Chapter 10

Rag Doll

Lunch had just finished. Fanta walked out of the dinning hall. I wonder where Wilt's gone. I haven't seen him since he ran off this morning. He said we were still cool, but he sure was acting strange… she thought to herself. Oh well… she shrugged and walked aimlessly across the foyer. She had nothing to do. She decided to go and find Eduardo or Coco. Maybe they were doing something fun.

She searched all through the halls until she finally found the two friends. They were playing checkers in the same room Fanta was in yesterday, when she was playing with the chess pieces. She hesitated at first, she hadn't talked to Coco and Eduardo as much as she had with Wilt, Bloo and Mac; so she was a bit shy. They noticed her as she began to walk towards them from the doorway.

"Hola, Fanta!" greeted Eduardo in a friendly voice.

"Coco" greeted Coco, also friendlily.

"Hey guys. Whatcha doin'?" she said with a smile, slightly relieved by the fact that they were so welcoming.

"We are playing Checkers. Did you want to play the winner?"

"No thanks. Can I watch?"

"Coco"

Fanta watched for a few minutes as Coco and Eduardo took there turns. She suddenly realised they were signalling each other with their eyes. Was this apart of checkers? What were they doing?

"Co-co!" she whispered from across the table. Of course, Fanta could hear her just ask clearly as Eduardo.

"No. You ask her." he whispered back. Fanta had a feeling she new what they were going to ask.

"Co-CO coco!" she whispered again.

Eduardo sheepishly turned his gaze to Fanta. "Uh, Fanta..."

"Co-co!" whispered to him again, more excitedly this time.

Eduardo caught on to Coco's excitement and began to smile. "Fanta, is there, like, something going on between usted and Señor Wilt?"

Fanta blushed at the question. "What do you mean?"

"Ah, she is blushing! That means it is true!" Eduardo said excitedly, pointing at her.

"No it doesn't." she whined in a meek voice.

"Co-co coco co-co?" she asked teasingly.

"Si. What about between usted and Bloo then?"

"Ah! No! What? I don't think so. His an alright guy, but he drives me nuts!" she replied, taken aback by their question.

"So you like Señor Wilt!" he presumed excitedly.

Fanta was still taken aback, and a bit confused. "How does that prove tha-"

"Fanta loves Señor Wilt." he sang, teasingly.

"Coco co coco-co." Coco joined in. They continued to tease her repeating the same line over and over to the same tune.

Fanta wanted them to be quiet. She wanted to move on. She knew that Wilt didn't want to be with her, so there was no use holding on to those feelings. "You guys!" she said over the top of them.

"Have you told him? Is Wilt going to be your amor?" he asked excitedly.

"No." she replied, slightly revealing hurt in her tone. "I did tell him. But he doesn't feel the same way."

"Why?" asked Eduardo.

"I don't know." she began. "I think it was because we're too different. And Bloo said something about me being ugly, but I think he's just makin' stuff up."

"Co co-co co co-co?" asked Coco.

"Yeah, I do still like him." Fanta replied, slightly embarrassed, "But I'm trying to move on, you know? I mean, what's the point of liking him if he doesn't feel the same way?"

"Coco."

"Si. That is right."

Fanta paused for a moment. All this talk about her and Wilt was making her feel a bit down again. She decided that she needed to go and cheer herself up. "Look guys, I'm gonna go watch a DVD. I'll see you around, okay?"

"Okay. Hasta luego." he waved slightly, smiling.

"Coco" said Coco.

Fanta walked out of the room and down the steps. She looked for the nearest television that had a DVD player attached. Finally she came across the TV room she saw Wilt in the other day. She looked around for some DVDs. There were a pile of them on the ground next to the television. "Okay, what have we here?" She asked aloud as she began to search through the pile. "Hmm. Harry Potter… Harry Potter 2... Teletubbies?!… ew, no! What else… Sponge Bob… Batman… Shrek…" She picked up the Shrek DVD. "Shrek will do. I like this movie." She put the disc into the DVD player and waited for it to start.

She began bobbing to the introduction when suddenly someone walked into the room. She switched to swinging her feet instead as she looked up to see who it was. It was Wilt. "Hey Wilt. I was wondering where you were at!" she said smiling. "Wanna watch Shrek?" she asked casually.

"Uh… no, I just, uh…" Fanta noticed that he was trying to say something, so she paused the DVD and turned to him to listen; however, by the time she looked back up he had disappeared out the room.

Was he avoiding her? He said he wasn't going to. The thought upset Fanta, so she tried to take her mind off it. "Hey, now. You're a rock star…" she began to sing to herself as she reached for the remote. She continued watching; trying not to think about Wilt.

* * *

About 20 minutes later, Wilt walked through the door again. Fanta noticed he had walked in. She looked up expecting him to say something. He open his mouth to talk. He looked uncomfortable for some reason. This made Fanta feel bad slightly. Did he really feel that uncomfortable around her because of the way she felt? Then suddenly his expression changed to one of confusion.

"Um, Fanta. Why are you watching the TV on mute?"

Fanta looked to the TV and then looked back at Wilt. "I got bored of Shrek so I decided to make my own voices for the characters." she said with a smile. "Makes the story really awkward though." she said, giggling slightly.

"Oh, okay." said Wilt. They both paused for a moment. Why was he so strange all of a sudden?

"Did you want to join me?" She asked, "You can have Fiona and donkey and I'll have Shrek and the Lord Farquad guy."

"Uh, no thanks. I actually just wanted to know if I could ask you something." He began to look uncomfortable again.

Fanta quickly outstretched her arm and faced her palm out to him, as if to say 'halt!'. She kept her gaze on him and her arm in place as she quickly felt around for the remote. Once she found it, she pressed the pause button, not once breaking eye contact. "Good. You stayed this time." She said, slightly bothered. "Shoot". She anticipated Wilt's question. He, on the other hand looked frozen. Fanta's expression then turned to one of sincerity. "Wilt, is everything okay?"

"Uh. Yeah. Everything's fine!" He said quickly and nervously with a grin. "I'll be right back" he promised, "Is that okay?" and once again, before she could answer, he disappeared out the door.

Fanta felt slightly torn up inside. He's avoiding me. I know it! she thought to herself. She could feel the tears forming in her eyes. I think I can actually feel my heart breaking… she thought again. She breathed deep and let out a hefty sigh. I just gotta give him time. He'll get over it. Surely…. Fanta turned off the DVD, placed it back in its case and added it to the pile. She decided that she'd go to her room. Maybe Mr. Moth had a few other insect friends she could converse with. She got up off the couch and began the long tedious walk to her room. Man, this house is big… she thought to herself.

* * *

It had been about 15 minutes of hard labour, but her mattress fort was complete. "I name this edifice 'SKELETOR', in the name of all that is dark and random!" She crawled into her fort, which only consisted of a chair that sat against the wall, a mattress that leant against it, a pillow to block the end and a blanket to cover the entrance. "And I am Queen… Batman!" She announced to herself. "And I rule all that dwells within this fort!… That's right chair. I'm lookin' at you." Suddenly, Fanta heard the sound of the door opening. She crawled midway out of her mattress fort. "Halt! Who dares enter my kingdom of solitude?"

"Its me. Wilt." he said, appearing confused by Fanta's 'kingdom'.

"Oh hey, Wilt" she said, sounding casual. She didn't feel upset anymore. She went to get out of her fort when suddenly it collapsed on her. "If you want in you need to know the password… it's 'ALL HAIL QUEEN BATMAN!'" she announced, her fist in the air. She then dropped it to the ground. She felt squashed.

"I'm sorry, but, Queen Batman?" He asked, baffled.

"I'm Queen Batman." she stated bluntly. She then laughed, "Imagine that… Batman in a dress." She laughed some more.

"Did you want some help?" He offered.

"What? Getting-out-of-this-fort help or mental help?" she joked. He laughed slightly. She hoped that he was relaxed enough now to ask her what he was trying to ask her beforehand. Wilt stepped forward and offered his hand to Fanta. She hung on tightly as he pulled her out from under the mattress. She realised he was touching her hand. She couldn't fight the butterflies. The best she could do was ignore them. He lifted her out and placed her on the ground. She continued to hold his hand tight, even though she no longer needed to.

"Fanta. You can let go of my hand now." he said with a slight smile. Fanta couldn't quite make out his expression. It looked warm. And kind. It confused her a bit. It also made her butterflies stronger.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that." she said, her words flowing smoothly. "You see. If I let go. Your going to start asking me a question; and before I get to hear the end of it, you'll run away and I won't see you again for perhaps another 20 mins and the same thing is gonna happen all over again." She dragged her mattress a few centimetres until it was flat on the ground. "Sit" she commanded. Wilt looked uncomfortable. Was it because she was holding his hand? Was it because she was in the same room as him? Was it because she was Queen Batman? Whatever the reason, all Fanta wanted to know was what the question was. It was driving her crazy with curiosity. He sat on the mattress and she sat next to him, not letting go of his hand. She looked up at him. Why must I punish myself? she thought as she felt the butterflies flutter. "Okay. Now what is it that you wanted to ask me, Wilt?" She asked kindly.

Wilt looked even more uncomfortable. Fanta waited patiently for his question. "Uh. I've actually changed my mind. Really I want to tell you something." he said nervously.

Fanta waited, feeling somewhat nervous herself. What could he possibly be so nervous about? she wondered, I mean, if he feels uncomfortable around me and wants to avoid me he could just say so. It's not like I'm going to bite his head off… I'll just wait 'til he leaves… and THEN I'll cry.

Wilt looked side to side. "Oh! I just remembered!-" he began with a nervous smile.

Here we go again… she thought to herself.

"-I've got to… do my laundry!" he went to get back up, but Fanta held on. He realised this as he tried to head for the door. Wilt turned around and look at her.

Fanta could feel tears swell up in her eyes again. She didn't care this time. She didn't even care if she sounded like a blubbering mess. "Fine! Just go then! But I wish you would just say it! Its obvious, you know!" She said crying. She stood up from her mattress as Wilt came back and sat on the mattress. She then went and stood before him.

He looked down at her with a guilty expression. "It really that obvious?" he asked.

"Yes!" she said, upset. "I can tell, okay? I can tell by the way you've been acting all day. The way you've been avoiding me! Your uncomfortable being around me. That's why you keep disappearing. I wish you'd just say it and stop throwing me around like a rag doll!" Fanta paused for a moment, studying Wilt's reaction. He seemed shocked, and saddened. She sat next to him on the mattress, breaking eye contact. She looked at the ground and looked back up at him. "I'm sorry, Wilt. Its just that it really hurts, you know." She felt another flood of tears running down her cheeks. "Is it really that bad that I like you?"

A small tear formed in Wilt's eye. That just made her feel worse. He lifted his hand and wiped a falling tear from her cheek. "I'm sorry, but, you've got it all wrong." he said softly. This time she could even feel the butterflies in her palms. He grabbed her hand and paused for a moment, looking at it. "It's actually the complete opposite." He turned his gaze to her face, looking into her eyes. "I've been doing some thinking, and I've realised, that… that…" he hesitated, "That I like you." he began to blush slightly, but he didn't smile, she could see that he was still awaiting her response. "Is that okay?"

Fanta didn't know what to feel. She felt tingly. But she didn't know if she was happy, or angry. "I… like… you… too…" she replied, confused. "But didn't you say before that you didn't feel the same way? Like, you gave me all these reasons, and you said we'd never work. How did that change? What makes you feel the way you do now?" she questioned, her head was beginning to hurt.

"I guess I was scared." he admitted, looking down with an ashamed expression, "I just didn't expect you to feel that way about me. I'm sorry, is that okay?"

"Yeah. But. You gave me those reasons!" She reminded him. "Why do you like me now?"

"Fanta, I liked you all along. It's just that I didn't realise it. I'm sorry, I've just never felt this way about a friend before. Its all new to me." he explained sincerely.

"So why were you avoiding me and being all uncomfortable around me today?"

"I was nervous about telling you." he answered with an embarrassed smile. Fanta smiled back lightly. She couldn't help it, his smile just did that to her.

Fanta paused for a moment, taking in what had just occurred. "So… You really do like me?" she asked, trying not to blush. She failed miserably.

He looked at her warmly, then looked at her hand and began to stroke her fingers with his thumb. "Yeah. I guess I do." he said with a slight chuckle.

"Then prove it!" she said half jokingly, a big grin on her face.

"How would I do that?" he asked, smiling at her, showing slight confusion by her sudden up beat tone.

"You could…" she thought for a moment, "… You could take me out! …On a date!" she grinned at him, attempting cuteness.

"Sure, okay." he agreed, "That sounds like fun! Where would we go?"

"That's up to you. Surprise me, okay?"

"Okay." he said excitedly with a smile. "I'll meet you here at 7:30 tomorrow night. Is that okay?"

Fanta looked at him happily. "It's a date." She replied.

Author's note-

That's right! Queen Batman! As queen i command you all to review! ... nah it's ok, you don't have to... Would be nice though! What will happen on their date? ^_~ ... Hmm...