Chapter 10 : Jealous? That's Ridiculous!
Penny Ling was sitting in a corner. She felt tears come to her eyes and didn't bother to wipe them away. The panda wanted to feel her fur grow soggy. It would remind her that she had done something terrible. She had really hurt Mango's feelings. Penny Ling remembered how she had felt when Pepper tried insult comedy out on her. She had cried then, and she cried now. Penny Ling felt like she should have said something but everyone else had loved the jokes. In fact, she felt ashamed to admit this, she had loved them as well. Now she was sitting in a corner feeling terrible for doing the same thing that Pepper had done to her to Mango. Groaning, Penny Ling chastised herself for not learning her lesson the first time.
Because she was busy scolding herself, she didn't notice when someone walked over to her. A purple paw lifted her chin up and soon she was gazing into the blue eyes of Zoe. Penny Ling sighed with relief. She knew Zoe would help be able to help her get over her horrible feeling. After all she was her friend. Penny Ling's face lit up for a moment before falling back under the dark cloud.
"Penny Ling, are you ok?" Zoe asked with great concern. She could feel her throat clogging as she struggled not to cry because of the expression on her friend's face.
"I'm just sad that I hurt Mango's feelings. I should have never laughed at those j-j-jokes! AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Penny Ling burst into a fit of tears.
"Penny please stop! I hate to see you cry. Oh, I feel so terrible. This is all my fault!" Zoe said as moisture beaded in the corner of her blue eyes.
"B-b-but y-you didn't d-do anyt-t-thing." Penny Ling said while wiping her eyes.
"But I did, I started this whole wolf mess." Zoe said with her head down and ears lowered. She could not bear to meet the panda's sorrowful gaze.
"W-what do you mean?" Penny Ling asked. She suddenly did not feel sad anymore.
"I overheard Mrs. Twombly talking to Mango's owners about what she was. She thought Mango was a fox too, but then I heard them say that Mango was a maned wolf. So I found a story with a wolf in it and put it next to Minka when she was painting." Zoe glanced up to see Penny Ling's reaction. Penny Ling was staring at her seriously, all traces of her earlier crying gone. Penny Ling folded her arms over her chest as she studied Zoe.
"Go on." Penny Ling said quietly.
Zoe took a deep breath and continued. "I was the one who asked Minka what she was holding so she would show us. I started the name calling by saying the wolf was horrid. I asked Mango why she cared about us insulting wolves because I knew she would say she was one. Then I named a story about a big, bad wolf so others would do the same. While we all were done hiding I walked over to Pepper and suggested she put on a show with wolf themed jokes."
"Why?" Penny Ling interrupted.
"I knew that if Mango heard us making fun of her she would leave. Then I could stop everyone from going to her. That way she would think we didn't care." Zoe finished with a sigh.
"Zoe, why would you do all this?" Penny Ling said, placing a paw on Zoe's shoulder.
"It was the singing contest. I lost, and she won. Wolves are supposed to be the most beautiful singers you know. If Mango stayed I would be… second. I couldn't stand it." Zoe growled. "So I tried to ruin all her friendships so she would leave, but she made it pretty clear that she's not leaving."
"Oh, Zoe, just because you lost one contest doesn't make you number two. You will always be our favorite singing dog." Penny Ling embraced Zoe in a bear hug.
"Oh, how could I have been so silly? Jealous? That's ridiculous!" Zoe said with a laugh when she broke off from the hug. Her ears perked up a little as she embraced the panda.
"Yeah." Penny Ling giggled. "Now you just need to tell Mango that you are sorry."
"Yeah, I just need to… wait what?" Zoe said with a look of shock on her face.