Locked Wheels

Chapter 10

                  

"So you're saying he called you cute."

"Yes," Karkat said. "Repeatedly."

Kanaya nodded, looking him up and down as she did. After a moment, she shrugged. "Well, you are, I suppose."

"Oh, my god, why does everyone keep agreeing with him?" Karkat muttered, looking away as his neck got warm.

"Perhaps because it's true? Don't tell me you think you're ugly," she said.

"I never said that," Karkat mumbled, doodling a small flower in the corner of his paper. "I just don't think I'm fucking 'hot' or 'gorgeous' or whatever else he called me."

"Well, all I'm saying is it might mean something, if he's already calling you cute, even if you don't think you are yourself."

"So you're saying he does like me?" Karkat asked hopefully, glancing up at Kanaya.

"Perhaps."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Karkat asked, looking up fully from his flower.

"Well, you can't exactly just assume that you know how he feels. For all you know, he's just being overly polite, in his own unusual way. What you really need to do is just man up and ask him about it already." She looked down to scribble an answer onto her worksheet. "I know you've been putting it off."

Karkat felt his cheeks tingle. "I can't."

"Why not? It's the simplest solution to this relatively simple problem."

"I-- I... um..." Karkat looked away, brushing a lock of hair away from his eyes. "I don't know, I just get... nervous around him, I guess-- Why are you laughing?"

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to," she said between giggles, her long feathered earrings shaking as she did. "It's just... cute, I guess. Ironically. Watching you get all shy like this when you talk about him."

"It's not funny," Karkat hissed, his cheeks getting warm.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. It's just endearing to me, I guess. I mean, no one else really knows this side of you, right?"

"No," Karkat said. "Just my close friends, I guess. Everyone else just knows me as the short angry new kid."

"Well, maybe Dave would like this nicer side of you as well?" Kanaya offered. "You're not mean to him as well, are you?"

"N-no, not-- Not anymore. I mean, I still get angry at him for the stupid shit he does--like this kinda stuff--but I'm not, like..." Karkat sighed softly, trying to find the right words. "I-I guess I try not to be as mean to him."

"Well, that's a start, I suppose. For you. It would certainly help your situation if you kept your temper in check all the time, but it's alright if you're at least trying."

"I bet he doesn't even like me," Karkat mumbled, drawing small lazy circles on his paper. "Or at least not that way."

"Don't tell yourself that. There's no guarantee he doesn't," Kanaya said reassuringly.

"What is there even about me to like? I'm mean, I'm tiny, I'm not super cute or anything, I'm just kind of... there."

"That's not true."

"Yes it is," Karkat muttered.

"No it's not. I bet he thinks you're adorable. I bet you're all he ever thinks about. I bet he totally wants you." Kanaya glanced over at him and shrugged a bit. "I would."