Tough Nut to Crack

The next day the gang was hanging out at Wally's place. Everybody was at the backyard where the heated pool was located. Everyone was in their swimming outfits except for Wally.

"Come one Wally! Just dip yourself a bit! You're missing out on all the fun" Kuki said.

"No way" Wally argued, "Why are you guys swimming in the middle of a November anyway? It's freezing"

"Yeah, but it feels it feels good when you're swimming on a heated pool"

Kuki smiled at him and went on swimming. He stood there at the edge of the pool slouching sadly as he watched her swim happily. He hated that pool. Why would his dad get him one when everybody knew that Wally couldn't swim? It's exactly like how his mother bought him a piano when he preferred his electric guitar or his drum set. Wally had never touched that pool. He never even dipped a single finger.

"We should've went to the beach. At least there I could bury myself in the sand" Wally muttered.

"Are you sure you'd enjoy the beach Wally?" Hoagie said as he lay on a float which gently drifted around the pool.

"What are you talking about?" Wally asked him.

"You know, King Sandy might be there" Hoagie grinned at Wally, who frowned back.

Sandy was one of his archenemies. He was a boy who loved pretending to be a king of the beach and he once tried to "marry" Kuki. Although Wally had found a way to prevent that, he never stopped hating Sandy. And fortunately for Wally, very few people knew why he hated Sandy so much.

"Oh Sandy!" Kuki exclaimed, "What's wrong with him? Why doesn't Wally like him?" She asked Hoagie.

"He has issues with that guy"

"What issues?"

Before Hoagie could answer, Wally burst out, "He's a friggin' dork!"

"What?" Kuki asked him.

"That's right! I hate him because he's a dork! A big one!" Wally declared heatedly.

"Well he's not a dork now. I was with him when I went to the beach last time…"

"What…? When? Why were you with him?"

"We were just hanging out. He's a lifeguard now and he's really cute!"

"What do I care if he's a lifeguard! He's still a dork!"

"Wally you're so mean!"

"Oh what now, you're gonna defend your boyfriend?"

"Sandy's not my boyfriend"

"Then why were you at the beach with him, huh?"

"I told you. We just hung out. It's not like he's gonna hurt me or anything. He's changed and we're friends now. He is Mushi's boyfriend after all"

"…What…?"

"Sandy is Mushi's boyfriend"

"Mushi? As in your little sister?"

"Yeah. And he and Mushi look so cute together!"

"Wow Wally" Hoagie taunted, "That was an interesting fit you threw there"

"I didn't throw a fit!"

"Whatever…"

Wally was fuming at Hoagie who was chuckling quietly.

Half an hour later everybody went inside to get snacks, and Wally and Hoagie were the only ones left outside. As Wally sat on a beach chair, he watched Hoagie relaxing on the rubber float, humming and relaxing as he drifted on the water. Then suddenly, Wally grabbed a rubber flip-flop and threw it at Hoagie, hitting him on the head.

"Ow! Hey!" Hoagie said, "What was that for!"

"For being an idiot!" Wally said angrily, "What the hell were you doing earlier?"

Hoagie sighed, "Is this about the whole Sandy thing?"

"Yes! What the hell are you trying to do to me?"

"Look Wally, why don't you just admit it?"

"Admit what?"

"That you like Kuki"

"What? I don't like her! Why would I?"

"Oh come on. I'm you're best friend, Wally. I've known you for more than six years. Don't think I've never noticed the way you act towards her!"

"Hoagie, I swear, if I knew how to swim, I'd kill you right now!"

"Hey!" Wally turned only to find Abby walking out from the house, "What's going on here?"

"Nothing"

"It doesn't look like nothing"

"Wally and I just had a little guy to guy talk" Hoagie explained, "And apparently, he's not taking it very well"

"Not taking what very well?"

"It's nothing" Wally snapped.

"Oh come on Wally, you can trust Abby" Hoagie said.

"Yeah Wally. You can talk to me" Abby added.

"There's nothing to talk about" Wally said.

Abby turned to Hoagie and raised her eyebrows.

"Well" Hoagie started, "I happen to think that Wally has feelings for a certain girl, but he keeps denying it"

"Oh, Kuki" Abby muttered and she lay down a beach chair and relaxed. Hearing what she calmly said, Hoagie burst out laughing and Wally turned to her in shock.

"What do you mean by that!" He said.

"Oh come on Beatles" She said, "It's way too obvious"

"What's obvious?"

"Do you really want me to go through a long list of proof of your feelings for her?"

"Yes, I do! Prove it to me because I don't believe either of you!"

Abby sat up and looked directly at him. Then alternately, she and Hoagie stated the list of proofs.

"Okay then, first of all, you stare at her"

"And not to mention you look out for her"

"You go through things you hate just for her"

"You say her name when you sleep"

"You blush when she hugs you"

"You try to impress her all the time"

"And most of all-"

"YOU LOVE HER!"

Before Wally could argue, Nigel suddenly arrived, "Who loves who?"

"NO ONE!" Wally exploded.

"What's your problem?"

"I don't love her!"

"Love who?"

"Kuki" Abby and Hoagie said.

"YOU GUYS STOP IT!" Wally screamed at the two.

"Oh so you guys are talking about Wally's thing for Kuki?" Nigel said.

Wally turned to him, "Not you too!"

"Yes Wally" He answered, "I'm afraid it's me too"

"Face it Wally, we all know you like her" Abby said.

Wally who was getting hopeless turned to Nigel, "You really don't think I like her, do you?"

"Of course you do" Nigel said, "I mean it's way to obvious. You get so jealous when she's with other guys"

"I never got jealous! Not once!"

"Oh come on. First there was Sandy who played pretend marry with her when we were ten, until you started shoving his face in the sand"

"Who wouldn't shove his face in the sand? He's a dork!"

"Then there was Lenny, who was her leading man at the school play. She was about to give him the stage kiss until you popped out of the backdrop and started beating him up onstage"

"He deserves it! He's a lousy actor!"

"And then there's Kid who used to flirt with her a lot until you started bugging him"

"That guy is a moron!"

"Look, I can go through a list of a million guys that you fought to keep away from Kuki but I'm not going to waste my time on that"

"Will you just shut up!"

"Don't worry so much about your feelings for her, Wally" Nigel said, "It's not like she doesn't like you back"

Wally lost himself for a second when he heard that, "What?"

"It's not as obvious a how you feel about her but I can tell she likes you too" Nigel explained.

"You're crazy"

"Take it from a ladies' man, Wally" Hoagie joked.

"And don't act like you don't like hearing that" Abby said.

"Why would she like me?" Wally turned back to Nigel.

"Let me prove it" Nigel stood up after seeing Kuki on her way to them. To Wally's surprise, Nigel wrapped his arms around him from behind and held him up over the pool.

"NO!" Wally screamed in terror as he struggled to get free from Nigel's tight grip.

"It's time you learned to swim!" Nigel said.

"NO DAMMIT! PUT ME DOWN! IT'S NOT FUNNY!"

"HEY!" Wally turned and saw that it was Kuki who called, "Put him down Nigel. That's not nice! He shouldn't be forced to learn how to swim! He'll learn when he wants to!"

"Yes ma'am" Nigel smiled at her then at Wally who stopped screaming.

That night Wally lay on his bed dazed and confused. I can't like her… I don't like her. He thought. They're just stupid. They're trying to bug me. I don't give a damn about any cruddy girly girl. As Wally laid there he thought back on the guys that Nigel talked about. The more he thought of them, the more Wally realized that he never had a real reason for threatening them. Little by little it became clear to him that he did all those abusive things on impulse. And for some reason, that impulse always reacted on times when Kuki was flirting with those guys. Wally's grip on the covers tightened as he realized what caused those actions…he was jealous.