That was about the reaction he expected from Vicky. "I may have poured it on a little too strongly there, especially with the roses..." He may have been madly in love with Vicky, similar in how Tootie felt towards him, but he generally felt that it was better to take a more relaxed approach to confessing his love, rather than attempt to smother her with it.
"You have three seconds to explain, then you die!"
He didn't react the way she expected him to, over the past few months he acted slightly less afraid in her presence, but he still reacted to her threats and yelling with fear, and that was how she liked it. Now however, he didn't, no fear at all. Just that dreamy expression and smile. She couldn't even place if she was enraged or scared.
"Hello?! I'm serious! What the hell was that?!"
"A... confession?"
"Of what?!" she could feel the rage building, good, rage she understood, she was intimately familiar with anger and rage, not fear or uncertainty.
"That I like you of course."
Vicky's mind crashed into a brick wall, she just stood in front of him in disbelief, not speaking, not blinking, barely even breathing.
"I think I broke her..." he inwardly laughed at the thought.
Vicky's mind was slowly trying to piece itself back together, and it wasn't going well, the shock of what Timmy told her was a bit too much, there was literally no reason for him to have these feelings for her, she tortured him on an almost daily basis, made his life hell, why would he suddenly drop a bomb like this on her? "It's obviously a trick, he wants to get back at you for all the things you did to him, it just took him until now to enact this plan." "If that's the case, why would he admit to liking me? He stands to lose much more than I do from the confession, I could easily blackmail him and use this against him. It would be stupid to give your enemy such an advantage over you." "Well this is the Twerp, maybe he didn't quite think it through all the way?" The next voice that spoke in her head brought the buried fear screaming back to the surface. "Maybe he really does like you, like really like you..." This thought was quickly buried, along with her fear. "No! I refuse to even entertain that notion!"
"Alright, what's your angle?"
"Angle?"
"Yeah, what are you trying to do? This is a trick of some sort, not a very well thought out one, but it's a trick. Do you really think I'm gullible enough to fall for it?"
"Well I should've expected this..." "This isn't a trick of any kind, this is just how I feel."
"No, you don't."
"Are you seriously trying to tell me what my feelings are? I think I know them better than you do."
"Evidently not, and that's only if this confession isn't some sort of elaborate trick to lull me into a false sense of security, which I know it is."
"I'm gonna have to disagree with you there."
"This trick of yours wasn't very well thought out, I can use this information against you, I am Vicky, evil babysitter, who's to say I won't blackmail you with this information? I'm sure all the kids you go to school with would love to hear that you have a crush on me, of all people. You would've been safer crushing on Trixie, or that blonde friend of hers. But this? I can use this to ruin your reputation, looks like your little plan against me has backfired!"
Timmy paled and frowned at what she said, ruin his reputation at school? "Hmph, go right ahead, tell them everything, doesn't matter to me. This isn't a trick, I really do like you." He wasn't about to back down to one of her threats.
Vicky had been bluffing, if she did reveal the information, she would likely be the one ridiculed, people might even try to turn this back upon her, saying she was some kind of... sexual predator or something, but Timmy didn't know that... did he? Whatever the case, he had called her bluff, and now he was the one on top in the conversation.
"Twerp, I saw you holding Tootie's hand today, you two seemed to be on cloud nine together, why would you suddenly tell me this, just out of the blue? You realize how suspicious it sounds, right? Matter of fact, I bet Tootie and you are in cahoots together, to finally get back at me..."
"I'll admit, when put like that, it does sound suspicious, but Tootie told me herself that when you're at home, you aren't nearly as bad as everyone says you are, so why would she be involved in some plan to make you look bad? She has nothing to gain from shaming you."
"Maybe you just tricked her, or... or... blackmailed her, or something!"
"Now I think you're confusing me with yourself, I don't blackmail, and while I may trick people now and then for a laugh, I didn't trick Tootie, she is my friend, my friend who has a slightly obsessive crush on me, but my friend nonetheless. And I'm not trying to trick you, what I said, it really is how I feel."
"Then why were you holding her hand? Are her feelings for you just a game to you? How do I know these supposed feelings for me aren't just a game?"
"Tootie has had a crush on me for years, ever since we met, she's been trying to make me fall for her, she was the one who initiated the hand holding, the hugs, the attempts at kissing, everything."
"Then why exactly are you leading her on?"
"Leading her on?!"
"Yeah, she always talks about how much of a great person you are and how you two are going out..."
"I invited her to come sit with me, Chester, and AJ because she always sat alone at lunch and in class! I wanted to be her friend, I guess because I felt bad... but we're not together, and we aren't planning any retributive acts against you."
"... I don't believe you."
"Why not?"
"I heard about what happened at the mall, you went over and tried to ask out Trixie Tang. Are you trying to start up some sort of harem or something? Kinda young to be doing that, don't ya think?"
"Harem? No. Most certainly not, I like to think I'm a one woman man. I have no interest in trying to balance several relationships with a bunch of different women, that sounds like far too much work... And if you listened to the whole story, you'd know I got rejected nearly instantaneously..."
"Alright, so Trixie rejected you, that doesn't change the fact that you were trying to woo her, and then seemingly Tootie, and now me, what's up with that?"
"The Trixie thing was misdirection, my friends caught me daydreaming and correctly assumed it was a girl I was daydreaming about, I needed a way to obfuscate who it was I was actually daydreaming about, it was you, by the way, so I made up the fact that I like Trixie, then drove the falsehood home by going over and trying to talk to her. I couldn't have hoped for a better outcome, she shot me down and I made it look like it really bothered me."
"That's... actually pretty smart for a Twerp plan..."
"I'm not as dumb as everyone seems to think I am."
"I dunno, you did reveal to me the feelings you have for me... even if it's bullshit."
"It isn't bullshit! Haven't I made myself pretty clear? I. Like. You. What more do you want me to say to prove it?"
Vicky pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "Ugh... as much fun as it would be to make you do a bunch of chores... Just get out of here."
"I live here."
"Up to your room."
Timmy marched up to his room and shut the door.
Vicky stayed in the living room and plopped down on the couch, then put her head in her hands. "I feel a migraine coming on... What the hell is going on with him?! Why is he suddenly telling me he likes me?! I wanted a quiet weekend to go shopping, and I get this?"
Timmy's Room...
Timmy entered his room and shut the door behind him, Cosmo and Wanda appeared in their fairy forms out of their fishbowl. "Hey sport! How was your day?"
"Fine, I went to the mall after school with Tootie and the guys. Then I went to talk to that popular girl, Trixie Tang, so as to hide the fact that I like Vicky, and then she rejected me, as I had hoped. Then I walked Tootie home and came here."
"Aren't you kind of... disturbed by Tootie's behavior? The fact that she obsesses over you on a daily basis, has tried to kidnap you... that sort of thing?"
"Well yeah, but I don't hate her, she's just a girl who likes me, and is slightly crazy..."
"Wait! You like Vicky?!" Cosmo interrupted. Timmy and Wanda deadpanned at him.
"Honey, we've known about this for a while, Timmy told us a few years ago..."
"Are you sure? I don't remember it... or anything for that matter!"
"Back to our original conversation... what else happened today? We heard some yelling downstairs..."
"Oh, that, I confessed my feelings to Vicky... she... didn't take it well..."
"Oh... I'm... sorry to hear that sport, what are you gonna do now?"
"It's no big deal, I'm not about to give up, she'll come around... I hope."
"And if she doesn't? It's a very real possibility that you have to be ready to face, she is six years older than you, and she is a self proclaimed evil babysitter..."
"...We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, if we come to it."
"As long as you're ready to accept it if it does come to pass, I don't want to see you heartbroken..."
"Thanks Wanda..." he was glad his godparents were so accepting of his liking Vicky, he hadn't expected them to be, but he needed to tell someone, someone who he hoped would be able to help him figure out his feelings.
"Did you give her the roses?"
"Yep. It was kinda funny, when I gave them to her and told her I like her, she just kinda froze, you should've seen the look on her face! I wish I had a camera..." a digital camera then appeared on a strap around Timmy's neck. "Right... sometimes I forget about that..."
Back in the living room...
Vicky's phone began to ring. "Ugh... who could it be now?!" she grabbed the phone and looked at the screen. "Great, the Turners, what do they want now? Hello?"
"Vicky? Do you mind going out and picking up the new video game for Timmy? I forgot we pre-ordered it for him, and now we can't go get it, do you mind going to get it for us?"
"Umm... Yeah I think I can handle that..."
"Thank you again Vicky, we'll pay you back for the game and for gas."
"Sure... no... uh... no problem." she absently realized that she didn't bother to put up her saccharine facade.
"Oh and bring Timmy with you! Bye!" Mrs. Turner quickly hung up the phone.
"Wait! What?! Oh, Goddammit!" were his parents in on it too?! "No... I'm... I'm just being paranoid..." "Twerp! Get down here!"
Timmy quickly made his way downstairs and stopped in front of her. "Hey Vicky!" he had that goofy grin on his face again.
"God, this is frickin' weird..." "Your parents want me to go and get some game they pre-ordered, and they want me to bring you with me."
"So I get to spend more time with you?" he queried excitedly.
"Unfortunately."
"Yay!" he launched himself at her, attempting to hug her, but she quickly sidestepped and he crashed into the couch.
"Yeah, don't do that."
Timmy hopped off the couch and dusted himself off. "No promises."
"I think I'm gonna need to get a restraining order..."
"I would advise against that."
"Of course you would, most people who do what you're doing would."
"Perhaps, but first of all, the one I have against Tootie has yet to dissuade her, so if you got one against me, I would react similarly to how she does in regards to mine, that is, ignoring its existence. And second, my parents are your best customers, a restraining order would just complicate your getting paid by your richest clients."
"Damn." Vicky sighed in defeat. "You're smart, I'll give you that, a lot smarter and more devious than I thought."
"Misdirection and Deception are very powerful tools in the right hands, I learned that from you, Vicky."
He said her name differently than she was used to, she was used to her name being spoken in voices laced with venom, even he had said her voice in this way up until recently. "Was that a part of the ruse as well?" The way he said it now though, it was almost... sweet, loving even. "These thoughts are gonna drive me to drink, I'm not even old enough to drink!"
"Let's just go already..." she left the house and got in her car, Timmy following close behind and sitting in the passenger seat up front. "Do you have to sit up front with me?"
"Yeah, I do. Besides, do you really want to chauffeur me around?"
"No I really don't want you to even come with me, but your parents make the rules that dictate how well I get paid, not me..."
"Like rules have ever stopped you before."
He had a point, she could just leave him and get the game, then come back, they likely wouldn't believe him if he told them anyway. Which brought the question: Why was she bringing him? "He'd probably just try to launch himself into hugging you as a surprise when you get back." Yeah! That was it! Certainly no other underlying reasons!
"Put on your seatbelt."
"Why you planning on driving fast or something?"
"Yeah, I do. I always drive fast, wherever I go, and I just don't want you getting hur-"
"What's that?" he had a sly grin on his face.
"Hur-ahem. Just... clearing my throat!"
"Don't want me getting...?"
"Shit! Betrayed by my own mouth!" "Getting... any ideas about hugging me while I'm driving! Yeah, that's it."
"So I can hug you when you're not driving? Like at the mall?"
"Yeah sure, I... Wait! No! No hugging!"
Timmy didn't say anything, he just sat there, attempting to stifle some giggles form their conversation.
"Oh... You're gonna get it..."
They continued on in silence until arriving at the mall, when they did, Timmy quickly got out of the car and ran to the driver's side, opening the door for Vicky.
"Really?"
His response was the goofy grin again.
"This act of yours? It isn't gonna work, I know you're trying to trick me. I'll admit you're smarter and a better actor than I thought you were, but I can still see right through you."
Timmy just shrugged his shoulders in response. "Think what you like."
"Hmph." she stood up and slammed the car door, then quickly walked off, Timmy quickly chased after her and caught up, matching her pace to keep from being left behind, though Vicky's legs were longer than his, and the pace was slightly tiring.
An idea came to him as he walked with her, and he figured it wouldn't hurt to try it, well it might hurt, but it would probably be worth it. If anything, he could blame Tootie for putting the idea in his head through her actions earlier. He grasped for Vicky's hand and, upon grabbing hold, interlaced his fingers with hers. Vicky immediately stopped abruptly, surprising Timmy. A look at her face revealed that her cheeks had turned pink, though only very slightly, most people who didn't see Vicky everyday would probably not even notice it, but Timmy did.
Vicky stared at her hand, locked in a light grip with his. She lightly tugged at her hand, trying to get him to release it without causing a scene. She then stared daggers at Timmy, hoping he would understand the look in her eyes, a look that said something along the lines of: "You are going to die." His face however, looked back at her quite innocently, like a kid asking their parent what they did wrong.
Vicky looked around the clothing store they were in, a futile attempt to find someone, or something that could help her out of this awkward situation, but everyone went about their business, not caring about the two people awkwardly standing around, holding hands. "Timmy! Let go!" she whispered to him.
"Nah, I think I'll keep holding on, these places could be full of kidnappers or murderers, holding your hand makes me feel safe."
She could admit, he was very dedicated to this plan of his, despite how hard she was trying to rebuff him, it didn't seem to bother him much. And he was really pouring on the charm. No one else had ever been this dedicated with her, not Ricky, not Winston Dunsworth, not even Chip Skylark. But she was convinced there were ulterior motives to this nice guy act.
Vicky groaned in defeat and gave up trying to free her hand, his little speech would make her look bad if she forcibly took her hand back now. They proceeded out of the clothing store and into the main mall area, a security guard sped by on a Segway scooter.
"I hate those things..."
"Yeah, me too." Vicky didn't recognize the voice that spoke, it certainly wasn't Timmy's, it was far too gruff and grown up. It came from a figure sitting nearby on a wooden bench, wearing a security guard uniform, though the shirt was untucked, and he was smoking a cigarette.
"Oh! Hey Wolfe! What's up?" Timmy apparently knew this person.
"Same old, same old, kid." he stood and walked over to Timmy and Vicky. "What brings you here today? On a date with your girlfriend?" he gestured towards their interlocked hands.
"Wha-! No! It isn't like that! I'm-I'm just!" Vicky sputtered nervously.
"She's my babysitter. Wolfe, this is Vicky. Vicky, this is Chief of Mall Security Arlen Wolfe."
"Hey. Nice to meet you, so you're the one I've heard a little about."
"How evil I am I assume?" Vicky heard the sound of someone riding a skateboard behind her.
"Wha? Evil? I don't- Gimme a sec." the skateboarder rode by and was met with a blow to his shin from Wolfe's police baton. There was a sickening crunch heard upon the baton connecting with the shin, the skateboard kept rolling, the boarder slammed down hard on the floor.
"Dude! What the fuck?! I think my leg is broken!"
"No skateboarding in the mall." the boarder continued to roll around on the floor in pain.
"Anyway, I haven't heard anything about an evil babysitter, no, I pretty much only hear good things about you, how pretty you are, how dedicated you are to keeping an eye on Timmy, how beautiful your fiery red hair is, his words, not mine. By the way, Timmy, you're right, those eyes are pretty."
Vicky looked at Timmy, who was now blushing bright red and rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, kinda... kinda wanted to say those things myself..."
"Oh... whoops! Sorry about that, kid." he turned back to the skateboarder and watched him roll around for a few more seconds before checking his watch and delivering a bone shattering kick to the skateboarders side.
"Ah! Dude what the hell?! Kicking me while I'm down?!"
"I'm not your 'dude', and you are now loitering." he flicked some ashes on to the boarder, who resumed rolling around on the floor, now holding his side as well.
"Big, bad Wolfe, same as ever..."
"I haven't had my coffee yet, shop doesn't open until night time."
"Why not get coffee in the morning?"
"Because it tastes like ass from all the other shops, only the girl at my coffee shop knows how to make it right. And they only open at night."
The boarder continued to roll around on the floor then grabbed Vicky's ankle, surprising her. "Please lady, help me! I need an ambulance!" Vicky looked down at him and shook him off her ankle. Wolfe rolled his eyes and stepped forward, then stomped the boarder's forearm that he used to grab Vicky.
"Now you're harassing a lady? You must be a masochist or something!"
"Why are you doing this?! You have something against skateboarders or something?!"
Wolfe scratched the stubble on his chin in thought. "Just haven't had my coffee, and you were just in the wrong place, at the wrong time."
He turned his attention back to Timmy and Vicky. "So what brings you two here?"
"Just picking up a game."
"Ah! Gotcha. Well, I should get back to work. You two take care now." he returned to the bench they had found him at.
Timmy and Vicky walked past the boarder who writhed in pain on the floor.
"So who was he, exactly?"
"Him? A friend of the family, he helped me out once, about... a year ago. Francis tried to say I was stealing things from several stores around the mall, hoping to use me as a scape goat so he could steal things himself, but Francis didn't think about the fact that most stores these days have security cameras, and Wolfe helped me out. He also smashed Francis' hands for stealing."
"Sounds like my kind of guy..." Timmy looked at her with an odd expression on his face. "Not like that! Just that he isn't afraid to hurt people, like me."
"Yeah, he's a good guy to those he likes and those who don't go around breaking rules."
"Oh, nevermind then. I'm not a big fan of rules." Vicky had apparently forgotten that they still were holding hands.
"Still, being friends with the chief of security has its perks."
They eventually arrived at the video game store and Timmy released her hand, just in case his friends from school were around, he didn't want to fight that battle right now, though the fading warmth he felt in his hand wasn't particularly welcome.
"What? Now you release my hand?!" she was whispering again, but it was an angry sounding whisper.
"My friends could be in here, I just don't want to put either of us in an... uncomfortable situation."
"Didn't seem to bother you earlier, putting me in an uncomfortable situation, I mean."
"Oh, well in that case." he grabbed her hand and began to lace his fingers with hers when she yanked her hand back and out of his.
The pink was back in her cheeks. "Lets just get the frickin' game and go."
"Fine with me."
Vicky paid for the game and they left the store, there had been no sign of Chester or AJ inside.
Timmy walked next to Vicky and grasped her hand again, she wasn't fast enough to pull away this time.
"Ugh... have you always been this... clingy?"
"When I was young, I would hold my mom's hand in public, but there are a lot of weirdos who would try and abduct a little kid. It made me feel safe. But once I got a little older, I didn't, my parents were never around, and when they were, they usually pulled away in public or went to do their own thing while I was left to my own devices..." there was a downcast expression on his face now.
Vicky sighed loudly. "I'm not your mom..."
"No, but I like you. I want to hold your hand. It feels... nice."
Vicky had to admit, it did. But there was no reason to tell him that, her pride wasn't about to let her. "Hmph, speak for yourself..."
Timmy inwardly sighed. "She isn't going to make this easy..." "What about the thrill of the chase? She'll come around eventually." "She might not..." His thoughts were arguing back and forth, and not being particularly helpful. "Do... you wanna get something to eat? I'll pay."
She was hungry, she hadn't actually gotten a chance to eat yet, when she was out shopping, she was also going to buy food for herself, but the Turners had interrupted that quest. "That sounds dangerously close to you asking me out on a date. Is that what you're attempting?"
"It's whatever you want it to be."
"You're only going to end up disappointed if you keep this up, Twerp..."
"I'll be the judge of that."
"Fine, lead the way." she didn't bother to attempt pulling her hand away. "Hm... maybe I could take advantage of this..."
"Well, I guess it's a start..." He pulled her along excitedly, not noticing the blonde girl hidden behind a large potted palm tree.
POV shift to Veronica...
"It's him! He remembered my name! Oh Timmy, if only we weren't separated by so much, we could actually be together... He's with that red head... Vicky. She must be the 'evil babysitter' I've heard about from the unpopular kids..." she didn't bother to put up her facade now, that valley girl accent was a pain in the ass to keep up.
She quickly climbed up the palm tree and nestled herself among the fronds.
"Hm... where are they going?" she watched as Timmy and Vicky walked through the food court, evidently trying to find a restaurant to order from. Timmy had a smile on his face, Vicky sported a bored looking expression on hers. "Are- are they on a date?!" Veronica leaned forward a bit to get a better look, the tree shook slightly in response. "No, probably just him being nice to her, he's always so nice to people..." she sighed happily as she watched him.
Veronica wasn't happy that she had to be so mean to people, but she knew it was important to keep up her reputation, she didn't want to be alone like that Tootie girl always was. She'd rather be mean than be alone.
"Good thing Trixie turned him down, I probably can't hold a candle to her. Even if she is a shallow, hollow, spoiled little brat, she has her looks and he seems to have some kind of a crush on her, I saw the way he looked at her, all dreamy eyed and smiling..."
The trunk of the tree began to bend and creak, though Veronica was too absorbed in her spying to notice.
She watched as Timmy and Vicky ate at a table, he seemed to be trying to have a conversation with her, but she didn't seem to care, just occasionally nodding and, Veronica assumed, 'mm-hm'-ing. "Jeez, could she look any more apathetic? Here he is, trying to be nice to 'Icky Vicky' and she doesn't even seem to give a damn! I would never be so cruel! What a bitch!"
POV shift back to Timmy and Vicky...
Vicky glanced over toward the game store they came from, she felt like she was being watched. Timmy was telling her some story, but she had tuned him out shortly after he began, merely nodding and making sounds of agreement now and then. She noticed a blonde ponytail in the palm tree not far from the store entrance. "Hey Twerp, hate to interrupt, but how many palm trees do you know of that have ponytails, blonde ponytails to be precise?"
"Um... none..."
"Then I think we may have a fly on the wall..."
"Who?"
"How many blonde girls do you know with ponytails?"
"Hmm... let's see... just uh... yeah, just Veronica, friend of Trixie, part of the popular kids' group."
"Hmph, so she goes to school with you?"
"Yeah... why does it matter?"
"It doesn't." Vicky glared at the palm tree and, a second later, it was struck by a lightning bolt, causing it to topple over, despite the fact that it was a perfectly cloudless day, and they were inside a mall.
"Whoa! Did you see that?! That was awesome!"
"I know! Weird huh?"
Return to Veronica's POV...
Veronica now laid on a pile of slightly singed palm fronds. "Owie... that hurt..." her eyes were watering slightly from the pain.
Luckily for her, Wolfe happened to be nearby when the palm tree fell over. Though he didn't hurry; he assumed that nobody was nearby, and if they were, he assumed they'd be dead, and dead people don't qualify as an emergency in Wolfe's book. He approached the collapsed tree and realized there was a blonde girl among the remains of the tree.
"You aren't dead, are ya?"
"No..." she sounded pretty pathetic right about now.
"You all right then?" he took another drag off his cigarette.
"No... not really... my leg really hurts."
He looked down to see that her leg was bruised and a little swollen. He sighed exasperatedly and dropped his cigarette, stomping it out. "You frickin' kids need to learn some limits... like not climbing palm trees! You ever wonder why no one builds tree houses in these types of trees? They're too thin and weak, they can't support much weight, and if they get struck by lightning, well, this happens."
"No offense but, could you save the lecture for some other time...?"
"Hmph." Wolfe knelt down and picked her up, and began walking away from the scene of destruction, carrying her bridal-style. "I'll take you to the infirmary, you're lucky, you know that?"
"Lucky I'm not dead...?"
"Well yeah, but you're also lucky I'm doing this for you, I hate most kids, but I've got a soft spot for pretty girls." Veronica looked at him, an unsure expression on her face. "Not like that. You're in perfectly safe hands, I'm not a weirdo like some people around here."
"Am... am I in trouble?"
"I'll just say you were nearby when it fell, not climbing it."
"Thanks..."
"Yep."
