He didn't like her.



He couldn't. If he did, then that meant he was set up for more failure.



Metal never had any friends since he was younger; he either intimidated others or he hated others, sometimes a mix of both. He tried to connect with children his age long ago, but he was always in pain and frequently taken out of the group. He never got to join others on the playground; his entire education in elementary school was spent in a room that was only a step above a hospital. Not that it mattered, anyway. The unique cruelty of children was what gave him his nickname, reminding him that he would never belong with others.



After that, he went to a private school for elites. Everyone went for each other's throats there or they were so buried under their own studies that they were as reclusive as Metal was. As his father's experiments on Metal's parts improved, Metal managed to convince him to allow him to attend a public high school. They viewed the chance as a way to show off their superiority as Robotniks and to further test the pressure of what his mechanical parts could handle.



He didn't make any friends in high school, either. Actually, it was worse. He stuck out even more then, drawing only the wrong kind of attention. His academic accomplishments were recognized only in disdain by his peers, while he struggled athletically, however hard he tried.



Then he met her. She was both beautiful and kind. She somehow knew every word that would please him, and like a fool, he believed it all. She flirted with him, made him feel important and just as attractive. He... He loved her. He actually liked going to school for a while.



He experienced a lot of firsts. First date, first kiss, first time ignoring curfew, first time stealing a car and first time making out in that same car. He stole a lot of things for her, actually. There were some pieces of missing jewelry that Dr. Robotnik never found out about.



Dr. Robotnik even liked her, cited her as a strong, confident girl that would excel in the business world. She was good at holding an intelligent conversation with him, rare for most people. The fact that the two of them got along created a pit in Metal's stomach. The beginning of the end.



Metal one day overheard her plan to take more from him, using the money to start up her own business and become even richer after high school. Once gaining enough of Dr. Robotnik's favor and securing a deal, she planned to dump Metal and pursue her goals on her own. She confidently spoke to her friend that Metal, the one who would get her to her desired point, was wrapped around her finger. She never found out he overheard.



The worst part was that he almost went along with it anyway. He thought about it for a long time; would she change her mind and stay with him if he kept doing what she wanted and helped her success? He lived in desperation because the opposite meant that she lied from the very beginning, that every sweet word from her mouth had been doused in venom. The lesson from elementary school persisted: he never belonged with anyone.



He nearly died in his home that night. He never had an attack like that before, head and heart full of despair, disbelief, longing, fear... As soon as the thoughts took him over, he couldn't control his body. He was lucky his younger twin brothers saw him and gave him an emergency shot. Their father was so perplexed by the event that he kept Metal under surveillance for several days, attempting to improve his mechanical parts.



When it was all over, Metal felt emptier than a husk. He was nothing.



No... He was angry.



This was a rare instance in which Metal confided in his father; he told him about his girlfriend's thievery, her attempts at manipulation. Dr. Robotnik believed him.



She was never seen again.



...



Amy was obviously different than her. She was actually nice, nice when she had no reason to be. She was nice before he was awful to her and she was nice afterwards. Her words were always sincere and she wasn't afraid to be vulnerable. She had her moments of doubt, believing she talked too much or overstepped her boundaries, but she was also forward and didn't let Metal's resistance stop her from what she believed was right.



Instead of sleek, formal outfits, Amy doused herself in color and big shapes. She wore poofy sleeves, poofy dresses, oversized sweaters and vibrant patterned leggings. Whenever she wore something more form fitting, her style exploded in other ways. Amy was color. She was breathtaking-- literally, in Metal's case.



But... What if that was just it? He eventually discovered the schemes of one, so what if Amy was more wise to previous tactics and knew how to get what she wanted from him? He didn't belong with anyone, so he couldn't feel that he wanted to.



He didn't feel anything at all. He didn't like her. He kept telling himself over and over. He jabbed at a punching bag in the recreation center during his work out, angry and sweating. He tried to remind himself of what annoyed him about Amy.



She was friendly with that other awful Hedgehog. She watched him at every track meet.



'... But I watched you a lot, too.'



He punched the bag even harder.



She was-- she talked too much! Never gave him a chance to speak!



'Sorry, I haven't given you much of a chance to say anything, have I? Do you have any questions?'



She giggled afterwards, her button nose scrunching.



He hit the punching bag with all of his force. Fear crept in to his movements. He was suddenly fighting for his life.



She touched him and dragged him to another place!



She...



"Fuck!" he tiredly breathed out. He collapsed to the floor and desperately clutched his head with his hands. He trembled, took an entire minute to stop wheezing, and he wasn't even sure it was from exercise.



He drank all the water he brought and hoped it could drown out his thoughts. He had enough of the punching bag. Needed to run and think about literally anything else. He refilled his water bottle and went for the treadmills.



Bzz! Oh, that was his phone. He brought his phone out of his pocket and checked the screen.



One of his sisters messaged him.



He rolled his eyes.



He grimaced afterwards.





He went to a room in the rec center with several different workout machines. Not too many people around, thankfully. He propped himself onto one of the empty treadmills and started his run, placing his phone onto a small shelf near the machine's controls.



There were large windows in front of him with a decent view of the campus grounds. He watched people go about their daily lives. He didn't see anyone he recognized.



His phone vibrated again. One of Metal's ears twitched as he checked his phone mid-run.



SAGE: Neither do I. So nothing noteworthy, then?



Irritating. He didn't really want to answer, but Sage would take it as 'something happened'. She would unfortunately be right, too. Metal sighed and texted back:



METAL: No.



"Now leave me alone," he grumbled under his breath.



Bzz! Another message. Metal almost didn't check it, but he knew it'd be more annoying if he didn't.



SAGE: I have also been asked to check on your class performance



Sage was just entering high school herself. Why did their father make her check up on Metal like he was some child? It was always like this. Even when Dr. Robotnik wasn't breathing down his neck directly, he still found some way to do it.



Metal didn't answer her. Instead, he sent a message to Belle:



METAL: Consider yourself lucky that he doesn't give a shit about you because I'm sick of Sage being sent after me like a surveillance droneMETAL: Not that he cares about me either. He only tries check in to make sure I'm not suddenly dead from all the times he prods my chest, and even then, he can't bother to send me a message himself.



He almost texted something worse, but he knew it would've made Belle upset. A part of him wished his father's experiments failed, even though 'failure' in this sense meant Metal's death. His thoughts were extreme and he didn't necessarily mean them... As soon as he thought of typing it, he removed it and changed the message.



He slowed down his run and sighed. He didn't want to just dump all his frustrations on Belle, either. He frowned to himself and began typing out a different message.



'You're around Spiral Hill, right? There's supposed to be some storms coming in. Stay sa'



He stopped typing when he received a reply:



AMY: oop I think you messaged the wrong person!



He suddenly dropped his phone. The phone clattered onto the treadmill, making him lose balance and trip forward. He hastily grabbed the bars on the treadmill and turned it off, took a minute to catch his breath...



...



He grabbed his phone and rushed towards the nearest bathroom. He was so stupid. He was used to Belle being at the top of his contacts list that he didn't even check! He sent that to-- to Amy?!



He shut himself in the nearest stall and shrunk down to the floor, checking his phone again. Amy said even more:



AMY: all that sounds really frustrating, though. I'm sorry :(AMY: is this Metal? I remember someone named Sage being mentioned



How could he even get out of this? He wasn't sure he'd ever message her, let alone message her something like-- like that!



He groaned to himself and buried his head against his arms. It wasn't like he could ignore her and pretend she didn't exist either, no matter how badly he wanted to.



METAL: Yes. I didn't mean to message you.AMY: that's okay! I am happy you texted me so I have your number nowAMY: were you talking about your dad?METAL: Yes, but I don't want to talk more about it. I meant to message my sisterAMY: Belle, right? she was really nice when I talked to her. is she in school too?



He did his best to stay calm. Ignoring her was much harder.



METAL: She'd be a junior in high school by now but she doesn't go to school anymoreAMY: damn well I hope she's doing well! she sounds so put together honestlyMETAL: She's fine.



Better than him, he wanted to say. He realized he was still held up in the bathroom and sighed. He was being ridiculous. He knew he wouldn't be able to focus, so he prepared himself to go back to the dorm instead.



AMY: yay that's good!AMY: I'm really close with my sister too. she's my younger sister, but i was adopted into the family way after she was bornAMY: she's a little younger than Belle, she's in her first year of high schoolMETAL: You're adopted?AMY: yeah I guess so! kind of unofficially to be honest. I kinda lived on my own for a long time as a kid, but this wonderful lady took me in and gave me a good life. actually wow I never asked her more about it. now I'm curious if she has papers or somethingAMY: I mean I'm an adult anyway



Metal had to put his phone away so he could shower and get dressed back into his normal winter clothes. He thought of her messages... She was on her own until she was found by someone else? Amy was so vivacious and optimistic despite what he could only assume was a harsher childhood... He wanted to better understand why.



He still didn't like her, though. Of course.



Maybe she was lying about where she came from. He was adopted too, so her explanation was an attempt to relate and gain his trust. He wouldn't fall for it.



Clean and fully dressed, he took his sports bag and left the recreation center with his phone in hand. Amy added a few more messages since he last checked:



AMY: OK so I asked her and she said that she had to get my identity registered so I could go to school since she couldn't find any records about me. maybe they were destroyed??AMY: crazy stuff!!AMY: okay I'm talking about myself too much. sorry!! I just didn't want you to feel awkward for accidentally texting me



His face was on fire again.



METAL: Why do you care about how I feel?AMY: it's almost like I have a baseline respect for people or somethingAMY: of course I care, and you're in my club now so we'll be talking more!!METAL: I really don't understand you.



He had to stop checking his phone. He finally put his phone away and--



Bzz!



...



He checked it again.



AMY: would you like to?



He nearly dropped his phone again. Would he like to?! Metal shoved his phone back into his pocket, furiously blushing as he tried to fight off his bubbling thoughts. What did she even mean by that?!



Amy sighed as she stared at her phone. "Maybe I'm being a bit too pushy," she mumbled to herself. She crossed her legs while sitting on the couch in her dorm's common area. "Rouge, do you think I'm pushy?" she asked aloud.



"Honey, 'Pushy' is practically your middle name," Rouge replied while applying make-up to her face. She stood in front of two sinks and a large mirror, which occupied the space between a door to a toilet and a door to a few showers. Their dorm had three rooms, though only two were occupied by Amy and Rouge, respectively.



"... I mean... Is that... bad?" Amy scratched her head.



"It's bad when you whine about wanting to go on dates and don't!" she huffed. "How's all that going, anyway?"



"I've been distracted by my club! Let me be excited about it!" Amy whined back.



"Who was it who joined again?"



"Sonic Robotnik, the guy that got kicked off of track. He goes by Metal," Amy hummed in reply, scrolling through her phone.



Rouge blinked, then turned her head to look at Amy. "That's interesting... Wouldn't be bad to get to know someone like that."



"Wow, I actually hate the way you said that."



Rouge laughed. "I'm just saying. I didn't expect someone like him to join your club... Ooh, maybe he likes you. Someone finally caught on about a cute girl alone in a greenhouse."



"What's so hard to believe about someone enjoying gardening?!" Amy dramatically sighed. "Anyways, I don't want to scare him away. I've already pushed it with him a few times... I should maybe lay off a bit," she muttered.



Rouge walked over and sat on the couch beside her, humming as she brought out her own phone. "Let's see..."



Amy raised a brow. "See what?"



"Ooh. I forgot what he looked like. He's kinda cute," Rouge said with a giggle. "If it weren't for Daddy, I bet he'd get a lot of members in your club."



"Are you looking him up?!"



"Yep. Well, my interest is out the window. I can't find any social media," she said with a pout. "Ooh, find out if he has any secret accounts."



"I'm not doing that!" she exclaimed... Huh, though; Rouge had a point. Maybe being friends on social media was something a little less personal and intimate than texting. She should've thought of that first...



Amy pursed her lips as she typed in a different message to send.



AMY: hey, do you have any social media accounts? maybe that would be better to talk since I know you texted me on accident



She received a reply very quickly. Amy blinked as she read the next message:



METAL: I don't use social media.AMY: oh! that's okay



Well, that was a bust.



METAL: I don't mind if we continue texting.



She smiled to herself.



"Ooh, girl, what are you smiling about? Who are you talking to?" Rouge asked with a grin.



"I'm making a new friend, thank you very much," Amy replied, lifting her nose in the air.



AMY: okay! 💖 feel free to reach out any time!



Metal stared at the last message on his phone, hunched over while sitting on his bed. One of his hands propped his head up.



He stared at the screen for a long time.