The next school-day, Ella sat by herself at lunch, avoiding the confused glances of the group of kids she previously hung out with. While she wanted to join them, she didn't know how they would react to seeing her, since the last time they did she was crying her eyes out.
Luckily, Ella found an empty table, and began eating her snack-cake with a determined pout, not moving her eyes off her food until a hand tapped her shoulder. Turning around slowly, Ella found herself a little surprised to see the entire group of kids had stood up and approached her. One by one they took a seat at her table, chatting amongst each other as if nothing happened. With Stephanie on one side of her and Stingy on the other, she began to relax slightly. Maybe this wouldn't be so embarrassing after all.
"Sorry about ruining the party Friday." She whispered to Stephanie, who didn't seem affected by the words.
"Wasn't your fault." She shrugged, taking a bite of her sandwich. "Sometimes you just need to cry."
"Yeah." Stingy agreed, patting her shoulder. "Plus, your dad should have let you join."
"Actually, when we were leaving, he told me I could." She smiled softly.
Stephanie grinned widely. "That's awesome! Now our entire friend group has their own little club!"
"I'm confused," Trixie announced suddenly, causing the table to turn to glance at her, "your dad sounded so mean. What made him change his mind?"
Ella shrugged. "He was really embarrassed. He wasn't mad."
Still lost, Trixie shook her head in concentration. "But…why would he be embarrassed? You were just crying. Crying is normal."
"Adults can be weird like that." Pixel said to the girl.
"He was embarrassed because he was sad, too. He doesn't like crying in front of people." Ella twisted her fingers together. "When my other dad died, he tried to be strong, so I wouldn't be so sad. But it made him even more sad."
Stephanie nodded, a genuine smile on her lips. "Bottling up your feelings hurts."
The group agreed and continued to eat until the bell rang. When it did, the group lined up to go to recess until Stephanie spotted one of the office workers leaving the office and raced over to him, the group of kids with her following curiously.
"Hey, Mr. Cooper!" Stephanie cheered, glimpsing at the stack of papers in his hands. "What are you doing?"
The man smiled gently at the girl. "Oh, hey, Stephanie." He glanced at the papers. "I'm just brining these fliers to Mrs. Anderson. Her mailbox is jammed, and we can't get it open, so I volunteered to deliver them." He flashed her a toothy grin. "Any chance to stretch my legs, ya know?"
Trixie nodded. "It must suck being stuck in that stuffy office all day."
Mr. Cooper guffawed. "It can suck, yeah."
Ella curiously stood on her tippy-toes, trying to read the paper, but failing. "What are the fliers for?"
The office worker turned to the other girl. "Well, we're having a talent show soon! It's got all the info on it. You should be getting one in your class after recess."
Right away, Stephanie lit up. "A talent show? Like one that you can dance in?"
Mr. Cooper let out another laugh. "Well, sure. You can dance, sing, play an instrument…whatever you're talented at, I suppose." He glimpsed over the kids. "I'm excited to see what you all come up with. It isn't mandatory, of course, but the winner gets 100 dollars to spend as they choose. And if one of you win, it could help make your club more well known in the school."
Flapping her arms, Stephanie turned to the group, unable to lessen her wide grin. She didn't have to say anything, the kids all knew they had a trick or two they could show the school.
"I've got to go now." He glanced at the line of the other children disappearing out of the school and to the playground. "And it looks like you guys should go ahead, too."
The group thanked him and hurried outdoors.
Once outside, Stephanie received a bright idea and spun around to face Ella, grabbing the other's arm and nearly knocking her down. "Ella, Ella! Can we do a dance together?"
While Ella had a stand-up routine in mind, she didn't feel quite ready to write her own, so instead she nodded along to the idea. "That sounds perfect. We'll have to practice a lot, but it could be fun."
"And you were going to be teaching me to dance, anyway!" Stephanie added, swinging the other's hands.
Stingy overheard and crossed his arms. "What about me? Can you still teach me, too?"
Ella glimpsed between the two friends in front of her and shrugged. "Sure. Can we practice at your place, Stephanie? Your room is a perfect practicing place, and my dad would be too awkward to have anyone over."
"Of course!" Stephanie exclaimed, flapping her arms in glee. "We should practice as soon as possible! How about tonight? We can figure out what song we will dance to for starters!"
"Alright, that sounds fine." Stingy said proudly, turning his head back to his sister and leaving the two girls to chat.
"Do you have any song ideas?" Stephanie interrogated instantly, looping her arm with Ella's.
Ella squinted her mouth up in concentration before shrugging her shoulders. "I'm not too picky. Just something fun, but distinguished."
"Distinguished, huh?" Stephanie tightened her face as well, thinking deeply. "Well, bring your favorite CDs and we can figure something out!"
Ella nodded as the two reached the playground. "If you want, you can come dance with me today during recess." She felt shy asking, but with the contest coming up, she didn't mind the company.
Stephanie nodded and skipped with the other girl to the little hidden room, and the two danced gleefully to a silly song on the radio until recess ended.
After school, Ella hurried home and begged her father to come with her to her friend's house again. Robbie was confused, but hearing his daughter's fear of being embarrassed again, he couldn't help but give in.
He didn't know, however, that he would be the only other parent there.
As Robbie was led to the couch by his daughter and her excitable friend, he couldn't help but realize how embarrassed he was. There was no one else in the room other than him as the two girls clambered up the stairs and abandoned him like a cold bath.
After about an hour of playing three different CDs, the girls settled on a fun, bouncy song, and started planning out what they would wear.
Suddenly, something hit Stephanie. "What about our make-up?" She smiled widely. "Do you do your own makeup, Ella?"
The girl nodded proudly. Stephanie gasped softly and continued on. "Who taught you?"
Ella twirled a strand of her around her finger. "Well, my Dad taught me." She pursed her lips slightly. "The one that's alive, I mean."
The smile on the pink-haired girl's face faltered and became softer and more shy. "Do you think he would teach me how to do mine?" She stared down at her hands. "I would ask my aunt Bessie, but I think I want to surprise her by doing it myself."
Ella bit her lip. "I think that would be alright." She smirked slightly. "I've got to use the restroom, though, could you ask him yourself?"
Unsure of herself, Stephanie gave her friend a wide, toothy grin. "Sure!"
As her friend left the room, she let out a nervous sigh. She tiptoed out of the room and down the stairs, spying the man sitting on the couch in front of the television. Humming anxiously, Stephanie received a bright idea when she remembered that Sportacus was home.
Racing to the kitchen where the man was, Stephanie tugged the man's arm so that he would look down at her.
"What's up, Steph?" He asked softly, setting the cup he was washing down gently on the side of the sink.
"Um…well, could you ask Mr. Rotten to teach me how to do my makeup?"
Baffled by the words, Sportacus set his rag that he was using to wash the dishes down and turned the sink off, staring at the girl. "Why don't you ask Miss Bessie?"
"Well, I want to learn to do it myself and then surprise her." Stephanie explained matter-of-factly.
Sportacus nodded. "That makes sense…but what makes you want to ask Mr. Rotten?"
A broad smile lined the girl's lips. "Ella said that he taught her how to do her makeup."
"Oh...well, alright. I guess I can do that."
Stephanie clapped in glee as she followed Sportacus into the other room like a lost puppy, cowering behind him slightly as they reached the man.
"Mr. Rotten, can I talk to you for a moment?" Sportacus asked softly, causing the distracted man sitting on the couch to look up, a bored look on his face.
"Oh, it's you." He said tiredly, rubbing his temples. "Sure, what do you want to talk about?" He gave him a distant, sarcastic grin.
Sportacus took that as a genuine smile and gave one back. "Well, Stephanie here," he pushed the girl forward slightly, just enough so she could be seen by the other man, "was wondering if you could teach her how to do her own makeup."
Robbie stared at the girl for a moment in bafflement before his eyes traveled up to Sportacus' face. "And why are you asking me of all people?"
"Ella told me you taught her, and her makeup is always really pretty." She smiled brightly at the reclusive man, causing him to look away abashedly.
Awkwardly, he rested his head against his hand, sighing. "Well, I did teach her, but that was nearly a year ago." He saw a glimpse of disappointment on the little girl's face, and rolling his eyes, continued. "But I guess I can teach you sometime as well." The girl cheered at that clapping excitedly. "I don't have any of my—I mean Ella's makeup with me right now, though. We'll have to wait until…some other time." He felt awkward inviting himself over yet again, but neither the child or the standing adult seemed to mind.
"That'll be awesome! Can you come over tomorrow?" Stephanie exclaimed, gripping the man's shoulder. When she saw the bafflement on his face from it being so soon, she continued. "It's always good to learn early on."
Robbie couldn't help but release a small snicker. "That is true." He shrugged slightly. "I guess I can come over tomorrow, if that's alright with the adults of the household." He looked up at Sportacus, who didn't realize that he was being to referred to for a moment.
"Oh, um, yeah, that would be fine!" Sportacus cheered, crossing his arms and glancing down.
"Then I'll come tomorrow. If Ella wants to come again, of course." He said matter-of-factly, knowing that his daughter would want to come over again. He didn't mind too much—the house was clean and decorated beautifully, and if for anything he was coming to stare at the house's architecture.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Rotten!" The girl exclaimed, launching forward and wrapping her arms around his neck. The man just sat awkwardly and lightly pat the girl's shoulders.
When she released him from her Kraken's hold, she bounded off jovially back up the stairs. Sportacus stared after her before making his way back to the kitchen, leaving Robbie alone in the house again.
The minute Stephanie told Ella that not only was she able to come over again tomorrow but that her father was going to return as well and teach Stephanie how to do her makeup, the two girls jumped around jubilantly.
The next day arrived swiftly, with the girls rushing to the mayor's house, dragging Ella's awkward father along with them.
As he set the two girls down on kitchen stools and opened his bag of cosmetics, he couldn't help but feel the eyes of the strange blue-clad man on him curiously.
He glimpsed up to tell him to stop, when he noticed the other had already turned around and continued to wash the dishes. Robbie squinted slightly at this but continued on his mission.
"Alright, you should always start with your eyeshadow." He pulled out a few pallets of both bright and dull colors of eyeshadow. "Go ahead, pick out two colors that you think work together."
Right away, Stephanie grabbed one of the pallets that held a bright pink eyeshadow and stared in concentration at the other colors, rubbing her chin in thought. Chuckling slightly, Robbie lifted up a pallet that held a shimmering gold in it. "If you want a bright color, it's good to choose a soft color to bring it out and still make it look sophisticated.
Stephanie nodded. "Now how do I put it on?"
Robbie smiled softly and opened the pallets, picking up a tiny eyeshadow-brush. He clicked the pallets open and rubbed the brush into the bright pigment, tapping it against the container lightly. "You always want to tap it like this. It helps you make sure you're not putting on too much at once."
He pulled out his miniature vanity mirror and held it in front of the child. "Now, just slowly rub it on." Stephanie did as she was told and stared with glee into the mirror.
"It looks so pretty! Thank you, Mr. Rotten!" Stephanie shrieked in joy. Robbie just abashedly shrugged his shoulders as the girl applied pink to her other eye as well.
He instructed the girl through the rest of her makeup tutorial until her face was bright and colorful.
"Okay, we're going to go practice now!" She called to the man, dragging her friend up the stairs with her. Robbie cleared his throat and awkwardly stood, ready to make his way into the living room again, when Sportacus whirled around on his heels and held out his hand to stop the other from leaving.
"I've, um, made cookies, as an apology for last week. Would you like some?" Sportacus said gently, rubbing the back of his head, his eyes flickering from the surprised man and the floor.
Robbie couldn't help but smile awkwardly, sitting back down at the table. "Um, sure." He twiddled his hands as Sportacus pulled the freshly baked sugar disks out of the oven and set them on top of it. "What kind are they?"
"I've made chocolate chip and white chocolate Macadamia ones. I apologize if they're not very good, I don't usually bake." He gave the other an awkward smile as he pulled two glass plates out of the cabinet. "I hope that's okay." He handed one of the plates to Robbie, who took it gingerly.
"Well, they smell delicious." Robbie murmured, standing up and approaching the cookies, followed by the other man. He took one of each kind before returning to his seat at the table. He waited for Sportacus to sit down before he lifted one up and took a small nibble out of it.
It was pretty good. He wanted to dig in and swallow the cookie whole like a black hole, but he stopped himself and set it back down on his plate.
"Are they any good?" Sportacus asked shyly, smiling tenderly at the other.
Robbie glimpsed up at the other and nodded. "Yes, they're very good. Thank you."
Sportacus shrugged. "It's the least I could do."
Confused, Robbie sat his hands upon the table, causing the other man to look up. "What do you mean, it's the least you could do?" Ideas swirled around in the taller man's head. These weren't pity cookies, were they?
Awkwardly, Sportacus fiddled with the cookie in his hands. "I mean, you helping Stephanie with her makeup today. And your daughter has been a really good influence on her, too."
Proud, but still a little lost, Robbie gave the other a small smile. "What do you mean, my daughter has been a good influence? Your kid is easily influencing my kid positively, not the other way around."
A small chuckle escaped Sportacus' throat. "Maybe they're both influencing each other. I know that Stephanie's felt way more confident in herself since she met your daughter, and I've never seen her so excited about dancing before."
Robbie played with his tie. "Well, my daughter hasn't been this happy in ages. She's always struggled to make friends, but your kid and her little group just pulled her in like it was nothing. It was pretty amazing, really."
"I have to agree with you there. That little group of theirs is really something."
The two nodded and continued to have small talk as they ate their cookies.
When it finally came time to leave, Robbie felt himself smiling in the car as he set the Tupperware container of cookies that Sportacus gave him in the passenger's seat.
"What's with the long face, El?" Robbie asked his daughter in a soft voice as the two made their way home.
"I'm scared, Dad."
"What are you scared of?" The question was genuine and gentle, but Ella couldn't help but shudder at it.
"Of the talent show…I love dancing, and we've got out routine down and ready, but...I've never performed in front of people before." She sighed outwardly, tightening her seat belt. "But, I don't want to let Stephanie down."
Robbie hummed in thought for a moment before replying. "I think you're going to be fine, dear. You've got the making of a performer in you."
"What do you mean?" The girl scrunched her nose up at her father's words.
Tightening his grip on the steering wheel, Robbie glimpsed into the mirror and at his daughter. "Your…your Dad was a performer. Do you remember?"
A small smile laced its way onto the girl's lips. "Of course I remember. He was a comedian."
"When you get up there, you just gotta pretend he's standing with you, alright?"
Ella relaxed a bit against her seat. "Alright, I can do that."
But when the night came, she found herself absolutely unable to do that.
It wasn't their turn yet, but Ella still found herself biting her lip and nervously glancing over to Stephanie, who tried her best to console her friend by rubbing circles on her back. She watched her other friends put on their acts; Gina and Tina gave a little puppet show, Stingy and Pixel did a dance as well, with Stingy doing most of the dancing part, and even Trixie rapped out a song on stage, her moms going wild when she finished.
"And now, Miss Stephanie Splitz and Miss Ella Rotten, please come to the stage!" The announcer's voice bellowed, and Ella felt sick upon hearing it.
The two stood up and started making their way to stage, but Ella stopped right before they stepped onto the platform and put a soft hand on Stephanie's arm. "I'm sorry, Stephanie…I can't do this." Tears pricked her eyes and she felt like vomiting. Instead, she did what she knew would work and dashed out of the room, leaving the announcer and crowd staring in bafflement.
Right away, Stephanie raced after her friend, and the rest of the group of her pals joined in and chased her as well.
Sportacus glanced over at Robbie, who stared in shock and something that Sportacus couldn't quite put his finger on, and without warning, Sportacus grabbed the other man's hand and chased after the group of kids, dragging Robbie along with him.
When they finally reached the hallway, they spotted the boys of the group standing outside of the restroom, nervously glancing at each other for support.
"What's going on?" Sportacus asked softly, his eyes on Pixel.
"Ella went into the restroom and locked herself in a stall. Stephanie, Trixie, Gina, and Tina are trying to get her to come out." Pixel said matter-of-factly, a worried look on his face.
"Stephanie, come here for a minute." Sportacus called into the restroom, prompting the pink-haired girl to peek her head out of the room. "Can you tell Ella to come out here, please? Tell her she doesn't have to participate, we just want to talk to her."
Nodding, Stephanie ducked back into the room, and a minute later, a softly whimpering Ella emerged as well. Right away she ran over to her father and hopped into his arms, sobbing into the crook of his neck.
"What's wrong, El? Why are you upset?" He whispered soothingly, stepping away from the group to talk to his child one-on-one.
"I'm such a failure. I can't do anything in front of that many people. I'll never make Dad proud." She sobbed, wiping her snot away on her arm before tightly gripping her father's shoulders for support.
"El, don't say that. You're not a failure." Gently, he swayed from side to side and held the girl close to his chest. "Your Dad is proud of you no matter what you do. He's proud of you for existing, okay? And he's been extra proud of you lately."
"What do you mean?" She pulled back slightly to look at her father.
"Well, look at all the people who came to help you." Robbie whispered, watching his daughter peek her head over his shoulder, gazing at all of her friends. "You've made so many friends, El. You've really pushed yourself out of your comfort zone, and it's helping you." He rubbed her back. "You just went a little too fast, is all. That doesn't make you a failure."
She whimpered and leaned her head onto his chest. "I just don't want my friends to hate me. This is the second time I've started crying like this in front of them, it's so embarrassing."
Rubbing the girl's back, Robbie gently set the girl down. "How about you ask them?"
She gave her father a nervous look before gulping and nodding, grabbing his hand in hers as she wiped away the last of her tears with the palm of her other hand. She walked over to her friend group, her eyes on the ground. "I'm sorry for crying again, guys. I hope you don't hate me."
Stephanie was the first to speak up. "Hate you? You're one of my best friends, I could never hate you!" She said confidently, leaning forward and hugging the other girl gently.
Ella snickered slightly and embraced her back, her fears slowly lessening.
"If you don't want to do the talent show, we don't have to. I had fun dancing with you and practicing, either way."
Ella pulled back, holding the other girl's hands. "It's not that I don't want to dance. I'm just so afraid."
"If it helps, I'm afraid, too. But what matters is we have fun, right?" Stephanie whispered, watching as the other girl smiled slightly.
"You're right…do you think, maybe if we asked…they would give us another chance?" Ella wringed her hands together. "I'm really nervous, but… I at least want to try."
Swinging the other girl closer to her, Stephanie tossed her arm over the other girl's shoulder, Trixie joining Ella on her other side and doing the same. "Then, that's we have to do."
Ella nodded shyly and let herself be led back into the auditorium, where the two waited for the last contender to finish before Stephanie, followed by her friend, tiptoed up to the stage.
"Sir? Can my friend and I please have another chance to perform?"
The man glimpsed down at the two girls and took notice of the purple-clad girl's puffy eyes and couldn't help but pity her. "Alright." He whispered to the two of them, turning back to the microphone. "And before we turn to the judges, we have one more act for you tonight!"
The audience applauded and Ella took a deep breath as she stood in front of the crowd, posing in position to start the dance.
Once the first few beats of "Toxic" by Britney Spears started to play throughout the room, the girls started to do their dance routine. When it ended, Stephanie did a cartwheel and Ella went down into the splits.
The crowd exploded into applause so loud that both girls had to cover their ears as they glimpsed at each other and giggled.
The two went back to their seats and chatted with their friends about everyone's performances until one of the judges took the stand.
"Alright, in third place are the late contestants, Ella Rotten and Stephanie Splitz! The duo was unexpected but worked wonderfully!" The judge announced, causing the two girls and their friends to erupt into cheers.
"In second place are Nenni Spoilero and Pixel Hyperbyte! When we heard that Pixel had made the background music himself, we knew you two were going on the list!"
The two boys high-fived and the group congratulated their other friends as well.
"And in first place is Gabe Carter, Tristan Newman, and Paul Walker! When we saw you three's dance routine, we knew right away that you were going to be our winners! Congrats everyone!"
The judge left the stage and called over winners for their trophies. Making their way over to the table, the group right away took notice of the smirking boy who stared at Stephanie in particular.
"Hey, Steven. Looks like you are your freak show didn't practice hard enough. You're all such losers." Gabe mocked, snatching the first-place trophy.
Stephanie bit her tongue at the mention of her dead name, but whipped her head around anyway. "I don't think it's about winning. Plus, we still got third place, and that's pretty great."
Ella put a hand on her hip. "And we still get pizza afterwards!"
Gabe rolled his eyes. "Of course, it's about winning, dingus. It's always about winning."
Trixie laughed. "That's such a sad way to think! Winning doesn't matter that much." She turned back to her other friends.
"Yeah. And Ella and I both had a lot of fun dancing, and that's what's important."
Gabe seemed repulsed by this and made his way over to his mother.
"Hey Mom, since I won, can we get pizza?" He asked coyly, cradling his trophy.
His mother glanced down at her son and groaned. "Pizza? I don't feel like it. Go ask your father."
A bit defeated, the boy did so, his chest still puffed out. "Dad, can we got out for pizza?"
A disinterested glance towards the boy answered his question. "How about you go with those other kids? Here's twenty dollars, that should be plenty. I've got too much work tonight to deal with this."
And with that, the boy was shoved out of his comfort zone and he watched as Tristan and Paul left the building with their parents. Huffing slightly, Gabe made his way over to the group of kids he had convinced himself that he despised, his arms crossed.
"Can I get pizza with you guys?" He muttered out, causing Stephanie to turn her head and grimace.
"I don't know…" she said slowly, her other friends joining her side. "you're always mean to me, and you won't even call me by my real name. Why should I be nice to you if you're never nice to me?"
Gabe tightened his grip on his trophy. "Look, if I call you Stephanie or whatever, will you let me come with you? I just want pizza, too."
Slowly, Stephanie's frown morphed into a gentle grin. "Alright. You can come with us. Just let me check with Sportacus."
With that, she tugged on the man's arm who led her aside upon hearing her question. "Isn't Gabe the boy whose really mean to you?"
"He is, but he said if he can come with us, he'll stop calling me Steven." She smiled at that. "And I kind of feel bad for him."
Confused, Sportacus glimpsed back at the boy. "Why is that?"
"Well, he won first place and everything, but his mom just kind of left him here." She pointed out where his parents were standing previously to show that they did just expect he would be allowed to join the other group and left. It seemed as if his friends all left him, too.
"That is kind of sad. Are you sure you want him to come with us?"
Nodding, Stephanie led Sportacus back to the group and smiled at the boy. "Alright, he said it's fine."
And with that, the group left the building, all chatting and discussing what they would get on their pizzas. Gabe just silently watched the group with a pout on his lips.
His expression didn't change as the group made it to the pizza place and all crowded around one table. A glance around the table made him feel unappreciated. Everyone chatted to each other, but left him out of the equation. Was it because of how he was sometimes mean to the other kids? Is that how he made them feel before? Alone?
Stingy knocked him out of his thoughts. "Can I hold your trophy for a minute, Gabe?"
Though a bit taken aback by the question, the bullying child nodded slowly and gently handed it to the other. "Wow, it is heavier than the other two!" The golden-clad boy grinned at the distorted reflection showing against the metal. "You and your friends' act was really good, Gabe. Where did you learn to dance like that?"
"I go to a class on Saturdays." The boy replied, gingerly taking his trophy back.
"You go to a dancing class? I didn't know our town had one." Trixie said in disbelief, sipping her coco-cola.
"Yeah. I'm in that and on the football and soccer team. And I'm supposed to be joining band next year, too." Instead of coming off as proud, though, the words sounded as if they were laced with disappointment.
"Well, that sounds like an awful lot of fun, but…don't you have time to just, ya know, relax?" Pixel spoke up, causing the other boy to shrivel against his seat.
"No, not really. I'm on a really strict schedule." He said matter-of-factly, spinning his straw around in his glass. "My parents aren't home often, so when they are home, I try to make them as proud as I can."
The parents glanced at each other in worry. "Well, don't get yourself hurt, kiddo. You don't have to carry that all on your shoulders." Wanda said tenderly, holding her wife's arm close to her.
"Yeah, I'm sure your parents are proud of you no matter what." Leia added, causing the boy's lips to sew themselves into a tight line.
"I don't know. They never show it." He stared into his trophy. "I just want them to be proud of me, but nothing I do catches their attention. They brag about me, but," he grimaced, "they never tell me that they're proud of me. They just don't."
Richard cleared his throat. "Well, that's their problem. You shouldn't put it on your shoulders."
The boy squeezed his trophy to his chest as if it were a lifeline. "Maybe it is their problem, but I feel the after math of it."
Sportacus reached forward and hesitantly tapped the boy's shoulder. Looking up at the man, the boy looked vulnerable and insecure, unlike the hateful boy Stephanie thought she knew. "If it counts for anything, we could be proud of you, Gabe."
The boy stared into his reflection, avoiding the loving gazes coming from all angles. If he looked up, he was sure to start crying. "Thanks."
When the group finally departed and Sportacus dropped the boy off, only Stephanie and her guardian were left in the car.
"I think I understand him a bit more. He's just sad." Stephanie said, kicking her legs gently against the seat in front of her.
"Yeah, I think so, too." Sportacus kept his eyes on the road, unable to shake the boy's poor vulnerable face from his mind. "Maybe you should ask him to join the group. If he keeps being nice, I mean."
A soft grin grew onto Stephanie's face. "I think that's a great idea. I want him to really apologize to me, because he really hurt me by calling me Steven so much, but...maybe once he does that, he'd like to try and be my friend again."
And it was an idea that the young girl was ready to push into motion as soon as possible. Even if it meant starting it the next day.