A/N: Thank you to all readers, reviews, and those who Favorited and Story Alerted. I feel I should warn you that this chapter contains bullying.

Chapter 2

"Here you go Shelly; Amy."

Sheldon's mom set down a plate of cookies on the table.

"Thanks mom," Sheldon said.

"Thank you, Mrs. Cooper," Amy said.

"You're very welcome. Can I get either of you a glass of milk to go with your cookies?"

Amy looked thoughtful for a moment. "Would you have any Yoo-hoo?"

Mary smiled. "Why, yes I do, as a matter of fact. Can I interest you both in one?"

Amy nodded and Sheldon sat up straighter. "Yes!"

Mary gave Sheldon a stern look. "Yes what?"

Sheldon slumped. "Yes, please."

Mary patted Sheldon on the head. "That's my boy. Now Sheldon, have you invited Amy to stay for dinner?"

Sheldon looked at Amy. "Do you want to stay for dinner?"

Amy shrugged. "Sure. Let me just go call my mother and ask if it's ok."

Amy slid off her chair and walked into the living room to use the telephone. Missy walked in to the kitchen quickly, looking distressed.

"Mo-o-o-m! Don't invite that weirdo to dinner! It's bad enough I have to admit Shelly's my brother, but now I have to say that Amy's spending dinners at our house. It's not fair."

Sheldon glared over at Missy and opened his mouth to speak, but, before he could, Mary put her hand on her hip. "Now you just hold on a minute, Little Missy. Don't you talk about your brother like that! And Amy is a perfectly…"

Sheldon looked at his mother as she paused, wondering why she didn't finish her sentence. She appeared to be thinking. Sheldon could think of many ways to finish the sentence describing his friend. Intelligent. Loyal. Funny. Friendly.

He was getting ready to finish the sentence when Mary finally said, "…nice, little girl, and she's Sheldon's friend. And you don't get to tell me who I can and can't invite to stay for dinner. Do you understand young lady?"

Sheldon smirked at Missy, who opened her mouth to say, "But…"

"No buts. Now…luckily Amy didn't hear what you said, but I want you to apologize to Sheldon for insulting his little friend."

Sheldon was going to enjoy this. He knew better than to taunt his sister with his mother watching, but couldn't keep his lips from turning upwards as Missy, whose lips were pressed together tightly, glared at Sheldon.

"Missy…" Mary said, with a warning in her voice.

Missy looked at the floor. "I'm sorry Sheldon."

"You should be."

"Sheldon Cooper, is that what we say when someone apologizes to us?" Mary raised her eyebrows at Sheldon.

"Well, she should be!"

"Sheldon…" Mary gave Sheldon a stern look.

He sighed, capitulating under his mother's look. "No."

"And what do we say?"

He sighed again. "I forgive you," he mumbled.

George, Jr. came walking into the kitchen, covered in dirt. Sheldon supposed he had been playing football with his friends again.

"What time's dinner?" he asked.

"As soon as your father gets home," Mary replied, walking over and setting down Sheldon and Amy's Yoo-Hoos.

"That weird girl isn't staying for dinner again is she?"

"Amy's not weird!" Sheldon said, annoyed that his siblings kept calling Amy names. "You're just too stupid to appreciate her intelligence."

Missy snickered and said, "George, he just doesn't realize it because he's weird too."

Mary looked heavenward. "Lord, why do you put me through this…Missy, don't you call your brother weird. Now apologize again."

Missy looked over at Sheldon, rolled her eyes, and said "Sorry."

Sheldon smirked.

Mary turned to Sheldon, giving him a look that made him stop smirking. "Don't you be smirking when your sister is saying she's sorry…and don't be calling Georgie stupid either. Now it's your turn to apologize to Georgie."

Sheldon balked. "But mom…"

"Don't 'but mom' me, Shelly. Apologize."

Sheldon pressed his lips together, not believing an apology was needed on his part; but as his mother continued to stare at him, eyebrows raised, he gave in, sighing. "Sorry George."

And then she turned to George, saying, "And you are not to call Amy weird again, do you hear me?"

"But mom she is!" insisted George, while Missy smirked at Sheldon, who was now glaring at both of his siblings.

Amy walked into the kitchen slowly, looking at the floor. George had the decency to look uncomfortable as Amy said, "My mom said I can stay for dinner."

Mary turned to George and said "You go wash up before dinner. You're filthy. And we will continue this conversation later."

George nodded, glancing at Amy as he walked towards the bathroom. Sheldon was upset at seeing his friend sad. He was angry at George because Amy had overheard him call her weird. And he was angry at Missy for also calling Amy weird. Amy wasn't weird. Sheldon liked Amy. She was the only person his own age with whom he could carry on a decent conversation.

As Missy walked to the table to eat some cookies, Mary walked over, stooped down, and put an arm around Amy. "Now, don't you let Georgie make you feel bad. He didn't mean anything by it."

Amy looked over at Sheldon, and then back at the ground, and nodded.

Mary smiled. "Now then, do you still want that Yoo-hoo?"

Amy nodded again.

"Alright then, you go on over there and sit next to Shelly and then you two can enjoy your snack."

Amy walked over and sat down in her seat, looking down at the table.

Sheldon didn't know what to do. He was fairly certain that Amy was sad, but he didn't know what do about it. He had started working on his Kolinahr skills a couple of years ago. Perhaps if he taught Amy how to do it, she wouldn't feel sad anymore.

"Amy, have you ever watched Star Trek?"

She looked up at him. "What's Star Trek?"

"You've never heard of Star Trek?" Sheldon was incredulous.

She shook her head.

Sheldon spent the next ten minuets describing the best show ever made. He spent a lot of time on his favorite character, Mr. Spock, in particular.

"Maybe if you try using logic to control your emotions you won't be sad," he said.

Amy looked skeptical. "I don't know. It's not even real."

Sheldon was scandalized. "You don't know that!"

Amy raised her eyebrows. "Actually, I do. It's a television show, therefore it's not real…and anyways, it's not helping me feel better."

Sheldon pressed his lips together. He was torn between continuing to argue the validity of Star Trek and helping his friend feel better. He took a bite of a cookie, thinking. He supposed that if Amy wasn't happy she couldn't fully appreciate Star Trek, so perhaps he should figure out how to make her feel better before yelling at her.

The only problem was that he didn't know how to make Amy feel better…

He thought for another moment. Perhaps he could try to cheer her up with a game he had been contemplating?

"Amy, do you want to play a game?"

Amy looked up at him. "What kind of game?"

"One that only the two of us can play."

"Why can only the two of us play it?"

Sheldon smiled, "Because we're the only two smart enough to figure out the answers."

Amy smiled back. Sheldon was glad to see her smile.

"What's it called?"

"I haven't named it yet."

Amy raised her eyebrows. "Oh, so you've invented it?"

Sheldon nodded and Amy perked up. "Tell me how to play," she said.

"Ok, well, we take one thing in the world, change it, and then imagine what would be different. Then we ask a question and the other person has to answer it."

"Hmm…ok. I think I understand, but can you give me an example?"

Sheldon nodded. "Sure. This is the first one I came up with. In a world where Christmas is in September, like it should be, what does the Easter Bunny hide?"

Amy thought for a moment. "Oh I get it. Sugar Plums."

Sheldon smiled. "Correct!"

Mary set down more Yoo-hoos, shaking her head and chuckling. Sheldon looked at Mary and said, "Thank you."

He noticed Missy roll her eyes, leave the table, taking a cookie with her to go, and walk out of the kitchen. He narrowed his eyes as he watched her leave. He didn't care what Missy thought. Not about him. Not about Amy. Missy was just too stupid to understand his game.

He turned back to Amy. "Of course, that was a mostly nonsensical example, since the Easter Bunny doesn't really exist…however, there would still be a mythology surrounding the Easter Bunny, so that's why I even thought of the question."

Amy nodded. "Of course."

"Now you think of one."

"Ok…but should we maybe write these down? We could put them on flash cards."

"Excellent idea! I'll go to my room and get some." Sheldon hopped down off the chair and ran into his room. He was so happy Amy was his friend.

Sheldon and Amy spent the rest of that afternoon up until dinner making up more questions for their game. After dinner Amy said she had to go home, but that they could continue working on the game at recess the next day.

Before Amy, Sheldon had never had a friend. He had tried to make a friend in the early days of Kindergarten, but none of the other kids ever understood what he was talking about. And then, they had all started teasing him for being weird. He never understood what they meant by weird, but then he decided he didn't care because they were all stupid anyways.

And as a result, he had concluded that he didn't need friends. But now that he had one as smart as Amy, he was starting to change his stance on friendship. Perhaps, if you find the right friend, having friends wasn't a bad thing after all.

At recess the next day, Sheldon and Amy sat against the fence, like they always did now, trying to come up with a name for their game.

"What about…'What if'?"

"No…too boring…what about…'Different Facts'?"

"No…it needs to have a better ring to it…although I like that concept."

Amy snapped her fingers. "I've got it! Counter Factuals."

Sheldon cocked his head. "Counter Factuals…Coun-ter Fact-u-als." He smiled. "I like it."

Missy came walking over, frowning. "Sheldon, you're not still playing that stupid game are you?"

Amy frowned. "The game's not stupid. It's brilliant."

Missy snickered. "Says the weirdo."

Sheldon stood up. "Mom said you can't call Amy weird!"

Missy rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever…I'm sorry…In fact, I want to give you a surprise. Close your eyes."

Sheldon closed his eyes, waiting for his surprise.

"Sheldon look out!"

Sheldon opened his eyes to see his sister's fist swinging back. He ducked in time to miss the punch.

Amy stood up and said angrily, "Why did you do that Missy?"

Missy looked angrily at Amy, "Because I can. You two think you're so much smarter than everyone. Well you're not. You're just weird. I'm trying to teach him to be normal. A normal person wouldn't close their eyes, just because someone told them to. And look, you just messed it up. Like you're messing him up. How can he ever be normal with a friend like you?"

Sheldon saw Amy's eyes blinking quickly. He snapped his head around to Missy. "Missy, I'm telling mom on you."

Missy rolled her eyes. "If you do that, I'll tell Georgie."

Sheldon pressed his lips together. The last time Sheldon had told on Missy, she had run to George and George had shoved him down for being a tattle-tail. He hated how George and Missy ganged up on him. What had he ever done to them? It wasn't his fault they were so stupid and he was so smart.

Missy smirked at him and then turned around to walk away.

Sheldon turned to Amy. "Missy's just jealous because I think you're smarter than she is."

Amy looked at him. "But I am smarter than she is."

Sheldon nodded. "Of course. You're the smartest person I know, except for me of course."

Amy raised her eyebrows. "You're pretty smart, but you can't even help me dissect a grasshopper."

Sheldon lifted his chin. "I could help you if I wanted to. I just don't want to…and besides, I still know more math than you."

Amy sighed. "You're never going to let me forget that are you?"

"Of course not."

"That's ok, I'm not going to let you forget that I can dissect a bug and you can't."

Sheldon rolled his eyes and suggested they spend the last few minutes of recess thinking of more questions for their newly named game of Counter Factuals.

A/N: Thank you for reading. Missy's punching thing was something Sheldon told Raj about in an episode. Poor Shelly. Reviews are appreciated, encouraging, and motivating. :)