Mother of Pearl: A Floyd Leech x OC Fanfiction

Chapter 52

"And done!" Floyd cheered as he finished his laps.

I stopped the timer with a gapping jaw. The stopwatch read six minutes and twenty-four seconds. "Great job," I praised in astonishment. I wrote down the time and filed away the notebook and other papers.

"Was I the best one you saw today Leafy?" Floyd fished for more compliments.

"In which drill? Some of them you have the best times and others are garbage," I honestly told him. I made a B-line for the door, but Floyd cut me off.

"Am I better than Sea Urchin or Crabby?"

I backed up slightly at the question. "Huh? You mean Jack and Ace? Yeah, I guess, but you do realize Jack isn't in the club, right?"

"But you think I'm better than him, right?" Floyd threw back at me.

I paused for a moment. "Not really," I answered as I tried to pass him. Floyd got in my way once more. I was getting really annoyed. "What now, Pool Noodle?"

When I looked up, I was surprised to see sad, heterochromatic eyes looking down at me. I tucked some of my hair away during the awkward silence.

"Do you hate me?" was what he finally asked after staring at me for an eternity.

"What?"

"You hate me, don't you," Floyd despondently concluded. He sat himself on the floor in front of me. "That's why Leafy Sea Dragon likes Sea Urchin more than me. That's why Leafy said they'll never play with me again..."

Why is everyone at this school a master at guilt tripping people!

I tapped my fingers on my thigh. I willed myself to keep firm, but my heart ached a bit at his dejected form. "Why is the fact I said I'd never play with you again such a big deal to you? We barely know each other. We only played one game of basketball together," I sighed. I sat across from the upperclassman. I put my head in my hands and asked, "Why are you so invested in me?"

"I like you, Leafy Sea Dragon," Floyd locked eyes with me when he made his blunt confession.

"Huh?" I dropped my chin at that. My mind went blank. "Say what now?"

"You've been nothing but exciting since I met you. I want to be your bestest friend ever and play together all the time!" he went on. Floyd looked like he was going to cry.

I leaned back on my hands in relief, but a slight twinge of disappointment came up. "Oh, you want to be friends."

"But you hate me."

"What makes you think I hate you?"

"Because I chased you in the Coral Sea. I squeezed you too hard. I squeezed your friends and beat them up. I called you stupid," Floyd listed off.

"Don't forget you kicked me and Yuu out of our dorm."

"See! You do hate!" Floyd pouted.

"Pfft," I tried to hold back my laughter, "I won't lie. You sure gave me a lot of reasons why I should hate you. For some odd reason though, I don't."

It was Floyd's turn to look shocked, "You don't?"

I shook my head, "Nope, but I don't consider you a friend either." Floyd was no longer pouting as he shifted about. He wasn't in a good mood, but it was still better than nothing. At least he didn't look like he was going to cry.

"I want to be your friend though!" Floyd scooted forward and invaded my personal space. "How can I make you, my friend?"

"Okay. First, back up a bit please," I requested. Floyd leaned away from me, but he was still seated closely in front of me. "Thanks. Now I guess if you want to be friends, I'll give you a chance. We'd need to talk more, obviously, and-,"

"And you'll play with me again?!" Floyd was now back in my face like an over excited puppy. His arms were on either side of me and our knees were touching.

Man, this guy has no concept of personal space.

"I'm not too keen on...playing just yet," I hesitantly said. I watched Floyd's mood begin to fall and hastily added, "How about you and I make a promise?"

"A promise?"

"Yes. If Night Raven wins the basketball scrimmage next Friday, I will rescind my earlier declaration and bee willing to play with you in the future," I proposed.

"Really?! Are you being serious right now, Leafy Sea Dragon?! If I win that silly game, you'll play with me again?!" Floyd grabbed my shoulders intensely. His face was only a few inches from mine. He smelt like sea salt.

I let myself giggle at his antics for once, "Hyehe! Yes, I'm serious!" I held up my pinky, "Pinky promise. More binding than one of Azul's contracts."

Floyd hooked his pinky with mine and gave me a toothy grin. "I'll squeeze you if you try to weasel out of it."

"Hehe, I believe you," I sighed. "Now...I need to get back before Prefect Yuu starts looking for me.

I squirmed and shimmied my way out of his grip and crawled my way onto my feet. Floyd was hot on my tail, following me out.