Just like she had said
she wanted to, Bubbles left school as soon as she could after the last
bell rang. She used to enjoy school as much as Blossom did, but once they'd
taken away nap time and , Bubbles had lost interest.
Buttercup, however,
stayed later than usual, walking down the hall with Andra instead of zipping
to the locker and then home. Blossom found it a pain to walk behind them,
she was so used to flying.
You don't have
to follow them, a voice in her head nagged. Blossom ignored it.
When Buttercup reached
her locker with Andra, she happened to glance back down the hallway when
Blossom didn't have a place to hide.
Oh, crap, Blossom
thought to herself when she caught Buttercup's death glare. She'll really
hate me now! Buttercup and Andra didn't stay at the locker long, and
soon they were walking again.
Blossom followed them
outside the school, expecting Buttercup and Andra to separate, giving Blossom
a chance to talk to Andra. But they didn't. Buttercup kept walking, away
from the Utonium house.
Now I have a reason
to follow! Blossom thought triumphantly. "Hey, Buttercup!"
"Now what?" Buttercup
demanded, obviously not in the mood to talk to her sister.
"Where are you going?"
"None of your business."
"Buttercup, I don't
like the way you're acting. We're sisters and teammates, we shouldn't have
so many secrets."
"If sisters are supposed
to spy on each other, maybe I don't want to be your sister anymore,"
Buttercup said darkly. "I want to be treated like a responsible
person. I want to be treated like an individual, not just the reckless
Powerpuff Girl. I want to try to have a few normal friends! And
normal friends walk home together. But you wouldn't know that, would you,
Blossom? Because you don't have any friends, do you?" Blossom was left
speechless. "I thought not. Come on, Andra." The two girls began walking
again, leaving Blossom alone.
***
"Wasn't that kind of harsh?"
Andra asked as she and Buttercup walked away from Blossom.
Buttercup shrugged,
and tried to ignore the guilty feeling that was trying to settle into her
gut. "She's way too bossy, thinking that because she's our leader in fights
she can control our personal lives. Bubbles doesn't seem to mind, heck,
maybe she needs to have someone look out for her, but I don't! Yeah,
I've screwed up a few times in the past, but I learned from my mistakes.
Blossom just hasn't seen that yet."
"I don't think she
likes me much," Andra said quietly.
"What? Why not? Everyone
loves you!"
"Not Blossom. She's
never mean to me, but she's pretty cold. And she didn't seem to want you
to walk home with me just now."
"That was just because
she doesn't know how to mind her own business. And she's pretty cold to
everyone, that's why she doesn't have any friends."
"That's awfully sad."
Buttercup thought about
that for a moment. "I guess maybe it is," she admitted. "But until she
gets a major attitude adjustment, it's not going to change."
"Probably not," Andra
agreed. "This is my house," she announced, stopping in front of a small
one story dark blue house. "I would invite you in, but Mom's at work and
she doesn't like me to have friends over when she isn't home."
Buttercup's heart sank.
She had been hoping to have an excuse to stay with Andra longer. But outwardly
she hid her disappointment. She'd gotten good at that. "That's okay. I
should be getting home, too, before Blossom goes and tattles on me to the
Professor."
"Good luck."
"Thanks." Just before
Buttercup launched herself into the sky, Andra's voice from the front step
stopped her.
"Thanks for walking
me home, Buttercup. You know, you're pretty cool."
Buttercup smiled. That
more than made up for not getting to go in with Andra! "So're you, Andra.
I'll see you tomorrow!" And with that, she took off.
Buttercup couldn't
have wiped the grin off her face if she'd wanted to as she flew home. Andra
thought she was cool! And maybe if they hung out enough, she'd begin to
think Buttercup could be more than just a 'cool' friend....
Buttercup nearly flew
past her house, she was so caught up in her thoughts about Andra. When
she caught herself and landed on her front lawn, she made sure to look
at her reflection in the window. She couldn't go inside grinning like an
idiot and give her sisters more things to bug her about. She carefully
rearranged her features so she was wearing her customary scowl and went
inside.
"Buttercup? Is that
you?"
"Yeah, Professor!"
Buttercup called.
"Would you come in
here?"
Cautiously, Buttercup
floated to the living room. "What's up?"
The Professor, Blossom
and Bubbles were all sitting on the couch, Blossom curled up between the
other two, her body shuddering with sobs. The Professor looked at Buttercup
as she entered the room. "I think you have some explaining to do, young
lady."
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