Secret Santa Delivery [PART TWO]
This fic is an A/U in which everyone is an elementary student together. Anyway, pleady_eyes said in her form that she likes fics that explore Edgeworth's psyche, and because most of the quirks that define us materialize when we are little brats, I thought that writing a fic from the POV of kid!Miles would be fun.
"Ohhh Fraaaaanzy! I got a present for yooooou!"
Miles looked up from the comic book he was reading and rolled his eyes at the scene unfolding a few yards away from him. Larry Butz was harassing that poor Franziska girl, yet again. If he wasn't pulling her hair or trying to flip up the pleated skirt of her jumper, he was dangling something gross in her face. Today, it appeared to be a dead lizard.
"Eeeeeugh!" she squealed. Miles winced in irritation. "Get that object away from me, you foolish boy!" A lot of kids thought she talked a little funny, but that was because English was not her first language. Miles actually thought she spoke better than most kids, but he knew better than to voice that opinion out loud. The last thing he needed was to listen to a bunch of kids chant "MILES AND FRANZISKA, SITTING IN A TREE" at him while he was trying to read. He didn't like her that way, but the truth never stopped his classmates from jumping at any opportunity to make fun of him.
Sometimes, Miles really hated his classmates.
That was why he spent most of his recesses alone. It wasn't that he didn't want to get along with his classmates, but they were all such jerks. On the first day of school, they made fun of his "girly" hairstyle and "stupid" bow-tie. His father had always told him that it was important to "be himself," so instead of deciding to conform to their childish expectations, he haughtily told them that it wasn't his fault that they didn't understand sophistication. That just made them call him a gaywad, and it all went downhill from there.
The only two kids in the class who were nice to him were Larry and Phoenix Wright, and that was only after he saved both of their derrières in that class trial. Phoenix had always been shy, well-behaved and a bit of a cry-baby, but that didn't stop the class from turning on him. The way even the teacher had called him guilty, even though there was no conclusive evidence that he had committed the crime, had sickened him. Miles liked Phoenix better than Larry, not only because he was the less obnoxious of the two, but because Miles was sure that Larry was the one who had stolen his lunch money in the first place. While Miles didn't hold a grudge against the theft itself (he figured that Larry probably needed the money a lot more than he did), he wished that he would just tell the truth about it. Still, he would not accuse anyone without proof. That was just plain wrong, and he was above such pettiness.
Half-annoyed and half-amused, Miles watched as Franziska used the plastic jump rope she always carried around to whip Larry across the chest. He yelped in pain, and she ran towards the school, presumably to tell on him. Finally, now he could get some peace and
"HEY, EDGEEEY!"
...quiet.
"You do realize that you're going to get in trouble now, right?" Miles said testily, not looking up from his comic.
"So what. I get in trouble every day."
"You wouldn't get in trouble so much if you didn't always pick on Franziska! Why are you so mean to her, anyway?"
"Edgey, Edgey, Edgey," Larry tutted before plopping down on the grass beside him and throwing a conspiratorial arm around his shoulders, much to his irritation. "Everyone knows that when a boy likes a girl, he's supposed to pick on her! Franzy might act like she doesn't like me, but whenever she hits me with her jump rope, she's actually saying 'I love you'," he explained sagely. Miles scowled at him.
"That is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard in my life."
"You'll understand someday, my good man. Hey, you wanna play tag?" Larry had the attention span of a gnat.
"No thank you. I want to finish my comic before recess is over."
"Oh, come on! You always read during recess. Why don't you do something fun for a change?"
"This is fun!" Miles said indignantly. "More fun than running around like a monkey, anyway. Why don't you go play kickball with the rest of the class or something? "
"Fine!" Larry huffed, finally taking the hint that he was being snubbed. "You know, you'd be more popular if you didn't always act like you're better than everyone else!" He hopped to his feet and sighed dramatically. "I wish Nick wasn't sick today... then I'd have somebody FUN to hang out with." And then he stomped away, leaving Miles in peace at last.
Much to his frustration, Miles found that he was having a little trouble getting back into his comic book, because Larry's words kept running though his head. He scowled to himself: he did not think that he was better than everyone else. It was just that everyone else was stupid or annoying.
However, Larry did have a point. Whenever he and Phoenix weren't able to rope Miles into playing with them, he would spend every recess reading. He would spend the first five minutes or so looking for a patch of grass that was suitable to sit on. It had to be dry, it couldn't be near any ant hills, and it couldn't be under a tree because trees carried ticks and ticks carried Lyme Disease. It also had to be relatively away from any playing kids so that their noisiness would not distract him too much. If he could get away with it, he would sit on one of the swings, but the swing set was usually occupied by the Hawthorne twins and they creeped him out. He kept telling himself that he needed to start bringing a small blanket with him to school so that he could sit on it at recess: he hated getting his clothes dirty. However, the only small blanket he owned was his old baby blanket, and that was covered in bright yellow ducks. Besides, he didn't want to risk something happening to it.
Miles scowled again when he realized that he was wasting his time thinking to himself instead of reading. He wished not for the first time that kids were allowed to spend their recesses in the library. He took a deep breath and exhaled it, willing his mind to clear before he resumed reading. This was a special crossover story where the Steel Samurai and the Pink Princess had to fight together to defeat the Evil Magistrate. They usually didn't team up like this, so this comic was pretty special. One of the reasons why comics were better than people was because you could read the word bubbles AND the thought bubbles, instead of just hearing what people are saying. Thanks to the thought bubbles, Miles knew that the Steel Samurai was in love with the Pink Princess, even though his word bubbles never said so. Larry had it all wrong! When a boy likes a girl, he's not supposed to bug her to death: he's supposed to act aloof! This is because a real man never shows his true feelings until the time is right.
As absorbed as he was, it took a few minutes before Miles noticed the even breathing hitting the side of his neck. Startled, he whipped his head around only to be faced with a set of staring, brown eyes.
"Hi."
"AUUUGH!" Miles teetered slightly, catching himself before he fell over. "Wh- ARE YOU TRYING TO GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK?!" The girl's only response was to giggle.
"Yep!" And then she giggled some more. Glaring, Miles quickly assessed the girl who apparently had the hobby of sneaking up on people.
She wasn't in his class, and she looked a little younger than him. She was Asian, and she had long, shiny black hair that was mostly loose except for a small bun on the top of her head. She was a little on the chubby side, and her round face made her look baby-ish. She wore purple-jean shorts, pink flip-flops that were each decorated with a plastic flower between the toes, a crown of dandelions which she had obviously crafted for herself earlier that recess, Band-Aids on her right knee and her left arm, and a Pink Princess T-shirt. As she smiled at him, Miles also noticed that she had already lost one of her baby teeth. That made him a little jealous.
"My name is Maya," she said cheerfully, rocking a little bit as she sat. Miles got the impression that she was a little hyper. "What's your name?"
"Miles," he said gruffly. He really wanted to finish his comic book.
"That's a cool name! Did your parents name you that because you're really fast?"
"...What?"
"You know, like miles per hour!"
"That's stupid. Miles is Latin for 'soldier'," he said proudly. "Besides, I was a baby when they named me! How could they know how fast I was when I was just born?!"
"Wow, your name means SOLDIER?" Maya said, as if she hadn't heard his first and last two sentences. "That is so cool! My mom named me Maya 'cause it starts with the letter 'M'."
"That's nice. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to finish my book. Good day." And then Miles buried his nose back into his comic, hoping that this weird little girl would go play somewhere else. He patiently waited a few moments, but she just stayed where she was, perfectly content to read over his shoulder. He cleared his throat softly, but she didn't movie. He cleared his throat loudly, but she just asked if he needed to hack up a loogie. "NO I DO NOT... I am trying to read here, but I can't with you breathing down my neck like that!"
"I wish I had some Steel Samurai comics, but I spent all my allowance on gummi worms." Once again, it was like she didn't even hear him. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a few soft-looking neon worms. "Want some?"
"Eugh! NO!" Maya shrugged and stuffed the candy in her mouth before wiping the stickiness off her hand... and onto her shorts. Miles scrunched up his nose in distaste.
"Hey Miles," she said thoughtfully as she chewed, "will you read your comic to me? That way I won't be breathing down your neck."
"No, I won't read my comic to you. Now go away and leave me alone."
"I'll make you a dandelion crown if you do," she bribed. Miles was about to ask her why he would want a stupid dandelion crown, when something brilliant came to him. Recess was almost over, and it would probably take her a while to make such a thing. While she was distracted, he could finish his comic! It was almost too perfect. An easy smile spreading across his face, Miles nodded his head.
"Okay, I'll read my comic to you if you make me a dandelion crown first." Maya's face instantly brightened as if somebody had just promised her a pony.
"DEAL!" And with that, Maya got down to her hands and knees and began picking weeds.
"You know, there's some better dandelions off to the side there," Miles helpfully suggested as he pointed away from him.
"Got it!" As Maya scuttled away, Miles had to keep himself from outwardly chuckling. It was almost too easy.
He had not even read three pages before he heard a shrill "DONE!". Looking up from his comic in disbelief, Miles regarded the girl in front of him who was proudly holding up her handiwork.
"No way. How did you finish that so fast?!"
"Dandelion crowns are my specialty!" She said, beaming. "Now, hold still." Miles protested as she placed the crown on his head, but it was useless. He couldn't tell if Maya was oblivious to the fact that he didn't want her around or if she just didn't care. "Awww. Aren't you just prettiest little thing?" Miles scowled, but he didn't dare rip the thing off his head. If she was this loud while happy, he didn't even want to imagine what it would be like to listen to her cry. "Okay, now it's time for you to hold up your end of the bargain!" She sat cross-legged in front of him, smiling at him expectantly. Miles really didn't want to do something as embarrassing as reading his comic aloud to her (she'd probably make him do the voices), so he decided to distract her instead.
"S-so, you like the Steel Samurai, huh?"
"No, duuuuh. Look at my shirt! It has the Pink Princess on it for crying out loud!" Miles' eye twitched, but he barreled on.
"So is the Pink Princess your favorite character, or are you only wearing that because you're a girl?" At that, Maya deflated slightly.
"My favorite character is the Evil Magistrate, but they don't make shirts of him. Besides, even if they did, he would probably only come on boy shirts, anyway. It's totally unfair!" She balled her hands into little fists and puffed out her cheeks. Miles would have found this comical if he wasn't so appalled by her statement.
"Your favorite character is the bad guy?! What's wrong with you! You're supposed to cheer on the heroes, not the villains!"
"But the Evil Magistrate is SO COOL! Plus, he's really handsome. Those flashing eyes! That quivering lip!" Miles stared at her blankly as she breathily sighed and batted her eyelashes. Girls were so stupid...
"You're weird."
"Nuh-uh, you're weird! You wear a bow on your neck."
"How is that weird?"
"It's supposed to go on your head, duh!"
"It's called a 'bow-tie', you moron! How could you not know what a bowtie is?! JUST GO AWAY AND LEAVE ME ALONE!" Although he didn't like to admit it, Miles had a bit of a temper problem. He didn't like to lose his temper, because it made him feel childish and it usually resulted in him getting a time-out or a spanking if his father found out. Whenever he blew up, he always regretted it instantly, and this time was no exception. However, this time, his regret was fueled by something less selfish.
Genuine guilt.
Up until now, Miles had thought that this strange girl was immune his grumpiness, but raising his voice seemed to get the message across loud and clear. Instead of yelling at him back and stopping off, she shrank back in disbelief. Her lip quivered, she whimpered slightly, and her large brown eyes began to water.
"I was just k-kidding! I know w-what a bow-tie is... I'm not s-stupid..." Feeling for the entire world like he had just kicked a puppy (and this made him feel particularly bad, because he liked puppies), Miles attempted to backtrack.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly. Apologizing always went against the grain, even if he knew that he was in the wrong. "I shouldn't have raised my voice. And I don't think you're stupid." Maya sniffed loudly and rubbed her tears away. "Why do you want to hang out with me, anyway? Everyone says that I'm not very fun, and I guess they're right. Don't you have some friends you can play with? Somebody from your own class?"
"I don't have any friends," she said sadly. "Everyone in my class thinks I'm weird." Her eyes were downcast, as if she thought that she were to blame for the fact that her classmates were obviously jerks. Something akin to righteous indignation welled up within him, and he realized that it was his job to cheer her up. Besides, if he ever wanted to be a great defense attorney like his father, he needed to learn how to make people smile even when they felt like everyone else was against them.
"Well, I don't think you're weird," he said with conviction, forgetting that he had called her weird not two minutes ago. "If your classmates are too dumb to see that, then that's their problem. And you also have good taste in comics, so there."
"Really?" When Miles saw her downcast expression transform into a bright smile, he couldn't help but feel as if he had accomplished something wonderful.
"Of course. I'm going to be a great lawyer someday, and lawyers never lie!" Miles smiled broadly, shamelessly proud of the way he had cheered her up despite being the one to make her cry in the first place. That smile turned into on "o" of surprise when Maya squealed and lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and making him fall on his back. "WH-WHAT ARE YOU-"
"YOU ARE SO COOL!" Miles cringed in pain: that loud voice was WAY too close to one of his ears.
"GET OFF OF ME! YOU'RE WRINKLING THE COMIC!" Giggling, Maya rolled off of him, and Miles instantly jumped to his feet so that he could smooth out his comic book. If any of the pages were torn, he was going to be so upset...
...But then he looked down at Maya, who was still lying down on the grass, giggling so hard that he suspected that it was getting hard for her to breath. Miles couldn't remember a time when someone was enjoying themselves this much around him, and in all honestly, it was a little unsettling. At any rate, he never got to finish his comic before recess ended, because at that moment the bell rung.
"Time for class!" Maya announced as she hopped to her feet. "Read me the comic tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay..." Miles inwardly sighed. There was no way he was going to get out of it, it seemed.
"Awesome!" And then she began running to the school, singing loudly "I have a new fri~end! I have a new fri~end!". As Miles watched her go, he had the sinking feeling that he would never enjoy a quiet recess ever again.
Well, at least his new "friend" had an appreciation for good comics.
END
"Ohhh Fraaaaanzy! I got a present for yooooou!"
Miles looked up from the comic book he was reading and rolled his eyes at the scene unfolding a few yards away from him. Larry Butz was harassing that poor Franziska girl, yet again. If he wasn't pulling her hair or trying to flip up the pleated skirt of her jumper, he was dangling something gross in her face. Today, it appeared to be a dead lizard.
"Eeeeeugh!" she squealed. Miles winced in irritation. "Get that object away from me, you foolish boy!" A lot of kids thought she talked a little funny, but that was because English was not her first language. Miles actually thought she spoke better than most kids, but he knew better than to voice that opinion out loud. The last thing he needed was to listen to a bunch of kids chant "MILES AND FRANZISKA, SITTING IN A TREE" at him while he was trying to read. He didn't like her that way, but the truth never stopped his classmates from jumping at any opportunity to make fun of him.
Sometimes, Miles really hated his classmates.
That was why he spent most of his recesses alone. It wasn't that he didn't want to get along with his classmates, but they were all such jerks. On the first day of school, they made fun of his "girly" hairstyle and "stupid" bow-tie. His father had always told him that it was important to "be himself," so instead of deciding to conform to their childish expectations, he haughtily told them that it wasn't his fault that they didn't understand sophistication. That just made them call him a gaywad, and it all went downhill from there.
The only two kids in the class who were nice to him were Larry and Phoenix Wright, and that was only after he saved both of their derrières in that class trial. Phoenix had always been shy, well-behaved and a bit of a cry-baby, but that didn't stop the class from turning on him. The way even the teacher had called him guilty, even though there was no conclusive evidence that he had committed the crime, had sickened him. Miles liked Phoenix better than Larry, not only because he was the less obnoxious of the two, but because Miles was sure that Larry was the one who had stolen his lunch money in the first place. While Miles didn't hold a grudge against the theft itself (he figured that Larry probably needed the money a lot more than he did), he wished that he would just tell the truth about it. Still, he would not accuse anyone without proof. That was just plain wrong, and he was above such pettiness.
Half-annoyed and half-amused, Miles watched as Franziska used the plastic jump rope she always carried around to whip Larry across the chest. He yelped in pain, and she ran towards the school, presumably to tell on him. Finally, now he could get some peace and
"HEY, EDGEEEY!"
...quiet.
"You do realize that you're going to get in trouble now, right?" Miles said testily, not looking up from his comic.
"So what. I get in trouble every day."
"You wouldn't get in trouble so much if you didn't always pick on Franziska! Why are you so mean to her, anyway?"
"Edgey, Edgey, Edgey," Larry tutted before plopping down on the grass beside him and throwing a conspiratorial arm around his shoulders, much to his irritation. "Everyone knows that when a boy likes a girl, he's supposed to pick on her! Franzy might act like she doesn't like me, but whenever she hits me with her jump rope, she's actually saying 'I love you'," he explained sagely. Miles scowled at him.
"That is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard in my life."
"You'll understand someday, my good man. Hey, you wanna play tag?" Larry had the attention span of a gnat.
"No thank you. I want to finish my comic before recess is over."
"Oh, come on! You always read during recess. Why don't you do something fun for a change?"
"This is fun!" Miles said indignantly. "More fun than running around like a monkey, anyway. Why don't you go play kickball with the rest of the class or something? "
"Fine!" Larry huffed, finally taking the hint that he was being snubbed. "You know, you'd be more popular if you didn't always act like you're better than everyone else!" He hopped to his feet and sighed dramatically. "I wish Nick wasn't sick today... then I'd have somebody FUN to hang out with." And then he stomped away, leaving Miles in peace at last.
Much to his frustration, Miles found that he was having a little trouble getting back into his comic book, because Larry's words kept running though his head. He scowled to himself: he did not think that he was better than everyone else. It was just that everyone else was stupid or annoying.
However, Larry did have a point. Whenever he and Phoenix weren't able to rope Miles into playing with them, he would spend every recess reading. He would spend the first five minutes or so looking for a patch of grass that was suitable to sit on. It had to be dry, it couldn't be near any ant hills, and it couldn't be under a tree because trees carried ticks and ticks carried Lyme Disease. It also had to be relatively away from any playing kids so that their noisiness would not distract him too much. If he could get away with it, he would sit on one of the swings, but the swing set was usually occupied by the Hawthorne twins and they creeped him out. He kept telling himself that he needed to start bringing a small blanket with him to school so that he could sit on it at recess: he hated getting his clothes dirty. However, the only small blanket he owned was his old baby blanket, and that was covered in bright yellow ducks. Besides, he didn't want to risk something happening to it.
Miles scowled again when he realized that he was wasting his time thinking to himself instead of reading. He wished not for the first time that kids were allowed to spend their recesses in the library. He took a deep breath and exhaled it, willing his mind to clear before he resumed reading. This was a special crossover story where the Steel Samurai and the Pink Princess had to fight together to defeat the Evil Magistrate. They usually didn't team up like this, so this comic was pretty special. One of the reasons why comics were better than people was because you could read the word bubbles AND the thought bubbles, instead of just hearing what people are saying. Thanks to the thought bubbles, Miles knew that the Steel Samurai was in love with the Pink Princess, even though his word bubbles never said so. Larry had it all wrong! When a boy likes a girl, he's not supposed to bug her to death: he's supposed to act aloof! This is because a real man never shows his true feelings until the time is right.
As absorbed as he was, it took a few minutes before Miles noticed the even breathing hitting the side of his neck. Startled, he whipped his head around only to be faced with a set of staring, brown eyes.
"Hi."
"AUUUGH!" Miles teetered slightly, catching himself before he fell over. "Wh- ARE YOU TRYING TO GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK?!" The girl's only response was to giggle.
"Yep!" And then she giggled some more. Glaring, Miles quickly assessed the girl who apparently had the hobby of sneaking up on people.
She wasn't in his class, and she looked a little younger than him. She was Asian, and she had long, shiny black hair that was mostly loose except for a small bun on the top of her head. She was a little on the chubby side, and her round face made her look baby-ish. She wore purple-jean shorts, pink flip-flops that were each decorated with a plastic flower between the toes, a crown of dandelions which she had obviously crafted for herself earlier that recess, Band-Aids on her right knee and her left arm, and a Pink Princess T-shirt. As she smiled at him, Miles also noticed that she had already lost one of her baby teeth. That made him a little jealous.
"My name is Maya," she said cheerfully, rocking a little bit as she sat. Miles got the impression that she was a little hyper. "What's your name?"
"Miles," he said gruffly. He really wanted to finish his comic book.
"That's a cool name! Did your parents name you that because you're really fast?"
"...What?"
"You know, like miles per hour!"
"That's stupid. Miles is Latin for 'soldier'," he said proudly. "Besides, I was a baby when they named me! How could they know how fast I was when I was just born?!"
"Wow, your name means SOLDIER?" Maya said, as if she hadn't heard his first and last two sentences. "That is so cool! My mom named me Maya 'cause it starts with the letter 'M'."
"That's nice. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to finish my book. Good day." And then Miles buried his nose back into his comic, hoping that this weird little girl would go play somewhere else. He patiently waited a few moments, but she just stayed where she was, perfectly content to read over his shoulder. He cleared his throat softly, but she didn't movie. He cleared his throat loudly, but she just asked if he needed to hack up a loogie. "NO I DO NOT... I am trying to read here, but I can't with you breathing down my neck like that!"
"I wish I had some Steel Samurai comics, but I spent all my allowance on gummi worms." Once again, it was like she didn't even hear him. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a few soft-looking neon worms. "Want some?"
"Eugh! NO!" Maya shrugged and stuffed the candy in her mouth before wiping the stickiness off her hand... and onto her shorts. Miles scrunched up his nose in distaste.
"Hey Miles," she said thoughtfully as she chewed, "will you read your comic to me? That way I won't be breathing down your neck."
"No, I won't read my comic to you. Now go away and leave me alone."
"I'll make you a dandelion crown if you do," she bribed. Miles was about to ask her why he would want a stupid dandelion crown, when something brilliant came to him. Recess was almost over, and it would probably take her a while to make such a thing. While she was distracted, he could finish his comic! It was almost too perfect. An easy smile spreading across his face, Miles nodded his head.
"Okay, I'll read my comic to you if you make me a dandelion crown first." Maya's face instantly brightened as if somebody had just promised her a pony.
"DEAL!" And with that, Maya got down to her hands and knees and began picking weeds.
"You know, there's some better dandelions off to the side there," Miles helpfully suggested as he pointed away from him.
"Got it!" As Maya scuttled away, Miles had to keep himself from outwardly chuckling. It was almost too easy.
He had not even read three pages before he heard a shrill "DONE!". Looking up from his comic in disbelief, Miles regarded the girl in front of him who was proudly holding up her handiwork.
"No way. How did you finish that so fast?!"
"Dandelion crowns are my specialty!" She said, beaming. "Now, hold still." Miles protested as she placed the crown on his head, but it was useless. He couldn't tell if Maya was oblivious to the fact that he didn't want her around or if she just didn't care. "Awww. Aren't you just prettiest little thing?" Miles scowled, but he didn't dare rip the thing off his head. If she was this loud while happy, he didn't even want to imagine what it would be like to listen to her cry. "Okay, now it's time for you to hold up your end of the bargain!" She sat cross-legged in front of him, smiling at him expectantly. Miles really didn't want to do something as embarrassing as reading his comic aloud to her (she'd probably make him do the voices), so he decided to distract her instead.
"S-so, you like the Steel Samurai, huh?"
"No, duuuuh. Look at my shirt! It has the Pink Princess on it for crying out loud!" Miles' eye twitched, but he barreled on.
"So is the Pink Princess your favorite character, or are you only wearing that because you're a girl?" At that, Maya deflated slightly.
"My favorite character is the Evil Magistrate, but they don't make shirts of him. Besides, even if they did, he would probably only come on boy shirts, anyway. It's totally unfair!" She balled her hands into little fists and puffed out her cheeks. Miles would have found this comical if he wasn't so appalled by her statement.
"Your favorite character is the bad guy?! What's wrong with you! You're supposed to cheer on the heroes, not the villains!"
"But the Evil Magistrate is SO COOL! Plus, he's really handsome. Those flashing eyes! That quivering lip!" Miles stared at her blankly as she breathily sighed and batted her eyelashes. Girls were so stupid...
"You're weird."
"Nuh-uh, you're weird! You wear a bow on your neck."
"How is that weird?"
"It's supposed to go on your head, duh!"
"It's called a 'bow-tie', you moron! How could you not know what a bowtie is?! JUST GO AWAY AND LEAVE ME ALONE!" Although he didn't like to admit it, Miles had a bit of a temper problem. He didn't like to lose his temper, because it made him feel childish and it usually resulted in him getting a time-out or a spanking if his father found out. Whenever he blew up, he always regretted it instantly, and this time was no exception. However, this time, his regret was fueled by something less selfish.
Genuine guilt.
Up until now, Miles had thought that this strange girl was immune his grumpiness, but raising his voice seemed to get the message across loud and clear. Instead of yelling at him back and stopping off, she shrank back in disbelief. Her lip quivered, she whimpered slightly, and her large brown eyes began to water.
"I was just k-kidding! I know w-what a bow-tie is... I'm not s-stupid..." Feeling for the entire world like he had just kicked a puppy (and this made him feel particularly bad, because he liked puppies), Miles attempted to backtrack.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly. Apologizing always went against the grain, even if he knew that he was in the wrong. "I shouldn't have raised my voice. And I don't think you're stupid." Maya sniffed loudly and rubbed her tears away. "Why do you want to hang out with me, anyway? Everyone says that I'm not very fun, and I guess they're right. Don't you have some friends you can play with? Somebody from your own class?"
"I don't have any friends," she said sadly. "Everyone in my class thinks I'm weird." Her eyes were downcast, as if she thought that she were to blame for the fact that her classmates were obviously jerks. Something akin to righteous indignation welled up within him, and he realized that it was his job to cheer her up. Besides, if he ever wanted to be a great defense attorney like his father, he needed to learn how to make people smile even when they felt like everyone else was against them.
"Well, I don't think you're weird," he said with conviction, forgetting that he had called her weird not two minutes ago. "If your classmates are too dumb to see that, then that's their problem. And you also have good taste in comics, so there."
"Really?" When Miles saw her downcast expression transform into a bright smile, he couldn't help but feel as if he had accomplished something wonderful.
"Of course. I'm going to be a great lawyer someday, and lawyers never lie!" Miles smiled broadly, shamelessly proud of the way he had cheered her up despite being the one to make her cry in the first place. That smile turned into on "o" of surprise when Maya squealed and lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and making him fall on his back. "WH-WHAT ARE YOU-"
"YOU ARE SO COOL!" Miles cringed in pain: that loud voice was WAY too close to one of his ears.
"GET OFF OF ME! YOU'RE WRINKLING THE COMIC!" Giggling, Maya rolled off of him, and Miles instantly jumped to his feet so that he could smooth out his comic book. If any of the pages were torn, he was going to be so upset...
...But then he looked down at Maya, who was still lying down on the grass, giggling so hard that he suspected that it was getting hard for her to breath. Miles couldn't remember a time when someone was enjoying themselves this much around him, and in all honestly, it was a little unsettling. At any rate, he never got to finish his comic before recess ended, because at that moment the bell rung.
"Time for class!" Maya announced as she hopped to her feet. "Read me the comic tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay..." Miles inwardly sighed. There was no way he was going to get out of it, it seemed.
"Awesome!" And then she began running to the school, singing loudly "I have a new fri~end! I have a new fri~end!". As Miles watched her go, he had the sinking feeling that he would never enjoy a quiet recess ever again.
Well, at least his new "friend" had an appreciation for good comics.
END