Gilbert yawned as he walked to the bicycle rack. School had dragged today, leaving him feeling tired. If he didn't have to babysit Lud when he got home, maybe he'd take a nap. He secretly prayed their old man wasn't working late, but knew it was unlikely. But maybe...
He saw a girl standing with the bikes, and scowled as she loudly cursed. What was her problem? But as he approached and saw her fumbling with a lock, he realized it was the lock around his red bike. He was about to yell at her when he quickly shut his mouth, having taken a second look. Oh. ...Shit. Had he locked their bikes together? ...Apparently so. Oops.
Hearing footsteps behind her, the girl swiftly turned her head and his apology stuck in his throat. Her emerald eyes narrowed as she watched him advance, and as she stood her chestnut hair fell over her shoulder. Damn, she was gorgeous... Wait, he knew her! She had transferred to their school a few months ago, and she was in a couple of his classes. What was her name again?
His question went unanswered as she spoke. "This your bike?" she asked, sounding thoroughly annoyed.
"Yeah, sorry." He glanced at her as he stepped past and kneeled, taking the lock in his hand. "I didn't realize. My bad."
"You're right it is, I'm going to be late!" she huffed, crossing her arms as she watched him undo his mistake.
Gilbert stood and pushed the green bike to her. "Well sorry!" He frowned as she quickly grabbed it from him. "...I hope you're not late for something important," he said as an afterthought, trying to smooth things over.
His remark seemed to calm her down a little, and she gave him an apologetic smirk. "...I can be a few minutes late, I guess. I just have to hurry home to take care of my twin baby brothers."
Gilbert grinned. "Oh, I can totally relate. I have to babysit when I get home, too."
Her smirk grew into an understanding smile as she mounted her bike. "Well... I better be going. See you in History, Gilbert."
She rode off, and Gilbert stared. She knew his name? Well, now he had to find out hers.
Her name was Elizabeta. As he left school the next day and headed for the bike rack he repeated her name in his mind. Elizabeta... Elizabeta...
He heard her curse before he noticed her. Once again, she was pulling at the lock around his bicycle. And hers. He chuckled to himself as he walked up behind her. "Oh no, did I do it again?" he asked, playing innocent.
She slowly turned to look up at him. She instantly glared. "You did this on purpose, didn't you?" she accused, jumping to her feet.
"What makes you say that?"
"No one is stupid enough to pull this two days in a row," she stated, glowering. "...But maybe you are, for all I know."
"That hurts, Elizabeta!" he scoffed, bringing a hand to his heart.
"Good, maybe you won't do it a third time, then." She jabbed her thumb at the bikes. "Just hurry up and unlock mine, okay?"
"Okay, okay, just a minute!" He bent to undo the lock, but took his time. "I would have thought you'd be glad for the extra protection!"
She gave a sharp laugh. "Ha! I don't need it, anyone tries to steal my bike I'll personally kick their ass."
"I'd like to see you try," Gilbert joked.
"You know that kid with the sharp tooth? He doesn't have it anymore, thanks to me." She grinned smugly. "Only reason I'm not suspended is because he didn't want anyone knowing it was a girl that knocked his tooth out."
"That was you?!"
"Yup. But if you tell a soul, I'll have no choice but to, I don't know..." She cracked her knuckles. "Do the same to you, I guess."
Gilbert wanted to laugh, but the threat was all too real in her eyes. He unlocked their bikes and motioned to hers. "Here. Ladies first. If you can be called a lady with that pottymouth."
She snorted. "Gee. Thanks." She took her bicycle. "But joke's on you, I'm not much of a lady, anyway. Or so my dad says." She swung her leg over and took off. "Don't you dare do this a third time!" she warned over her shoulder. "You really can't be that stupid!"
Oh, but he could be, Gilbert thought as he mounted his own bike. He was probably going to regret getting mixed up with Elizabeta, but interacting with her was fun. In class she was the perfect student, but he was getting to see a new side of the intriguing transfer girl. He laughed to himself as he followed her to the parking lot exit. This was quickly becoming his new favorite activity...
The next day Elizabeta was waiting for him, arms crossed and tapping her foot impatiently. Her scowl deepened as Gilbert approached and gave her a wink. "You know, we really should stop meeting like this!" he joked.
"Did I do something to piss you off? Is that it?" she asked tersely. "Or are you the school jerk who pranks everyone?"
"The second one." Gilbert smirked as he stopped in front of her and shrugged. "What can I say? I'm very clumsy."
"Bullshit." She relaxed and tucked her hair behind an ear. "...So, what? Is this going to be a daily occurence now?"
He grinned as he began to work on the lock. "Thinking about riding the bus?"
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, trust me, I would if it could get me home on time. But it's either this or I walk home."
"Sounds like you're stuck with me, then."
"...Unfortunately. As much as it kills me," she admitted. "But honestly, why are you doing this? It's so stupid!"
"Well, honestly..." He paused, and glanced up at her. "I really am that stupid," he replied. He laughed as she swung her schoolbag at his arm.
And so it continued, becoming a daily ritual. Gilbert began enjoying his encounters with Elizabeta so much, he actually wished they had school on the weekends. ...Okay, maybe not that much, but it was still something he missed on those days. And they did begin to talk more in general, thanks to the bike rack conversations. Though he supposed it was more playful bickering than talking. But any conversation he could get with Elizabeta was awesome in his book. She had so much personality, she was captivating...
Then one day, it ended.
Elizabeta stood at the rack with her back turned to him, and he became alarmed as he neared and heard her sniffling, like she'd been crying. But... That was impossible. Eli, crying? It couldn't be. She was strong, fierce... He just couldn't imagine it. But as he stopped beside her, she swiftly turned her head away from him, and he knew it was true: Eli was capable of crying. And she was.
"...What's wrong?"
For a moment she said nothing, but then she snarled, "What, you don't know? God, you really are stupid, Gil!"
Gilbert frowned. "Okay, I don't appreciate the attitude, it's just plain mean. But I really don't know."
She sniffled again, then explained, "Well, the whole school does! Roderich chose the music program over me!"
"Roderich? What are you talking about?"
"H-He's entering this 'esteemed' music program after school, so he said he couldn't be with me anymore because it's going to take up all of his free time! He said he had to think of his 'future'!" she exclaimed, her hands moving angrily with her words. "I mean, it was probably his parents, they're always telling him what to do, but still! Just once, he could have made up his own mind and said something!"
"...You two were dating?" This was news to him, and it sparked a flame of jealousy in the pit of his stomach. Her and that dweeb? He didn't hate the guy, but why him?
Elizabeta kept her head turned away as she answered, "It was a secret, we didn't want people prying. But now everybody knows! Seriously, he couldn't have told me in private?! He told me at my locker, with everyone around us! He should have known I'd want to argue with him about it! Everyone heard, damn it!"
"I didn't," Gilbert offered.
"You weren't there, you moron! But everyone else who missed it is going to hear about it tomorrow, and they're all gonna stare and ask questions and shit!" She moved her hand, wiping something from her face. Tears? "We've known each other for years! Since our parents became friends! We were supposed to be..." Her words faded, but Gilbert caught her meaning. To her, it had only ever been Roderich. She had never thought of them not being together...
He really didn't know how to respond. This was all new to him, how did one comfort a crying girl? Unlike with Lud, he doubted she'd quit crying if he started making silly faces and noises...
"A fucking music program! He chose that over being with me!" Elizabeta repeated, as though she really couldn't bring herself to believe it.
"I'd choose you." That's what Gilbert wanted to say. But the words wouldn't surface, and he was left staring blankly at her. "Uh..." He slowly turned his gaze to the bicycle rack. "...Sorry. Let me get your bike..."
She spun and finally faced him. Her cheeks were flushed and wet from streaked tears, and her eyes flashed in anger as she advanced on him. "And you! You're a fucking asshole, you know that?! You've been pulling this bike shit for months now! Grow up! I'm sick of it, already!"
This was not the reaction Gilbert had expected. He looked at her, wanting to say something snarky in return, but he didn't have it in him. He couldn't pick on her now, knowing she was hurting.
His silence angered her more, and she gave him a push. She really was strong, to his surprise, and he stumbled back. She glared and curled her fists at her sides. "Seriously, what kind of moron keeps this up for that long?! It's so fucking annoying! Like you! I can't stand you! Every. Single. Day! I just want to... just want to... I just want to punch your stupid face!" Her rant over, she stood glaring at him, panting.
"...You want to? Go ahead." Gilbert glared back at her. "But I know it's not me you're mad at. Maybe you should punch him."
"Fuck you!" Elizabeta was fuming now. "I'd never punch Roderich!"
"But you'd punch me?"
He did not expect her to actually punch him. But she did, and man it hurt. He rubbed his jaw in shock, and stared at her. She stared back, face unmoving. "...You really hate me that much?" It couldn't be true... She was just lashing out, that was all.
"I do," she growled unapologetically.
His gut twisted and he dropped his hand from his face. Even if she didn't mean it... Her words hurt. Way more than the punch. "...I guess we should stop meeting this way then." He pulled his eyes away from hers and stepped over to the bike rack. Without a word he unlocked them, and grabbed his own bike. He felt kind of bad as she simply stood there, but when she turned her head from him he swallowed his guilt. This was what she wanted, wasn't it?
The silence felt heavy as he rode away. He didn't look back.
For weeks they didn't speak a word to each other. At first they constantly glared back and forth, but it eventually settled into a type of existence where the other was merely invisible. There was no one in that seat, so there was no one to glare at. They became empty space in the other's mind, and Gilbert accepted that with time.
And one of them always stayed behind a few extra minutes to avoid the other at the bike rack. It was the only place immune to their little charade. It was where it had all began, after all.
But then one day, Gilbert walked to the bicycle rack and cursed as he saw someone had locked his bike with theirs. Oh, the irony... He would have been pissed if it had been hers, but he didn't recognize it. This bike was red like his, but with white handles instead of black.
He waited a few minutes, wondering who the hell was holding him up. Theirs was the only other bike left now, so the next person to walk his way had to be responsible. He glared ahead, waiting to catch sight of the culprit.
When he saw them, his stomach flipped. It was her. He quickly looked back to the bike again. No, it couldn't be hers, hers was green... Had she gotten a new bike?
She walked up to him but remained silent as she undid the lock. Unsure of what to say, Gilbert said nothing as he watched her.
Elizabeta stood, and wheeled his bike over to him. She gave a small smirk, looking directly at him for the first time in what seemed like forever. Her eyes were unsure, and her smirk wavered briefly before she spoke.
"...I never said I wanted to stop meeting this way."
He blinked, wary of her words. "...That punch said it pretty clearly."
"...Technically a punch can't speak for me. And so I never verbally said such a thing." She looked away, embarrassed. "All I said was I hated you. ...And that was a lie."
Gilbert couldn't help but grin. "Knew it."
Elizabeta was silent again for a moment, then she looked back to him. "...I understand if you hate me, though. But... I missed this, Gil. I missed you."
"Me hate you? Now you're the stupid one." His grin widening, Gilbert gave a small chuckle. "...I missed you too, Eli."
How could he not?