Disclaimer: I do not own these characters nor do I reap any benefit from writing this story. These characters are the creation of Stan Lee and Marvel.
The few crumbs rattling around her cereal box as she shook it furiously again reminded Darcy about how underappreciated she was.
The box had her name on it. Written in black marker over the chipper cartoon characters on the brightly coloured box was her name, 'DARCY LEWIS'. And underneath her name was a looming warning which stated 'DO NOT EAT!', exclamations included in case someone doubted the severity of her warning. She'd left the box at the top of the cabinet with the utmost confidence that it would remain there undisturbed.
And yet here she was now, shaking the few crumbs at the bottom of the box.
She wouldn't have even been that mad if whoever took the cereal—Jane or Erik, though suspicion was more towards Jane, who was known as a midnight snacker—had just apologized. Or told Darcy they took it. She wouldn't have really cared. She would have been a little snippy at first, maybe, but then she would have gotten over it and moved on and eaten other things in the house.
But no. No, what had happened was the person ate all her cereal and just put the box back, like it was the box that Darcy wanted, not the nummy, crunchy, multi-coloured balls of sugar inside. It was almost like they couldn't bother to seek her out and tell her that they ate her cereal.
She didn't buy much. It's not like she had boxes of it lying all over the place, overstocked in case they felt like eating it. No, that wasn't how it worked.
Jane went out shopping once a week, that was it. She had a yellow pad of paper on the fridge and as they ran out of things, they just jotted it down on the list. There were usual things on the list, like milk, eggs or cheese. And then there were the other things on the list not related to food, like the lady things that came in handy once a month, or toilet paper or pens (Jane always seemed to be losing pens). And what everyone was supposed to do was write whatever was missing from living comfortably on the list and hope Jane bought it on her next shopping trip.
And then there were the items that weren't necessarily important or…necessary, for lack of a better word, but that you wanted. Like Jane loved to eat sun flower seeds. Everyone else hated them, but they were her special item that she always bought for herself every month. They were her luxury item, they were the thing on the list that belonged to Jane. And Darcy, in an attempt to add her own luxury item, added her favourite sugary cereal. Because if Jane's trailer was going to be her home for awhile, she wanted at home kind of food; she wanted her comfort food.
And the first time she put it on the list, Jane forgot it. She apologized profusely to Darcy, explaining how it must have just slipped her mind because she wasn't used to buying it. And she tried to give her a peace offering of some grain-y, healthy cereal. Darcy hadn't thought too much on it, she thought Jane had made a simple error and one that really didn't deserve much thought. She forgot cereal? Really? There was nothing for Darcy to even hold against her. Anyone could have done the same thing. It was just a slip up.
But then she forgot again, and again. And after awhile she just stopped apologizing for it. And Darcy, after awhile, could tell she was grating Jane's nerves when she would ask what happened. So she stopped bringing it up, because she didn't want to start anything. And she didn't want to hurt her friend's feelings or be that pest.
But it hurt, a little. It was like a little knick in her confidence that she could be blown off and considered a pest so easily. She didn't mean to be one either. She just…wanted some cereal. But she settled for other stuff scattered amongst the shelves instead.
Because it wasn't that big of a deal. No, it really wasn't. It was cereal. And that's all. It was like when Jane would only take her laundry to Laundromat, and Darcy would take her stuff later. Jane just forgot the first few times, even though she said she'd take it.
And then she just got used to Darcy taking her stuff on her own. So it was like, whatever.
But then she'd wear Darcy's stuff, and it wasn't like…Darcy cared. But she could have asked.
It was all just a matter of her asking. She wouldn't have cared if she asked…she probably would have felt better about it. She would have lent her more if it meant she could be included in something so she didn't just feel like the intern who was in the way all the time. That they had to take stuff from and ignore and avoid.
And now Darcy shook her box of cereal with the few little crumbs rattling around inside and was overcome with a flash of sadness. It went away as suddenly as it had appeared, but the aftermath made it worse.
She got it. She wasn't there to make friends; eating her cereal was the final nail in the coffin. She'd made a special trip to buy the cereal herself, to label it. She then wondered why she'd labeled it in the first place, maybe to remind people she lived there too.
Darcy was used to not making friends, or she thought she was. She was the kid who joined clubs and latched onto the kids who said they watched the same shows she did. They'd invite her places, and they'd hang out, but they weren't ever friends, not in the way Darcy wanted. She was the one people called to rant to, but never to listen to. She was the one where if she made a complaint, people assumed it was a joke to alleviate a tense situation. She was the one who always complained, even jokingly, so people came to know her as the bitter "funny" one. But nobody cared.
She'd been stupid to think otherwise, to think she'd be more than just an intern there. That they'd actually care about her cereal.
And it added up, the whole 'unwanted' thing; when was the last time one of her complaints was validated? When Jane actually listened to her about anything remotely important to her, like that time she lost her phone in the middle of an important conversation about her friend's boyfriend back home. Sure, it was stupid in retrospect, especially since her phone was in her bag after a thorough investigation, but like…anything would have been appreciated. Like, even a 'that sucks' would have made Darcy feel a tad bit better about her role there, anywhere.
Because no matter what happened, she could have at least looked back at her internship and figured she mattered there.
But instead she'd just swallow it and say she'd grow out of it and make her own friends later, just like she did in high school. Or middle school. Even grade school. Because she just hadn't met the right people yet.
And she knew deep down it was true, she'd find her happy ending some day and sometime soon. To be honest, she probably wouldn't even care about any of this the next morning, and would find something to try and talk about with Jane.
And Jane eating her cereal, or wearing her sweater, or blowing her off wasn't so bad.
It just wasn't fun, either. And it sucked that she had the time to think about it, because that meant it would be the echo to everything now. Every time Jane hurt her feelings, even accidentally, Darcy would feel it. It would be subtle, and it would fade fast, but it would sting.
She sighed, throwing the empty box in the trash.
"Anyone wanna order out?" she called out, waiting for someone to shout back.