The Coolsquirrel

Walking through the doors to the gym, you take a glance around. Jamil and Floyd are on one of the courts, practicing with the other basketball club members. Turning your head to the opposite side, you find Ace sitting on the bleachers with a deep frown. His head hangs low as he glares into the basketball in his hands. Walking over, you take a seat next to him, watching Ace curiously.

“Ace?”

Ace doesn’t reply at first. He glances at you from the corner of his eye before huffing, “What? Are you gonna side with them too?” 

“I mean, I can’t really take a side if I don’t know what happened, right?”

Ace pouts and throws the ball in the direction of the ball cart. He remains silent nonetheless. Before you can open your mouth, he mutters something, “I can’t believe they called you… What do they think you are, my mom?”

“I hope not, I would never want you as my child,” you quip back. 

Ace clicks his tongue, hiding his face in his arms. His next words are barely audible, “Yeah, yeah, I get it, I’m annoying, and so what? It’s your problem if you can’t handle me, don’t pin it all on me.”

You squint at him, taking no offense to his muttering. With a sigh, you lean closer, lowering your head to be at eye level with him. “So? What happened? Was it Floyd?”

“... No.”

“Was it Jamil? Did he scold you?”

“Please, I’m not a child.” Ace groans.

“I know that… So, what happened?”

Ace stays silent, after having buried his head in his arms, he shifts his arm and face to look at you. A pout and blush is present on his face.

“... You and Jamil, why were you two together earlier?”

It takes a minute to process his words, “me and Jamil? When? And what does this have to do with what happened?”

Ace quickly dismisses it, “That doesn't matter. You seriously don’t remember?”

You tilt your head, “Why would I?? What were we doing??”

Ace groans, finally taking his head out of his arms. He points accusingly at you, a furious blush crossing his face, “You were talking with him before our last class! You were giggling with him!”

Thinking deeply, you attempt to remember what he was talking about. After a moment, you realize, “Ahhh, do you mean when we ran into Kalim and Jamil?”

“Yes!”

You stifle a laugh, “Well, you and Deuce were talking so much with Kalim that I told Jamil it was like seeing three puppies get together for a playdate.”

“Excuse me?! I was not acting like a puppy!” Ace replies with indignation as he pouts.

“Haha, right, right. Anyways, Jamil and I just joked about that, but we just watched you guys. You two and Kalim are the extroverts out of all of us, y’know.”

Ace huffs, “...Still, you two were too close together…”

“Huh? Well, you guys were talking in the hallway between classes, of course it was gonna be cramped.” You reply with confusion.

Ace looks at you like you had suddenly sprouted mushrooms from your head. He groans and furiously rubs at his hair.

“Ace???” you watch him with concern.

Hiding his face from you, Ace groans, muttering something.

“Huh? What did you say?” Ace mutters it again, slightly louder, but still inaudible.

“Huh??”

Ace’s head shoots up, glaring at you with a flushed expression, “I said you’re so oblivious! How can you not see I like you?!”

His shout rings out, echoing through the spacious gym. The sounds of basketballs once hitting the ground or hitting the hoops quiet down as the members of the club turn to look at the pair.

Silence stretches out for a minute before Floyd suddenly laughs, “Did Crabby finally confess?”

“It would seem so.” Jamil replies with a satisfied nod. The rest of the basketball club cheers in response, throwing out a few “finally!”s and “congrats, Ace!”

Ace glares at the team on the opposite side of the room, “Shut up, you guys! Gahh! I can’t take this anymore!!” He stands up and stomps away, a pout on his expression and his ears tinted red.

You scramble after him, “Wait, Ace!”

You follow him out into the hallway, leading to the locker room. Running up to him, you take hold of his wrist, forcing him to turn around. His face is still furiously red, and he refuses to look at you. He mumbles something and attempts to walk away, but you take both of his hands into yours.

“Ace, look at me, please?”

With a grumble, Ace slowly meets your gaze.

You smile at him, “You didn’t let me reply, y’know?”

Ace grimaces, “And? I don’t need a rejection, save the pi-”

“I like you too, Ace.” Quickly interrupting him, a soft laugh makes its way out of your throat as his expression shifts.

“W-wait, seriously? H-hold on! You can’t joke about this, ok?! Not with my dignity on the line!”

“You’re the jokester here, Ace, why would I joke about my feelings?”

Ace pouts at you, tightening his hold on your hands and leaning to rest his forehead on your shoulder, “Yeah, yeah. No take backs, though, got it?”

“Of course,” You pause before remembering something, "So... What happened for you to get into a scuffle on the court?"

"...Nothing important."

"Are you sure?"

Ace huffs, "Of course!... You'd take my side though, right?"

You laugh, "Sure, as long as you were actually in the right, kay?"

From the doors to the gym, Floyd and Jamil watch with keen eyes.

“Eh-he, it was so funny to watch Crabby get all crabby and jealous over shrimpy. Too bad he confessed…” Floyd sighs.

“Indeed, his ‘secret’ glares were way too obvious,” Jamil huffs, albeit with a small smile. He then turns to walk away, “Come on, Floyd, let’s get back to practice.”

“Eh~? Do I have to~?”

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Sorry if there was anything out of character! ^^ I'm also gonna tag my good friend @thecoolsquirrel who I know is a fan of Ace hehe