60. Rejection

Hoagie pushed away his lunch tray and sighed. "I don't know if I can finish," he said mournfully.

Kuki's brow furrowed. "What's wrong, Hoagie? Pizza day is your favorite."

"Probably caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror," Fanny scoffed.

Hoagie ignored her. "She broke up with me."

Kuki gasped. "Oh, no, Hoagie, I'm sorry."

Hoagie shrugged. "I guess it finally dawned on her that the captain of the sci-fi club and the chess club wasn't exactly a 'catch.' Plus, she didn't like my jokes."

Fanny snorted. Kuki glared at her and patted Hoagie's arm. "Don't worry about it. She doesn't deserve a nice guy like you, if she's going to be so mean." Her eyes started to fill with tears.

"It's okay," he said quickly. "I'm feeling better already, see?" He lifted his slice of pizza and took a half-hearted bite.

Kuki frowned, but just then Wally arrived, giving her a quick smooch as he sat down, and she turned her attention to him.

Fanny, though, kept her eyes on Hoagie, and caught the flash of . . . something that crossed his face before Abby and Nigel joined them, and he was his usual animated self.

x . o . x . o . x

The reports from the 2 x 4 technicians got worse and worse throughout the next week, and Fanny finally slapped the papers down on her desk in frustration. When would he get a grip?

The whole thing was just ridiculous. This was exactly why she never messed around with the whole dating thing. It was just a distraction.

x . o . x . o . x

Over the weekend she worked on paperwork and stewed in righteous indignation. How dare that girl put one of their best techs essentially out of commission? There was an important evaluation coming up, and if all the departments under her weren't up to par, she could be in big trouble.

She briefly considered just going in there and yelling at him until he shaped up, but experience told her that might not be the best option. Besides, Kuki would kill her.

So what could she do?

x . o . x . o . x

That Monday the girl showed up at school with a black eye and a broken arm. Everyone clustered around her, asking concerned questions and giving each other puzzled looks. Of course, the question foremost in everyone's mind was, "Who?"

The girl couldn't say much, only that it seemed like a ninja, with heavy boots and bright red hair.

x . o . x . o . x

Hoagie confronted Fanny after school. "Don't do anything stupid, Fanny."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, hardly trying to sound innocent.

"Red hair? Thick boots? Could you have been any more obvious, Miss Mystery Ninja?"

"If it's so obvious, how come no one else has figured it out yet?" she challenged.

"Oh, everyone in the TND knew right away, but Rachel wanted me to talk to you, I guess because it was my girlfriend. As for the rest of the school, who knows? Maybe they're just not that observant."

"I thought you might be happy," Fanny said. "She wasn't exactly nice to you."

Hoagie gave her a look. "Fanny, you know better than that. I was hurt, yes, but that doesn't mean I want revenge. Not from you, anyway."

She waved her hand dismissively. "Anyway, she had no right to take one of our best technicians out of action a week and a half before a major evaluation."

"You can't just go around beating people up!" Hoagie cried in frustration.

"It's just a broken arm. It'll heal. Believe me, I know."

"That's not the point, Fanny!"

She didn't see what he was getting so worked up about. "Okay, fine, I won't break any more arms. Happy?"

He rolled his eyes. "Fine."

They both turned to leave, then Hoagie stopped. "Fanny?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. But seriously, don't do it again."

The End

A/N: So . . . comments? Critique? Suggestions? I'm not sure if I like this one, but I've been reading it and rereading it so much that I really think there's nothing else I know what to do with it. Also, I feel bad that I haven't posted a fic in a while.

On a completely unrelated note: I just saw Op. CLOWN for the first time, and Hoagie's distress over not being able to make jokes was at the same time completely adorable and utterly heartbreaking. Poor Hoagie. :(

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