Phoebe and Millie were in Phoebe's room, having a tea party. Phoebe wasn't incredibly fond of tea parties, and mainly just threw them to make Millie happy. She wasn't incredibly fond of Millie, either, but she had to put up with her. She sat at the table, listening to Millie complain about Coop, trying not to look annoyed at how ungrateful she sounded.
" ... It was so annoying! Like, he could've prevented it if he wasn't so careless! " Phoebe finally muttered with her hands on her chin, " It's Kat's fault the whole thing happened in the first place. " Millie looked surprised, and then annoyed. " Phoebe, we talked about this. You promised me you wouldn't complain about Mr. Kat! All it does is get us into arguments... "
" Well, why can't I express my annoyance with Kat, while you complain about Coop all you want even though it annoys ME?! Coop does so much for you and everyone else and you don't even appreciate it! " Millie replied in annoyance, " I DO! It's just annoying that he gets to be the hero of the world and I'm just the one who covers for the VILLAIN! "
" So you're jealous. Big deal, I am too. But I still don't go on and on complaining about Coop like I hate him! " Millie sighed and said in exasperation, " Phoebe, why do you insist on talking about this? " Phoebe said in frustration, " Why wouldn't I?! Face it, Millie, Kat is the most interesting thing in our lives! You can't blame me for wanting to talk about him. It's like the elephant in the room here! We both wanna talk about him, but we don't, even though he's the only thing that makes our lives interesting! "
Millie replied with a smile, " I know, right? Without Mr. Kat, my life would be so dull and boring! Whether you like him or not, you've gotta admit that he's a pretty awesome pet. I mean, he can shoot lasers from his fingers, slice through anything with his claws, and reform from a pile of vaporized ashes! He's the coolest pet EVER! And besides, I need him to give my life a purpose! Sure, that purpose has to be, ' girl who blames the hero for things he didn't do, ' but at least that purpose is vital! If I didn't cover for him, he'd get caught and kicked out of my house, and if he's not living at my house, how will Coop find out what he's planning and stop him? So yeah, I'm keeping an alien who wants to take over the world as my beloved pet, so what? When I adopted him, I saved the world! "
Phoebe said enviously, " I know, I know, Millie, you're better than me because you have a purpose in life and I don't. You're the girl who's responsible for Coop saving the world, and I'm the girl who's responsible for Coop's life being more stressful than it already is. That's not depressing. How is that supposed to make me feel any better?! I know that what you're doing is necessary, even if it's really mean to Coop. But I still have every reason to be annoyed by it out of sympathy for him! And whether he's the coolest pet ever or not, I still can't understand why you'd find it so easy to overlook how evil he is! Don't you care that your pet is an evil alien psychopath? Don't you CARE that he wants to take over the world and enslave the entire human race? Don't you CARE that your beloved pet wants to MURDER your BROTHER?! "
Millie said in frustration, " I like Mr. Kat based on actual facts about him! He's sweet to me! He LOVES me! He's saved my life more than once! He's the coolest pet I'm ever gonna get! So he's an evil alien, SO WHAT?! He's not evil to ME, so why should I care?! "
Phoebe replied, " He wouldn't HAVE to save your life so many times if he would stop being so reckless! And that's still pretty selfish of you to not have any sympathy for your own brother. " Millie said, " It's not that I don't respect him and everything he's done! If I let myself pity him, it would be much more difficult for me to not hate Mr. Kat, and it would make it much harder for me to cover for him and keep him where Coop can keep an eye on him. So yeah, I'm selfish, and call me ungrateful all you want for not showering him with praise - praise that I can't give him without raising suspicion - but I'm doing this for the world! At least I'M annoying Coop because I HAVE to! YOU don't exactly need the threat of the world ending to make YOU annoy him. At least I have the excuse that it's necessary and I have no choice, but you make his life stressful when you don't even have to! You're insulting ME for something YOU do without an excuse! "
" I DO have an excuse! When I'm around Coop, I lose all self-control! It's not my fault I love him! It's not my fault I admire him, especially after he's done everything to earn my respect! It's not my fault that I lose all inhibitions and treat him with absolute hero worship! I don't WANT to stress him out, but I can't NOT do it! If it was easy for me to resist the temptation to hug him and compliment him and try to get close to him, I WOULD. I wish I could flip a switch and turn OFF my love for him, because this is NOT fun for me. You think it's FUN? You think I ENJOY this, being treated like a creepy stalker by my hero? You think I don't want this to END? Because I DO! It's horrible being trapped like this! It's horrible being in love with him! Every time I see Coop, I hear a voice in my head screaming at me not to bother him, but I lose all control and I do it anyways! At least I feel guilty about stressing him out! You're just perfectly comfortable with your excuse that what you're doing is protecting the world, while I don't even have THAT to comfort me! All I have is GUILT! "
Phoebe was no longer looking envious or frustrated with her. Not comfortable with her being so upset, Millie stopped being annoyed and looked nervous.
Phoebe continued sadly, " I don't wanna be in love with Coop anymore. It makes me miserable. If I could turn it off, I would. But I can't. I'm trapped. I'm trapped being the girl who makes the hero's life worse just by existing! Saving Coop's life in the House of Horrors was the only thing I've ever accomplished with my life that mattered, and now my purpose in life is complete, and I don't matter anymore. I could've died after that and the world would've been FINE without me. "
Feeling sorry for her, Millie said with a nervous smile, " That's not true, Phoebe. Maybe some day Coop will need your help again. And then you'll get to be more important than I am! You can't just give up hope! " Phoebe looked startled and nervous. " Just be patient. I'm sure things will get better for you eventually. " Trying to comfort her, she cautiously put her hand on her shoulder, hoping that Phoebe wouldn't get annoyed and think she was being condescending.
Phoebe sighed with her eyes downcast, and after a few seconds, she admitted, " Thank you, Millie... At least you care about me. " Millie said, " I can't be the only one who cares about you! What about your family? " Phoebe admitted reluctantly, " Yeah, they HAVE to care about me... " and slowly started to smile again. Millie smiled nervously, still wondering if Phoebe would get annoyed with her, and said, " Exactly! "
Suddenly, she looked at her watch and said, " Oh, it's almost dinner! I'd better get going! Thanks, Phoebe! " and ran out of the room, not realizing just how much she had helped her.