After scrubbing his skin raw to get off the feathers and water-based paint, Terrence let himself into Mac's room to see if the little squirt was dead yet. Mac was lying there, feeling miserable from the sore throat but even moreso from the guilt of missing going to Foster's for two days straight - not to mention not being able to at least call Frankie to let her know why he wasn't coming due to losing his voice.
"Hey," said Terrence, stepping into the room. "How'd you get sick, anyways? You been kissing girls or something?"
Mac rolled his eyes, unsure if Terrence was being sarcastic or merely naive. "Yeah," he whispered sarcastically. "Don't tell Mom."
Terrence glanced out the door, making sure Mom was still on the couch, then walked up to Mac's bed. "Here," he said, holding out a small black fabric case on a shoulder strap. "I thought you might be bored."
Mac blinked at it a couple of times, not taking it. "Isn't that your Gameboy?" he whispered. Terrence had begged Mom for a Gameboy Advance a couple of years back when the price went down; she'd gotten him one for Christmas, and he'd hardly touched it. The reason now was obvious, he hadn't been able see the small screen well enough to play anything well on it; but even though he didn't play with it Mac had always been forbidden to use it. "Yeah," he shrugged, dropping it on the bed. "Don't mess it up, I want it back."
Mac nodded, a little of his sadness at abandoning Bloo abating. For Terrence, this was an uncommonly generous act, and it heartened him greatly. Maybe Mom was right. Maybe he and Terrence could be friends. At the thought he smiled at his brother hopefully.
Terrence looked at him suspiciously. "What're you grinning at?" he grunted.
Mac let the smile drain away. "Nothing," he rasped. "Thanks for the Gameboy."
Terrence lingered there a moment. The unexpected smile had taken him a bit by surprise. He was tempted to tell Mac what he had been doing after school to see if he'd smile at him again, then shook it off as a stupid idea. What did he want that weirdo smirking at him, anyway? He shrugged jadedly. "Well, see ya, lamoid," he said abruptly, and left the room .
Mac pulled the Gameboy case towards him and opened the Velcro top. He was about to pull the system out when he spotted a colorful piece of paper slipped into the cartridge pouch, so he pulled that out instead.
It was a get-well card, that unfolded to several feet long. All over it were scribbled names and warm wishes. Mac recognized the names: they were friends at Foster's. He found Frankie's in there, and Wilt's, and Eduardo, and Coco, and all his other friends, even Madam Foster herself...and how could he miss Bloo's contribution, the long form of his name done in blue marker in a pretentious style all over the top of everyone else's writing. Mac smiled. Then he realized that Terrence must have been at Foster's today to wind up with this. He was a little stunned. Then he smiled again, happily.
The next day, which was Friday, Bloo chased a swarm of food friends through the library, scattering Terrence's Chemistry notes everywhere, and getting gazpacho all over his textbooks, making large portions unreadable.
That night when Terrence peeked in on Mac after getting cleaned up (and lectured by a frazzled Mom) he was greeted by a huge, eager smile that surprised the hell out him. He hadn't been smiled at like that by his little brother for...how many years now? It was before Dad left, and before that stupid Bloo was thought up. Before Mac's own recollection, Terrence had been a proud big brother, happily playing with the new baby and doing everything he could to make him laugh. But that was a long time ago.
Unsure of what to make of the vague memories stirred up Terrence shuffled into the room slowly. When Mac asked in his hoarse weak whisper what he had done that day Terrence sat on the bed and admitted that he was doing his homework over at Foster's so Bloo wouldn't get adopted before the eight-year-old got well enough to go himself. Mac gave him a sudden hug, then smiled at him again. That smile, like he was some kind of hero or something.
Terrence left, feeling numb.
On Saturday Terrence walked to Foster's after breakfast and found himself chased all over the grounds by incensed unicorns. Bloo had told them that the boy had called them lovely gentle creatures. It was three before Terrence managed to escape, his clothes in tatters and his Spanish assignment in the stomach of one of the unicorns.
On Sunday Bloo dumped a mud pie in Terrence's backpack and stole his glasses, finally throwing them into the pool after an hour-long chase.
On Monday Terrence sat on a chair in the Library only to find it had been coated with a thick layer of glue. When he planted his hands on the seat to push himself off they got stuck too; then Bloo had rushed in with some makeup nicked bravely from Duchess' room and went to town.
On Tuesday Bloo stole Terrence's Geometry flashcards and threw them off the roof, then stranded the boy, who had chased him up there, and it took him until nine to find his way downstairs again (it took Bloo until eleven but he didn't care).
On Wednesday Bloo dug a hole in the backyard, filled it with chicken gravy, and covered it over with leaves. After luring Terrence into it by taking off with Huckleberry Finn Bloo opened the door of the kennel that housed all the canine friends.
On Thursday Bloo did the same thing again because it was so darn funny the first time.
And Terrence put up with it, because Mac kept smiling at him.
"MAC! It's you! You're back!" Bloo zipped down the stairs as Frankie closed the door behind Mac and he came to a skidding halt in front of his best friend, foregoing his customary leap in consideration of the boy's recent illness. "Oh boy, I missed you!"
Mac laughed, glad to be able to do so again now that his sore throat had all but cleared up completely after only a week (it was now Friday again). "I missed you too, Bloo," he said, and they hugged one another. Frankie smiled at them fondly.
"Hey Mac!"
"Mac's back!"
"Coco!"
Mac smiled around at his friends as they came wandering into the foyer. "Hey guys! Boy, I missed everybody," he said, being sure to include Frankie as he looked from face to smiling face.
"I guess you were really sick, huh?" commented Wilt. "You look healthy now!"
"Coco!" Coco agreed.
"Yeah, I'm okay," said Mac.
"Hey Mac," said Frankie as they all started heading for the stairs, "how'd your brother do on his final tests? He said he needed to study for them, but then he spent all his time here running around."
Bloo started sniggering.
Mac shook his head. "I haven't seen him yet today," he said. "I came straight here."
Bloo sniggered louder.
"Well I'm sure he did fine!" said Wilt. "He had to have gotten some studying done."
Bloo was having trouble keeping quiet.
"He must be very smart boy," Eduardo spoke up.
At this point Bloo lost it completely and he collapsed on the floor in a fit of hysterical mirth.
The others were baffled by the outburst. "Bloo, what's so funny?" Mac asked him.
Tearing up from glee, Bloo rolled upright. "Oh man!" he blurted, putting a hand on Mac's shoulder. "I'm sorry you missed it buddy!"
"Missed what?"
Bloo threw his arms wide. "The hazing of a lifetime!" he crowed happily. "I really got Terrence good! I'm sorry you couldn't see it, man."
Mac stepped back, staring at Bloo. Everyone, in fact, was staring at Bloo. "What are you talking about?" Mac asked slowly.
So Bloo told them. He told them about the unicorns and the mud and the glue and the gravy. He told them everything, his bright eyes gleaming, while everyone just gaped at him in growing horror.
Frankie spoke first. "Wait a minute," she said. "Woah. You mean to say that all that time Terrence was here trying to do his schoolwork you were torturing him?"
"Yes!" cried Bloo ecstatically. "It. Was. Awesome!"
"BLOO!" shouted Mac, backing away. "What's wrong with you?"
Bloo blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?" he asked innocently.
"Bloo, you should be ashamed of yourself!" said Wilt, very close to maybe being a little angry.
"I'll say!" said Frankie. "That poor boy goes out of his way to keep you from being adopted out, and you sabotage his chances of passing his tests? Are you brain dead?"
"Cocococo! Co co cocococo!" screamed Coco.
"Me too, also," Eduardo agreed. "That not nice."
"Oh, come on!" whined Bloo in disgust. "It's Terrence! He's not a 'poor boy', he's...well, he's Terrence! Mac, tell them about how he's...Terrence!" Bloo peered at Mac, who looked strange. "...Mac? Buddy?"
"How could you?" Mac said quietly, his jaw clenched. "Bloo, that was a rotten thing to do!"
Bloo stepped back. "But Mac, come on – "
"I won't 'come on'," Mac returned sharply. "Terrence was being nice! For once, he was being nice to me, and you go and do something like that! I was hoping...I thought that maybe you guys could get along and Mom would let you come home! He covered for you," he hissed, leaning forward. "He could have told me what you were doing all this time but he didn't say anything. I hope you're satisfied." He turned and went back down the steps.
"Mac?" said Bloo, confused. "Mac, where are you going?"
"I'm leaving early." And Mac left.
Bloo stood there, staring after his best friend. The others, still angry at what Bloo had done, felt their need to chastise him fade as they watched him standing there so dejected, and in the end, they dispersed, leaving Bloo alone on the landing.