Mandark walked out the door with Lalavava, and his odd orange peel and tofu er….sandwich, in hand. He sighed and he and his sister both tossed their lunches into a trashcan. He dug into his pocket and handed Lalavava some money so she could get lunch at school.
"Thanks…." Lalavava said.
"You're welcome." He said.
The two headed to school.
He walked by Dexter who was stimming nervously with his gloves, and frowned. He started wondering if he was thinking of the future, after all they were both close to the age they were supposed to partner together, and that Mandark would betray him, destroying his identity down to a single number. He didn't know why, but a wave of guilt washed over him.
"D-dexter?" Maybe things didn't have to turn out like that….
"Leave me alone Mandark, I'm not in the mood!" Dexter slammed his locker and headed to class.
Mandark frowned and headed off to class. He sat in his usual spot in the front. Behind him he still heard whispers of the word "Nerd". He kept his serious look however and ignored them, even though it hurt.
He got through the first three classes then it was time for lunch. He got as much meat as he could, as sort of his own 'take-that!' to his parents.
He scanned the lunchroom looking for someone to sit with. Unfortunately Lalavava didn't have the same lunch period as him. Dee Dee had usually let him sit with her and her friends, but he hadn't seen her or Lee Lee around recently, and Mee Mee had found a new group of girls to sit with.
He saw Dexter sitting at a table alone, his head on the table. He was tempted to sit with him, but after recalling their encounter that morning he decided against it.
He scanned the lunchroom again and found a table with a seat available.
"What are you doing?" Asked a boy when he sat down.
"E-eating lunch?"
"Not here you ain't!"
Mandark frowned, picked up his tray and left. He headed to another seat and was just met with a firm "Nope!"
He sighed and went to site against the wall and eat. After he took a bit of his burger, this seating arrangement didn't seem too bad. The only thing missing was social interaction.
Not just at lunch but in general. He was only really close to Lalavava and Computress. Lalavava was in a different grade so he only saw her on the way to and from school. Then Computress he only got to see after school.
He sighed and finished up.
After school he walked home with Lalavava.
"Why do teachers pile on homework on Fridays?" Lalavava grumbled.
"I can help you if you want."
"I can do it myself." Lalavava said. "It's probably too simple for that giant brain of yours anyway."
Mandark laughed a bit. "Right."
When they got home Windbear and Oceanbird were doing afternoon meditations. They both opened their eyes when they came in.
"Oh, hello lovechildren." Windbear greeted. "Would you care to join us in freeing our souls?"
"No." They both replied at the same time.
Windbear frowned. "Perhaps later then."
Lalavava and Mandark both headed upstairs; Lalavava to her room and Mandark to his lab. When he entered Computress looked up, and smiled. Mandark had noticed him hugging his knees and frowned. He sat beside him and put his arm around him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine." Computress said, turning towards him slightly, a small smile forming on his face. He snuggled Mandark's arm slightly as he relaxed. "Are you okay?"
Mandark bit his lip. "Yeah, I-I'm fine…." He sighed. "Just….fine…"
He got up and started working on something. Computress followed and watched as he worked. "What's this you're working on?"
Mandark looked back at Computress. "Just doing some normal calibrations, nothing special."
"Oh." Computress replied.
They made casual conversation before Mandark had to go to bed. Computress powered down as he exited his lab, yawned and got into bed.
He was about to fall asleep when his door opened. "Susan?"
"Mandark." He replied groggily and annoyed, hiding his head under the pillow.
Oceanbird came in and sat on the edge of his bed, removing the pillow. "Good Night Susan."
"Mandark."
She giggled a bit. "Did your odd science projects wear you out sweetie?"
"Odd?" Mandark asked, confused. "What do you mean by odd?"
"Well…" Oceanbird wasn't sure how to explain. "Science is an odd thing, it goes against the basis of nature..."
"Nature exists because of science!" Mandark protested.
Oceanbird was startled by his yelling, but quickly regained her composure. "Yes, but Susan-"
"Mandark."
"-that's not the science I meant. I meant all those gadgets and technology, it's not natural…"
"One of your 'lovechildren' is a computer." He replied flatly.
Oceanbird suddenly looked uncomfortable. "O-of course C-computress i-is the e-e-exception to that s-s-since he's p-part of the f-f-family…G-good night my l-love child...:"
She kissed his forehead before leaving. Mandark sighed angrily to himself and tried to sleep. I hate it here! Windbear and Oceanbird don't understand me at all! There's no way I can become as successful as my future self by staying here. I must go!
And with that, Mandark left. Only with a small bag and love of science on his side.
