013. Between you and me
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Being in a wheelchair was not a choice, as far as Tikal knew. She thought it was normal, until she saw the kids her age actually walking. The echidna remembered one time where she tried to stand up, but the teacher had scowled at her not to. Saying it was dangerous to do so, which was confusing when she was a little child.
It was when she was seven years old that she finally understood. Tikal remembered watching all the other kids in her class playing basketball and soccer, the girls on the trampoline doing multiple flips and bounces. They were all having the time of their life, laughing and smiling, while she was just aside, silently pleading to do the same.
On that same day, her mother was giving her a bath. And when she walked off to find her some clothes to wear, Tikal used all the strength she had and tried to stand up.
She smiled, almost laughing that she managed to accomplish the first step. Then she tried to move and...
Only to have realised her legs weren't working. At all.
Tikal had crashed back down into the water screaming, shampoo bottles tumbling over her like a vigorous water fall. Her mother came running in seconds later, looking distraught. Tikal was crying and wailing, as her mother tried to calm her down.
She couldn't walk.
Looking back at the memory now, the echidna knew it was such a silly thing to do. A silly thing to try out. It was no wonder she was kept out of doing sports, had help when she was taking a bath, to go to bed, to walk up the steps. All these fun and simple things she couldn't do and it limited her confidence dearly.
...
Tikal wasn't bullied during her high school years, nobody made fun of her condition. Though, she did get the title of being 'that girl in the wheelchair'. It was more of a sympathetic feeling that most people were giving her, in regards to looks and stares. The echidna didn't mind. She was on the only person that was on a wheelchair after all, so it didn't surprise her in the least.
College was a lot better though. People didn't call her by a title, they simply knew her as a normal student or Tikal. Whenever she would go into the library, there was always this warmth of acceptance and value. It was the same for any place really. The cafeteria, inside and outside of campus, all her classes. She was beyond happy.
There were a few exceptions though.
After a check up from the nurse's office, Tikal made her way through the empty corridors of the building so she could get to her class.
"Hey toots."
Grimacing at the familiar voice that echoed, she began to wheel herself faster.
Please leave me alone.
"Hey," the male voice called again as he blocked her way. Tikal quickly skid to a halt and nervously looked up at the green fox, "Are you deaf or something? Might as well add that to your list of 'things I can't do'."
Trying to have that comment not affect her, she swallowed down hard. "I-I'm sorry, but I really need to get to class..."
"What's the rush?" he grinned leaning down closer to her face, "You're already ten minutes late."
Tikal wheeled herself back slightly. "Yes, but-"
"Oh wait, you "special need" people can go to class whenever the hell you feel like," he retorted leaning back, "But then again, you're the only one who's on a wheelchair."
She was weak minded when such words were used on her. And she would never fight back because her heart would always tell her not to, seeing as it was pointless to do so.
"Disappointment."
Tikal solemnly averted her eyes down.
"What crap are you saying out loudly?!"
The echidna quickly dragged her gaze to see Knuckles walking over to them, a big unhappy frown on his face.
"Jack, leave Tikal alone," Knuckles said menacingly as he towered behind the fox.
Jack rolled his eyes and turned to him. "I'm not even doing anything."
"Cut the bullshit," her cousin glared at him, "And stay the hell away from her."
The fox scoffed. "Like I was ever going to continue wasting my time with someone like her."
Knuckles gritted his teeth. "Really? Because you've been doing the opposite lately."
Jack shrugged nonchalantly. "Wanted to see if she was still worth the time to talk to. Clearly I was wrong."
Ouch. That hurt.
Tikal bit her lip, her heart beating as those words were thrown at her. The last thing she wanted to do was cause a scene by letting loose her emotions.
"Get out," Knuckles put simply as anger flashed his eyes, "Before I rip your head off."
"With pleasure," Jack smirked giving her a glance before walking off to the other direction.
Tikal let out a big breath of relief as Knuckles came closer to her. "Thank you."
"I was wondering what was taking you so long," her cousin pondered, "I told Mrs Adams that I needed to use the bathroom so I could look for you."
"I-I just had gotten out of the nurse's office," she smiled faintly, "The check up took a little longer than expected."
"Oh," Knuckles nodded but then frowned, "...Are you okay?"
Her smile dropped. "He said a few things," she admitted knowing that Knuckles could read her so easily, "But they're not bothering me."
The red echidna let out a frustrated growl. "I can't believe the type of mentality that guy has," he scoffed, "If he ever comes near you again, I honestly won't hesitate and punch the living hell-"
"Knuckles!" Tikal shrieked, appalled by his choice of words.
Knuckles abruptly stopped his sentence. Defeated by Tikal's disapproving nature, he sighed. "Sorry..."
Tikal shook her head. "It's fine, Knuckles," she said before clutching on her wheels again, "Let's go to class?"
"Fine," he replied with a small smile as he went behind her to hold the handles of the wheelchair. She smiled back at him, relaxing herself on it as they began to make their way.
...
"Ugh, what a jerk!" Amy barked at the lunch table, "Who does he think he is?!"
"Really," Tikal laughed nervously, "It's noth-"
"Tikal!" the pink hedgehog slammed both of her hands in front of her, "That idiot insulted you because of who you are! That's not okay!"
Chaos. When Amy was angry, it meant that she was absolutely livid. Tikal always wondered how Sonic would manage to handle her in these sorts of situations.
"Let's not get too rash here," Blaze said calming her down before gazing over to Tikal, "Are you sure you don't want us to kick his face in?"
Tikal frantically shook her head. "Please don't."
"She won't even let me do anything," Knuckles exclaimed, taking a bite of his apple, "I mean, he's a jackass to everyone. But it's like Tikal's his special opponent to bully."
Amy huffed and crossed her arms. "My hammer will be his special opponent if he doesn't stop."
"Count me in," Blaze chimed in, "I'm sorry, Tikal. But I'm not letting some fool think he can overpower you like that."
"I just don't think it's worth it," the female echidna said as she put down her sandwich, "I-I'm not saying that you guys shouldn't do anything, but please be careful..."
"The only one that has to be careful is him," Knuckles muttered gripping his apple a little too hard.
Tikal meekly intertwined her fingers as she noticed the tension. "I love you guys," she looked at them with a smile, "But let's not focus on it, please?"
They all looked back at her until they sighed together.
"You're way too kind, Tikal," Amy laughed, "But you're an angel."
She blushed at the compliment before shaking her head. "It's fine..."
"But you're right. As long as we're with you then it's no problem," Blaze stated with a smile, "Right, Knuckles?"
Her cousin rolled his eyes clearly not satisfied. "Yeah, yeah."
"By the way, have you guys started on the literature assignment yet?" Amy asked, swiftly changing the topic as she got out her laptop, "I'm honestly baffled on how to start."
"Sort of," Knuckles answered, "We've got three weeks to hand it in though so I'd rather not stress about it now."
Blaze agreed with him. "I just had to hand in my art project and that took way longer than expected," she said, "I'm sleeping on everything this weekend."
Amy rolled her eyes at their carefree attitude towards it and drifted her hopeful gaze over to Tikal.
She nodded with a gentle laugh. "I was able to write a page yesterday so I'll email it to you now."
"Thank you! Thank you!" her pink friend beamed with a few quick claps.
"Okay, now I feel small for not even starting it," Blaze groaned.
"Do you wanna go up to the library then?" Amy asked her, "We can start on it together."
"Sure," the purple cat replied with exasperation before standing up, "You guys wanna come?"
Knuckles turned his head to Tikal. "Do you?"
As much as Tikal wanted to go, she wanted to go outside and enjoy the fresh air. "You guys can go ahead."
"Are you sure?" Amy leaned in a little worried, "You've always loved going with us during lunch."
"The weather's just nice today," she responded with a smile, pointing towards the blue sky.
Amy followed her finger before looking back at her with a smile. "Mmm, all right! We'll see you guys later then!"
"See ya," Knuckles said as Tikal waved at her friends.
Once they were gone, Knuckles packed everything away and stood up. Like always, he went around and held onto the handles as he pushed her along.
"Do you need help with the literature assignment as well?" the orange echidna asked, leaning her head back to see him.
"I don't mind," Knuckles told her, "We can meet at the library tomorrow if you want."
She smiled. "Mm, I'd like that."
They exited the cafeteria and stepped outside. She took note of their surroundings. Since it was spring, the leaves of the trees and flowers bloomed out of their roots and beautifully shimmered across the campus.
"This makes me miss Angel Island a lot, ya know," her cousin stated as they strolled around.
"Yeah," Tikal agreed quietly, "I would love to go back someday and see the horizon."
Knuckles chuckled. "Same here."
As they went around some more, she had noticed that Knuckles had slowed down until he eventually came to a stop. Confused, Tikal opened her eyes and tilted her head up at him. He was looking off to somewhere so following where his eyes were, she landed her own to someone sitting on the bench nearby them.
"Didn't even know you were the type to be in public places like this," Knuckles called out to the stranger with a teasing tone.
The person lifted his head up from the book he was reading, already with a comeback. "It's called the 'Quiet Area', a place where you've already been banned from."
Tikal's eyes widened.
She didn't think someone would talk back to Knuckles like that, knowing how much of a temper he had...
They began moving again and they went towards him. Tikal clutched onto her bag that rested on her lap. Usually, most of her lunch times consisted with the girls in the library or with Knuckles and herself alone. Meeting someone new was never common for her.
"You're not gonna yell at me, are you?" the stranger asked her cousin as they stopped by him.
"Nah, my cousin doesn't like it when I fight with people anyway," Knuckles stated as he looked over to her with a grin. She blushed and averted her eyes down.
"Oh," the stranger glanced at her and she felt it but didn't look back at him out of sheer shyness.
"Yeah," Knuckles laid his stuff down onto the table, "Tikal, do you wanna sit?"
She nodded, hoping her nervousness went unnoticed. The red echidna removed her bag from her lap and picked her up from the wheelchair, gently placing her onto the seat of the bench. Tikal smiled at him in thanks before unzipping her bag to get out her textbooks.
"Oh yeah, Tikal?" she heard Knuckles say. Tikal turned to him as he extended his hand out to point at the stranger, "This is Shadow. I used to have basketball practices with him after school."
Tikal slowly dragged her eyes to the ebony hedgehog and timidly nodded. "H-Hello."
"Hi," he greeted back at her. She gave him a small smile, almost mesmerised by his red irises for a moment before turning away to her book again.
Knuckles scratched the back of his head. "Tikal gets a little nervous when meeting new people..."
Tikal pressed her lips together.
"It's fine," Shadow's low voice told him. She could feel his eyes pierced onto her and for some reason, her breathing became a little quicker than she would've liked. When the feel of his eyes went, her heartbeat went back to normal and she didn't even notice that her fingers were shaking across the paper.
"So," Knuckles thankfully broke the awkward silence, "Coach told me your timetable got changed?"
"Yeah," Shadow grumbled, "But it's not all too bad except for having History at the end of the day today."
"That sucks," Knuckles stated, "Who do you have?"
"Mr. Anderson," the black hedgehog replied, making Tikal's ears twitch. Shadow rolled his eyes. "I heard he barely does anything in the class and just tells people to read their textbook."
Knuckles raised an eyebrow as he turned his head to Tikal. "Don't you have him today?"
She didn't lift her head up. "Yes..."
"Oh, then I guess he's not bad considering Tikal's never spoke about him that much," he told Shadow.
While it was true that Mr. Anderson never really paid attention to the class, the independent reading and learning wasn't much of a problem for Tikal. She was never for one to speak out when her other classes had a discussion. So to conclude, as long as she didn't have to talk as much or not even talk at all, she enjoyed her time in History.
She usually sat alone though, so having a new person in her class meant that it wouldn't be the case no more.
Tikal felt stupidly judgemental. A few minutes she had known him and there was already fear crawling within her. If wasn't like she could blame herself though. Ever since the situations in high school, she became very selective and careful with the people who wanted to become her friend.
But... if he was Knuckles's friend then she shouldn't be feeling this way, right?
"H-He makes us do the work on our own," Tikal said, surprised she even found the courage to speak, "I'm okay with it though..."
She heard Knuckles laugh as he ruffled her hair. "Of course you are!"
The female echidna couldn't help but let out a little laugh herself, flustered by the action. When he pulled his hand away, Tikal accidentally caught Shadow giving her a side glance, almost as if he was somewhat analysing her. It was becoming... uncomfortable. Was he always like this? Did... he not like her? She wouldn't blame him if that was the case...
Anxiously playing with her dreads, she broke off their contact once again and focused back on her book. This time, she was able to take in the words she wanted put in her head.
The conversation the two were having completely left her mind as she drifted into her own world. She didn't miss the remarks they gave each other though. It was like they were... enemies? But friends? She remembered Amy using the word 'frenemies' when talking about Rouge. She guessed that's what they were.
She never really spoke to Knuckles's other friends around the college. They were mostly from the basketball team, and people from there were really loud and sometimes obnoxious. She tended to stay away from them whenever they were around him. Amy and Blaze felt the same way so at least she didn't feel alone about it.
Checking the time on her wrist watch, Tikal closed her book. Looking in between Knuckles and Shadow, she gently tapped on her cousin's shoulder.
"I have class in six minutes," she stated as the echidna faced her, "C-Can we go?"
"Six minutes?!" Knuckles quickly stood up and placed her back on the wheelchair, "Shoot, my teacher is gonna kill me if I'm not there on time!" he turned to Shadow, "Do you mind taking her for me? You guys are in the same class anyway."
Tikal blinked at him. "B-But-"
"I'll pick you up after class, okay?" Knuckles began to run off, "See ya!"
She dropped her hand that she hopelessly held out after him. Knuckles had always taken her to her classes. If he couldn't, it was either Amy or Blaze. And since neither of them were here, she had to rely on someone who she barely knew.
"Here," he said, making her snap out of it. She looked up at him as he laid her bag down onto her lap.
"Th-Thank you," Tikal let out politely as she watched the hedgehog go behind her.
"You're welcome," Shadow simply replied as he started to push her along.
She took note of his blunt attitude. He was like that throughout his whole conversation with Knuckles. Most were one worded answers while others were solid sentences. She found it strange. It all felt so limited and stiff. She couldn't imagine Knuckles being friends with someone like him since he was the complete opposite.
Then again, opposites do end up becoming good friends.
His body language never really varied. She did take a few glances at him when she was down on the books and she will admit that he was somewhat... attra–
No.
Her cheeks bloomed with red again.
Chaos, why was she suddenly thinking like this? Where did that even come from? Pointing out small details from another person then having the audacity to call them attractive? She didn't even know him! But that was a habit of hers. For so many years Tikal had subtly analysed people who spoke to her friends. Not because she was jealous; it was because she was afraid they would judge her. She was insecure about so many things and having people like Jack only increased her insecurities even more.
But, Shadow was somewhat good looking. A few peaks at the bench couldn't deny her confession. It wouldn't be a shock if he was already with someone.
Okay, Tikal. That's enough. Don't try to pry into someone's privacy. That's none of your business, she told herself. And especially keep away from having interests and dating in general.
She inwardly shuddered at her thoughts before noticing that they were entering the classroom. Since they were a few minutes early, no one really showed up until a little later. Mr. Anderson didn't really mind late comers as long as they do the work in the remaining time of class or after.
The old man smiled. "Good afternoon, Tikal," he greeted her before looking over to the hedgehog that accompanied her, "And you must be Shadow."
"Good afternoon," Shadow said plainly.
"Welcome to our class," he handed over a textbook, "You may sit next to Tikal."
The ebony hedgehog nodded, taking the textbook as Tikal wheeled along to the table that she was usually allocated in. The echidna carefully positioned herself and gently lifted up from the wheelchair and onto her seat. She forgot for a split second that Shadow was suppose to sit next to her, so when he sat down, she flinched. Though thankfully, he didn't notice her little freak out.
Two minutes later, a rush of students walked into the classroom. As soon as Mister Anderson told everyone to turn to the pages they were supposed to work on, Tikal zoned into her own world as she took down the key notes for her revision.
During that time, she heard several excited squeals and whispers from girls around her. She caught such things like, "He's so hot" and "He's so good at basketball" and so on. Obviously they were talking about Shadow. Who else? Since he was from the basketball team, it was no wonder that girls were fawning over him.
There were some... other things they were saying. But Tikal didn't want to go into detail about that.
Whatever they were talking about seemed to be on deaf ears with Shadow as he wrote his notes down. Mr. Anderson occasionally stopped what they were doing to explain a few things about their current topic. The hedgehog always listened intently and once Mr. Anderson was done speaking, he'd immediately go back to writing with his cheek leaning against his hand.
Tikal had to admit she admired that. At least he had the passion to study.
Time went so quickly and when Mr. Anderson dismissed the class, she noticed that the females from a few seats behind them went over to Shadow.
"Hi Shadow!" a purple rabbit greeted him. She was accompanied by a yellow hedgehog who also seemed excited to see him, "We were wondering if you wanted to join us and go to Jack's party tonight?"
Just hearing that name sent shivers down Tikal's spine as she began to put her books away. She couldn't believe the fox had the decency to even invite her and her cousin along to the said party. Of course it all ended with ripping the invitation to pieces and Knuckles having a continuous angry rant about him.
"I'm not interested," he replied rather bluntly and then proceeded to roll his eyes, "And I'm not wasting my time with that asshole."
Tikal was taken aback by his hostile answer that she almost lost her gripping onto her wheelchair when she went to sit down. It caused a few shakes underneath the table and so it earned looks from the three of them. Not having the time to even spite herself for the clumsy action, she couldn't help but grimace at the slight pain from her wrist that had hit the edge of the table.
"Are you okay?" Shadow asked her, a tint of concern flashing his eyes. He looked more confused than anything.
She didn't respond. Instead, Tikal just blinked quickly and regained herself by wheeling away out of the classroom hoping that Knuckles was outside already.
She could feel their stares trained on her and she didn't miss hearing the mutters from those girls. "Weird" and "Strange" were the only words she managed to catch. Since the two were associated with Jack, it was no surprise to her but it still did hurt. A lot.
Tikal didn't realise that until she got out, there were tears streaming down her face. She stopped, sniffing quietly as she wiped them away with the back of her hands. Her phone buzzed from her bag and she got it out to see that her cousin sent her a text message.
Just finished class! I'll be there soon.
The echidna felt a little calmer when seeing it but it still didn't overwhelm the embarrassment and pain. She heard footsteps coming out from the classroom and just when she was about to move away, a hand on her arm rest stopped her from doing so. Tikal jumped as she slowly dragged her teary blue eyes to a pair of red ones.
"Are you all right?" the black hedgehog queried again, noticing her distress.
She stared at him for a moment and then quickly wiped away the other tears, sniffling once more. "Ye-," her voiced cracked involuntarily, making her pause. Tikal swallowed down her spit as she tried her best to calm her nerves. "Yes..."
Shadow didn't seem to believe her as his unimpressed look towered over her.
"Tikal!"
The two turned to see Knuckles jogging up to them. She tried to not make it noticeable that she had cried but it failed when Knuckles's face washed with worry.
"What happened?" he asked, caressing cheek but she only teared her puffy eyes away from him. Knuckles felt confused before flickering over to Shadow.
The hedgehog had his attention on the female echidna but it diminished when the two girls came out of the classroom. They smiled at him but Shadow steadily shot a glare at them, a deepening frown following afterwards. Their eyes widened at his angered look and they quickly scurried off, uttering a few words amongst each other.
Knuckles sighed. "Damn it. It's like I can't leave you alone without idiots like them annoying you."
Tikal wilted back. "It's okay..."
Shadow watched her as she adjusted herself onto the wheelchair. Even though she felt this, Tikal didn't have the strength to respond to it. She already cried in front of him. Showing the male more of her fragility would be unpleasant.
"C-Can we go?" she uttered to her cousin as she dried her tears up, "I want to go back to my dorm..."
Knuckles gently rubbed her shoulder. "Sure," he glanced at Shadow, "I'll see you at practice."
Shadow nodded. Tikal peaked at the hedgehog to see he was already doing the same to her. She blushed as their eyes locked for the second time. Her red cheeks deepened in their shade when she gave him a small genuine smile. His reaction stayed the same but a quick second twitch against his lips hadn't went unnoticed. The ebony male nodded at her also before he turned around and sauntered away. Tikal stared after him, her heart thumping against her warm chest.
"Let's go," Knuckles told her as he started to push her along, "Amy and Blaze are waiting for you."
"Is he always like that?" she suddenly found herself questioning.
"Who?" Knuckles arched an eye, "Shadow?"
"Yeah," Tikal nodded, "He always looks so... distanced."
"He's not exactly the type of guy you'd see everyday," the red echidna answered truthfully, "But he's good. He may not talk a lot but he's still good," he trailed his eyes down at her, "Why do you ask?"
"N-No reason," she blundered her cheeks betrayed her with pink again.
Knuckles shrugged. "Okay," he then went back to the situation, "Chaos, those girls-"
Tikal blanked out her cousin's words. Instead, her mind pondered off to Shadow. The hedgehog obviously wasn't very open to people but that didn't mean he lacked confidence. The way he bad mouthed Jack and shrugged off those girls proved that. He was very different from the guys she had met. Intelligent, calm and... really good looking.
She didn't want to admit it just yet. But she did feel obliged to know him a little better. There was no resistance. ...Maybe being overly shy about it of course, but the feeling inside her heart didn't seem to disagree with her choice.
Tikal secretly smiled underneath her dreads.