Brad was working a regular night shift at Mesmer's, serving teens just like him ice cream and other treats. He was still a little angry about the earlier incident, in which his best friend was shooed from an average teen hangout for being a robot. It wasn't fair, and he didn't like it; but he liked having a job, and money. So he wasn't prepared to quit on that account.
So there he was, working away, when suddenly Mesmer's went silent. When he looked to the door, his heart skipped a beat. Standing there was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. A tall, red-haired, blue-eyed girl, dawning a short blue dress, standing gracefully in the doorway, surrounded by guys asking her if they could buy her a treat. Suspiciously, however, she denied all of them. Beautiful and shy?
Brad caught his breath when the girl approached him at the counter and sat down.
"Hi," She said with a giggle. Taken off guard by her sudden appearance, Brad jumped a bit, a large nervous feeling washing over him.
"Oh, hi. What's your name?" He asked.
"Jenny," She said with a giggle of amusement. Her name suddenly bringing thoughts of his best friend into his mind. He wondered what she was doing now, and if she was letting her anger boil. He hoped she was okay. He wished he could've gone with her to try and calm her down…but he liked the money he earned, and he liked his job. So it'd have to wait until school the next day.
Bringing his attention back to his work, and with the sudden need to impress her, Brad grabbed an ice cream bowl and a scoop of chocolate ice cream. Without looking, he attempted to throw the scoop of ice cream into the bowl without paying attention, to try and make himself seem slick. When a nearby customer cried out in reaction to being hit with ice cream, he chuckled nervously. Stop making yourself look so stupid in front of her, and start actually impressing her! He screamed to himself. He felt a little relieved when she giggled delightfully at his actions. At least I'm entertaining…
Why do I need to impress her so much anyways? She probably feels bothered enough by every other guy in the joint asking her out anyways. Besides, she reminds me of Jenny…
But is that really so bad? I mean…Jenny's a cool girl too, there's nothing wrong with liking her, is there?
Deciding to try and make up for his failed ice cream attempts, and to shake his thoughts from his head, he retrieved a chocolate shake.
"Jenny, huh? My best friend's name is Jen-" He said slyly, only to be interrupted by the glass slipping out of his sweaty hands. The chocolate shake spilled out onto the counter and onto the girl's hand, causing it to spit sparks and her to cry out in pain.
Pain by milkshake? That can only be…thought Brad.
"Jenny?" He asked, eyebrow raised.
"Best friend, huh?" She responded teasingly. Brad was surprised to discover that his best friend, a robot, now looked so…perfect. To think that the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen that had walked through the front door just mere minutes ago turned out to be his own best friend….sent his stomach flopping around, tying itself in knots. He knew it was his best friend on the inside, but on the outside was something totally different…
"Wow, what happened? You look totally…normal!" Brad responded, not being able to think of a single word to describe it other than absolutely beautiful. But he wouldn't say that. So normal came out. It was lame, he knew, but what else was he to say without making things weird?
"I know, no one looks at me like I'm a freak! It's been bliss!" Jenny raved, explaining her experience so far. As she spoke, however, Brad couldn't keep himself from getting lost in her newfound beauty. He liked her robot self, it's true, but he saw her human side, and he couldn't resist…
Suddenly his boss called from behind him, requesting help with the ice cream machine. Drawn suddenly away from Jenny's new beauty, Brad excused himself to go clean up the mess (not liking the parting one bit).But he found he couldn't take his mind off of her. He couldn't get the image out of his head. Her beautiful red hair, her lit up blue eyes, the carefully placed freckles on her cheeks, her happy smile, those ruby lips…
As Brad mopped up the ice cream from the floor, he glanced over his shoulder to see none other than Don Prima making his moves on her. He growled to himself as he watched it play out. He miserably watched Jenny accept his invitation to dance. For some reason, unknown to him, he hated seeing her whisked away by some other guy.
Thankfully for him, the gang of space bikers burst in suddenly, ready to terrorize the locals. Brad prepared to watch his best friend in action, just like the Jenny he knew. But when he saw her step back and stand down, he grew confused. Why wasn't she kicking any butt yet? Why was she just standing there, looking like some hopeless damsel in distress? That wasn't the Jenny he knew. Something was wrong…
Brad's misery worsened, however, when the Space Bikers were shooed off and Don Prima returned to his flirting with Jenny.
Why do I even care? She's Jenny, she's just my best friend. I shouldn't care that she just got a date with Don. In fact, I don't care.
As he watched his friend's delighted smile, however, he sighed miserably, betraying his thoughts. He hung up his hat and apron, drawing his long work day to a close. A good night's sleep would take his mind off of all of this.
~…~
The next day brought no salvation for the unknowingly love-struck teen. A normal Saturday, the boy had been working since early afternoon, and during the whole course of the day, he hadn't been able to escape a single thought about his best friend and her new look. Much like the night before, the image of her stuck to his mind as if it had been super glued there. And he didn't like it. He didn't like thinking of his best friend as beautiful, and he didn't like thinking that he was falling for her. He didn't like realizing that he had been falling for her ever since he met her, but not realizing it until now. He didn't like any of it, and he wanted it all to stop. But, unfortunately, he knew it wouldn't.
And it was slowing down his working pace. His boss prodded him to move faster, and he tried.
He was pleased to find that the next customer he had to serve was Jenny. He wasn't pleased, however, that she was putting on a beauty queen act. What was happening to the kind, caring, old Jenny? Now she was just acting like a stuck up brat. And he didn't like it.
The more he listened to her beauty queen act, the more he took distaste to her. He didn't like this new Jenny. He liked the old Jenny, who cared more for others than she did for herself. The superhero Jenny that he knew, that was always smiling and who didn't act ridiculous. The Jenny who knew that she didn't need to be human to feel happy, or to fit in. But who said she needed to fit in in the first place? I think she's fine the way she was before…
Something didn't seem right with her, though. He almost heard…two voices talking at once. Something was wrong.
Brad watched dreadfully as he watched himself lose his best friend to Don Prima once again. He tried to ignore the pang of jealousy and sadness washing over him as he watched her walk away.
Suddenly, the space biker gang burst into Mesmer's once again, terrorizing the customers who had been enjoying themselves just moments ago. Brad had hoped that the hero Jenny would make her appearance now, but when he looked to the bar stool near him, he saw her sitting there, painting her nails as if nothing was wrong. Why was she acting like such a brat? Why did she think she was little miss perfect, miss I-can't-break-a-nail all the sudden? Where was the hero Jenny, the Jenny who wasn't afraid to take risks?
As he watched her sitting back idly, however, he knew he couldn't let the space bikers keep terrorizing the store. So he decided to take action. Sadly, however, it ended in his underpants being painfully pulled over his head. He ran around frantically in pain, trying to escape the terrorizing.
He watched her self-inflicted battle curiously as she seemed to be talking to herself all the sudden. He knew something was wrong, and now he spotted further evidence. However she maintained her human look, he had the feeling it was overpowering her. He was glad to see her fighting it.
Brad was overjoyed to see that Jenny had finally broken free of her…second skin, was it? He watched as she pounded down on the space biker gang, eventually sending them fleeing from the shop.
After the terror was over, though, Brad was discouraged to discover that his boss was still stubborn when it came to allowing the superhero robot into his shop. Knowing she was finally back to her old self, the Jenny he knew and loved, he decided that a job where his best friend wasn't wanted wasn't a job he was willing to keep. So he threw his hat to the floor in protest, quitting.
~…~
After everyone had gone their separate ways, Brad and Jenny had reached their homes, stopping on the sidewalk before their houses.
"Hey, I…sorry I got all drama queen on you today. I-I guess I was just tired of being a loser freak robot…I got sucked into the popularity. It was nice when everyone thought I was perfect…" Jenny said shyly.
"Jen, you should know not to care about any of those other kids. They don't matter. You're awesome and perfect the way you are, and I don't think you need to change one bit." Brad said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Jenny smiled.
"Thanks Brad, that's so sweet!" Jenny exclaimed as she gave him a tight hug.
"Aw, don't sweat it. Just…don't try changing anymore, okay? I like you the way you are." Brad said.
"You know, you're the best friend I could ever hope to have…thanks for believing in the robot me." Jenny said, suddenly moving in and pecking Brad on the cheek before shooting him a 'goodnight' over her shoulder and heading inside. Brad placed a hand over his cheek where she had kissed him, sporting a large smile as he walked into his own home.
Sorry if this skips around a lot, I didn't have much time to write it. I'm pushing it by being awake right now, It's pretty late…well anyways, review!