The next day, Crys grumbled as she walked to school with Brandon.
"I don't want to go either." Brandon said in reply to his friends' grumbles.
"I'm not ready to deal with Connor again." Crys said, annoyed.
"I can understand that. But hey, you seem to be feeling a bit better than yesterday, right? Not as wrapped up with the whole, uh-" Brandon caught himself from saying werepocalypse. He didn't want to remind Crys. "Well, you know."
Crys gave a little smile. "Yeah." She said. She appreciated Brandon catching himself. "It's mostly gone." She continued. "I mean, I still feel a bit... uh, bad, but not like yesterday."
"So, maybe not running out in the middle of lunch this time?" Brandon said jokingly.
Crys frowned.
Brandon saw his joke didn't land like he hoped it would. "Sorry." He said. "I didn't mean to be mean."
"I know." Crys replied.
"Sorry." Brandon said again.
"Honestly, it's okay, Brandon." Crys said, giving her friend a faint grin. "I guess we'll just see what happens with Connor today."
"I hope it goes well." Brandon said, matching Crys' quieter tone.
"One of these days I really should just teach him a lesson." Crys said flatly. "Just, knock a tooth out or something. Just teach him and everyone else to leave us alone." She scowled.
"Crys-" Brandon tried to say.
"Yeah yeah, suspension and getting in big trouble. You don't have to explain it to me again. I get it. I'm not going to actually do it, I know how much trouble I'd be in if I did. I just wish I was able to get everyone off our backs... That's all."
"Look, all I'm saying is that they already don't believe Josh being attacked by The Werewolf, and the only reason we even got Cheryl off our backs is because Emma basically threatened to spread rumors about her until her life was ruined, and Connor and the others aren't taking you seriously even though you were very clearly stabbed. I honestly don't think there's anything you could do to convince them." Brandon explained.
Crys pondered for a moment. "Alright, I'll give you that." She said. "But maybe if I gave him a good punch to his smug little face..."
Brandon glanced over at Crys with a concerned look. She looked a little too mischevious for comfort. "You know, maybe we should go do something after school. Maybe go ice skating or something so you can maybe stop thinking about punching Connor."
"I'm not gonna do it!" Crys said back, a tad defensively. "...I kinda do want to go ice skating, though." She added on.
"Well, how about we go after school. Just you and me." Brandon offered.
Crys glanced at Brandon. "Just you and me, huh?" She started to tease.
"Well, yeah." Brandon said, not catching on.
Crys gave a slightly smug smile and nudged Brandon's shoulder. "Just you and me. Maybe you'll even join me on the ice this time, and I can keep you steady as we skate."
Brandon slowly picked up on Crys' teasing tone then blushed. "Crys!" He exclaimed once he realized.
Crys laughed.
"Not funny!" Brandon said, laughing a little as well.
"Your face is so red!" Crys said, still laughing a bit.
Brandon nudged Crys' arm a tad forcefully, though nowhere near hard enough to hurt her.
"Maybe one of these days you'll get me to blush like that." Crys kept teasing.
"I'm not good with flirting." Brandon said flatly.
"Well, maybe I'll just have to teach you." Crys said.
"No no no no no." Brandon replied. "I'm good."
"Your loss." Crys said as a final tease. She smiled. She felt a lot better already. For a moment, it felt like she had no problems. She really enjoyed the playful banter.
Brandon shook his head. He loved the playful banter with Crys. It was fun, even though it was a bit embarrassing.
After a few moments of quiet, Crys spoke up again. "I really do want to go ice skating, though." She said, going back to a softer tone.
"Then that's what we'll do after school, how's that sound?" Brandon replied.
"Perfect." Crys said with a smile. "Maybe if you're lucky I'll treat you to some hot cocoa afterwards."
"I'm not gonna forget that." Brandon said happily.
"Of course you won't." Crys replied, smiling a little.
The two friends kept making their way to school. Things felt normal again, at least for the rest of their walk. It was like all their worries faded away for a time. It was nice. It was peaceful.
Later on at lunch Crys, Brandon, Tomas, and Emma were all chatting like usual, though this time it was much more upbeat than it had been the past few weeks.
"You're in a much better mood than usual, today." Tomas commented, slightly changing the subject from what they had all been talking about previously.
"Yeah, it's kinda nice." Crys said with a smile.
"I told her we'd go ice skating later." Brandon added on cheekily.
"Now, when you say 'we', does that mean you'll actually skate with me this time?" Crys teased.
"We'll see." Brandon replied.
"Sounds like fun." Tomas said.
"Yeah.' Crys said with a smile. "I love ice skating. It's just so... I don't know how to put it. It's one of my favorite things to do."
"How long have you been skating?" Tomas asked.
"Years." Crys replied. "One of my friends had their birthday party at the ice rink, so I tried ice skating and I've loved it since."
"You any good?" Tomas asked.
"I mean, I'd say I'm pretty good, but I don't think I'm anything special. I'm just good enough." Crys said sheepishly.
"Oh, please." Brandon butted in. "You should see her sometime. She's amazing." He smiled.
Crys shook her head a little.
"Oh look, she's not crying today." Connor said rudely as he approached the table. He had a smug, condescending, grin on his face.
Crys looked over at Connor and glared at him. All prior notions of happiness were gone.
Tomas was about to get up, but Crys beat him to it.
"Look, just leave me alone." Crys said firmly.
"What's the point in that?" Connor replied.
Crys frustratedly groaned. "What is it you want? Huh? Why do you keep bugging me? Are you just trying to get me to fight you? Is that it?" She angrily asked.
"You're too much of a coward to fight me." Connor snapped back.
"Maybe I'm just smarter than you!" Crys exclaimed, not full-yelling, but definitely a tad louder than she had been.
"I'd like to see you prove that!" Connor replied in kind. "And you're just scared that you'd lose!"
"Yeah right!" Crys snapped back.
"Prove me wrong right now!"
"Not until you start it!"
"Coward!"
By now, most of the lunchroom had turned their attention to the building tension between Crys and Connor. Their back and forth had become much louder and more aggressive sounding.
"Hey! Both of you!" A teacher said with authority as he walked over. "Both of you knock it off or you'll both be seeing the principal and the counselor. Connor, go back to your table."
"Yessir." Connor said with a dismissive roll of his eyes as he walked off.
Crys sat back down and grumbled as the teacher walked off.
"Well..." Brandon murmured.
Tomas prodded at his salad he had been eating.
Emma kept quiet as she usually did. She didn't have much to add.
"I really don't like him." Crys said, sounding just plain annoyed.
"I never liked him." Tomas said. "He was always going around trying to prove how strong he was. It was annoying."
"I suppose since you left them he took your place in their group?" Emma asked.
"From what I can tell, yes. Considering Josh is still, well..." Tomas trailed off.
"That's my fault." Crys said flatly.
"I don't blame you." Tomas said. "Regardless, he was the head of the group, for the most part, but I guess now that's Connor's role."
"So what was the deal with Cheryl? How's she fit into all that?" Brandon asked out of curiosity.
"She just gossiped a lot. She was the pretty one, I guess." Tomas said with a shrug.
"At least they're not all going after us." Crys commented, taking a page out of Brandon's book and looking on the bright side.
Tomas gave a chuckle. "Yeah, we're lucky." He said. "Then again, most of them don't care, anyways. I don't know what Cheryl or Connor's deal is."
"Connor just wants me to fight him." Crys said flatly.
"I figured that." Tomas replied. "Maybe he wants to be the toughest guy in school and has to prove it by beating you up."
"He's just upset he got upstaged by a girl." Crys snickered, enjoying her insult.
"That's a very real possibility." Tomas said, ignoring the fact it was meant more as a rude joke. "He's definitely the kind of guy to be petty about something like that."
Crys shrugged. "I honestly don't care either way." She said. "It would just be nice to have him off my back."
Everyone went quiet and kept eating their lunches quietly for a bit. Eventually one of them spoke up again and started a new, slightly more lighthearted, conversation for the rest of lunch.
After school, true to his word, Brandon took Crys to the ice rink so she could go skate. The two of them got there about late afternoon. There weren't all too many people there, but there were a few groups of kids hanging around the arcade portion of the place. As for the ice rink itself, it was practically empty. One or two people were skating, but it wasn't all that crowded.
Crys and Brandon made their way down to the seating just outside the rink and sat down. Crys put her skate bag out in front of her. She had swung home with Brandon to grab her skates and drop off their book bags just after school let out.
"So, you going to join me? I'm sure Mr. Pete would let you borrow some skates free of charge since you're with me." Crys asked.
"I think I'm good." Brandon said with a nervous smile. "I'd just get in the way, and I definitely don't have any balance, still."
"Only way for you to get better is to practice." Crys said.
"Well, yeah, but I still don't really feel like falling on my face." Brandon said.
"Oh, come on! It'll be fun!" Crys said excitedly.
"What? Falling on my face?" Brandon asked, knowing full well that wasn't what Crys had meant.
Crys raised an eyebrow and gave Brandon a look. "Still," she said, returning her expression to normal, "you could always just hold onto me. I could keep you steady as you go along." She gave Brandon a warm smile.
Brandon smiled back. "Thanks, Crys. I uh, think I'll just watch, though."
Crys frowned a little. "Alright." She said. "But that means you have to make it up to me later." She added on with a cheeky smile.
Brandon got nervous and gave a slight half-smile. "How?" He asked, concerned.
"You'll see." Crys said with a teasing grin as she got up and walked into the ice rink.
Brandon shrugged a little to himself, a bit worried about what Crys was going to make him do. After a few moments of wondering to himself, Brandon shook his head to snap himself out of his little trance and focused on watching Crys gracefully glide across the ice.
Crys, as she skated, felt at peace. She felt free, like nothing could touch her. All her worries and fears just vanished as she swooped around the rink. After a minute or two, she remembered that Brandon was watching her, so she decided to put on a show and started to leap around and twirl through the air. She figured that since Brandon wouldn't join her, he should at least get a nice show.
Brandon watched on in awe, completely captivated by Crys' graceful movements throughout the ice rink. He couldn't help but stare. She was beautiful.
Once Crys was done ice skating, she left the ice rink and sat back down next to Brandon. She started to take off her skates and put on her sneakers again.
"What'd you think?" Crys asked.
"You're really good at ice skating." Brandon replied.
"You think?" Crys said in return.
"Of course! I think you did amazing out there." Brandon said with a smile.
Crys smiled back at her friend. "Maybe you'll join me next time."
"Again, I don't want to fall... and besides, that wouldn't be fair to you, having to help me the whole time."
"Well, I wouldn't let you fall, and I'd be more than happy to just go along at your pace."
"Well..."
"Think about it?" Crys begged.
"Alright, maybe next time." Brandon relented.
Crys smiled warmly. After a few moments she spoke up again. "Come on, let's head out." She got up.
"Alright." Brandon said as he got up as well.
The two friends walked out of the ice rink. It was dark by now. Neither of them had realized how long they had spent there.
"Dark already?" Crys asked as she walked outside.
"Well, it is getting to be that time of year." Brandon commented.
"Already? It felt like summer only ended a few days ago..." Crys murmured.
Brandon just shrugged in reply.
Crys paused for a few moments. "Well..." Her tone turned to teasing again. "You know, you still have to make it up to me for not skating with me tonight." She said as she started walking.
Brandon started walking as well. "How?" He asked carefully and nervously.
"Well," Crys said with a knowing smirk, "you could give me a kiss."
"A kiss?" Brandon asked, a tad taken aback.
"Mm-hmm!" Crys said. "A kiss. A proper kiss."
"Crys-" Brandon said hesitantly
"Oh, come on, you're not scared to kiss a girl, are you?" Crys playfully teased.
"No!" Brandon said back defensively. "I'm not scared to kiss a pretty girl!"
"Well then you should just-" Crys cut herself off. "Pretty?" She asked quietly, not expecting that to come up in the playful banter.
"W-well yeah." Brandon said. He felt a bit embarrassed.
"You think I'm pretty?" Crys asked softly, less playful and more genuine.
"Of course!" Brandon said, starting to blush. "I-I mean, yeah, y'know..." He trailed off.
"Well uh, anything else?" Crys added on out of curiosity, blushing a little herself.
"Well, I-I think you're kinda cute." Brandon said. "And funny. A-and sweet." He went quiet, feeling like an idiot.
"It's funny how you've told me that before, but this time it just feels different." Crys said.
"Bad?" Brandon worried.
"No! No, not at all!" Crys backpedaled. "I-I just... I didn't expect you to say I'm pretty, that's all." She gave a nervous chuckle. "And, I mean, you know how we've been friends for so long and it isn't like you haven't said that kind of stuff to me before, but this time it just kinda caught me off guard and um..." Crys struggled as she over-explained herself. Her face went red from embarrassment.
Brandon glanced over at Crys and saw how much she was blushing. "I guess that's payback for earlier." He joked.
Crys gave a little laugh. "Okay fine." She said. "Now we're even."
The two friends went quiet and kept walking for a bit.
"Maybe a kiss on the cheek?" Crys spoke up, sounding hopeful. She glanced at Brandon, but he wasn't looking at her. She just fixed her eyes back to the sidewalk in front of her. Just a second later she felt a little kiss on the cheek. She couldn't help but smile to herself. She glanced over at Brandon again, and he was smiling to himself just like she was. She took Brandon's hand in her own and the two friends kept making their way back home.