a guy in her class had refused to have an extra lesson with Mr. Richard alone because people would think he was gay.

The bell rang in a few minutes, making Felix look up from his phone as well as making me snap out of my thoughts.

"I have physics now so I have to leave," he sighed looking over at the now crowded entrance before turning his gaze to me.

"Come on, let's leave," he said, making me look at him in confusion before muttering a small 'oh'. Was he planning to walk me to class?

The absolute nonsense you come up with. I scolded myself immediately after thinking up the probable reason. I snapped out of my thoughts at the sound of Felix's chair moving. I got up too, picking up my tray before heading to drop it off like he was doing.

We left the cafeteria together. I tagged behind him as we walked into the main hallway. He stopped, waiting for me to catch up with him in the crowd before he continued walking when I did.

"Where's your locker again? I'm not sure if I remember," he said, looking towards me.

"The next turn," I muttered as I tried to look through the crowd of students. If I'd been with Wyatt or Aiyana I would have left the hall at least ten minutes before the bell went. Now the hall was full, and it wasn't something I was used to.

"Okay, I'll walk you there," Felix said as he moved to walk ahead of me. I followed him through the crowd until we got to my locker. Ji-Hun and Wyatt were already at Ji-Hun's locker, talking as he exchanged his books.

"See you then," Felix said when I made to unlock my locker. I nodded as I willed my shaking hands to turn the lock.

"Yeah," I mumbled, watching as he gave me a small smile before walking off.

"Is there an explanation to why you look like you're about to pass out?"

"I swear to God Wyatt..." I trailed, turning to find him raising his hands in mock surrender.

"Okay, okay, I won't ask," he promised as his boyfriend laughed behind him. I rolled my eyes at them, deciding to focus on getting my books so we could head to class.

They could laugh all they want, but I'd just had a full (sort of) conversation with Felix.

And he ships Spideypool.

I thought to myself suddenly, making me laugh quietly as I got my books for chemistry class.