Meeting Lee Squidly
A short fic on how Lydia Song meets Lee Squidly
Another day in school, alone. She really wished for school to be over, even though it started.
So far, classes were going smoothly, and she was glad her teachers haven’t called her–she hoped it will stay that way. She could barely speak in front of her whole class, unless it was reading an excerpt aloud. Most of the time, she spaced out as her teachers were lecturing since she was bored out of her mind and often daydreamed to be with her best friends.
A voice caught her attention and she looked up to see her classmate, Lee Squidly.
Lee was one of the popular students in her class year as he was the son of the world-known Janine Squidly. He was quite the talk of their junior high school last year, even from their adjacent high school where her best friends attended. It must be tiring talking to classmates and students every day.
“You’ve been staring at the wall for a while,” he noted, “You also haven’t touched your food, so it might get cold.” She felt her cheeks burning then turned her head away.
Had she spaced out until lunch? That was embarrassing. Was he the only squid who noticed?
“T… thanks…” She murmured. It was getting a little awkward for her and hoped her classmate would leave.
“Is it okay if I eat with you?” Her classmate asked with a small smile.
“Eh…?” Her ears perked up and stared at him. She wasn’t expecting that in all honesty.
As her body relaxed, she replied, “Uhm… uh… s… sure. Y-yeah, sure I don’t mind.” He sat down and then the two started eating. It was a quiet lunch period between the two, but the violet Inkling was feeling anxious.
Should she say something? They haven’t talked lately.
She made quick glances around their classroom to see and hear their other classmates chatting or doing silly little things together.
What would she do? She wasn’t the most interesting Inkling in her class… at least that was what she told herself anyway.
She looked at the green Inkling again and noticed he was a little anxious himself. Was he also in the same predicament, or was it something else? Well… at least it made her feel a little better that she wasn’t the only one feeling anxious.
The school day was over, and Lydia was excited to head home. After finishing her cleaning duties, she bid her classmates good-bye and then headed downstairs to change her shoes in her locker.
Normally, her friends would meet her by the school gate and vice-versa, but they were away for a school trip, so they wouldn’t be home until next weekend.
She might as well head home for the day… until she heard a familiar voice. She turned around to see Lee.
“Ah… hi… Squidly-kun,” She greeted sweetly, “Uhm… thank you for… eating lunch with me. It was… nice of you.”
“Lee’s fine,” the green Inkling corrected, “but… if you’re not comfortable, it’s okay.” The shy Inkling stared at him, looking puzzled.
“You’re… strange…” She commented before she giggled a little, “but I don’t mind it.”
Lee looked at her with wide eyes and stuttered, “A… am I..? Is that… good?”
She nodded, “That’s how I met my friends. They’re a strange bunch when we met.” Oh no, was she talking too much? She better head home and not waste his time anymore.
“I ah… better head home,” she announced quickly, “It was nice talking to you Squidly-kun. See you tomorrow. Bye.” She didn’t give him a chance to reply as she exited school.
Talk about embarrassing.
Lydia was on her phone, texting her one of her friends. It was yet another lonely day at school. As much as her classmates were very nice and sweet–they often asked her about fashion advice–she still has a small void in her heart.
I miss you guys. I hope you two have a ton of fun at the beach.
“Good morning, Song-Chan.” Lydia squeaked as she jumped on her seat then quickly returned her phone in her bag.
“S..Squidly-kun!” She gasped, trying to gain her composure back, “G… good morning.”
“Oh no, I’m sorry!” He bowed quickly as he apologized, “I didn’t mean to scare you. I-I forgot you were jumpy.”
It was no surprise Lydia get easily scared–her class were aware of it since last year–so they tried not to spook her. It was pretty funny the first time it happened, but scare her too much… you would feel sorry for her.
“N-no, no, it’s o-okay,” she fumbled, “It’s my fault.”
Her classmate shook his head, “It’s my fault, so please don’t blame yourself, okay?” Lydia quietly looked at him. It wasn’t like of him to approach her. Something was up. She observed that he was nervous again, and she didn’t like it since it made her nervous too.
“Do you… have any plans tomorrow…?” He broke the awkward atmosphere.
“I uh…” Plans…? She barely had any plans besides hanging out with her friends.
Lee waved his hand dismissively, “You don’t have to answer right away, Song-Chan. Take your time,” he walked back to his seat, “Talk to you later around lunch, okay?”
Lee Squidly… he was something alright. He was a really nice squid, and smart too. Not the greatest athlete in Physical Education, just like her, but he did his best. His strongest factors were definitely teamwork, and support. It did made the violet Inkling wonder.
“No, I don’t have any plans. Well… not that I know of anyway,” she answered her classmate’s question as the two were eating lunch together, “I just… hang out with my friends but… they’re not here because they’re on a school trip.” She was blathering again and she was worried she might have bored him, but he wasn’t. He was listening to her, and she wasn’t sure if that was good or bad–she wasn’t used to talking that much.
Lee was in awe, “A school trip would be nice right about now.” Lydia nodded.
“Oh, right,” he remembered, “So… there’s an ice cream store that opened today in Inkopolis, and I was wondering if ya wanna join me.” The one that serves taiyaki ice cream? She really wanted to go there, but she was too anxious to go alone. She was planning to go there with her friends after their trip, but since he invited her…
“Sure,” she replied without hesitation, “I want to try out their new ice cream too.”
I’m hanging out with my classmate today! We’re going to the new ice cream store that opened in Inkopolis.
You can get taiyaki as a cone!! Just… without the filling and stuff. Well it has filling but… never mind (´∀｀；)
I’ll let you know more okay?
“Sorry for making you wait!” By the time she hit send, Lee was beside her. The shy Inkling shook her head.
“You weren’t long so don’t worry about it,” she reassured as they left school, heading to the transit station.
It was still a little awkward between the two, at least that was what she felt. Lee has so many interesting things compared to her. She couldn’t talk about her experience in Turf War since he was the son of The Freshest Inkling of the Decade and all. She assumed it might be boring for him. Was that her anxiety talking again? Cod… she was terrible at making a conversation with him, let alone keeping the conversation from ending.
The duo arrived at Inkopolis and excitedly hurried to the new ice cream store. They absolutely enjoyed the sweet treat and made an agreement to take their friends here someday.
“Thank you for inviting me, Squidly-kun,” she smiled as they left the little store.
“No problem Song-Chan,” he grinned, “I’m glad you had fun.”
There was the awkward atmosphere again, but… it wasn’t too bad, which was a good sign for her. But… what about Lee…? Was he feeling the atmosphere too?
“Well, my ride’s coming soon,” Lee stood up from his seat, “I’ll see you on Monday. Have a safe trip home!” Lee waved good-bye then entered the subway.
“See you… Squidly-kun.”
Lydia plopped on her bed then sighed. Today was tiring, but at least she enjoyed her afternoon with her classmate.
Funny… weren’t they in the same class last year too? Not to mention that she was also one of the popular squids since she was the daughter of the greatest successors in the Fashion Industry. At least they have something in common which was good… probably.
Why did they, or Lee in this case, started talking to each other this year? Also, why was she remembering this right now?
“Does he… want to be my friend?” She thought aloud.
It was a plausible reason, but maybe it would be better off to not know, for now. To be fair, she really wanted to be friends with him, but she was too shy to talk to him. Nonetheless, she was glad she got to know him a little better.
She turned to her side to see the photo of her and her best friends in silly poses. “Hmm… I should have a photo of me and Squidly-kun someday,” she said to herself, “It would be nice to see a new face around.”