Chapter Three – The Gift Of Knowledge

His research so far had led him nowhere. All the girls he had asked about Matthew Han had given him a blank stare. Some did remember about a dude with whom they shared some classes, but they couldn’t give him anything meaty to work with. His supposition that Matthew was a lady killer had been completely off the mark, and that wasn’t like him. Did most people lack eyes these days? The dude was a looker; yeah, a nerd and a bit on the obnoxious side, but he had seen plenty of chicks going for a lot worse. Rusty couldn’t help thinking of those nice lips and what they could do, stretch in a thin line of disapproval, pout in thought, and even… wait, did the guy even smile? All right, so maybe that was the problem. Matthew Han had no idea how to smile, and that chased all the chicks away. Somehow, those chicks who were into the sulking type had yet to meet him. Maybe he even had trouble landing dates and whatnot. Good thing he had Rusty in his corner. A little bit of help didn’t hurt anyone.

Lost in thought as he was while walking through the quad, his hands in his pockets, it took him some time to realize that someone was calling his name. “Hey, Ray,” he said when he saw Jonathan’s roomie and bestie. Hanna, his girlfriend, was with him, and they were holding hands like two lovebirds, which they totally were. “Hey, Hanna. What are you two up to? Some engagement party or something?”

“Not today,” Ray said frankly. Hanna grinned and pushed into his shoulder. They were cute in a nerdy way.

Then it dawned on him. “Do you two happen to know Matthew Han?”

“Your tutor?” Ray asked. “Yeah, but not very well. I heard that he uses a wooden ruler. What’s the deal about that?”

“Yeah, did he use it on your bottom or something?” Hanna asked, with a smirk that announced she was up to no good.

Rusty sighed from the depths of his soul. “Unfortunately, no. Way to get a guy’s hopes high.”

Ray and Hanna laughed. “Well, he must still be one hell of a guy if he managed to convince you to study,” Ray pointed out.

Rusty made a gesture with his arms and pointed his fists against each other. “It’s a battle of wills. I need some dirt on him.”

“Dirt?” Hanna asked. “I doubt you’ll find anything like that. One of my friends shared a lot of classes with him, and by what she said of him, he’s all about studying.”

“Does he have like a girlfriend or something?” Rusty continued to fish for info.

Hanna seemed to ponder while her eyes darted up. “Yes, I think he’s always with a girl. Yeah, it must be his girlfriend.”

For some reason, Rusty felt a bit deflated. If Matthew played the field, scoring with chicks who were into his nerdy looks, he would dig it. But a girlfriend? Like a longtime girlfriend? That sounded so boring. And annoying.

“Has he been with her long?” he asked.

Hanna shrugged. “I don’t really know. But they seem to be a good fit.”

“A good fit, like how?” Rusty questioned.

“You know, they both wear glasses and look like the studious type. And they’re practically joined at the hip.”

“It’s that girl with the long curly hair, right?” Ray asked. Hanna nodded. “Yeah, now I remember that I’ve seen them together. They always seem to have some secret to share. And they laugh together. I guess that’s practically the recipe for a solid relationship,” Ray added in an academic tone. “But wait, why do you want to know about Matthew’s girlfriend, Rusty?”

Rusty shrugged. “No reason. I mean, as I said, I wanted to learn if you guys knew some unsavory things about him. So that I could use them to defeat him.”

“Unsavory? Defeat him?” Hanna repeated. “I pity the guy. What did he do to you?”

“He’s trying to make me study.”

“But I thought you accepted that he won, and in the most gracious manner, even,” Ray reminded him. He had to know all that from Jonathan.

“That was only a battle. The war is long,” Rusty declared and pointed at an invisible point of interest, somewhere in the distance, making Ray and Hanna turned their heads and then stare at each other in confusion. “Do you happen to know what his girlfriend is called?”

Hanna had to search her database again. “I think it’s… oh, yes. Her name is Zoey.”

“Hmm, is she cute?”

Hanna gasped. “Rusty Parker, are you planning on stealing your tutor’s girlfriend?”

“Nah, I won’t play that dirty,” Rusty replied with emphasis. “And it would be too easy. All the chicks dig me anyway. It wouldn’t be fair.”

Hanna shook her head and rolled her eyes. Ray grinned. “I don’t think you’d be able to steal Zoey from Matthew, Rusty.”

Rusty stared at Jonathan’s bestie, his eyes narrow slits. “Are you trying to get me into trouble, Ray? You know I can’t say ‘no’ to a challenge.”

“Nah, although I bet there would be some people who’d love to see the mighty king of Sunny Hill getting rejected once in a blue moon,” Ray pointed out.

Rusty crossed his arms. “Well, I do get rejected on occasion. It’s nothing new. But don’t let Xpress know. I need to stay the king.”

“Don’t worry. Our lips are sealed,” Ray promised.

He waved the duo goodbye and continued his routine of getting lost in thought with Matthew Han on his mind. When others called to him again, he ignored them on purpose.

So, Matthew had a girlfriend. A girl named Zoey, with long curly hair, nerdy like him. They laughed and shared secrets. Yeah, it sounded so, so boring.

And so annoying.

***