To a Squirrel - chapter 6
To a Squirrel at Kyle-Na-No
Rating: PG
Fandom: Ice Age
To a Squirrel at Kyle-na-no
CHAPTER 6
I figure you all pretty much know the gist of it by now.
So please, read on, enjoy.
All the usual disclaimers apply.
*
The tables at the school dining hall really weren’t small. They could probably, Manfred estimated, fit about eight people around. Three on each side, one on each end, and there were a lot of them too. Scattered through the hall, there must’ve been at least 40…pretty good for a school with a population of some 300 students. So, Manfred thought, there was no reason for these two youths to be sitting at his table.
First Sid, that exceptionally dorky freshman who had somehow managed to leach himself to his side, all naïve ideals and slack jaw. The boy was, quite simply, irritating, and he seemed to attract trouble like a magnet. Trouble that Manfred could honestly say he didn’t need.
And now this. Now this blond haired, Al Pacino-John Wayne-Fight Club-wannabe, with a cigarette dangling from his rosy lips, and a lunch tray with a single pink slice of ham and a can of club soda.
Life wasn’t fair, and Manfred had known this before the two tag-alongs had started, well, tagging along.
He could’ve quite easily made a big deal, created a fuss and a stir, and finally blown up and scared Sid so much that there was no way in hell the kid would stick around and Diego…actually he wasn’t too sure what he’d do to get rid of him. So, he just sighed instead.
In all honesty, he was surprised at himself and how readily he’d accepted Diego’s new position at their table. Because this was only the second lunch he’d been there, and Manny was hardly pissed off enough to say anything.
Sid had bobbed over to the table, all grins and awkward comments, whilst Manfred had strolled resignedly behind. But something was different this time, something about Diego was…for lack of a better word, off.
He wouldn’t say anything, Manfred decided, after all, that would imply something akin to worry or concern, and that, in turn, would imply a general liking or some form of friendliness or affection that Manfred was sure didn’t actually exist.
Sid’s mindless blabber was holding up strong, creating an almost soothing background noise to Manfred’s thoughts.
Diego’s mind was somewhere that really wasn’t this room, as he plucked the cigarette carelessly from his lips, and maybe Manfred was kinda, sorta off-balance from it. It wasn’t alarm or distress, after all, he didn’t even like Diego, but he did sort of seem almost upset over something, or at least thoughtful, and from what Manfred knew, that was quite unlike him.
“You alright?” The words were out of his mouth before he could put a proper harness on them, and beat them back to the nether regions of his mind.
“What, you care?”
“No, just your misery is giving me lung cancer.”
Diego snarled, putting the cigarette out in his can of softdrink, and stomping away from the table.
*
“Manny!” Cried a deeply feminine voice. “Manny, over here!” Ellie was waving her long arms in the air in an oddly Siddish manner, something that Manfred couldn’t say he was too impressed with. None the less, he shuffled over, large hands clutching to his the strap of his navy backpack.
“So, I’ve been thinking…” She tucked an orange strand behind a tanned ear. Maybe, he thought, she was kinda pretty. Well, ok, so maybe she was more than kinda pretty… but it shouldn’t matter to him, and it doesn’t and - “You should come over to my house this afternoon.”
“What?” He was outright startled, he hadn’t been invited to someone’s house since he was 5.
“You know, you can come to my house. We can talk and hang out…I have to warn you though, my brothers are psychotic.”
“Hang out?”
“Yea.” Ellie nodded, red hair bobbing, “I mean, we’re doing this project together, why shouldn’t we hang out? It’ll be fun.”
“Uh…I’m not really the sorta guy that -“
“For God’s sake, Manny! I’m not some sort of desperate, goat-molesting freak, and as far as I know, neither are you. Why can’t we hang out?” She was pretty much laughing now, and Manfred had to agree that the situation was pretty comical.
“I guess-“
“Cool.” She smiled in a shock of white teeth and dimples, and something in him, something that he’d never felt before, was fluttering and alive and restless in his belly, and - “I’ll tell Soto that you can come too.”
-And just like that it was dead, stomped and crushed and beaten into a pathetic submission.
“Soto?”
“Yeah, I was talking to him before, and I thought it would be good for all three of us to just hang out, y’know? Afterwards we can do a bit of that project together…you know how Mrs. Whittle gets if she thinks we’re not on track.”
Ellie smiled again, bright and happy, but for some reason, it didn’t make Manfred feel as much as it did before.
“Meet me at the gate after school, see ya later, Manny!”
“Its Manfred.”
*
Sid was waiting at the gate, hopping eagerly from foot to foot, when Manfred got out of his final class for the day.
“Manny! I’ve been thinking, we should really start to do stuff after school, instead of just walking home. Y’know, especially since Diego hangs around now-”
“-Or not.” Manfred replied, eyeing off the flood of students racing from the school gates.
“Hey, I personally think it would be fabulous. We could go to the arcade, and-“
“Sid.” The elder boy stated, exasperated, “Do I look like the sort of person that hangs around an arcade?”
Sid furrowed his two short forehead, “Obviously not, but if we started going to places that you thought were fun it would be like, a morgue, or worse…a library.”
Quirking a brow, Manfred responded simply, “I’m not even going to grace that with a response.”
Shrugging, Sid continued to chatter something about arcades and fire and murdering innocent villagers.
A flash of red hair appeared in the distance, and Manfred began to mentally prepare for what he was sure was going to be a pretty shitty afternoon.
“Manny!” Ellie called, and he felt an extreme sense of déjà vu. “Manny, Soto said he’ll meet us at my house. I’m not sure how he’s getting there, so we should probably hurry.”
Sid furrowed his brow again, casting a questioning eye at the two people before him. “What’s all this about?”
“Sid, this is Ellie, Ellie, Sid.” Manfred introduced, voice more monotonous than usual.
“Hi!” She said brightly, offering out a long hand.
The younger boy didn’t shake her hand, merely stared at her in something close to disgust. “Oh. I see how it is.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, God.”
“So, Manfred…you don’t have any problems hanging out after school, just not with me and Diego. You’re friends.” Sid stated, hatred of the situation dripping like venom from his tongue.
“Sid, you didn’t even know who Diego was three days ago.”
“I do not believe that is the issue at hand, Mr. Torelli. I believe you are ostracizing yourself from our herd-“
“Our what?”
“Our clique, our group, our circle, take your pick!”
Manfred rolled his eyes, Ellie however, flushed in shame.
“I am so sorry, Sid. I didn’t realise I was-“
“No,” He said, holding his hand up towards her face, “Save your words. I shall leave you, Mr. Torelli, but do not expect to be welcomed back openly to the herd.” And with that, Sid stood tall, slung his bag over his shoulder, and strode away.
Ellie turned to Manfred, eyes huge with worry, “I am so sorry, Manny. I had no idea-“
“Forget about it. Seriously.” Manfred stated, pulling her out of the school grounds.
*
TBC