(winnie's outfit for this part of the chapter) 

"I'm just saying. Bella and Tad are not the perfect couple. She yelled at him for getting her coffee wrong." Ashley points out. She frowns. "She treats him like a dummy."

Her, Brooke, and Winnie look over at the table Tad sat at with some of his friends. The trio watch as he tries to get the salt out of the salt shaker but has trouble. He leaned backwards, raising it above it head, getting some of it in his eye in the process. He immediately set down teh salt shaker, wincing as he covered his eye.

Winnie glances at Ashley with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, he kinda is a dummy." She smiles slightly. "But we still love him." 

Ashley shrugs. "That could happen to anyone." She commented, referring to what just happened with Tad.

Brooke exchanges a glance with Winnie. "Ash, we know you like him. Is that really what this is about?" Brooke asks Ashley, looking back at the Latina girl along with Winnie. "I mean, all you really know about Tad is that he's eye candy." 

Ashley smiles dreamingly. "Tad is sweet."

Brooke hums in agreement. "Like candy." Winnie chuckled, pointing at her in a sign of agreement.

"There's more to Tad than meets the eye." Ashley defends Tad. She smiles widely. "He has depth."

Brooke shakes her head. "Oh, girl, you are so crushing on him."

"No, I'm over that." Ashley denies. She looks over at Tad, who was now standing at the counter. "Now I just want to be his friend."

"Denial is a river in Egypt." Winnie remarked before she took a sip of her coffee. She didn't believe it one bit that Ashley was over her feelings for Tad.

Brooke nods in agreement. Then she smirks at Winnie. "I could say the same about you with your feelings for Stick." Winnie's face heats up and she doesn't say anything as she continued to keep drinking her coffee. Brooke then glances at Ashley with amusement. "And I'll pretend that I didn't just see you checking out Tad's butt."

Ashley had a nervous look on her face and then she scoffs. "I was not-" After seeing it was no use to argue, she looks down with an embarrassed look. "Thank you." Picking up her coffee cup, Brooke nodded in response.

A few moments later Stick walks inside and joins the girls at the table with a worried look on his face. Winnie frowns, looking at him with concern and sets her coffee cup on the table. "Stick, what's wrong?"

"I lost my partner for quiz bowl, and we have a big match on Saturday." Stick replied.

Brooke raises her eyebrows at him. "Why are you doing quiz bowl?"

"Two reasons, the really cool letterman's jacket-vests..." Stick's smile fell half way through his sentence. "And my mom thinks I need every extracurricular for my college applications." He adds. "I need to medal in quiz bowl."

"Can't you get a new partner?" Ashley questioned.

"Everybody said no." Stick answers, standing up and puts his messenger bag on the back of it. "If I don't find someone today, they're not gonna let me compete." Tad walked over to the group when he overheard the conversation, slapping Stick's shoulder, he didn't do it roughly but since Tad was stronger than Stick he still stumbled forward because of the impact.

"I'll do it for you, bud." Tad smiled widely while Stick turned to look at him with a nervous smile. 

"Y-You will?" 

"Absolutely, bro." 

Furrowing his eyebrows, Stick shakes his head. "Tad, this is quiz bowl. It's an academic competition."

Tad points at himself with a smirk on his face. "And I'm a competitor." He grins, punching the air as he cheers Stick on, "Go, Team Stick!"

"Academic, Tad. We're not hitting anything, but thanks." Stick politely declined and sat back down.

"Dude, I know I'm not Alfred Einstein, but if the Stickster needs me, then the Tad man is there." Tad told him.

"It's Albert Einstein," Winnie corrects him. She smiles slightly. "But A for effort."

"But, Tad, a lot of the questions are really intimidating."  Stick explained. Winnie grimaced. She could tell he was trying his best to politely tell Tad he didn't want him to be his partner for the quiz bowl without trying to hurt Tad's feelings. 

"More intimating than a two hundred pound linebacker trying to rip your head off?" Tad raises his eyebrows. He looks at Ashley with a grin. "Last week, my offensive line broke down. I had to scramble, ended up breaking three tackles, and running in for the TD. What-what!" He raised his hand for a high five and while she smiled widely, Ashley high fived him back. 

Ashley then began to giggle and smile dreamingly at Tad. Winnie shares an amused smile with Brooke and Brooke leans over to Ashley, whispering to her, "Ashley, come back." Ashley stopped giggling and sheepishly smiled. 

"So, Sticklish..." Tad tickles Stick, who does his best trying not to laugh as he tries to push Tad away. Winnie giggles a bit at the scene and smiles with amusement. Tad eventually stops, smiling at Stick. "When are we doing this quiz thing?" 

"It's Saturday, but you know, Tad, it's a serious time commitment and-"

"Oh, I get it." Tad interrupts Stick. "You don't know how to thank me."

A pained smile forms on Stick's lips. "I don't." 

Smiling, Tad shakes his hand. "I'll go carb-load for the big quiz." As he left, Ashley and Brooke grabbed their backpacks and got up.

"Well, I got school." Brooke voiced.

"I got work." Ashley spoke.

Stick looks at Winnie worriedly as the other girls left. "I got no future." 

Winnie sympathetically smiles at him. Her eyes widen and she smiles when she thought of an idea. "Wait, why don't I just be your partner for the quiz bowl?" 

Stick's eyes widen and he smiles at her. "Really?"

"Yeah, we partnered up for the quiz bowl before so it wouldn't be, like, anything new." Winnie reminded him. She and Stick had partnered up for the quiz bowl a the last time there was one and he needed a partner. Winnie is pretty good at knowing random trivia which helped her and Stick win that quiz bowl. 

"That'd be great." Stick grins. But then he frowns, his shoulders dropping in defeat. "But how am I gonna tell Tad no?"

"Just tell him no." Winnie responded, shrugging.

"I don't wanna hurt his feelings." Stick admitted.

"Then we need to figure out a way to get him to quit before the quiz bowl." Winnie realized and Stick nodded in agreement. Silence filled the air between the two best friends as they thought of a way to get Tad to quit. But it was looking like neither one could come up with an answer.

"So..." Stick drags out the word, glancing at her with a hopeful expression. "In the mean time wanna get prepared for the quiz bowl?" 

Winnie sighs with relief, glad she didn't have to keep thinking of a way to get Tad to quit since she was having trouble coming up with one. She just mentally planned on asking Ashley for help later. She smiles at Stick. "Sure."

****

(winnie's outfit for this part of the chapter)

The next day Winnie was at Pat's with Ashley and Brooke. Ashley was informing her friends about how she thought her uncle had changed ever since her friend from college came to visit. Victor was the definition of a player, picking up girls wherever he found one, but Ashley had explained how she thought Victor was turning over a new leaf. Winnie wasn't exactly for sure if she believed a guy like Victor changed just like that, but she hoped he could eventually change. 

"I think he's really changed." Ashley smiled.

"I think..." Brooke pauses, figuring out what she wants to say next. "It's good that you believe him."

Ashley puts her hands on her hips, furrowing her eyebrows. "You don't think a man like my uncle can change?"

"I think...It's good that you believe him." Brooke repeated what she said with a smile.

Frowning slightly, Ashley glances at Winnie. "Nini?"

"I think he could change. But I don't think he could suddenly be a better person over night." Winnie admitted.

Ashley moves to stand beside her friends when she noticed Stick walking over to them. "Hey, Stick."

"Terrible, thanks for asking." Stick responded with a sad look on his face.

Winnie chuckles. "We didn't ask, but okay good to know."

Brooke crosses her arms. "Wait, so are you saying you and your partner Tad aren't ready for Saturday's big battle of the brains?" She asked in a teasing tone.

"You don't know what the pressure's like." Stick replies in a defensive tone. "Be glad you have no chance of getting into a good college." 

Brooke crosses her arms and smiles.  "If college is gonna be full of people like you, I'm good." Winnie sympathetically smiled at Stick, patting his arm to comfort him. She smiled in thanks at Brooke, who handed her coffee cup to her after the person behind the counter set three coffee cups there. Brooke picked up the other two coffee cups, walking over to the table where the lids, straws, and other coffee indigents are at. 

"I don't know what to do. It's either hurt Tad by telling him or watch him destroyed at quiz bowl." Stick sighed.

Ashley frowns. "That's awful. Poor Tad will get humiliated. We can't let that happen."

"Yeah, that kind of humiliations could destroy someone." Brooke shakes her head. "Tad's not used to it."

"No one gets used to it." Stick comments. A pained smile forms on his lips and he shrugs. "But, hey, my mom says I'll be popular in my thirties." Winnie smiled sympathetically at him, putting her hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"Stick and I had planned on being partners for the quiz bowl, but we need to figure out a way to get Tad to quit." Winnie explains, glancing at Ashley with a hopeful expression. She takes her hands off Stick's shoulders, getting a lid and straw for her cup. "You got any ideas?"

Ashley smiles excitedly. "I think I have something. Tad's an athlete. They thrive on being competitive. I just read an article on sour-grape syndrome in last month's Journal of Scientific Psychology." She tilts her head to the side. "Have you heard of it?"

"Nope." Winnie replied, shaking her head.

Stick looks at her with confusion. "I heard of grapes." Winnie chuckled, pointing at him in a sign of agreement.

Ashley chuckles. "The study proved competitive people don't like doing things they're bad at." 

Winnie's eyes widen in realization and she smiles. "So we just need to do a practice bowl. That will show Tad how bad he is at academic contests and make him want to quit!" 

Stick smiles brightly at her. "Winnie, I could kiss you." Winnie looks at him with surprise, ignoring the way she felt her face heat up and how her heart fluttered. Upon realizing what he just said, Stick's eyes widen and he smiles nervously while a light shade of bush appeared on his face. "I-I mean, in a totally non-romantic way and only with your permission."

Winnie slowly nods and takes a sip of her coffee, glancing at Ashley when she spoke. "Tomorrow night, we'll have a practice quiz bowl at my house. You and Tad on one team," Ashley smiles at Winnie. "And Winnie and I'll be the other." Winnie smiled back at her and nodded. 

A fierce look of determination forms in Ashley's eyes as she walks forward, causing Stick to walk backwards with a nervous look on his face. "You guys won't answer a single question. We will rub it in your faces." Winnie looks at Ashley with surprise. She forgot how competitive Ashley can get. "Tad won't even be able to say the word 'quiz bowl'." Ashley continues. "We will destroy you!" Stick remains silent, staring at her with an intimidated look. Ashley smiles awkwardly and playfully punches his shoulders. "Because we care." 

****

The friend group was at Ashley's house the next night, doing a practice quiz bowl. "You and Stick will be teammates, and Winnie and I'll be the other team." Ashley explained to Tad. 

"And Brooke will be, what? Quizmaster?" Stick asked.

Brooke grins and speaks in a emcee voice. "That is correct!"

Stick nods. "Your emcee voice is dumb."

Brooke grimaces, pointing at him. "Ooh, that is incorrect."

"Thanks for setting up this practice, Ashley." Tad smiles at Ashley. "You're a good friend." 

Ashley smiles widely. "Oh, thanks, Tad." Winnie coughs loudly, trying to get Ashley to snap out of her dreamy gaze as she sat down on the couch by the right arm rest. Ashley shakes her head and a determined look replaced her dreamy gaze. "I mean, there's no friends in quiz bowl. You're going down!" She sat down beside Winnie while Tad sat down. 

"This website has a lot of great sample questions." Stick commented as he looked at the iPad on the music stand in front of Brooke.

"Ah ah ah!" Brooke scolded him, causing the boy to step back.

"I'm not peeking!" Stick defended himself, reassuring her he didn't look at the answers.

"Not that." Brooke shrugs. She looks at him with disgust. "You're just too close to me."

Stick rolls his eyes and sits down. Brooke then looks at the camera with a smile. "Welcome. I am Brooke Bishop, and this is quiz bowl practice."

Stick looks at his friends with confusion. "Who's she talking to?"

Winnie glances around the room, furrowing her eyebrows. "No idea." 

Brooke points at Ashley and Winnie. "In one corner, we have the youngest graduate from MIT and the quarterback of the football team who knows a lot of random trivia, Dr. Ashley 'the doctor' Garcia and Winifred 'winnie' Barnett!" The two girls stood and bowed at the same time, smiling at the camera.

"Where's the cheering coming from?" Winnie inquired, glancing at Ashley with confusion. The Latina girl shrugged her shoulders in response as they both sit down.

"And in the other corner..." Brooke clears her throat and announces the boys in a not so excited tone unlike how she announced the girls. "Tad and Stick." Tad smiled, elbowing Stick and he smiled lightly and elbowed him back.

"Players, test your buzzers." Brooke spoke.

Winnie smiles, gesturing for Ashley to test the buzzer which was just a bell. Ashley smiles at her and presses the bell. Tad tests the buzzer for him and Stick, furrowing his eyebrows. He picks up the stapler, looking at Brooke with confusion. "Uh, our stapler's not ringing." 

"Don't worry. You won't be using it much." Ashley remarked.

"You got that right." Winnie grinned and the two girls fist bumped.

"Looks like someone came to play." Brooke smiles. She looks at the iPad. "And we're off. The first topic is geography. Name the eight countries that border Austria."

Before anyone else could press their buzzer, Tad presses the stapler which surprised his friends. "Trick question. Austria is an island biggest one on Earth, actually. home to the gentle kangaroo."

"No, the question is about Austria, not Australia." Brooke told him.

Tad shrugs. "I'm not hearing a difference."

Stick nods, sympathetically smiling at him. "There is." He pats him on the back. "Keep swinging, buddy."

"Ashley and Winnie picks the topic." Brooke continued.

After quietly conversing with Winnie to decide what topic they should pick, they both nod when they decide on one and Ashley announces it. "Literature."

Tad looks at Stick and nods. "Books."

With a pained expression on his face, Stick nods. "Yes, Tad, books." Brooke replies. "Jane Austen's two incomplete novels are?"

"Ooh!" Winnie exclaims excitedly, quickly reaching over to press the bell. "Sanditon and The Watsons." Her friends (besides Stick) look at her with surprise. She shrugs and grins at them. "Jane Austin is one of my favorite authors." 

Stick smiles proudly. "I knew that."

Winnie laughs. "I know you did 'cause you got me one of her books for Christmas one year."

Brooke smiles at the interaction between them. "Winnie is correct. Continuing with literature, the French poet who won the very first-"

Ashley presses the bell before Brooke could continue. "Rene Prudhomme won the first Nobel Prize  in 1901." 

"Ashley is correct." Brooke smiles. "The Silver Age of Russian poetry was-"

The two girls press the bell at the same time, giggling because of the fact they both pressed the bell at the same time. "You can answer it." Winnie offers. "i don't even know how to say their names." 

Ashley chuckles. "Okay. Aleksandr Blok, Marina Tsvetaeva and little ol' Andrei Bely."

Brooke nods and smiles widely. "Ashley is correct."

"Oh, yeah!" Ashley cheers, high fiving Winnie. She then stands up and does a happy dance. "I don't stop, I don't stop, whoo!" 

"They're killing us." Stick said to Tad.

"Yeah, we suck." Tad frowns. "Whose idea was this?" He worriedly asked and put his face in his hands. Since he was distracted, Stick looks at Ashley and Winnie with a grin and gave them a thumbs up. The both smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up back while Ashley sat back down.

****

As the night went on, Ashley and Winnie continued to win the practice quiz bowl. "That makes forty-eight straight correct answers for Ashley and Winnie!"

"We're the A Team!" Winnie grinned at Ashley and the brunette-haired girl grinned back at her.

"Yeah, we are!" Ashley agreed and high fived her.

"Continuing with the category 'inventions'," Brooke said as Ashley and Winnie lean forward, getting ready to press the bell. "Name the historical figure that invented dynamite."

Tad presses the stapler. "Alright, sure." Brooke speaks in a bored tone and shrugs. "Tad."

"Napoleon Dynamite." Tad smiled widely and Winnie smiled slightly. It was cute how confident he was in that answer even though it was wrong.

"Incorrect." Brooke told him.

Ashley presses the bell. "Alfred Nobel." She grins and raises her arms dramatically. "Kaboom!" 

Tad glances at Stick with a grimaced expression. "I was so sure on that one."

"Forty-nine in a row for the A Team." Brooke pointed at Ashley and Winnie.

"I'm trying." Tad told Stick.

"Sure, you're failing now, but maybe you'll do better at the real quiz bowl in front of that giant crowd with all the kids from our school..." Stick pauses for a moment before adding. "And other schools...And the livestream." Tad looked away with a nervous look on his face.

Ashley stands up, glancing at Tad with concern. "Tad, need a break? Maybe some water."

Stick stands up, his eyes widening. "No break yet, Ashley." He tilts his head to the side, raising his eyebrows. "Don't you wanna go for an even fifty?" He smiles. "Make it a shut out."

Ashley nods, sitting back down and still looks at Tad with concern. "Yeah, sure." Tad nods. "One more. And then, Stick," With a grimaced expression, Tad glances at Stick. "Don't be mad...But I think you need to find another partner." 

Locking eyes with Winnie, Stick smiles slightly when she smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up. Stick looks at Tad with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it. Winnie offered to be my partner." Tad glanced at Winnie, who smiled at him, and he smiled slightly and nodded.

"Alright, let's try...Mexican history." Brooke suggests. "Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of what?" She glances at Tad when he pressed the stapler. "Tad."

"The Mexican army's victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla." Tad answered and Winnie looked at him with surprise since that was right.

Stick pats Tad's shoulder. "Nice try, bud."

Brooke stares at the iPad with surprise and then glances at her friends. "Tad is correct."

Stick looks at her with surprise. "What?"

Tad smiles proudly. "Continuing with the category, the Aztecs originally called Mexico City what?" Brooke questioned.

Tad dramatically presses the stapler. He grins. "Tenochtitlan." Winnie smiled with surprise while Ashley smiled dreamingly at Tad.

"Tad is correct." Brooke comments. "Name the woman who co-founded the United Farm Workers Union along with Cesar Chavez."

"Delores Huerta." Tad replied after pressing the stapler.

Brooke's eyes widen. "That's three in a row for Tad."

"What is happening?" Stick nervously asked since he was worried Tad would still want to be his partner after answering all these questions right. 

"The impossible is happening." Winnie responded with an amazed look on her face. She didn't know Tad was good at trivia and she had to admit she was impressed with him.

"Name the LA newspaper famous for its part in the Chicano movement." Brooke spoke. 

When Tad is quiet for a few moments, his friends glance at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Tad, you don't know this one?" Stick asked him.

"Oh, I do," Tad nods. He glances at Ashley and Winnie with a smile. "But I want to give the ladies a chance to buzz in."

Ashley smiles widely. "Thank you."

Winnie smiles in surprise. "Oh, that's sweet, Tad."

The smile on Ashley's face falls. "I don't know the answers"

"You know who does know the answer? This sucka, ha ha!" Tad laughed and before he could press the stapler, Winnie stopped him. 

"Wait!" Winnie's eyes widen wen she remembered something. "Oh, I do!" She quickly presses the bell before Tad could. "La Raza!" 

"Winnie is correct." Brooke smiled.

"Wait, how do you know about Mexican history?" Tad asked, looking at Winnie with surprise.

"I have a lot of random useless trivia up here." Winnie points at her head, referring to her brain. She smiles. "Also, I took a Mexican history class just 'cause it seemed interesting and I'm very glad I did that 'cause now all that Mexican history knowledge is paying off."

"Tad, you're amazing." Ashley compliments, smiling widely at Tad. "How do you know all this?"

"Mostly from my Uncle Ramon." Tad smiles. "He actually wrote for La Raza back in the day."

"That's so cool." Ashley commented.

"Ramon's my hero." Tad admits. "Dude's seventy-five, and he's still out there protesting. He's been taking me to marches and rallies since I could walk. He says, 'Esta en tu sangre.' That means-"

"'It's in your blood'." Ashley interrupts him. She nods and smiles softly. "I know."

"I'm a third Mexican." Tad smiled and Ashley giggled, dreamingly smiling at him.

"A third?" Stick questions, his voiced laced with confusion. "How can you be a..." He shakes his head, not even bothering continuing his next question. "Forget it."

"Tio Ramon took me to Mexico ever summer until his mom died." Tad explained.

"You know, I've never been." Ashley confessed.

Tad's face lights up just talking about Mexico. "It's amazing. The people, the food. Sometimes, I go downtown to Olvera Street just to breathe in the smell of antojitos."

Ashley looks at him curiously. "You know, I've never been to Olvera Street."

"I can take you sometime." Tad offers and a surprised smile formed on Ashley's face. "How about this Saturday?"

"Saturday. Super. Same day as quiz bowl." Stick chimes in. He pretends to sound sympathetic as he friendly punches his shoulder. "I'll miss you, buddy."

Tad's eyes widen and he glances at Stick, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Right." He takes his hand off, looking back at Ashley. "I've got quiz bowl."

Stick's eyes widen. "You were gonna quit."

Tad scoffs. "Before I found out I was good." 

Winnie facepalms. Well, this plan went downhill. Tad looks at Ashley with a smile. "How about Sunday?"

"It's a date." Ashley nods. Her eyes widen and she grows nervous. "I mean, not a date, like, in a 'date' date sense, but in the sense that Sunday's the tenth, and that's a date." To not embarrass herself anymore, she picks up her empty glass and stands to go to the kitchen. "Okay!" She said in a high-pitched voice with an awkward smile on her face.

Tad smiles at Stick, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "It'll be an honor to be your partner on Saturday."

Stick forces a smile. Then he shakes his hands and stands up. "Tad, I can't take it anymore. From the second you volunteered to be my partner for the quiz bowl I've been trying to tell you something. You..." His annoyed look on his face fades when he turned to see the bright smile on Tad's face. Stick looks at Winnie with a pleading look, wanting her to help him out. She just smiles sheepishly and shrugs in response. Stick sighs and looks back at Tad, dropping his shoulders in defeat. "Are a really good friend."

Defeated, Stick sits back down and smiles slightly. "Better than I deserve."

Tad looks at him with surprise and tears up. "Thanks, buddy." He looks away, pretending to rub his eye when it was obvious he was trying to show he wasn't crying. "I've still got some salt in my eye."

A/N y'all like that fourth wall breaking i did there?  i thought that'd be cool if i did that :)