It had been a particularly rough week for Carl. After Adelaide showed him up at his karate class, he was looking to rebound; he went about his daily life grasping at any victory, however small, that would let him reassure himself that he was still cool. Unfortunately, his efforts only backfired. His sparring sessions with Breakfast Bot were little more than exercises in pain. His grades for the week were mediocre at best, and his attempt to sweet talk his teacher into bumping them up was met with laughter and derision. On some nights he tried to blow off steam with a few rounds of Muscle Fish Online, only to get, as the young people say, "rekt".

All of this culminated in one dreary Saturday afternoon. After joylessly eating his lunch, he went outside to take a walk, reasoning that maybe some fresh air would cheer him up and help clear his head. His walk, as it turned out, wouldn't take him any farther than a few dozen feet, before he realized that he didn't have the motivation to do anything but sit by himself and sulk. And that's exactly what he did, taking a seat on the curb - right next to the bins that had been left outside for trash pickup.

How appropriate, he thought.

For the next ten to twenty minutes, he sat there with his head down, marinating in his own sadness. His feelings were only reinforced by the fact that nobody was bothering to come out to check on him.

Nobody, that is, until Adelaide Chang happened to skip by him. She was on the way to deliver a foil-covered plate of mole poblano, which her parents had made as a Cinco de Mayo gift for the Casagrandes. While she enjoyed the company of everyone from that family, Carl was the one she felt closest to; she'd always look forward to seeing his cheeky, gap-toothed smile and hearing that adorably haughty laugh.

It perturbed her, then, to see the normally energetic boy sitting alone in stony silence.

"Oh, hi, Carl. What are you doing out here?"

He sighed, not even bothering to look up at her. "I'm garbage, so I'm waiting to be picked up with the other garbage."

Adelaide raised an eyebrow at him, unsure if this was some sort of joke that he wasn't letting her in on.

"That doesn't sound like much fun," she said.

"Nope," said Carl, looking down at the street in front of him. "But that's the way it is."

Her forehead wrinkled with concern as she saw his head sink back down. Her gaze momentarily shifted towards the Casagrande house - her intended destination - before she decided that she wouldn't feel right leaving Carl alone in such a state. She put down the plate of mole poblano and took a seat on the curb next to him.

"How about I join you, then?" she asked with a smile. "We could both be garbage."

Carl gave his head a weary shake from side to side. "But you're not garbage. You're incredible."

Adelaide giggled, taken off guard by the compliment, but decided to double down. "Not today!" she chirped, letting herself fall backwards onto the sidewalk. "Today I'm garbage!"

He rolled his eyes, but decided that he'd have no choice but to humor her, as he lacked both the energy and the willpower to make her go away.

"If you insist."

Adelaide wriggled around on the sidewalk a bit, getting herself comfortable, before turning on her side to face Carl.

"So what kind of garbage are you?" she asked. "I'm a candy wrapper."

Carl sighed, as he was hoping that this was going to be a silent affair. Alas, no such luck.

"I dunno," he said. "I'll be a soda can."

"Oh, really? Why a soda can?"

"'Cause I like soda, I guess," he said with a shrug. "Why are you a candy wrapper?"

"Because I'm sweet," she said, snickering at her own joke.

He rolled his eyes again, but let the remark pass without comment.

"So what does garbage do all day, anyway?" she asked.

"It doesn't do anything," he said matter-of-factly. "It's garbage. It just sits around and waits to be taken to the dump."

"Sounds like a plan!"

With that, she retook her position - lying back-first on the sidewalk - and Carl, with nothing better to do, decided to join her. The sidewalk felt a bit rough against his scalp, since his short haircut didn't provide as much cushioning as Adelaide's hair did. To compensate, he folded his arms behind his head. For the next few minutes, they lied side-by-side, staring up at the clear blue sky and basking in the warmth of the midday sun. Up until this point, Carl hadn't allowed himself to appreciate what a gorgeous day it was. And now he could enjoy it uninterrupted, with barely a sound, save the occasional passing car or chirping pigeon.

His eyes drifted towards Adelaide - sweet little Adelaide - who was resting with her eyes closed, giggling softly as the afternoon breeze tickled her hair. A small smile snuck its way onto Carl's face. He'd never say so out loud to her face, but she was just so cute.

"It's kind of nice, isn't it?" she asked. "No homework, no chores. Nobody telling you what to do. You can just sit around and be garbage."

Carl let Adelaide's words simmer in his mind for a moment. With every passing second, they made more and more sense. Originally he was just trying to disparage himself, but for the first time since that morning, he felt completely at ease. So what if his grades were middling? So what if he got whipped in his karate class? He didn't care. He didn't have to care. He was garbage.

"Yeah, it is pretty nice," he said. "What kind of candy wrapper are you, by the way? I don't think I asked."

"A Starburst!" she said giddily. "Sid put me in her purse last Halloween and forgot about me until last week."

The two of them shared a good, hearty laugh. Before she could even ask the same question of him, he volunteered the information on his own.

"I'm a Diet Dr. Pepper. Carlota thinks that if she drinks me, she won't get fat."

They laughed again, even harder than before.

"Oh, no, I can't drink regular soda!" he said in his best impersonation of Carlota's voice. "I have to look nice and skinny for my vlog so that cute boys will throw money at me!"

This sent Adelaide into a cackling fit, rolling around on the ground and holding her stomach. It took a full minute for both of them to regain their composure - at which point, they looked at each other, remembered why they were laughing, and started laughing again.

Somewhere in the midst of this cycle, a strong breeze blew past them, chilling their skin. Before Carl even had a chance to react, he suddenly felt Adelaide's entire weight bearing down on him.

"HEY! What gives?!" he yelped.

"The wind is blowing me around!" she cried as she rolled around on top of him. "Better watch out, Carl!"

Carl, feeling mischievous, wrapped his arms around her waist and squeezed her tight.

"Uh-oh, Adelaide! You got caught on my soda tab!"

"Oh, nooooo!" she squealed as she squirmed about in Carl's grip.

The two children proceeded to play-wrestle with each other, laughing with glee as they rolled around on the concrete. At this point, what little remained of Carl's melancholy mood had melted away.

Their play only lasted so long, however, before they saw a bemused-looking Ronnie Anne staring down at them.

"Just what in the heck are you two doing?" she asked.

Adelaide and Carl didn't need to think twice about how to respond. They looked up at her, bearing ear-to-ear smiles, and merrily cheered in unison...

"WE'RE GARBAGE!"