Chapter 2: A New Friend

Fern didn't know what to think as the final bell rang at the end of the day, and she began making her way towards the front door. She hadn't made any new friends in a long time, but here she was, going to hang out with someone she had only just become acquainted with. Part of her was quite nervous. She didn't want to accidentally goof up and say something stupid or offensive and possibly drive away her first new friend in years. She knew it was kind of pathetic, being 14 and fresh out of middle school with only two notable friends under her belt. But maybe that would change now.

She adjusted her trademark hair bow as she neared the front entrance to the building and, sure enough, there stood Becky with a bright smile on her face. Fern had quickly been able to tell she was a cheerful soul. She supposed she could use someone like that around her.

"Hey!" Becky greeted, waving to make sure she got Fern's attention. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, I think so," Fern replied, flashing a small smile. She couldn't help it. Becky's perkiness was rather infectious. "Where's your house?"

"Over that way," Becky replied, pointing down the street as the bus pulled up. She stepped towards it and waved Fern forward as she added, "but we can ride the bus. I would drive to school if I could, but I'm just starting on my learner's permit. Hey, you don't have a car here, do you?"

Fern shook her head and followed her onto the bus. "No, I can't drive yet. I'm only 14."

"Oh, okay - I'm 16," Becky replied, sitting down in one of the seats, leaving room for Fern. She supposed if she squinted really hard, she could agree Fern looked slightly younger than her. "You must have just started high school this year."

"Yeah, it's been kinda hard," Fern said, taking her own seat. "Algebra has been such a struggle for me."

Becky giggled. "Me too."

"Hey, if you're older than me, why are we in the same math class?" Fern asked curiously.

Becky was silent for a moment before replying self-consciously, "I put it off. I struggle with math so much that I just didn't want to do it. But I guess I had to get it over with eventually."

"I get it, I feel similarly," Fern replied understandingly as the bus began to pull forward. "I just wanted to get it out of the way and over with. I'm more of a right-brained person anyway."

"Well, I'm not good with math, but I'm probably still more left-brained," Becky countered. "I may be good with words and knowing what they mean and how to use them, but I'm not good at being artistic with them… Hey, speaking of which, can I take a look at your notebook now?"

Fern blushed and stuttered, "Oh, um, n-not right now. When we get to your house though, I guess…"

"Sure," Becky replied with a knowing nod. She understood why Fern would be a bit self-conscious about sharing her writings with people. Although, there was likely more to it than that. What would be the point of writing stories or poetry if no one else ever got to read them?

But then again, Becky could completely understand wanting to keep secrets. She knew what that felt like all too well.

…

The Hacker lifted his welding helmet and turned off his blowtorch, chuckling to himself. This new statue was coming along quite nicely. Making these had never gotten old. It had already been far too long since he'd last erected himself in metal or stone.

A shout suddenly rang out from behind him, startling him a bit. He was glad he had turned off his blowtorch already. "Hey boss!" cried the shrill voice of the taller of his two lackeys, Delete. "Whatcha working on?"

"Rrgh!" Hacker grunted in frustration. "Not now, you dunce bucket! Can't you see that I'm busy?"

"Oh - Sorry, boss," Delete apologized sheepishly. "I just heard noise in here and I was curious."

"Hmph. Well if you MUST know, Delete, I'm working on a brilliant new scheme I have planned. If it succeeds, I'll finally be rid of those meddling Earth brats once and for all!" he exclaimed triumphantly while standing up straight and facing his henchman.

"Really, boss? What're you gonna do?" Delete asked with heightened interest.

"Now now, no need to spoil the surprise," Hacker hushed, turning back around and adjusting a couple things on the statue. "But let's just say for now that once this little beauty is up and running, we'll be able to… shall we say… enlarge our search range. Those little pests won't be able to run and hide, and I'll finally be able to do away with them!" He turned his head and motioned to the door. "Now leave me alone! I have a lot of work to do and I can't be disturbed!"

"Alright boss, whatever you say," Delete relented, leaving and shutting the door behind him. He could tell by the look in his boss's eyes that he was already feeling very passionate about his new idea. The robot may not have known what exactly Hacker had in store for those Earth kids, but he knew whatever it was, it wouldn't be good for them.

…

"Here we are!" Becky declared as she and Fern reached the front walk of her house.

"You're sure your parents won't mind me being here?" Fern asked, not wanting to impose on anyone.

"Oh, they'll be fine," Becky promised, reaching the front door and pulling out her key to unlock it. "My friend Violet comes over a lot, so I'm certain they'll be fine with you."

"Alright, if you're sure," Fern said with a shrug. Becky unlocked the door and led her new friend into the house. Fern could see it was a pretty average home, not much different from her own. But it was clearly taken care of and tidy.

"Hmm… Looks like no one's home," Becky pondered, glancing around into the living room and kitchen. "It's just as well. If my parents were here, they'd probably barrage you with a ton of questions. Come on, my room is this way, upstairs."

The two girls made their way upstairs and settled down into Becky's bedroom. Fern took notice of the different trinkets lined up on Becky's desk and bookcase, as well as the decor. This girl was certainly no tomboy, it seemed. She let a small giggle escape her lips as she said, "I guess you're a fan of Pretty Princess, huh?"

Becky blushed as she sat down on the edge of her bed. "Oh! Uh, well, yeah, I am. I've liked it for a long time. I've even dressed up as her for Halloween before. I know it's silly and kind of babyish…"

"No no, it's okay," Fern replied hastily, shaking her head. "There's nothing wrong with that. I'm not a huge fan of it myself, but I never had a problem with it. So what if it's meant for younger kids? If you enjoy it, that's all that matters."

Becky smiled gratefully. She was glad when people didn't judge her for her love of her favorite show. It was just one of many reasons why she was friends with Violet. "Thanks, I appreciate it. What's your favorite show?"

"Midafternoon Mystery Theater," Fern replied. "I've liked it since I was a kid. But you wanted to show me your books, right?"

"Oh yeah! They're right over there," Becky said, pointing towards her bookshelf, packed to the brim with reading material. "Take a look and see whatever jumps out at you."

Fern obliged, setting her backpack aside and kneeling down in front of the bookshelf, beginning to skim the titles on the spines of each book. She was impressed at Becky's collection. She definitely had a wide variety of books. The main showpiece appeared to be a thick, hefty dictionary. She certainly did like her words, it seemed, as she'd said earlier.

As Fern looked over the contents of the shelves, her smile grew increasingly wide. "Sherlock Holmes? Frankenstein? Agatha Christie novels? You have so many of my favorites!" she exclaimed excitedly. "So many kids our age don't. I would have thought I was the only one."

Becky shrugged. "What can I say? I like a lot of stuff from a lot of different eras. Sounds to me like you really like mysteries, given the ones you mentioned and your favorite show."

"I do, a lot," Fern confirmed. "If I can't be a writer or a poet, I'd want to be a detective."

"So you'd rather solve crime than fight it, I'm guessing?"

"Without a doubt. I could never be a police officer or, god forbid, be a superhero like WordGirl. I couldn't fight a bug, let alone a criminal."

Becky half-frowned. She never liked hearing people say they could never be like her, or at least her persona that wasn't her secret identity. "Well, you may not have superpowers like WordGirl does, but you don't have to have them to be a hero, you know. Having powers just makes some things easier… or um, I would guess that they do. I wouldn't know. It's not like I'm an alien superhero like WordGirl or anything, hehehe…" she corrected hastily, trying to cover up her minor slip of the tongue. She could never seem to quit doing that, no matter how hard she tried. "And anyway, solving crimes really is a way of fighting them, when you think about it. You just don't have to throw any punches is all."

Fern smiled at Becky's explanation. She had never quite thought of it that way. "I guess that's true… Still though, I'd rather be a writer."

"So hey, can I please see your notebook now?" Becky asked eagerly once more.

"Yeah okay, just a second," Fern replied with a nod, reaching into her backpack and grabbing it. She only hesitated a moment or two before handing it over to Becky.

"Thanks! I promise not to make fun of it or anything," Becky promised, opening it up to a recent page. As she read, her face melted into a touched smile. What Fern had written was absolutely magnificent. She had never read anything from anyone in her class and ever gotten this emotional from it before.

Fern, meanwhile, waited anxiously for Becky to speak up again. She could barely believe how nervous she had become when people read her work. She hadn't always been this way, had she?

Eventually Becky finally looked back up and met Fern's gaze, sniffling a little and wiping a stray tear that had escaped her eye. "Wow, Fern… This poem is so beautiful. You're so talented… I WISH I could write like you do."

Fern blushed, not used to receiving such high compliments. "Well gee, I… I'm glad you liked it so much, I just finished writing it the other day… I didn't feel like it was that good."

"No one ever thinks their own stuff is good," Becky pointed out. "I mean, I never thought any of the paintings I did in art class were any good, to be fair, but I got a lot of... comments on them, so I knew they needed work. But Fern, you're fantastic! You should be published!"

"Well, technically I HAVE been published before," Fern explained sheepishly. "I've been in a couple writing contests in the past and had my writings published in the newspaper and stuff. So I've kind of been."

Becky frowned slightly, puzzled. "Really? I thought you said you didn't like people reading your stuff."

Fern looked down at her lap, fiddling with her hands. "I feel more like that now than I used to. When I was younger it wasn't as much of a problem, but… I don't know… I've become kind of withdrawn, if I'm being honest. I don't feel like many people like me or want to be friends with me. Maybe it's my own fault. Sometimes I'm a bit abrasive with people and rub them the wrong way, so I guess I only have myself to blame. I only have a couple friends. And I guess being less sociable affected how I feel about my writings and letting people read them…"

Becky was touched by Fern's speech, and it saddened her. She hated hearing people talk in such a way about themselves. She knew it couldn't be healthy. She half-smiled at Fern as she finally replied, "Well… I like you, if it makes you feel any better. I think you're really nice. I think you just need to come back out of your shell a bit more."

Fern was silent for a minute. Becky wasn't wrong. If she made more of an effort to befriend people, it stood to reason that she would feel better about herself. "I guess… but I would hate to try, and then just have people not respond or care. I'm afraid my fears would turn out to be true, and to find out that they don't like me after all…"

"I can help you if you want," Becky offered. "I don't want you to hide from the world, Fern. You're so talented, and you seem like a good person to me. I would hate for all that to go to waste just because you're afraid of the worst-case scenario happening."

"...Well… Okay, if you want," Fern replied after a moment of contemplation, a smile returning to her face. "Honestly, Becky, this has been a weird day for me. You're one of the first new people I've talked to this way in a long time…"

Becky smiled sweetly and placed her hand on Fern's shoulder. "Well thank you, Fern. I'm glad we've gotten to meet and talk to each other. I'm actually glad you missed the bell this morning."

Fern chuckled at Becky's admission. "Yeah, I guess I am too. Thanks, Becky."

…

The two girls spent a little while longer together, chatting in Becky's room, before Fern finally decided she should be heading home. It was just as well, since Becky had her math homework to finish up. She encouraged Fern to come back another time, and the dog girl accepted her offer, confirming she would enjoy coming back soon. It felt good to her to be out of her own room for once.

Becky showed up at school the next day much more refreshed, as she thankfully hadn't had to go fight any villains the previous night. She spotted Violet at her locker, smiling upon seeing her best friend and walking over to her. "Hey, Violet!"

The blond, doey-eyed girl turned her head, slightly startled by Becky's unexpected greeting, but she quickly recovered. "Good morning, Becky," she hummed in her usual low, sing-songy tone. "What happened to you yesterday? I never saw you after school."

"Oh, right! Sorry about that. I actually made a new friend! She came over to my house yesterday afternoon. She really likes reading too, just like me, and she even writes poetry and stuff!" Becky explained excitedly.

"Ooh, she sounds nice," Violet replied, growing interested. "What's her name?"

"Fern Walters. You know her?"

Violet thought for a moment, puzzled. "Hmm… Maybe, but I'm not sure."

"She's a dog, and she wears a lot of purple, as well as a red bow on her head," Becky described.

"Oh! I've seen her before," Violet realized. "I have her in my creative writing class. She's awfully quiet. I don't think she's ever said a word."

Becky frowned slightly. "I'm not too surprised. She's in my algebra class, and I'd never spoken to her until yesterday. She didn't hear the bell at the end of class, so I went and got her attention, and we just got to talking. She's a nice person, she's just really reserved. You should talk to her! I think you two would get along, too. She doesn't have that many friends, or at least that's what she told me."

"Okay, that sounds alright. Maybe you could introduce us," Violet suggested.

"That would be fantastic!" Becky cried.

"Hey, Becky!" someone called out. Becky turned her head to see her friend Scoops approaching. He waved and came up to them, standing next to Violet and planting a kiss on her cheek. "Hey, you," he greeted with a hint of flirtatiousness.

"Hehe, hello, Scoops," Violet replied with a giggle, her cheeks turning pink. Becky mentally cringed a bit. It still somewhat hurt seeing the two of them together, but she wasn't about to complain. They were happy, and that was that. Nothing she could do about it.

"So what was that you guys were saying? Introduce who to who?" Scoops asked.

"Oh, it's nothing huge, Scoops. I just made a new friend the other day and I thought Violet might like to meet her."

"Neat! Who is it?"

"Fern Walters," Becky answered. "She said she knows you from journalism."

"Oh right! Yeah, I know of her. She doesn't talk much though."

"Heh, why am I not surprised?" Becky asked redundantly, playfully rolling her eyes a bit. "She's a bit introverted, but I got to talking with her yesterday and she was nice. She even likes reading, just like me! And she's good with words and writes poetry and stories!"

"Gee, no wonder the two of you got along," Scoops remarked, glad Becky had made a new friend, and Fern too, for that matter. She definitely struck him as the type of person who could use more friends. "I wouldn't mind talking to her more either, I suppose."

"Awesome! This is just getting better and better!" Becky exclaimed. "I'd love for her to be able to come out of her shell a little." Before she could continue on though, the warning bell rang signaling class would be starting soon. "Oop! There goes the bell! I'll see you guys later, okay?"

"You bet!" Scoops answered.

"Yes, see you later, Becky," Violet added before taking Scoops's hand and walking off down the hall with him in the opposite direction. Becky saw this and sighed a bit. Her friends' relationship really shouldn't have been bothering her at all, but she couldn't help it. She often felt like the third wheel around them ever since they'd begun going out, even if they were all still good friends. Sometimes she wished she could have her own relationship with someone to help alleviate her negative feelings. No one had ever interested her as much as Scoops, though. Maybe someday someone would eventually come along and be that special somebody. She just needed to be patient and look for some sort of sign.

…

The next few days went by with little out of the ordinary to make note of. Becky introduced Fern to her friends that day at lunch, and she got along with them well, especially Violet, given their shared, strong artistic sides. She and Fern even went back to her house a second time, which was enjoyable for the both of them. This time Fern got to meet Becky's father, though it was a rushed greeting, as he was getting ready to head downtown to see a temporary display set up for the world's largest onion. Fern realized quickly that Becky's father was much more eccentric than her own, but he was perfectly nice.

Meanwhile, things were even less eventful for Matt and his fellow cyber squad members. One afternoon after school, the same day Fern had returned to Becky's house, he got a call from Jackie on his skwak pad. They could have very well used their normal cell phones to call each other, but they communicated with each other so often this way that it had become habitual for them.

"Heya, Jacks!" Matt greeted, answering the call and looking down at the screen, which displayed Jackie's face.

"Hey, Matt!" Jackie replied. "How's it going?"

"Eh, alright," Matt replied casually with an indifferent shrug. "It's been kinda quiet though. I don't remember the last time we went this long without a call from Motherboard about a problem in Cyberspace."

"I know, right? That's actually what I was calling to talk about. We rarely go this long without a call. Do you think Hacker is up to something big?"

"I dunno. Maybe he's finally given up. I'm certainly not complaining."

"It's possible, I guess…" Jackie replied warily. "But I'm not sure, Matt. I don't like this gut feeling I have."

"Trust me, Jacks, you're worrying too much. You're letting your nerves get to you. I'm sure everything's fine. If and when there's a problem, Motherboard will call us just like always. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Rrgh, Matt, I really wish you wouldn't say stuff like that," Jackie replied with a bit of disdain. She had never been wild about her male friend's tendency to speak or act so boldly. "You're gonna jinx us one of these days."

"Really, Jacks, quit worrying. I'm not gonna jinx us. We've always managed to outsmart Hacker in the past, right? Even when we felt like we'd hit rock bottom, we always bounced back up and defeated him in the end. Why should this time be any different?"

"Well… we'll see, I guess," Jackie relented. "I just don't want to be cocky... It was good talking to you anyway, though. I'll see you around, okay?"

"Sure, Jacks, talk to you later," Matt agreed, ending the call and setting his skwak pad aside and reclining back into the living room couch. Jackie's such a bundle of nerves, the young man thought to himself with an amused chuckle. What's she worrying about? Nothing, that's what. Things are gonna be perfectly fine, like always. We don't have anything to fear.