The fact that her cheeks turned red did not go unnoticed by Toby, but he could tell from the way she tried to hide her face that it wasn’t because she was feeling bashful. Some girls didn’t know how to take a compliment. He would argue that it likely came from going through most of their life without receiving any admiration; it was a very egocentric belief, because it justified the extremes he would go through to hit on them. All it took was a little persistence, he thought, and soon even the most awkward girl would warm up to him. “Not the greatest? Now what in the world would have you saying that?” Even if he had been up all morning, spending a portion of that time watching television, Toby had still managed to miss any and all announcements about the situation at the high school. It wasn’t unusual for him to miss out on extreme events, at least up until someone filled him in. Even then, it was rare for him to display much care. He didn’t like to see others hurt or in pain, but he remained self-centered in that if it didn’t affect him, it didn’t concern him.
When she turned to look at him, Toby took that as a small sign that she was not completely closed off to him and his advances. “Yep, that’s me,” he responded with a proud smirk. “Your friendly, neighborhood were-squirrel. But what does that make you?” He took a deep breath, then leaned toward the redhead and took another deep sniff. “The only rodents I ever get to smell are my family. Not that I make it a habit of smelling rodents. Is it chipmunk?” He smiled a little, as though he was already sure that that was the answer. “You know it’s almost like fate, us meeting this way?” Toby nudged his arm against the girl’s in an attempt to coax a smile from her.