20
Okay, maybe the skirt had been a bad idea.
She had only been in school for half an hour before Blossom was feeling supremely uncomfortable. Not because of the skirt itself; it was actually strangely comfortable; but because some of the thoughts being directed her way by her male classmates were... well.
"I thought that was the point," Bubbles said when she complained about it in English. "Besides, it's not like it's that much shorter than any other skirts you wear; it just sits above your knees for once, and you're wearing tights anyway. People are probably just noticing the difference, like you wanted."
"Well, I didn't want this," Blossom hissed back. "I did not need to know Michael Long's opinions on my legs, or any other areas of my lower body for that matter. Honestly, some of that was just vulgar. It's only a skirt for goodness' sake." Bubbles suppressed a giggle and was rewarded with a glare.
"Oh, lighten up already. It's not like it's a bad thing, is it? Anyway, what does Brick think about it?" Blossom sighed.
"I don't know. He did look at me strangely when I walked into class earlier, but he didn't say anything."
"But what was he thinking?"
"I told you, I don't know. I... I can't read his thoughts. Ever since that night at the park, all I get when I try is static." Bubbles blinked.
"Well that doesn't make sense. Are you sure you aren't just... I dunno, blocking it out?" Before Blossom could reply, the teacher walked in and started the lesson. However, that last thought sat with Blossom for a little while.
xxx
"Dude, did you see Blossom today?"
"Oh man, I know. I mean I always thought she was hot, but... wow."
He could feel himself grinding his teeth as he listened to them all. He wanted to tell them just to shut up, not to talk about her that way. Well, actually he wanted to smash all their teeth in, but that would be messy. And it wouldn't look good when he 'accidentally' smashed their entire face in the process. And she wouldn't like it.
So he sat and tried to keep his violent impulses at bay. All for her. All of this just for her.
And he still didn't really know why.
xxx
When lunchtime finally rolled around, Blossom was seriously considering just going home and putting on a pair of jeans. Or maybe just one of her old skirts. Just anything that wasn't this skirt because she was utterly sick of the attention it was getting her. This didn't seem to happen to any other girl that wore these kinds of things. Bubbles wore this kind of outfit all the time, and she loved the attention.
Electing to skip lunch and avoid contact with anyone else for a little while, she settled down in a secluded corner of the library, next to one of the radiators. It was an ancient one that hadn't been bled in a while, but she found the soft gurgling noises that it made to be quite comforting. Savouring the peace and quiet, she idly flipped through her history textbook, scanning several pages.
"You hiding here too?" She almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of his voice.
"Brick! For goodness' sake, don't scare me like that!" Sinking back into her seat, she subconsciously arranged her legs so that they were well hidden under the table. "What do you want?"
"Nothing. Just trying to get away from people."
"Well I'm people, so I suppose you'll be leaving me alone now." No such luck; he was already sitting down.
"You had lunch?" She shook her head slightly, trying to divert her attention back to her textbook and away from him. However, this failed when he tossed a pack of sandwiches over at her and tore open a packet of crisps for himself. "You're okay with tuna, right?"
Given the confused state her mind had flung itself into at the offering, the only vocal response she was going to be able to give was something along the lines of 'bluh?' so she settled for pushing the sandwiches back towards him.
"Look, just eat them, will you? I don't even like tuna that much; it was just all that was left in the lunch hall when I got there." He didn't look at her when he said it, instead staring off into a far corner. Hesitating, she eventually gave into the quiet demands of her stomach, which suddenly really liked the idea of a tuna sandwich.
They ate in silence, Blossom half-heartedly scanning her textbook. However, as much as she wanted to study, her mind kept straying to the nagging question of 'what does he think of the skirt?' He had barely looked at her once the entire time he'd been sat down across from her, and his face was almost perfectly blank as he flipped through the book he'd brought.
The nagging insistence of the question in her mind was troubling. She wasn't entirely sure why it was so important. Sure, this, admittedly poorly conceived, plan had been in order to throw him off, but part of her worried that it was also about making him take some kind of notice. Except that he had already taken that kind of notice and she was trying to get him to stop.
"You still want to practice today?" His voice seemed somehow strained, and he still wasn't looking at her.
"I... Oh, no, I can't. I left my violin at home, sorry." There was another long, awkward silence. Blossom read the same sentence ten times, and didn't take it in at all. What Bubbles had said earlier resurfaced in her thoughts; what if she really was able to hear what he was thinking. What if she just didn't want to?
Carefully keeping her eyes glued to her book, she tentatively took down the mental wall she'd thrown up the second he'd spoken to her. At first, all she heard was the usual static, although it wasn't as bad as before. It faded in and out as she tried to concentrate, and eventually, she began picking up words. It was difficult to hear any of it; it was like trying to tune an old radio with no real signal, and eventually, she had to give up.
She had, however, picked up the word 'skirt.'
xxx
When lunch had ended, he'd got up and left without a word, despite the fact that they had chemistry together for their next class. As much as she was kicking herself for it, she was beginning to worry.
"Are... are you alright Brick?" He looked up from the acid he was measuring out and gave her an incredulous look from behind his goggles.
"Could it be... you really care?" There it was, that joking tone she'd come to expect. She rolled her eyes and grabbed the beaker from him.
"Clearly I don't have to; you're obviously fine." He gave a lopsided smirk and muttered a brief 'I knew you cared' that she was sure was purely to make her grumble at him under her breath.
xxx
"Hey, Blossom?" It was the end of the day. All she'd needed to do was grab her books and get home before this stupid skirt caused her any more problems. She'd spent all of chemistry and then French listening to several of her male classmates mentally drooling over her legs. Yes, her legs were very nice; she just really did not understand the fascination with them.
But of course, Brick had to turn up at her locker. Of course.
"What is it?" To her surprise, it came out without the usual edge of annoyance.
"Were you... trying to impress someone today?" She blinked at him. He stared at the far wall.
"The skirt," he added, still not looking at her. When she still remained silent, he shifted his weight and made an irritated motion with his hand.
"Look, if there's someone you like and you're trying to catch their eye, that's fine. I... I'll deal with that, but just... Don't do it like this." Blossom finally clicked to what he was trying to say.
"You think I have a crush on someone? That's why I dressed like this?"
"Not like you even have to." She wasn't entirely sure that he was replying and not just talking to himself. At that moment, she realised that she had a potential way out. If she told Brick that there was someone else, maybe he would leave her alone. Of course, she didn't have anyone in mind, but he didn't need to know that.
But... when he said he'd deal with that situation, what did that mean? Well, she already knew the answer to that. He'd deal with it the same way he dealt with Butch that night in the park, and she could never risk that.
"No, that's not why. I just... wanted to try something new. A girl doesn't need to have a boy in mind to wear nice clothes you know." He finally looked up at her, but she carefully made sure that her gaze was fixed on her hands as she shuffled books around in her locker.
"Huh," he said, his tone a little lighter. "Fair enough." He broke out that lopsided smile again and spun on his heel. "See you tomorrow Red," he said, waving back over his shoulder. "Oh yeah, meant to say: great legs."
xxx
"Well you know what you have to do, don't you?" Bubbles was pointing a spoon at her in a very authoritative manner. "You have to friend-zone him."
"I have to what?" Blossom looked to her other sister for aid, but Buttercup only nodded sagely at Bubbles' advice and shoveled another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.
"It's the only way he's ever going to give up," Bubbles continued, now waving the spoon around to add more emphasis.
"Bubbles, in case you hadn't realised, that course of action would involve me being friends with him."
"You kind of are already," Buttercup pointed out. "Half the time I've seen you talking to him, you look like you're enjoying it more than when you talk to anyone else."
"Well I can assure you that that is not the case. He just... aggravates me. Pushes my buttons. That's all." Her sisters exchanged a look.
"The music lessons? That you're taking by choice?"
"That's a matter of pride." This was getting uncomfortable now. They were exchanging more looks.
"Blossom, look, we're not judging you here. Really," Bubbles said gently.
"Yeah," Buttercup mumbled. "I mean, it's not like I can say anything anyway."
"And if this gets him off your back in the long run, maybe it'd be for the best, you know?"
Blossom looked at her two sisters, wondering if she should be feeling slightly betrayed or grateful for their advice. Instead, she just felt more confused than ever.
xxx
It was half ten when he showed up, and she hesitated for a minute before opening the window, thinking about what her sisters had said.
"What is it?" she asked, as he perched on the windowsill.
"Thought you might still want that music lesson. Got your violin handy? I figured we could go use the bandstand in the park." He held his hands up when she opened her mouth to accuse him of something. "No funny business; just thought you might not want to disturb everyone."
Eventually, she had agreed, although now that she was actually standing there, she was regretting it. For all that the weather was slightly warmer, it was still freezing, and she could barely feel her fingers. Not exactly helpful for playing the violin.
"This isn't working. I can't play like this." He nodded thoughtfully.
"You're probably right. Shoulda thought of that; sorry." There was silence as she packed her instrument away, and they set off back across the park in silence. Blossom realised that she could be home in the half the time if she bothered to fly, but for some reason, she was quite happy to walk, even if meant spending more time with him.
Maybe because it meant spending more time with him.
Just... not that way.