Chapter 3 Present

The next morning everyone but Darwin was shocked to see Gumball come down to eat breakfast with everyone.

"What?" Gumball asked. He expected them to be surprised that he had left his room willingly for the first time in a week but he didn't expect them to all stare at him like he had grown a second head.

Gumball's mother quit staring and cleared her throat. "So…" she began, choosing her words carefully. "Are you feeling better?"

Gumball looked up at his mother and smiled. "I am still upset," he said "But Carrie and Darwin really cheered me up yesterday. So I have a more positive outlook today. Besides I think I need to get out of my room. It is starting to smell in there."

Gumball's mother smiled. "That's great honey. It sounds like that girl really helped."

Gumball nodded. "She did."

"You should get that girl something to show her your thanks." said his father.

Gumball looked up at his dad confused. "You think?" he asked.

Gumball's mother nodded in agreement. "I think your father is right." she said. "You were in a real state before she came around yesterday. I think you should get her something as a thank you. I can give you the money if you want and you can say it was our idea. I just think that she deserves something for making my son feel better through this bad time."

"yeah," Darwin jumped in. "I will go to the mall and help you pick out a gift."

"Ok, thanks." Gumball said as he began eating his breakfast.

"Uh, excuse me" Gumball said to the guy behind the counter.

"Yeah," the guy said in a way that almost sounded annoyed. He clearly didn't want to be there today. Gumball guess that he wouldn't want to come to work either if he looked like he was thirty and was working in a clothing store.

"Do you have anything that someone who's into punk rock would like?" he asked.

The guy stared at him for a while before bursting out laughing. When he stopped he looked at Gumball and said, "No I don't have anything for someone with a mental age of a brooding twelve year old." the guy then proceeded to start laughing again.

Gumball just walked away from the rude man. He went and found Darwin and they exited the clothing store.

"Oh man, this is a lot harder than I thought it would be." Gumball said in frustration. He was really having trouble finding the right thing to give to Carrie. They had been looking at different stores in the Elmore mall for an hour and a half now. When they first started looking, everything they saw looked too girly for Carrie's taste in their opinion. They eventually decided to look for something punk rock related since they knew that was something she was into. The problem was when they did find something they thought she would like, they couldn't figure out if what they found was actually "Punk rock," related. Goth, emo and punk rock stuff all look the same to him but he was certain that Carrie wouldn't feel the same.

"Maybe we will find something if we split up," Darwin suggested.

Gumball nodded in agreement and they both took off in different directions in the mall. He didn't really know what he was looking for when he passed the different stores. Gumball hadn't gone looking for gifts to give to a girl when it wasn't their birthday or Christmas. No girl other than Penny that is. While shopping for her may not have always been easy because he wanted to give something from the heart, he had a better understanding of what Penny liked. Still, he wasn't going to give up because he felt his father was right. He should give her something as a thank you for her help.

Gumball stopped when he notice a music store. 'That might work.' he thought. He might not know a lot about punk related stuff but he was certain that there would be a section in there that said "Punk rock".

He walked in and looked around the store until he found the section he was looking for. There was more there then he thought there would be. Maybe this would be harder than he anticipated.

He scanned through the CD's, trying to find one that stood out, when he heard someone ask, "Do you need any help there?"

Gumball looked over to see a girl, who was wearing black jeans and a shirt that said "Sex Pistols". Her hair was even a similar style to Carrie's. Gumball realised that this might be someone who could be a big help.

"Yeah, I am looking for a punk rock album." he said.

"You?" she questioned as she scanned her eyes over Gumball. "It doesn't look like that would be your type of thing, no offense."

"Oh it's not for me, it's for a friend." he explained.

The girl nodded and began scanning through the CD's with him.

As Gumball looked through the albums, he noticed one that really stood out. It had the same band name as the one on the girl's shirt. "How about this one?" he asked, showing the girl the album.

She looked over it for a second before smiling. "Is your friend really into punk rock?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think so, why?"

"Then I think she will probably already own everything by the 'Sex Pistol'," she said as she gave a light laugh. Gumball looked a little deflated. He had no idea what was popular among these albums. "Don't worry about it," said the girl as she lightly punched him on the arm. She took the CD out of his hand and put it back in its place. "So who is this for?" she asked.

"Just a friend." Gumball replied as he continued to scan through the CD's.

"A girl?"

Gumball turned his head to look at her. "Yeah, how did you know?"

"I could just tell." she said with a shrug. "You seem to really want to find something that you know she likes. Is she special to you?"

Gumball's eyes widened a little bit, caught off guard by that. "S-she is a good friend but there is nothing going on between us. This is more of a thank you for helping me through a tough time." he explained.

The girl once again turned to face him and give him a look over. "You seem a little young to be going through a 'tough time'." she said. A smirk appeared on her face. "Did you get suspended from school and your parents were hard on you about it?"

Gumball gave a small laugh at that. "No, my girlfriend of two years broke up with me."

"Sorry to hear that." She said as she turned back to the CD's and began looking again.

"Don't worry about it." he reassured. "I am still a little upset about it but I am better than I was a few days ago."

"Because of the girl?"

"Her and my brother Darwin. They were a big help to me." Gumball said with a smile.

"Glad to hear It." she said. She then pulled out another CD and showed it to Gumball. "This one might work."

Gumball took the CD out of her hand and looked it over. "You sure about this one?" he asked. The girl gave him a look that told him he shouldn't doubt her. Gumball gave a nod and said, "Thanks…" he quickly took a glance at her name tag. "Amber for your help." he went to the counter and payed for the CD.

He left the store and went looking for Darwin. There was nothing left for him to do now but to give Carrie the CD when he saw her on Monday and hoped that she liked it.

When Gumball got to school he wasn't able to find Carrie before classes started and he realised it would be better not to give it to her during class because Miss Simian would look for any excuse to get him in trouble. So when lunch break came around and Carrie was floating in front of Darwin and his table, he took his opportunity to call her over to eat with them.

"Hey Gumball," she said, placing her tray down on the table. "How are you feeling today?"

Gumball gave her a smile and said "I am doing a lot better now."

"That's great."

Deciding now was a good time, Gumball reached into his bag and placed a small plastic bag with the CD inside, in front of her. She looked at him confused.

"It's a thanks for helping me get through my depression," he explained. "Go on, have a look."

Carrie slowly picked up the plastic bag and pulled out the CD. Gumball really hoped that he at least got something passable. He had to hope that the person in the music store knew what she was talking about.

Gumball took it as a good sign when he saw a smile appear on Carrie's face. "Cool, I have been needing another copy of The Clash's first album. My one is so scratched at this point that it hardly ever works." she looked right at Gumball, as her smile widened. "Thanks man."

Gumball initially didn't respond. He was caught off guard by the different smile that was on Carrie's face. Normally her smile was either very neutral or had an air of mischievousness about it. This smile was more warm and genuine.

"No problem." he finally said as he rubbed the back of his head. "You must be a big fan of that band if you need a new CD."

"Yeah," she said as she looked at the CD. "They're one of the best punk rock bands to ever come out of the United Kingdom. Right up there with the Sex Pistols."

Gumball was surprised to find out that both those bands were British. "Is punk rock a big thing in England?" he asked.

Carrie looked completely stunned by his question. "Are you kidding?" she asked. When Gumball shook his head no, Carrie let out a big sigh. "The English were the ones that invented Punk rock." she explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh," he said awkwardly. It now made sense why she was staring at him as if he was completely oblivious earlier. "Have you ever gone to England to meet some of the punk rock fans there?"

That warm smile that Carrie had on her face earlier returned. "No but I would love to go there. I would really want to interact with the punk rock culture there." she said.

"Well I am sure you will get to go there one day." Gumball said with a smile before turning back towards his food and began eating.

"So Carrie, do you go around and scare people often?" Darwin asked.

"Not every day," she said with a shrug. "Just when I have nothing to do after school."

"Well the next time you do it, you have got to invite Gumball and I again. Right?" Darwin said as he nudged Gumball with his elbow.

"Totally," Gumball said. "If we have some time to prepare, I bet we can think of some really crazy ways to scare them."

Carrie paused, obviously thinking about it. "Well in that case, how about we go and do it on Wednesday?" she suggested.

Gumball and Darwin exchanged looks before turning to faced Carrie, giving her a nod.

"Awesome, this is going to be fun." Carrie said. She must admit, she really liked the idea of doing it with them again. She had a lot more fun doing it last Friday with Gumball and Darwin then she ever had on her own.

"Just wait Carrie," Gumball said with an evil smirk on his face. "Darwin and I will think of something great."

"I look forward to it."