A.N: I know, you didn't expect an update so soon xD I don't even believe it myself, the words came out by themselves. I'm happy with how this chapter turned out. For those who don't read my other story "Hijacking" I invite you to visit my instagram thashipdump where I upload KND drawings and I have a pre-order open for a Wally and Kuki charm so cute xD go check it out.
Monday morning and in high school there was no talk of anything in the halls other than homecoming dance. Wally had to awkwardly pass between couples proposing to go to the dance together. Those things were supposed to be done in private, not with everyone watching, it really seemed very uncomfortable to him. All he wanted to do was get to his locker fast. As he was getting closer, he noticed that Kuki was chatting animatedly with another boy that he couldn't recognize. He hid behind a wall hoping the other students' chatter would be quiet enough so he could hear their conversation.
"Yes you're right," Kuki said, opening his locker "After all, now that you're here, I don't remember seeing you in any of my classes."
"Oh well that's because I'm a grade older than you," he put his hands into his jacket and leaned on the other locker which was Wally's.
"You are older? Wow, I never would have imagined it," she laughed a little nervously.
"Why? Is there a problem with that?"
"No none," she finished grabbing things from her locker and when she closed the locker door, in front of her was Ace holding a small box of 4 heart-shaped chocolates.
"But what the hell? This can't be happening. Is that a box of chocolate? Kuki please don't accept it, this is clearly an invitation. What am I supposed to do to interrupt them? Yell at her? Call her? Tell her not to go with him but with me? No, that sounds very pathetic. Come on, Wally, think of something." Wally thought.
"And this?" Kuki asked, looking as the chocolate box was being placed on her hands.
"I think it's the best way to ask you to go to the homecoming dance with me," he took off her dark glasses and Kuki could see beautiful honey-colored eyes looking at her waiting for an answer.
"Oh my God, this is the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me, what am I supposed to answer? I mean, I'd love to go with a guy like Ace, he's handsome, very thoughtful, and he's been very nice to me but, I also wish that Wally would ask me to go to the dance with him but… What if he never does? What if he never asks me? I'll be like a fool without a partner on Friday. What should I do?" Kuki thought.
"I think I see what the problem is now," said Ace, interrupting Kuki's thoughts.
"What? I'm sorry…I don't know what to say" Kuki apologized because she remained silent for too long thinking of an answer. Surely Ace was already seeing her as a silly girl.
"Don't apologize," he got closer to Kuki and the girl couldn't help but blush at the closeness "You're waiting for someone to invite you, aren't you?" He spoke in a lower tone.
"What are they saying? Damn it! I can't hear anything anymore. Is he planning to kiss her or something? Why does he have to get so close to Kuki?" Wally thought and just at that moment, he felt someone touch him from behind.
"Hey what…?"
"Shhh Wally," Hoagie whispered to him and pulled him by his sweatshirt, getting far enough away from Kuki and Ace that he wouldn't hear them. "Dude, I think you're in trouble."
"What are you talking about? " He feigned ignorance and looked away when he saw that Hoagie was angry with his arms crossed "Okay, you win. Do you know who is the idiot that is talking to Kuki?"
"Ace is not an idiot, he is my friend in fact. We were in the same robotics course over the summer and that boy is brilliant and quite a hunk if you ask me," he adjusted his glasses and continued, "And he's also a grade older than us. If you don't hurry up, he'll win the girl."
"I think he already did. He clearly invited her. You know what? Better forget it I… I have to go." He ran away from Hoagie and he just stared in the direction he had gone. She knew him well enough to know that in this type of situation it was best to leave him alone with his thoughts before he came up with any kind of crazy things that would only end in Kuki being upset and Wally being even more of an idiot than he already was with her.
Meanwhile, Kuki didn't know how to respond to Ace without making him angry, his details had moved her and she didn't want to be rude to her new friend, however that feeling of hope that she kept where Wally could invite her still remained in her thoughts but, Would he really do it?
"I think... he's not going to invite me," the girl said with her head down and Ace could see the sadness in her face, making him sad too.
"Hey, don't get so precious," said the boy trying to cheer her up, "I propose you something, if in two days the aforementioned doesn't show signs of wanting to invite you, well, you could go with me, I'm sure we'll have a good time, what do you think?" he smiled at her.
"You're sure? Damn, that sounds really bad as if… I'm really sorry, but…"
"No buts. I can wait a couple of days, no problem if that gets you to agree to go to the dance with me. Well, classes are almost starting" he says looking at her watch "I'll see you later and oh, I almost forgot" he handed her a piece of paper and when Kuki opened it it contained her phone number "I'll be waiting for any call or message you send me precious, see you" he said goodbye to Kuki and left.
Kuki watched as Ace walked away and when he turned the corner of the hall and she couldn't see him anymore, she looked down at the paper he had in his hands. Kuki took the cell phone out of his pocket and saved the number with a sigh. She hoped wholeheartedly that delaying Ace's proposal had been a good idea. She had to talk to Wally. She had to go find him.
When she got to the classroom, she noticed that Wally was already inside sitting in his usual seat. He was staring intently out the window and Kuki wondered if something was wrong with him. When she asked him he just replied that nothing happened, that everything was fine, that he only had a mind for the fight team tests that day and after that, Kuki was sure that he was ignoring her.
Wally had signed up for several sports club tryouts in case he didn't make the football team, but he managed to make it the first time. He would still give the other tests just to prove himself.
Classes ended and everyone went to the gym that was inside the high school. Abby would also give the test so her friends were there to support her. What caught everyone's attention was that she was the only girl taking the test among all the boys taking the test. Rachel accompanied Nigel to see Abby and Wally at the wrestling tryouts. She had become a constant figure in the group, even more so than Alice, Hoagie's girlfriend.
Wally like always, managed to stand out in his presentation. He landed clean punches and quickly dropped his opponent with a tackle. He probably made more girls fall for him by showing himself even stronger than he already appeared.
It was Abby's turn and although no one said a word, the truth is that they were a little nervous. They didn't want her friend to get hurt. There was a boy with a cold compress on his left eye and another boy bandaging his knuckles for hitting the punching bag so hard without wearing gloves. Just because he wanted to make it look like he was tough.
"Wow, wow, wow. But what do we have here" laughed the boy who tested all the new ones in a short combat -"This has to be a joke. Are you going to allow this coach?" He looked from him to a tall, bald man and his shirt seemed smaller than all of his pecs.
"Give her a chance," the coach yelled at him and continued writing things down on a clipboard that he carried with him. During testing he only looked up a couple of times. No one seemed to be able to get his attention enough to distract him from whatever he was doing.
"Well cutie, if I hurt you I don't want you to cry for me here," the boy named Brandon mocked.
"What's wrong babe, are you afraid of a simple girl?," The brunette said loudly, causing whistles and praise from the public, making his opponent angry.
"We can do something much better, we stop this circus and you agree to go to the dance with me." He gave her a seductive look that made Abby angry.
"Not even in your dreams. Let's get this over with," Abby yelled, throwing herself at Brandon.
As fast and light as Abby was, she was unable to defeat Brandon. The timer came to an end and Abby seemed very exhausted from the effort. He wasn't in charge of helping the coach with the tests for the newbies for nothing. Despite this, Abby wanted to give it a try. If she didn't make it, she was sure she'd make the basketball team. Because she stepped wrong to dodge a kick from Brandon, she felt that her right foot hurt and sure the next day it would hurt more.
"What's wrong little girl, is that all you got?" he asked, challenging her.
"Tsk, don't be a jerk," she rejoined, determined to leave, but Brandon approached her.
"This is no place for women," and all of a sudden, Brandon punched Abby hard in the nose causing her to trip and fall to the ground. Seeing this, Wally quickly approached the ring and while the bully was distracted, he kicked him in the face causing him to fall to the ground very roughly. This caused the coach to look over his clipboard and smirk. He wrote down the name of the Wallabee Beatles on his practically blank sheet of paper.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Wally yelled at him loudly, "Hitting a woman like that and her test was over. Do you want me to beat you to a pulp?" He showed him his fists at Brandon and he just backed up further from the ground.
Nigel, Rachel, Hoagie, and Kuki hurriedly got up from their seats and went over to help Abby. The girl just had her hand over her nose trying to stop any more blood from flowing out. Wally reached down and without asking the girl, he removed his hand from her nose and placed a hand on her chin, moving her head up and down examining the bruise.
"That boy sure knows what he's doing," Wally said a few moments later. Abby was surprised by Wally's gesture and closeness but the pain in her nose was stronger at that moment "Can you get up?" The girl shook her head and pointed to her foot and Wally understood that she had hurt herself.
"Do you think you can carry her to the hospital wing?" Nigel asked. Rachel approached him and took his hand, she was a little scared with everything that was happening and he grabbed her hand tightly and smiled from her side trying to reassure her.
"Who do you think you're talking to?" Wally walked over to Abby and when the girl put her arms around her neck, he lifted her up like a feather. This action made the other girls who were present sigh, who went to see the rude boys in the test and others to accompany their boyfriends, took out their cell phones and took photos of the situation.
"Oh great, to be the head of school gossip," Abby replied as she held tight to Wally and did her best to look up so she wouldn't keep bleeding. She was sure she would be the bathroom gossip for days to come.
They rushed all together to the infirmary but they only let Wally through who was still carrying Abby. The others had to wait in chairs sitting outside.
"Do you think Abby is alright?" Kuki asked her friends worriedly.
"Come on Kuki, it seems like you don't know Abby, she's the strongest of this group, she'll be fine for sure," Nigel replied trying to make her feel better.
"Didn't see the beating Abby got? Dude, that was crazy. Why did we allow her to do that test?" added Hoagie trying to soften the situation. He was worried, maybe too much, but no one had to know.
Inside the infirmary, Wally deposited Abby on her gurney and the nurse who was there began to examine her.
"Come on honey, I need you to keep looking up, that's it," the nurse told her, looking for some gauze pads and alcohol.
"If it makes you feel better I think you did pretty well, with some practice you'll get it. That if you add not to underestimate your enemy" said Wally running a hand around his neck.
"I really made a fool of myself, didn't I? I'm sure my dad is going to punish me for this."
"Why did you say that?"
"Well, he didn't want me to take the test but Abby had to do it anyway. You know how rebellious Ouch!" She groaned when the nurse touched her ankle.
"Don't worry, with some ice and rest, she'll be fine in a couple of days," commented the nurse, examining her patient. "Thank you young man for bringing her," he said to Wally, "You can go now, I'll call her relative in charge to come and pick her up."
"Okay Abby, anything, can you call me?"
"Stop whining babe, I'll be fine" she smiled at him and the boy left the infirmary.
When Wally left the infirmary everyone got up waiting for him to say something about Abby's condition.
"Don't worry, she'll be fine. Her dad will come pick her up. Apparently her nose problem isn't that serious, she just needs to rest." With this news, everyone sighed in relief.
"Wally, your sweatshirt," Kuki said, pointing to the blood stains that the boy had on his clothes. "Let's go to the bathroom, I'll clean that for you." She took him by the hand and she dragged him to leave the place quickly.
"Is this my idea or are they acting weird today?" Nigel asks Hoagie once his two friends have left.
"And when they don't?" Hoagie replied, making both boys shrug at the same time. They already knew them perfectly well.
"But what do they say? They seem very cute to me," added Rachel.
Kuki dragged Wally into the girls' bathroom and took a piece of paper towel and wet it and walked over to the boy to wipe it off.
"It's better to remove these stains now that they're fresh," Kuki told him while Wally couldn't think clearly due to his proximity and because, well, they were alone in the middle of the girls' bathroom.
"Um… Kuki? Well, I appreciate what you're doing but… Is it necessary that you dragged me to the girls' bathroom?" He said looking around.
"Don't worry, not many people come to this bathroom and I don't think there is anyone at this time," he said as he continued with her work. "It was very nice what you did for Abby, defending her like that. I'm not sure if Nigel or Hoagie would have been as brave as you back there."
"I would do it for any of us, I don't like my friends being messed with."
"C'mon Wally, you are alone with Kuki in a girls bathroom, really awkward but, at least we're finally alone. Just ask her what… What can I ask her? Oh, the dance. The dance that she's going to with another guy but what if she told him no?" Wally debated with himself in his mind.
"Kuki."
"Yes?" The girl looked up and got a little closer to Wally making him a bit nervous. But then he remembered that that boy had gotten very close to Kuki and from one moment to another, he got angry.
"Who was that guy talking to you in the morning?"
"Oh, are you talking about Ace? Well... he's my friend."
"How is he going to be your friend if he's a grade older than us?" He frowned.
"What are you talking about?" The girl began to get angry "I can talk to anyone and make friends of all ages. Should I remind you that you are also older than me?"
"But we're in the same grade," he excused herself.
"That has nothing to do with it."
"It has a lot to do"
"That doesn't make any sense." She grabbed another piece of paper towel and began to blot the wet part of Wally's sweatshirt, the stains barely showing.
"You're not going to go to the dance with him, are you?"
"Oh well, I don't know… Maybe?" The girl said although she later regretted it. Wasn't it better to be direct with him and go together?
"Are you crazy? I mean, why would you go with him?"
"Oh c'mon on Wally, maybe he's nice I don't know." She hadn't given it much thought.
"You can't go with him.
"Oh, really? Since we're questioning my decisions, who will you go with? — Kuki claimed, putting his hands on her hip.
"Me? I don't know, I thought not to go, it all seems silly to me. It's just a dance."
"Do you really think so?" the girl asked sadly and then she turned off the faucet on the sink she had been using to help Wally. "Okay, I get it, I'm going with Ace."
"So you wanted to go with him?"
"Ugh, I don't know Wally. But now everything seems clearer. I'd rather go to the dance with someone who wants to be with me than with you" the girl yelled and then she took her things and left the bathroom very angry. She was looking forward to going to the dance with Wally but he didn't seem as enthusiastic about her as she was.
"But what did I do? Oh no, now she's really going with that asshole. Geez Wally, can't you be dumber? You screwed up like always. Maybe she and I...we can't be together. I just hurt her like always." Wally thought in the loneliness of the girls' bathroom.
