Wild Birds
Chapter 4: Now Which One Was Real Again?
The treehouse is beautiful. It stands tall and still and proud and the paint is clear and bright.
It's safe.
It's home.
Abby's there too, and she's coaxing Kuki in. It's not necessary; she wants to go inside. Why would she need to be coaxed?
There's someone working at a bench, gnawing at a chili dog while machinery whirs and snarls around him.
Abby is tugging gently at her hand.
Someone else is sitting at a giant computer, shaking a fist at the blurry face on the screen.
Sunglasses, Kuki thinks for some reason.
Abby is wearing a red hat now. When did that happen? It looks good on her.
The hat expands, pulsing, filling her vision.
Red is everywhere, accompanied by the blaring sound of an alarm.
It's time to go, Kuki thinks excitedly. It's time to go!
She runs, happy, enthusiastic, elated. She has a purpose.
It's time to go.
It's time to go.
It's time to go!
"Battlestations!"
Kuki slams her hand down on the alarm clock.
She's on the floor again, sweating, heart slamming against her ribcage, back aching from the uncomfortable position.
It's time to go to school.
Kuki begins to think that Abby's friendliness from yesterday was a dream when she is greeted by only a stone-faced nod of recognition when she enters class that morning.
Though Kuki tries to catch her eye several times, Abby's attention remains focused on the lesson and her gaze does not drift over to her kind-of-sort-of-friend. Kuki tries not to feel hurt when Abby is the first person out of the classroom when the bell rings.
Kuki thinks is safe to say she is not invited to lunch.
She returns to her own table, a soggy PB&J, and the low chatter of her friends. Right; her friends. She'd been rude to them yesterday. This is where she belongs.
The rest of the day sinks into a fog of note-taking and hall-walking. Just as it was.
Pre-Cal, however, is a vastly different story.
The moment she enters the door, Wally's eyes seek her out. An awkward little grin quirks upwards on his face.
Kuki takes a deep breath and lets the fog drift away, making way for vibrant colors and sharpened vision. Smiles. Waves back. Sits down.
"Hi, Wally."
"Hey, Ku- uh, Kuki." He falters for a moment, face twitching briefly into something like confusion.
Kuki realizes he'd never actually introduced himself. But he knows her name; it isn't so weird for her to know his, right?
The little smile trying not to rise on Wally's face suggests it's really not.
Class starts. Conversation ceases, but Kuki finds herself stealing glances at the boy next to her all the same.
She's had crushes before. Freshman year it had been a guy named Ace who she went on exactly one date with before she realized he was better suited to a harem than a relationship. There had been others here and there, both short-lived and far-fetched, but the point of the matter is that Kuki knows what infatuation feels like.
This…isn't quite that.
Kuki's not really sure what to call the safe, familiar glow in her gut when she glances over and finds Wally's gaze drifting toward her. Their eyes dart away quickly, but they're smiling as they work through their math problems.
It doesn't feel romantic, exactly. It just really feels like everything in her is telling Kuki to get to know this weirdo who chased her through the rain.
Kuki's okay with that. She's a friendly person.
And he's cute for a shortie.
Once again, she glances toward Wally, who is hunched over his notebook, scribbling out vertical asymptotes for the formulas on the board.
With one glance Kuki can tell his answers are all wrong. He'd written things like 'x=4' and Kuki feels strangely disappointed. She wonders if he's even trying.
"That's wrong," she whispers, eyes front.
From the corner of her eye, she sees him pause to glance at her, then scribble out whatever answer he was writing down.
"Then what's the answer?" he whispers back.
"Figure it out."
"I can't."
"Try."
Kuki glances over at the same time Wally does. This time neither of them looks away.
The prickle of familiarity runs up Kuki's spine again, making her shiver.
This time, she sees the same reaction mirrored in Wally.
The bell rings.
As Kuki fumbles to collect her things, shaken by whatever unidentifiable situation she's been caught in, Wally tears the erroneous page out of his notebook and throws it at the trash can. It bounces off the rim and onto the floor.
Kuki pauses. "Why'd you do that?"
He shrugs, stuffing the notebook into his backpack and zipping it up. "They were all wrong anyway."
"Yeah, but now you'll never learn," Kuki replies heatedly.
Wally scoffs, swinging his bag onto his back. "Not in this class that's for sure. Mr. Figg is a boring A-hole."
Kuki frowns. "You need to get a tutor, then, or else you'll never pass and you won't get to graduate with the rest of us."
Wally pauses, letting Kuki hitch her bag onto her shoulder in silence before he slowly shifts over to stand closer, one hip perched against her desk. Kuki looks up.
"Well, uh, maybe you could teach me," he says with a grin.
A flirtatious grin. With a dimple.
Is he flirting?
He's flirting.
Kuki panics.
Wally seems to reconsider his words after a few seconds of flustered silence, reddening and shifting backwards out of her space. "Um. Nevermind. I mean you get like B's and stuff so I thought… But uh, I'll get that dork Gabe to help me I guess. He's better at math than you are, so…"
Some resentful feeling deep in Kuki lashes out at that. "What? Now I'm not smart enough?"
Wally's face blanks, then washes over with confusion and mild panic. "Huh? No! That's not what I said!"
"That's exactly what you said!"
"I-I don't think you're dumb, it's just—Gabe is smarter!"
Kuki emits an offended shriek.
"Better at math, I mean! But, uh, he's a total dork! I'd rather have you teach me!"
"Forget it!" Kuki makes to brush past him.
Wally follows her into the hallway. "Seriously! Come on, Kuki!"
Kuki marches straight ahead, fuming.
"C'mon, please? I want you to teach me! Don't be a doofus!"
Kuki spins around. "A what? You're the one who needs tutoring!"
"You offered!"
"No, you asked!"
"Exactly!"
"Fine, I will! Because you're a doofus!"
"Fine!"
"Your house tomorrow?"
"Fine, see you then!"
"Fine!"
And that, it seems, was that.
Kuki wanders home wondering exactly what just happened, but unable to bring herself to regret it.
AN: UGH I'm sorry this chapter took forever to come out; it was giving me so much trouble for some reason. So much dialogue bleh. Idk how I'm even going to write the precal tutoring. The only reason I passed that class my senior year was because the teacher gave no shits and just kept giving me random extra credit for being hilarious. Don't ever let anyone tell you funny doesn't pay because I once got a free wedge of cheese at Cracker Barrel for making the waitress laugh.
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