What was he trying to imply about us? Was it ever going to make sense? I was now more confused than ever. "You say that a lot," I noted, trying to ignore the sudden trembling in my stomach and keep my voice even.
"Yes, because you're not listening to me."
"Yes I am."
"No you're not."
"Yes, I am."
"No, because if you were smart you wouldn't listen to me." He smiled apologetically.
I paused. "So... as long as I'm being unsmart, we'll try to be friends?" I struggled to sum up the confusing exchange.
"That sounds about right."
It sounded odd, but it wouldn't be the first time I'd played stupid. I looked down at my arms wrapped around the lemonade bottle, not sure what to do now. I waited for Fredward to give me a sense of purpose.
"What are you thinking?" he asked curiously.
I looked up into his deep gold eyes, became even more befuddled,126 and, as usual, blurted out the truth.
"I'm trying to figure out what you are."
His jaw tightened, but he kept his smile in place with some effort.
"Are you having any luck with that?" he asked in an offhand tone.
"Not too much," I admitted.
He chuckled through his forced smile. "Well, what are your theories?"
I blushed. He wanted to know what I thought! I had been vacillating during the last month between Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker. There was no way I was going to own up to having such stupid thoughts, though.
"Won't you tell me?" he asked, tilting his head to one side with a shockingly tempting smile.
I shook my face. "Too embarrassing."
"That's really frustrating, Bella. I asked you a question and you just—" he threw up his hands in disgust.
126. With fudd. The root of "fudd" is Elmer Fudd, and denotes qualities such as baldness, short temper, and susceptibility to the homoerotic advances of a rabbit.