Pretty

"And…done!" Lazlo said triumphantly as he arranged the last books in his cabin. It was chore day, and there is nothing he liked more than cleaning his cabin. He needed to give Samson a run for his money for that 'Dilligence' merit badge, he had won that five in the row.

"Raj, Clam, I'm going for a walk, be sure to finish your share of cleaning, okay?" Lazlo shouted as he exited the Jelly Cabin.

"Where are you going, Lazlo?" Raj asked, his thick Indian accent showing.

"Woods, I'll be right back!"

"Ah, beautiful nature…" Lazlo exclaimed as he felt the strong wind to his face. "The rich, brown, stout tree…the beautiful grass…the rich wildlife…and the after-rain dirt puddle…"

He took a deep breath. "Ahh, how majestic you are, o mother nature, blessing us with your beauty."

Lazlo walked through the woods, watching every nook and cranny of the nature; trees, animals, rocks, and mosses with enthusiasm, until he saw a small figure standing near the bushes, a familiar one.

"Patsy?" Lazlo narrowed his eyes to make sure it was his Acorn Flats counterpart. "Is it her? It is her! What is she doing here by herself?"

"Ugly…Pretty…Ugly" The mongoose sullenly muttered as she picked petals of a small flower. "Pretty…and…Ugly." The mongoose sighed as she picked off the last petal.

"So, he probably thinks I'm ugly." Patsy sadly hung her head down. "And probably no fashion sense as well."

Patsy shook her head and turned to walk back to the Acorn Flats, but her step was stopped by a certain monkey.

"Hi, Patsy, nice weather we're having, eh?" Lazlo exclaimed with his signature cheerfulness.

"Oh…hi Lazlo." Patsy replied, her head downcasted.

"Is something wrong?" Lazlo asked, oblivious as always.

"Lazlo…do you really think of me like that?"

Lazlo raised his eyebrow. What did she mean by that?

"Think of you as what?"

"You know…yesterday when we fought with the Bean Scouts?"

Lazlo scratched his head, did he said something bad? If he did, he could not remember it?

"Uh, you're impossible." Patsy remarked in digust of Lazlo's behavior as she walked away, with Lazlo chasing her.

"Come on, tell me what bad things I have said!" Lazlo frantically said as he chased her. Camp rivalry aside, hurting people's feelings would damage his conscience.

"Well, you call me ugly, for once." Patsy snapped angrily at the monkey. "And have no fashion sense, right?"

Lazlo was bewildered. So that was the problem. That was only for getting their dirt back, not really for to insult her.

"Oh now you couldn't speak." She snapped again, this time sarcastically. "So I'm ugly, is it?"

"Um…" Lazlo did not know what to say. He felt bad that it ended up offended Patsy's feelings. "No, you are not. I'm sorry for…yesterday. I did not think you would take it like that. It was not to insult you. We were just trying to get our dirt back."

"And that no fashion sense?"

"That was Samson!" He protested.

Patsy pouted, crossing his arm and looking away. "Well, I'm still angry."

"But I don't really think you are ugly! I think you are pretty!"

Patsy's eyes widened at that statement. Did he really say that?

"Sorry? Mind repeating that?"

"I think you are pretty!"

"You are not just trying to make me feel better?" He eyed the monkey skeptically.

Lazlo shook his head hard. "No, I think you are really pretty. I answered that everytime a scout asked me when we play truth or dare, honest!"

Patsy's expression lit up. "Really?" She could feel her face heating up a little. "Oh, um…I never think you would say things like that about me, Lazlo." She giggled as she nudged herself closer to the monkey.

"Why? It's the truth. I never knew why a lots of bean scouts keep asking me that, though." Lazlo said, ever the oblivious that for a second Patsy considered smacking his face.

"Well, the truth is i…" Patsy considered for a moment whether to continue or not, and decided to refrain from it in the end. "No, nevermind." She thought saying that to him was going to make trouble with the Squirrel scouts, considering their rivalry.

"But i'm not angry anymore, it feels special hearing that from you." Patsy then boldly leaned her face to land a quick peck on the cheek to Lazlo, leaving the monkey bewildered.

"Patsy, what was that—" Lazlo demanded an explanation on her not-so-subtle advance, but Patsy cut him off.

"Lazlo, I'll make sure I will look prettier next time I meet you!" Patsy cheerily shouted as she pranced through the woods back to the camp.

"And that's what happened. Why would she do that?" Lazlo finished retelling the story of his short encounter with Patsy, leaving the gathering scouts with rather disgusted and surprised face.

"SHE KISSED YOU ON THE CHEEK?" exclaimed Samson before his excitement excited his angina.

"You will get cooties." Ping Pong commented. "Yeah, stay away from us." The younger loon added.

"Lazlo, how did the mongoose kiss you on the cheek? Don't you remember the Bean Scout Code? Never fraternize with the Squirrels, they are evil!" Raj reprimanded his cabin mate. "Ooh don't tell me you both are…" Raj was about to finish his sentence, but was cut by Edward.

"Raj, DON'T YOU SAY THE WORD!" Edward shouted.

"Dating." Clam was the one who completed Raj's sentence, followed by gasps from the other Jelly Beans with Samson passing out from his angina.

"NO, YOU SAID THAT FORBIDDEN WORD!" Edward shouted again.

"Calm down guys. It was her who pecked me on the cheek. I'm just asking why would she do that?"

"Lazlo, are you really that stupid?" Edward complained. "Patricia Smiles likes you! We all know, that's why I and the others asked you if she's pretty in every truth or dare!"

"So Patsy likes me, that's why she pecked me? Hmm…then I like her too!" Lazlo exclaimed rather cheerfully, followed by another gasps and lamentations from his camp mates that Lazlo has gone to the 'dark side'.

"Lazlo, I thought you were better than this! I mean I have beef with you and everyone else, but this takes the cake—"

"I'm glad that we could be friends!" Lazlo exclaimed again, now with a very innocent-looking face.

"Huh?" The scouts said in unison.

"Yeah, you know, it's common for friends to do this! Patsy just want to hang out with us in Camp Kidney! Maybe we can send invitation to her so we can hang around the campfire like this, or fishing in the Leaky Lake…"

The other scouts are speechless at Lazlo's exclamation. He really thinks the 'like' is liking as a friend. He is hopeless.

Edward muttered bad words before leaving in disgust, followed by other scouts.

"Lazlo, now I feel sorry for Patsy" Raj said to his cabin mate before leaving.

And Lazlo was left alone to clean up the firewood.

- yoshuareynaldo777, 14/11/2021