In the middle of the Royal Woods park, Clyde sat on a bench and relaxed as he tried to think of how to improve his poem to Lori. "Okay, so Linc said that this poem might not fit her...but what part doesn't fit?"

"Hello, Clyde."

One heart-attack-like scare later, Clyde turned around and saw Lucy was standing close to him. "Oh, hi Lucy, what are you doing here?" Clyde said as Lucy sat next to him.

"We agreed to meet later, remember?" the emo took out from her pockets a poem. "Anyway, I got a special little..."poem" here, and I was wondering if you could help me with it."

"Wait, I thought you went to Lincoln whenever you had poem problems?" Clyde pointed out.

"I do and did, but he told me it was fine the way it is," a short pause later, Lucy added, "So, I decided to do something different for once and not take his word for it. I want your opinion."

"Okay then, let's hear it."

Glad that she had an audience with the black kid, Lucy took a deep breath before she read her "poem" out loud:

I enter the room, and there he is,

My brother's friend, my newest pal.

At first I think, I should return later,

But after hearing his poetry skills, I'm intrigued.

I want to seen him again.

I want to discover how he's so good.

I'm but an apprentice, and I've been practicing.

But his only poem, has brought me into perspective: I got a lot to learn from him.

"Wow, you certainly put some effort into it," Clyde interrupted, causing Lucy to smile. "I like it. Though I'm wondering who you're talking about."

The next part most certainly answered his question:

And if I want to make this work.

I must prove to him I'm worthy of his teachings.

Of his excellence.

Of his... friendship.

His name is...

McBride, Clyde McBride.

And so, Clyde, putting the pieces together, gave Lucy a shocked look while the girl gave him a smile. "Well, if we're going to hang out more often like this... I wouldn't mind giving it a shot," Clyde said, scratching the back of his head. "But I have to let you know my heart belongs to Lori and nobody else."

"Huh, Lori's so heartless she needs to own another person's heart," Lucy scoffed. "But I understand what you mean."

And Clyde soon added, "Also, we need to work on that bad habit of yours."

"...My what now?" a dumbfounded Lucy asked.

Clyde pinched the bridge of his nose. "Whenever you pop out of nowhere and scare people!"

"I don't pop out of nowhere, people just don't see me coming," Lucy answered with utmost honesty.

"It's the same thing, and we need to fix it!" then, one quick look at the scenery later, the boy got an idea. "And I think I might know just how to do that!"

Clyde grabbed Lucy's hand and the duo went to a nearby carnival simply named "Blarney's Irish Luck-a-Thon," and wouldn't you know, Blarney was the first carnival worker the duo met.

"Greetings, lad and lass, I'm Blarney! Blarney the Dinosaur!" the dinosaur said with utmost, potentially genuine excitement. "And welcome to me carnival of luck! Built by leprechauns and bathed in their greed, this magical place will let you achieve all of your dreams, in exchange for a little cash, of course!"

And then the dinosaur said as quickly and quietly as possible, "Warning: Blarney enterprises is not responsible for any wasteful spending you may or may not do. If you do end up wasting a lot of money in a Blarney-related product, you lose the right to complain."

"Are you sure you'll be able to get what we're looking for here?" Lucy asked Clyde, catching his attention. "Come to think of it, do you really think we'll find a cowbell here?"

Clyde shrugged. "Hey, it's a luck-themed carnival, we're bound to have some luck here."

So the duo went deeper into the carnival and oh man, Blarney wasn't kidding when he said they'd get what they wanted for a bit of cash. Prices ranged from 5 to 25 dollars per game, and while that may not sound like much to you, it was a bit overwhelming for an 8 and 10-year-old.

Nevertheless, Clyde did manage to find a game that was reasonably priced: A crane game that only wanted 2 dollars per play.

"Finally, a game we can play!" Clyde remarked in relief. "What do you think, Lucy?"

Lucy's answer was...melodramatic: "Crane games are the bane of existence, the greatest mistake ever done by game designers, and one of the worst kind of ga-"

"Okay, I get it, you don't like this kind of game," Clyde took out a couple of dollars and inserted them in the machine. "I'll play it instead."

And so, the boy played the crane game once...and lost.

He played it again...same result.

This continued for a couple more plays until Clyde has played the game 6 times...and lost each and every time. "Clyde, you don't have to torture yourself for me, let's look for another game," Lucy said, sounding genuinely worried...in her own emo-tional way of course.

"No, it's okay, I'm sure seventh time's the charm," Clyde took a look at his last couple of dollars. "And I'm also certain Blarney's a freaking cheapskate."

The boy inserted the dollars and, without warning, bells rang and confetti rained from the skies as Blarney popped out of nowhere and brought with him a large pot of gold. "Congratulations, me boy! You've played this game a total of seven times!" the dinosaur enthusiastically shouted. "Now you may take some of me gold back home!"

"Actually, I just want a cowbell, nothing more," Clyde clarified, with Lucy nodding in agreement.

"Oh...that's disappointing," the dinosaur kicked the pot of gold away and took out a cowbell out of his hat. "But anyhow, here's your cowbell, boy!"

Clyde took the cowbell and he and Lucy left the carnival while the dinosaur waved goodbye. Shortly afterwards, Lucy put on the cowbell and moved around to see if it worked. The pleasent sounds it made was enough to get her to smile. "Now people will know when you come in without you scaring them in the process!" Clyde proudly said.

"Thanks, Clyde," the emo said with a honest smile. "I'll treasure this bell for days to come..."

And so, one short silent stare exchange later, the duo bid farewell and went their separate ways. As she left, though, Lucy took a quick glance at Clyde, who had his arms folded behind his head. She smiled at the sight, then promptly continued to leave.