A/N: There are spoilers from the "Rhyme and Reason" two-parter for this chapter (the series finale), just to let you guys know.
Thanks to anonymous reviewers FluffyKitten, Guest, Hannah, Guest 27, and another Guest.
Super huge thanks to anonymous reviewer BookishOwl. Your review was one of the longest and most eloquently worded I've ever received. :') I reread it several times because it makes me really happy! And you're welcome to being Tobecky trash with me, lol.
Chapter Nine:
Promises, Schmomises
(Psst! Listen for the words underhanded and coincide)
"Last time, on WordGirl—"
"What?! Violet knows you're WordGirl?!" Scoops yelled and Becky quickly shushed him, looking side-to-side to make sure no one had heard him.
"…Or we could just cut right to the episode…. That works too," the Narrator said, sounding deflated.
The reporter grabbed Becky by the shoulders and shook her vigorously. "When did this happen?! Did you tell her I know?! Tell me everything!" he shouted, his eyes gleaming.
"Okay, okay!" she said and grabbed his arms. "Stop it!"
Scoops hunched his shoulders up, ashamed. "Sorry…."
She rubbed the bridge of her nose in exasperation.
He bit his lip and rocked on his heels, as if trying to contain himself, but it proved to be too much. He yelled, "But I'm just so excited, I could scream! Actually, I think I will! AAAAAAAAH!" He flailed around excitedly and almost knocked his hat off his head.
"Scoops!" Becky cried out, putting her hands to her ears. "Do you have to be so loud? Ugh…."
His eyes widened. "Oh, right, super-hearing." He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed.
After a moment or so, he asked, "So…how did she take it?"
Becky's eyes fell to the floor. "Well, she wasn't nearly as ecstatic as you were…. And…I didn't technically…tell her about it. She kinda just…found out." Thinking back to that day created knots in her stomach.
The ace reporter looked taken aback. "What? How?"
She gripped her backpack straps tighter and sighed. "It's kind of a long story…."
"A good reporter doesn't run from any story, no matter how long it may be!" he declared dramatically.
The superheroine smiled at him and took a deep breath. "Alright…."
"Hey, you two!" Violet greeted them as she approached their lockers.
"Oh! Good morning, Violet! Wow, you've got good timing," Scoops commented.
The blonde furrowed her eyebrows. "I do?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Becky's about to tell me how you found out she's WordGirl."
He was being so nonchalant about it, Becky wanted to smack him. She hadn't told Violet that Scoops knew too, and wasn't sure how she'd take this information.
Violet met her eyes and the superheroine jolted. Noticing her friend's tension, the blonde put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Becky, it's okay. We can tell Scoops the story together."
Becky blinked. "You're…You're not mad?" she wondered, her eyes wide.
Violet looked away, clasping her hands behind her back. "Well, maybe a little bit…. But I'm sure you and Scoops will tell me how he found out your secret. So…it's fine." She took a deep breath and smiled.
Scoops grabbed the young artist by the shoulders and exclaimed, "I'm so glad you know now, Violet! You won't believe how hard it was to keep this from you!"
She blinked several times in astonishment then smiled at him. She removed his hands from his shoulders and intertwined them with her own. "It's alright, Scoops. I'm fine now."
A faint blush spread across his cheeks as he gave her a dopey grin. At this, Becky turned away. She was getting over Scoops, but it still hurt to see him act that way around Violet. She couldn't help but feel jealous, even if she wished the both of them all the happiness in the world.
She cleared her throat and the two looked over at her. Without looking back at them, she asked, "So…do you wanna start, Violet?"
"Oh…sure…. So Becky and I were taking photographs of nature, and…."
"A few moments later…" the Narrator began. "I'm starting to feel like my appearances lately just coincide with transitions…."
Tobey had his nose buried in a book about robot repairs when the three of them walked in. Much to his disdain, his heart leapt when he heard a familiar, enchanting laugh and he involuntarily looked up.
Of course it was Becky Botsford and her friends, babbling away about something. He scowled, glaring down at his book again.
These past few months, what with Katy's birthday party, that Thanksgiving dinner at her house, and the incident with her missing library book, she had unintentionally given him a great handful of evidence that she was indeed WordGirl. It almost amused him how terrible she was at covering up her secret identity.
But now….
Now he didn't know what to do. Now that he had all this evidence, he wasn't even sure what to do with it.
Before, there had been a line between Becky Botsford and WordGirl. Becky was one person, and WordGirl was another. Then the line became thinner and thinner until it was hard to tell if there was ever a line at all.
Tobey glanced over at her desk. Even if he was certain they were the same person, the images of WordGirl and Becky Botsford just could not coincide in his mind. They still felt…separate.
He sighed and looked back to his book. He shouldn't even be thinking about this. It was useless if he wanted to keep his end of their promise. He needed to focus on more important things like—
"…WordGirl."
Tobey sat up straight. Did he hear her right? Was Becky Botsford talking about WordGirl?
He leaned over a little closer to her desk, straining to hear. All he could catch was unintelligible murmuring at first, then….
"…flew away…Huggyface…robot…."
His eyes widened. That conversation they were having sounded very suspicious. He straightened and pretended to busy himself with taking out his homework. There had to be some way to listen to them….
He accidentally elbowed his pencil and it rolled off his desk onto the floor. He almost cursed his clumsiness when he realized it was rolling right under Becky's desk. His eyes gleamed. This was his chance!
The boy genius reached for his pencil and tried to hear whatever Becky was saying.
"…as WordGirl—"
Yes! It was working!
"Wait, Becky, I think Tobey just dropped something."
No!
Becky turned to look at him and he instinctively drew his hand away. He tried to look less like a deer in headlights by scowling. She glanced down at her feet and picked up his pencil.
"Here, Tobey." She offered it to him but he only glared at it.
He exhaled angrily and snatched it from her, mentally cursing himself for even coming up with such a ridiculous scheme.
The bell rang then, and Becky looked back at her friends. "So…talk to you guys later?"
"Sure. And I'm gonna need three more comments from you!" Scoops reminded her before taking a seat.
The boy genius put a hand to his temple and repressed a groan.
"Ooooh, tough luck, Tobey," the Narrator commented.
The boy genius dropped his head on his desk and said nothing else.
"Uh…. Meanwhile, on the other side of town…." The camera panned over to the bank.
The Butcher kicked the front door open and yelled, "Nobody move or I'll bury ya in pastrami!"
Besides the two bank tellers, there was only one other person there…and she was pointing a pair of knitting needles at a blonde teller. His eyes widened. "Granny May?!" he exclaimed, putting his hands down. "What're you doin' here?"
The elderly villain wrapped the teller up in purple yarn before whirling around to face him. "What am I doin' here? What're you doin' here?" she demanded.
He frowned. "Uh…robbin' the bank…."
She scowled at this. "Oh no, you're not! I told everybody at the last Villain Convention that I planned to rob the bank this week!"
The Butcher scratched his chin in thought. "That musta been when I fell asleep…" he said with a shrug.
"Ya fell asleep when I was announcin' my crime plans?" she yelled, incredulous. "Butcha, you know why we make those plans! It's so villain plans don't coincide with one another!" she shouted angrily.
"Well, yeah, but ya see, the little girl that watches my pet cat, Lil' Mittens, gave 'im back to me for a week like we agreed on, and the night before the convention, Lil' Mittens kept gettin' himself stuck in high places. It got really late before he got tired and went to sleep. So, yeah, I was exhosted, okay?" he explained, crossing his arms defensively.
"The word's exhausted, Butcha," Granny May grumbled. "And you should get goin'. I'm robbin' the bank today!"
He pouted. "Aw…but I already made my threat and everythin'…."
"That's not my problem," she stated shortly and started bagging money.
"But—"
"Stop right there, Granny May! And, uh, Meat Guy! You can subtract this bank from your crime-filled equation!" a voice shouted from behind The Butcher.
He blinked and turned around, not recognizing the voice. A little boy in blue superhero get-up hovered near the entrance of the bank, just above The Butcher's eye-level.
The villain stared at him in confusion and asked, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who're you?"
The little boy cheerfully announced, "My name is Kid Math!" Glancing back at The Butcher, he asked, "And…who are you? Are you a villain?"
The villain looked offended. "Am I a villain? 'f cou'se I'm a villain! I'm one of the biggest villains in this city! I'm The Butcher!"
He shook his head and asked, looking hurt, "Anyway, how come you knew about Granny May and not me?"
"We've run into each other a few times before…" Granny May piped up from behind him.
"Huh…." The villain crossed his arms and asked, "So you takin' over WordGirl's gig now?"
The small superhero waved his hands dismissively. "Oh no! I, Kid Math, am here to balance this city's superhero to supervillain ratio!" he announced proudly.
The Butcher stared at him, uncomprehending. "You're here ta…what now?"
"Balance this city's superhero to supervillain ratio!" he repeated and hovered closer to The Butcher. "When this city only had WordGirl, there was only one superhero fighting all the villains in this city! But one superhero can't handle lots of villains all on her own! It's unequal! And that's why I, Kid Math, am here! To help WordGirl stop the villains when she can't!"
The Butcher raised an eyebrow. "Whaddya mean 'when she can't'?"
"She has a life, you know," the Narrator pointed out.
Granny May snorted from behind The Butcher. "I'm too old to be dealin' with this nonsense," she muttered and aimed her knitting needles at Kid Math.
Purple yarn shot out of them and wrapped itself in a tight cocoon around the little superhero. He fell to the ground and wriggled around angrily. "Don't count this as a victory, Granny May!" he exclaimed and scooted on the ground like an inchworm.
The elderly villain smirked as she walked past him. "Easiest victory ever, I'd say," she retorted.
Just then, Kid Math snapped his yarn confines, a victorious grin on his face. "Ha ha! Well, you thought wrong!" he declared.
"Ham-a-lanche!" The Butcher shouted and a barrage of meat rained down on top of Kid Math.
A faint "Mmph!" came from under the pile of ham and The Butcher laughed.
"Ya might wanna recalcupate that, Math Shrimp!" he taunted, leaning towards the pile of meat with a grin.
The pile shifted a little as Kid Math struggled to break free. "That's recalculate, Butcher! And my name's not Math Shrimp! It's Kid—"
Granny May shot more purple yarn at the ham before he could burst out at the last second.
"Hey! Why is it harder to move around in this pile of ham?" Kid Math asked. "I can't…get out!"
The Butcher turned around incredulously, only to see Granny May grinning as she twirled her knitting needles expertly in both hands and put them back in her hair. He returned the smile and said, "'ey, nice!"
"Thank you, dearie," she said with a nod.
He scratched the back of his neck. "I guess I can rob some other joint then. I mean, I ain't picky."
The elderly villain rolled her eyes. "I hope our robbery plans don't coincide again…" she muttered as she walked away.
Jazzy music began to play then as Granny May rushed off to Reginald's jewelry store, only to find The Butcher burying the clerk in chicken pot pies when she got there. He gave her an uneasy grin, stepping aside to let her rob the store instead.
She rolled her eyes, took a few pricy diamonds, then left, with The Butcher awkwardly trailing after her.
She hit the store that sold gold items next. Granny May acted as if she couldn't reach some item on a higher shelf and, when the cashier went to help her, The Butcher burst in with an evil laugh.
The cashier shrieked. Granny May quickly took her perfume bottle out of her purse and sprayed it at the clerk before he could hit the WordGirl alarm. Unfortunately, The Butcher got a whiff of the perfume and began coughing along with the cashier.
She slapped a hand to her face and had to drag him out before he could faint.
The scene cut to her chatting up the grocery store manager in an attempt to rob him with fake coupons. The Butcher walked in and wasted no time in summoning a Hamburger Hurricane.
Unfortunately, his attack swept up Granny May as well. She kicked out from under the pile of meat and the grocery store manager, up to his chin in hamburger patties, shook his head at him. The Butcher scratched the back of his neck and pulled at her feet to free her.
Once she was on her own two feet again, she was seething, not noticing a patty still rested on top of her head. The Butcher swept it off quickly and gave her a thumbs-up.
She rubbed the bridge of her nose and, grabbing her stolen groceries, stormed out.
The Butcher and the grocery store manager exchanged glances before the villain heaved a sigh and followed after her.
The montage music ended then and the scene cut over to Tobey picking at his lunch tray, deep in thought.
I'm not going to be able to rest until I figure out a solution to this dilemma. I'm not so underhanded as to break our promise, but I need just a little shred of something to finally convince me that Becky is WordGirl. Then I can just leave it alone and go back to living my life.
He straightened his back when an idea formed in his mind.
It seems…the only way to get close enough to Botsford to gather that last bit of evidence is…to…. He gulped nervously. Associate with her.
He scowled. But how am I supposed to do that? It's not like an excuse to be near her is just going to walk right up to me and—
"'ey, kid, didn'tcha read the sign?" a janitor next to him asked suddenly, and he jumped.
He glared at him and grumbled, "What sign?"
The janitor pointed at a piece of paper taped to his lunch table that read: "Tables on the right side of the cafeteria cannot be used. We need to scrape the gum off the bottom of these tables. -Cleaning Staff P.S. This could be the excuse you're looking for to sit next to a new friend!"
The boy genius raised an eyebrow. "You think I would've seen that…."
The janitor gave a lazy shrug. "You think…."
Tobey rolled his eyes and began heading over to Becky's table. "I can't believe an excuse to talk to Botsford actually walked right up to me…" he mumbled to no one in particular.
"There was literally a sign on the table," the Narrator pointed out.
The boy genius scowled. "I said I didn't see it…."
"Hey, you said you needed an excuse. Well, now you have one."
Tobey took a deep breath then dumped his lunch next to Becky's, making her jolt. This surprise quickly turned to confusion then guarded suspicion.
Scoops and Violet just looked puzzled. Then again, he didn't really anticipate the two airheads from suspecting much from him. The only real person he needed to worry about was Becky.
His eyes flickered between all of them. "Afternoon, chums," he greeted and sat down.
"Hi," Violet replied when no one else said anything.
He glanced at Becky and rolled his eyes. "Oh, please, Botsford. I wouldn't sit here if I had any other choice. The janitors are just scrapping the gum from under the table I usually sit at. They made me move here."
She gave him a once-over then shrugged. She turned back to Violet and began, "So, anyway, we need to talk to Rose after school. We need to let her know that you know that…."
Her eyes flickered over to Tobey, who looked puzzled. She sighed and made a rolling motion with her hand. "You know…."
Violet gave her a strained smile. "Okay, Becky. Sounds fine."
The superheroine seemed oblivious to her friend's tension and smiled back. "Great!"
Scoops, on the other hand, did notice. He sat up a little straighter, then said, "So there's this new art exhibit coming to the museum next week. Guess what it is?"
As he had hoped, Violet perked up. "Oh! I know! The museum is going to showcase some ancient, greasy vases!"
Tobey furrowed his eyebrows. "Don't you mean Ancient Greece?"
She shook her head. "No, I meant greasy. They're made out of meat," she explained.
Becky wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Yuck! That sounds awful…."
"It's not awful, Becky! It's art! Ancient, greasy art," Violet muttered with a far-off look on her face.
Scoops continued, "Yeah, and I heard they're in the back of the museum right now. Pretty sure The Butcher's gonna try and steal them."
"Well, that is his thing," Tobey pointed out with a roll of his eyes.
"WordGirl will stop him. She always does," Becky said, trying not to show how proud she was of this fact.
Suddenly, she heard a faint "WordGirl! Heeeeeeelp!" coming from what sounded like the museum.
"Already? That was fast…" she mumbled.
"Hm, it's almost like whenever someone talks about something happening this episode, it happens," the Narrator said, sounding amused.
She waved dismissively at him. "Oh, c'mon. Talking about The Butcher and this crime coinciding is just random chance."
"If you say so."
She stood up and announced, "I'm gonna go figh—" She stopped herself when she remembered that Tobey was with them. He stared at her with a curious expression while Scoops and Violet urged for her to get a move on. It was honestly a huge relief to have the both of them know…and have them help her lie.
"Go...f-find Bob!" she stated quickly and dashed out of the cafeteria.
WordGirl zoomed by the bank and saw a pile of meat outside. Her eyes widened. She hadn't heard the alarm, which could only mean….
The superheroine stopped right in front of the pile and inspected it closely. It was wrapped in purple yarn and—
"You…urgh…won't get away with this!" a muffled voice said from under the meat.
"Wait…I know that voice…" WordGirl muttered then called out, "Kid Math, is that you under there?"
"WordGirl! There are exactly fifty-two hams on top of me, and I can't get out!" he yelled anxiously.
She started pulling at the yarn surrounding the ham. "Okay, hold on—Wait, how do you know how many hams are on top of you?" she wondered, raising an eyebrow.
It was silent for a moment, then he replied, "I've been stuck under here for a while."
She stared at the pile bewilderedly before she shook her head and snapped the yarn, causing the hams to tumble down.
Kid Math soared upwards and stretched, feeling relieved. "Whew! Thanks, WordGirl! Glad I could count on you for help!" he said, beaming at her.
"So…judging by this yarn and the meat, I'm guessing Granny May and The Butcher teamed up? And set an underhanded trap, at that." She kicked at the meat pile.
"Underhanded?" Kid Math asked, tilting his head.
Her eyes widened. "Oh! Underhanded means sly or deceitful. Like how trapping you with both meat and really strong yarn was underhanded because you probably haven't handled a team-up before. Add that to the fact that most of the city knows you're still new, and that's just downright mean. Cheating at a card game is also underhanded."
"Oooooh, I get it now!" the small superhero exclaimed.
She turned around and said, "C'mon, I heard someone cry for help at the museum! They've gotta be there! Word up!"
Kid Math zoomed up after her, shouting confidently, "Your number's up!"
"Granny May, look, I'm runnin' outta places to rob here. Can't you just let me rob the museum? I mean, they got some meat vases in the back I want," The Butcher grumbled as blasted the museum curator with meatballs.
She turned to scowl at him after wrapping up the security guard in yarn. "No! I told you I'm robbin' the museum! And if ya had just stayed awake at the last Villain Convention to hear my crime plans in the first place, none of our robberies would've coincided today!"
"Look, I don't appezeate what yer insimmerating here, Granny May," he said and put his hands on his hips.
The elderly villain narrowed her eyes. "Uh…what?"
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, I know you got the whole old-lady-thing goin' on—"
Granny May scowled. "It's not that I can't hear you. I can't understand what yer tryin'a tell me!"
"Well, I hope you understand me when I say you're both going to jail!" a voice sounded from behind The Butcher.
He whipped around, astonished. "WordGirl!" he growled.
A blue streak of light rushed in and Granny May gasped, "Kid Math too?!"
He smiled triumphantly. "Uh-huh! WordGirl plus Kid Math is greater than—"
"Any villain team-up!" WordGirl finished with a proud smile.
Granny May looked taken aback. "What? We're not teaming up! Our robberies just kept coinciding with each other, is all."
"Yeah!" The Butcher frowned. "Wait, what?"
WordGirl explained, "Coinciding. When two things coincide, they happen at the same time. Like how the last day of October coincides with Halloween, or how your robberies coincided because you two wanted to rob the same places at the same time…I guess."
He perked up a little at learning this new word. "Oh. Thanks!"
She returned his smile. "Yeah, no problem."
"Actually, there is a bit of a problem, dear," Granny May declared in a sugary voice.
WordGirl raised an eyebrow. "Really? What is it?"
"This!" the elderly villain shouted and aimed her knitting needles at the superheroine. Purple yarn shot towards her and—
"Ha!" Kid Math shouted and pushed her out of the way, taking the fall.
She gasped as he fell to the floor in a fuzzy heap and yelled, "Oh no! Kid Math!"
No sooner had she called out to him than The Butcher bellowed, "Sausage Cyclone!"
WordGirl hastily dodged the sausage links with a little yell, then glared at him. "Hey!" she protested.
Granny May shot more yarn at her. She only narrowly avoided the attack before looking down at Kid Math wriggling around on the floor.
She groaned. "Ugh, of all the days for Huggy to stay home! And all to see that silly soap opera marathon!"
The scene cut to Bob staring at the T.V. with tears in his eyes. Several crumpled tissues lay strewn around him and he blew his nose into another one as he continued crying.
"Ugh, Kid Math! I could use some help here!" she shouted as she avoided several steaks flying toward her.
"Will this be the end of WordGirl? Will Kid Math break free from his yarn cocoon? Will I ever get a bigger part in this story?" the Narrator asked.
"Kid Math!" WordGirl yelled, exasperated.
The smaller superhero rolled around and spewed, "Oh no! I'm caught in this trap, while I watch helplessly on as—"
"What are you doing?!" she roared.
He glanced up at her, confused. "Well, you told me to pretend to be trapped to build suspense—"
"Forget about that right now! Drop the soliloquy and help me before—"
"Meatball Mayhem!"
A hail of meatballs suddenly rained down on her and she screamed. She struggled to a sitting position and coughed out a few meatballs before glaring up at The Butcher.
"I thought you said you weren't teaming up…" she grumbled and coughed out another meatball.
The Butcher shrugged. "I mean, we don't wanna go ta jail."
"Well, I've gotta be goin' now, dears, so ta-ta!" Granny May exclaimed and hit a button on her pearl necklace. Her mechanical flying suit assembled around her and she took off, leaving a trail of smoke after her.
The Butcher glanced at the two trapped superheroes then bolted for the exit.
"Are we gonna let them get away?" Kid Math wondered, looking over at WordGirl with a curious expression.
"Nope," she replied and flew out of the pile of meatballs after the villains.
Kid Math snapped the yarn surrounding him and followed after her. "Do you have a plan? It's not logical to go against two supervillains without a plan," he advised her.
"Yeah. Can you get The Butcher while I take care of Granny May? And no pretending to be trapped to build suspense anymore. We just don't have the time for that in an eleven-minute episode."
"You can count on me!" he declared and flew off.
The superheroine followed the trail of smoke Granny May's suit left behind and soon found herself flying over the elderly villain. She reached down, removed her jetpack, then grabbed her wrist before she could fall to the ground.
"Aw, fiddlesticks!" the elderly villain shouted in frustration before WordGirl flew the both of them back to the museum, where a bunch of police cars had already gathered. She gave Granny May and her bag of stolen goods over to the officers and saw that Kid Math had done the same with the Butcher.
The superheroes smiled triumphantly and gave each other high-fives before zooming away.
They landed just in front of the school, a flash of light behind a tree indicating they had changed back into their regular clothes.
"Well, I gotta get back to my other friends. It was nice having you help me, though, Becky!" Rex said with a grateful smile.
"Likewise! And it's great that you're getting a hang of the whole superhero thing!" she replied with a nod.
He beamed at her then waved goodbye as he wandered off to his lunch table.
"Hey, Becky. Where's Bob?" Violet asked as soon as she came back.
"Bob?" she repeated, looking confused.
Scoops cleared his throat and she glanced at him. He tilted his head to the right, his eyes continuously flickering to Tobey. She understood what he meant and gave him a slight nod as thanks.
"Oh, right. He wanted to go home early because he didn't wanna miss his soap opera," she explained, taking her seat next to the boy genius.
It was then she noticed a bunch of papers scattered around and she raised an eyerbrow. "Tobey, what's all this?" she wondered.
He didn't look up at her when he snapped, "None of your business, Becky."
She frowned at him. "Well, sorry I asked."
"You should be sorry because I lost my place because of you! Now I have to start all over again…" he grumbled, putting a hand to his temple.
As aggravating as his words were, she couldn't help but be curious as to what the papers were for. Upon further investigation, she noticed that he was scribbling furiously in a notebook, only pausing to look at a book in front of him or to pick up one of the scraps of paper and compare it to what he had written.
Something written on one of the papers caught her eye and she blurted out, "Is that a two or a seven?"
Tobey glared at her. "What?"
She pointed at a sheet full of calculations under his elbow. "There. That number. It should be two, right? But here…." She pointed further down the page. "It looks like you put in seven instead of two, so your answer's off."
His eyes widened and he picked up the paper, leaning closer to study it carefully. He blinked in surprise when he realized she was right.
Rather than thanking her, he muttered, "Curse my sloppy handwriting. I can't believe I made such an idiotic error." He crumpled several pieces of paper and tossed them into the trashcan with a sigh. "That explains a lot…."
Seeming to realize something, he looked at her warily and asked, "Wait, how could you tell my answer was off?"
Becky shrugged. "I didn't read Complicated Robotics for the Advanced Engineer for nothing."
He stared at her for a few seconds then focused on his notebook again. "You do realize you just helped me in building a robut," he pointed out, his tone sounding neutral.
"Well, I kind of figured. Why else would you be working so hard?"
The boy genius blinked. "And you helped me anyway? You're not the least bit concerned that this robut could very well destroy the city?" he asked, looking incredulous.
Becky couldn't help but smirk. "No, because I know WordGirl's going to stop it no matter what." She glanced down at his notes and added, "And besides, those are designs for a robot chef."
He flushed at this and snapped his notebook closed. "Stop looking at my notes, you nosy fool."
"What're you building a robot chef for? Doesn't your mom cook for you?"
His expression soured. "No. Not that it's any of your business, anyway."
"Why not?"
He rolled his eyes. "Why do you care? And enough with the interrogation already. You're starting to sound like Miss Question." He turned his attention back to his work, annoyed.
Before she could respond, the lunch bell rang. Tobey quickly gathered his things, shoved them in his backpack, and walked off without another word.
Becky scowled. "Geez, what's his problem? Those were innocent enough questions…."
Scoops raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that how you two usually talk?"
She pouted. "Well, yeah, but I thought we were starting to get on better terms. He's much more tolerable to talk to than he was a year ago, at least," she muttered with a shrug.
"He seems the same to me…."
She opened her mouth to protest but stopped short. Was she about to defend Tobey, of all people?
Then again, she knew she was right. As odd as this was for her to say, Scoops didn't know Tobey the way she did. He didn't know that Tobey acted much brattier a year ago, and that he only seemed ruder now because he chose to speak up more around his classmates. In fact, she found his sarcasm almost amusing.
He had calmed down considerably in the last year alone, which, if she was honest, impressed her. He was less focused on beating WordGirl and more on his passion for building robots. She had noticed that his robots had become more formidable, even if she would never admit it to anyone.
He had shown her that he was more trustworthy, too. And his latest attacks on the city seemed to coincide with his being provoked into it, even if some of his reasons were petty.
Scoops didn't really capture that aspect of Tobey in his newspaper articles. Or…any of the aspects of Tobey that she knew of, really.
She wouldn't necessarily say that the boy genius had grown. In some ways, he was still the same, irritating boy that was way too full of himself.
But there was something about him lately that drew her towards him. She couldn't put her finger on what that was, however.
"Anyway, thanks for covering for me back there, guys."
"No problem, Becky! You're out there fighting bad guys! Even if it isn't much, we'd like to help you any way we can," Violet said and gave her friend a thumbs-up.
The superheroine smiled at her friends. "Thanks. You two really are the best friends I could ever ask for."
Just as the trio got in their seats, Miss Davis looked over at the class and announced, "Now, class, as many of you know, this school year is unfortunately going to end soon."
Wails of protest sounded throughout the room and many of the students looked mournful.
She waved at them to be quiet. "I know. I know. I don't want this year to end either. It's been such a pleasure teaching all of you bright kids. It's definitely been one of the most…eventful years in all my years of teaching."
Her eyes flickered to Tobey and Becky for a moment before she continued, "But we're not done yet! You all have one final project to do, and then you can consider yourselves practically graduated!"
She started handing out packets of papers to her students as she explained, "It'll be a group project, so you can work with your friends! Four people maximum in a group, alright?"
Becky looked over the packet with a small frown. "Wait, Miss Davis?" she asked, raising her hand.
"Yes, Becky?"
"This says we're doing a book report. How are we supposed to do a book report with four people?"
Her teacher's eyes gleamed. "Right, I'm getting to that. See, the school is requiring a book report as a final project for sixth graders, and I thought that was kinda boring. It doesn't really end the year off with a bang, you know? So I thought I'd make it more fun by adding another piece to it."
She picked up her copy of the packet and read off, "'In addition to a two-page book report about a book of your group's choice…yada, yada…. Oh! Here! Turn to the second page, everyone!
"You get to tell the class about the book your group chose, in any way you like! You can perform a skit of a chapter from the book, you can make a Powerpoint presentation, build a diorama, whatever! As long as it demonstrates that you all read your book and it's within legal limits." She looked pointedly at Tobey and added, "That means no giant robots dueling with lampposts so you can reenact the last scene of Hamlet, Tobey."
He rolled his eyes but said nothing to this.
"Okay, so for the remainder of the day, I want you guys to form your groups and decide what you're going to do for your project. I'm just gonna take a nap at my desk, but you can wake me if you need anything," Miss Davis stated and collapsed in her chair. She soon began snoring lightly, and this signaled the students to start working.
Becky stood up and instantly wandered to Violet's desk. Scoops soon joined her and asked, "So what book are we gonna do our project on?"
"Princess Triana! One of the Princess Triana books!" Becky shouted excitedly.
Violet nodded. "Oh, I love those books!"
"I haven't read the books, but I've seen the movies," Scoops added with a shrug.
Becky's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Alright! This project is gonna be so fun!"
"What's going to be fun, Botsford?" a familiar voice asked from behind her. She whirled around, startled, only to come face-to-face with Tobey.
"Oh…. Uh, hi, Tobey…" she greeted awkwardly.
He hummed in response. His attention then flickered to Violet and he asked, "So, what book are we doing for this project?"
Before she could respond, Becky cut in, "Wait, we? What do you mean, we?"
"Miss Davis told me I couldn't work alone, and the other groups are full," he replied, not looking at her.
After a moment of silence, Becky sighed and said, "We were thinking one of the Princess Triana books. I know you've read them, so, uh, which book do you think we should do?"
He perked up a little. "Oh! Hm…." He put a hand to his chin in thought. "The first one, perhaps? You know, just in case someone in our class hasn't read the series yet."
Her eyes widened. "Wow, that's…awfully considerate of you…."
Tobey frowned. "What? I just don't want anyone who hasn't read the series to gape like an imbecile at our presentation if we chose a book from later in the series. They won't understand what's going on," he explained.
"Aaaand there goes that last shred of good opinion I had of you," she grumbled, rolling her eyes.
He smirked. "Hmph, good riddance."
She deadpanned. "You wanna wave it off?" she wondered sarcastically.
His smirk only grew. "Perhaps I should give it a eulogy." He cleared his throat and began solemnly, "Farewell, Becky's good opinions about me. You will be remembered fondly, and—"
Becky shoved at him playfully, trying not to laugh. "Stop."
A more genuine smile crossed his face then. "Hm, perhaps they're not gone, after all."
She blinked. "Huh?"
"Hey, Becky!" Violet called out and she looked over in surprise. "We should rewatch the first Princess Triana movie at your house. Scoops just told me he doesn't remember much about it, and I don't have any of the movies."
Becky grinned. "Yeah! Oh…wait…." She looked over at Tobey.
He immediately scowled. "What? Am I not invited? Because—"
She waved her hands in front of her frantically. "No, no, no! I mean, yes, you are invited, but you gotta remember to call your mom first. Remember…um…the last time…."
His eyes widened and he looked away. "O-Oh, right. The last time…."
He took his phone out of his pocket, but, before he could even unlock it, Becky scolded, "You can't tell her now! We're in class!"
Tobey rolled his eyes. "Miss Davis is asleep. Besides, she said we were to work on our projects until the day is done. This is technically for our project, yes?" he asked.
"Well, yeah, but—"
"I just texted her."
Becky blinked. "Wait, already?"
A little blip on Tobey's phone indicated he had received a text back. He scanned over it and looked up at her again. "She said it's fine."
"Oh, well, okay." She stared at his phone for a few seconds then asked, "Hey, can I use that? I wanna call my dad and tell him that you guys are coming over. He might make popcorn or something."
He smirked as he offered the phone to her. "Oh, look who's breaking the rules now," he taunted.
"Be quiet. Anyway, it is for our project…" she said as she dialed her number.
It rang for a few seconds before her dad's voice answered cheerfully, "You've reached the Botsford residence! This is Tim Botsford speaking."
"Hi, Dad!" she greeted.
"Becky? How are you calling me? And aren't you still in school, young lady?" he asked, sounding stern.
"Well, yeah. Long story short, we've been assigned a group project and my group is coming over to our house later to watch the first Princess Triana movie. …Yes, it's part of our project. It's a book report…. No, it's due in two weeks, so Scoops doesn't have enough time to…. Oh, me, Violet, Scoops, and Tobey…. I'm using his phone, actually. …Yes, Miss Davis said it was okay as long as it was for our project…. Uh-huh…. Yeah…. Sounds awesome! Okay, love you too! Bye!"
She hung up and handed the phone back to Tobey. "He said he'd make caramel corn for everyone while we watch. Oh, and, uh, he's gonna join us in watching the movie," she explained, looking embarrassed.
Remembering something, she looked over at Scoops and Violet and shouted, "Oh! Wait, don't you have to tell Rose that, um, that thing?"
Violet furrowed her eyebrows. "Oh yeah. Well, you and Tobey can go on ahead and we'll catch up later. I'm sure it won't take long, anyway."
Scoops pursed his lips. "Should take five…ten minutes. Depends on how long we can sum up Violet's story to her. Just don't start the movie without us, okay?"
"Sure. Wait, are we gonna take your robot to my house again?" she asked, looking at Tobey.
He raised an eyebrow. "Well, why wouldn't we? I'm certainly not going to walk all the way to your house."
"Exercise is good for you, Tobey."
He rolled his eyes. "Ah, yes. I love sweating and having sore muscles."
She snorted at that bit of sarcasm.
It was then the bell rang, and the group dispersed to pack up their things.
Why is Tobey so easy to get along with now? It's so strange. Before I wanted nothing to do with him, but….
She peeked behind her and saw him packing up diligently. He wasn't angrily muttering about being stuck in her group or even showing any attitude about it, really. He seemed surprisingly complacent. Weird.
He's actually okay being in a group with me? Even if he hates my guts?
Something he had said to her two weeks ago flashed in her mind then.
"'You don't feel uncomfortable being alone with me?'"
Back then, she wasn't sure what he had been asking. Now, however….
Does he…want to be my friend? she wondered, turning to fully face him. Is he uncomfortable around me because he wants to be my friend but doesn't know how? Is that why he keeps popping up everywhere?
Becky frowned. But…why's he holding back?
Her eyes widened and she gripped her backpack straps tighter. It's because of my end of the promise. Even if he tried to be my friend, our promise prevents me from even trying to reciprocate that friendship.
She scowled. That's ridiculous! I can't just ignore someone who wants a friend! And if that friend could be me, then all the better!
Tobey zipped his backpack closed and thought, I don't know if this project will even result in success, but I do know that this is my one and only chance to find out, once and all, if Becky Botsford really is WordGirl….
They both sighed and the boy genius turned to face her.
She exhaled slowly and gave him an awkward smile. Well, I'm about to completely shatter our promise. But you know what? she thought, as if challenging that.
He returned the smile, looking puzzled as to why she was beaming at him.
Her smile grew more genuine then.
Promise, schmomise.
A/N: Boom. The Tobecky train is on full throttle, folks. You're welcome.
Also, technically, Tobey isn't breaking his promise. He promised he'd stop bothering Becky about it, and, well, he's not pestering her about it. He's taking his own initiative this time. Ironic that it was the superheroine that's gonna break her promise and not the supervillain, hm? :P
Aaaaand we get an appearance by Kid Math. :) You could say there were…countless math puns in this chapter because of him. 8) Okay, that was bad, I'll stop. XD
