He remembered the day when he had to pull her off of Groose as children. Shouting something about cooties, and flailing. He remembered her running off alone that day, and he couldn't help but feel bad for not including her. Even more so he felt bad for stopping her.
"You can't hit them." He approached her the next day, and she seemed less than inclined to believe him. He seemed to be forgetting that she had in fact, hit them.
She looked up at him from her spot on the ground and glared. "What do you want?"
Pipit sat down beside her and set down two things on the ground. He grinned at her. "I figured out how to get rid of the problem."
"I don't have a problem."
He rolled his eyes and picked up the ink well to uncork it. "Just let me do it. I bet it'll make you feel better."
She seemed pretty skeptical. He picked up the quill, reached out for her hand, and smiled at her reassuringly. "You know my mom taught me this. Said it works every time. She's never lied to me before, so it must be true."
Once more, she didn't react. She just let him hold her hand while he drew. Two open circles, to closed dots on her hand. She stared at them, with concern. "What is that?"
"Cootie shot."