I'm not Him (Zip x Edward/ZipWard)

"Questioning if I'm Him..."

Zip was walking with Engel through the halls, heading to the doors leading to the large library. She had only been here rarely, usually when she was bullying people or actually studying.

Engel led her up the stairs and then to a table in a corner, it was surrounded by bookshelves so nobody could disturb them. Only two people were at the table, Claire and Bubble. They were both excited to see him, but their smiles faded when they spotted Zip behind him.

"Engel? Why her?" Claire asked sternly. "You know she's a bad person." He just looked at her, giving an apologetic smile. "She was the only one up for the job, I'm sorry."

Zip couldn't help feeling a bit of a sting as Claire spoke those words. She knew full well that she wasn't exactly a saint like them three, but being called a bad person just hurts. "I can leave if you want."

He looked up at her, shaking his head. As he was about to say something, Claire takes his hand in hers and looks up at Zip. "Go, please. We're fine by ourselves."

He looked over his shoulder, looking at Claire with a bit of guilt. "B-but, we need 4-" "I said, we're fine by ourselves. Have I made myself clear, Engel?" He just looked at her before reluctantly turning back to Zip. "Y-you should go... I don't want to upset her..."

She just felt even more hurt. Even if Claire was closer to him than Zip can ever be, how could she choose his friend over his alleged crush? She just nodded and started to walk away, crossing her arms as her head hung low. She was disappointed in both Engel and herself.

She soon exited the library, her eyes scanning the crowds for Edward. He was the only person she could go to for comfort now. Claire's words had hurt her deeply, and even if she did bully her and become her enemy, it was like a dagger to the throat.

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Edward was chilling in Miss Bloomie's lab, wearing a lab coat as he experimented with different chemicals. He seemed pretty focused on what he was doing, although it was all just because he was bored. Even Miss Bloomie herself seemed a bit impressed.

"You actually managed to make non-newtonian fluid? That's actually impressive. No one else in your class can do that." The black-haired teacher said, her eyes a bit wide.

"It's really simple, Miss. I've been practicing it for a while now." He shrugged and smirked, feeling a bit mroe confident in himself with her compliment. He continued to mix the chemicals, soon forming the aforementioned fluid.

He lifted his gaze as he heard the door open, before looking back down. He didn't look enough to see who it was, but he didn't really care either way. But then he heard the sound of a girl calling out to him, he recognized it immediately.

He looked back up with a smile, seeing Zip by the door and putting his science instrments down befoee walking up to her. "Hi, Zip. What brings you here? Oh, and how did everything go with Engel?"

She looked at him, running up to him and immediately hugging him. This caused him to blush and be concerned. "Stupid, dumb Claire told me to scram! She even said I was a bad influence!"

He giggled softly, gently petting her head as he looked at her. She looked so adprable and pretty in his view, if only she could see it herself too... "Well, I kind of knew that would happen..."

She raised her eyebrow, looking at him curiously. "Why didn't you tell me then? Are you some kind of psychic?"

He shook his head with another laugh. "No, but I know how protective Claire is of her friends. It's also partly the reason why i didn't want you to go with them... because I don't want your feelings to get hurt in the process."