Garfield pulled a pair of headphones on and turned up his podcast. Even with the noise, he heard Raven grumble beside him.
"I hate the mall on Saturday. It's crowded and hot," she said.
"You guys go look at clothes, okay?" Victor said with a chuckle. "I'll take this little weasle to the arcade."
Garfield smirked and watched the others wander away.
"You need to sit?" he asked.
"Yes," Victor said, not hiding the pain. "I think I'm gonna call Dad to bring my chair."
He flopped onto a bench and started rubbing his right leg firmly. Garfield squeezed into the little space left near his foot and paused his show.
"No problem, dude. What happened?"
Victor sighed. "They said I could stop wearing the orthotic and switch to just the compression sleeve at night. I kinda forgot it at home, and now everything's swollen."
"Bummer! The sporting place is across the store, but I can-."
"I'm fine."
Garfield pouted. "-get you some ice."
Victor groaned and pulled out his phone. "Ice sounds awesome, man. Maybe try the food court, though? It's closer."
Garfield nodded and took off as Victor called his father. At the food court, he made a bee-line for Hasty Tasty.
"Hey, Bee," Garfield said, leaning on the counter. "Any chance I can get a bag of ice?"
Bee glared at him, then smirked. "G-man, right? That's what Vic called you?" she asked, rolling her eyes. "Ice isn't something we sell. Or put in a bag. It comes in the cup, kid."
Garfield pouted again and forced his eyes wide like a pleading puppy.
"I don't need it in a cup, though. I need it in a bag," he said. "For Vic's knee."
Bee's demeanor changed instantly and she started poking buttons on her register. "I can get you an Orange Supreme, hold the ginseng, extra ice on the side. That work for you?"
"Can you put it in a bag?"
Bee chuckled softly and nodded. "It's $5.63. I'll get that ice."
She disappeared into the back quickly while Garfield swiped his card. Then she popped out of the back room with a zipped bag full of ice and plopped it into Garfield's hands.
"Is he gonna be okay?" she asked.
"Yeah. He's just sore right now. We're gonna hit up the arcade once his dad gets here with his chair."
"Make sure you visit me first so I can get you your drink, okay?"
Garfield shot her one of his toothy grins and agreed before darting back to Victor.
He still had his leg up on the bench, arms crossed and glaring sideways at a woman with two little kids.
"-So heartless! They're tired," she whined.
"I'm tired, too, lady. Just find another spot," said Victor.
"If you put your leg down, there's plenty of room!"
"If you'd been nice about it, I'd do that."
"Yo! Vic!" called Garfield, holding up the bag.
Victor smiled a bit and held up his hands. Garfield threw the ice, surprised it didn't burst when Victor caught it. Garfield hopped onto the arm of the bench and planted his own feet next to his friend's.
"Can I help you?" he asked the woman, keeping his voice as level and deadpan as he could.
"This boy is taking up this whole bench, and I just want to sit down with my babies and rest a minute!" she screeched.
Garfield rested his chin on his hand, leaning forward. "Have you tried looking for another seat?"
"Why? There's a seat right here!"
"Yeah. It's taken," said Victor.
"I mean," Garfield said, "if she wants it that bad, we can roll a car over her. Then you'd be on equal footing. Sorta."
Both their eyes widened in horror at the suggestion, and the mother quickly dragged her children away.
"What the hell, man?" asked Victor.
Garfield shrugged. "Raven taught me. She said making people feel awkward is a great way to make them leave you alone, and I'd be really good at it."
"Awesome," Victor said flatly. "That's exactly what we need. A passive-aggressive Garfield."
"Pretty cool, right?"
"Not cool. Scary, actually. Look, bro, just- leave the snark to Raven, okay? It's… weird."
"Yeah, sure. Sorry."
"Hey." Garfield lifted his gaze back to Victor, who smiled gently. "Thanks for the ice, man."
"No problem. Got it from Bee."
Victor laughed quietly, and the two chattered about the clerk for a few minutes. Garfield watched him, watched his body language. Learning it was so hard, but he knew Victor's now. Head cocked, relaxed. Lip curled up, amused. Staring at the light, thinking hard.
"Still not sure?" he asked.
Victor glanced at him, then back to the distant light. "No. But I think I'm gonna ask her out anyway. I like spending time with her, but… does it change things?"
Garfield nodded. "I mean, it's not like you're asking her to marry you. Just go get coffee together or- Ooh, invite her to movie night!"
"Movie night?"
"Yeah, so there's no pressure! No one's dating anyone. Bonus, it means we get to meet her for real."
Victor laughed and said, "Well, I should probably check with Rob first. It is his house."
"Did someone here order a chair?"
The boys looked up at Dr. Stone with grins.
"Hey, Dad."
"How you feeling, champ?"
"Little better. Gar got me some ice," Victor said before he heaved himself into the wheelchair.
"Oh, you owe me five bucks, by the way."
Victor raised a brow. "What?"
"I had to get a drink to get the ice. Oh," Garfield said suddenly. "We're s'posed to stop by the Hasty on our way to the arcade."
"Yeah, like I'm paying for your drink," scoffed Victor. "Hey, legally speaking, am I allowed to modify this thing?"
Dr. Stone shook his head, saying, "I know I'll regret asking, but why?"
"I wanna put my leg up. If I can install-."
"Figure out what you need, and I'll see about it," Stone said. "It's coming out of your repair fund, though."
"So the car waits a few weeks," Vicor said. "I can't have swollen joints bugging me at school. Okay, man, let's go see Bee."
"Who's Bee?" asked the doctor.
Victor groaned. "She's a friend, Dad. It's still not a phase."
Dr. Stone raised his hands in apology and asked if they needed anything else. When Victor declined, he wandered away, leaving his son to roll his eyes.
"What's not a phase?" Garfield asked, attaching himself to the back of the wheelchair as Victor maneuvered it forward.
"Being ace. He's starting to get it, but he thinks I'll outgrow it like Robin did. Not gonna happen."
"Robin 'outgrew' it?"
Victor shrugged and said, "Maybe? I think he's demi."
"Demi? Moore?"
"No, dummy. Demisexual. It's like… you know how you find girls hot?" Garfield nodded, and Victor explained, "Imagine that only happens if you're already friends with her."
"Oh. Oh! Oh, shit, who is it?"
"None of your business."
"So it's not me. Phew!" Garfield thought for a moment and said, "Can't be Rae either."
"Why not?"
"Dude, Rae's business is my business. She lives in my house. Could you even imagine him with Kori, though?" he chuckled. "She's so tall!"
"He could have a growth spurt."
"So could I."
Victor laughed at that. "I hope it gets here soon!"
"I'll be damned if I'm a squirt for the rest of my life. I'm already emotionally stunted."
"More isolated than stunted. Hey, Bee!"
The dark girl waved from behind the counter with a wide grin.
"Hey, Vic! Did the ice help?"
"Lots. Thanks.
"Can I have my drink now?" asked Garfield.
Bee laughed and pulled an orange drink from under the counter, which he snatched and started sipping on. Shaking her head, Bee returned her attention to Victor.
"You got weird friends, man."
"Yeah, I fit right in. So, uh. This is my chair."
"Oh. Neat. I'm taller than you now."
Garfield sighed. "Okay, I'm headed to the arcade so I don't get in the way of the flirting."
"We're not-!"
"You weren't?" Bee asked, pouting.
Garfield sniggered and walked away while the two sputtered over who was or wasn't flirting. He turned his podcast back on and drank his smoothie while Xanadox talked about butterfly migration. Garfield nodded along. Seeing a butterfly migration was on his list. Also, a bat migration. He closed his eyes and went over that list again. Swim with dolphins, dive with a whale shark, visit the Galapagos and the Amazon. He wanted to see the ice caps before they melted, clean up a beach so turtles could nest, plant more trees in Africa…
He yelped when he walked into somethi- someone!
"Hey!"
"Sorry," he said, steadying himself.
He rubbed his neck and sent a sheepish grin in the girl's direction. She scoffed and turned away, letting her blonde hair fall over her face like a shield. Garfield let her walk a bit before realizing she was going the same way he was. She glanced over her shoulder twice before stopping again to turn and glare at him.
"Stop following me!" she growled.
"I'm not. I'm just-."
"Then why are you still here?"
"-going to the arcade."
She let out a sound like a muffled scream mixed with a roar. "Fine."
She stomped away to sit at a bench and sift through her backpack. Garfield pouted but didn't move. She'd be cute, in his opinion, if she wasn't so mean. Tall, pretty thin, mildly tanned, from what he could see. She wore a lot of layers. Khaki shorts over black leggings, white shirt under a gray crop-top. The utter lack of color in her apparel made her blue eyes really pop.
Garfield sighed and turned around. It didn't take long for him to find Victor, still where he left him. He leaned against the back of the wheelchair and rested his chin on Vic's head.
"Can I help you?" he asked, annoyed.
Garfield nodded, digging his chin into his friend's scalp.
"Okay, ow, stop, stop," Victor said, pushing him off. "Stop. Why aren't you at the arcade?"
"I ran someone over and need help apologizing."
Bee huffed at the pair. "Who needs help apologizing?"
"Trust me," said Victor, "he doesn't know where to start or stop. Sorry."
"Nah, it's fine. I'll see you guys Wednesday, then?"
"We'll save a seat for you. Okay, G, lead the way."
Minutes later, the duo entered the arcade.
"She probably came in here," Garfield said, looking around. "She was really mad when she found out I was headed here."
"I still can't believe you walked into someone. You said blonde, right?"
"Yeah."
"The one on Block-World?"
Garfield's eyes followed where he was pointing. "Yep, that's her. What do I say?"
"Usually, you'd say something like 'Hey, I wasn't watching where I was going, so I'm sorry I got in your space. Won't happen again,' but-."
"Got it."
Garfield left Victor to stand behind the blonde girl while she played and waited until she put her initials in to say anything.
"You're BTM?" escaped his lips instead of an apology.
She shrieked. "Oh, my God! Could you be more creepy?!"
"Ah, s-sorry! I just-."
"Just leave me alone, okay?" she shouted before storming off.
Garfield sighed. "I really suck at this," he mumbled to himself.
"-talk to you a minute?" he heard Victor say.
"About what?"
"My friend doesn't have great social skills. He wanted to apologize for making you feel weird. He's just not very good at it."
The girl sighed. "If I accept, will you stop spying on me?"
"Spying? Gar, what'd you do?" called Victor.
Garfield peeked at them from behind the machines. "She beat my high score."
"You're FOX?" she asked, one brow shooting upwards.
Garfield nodded and rubbed his neck. "Sorry for creeping you out."
"No," she said, sighing. "I overreacted. If you knew my family… whatever. It's not important."
"Can I buy you more tokens?" asked Garfield.
"I, uh… I guess?" she said. "It might be a better plan to use them yourself, though, if you want back on the leaderboard."
"No problem, really! I don't wanna scare away the only pretty girl using the arcade!"
Victor waved his hand in front of his throat, making Garfield bite his lip. The girl, though, blushed.
"You think I'm… pretty?" she asked.
Garfield shrugged. "I mean, I think you are, yeah."
"Aww! No one's ever called me pretty."
"Well, that's bullshit," said Garfield.
She rubbed her neck, saying, "Well, not… really. But thanks. I'll- I'll see you around, okay?"
"Can I at least get your number?" blurted Garfield.
She giggled and held out her hand. "Gimme your phone."
Wordlessly, Garfield fished his cell out of his pocket and opened a new contact form. The girl took it from him and tapped the screen a few times. Victor could only continue to watch in stunned silence when she handed it back.
"Text me," she called, speeding away.
Garfield stared at the phone with a goofy grin.
"Will do, Terra! Will do."