Your POV

I couldn't believe the situation I was in.

Zane, my former arch enemy literally no more than 3 hours ago, was practically dragging me to his lunch spot. I had no idea why he wanted me to be his friend after his terrorization of my social life,

But then again, when did anything in my life make any sense?

I just let him grab me by the hand and lead me to my doom. No arguments, I didn't want to make an enemy of him again. But I couldn't help but wonder why after all this time, he wanted to be friends now?

Was it because I stood up to Gene?

Or something else?

I had literally no explanation as he sat under the stairs, beckoning me to join him.

He was lucky I brought my lunch

"What do you think?"

He asked, a sly smile appeared under his scarf, adding to my confusion. I simply nodded.

"It's alright."

I opened my bag and got out my sandwich, reluctantly eating it. He awkwardly stared straight at me whilst I did.

"I have a question"

I said and set the sandwich down on my bag.

"Why do you want to be my friend?"

He quietly looked in the other direction, sighing under his breath.

"I want to repay you".

He finally spoke after what seemed like decades.

"Repay me for what?"

"This"

He pointed at the Flarity bracelet I gave him weeks earlier in order for him to leave me be. I was astounded that he kept it. It was a little girl show after all.

"You don't have to be my friend to
repay that".

I said and offered a kind smile. He seemed to turn a shade of pink, pulling his scarf up violently.

"That's not all.."

He trailed off and refused to speak more of it. Of course, I wanted answers. I rummaged through my bag to find another My Little Horsies Keychain. How lucky I was that I owned limited editions.

"If you tell me, you can have this."

I shook the chain around, taunting him. He snatched it from me and continued speaking.

"When I was kicked down by Gene,"

He swallowed

"And I finally woke up, I saw you above me. You fought for me, you defended me. When I saw him punch you back, I wanted to get up and defend you. But I was too weak, and I blacked out before I could even reach for you"

He clenched his fists and beat them against the tile, an unexpectedly loud pang followed the motion.

"I felt so weak. While you were so strong. That's why, I want to be your friend. I want to protect you. Repay my debt."

He fumbled with the keychain to avoid my gaze. I was surprised, but it seemed like he had his heart set on proving he was strong.

"You don't have to repay me".

I started, but was cut off.

"I want to".

He glanced up at me, shaking his head.

"I wanted an excuse to talk to you. To
make one friend".

His eyes traveled back to the toy. I pushed myself towards him, a few inches of space between us.

"I don't want you to be my friend cause your in debt. I want to be your friend cause you like me".

I smile, conjuring up another blush from him. Was that his natural response to kindness?

"Well, what do we have in common?"

He asked, now making eye contact with me, or attempting to.

"We both like My Little Horsies."

I pointed at the chain. He snickered and clipped it to his backpack.

His laugh.. was nice to hear. Entirely unexpected. Even his smile, something I never thought I was going to see, was interesting. The face he made, an expression I wanted to see again, no matter how hard I had to try. He was my friend now. I wanted him to be happy

"What else?"
"We're both dorks?"
"You're the dork."

He pushed me playfully, I sat back and reached for the sky

"Oh no! I've been slain!"

I retorted in the most sarcastic way possible. He laughed again, grabbing my hand and pulling me back towards him.

"Relax, I won't kill you yet."
"That's great".

I faked a sigh of relief, giggling to myself. It was incredible how fast both our demeanors changed once we found out each others motives.

We were like children.

Dorky emo children.

(Well I (wasn't/was) as emo as him)

The bell soon rang. And I, not even eating a bite of my lunch, started to pack away the food.

"You want this?"

I asked Zane, tossing him the sandwich. He hadn't even opened his lunch bag and I figured he didn't have one.

"Thanks."

He stuffed it in his jacket pocket, standing up and pulling his backpack over his shoulder.

"We can walk to class together."

Oh right, we had Astronomy. I actually forgot. I grinned and started walking towards the classroom.

It was bustling with people. All of them in their consecutive friend groups. Most were surprised that I entered the room with the class know it all and definition of scene, but I didn't particularly care, and neither did he.

We took our seats, one desk away from each other. We chuckled collectively, knowing the teacher still thought we hated one another. She began to hand out assignments.

"Planetary projects will be due next week. Partners are required, two to three people in a group".

Personally, group projects always end in one way for me, I do all the work. And when I say all? I mean all. I was beginning to think that the teachers made this rule for people to just lie back and let one person bust their ass on the project.

Zane looked over at me, shrugging his shoulders and raising his hand.

"Yes Zane?"
"Can we pick our own partners?"

He winked at me, or blinked.

I can't tell. He has one eye.

"Yes."

She sighed as if he asked her to recite the Declaration of Independence.

"Want to be partners?"

He asked, reading the paper.

"Sure."

I leaned over and pointed at a couple of planets. My favorite one was on the list, and I was hoping to get it. When we were assigned planets, we ended up with Saturn.

"What a Sa-turn of events!"
"I'll end you."

Apparently Zane doesn't like puns.

We agreed to exchange numbers, making a date for our project. We decided to meet at his house around Saturday morning and stay until we get it done. I was excited, who wouldn't be?

I had made friends with the enemy.

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Admin time!!

Can I rant for a bit on how Aarmau basically came out of nowhere and knocked all of the other ships out cold? No? Well alright, but I'm on Garroth and Laurence's side. Hope you liked this chapter! Stay tuned for the next one!