Fetch, Felix!

Chapter Six

I was jealous of the shy, quiet kid that Kyle hung out with at lunch daily. I wanted so desperately to spend that amount of time with him, and yet... I was stuck with my annoying friends.

Speaking of which.

"...Example A: her squeaky, whiny, high-pitched, nasally voice. Example B: she compliments literally everyone just to get on their good side. Example C: she has the audacity to sit next to me in..."

I learned how to block Emmy out. She had been presenting her presentation on Veronica for about a whole day now. At lunch, before school, after school when they were waiting for rides; Tyler and I were tired of it.
"Ems. Look at Tyler." I commanded, pointing at the poor child.

She glanced down at her best friend. He was hunched over the table, spooning mashed potatoes into his mouth with a faraway look in his eyes.

"He's been gone since you started." I stated, sighing.

"Oh, fuck, I broke him."

I sat there, watching Tyler in fascination and amusement. I never knew someone could eat that fast.

"Ty, snap out of it," she ordered, snapping to draw his attention.

He shudders out of his phase and looks at her with mashed potato on the corner of his mouth.

"You remind me of my three year old brother," she said, disgusted. I laughed and he wiped it off with a crumby school napkin.

Emmy sunk down in her seat, resting her chin on her arms. "I'll stop going on about Veronica I guess," she sighed. "For your sake."

A grin grew on Tyler and I's faces, and we looked over at her in amazement.

"Really? You mean it?" Tyler gasped.

"Yeah..." she said gloomily, drawing imaginary squiggles on the table with her finger.

I looked at her in concern, my grin fading away. "Well now we broke Emmy."

Tyler looked over at me, then at her, his own grin slipping off his face. He sighed. "I hate that you're always right, Sam."

"Ems," I started, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Let's make a deal."

Her eyes shot over to mine, interest peaking.

"You try holding a civil conversation with Veronica, and see if she's a nice girl you could befriend," her face fell, "and if it doesn't work out, you can complain all you want about her." She contemplated it, eyebrows furrowing in concentration.

"Fine. Deal." she said, a glint in her eyes.

Am I going to regret this?

The bell rang, telling us to go to our next class, and we got up and threw away wrappers and napkins on our way out of the cafeteria.

Walking to class, I felt an unexpected presence at my side, making me look over.

"Felix."

"Hm?" he hummed as he walked alongside me through the hall, causing people to look over and even stare.

I glared back at someone who was rudely staring, making them look away and keep moving.

"Do you always attract this much attention?" I complain, staring another person down.

"I guess," he replied, shrugging. "I've gotten used to it by now."

"I see," I muttered, pulling my backpack closer to me for protection.

"Where ya headed?" he asked, smiling down at me.

I stared at him for a beat, trying to figure out why my stomach was squirming, then answered. "Gym class." I looked away. Something was wrong with me. I shrugged off the weird feeling and focused more on getting to class.