- - Making Amends - -
Chapter Four, Things Turn Sour
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"Well then. Be out and ready with your swimming trunks tomorrow at seven. It's always nicer out in the water during the morning hours."
Roy grinned with relief, and nodded eagerly.
"See ya then, cowgirl," Mullet said fondly, winking noticeably once more before jogging back into the forest.
Roy couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so elated within the past years.
It was unusually crisp and cool out for a morning in Coconut Cove, but Roy paid it no heed: he was going to be hanging out with Mullet Fingers-when he had just seen him yesterday!
He knew he was acting a little overly exuberant for the turn of events, but Roy couldn't help himself: after not seeing a crush of yours for years upon end, you tend to get a little over-excited when you see more and more of them in one week than you did in the past year.
Though it was six in the morning and there was still a good hour to go before his outing, Roy zipped through a shower, dressed for the occasion (he made sure to apply some sunscreen-he paid for it the times he'd been out for long amounts of time in the Floridian sun without proper skin protection), and was at the dining room table at quarter to seven, eating his stack of steamy, buttery flapjacks with a renewed vigor.
His mother was watching him at the kitchen island, since she was cleaning up a spill she made while preparing the meat for dinner later on that night. She smiled warmly at her only son, and put her hands on her hip.
"Roy Eberhardt, just what has gotten into you lately?"
Roy grinned up at his mother, after chugging down some orange juice-he didn't even complain about the fact that his mother had gotten the pulp brand-and wiping his mouth on his arm.
"Nothin', mom. Just… things have lightened up for the better, you could say."
Mrs. Eberhardt knew that she wouldn't get any more out of her son, so she merely smiled in adoration and love at Roy before turning to go to the living room.
Roy checked the old grandfather clock in the parlor, and it was nearing seven o'clock. In a hurry, he cleaned up his mess, washed up a bit, and grabbed his slip-on shoes, waving to his mother who was vacuuming as he rushed on by.
He hopped from foot to foot on the deck (he was putting on his shoes! Almost everyone should know how hard of a task that is to do when you're standing), and when he successfully slipped on his shoes-he'd gotten the first try wrong when he slipped on his left shoe on his right foot-he turned to hop down the stairs. He nearly slipped on an invisible banana peel when he was face to face with a smirking Mullet Fingers, and once he regained himself, he felt a blush stain his cheeks.
"Hey."
Mullet laughed, and, lacking something to say, he ushered Roy to him and they walked, side-by-side to where the skeletal, pitiful remains of the Molly Bell were.
Mullet roamed his eyes over the pathetic excuse of a vessel that was in front of him, and shrugged. The deck looked stable enough for them to sit on, and they were mostly swimming anyway.
Since Mullet had no sneakers upon his feet, he cantered over to the body of water, and when his big toes were barely touching the water, he did an impressive dive into the clear water. When he emerged, his dripping blonde head clearly visible, he chuckled and called out for Roy. Roy grinned, and tugged off his shoes, stowing them at the base of a tree. He slipped off the simple white t-shirt he was wearing, and then walked, slower than Mullet had, to the edge of the water.
Mullet was waiting impatiently for Roy to get in the water already, and so he used his one hand to send a load of water at the brunette. He laughed at Roy's shell-shocked expression, so he didn't notice when Roy quietly slipped in, went under the water, and came right behind him. Quietly, Roy prepared himself. Then, in a second's notice, Roy dunked Mullet down into the water. Mullet quickly regained control, and he came up from the water, gulping in air. Roy smirked, and before he could make a biting comment, Mullet turned around and returned the favor, dunking the boy down into the water.
They had a fun-filled hour and a half doing nothing but playing in the water. Now, it almost being nine o'clock, they were carefully splayed out on the Molly Bell, stomach-down. They breathed in the odd, yet not altogether unpleasant smell of the weathered, pale wood that made up the deck of the boat.
"That was pretty fun." Was all Roy muttered, he tiredly grinned at Mullet. The blond chuckled.
"Glad I could be of assistance."
They lay like reptiles, soaking up the deliciously warm rays of sun, and just basking in the feeling of post-swimming bliss.
"Canya catch a mullet yet?" Mullet suddenly piped up, using his fists as something for his chin to lean on. Roy turned his head to the side to look at Mullet, and grinned. He was tempted to say that he did, and that he found a Mullet behind a bush, but he stopped himself.
"After years? Of course!"
"Show me." Mullet said, pointing to a silvery, jittery mass in the water that was slowly approaching them. He looked down, and scooted up to be able to lean down close to the water without falling in. He cupped his hands in front of him, preparing to strike. His muscles tensed slightly, like a feline predator just about to spring onto its prey.
The mullets were in the right position, and Roy lunged without hesitation. He grasped-easily-one of the slippery creatures, and held onto it firmly, but gently still. He carefully maneuvered himself back onto the Molly Bell, grinning in triumph at a smiling Mullet.
"Lemme see," Mullet said, even though he knew Roy had caught one.
Roy opened his hands up without question, and smiled proudly. Mullet laughed.
"What?" Roy asked, miffed, and looked down. In his hands was a…
…Piece of kelp.
"Ugh!" Roy grunted in slight annoyance, and flung the gooey, green plant back into the water. Mullet was trying not to laugh too much to make Roy feel bad, and Roy could see the strain it took for the poor nature-boy to hold back his mirth.
"Oh go ahead and laugh, you nitwit." Roy grinned, still feeling slightly embarrassed. Mullet responded by giggling harder.
Once the laughs of Mullet Fingers died down into a few hiccup-laughs, Roy said, leaning back onto the Molly Bell,
"I can catch them, though."
"Oh, I know. I've seen you do it times before." Mullet said easily, and then caught himself, snapping his mouth tightly shut. Roy looked over to the boy in surprise.
"You have? When? I only learned how to like, maybe a year ago!"
"I… Uh…" Mullet opened and closed his mouth, at a loss for words. Roy narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"Mullet… just how long have you been stalking me without letting me know you were there?"
"Stalking?" Mullet sputtered, eyes wider than ever. His cheeks had a light pink tinge to them.
"Well? How long?" Roy prodded, frowning.
"It's just been plain coincidence! I saw you a few times here when I was… doing stuff." He said, looking off to the side. Roy harrumphed with offense.
"When was the first time you saw me then?" He demanded.
"Maybe like, about a year ago!" He said unconvincingly, and Roy hissed out,
"You've been here this whole time? Without telling me you were here?"
"…Yes?"
"Napoleon Bridger Leep, I can't believe you!" He lashed out righteously, his eyes glinting in anger and hurt.
"Hey, what's the big deal? It's not like you had to know—"
"No, I didn't have to know, you're right." Roy said in a clipped, icy tone. "But it would've been nice to know that the one person I've been missing ever since they left was right under my nose half the time. It would've been good to know that my friend wasn't as gone as I thought!"
Mullet felt guilt overcome him.
"Roy, wait—"
"No. I think I did enough waiting, these past few years. To think, I actually cared about you, when you didn't give a damn enough to tell me you were okay!"
He carefully but hastily got himself off of the old yet reliable boat, and walked defiantly in the direction of his home, pausing only for a moment to get his shoes back onto his feet. Mullet wasn't too far behind.
"Roy, please! Wouldya wait?"
"Roy!"
"C'mon, Roy! I didn't mean any harm!"
All of his pleas fell onto deaf ears.
When he reached out a hand to touch Roy's rigid shoulder, Roy angrily brushed him off. He stopped and turned around, a mask of coldness upon his face.
"Mullet, don't. Not now."
He turned, and continued to power-walk his way back home. Mullet stood, stunned and rooted into his spot. If guilt had gotten to him minutes ago, then it was already licking the meat off of his bones that remained.
Where the hell was Beatrice when he needed her?
Aww, poor Roy! And stupid, stupid Mullet! whacks with man-eating, mutated, foot-long mullets Will Roy ever find it deep inside himself to forgive little ole Mullet Fingers? You know he eventually will. :D
I kind of slid my way through this, and once I got past the obstacle of how I should cause one commotion in this chapter (my alternative idea was to have Roy dramatically fall through the weakened deck of the Molly Bell and have Mullet dive down heroically to save him-this would have made the story a lot shorter, so I decided against it. plus, this whole conflict-thing is WAY more interesting to write!), I kind of just let everything else fall into place.
It's currently nearing four in the morning, and I'm only just starting to feel a bit tired. I may start working on the next installment of this, but I make no promises. Hah.
Well, you know what I ask for: review this, and in turn, I'll consider updating a hell of a lot quicker!
Thanks, and I hoped you liked this! I also hope I didn't take the conflict too far in this chappie. Forgive me if I did! I blame the F.G.A.O. (Fan Girl Addiction Overload)!
Sincerely,
Inkyish.