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Paintball, 1st Period - Monday

Did the teachers look especially eager to get going this morning? Yep. Sorry, Arden. "Everyone was very good last week," Steve said, grinning.

"This time we'll be adding in some boobytraps," Tony said brightly. "I think they're pretty ingenious, personally."

Because he built them.

"So, let's get to it," Tony added eagerly.

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Cal was keeping to himself as he got ready, focusing on examining his paintball gun to avoid looking at any of his classmates who might hate him at the moment.

There were exactly zero classmates who hated him! Probably. Okay, there might be some, but they were wrong and also probably bad people.

Anyway, look! Here was one non-hating classmate come over to make terribly stilted and awkward conversation!

"Um. Hey Cal," Arden said softly. It felt weird not going in for a hug and she shoved her hands in her pockets to make sure they didn't do anything stupid like reach out and touch him. "Hi, BD. Good luck out there, huh?"

Cal gave Arden a soft smile, and BD-1 gave her a much happier beep in greeting. "Good luck to you too. Look out for the teachers, they might not play fair." He wasn't going to mention the bet, of course, because that was how all this terribleness started in the first place.

"I think Professor Stark's still holding a grudge from Thursday," she said, giving him a smile back - or one that would be a smile, maybe, when it grew up.

She wanted to make a joke about the bet, but that just seemed cruel. After all, she was the one who'd asked for space. But she wasn't going to get over this hopeless, one-side crush having dinner with him every week, now was she?

"Cal..." Whatever she'd been planning to say shriveled up and died on her tongue. "Um. Watch out for traps, okay? I guess he's some kind of tech super-genius or something. Hate to see you get taken out early."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me," Cal said, giving her a sheepish look. "I mean, if you see me about to get crushed by something, you can yell a heads up, and I'll do the same?"

That was just general decency, not anything extra that might be too much for her, he hoped.

Arden didn't know how not to worry about you, Cal.

"Of course," she said. She gave him another one of those almost-smiles. "I'm probably gonna get wrecked today, so kick some ass, okay? Second time with a gun or not, I believe in you."

Wait. That came out so stupid. Who let her talk?

It wasn't stupid at all, it was adorable and sweet, just like her.

"I believe in you too. Try to get at least one person before you get taken down," he said with a smirk. "Focus on the teachers, it'll hurt more."

On the one hand, smirks did not make the whole trying to get over your ridiculously cute face thing ny easier, Cal. On the other hand, this was the closest they'd gotten to sounding almost normal, and Arden couldn't begrudge him a smirk in the face of being able to pretend that Friday had never happened for one brief, shining moment.

"Just remember that even if I go down fast and hard--" phrasing, Finch, phrasing. She was just going to assume that Cal's mind didn't work that way so she could keep talking and not just keel over and die of embarrassment right now. "--I'm taking at least one teacher with me. That's worth dignity points if nothing else."

Edited 2024-05-20 17:51 (UTC)

It was really nice to have this joking moment with Arden so Cal could feel like their friendship was salvageable. Maybe, if he played his cards right, he could fix things and everything would go back to normal.

"Sounds like you have an ideal plan for this week. I'm going to see if I've learned enough to take out either Skywalker." The answer would be no, but he had to try!

She'd promised they would, and had meant it. She just needed to get over this stupid crush so the next time weird things happened, he didn't get wrapped up in anything that made him uncomfortable or upset because of her.

"Just be careful," Arden said, her smile a little less anemic looking. "The Dean cheats. It's how he found me. So cheat back faster, okay?"

And, y'know, keep dreaming big.

"I would never cheat," Cal said, putting his hand to his heart. "But they didn't say anything about not using powers, so... we'll see how it goes." Taking a chance, he added, "Stay safe out there, okay?" before taking a step back to give her the space she wanted.

And that space hit her like a brick of air. Her smile shriveled and died, and her shoulders hunched. But it was for the best. It was her problem and she had to fix it and this was the only way she knew how.

"You too, Cal," she said softly. "Best of luck."

And with one more diffident nod, she turned and walked away.

Yep, he definitely felt like a jerk now for pushing too much. He went in the opposite direction and tried to get ready for class.

After getting ready and suited up, Kamala looked over and saw Cal being glum. Which for a ginger is extra pitiful.

"Hey, Cal," Kamala said in a sympathetic sing-song fashion. "How are you holding up?"

"Oh, hey Kamala. I'm doing okay."

Did that sound believable? Probably not.

"Are you ready for today? Sounds like it's going to be a little more challenging." Hooray for deflection!

"Oh, I'm totally ready this time. I watched videos on you tube."

Because that's how you become experts on things.

"You sure you're doing all right? I know Arden had been looking forward to it before the whole bitey thing."

Cal thought about trying to maintain the lie, but it was easier to just sigh and be honest. "I'm less all right than I was last week, that's for sure. That gremlin bite messed up a lot of things. But I'm hoping after a little space and time, things will go back to normal."

For whatever value of "normal" this place could provide.

"Is there anything I can do to help you feel better? I got like a bajillion gift cards to the coffee place in case you need a caffeine overdose," Kamala offered. "Or a sugar rush because it's also good for cake pops.

"I think if I have more caffeine today, my heart might explode," Cal said. "But, uh... could you watch Arden's back today? She might have some extra people gunning for her, and I don't know how she's doing, and it'll be worse if she's distracted so..." He gave a shrug. "I'm just trying to do what I can for her."

"Awww! Look at you. You still want to protect her," Kamala said, "It's too bad you two just want to be friends. I mean... I get it? I had this one guy crushing on me in high school that I didn't realize until it was too late. Heartbreaking when it happened. But, we worked through it. We're still friends. Anyway."

She reached over and patted Cal on his arm. Not like Arden who was always just looking for an excuse, but to give sympathy.

"If you need to talk to someone about it, I'm happy to bend an ear. Not that I can provide any advice because my relationship history is a trainwreck but I'd be happy to listen."

"Of course I still want to protect her. I protect all my friends," Cal said. The idea that they "just" wanted to be friends seemed strange - of course he wanted to be friends with Arden, and that was more than he even wanted to ask for right now. "I'm hoping we'll be friends again, but last week... trainwreck seems like a good word."

"Well at least what happened between the two of you was because of gremlins," Kamala pointed out. "And most guys I've met in high school would be hating on a girl who pushed them away. It's just nice that you still want to be there for her. Most people aren't like that."

"She didn't push me away, she asked for some space and I'm giving it to her. I care more about Arden's well-being than my own ego," Cal said. "If I act hateful, I'm never going to get my friend back. But I'm going to take that 'not like most people' as a compliment."

"Well, I guess. It's just so weird that you care a lot about her but just want to be friends. But it's nice of you to give her space to get over her crush on you," Kamala said with a tad bit of confusion.

Cal blushed and ducked his head. It was sweet of her to think that Arden had a crush on him, but he knew better. "If someone asks you to do something to make them feel better, saying no is kind of an awful move. There's no reason to be hurtful when it doesn't cost me anything."

Looking around, Cal gave her a grin and tried to shift to a more comfortable topic. "Is there anyone in particular you're aiming for this week?"

Paintball, 1st Period - Monday

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