“Wait,” she actually paused and looked down at the boy still trapped
in her grip, “... Is that what that’s about? Do you - really think you’re
not somebody someone would want?” her heart was breaking. This
kid really felt that way? That he was unwanted, and unattractive or
whatever other reason he might have for such reasoning? She let
out a sigh and carefully released her arms, only to wrap them around
her younger companion and offer some sort of comfort; also keep him
from trying to tune her out and run away because... Well, he needed
to hear this.
“Hiro, I dunno who ever told you that, or if you told yourself that, but..
I mean, truth be told, if you weren’t still an ankle biter, I probably
would have asked you out myself. Buuuut, I won’t go into creepy
old lady territory,” she couldn’t help trying to keep it light to some
degree, trying to keep his attention as she continued, “Tadashi’s
nice and all, but you’re pretty amazing too. You’re super smart,
and you’re hilarious to talk to. You don’t take crap from anyone,
unless it’s just harmless stuff, and, like. I mean, you built an
entire team of super heroes. How many guys can use that for
bragging rights, huh? I mean, like, ugh, I sound so cheesy,” her
hand dug into the mismatched locks of her own hair.
“What I'm trying to say is, you’re awesome in your own way,
and you already know you’re adorable and all that crap. You
use it to your advantage all the time. You’re only 14, right?
You wanna know something about me when I was 14? I had
the ugliest braces. And my hair was a literal bird’s nest. I
wore bottlecap thick glasses. I had to wear a school uniform
and oh man, I was seriously ugly. I mean, it just was not a good
puberty for me, okay? No guys liked me at all, in fact, they used
me as an example of the ‘not dateable type’ whenever they were
talking to their little brothers. But look at me now! I think, well,
I’m pretty sure I came out pretty decent looking. And if I can
manage that looking like hell frozen over,” she finally leaned
back to tip his chin up and give him a look square in the eyes.
She actually had a smile on her face, though very small, “I know
a kid as good looking as you can turn into a real heart breaker.
And sure, you got a few... Quirks and all, but, I mean. It sounds like
you two are pretty close friends if you put her in the same category
as me and Honey.”