Disclaimer- I don't own WordGirl, but I bet you can find who does.
Friday morning.
Bob had awoken early to the sound of gentle scratching against Becky's bedroom window.
Bob stretched as he got up from his bed. His leg was feeling much better, so he decided to investigate the noise for himself. The monkey shot a glance over at the sleeping girl. It was nice to see her resting. Just a day ago she had managed to break a two day fever. She had made herself sick with all the stress she had been through, that explosion being the last straw.
Bob still remembered how worn out she was when she came home that night. Her exhausted body couldn't even stay awake long enough to get dinner.
The scratching sound came again.
To Bob's delight it was Norton up on the window sill, the neighborhood's bushy tailed tabby. The friendly cat was pawing for Bob's attention. So without hesitation Bob took the chair from Becky's vanity mirror and pushed it under the window. He climbed up to open the glass, smiling at his friend all the while.
"Well top-of-the-morning to ya, Bobby-boy." Norton sang out as the glass was removed.
Bob shushed the cat and gestured over to the still fast asleep Becky.
"Right," Norton whispered. "She's still in bed."
The cat leaped down from the window into the room and, with the stealth that only a cat could have, Norton jumped onto the bed and peered down at the sleeping girl.
"My, my, how is sleeping beauty?" he spoke delicately as not to wake her. "She's looking much better I'd have to say. Much better indeed."
The cat joined his friend on the floor under his point of entrée.
"It's hard to believe she was so sick just a day ago," Norton stretched out on the floor. "Poor girl had her whole family worried; she must have had every pet in the neighborhood, nay the city, distressing about her." Norton watched as Bob let out a distressed sigh. "And . . . you're unhappy."
"Not unhappy, Norton, just worried." Bob sat on the floor and rested his head in his hand.
"Worried about what? Clearly nothing is a match for the indestructible WordWoman!"
"Her name's WordGirl."
"What?! What is she now, like thirty? Why she callin' herself gir..."
"She's only eleven." Bob sighed again.
"So, that's like 77 in dog years, ha ha."
Bob did not join the cat in his jesting. Norton removed the smile from his face and continued on trying to comfort his friend.
"Well regardless, what's got you worried," the cat placed a concerned paw on the monkey's knee. "You can tell Norton."
"Becky's been pushing herself very hard lately. There's so much she has to put up with and she's so young. Plus, I've been having these weird dreams lately."
"That's it, that's no reason to worry about Becky," the cat sat up to be at eye level with Bob. "Dreams never come true. So she had one close run in with death; it's not like anybody died."
"No, there not just dreams." Bob looked away from his friend to try and hide some of his fears. "There more like memories."
Norton took back his paw and gave it a quick lick. He then took on a playful position. He was sure a speech would encourage his long time friend and remind him that there was nothing to fear; at least that's how it worked in the books written by his owner.
"Just a few days ago I watched as a waterlogged hero dragged not only herself, but four other people from certain death in boiling water." A fact that wasn't true as he wasn't present, but it sounded really good. "Nothing about her demeanor implied that she was weak, and with a fortitude surpassing all animal comprehension, she's battled the raging flu that accompanied it. What evil can you dream up that could take this girl on and win?"
Bob only turned to his friend with sadden eyes.
"Britannica."
Pause.
"The, encyclopedia? You fear the encyclopedia?"
"No, just forget it." Bob looked back at Becky before addressing Norton again.
"Well, if you're worried about her getting sick again, I'd say don't. She's pretty smart and knows her limits; well she does now anyway. If I were you, I'd be more worried that her parents would find her staying out so late."
"They almost did."
Norton flicked his tail about anxiously waiting for the story.
"Mrs. Botsford tried to enter her room that night right after she left and again after dinner."
"And how, dare I ask, did she not find out?"
Bob laughed lightly.
"It's kinda funny really, I pretended I was Becky and got into her bed. Her mother thought her daughter had fallen asleep and decided not to wake her."
"Lucky for you."
"Yes, and for Becky. Having a cold the next day made it less suspicious for her falling asleep so early."
Norton laughed at the thought of Bob disguising himself as a little girl. Norton couldn't help being happy that Becky was blessed with such a wonderful animal as Bob. That human would be so lost without this monkey in front of him.
"I'm just worried about something she said." Bob heaved a sigh.
Norton leapt up into the chair and laid out to get comfortable.
"So what did she tell you. Please also tell me how she got out, I do want to know."
"Well, she was fighting Dr. Two-Brains when she noticed the gas leak and quickly got everyone out."
"I remember, you told me that the night she came home dripping wet."
"Well, she managed to fly everyone out of the lake and get them on shore. She was really upset because her friend had stopped breathing and she's been blaming herself for the past few days."
"My lands, did the kid die?!"
"No, he only suffered near drowning; I think that's what it's called. Still serious though and he spent the night at the hospital." Bob frowned at the thought. Norton sat up for a better view of Becky.
"I'm not sure what any of that means," the feline guest lowered his ears. "But is that what she told you; she's upset because that kid drowned?"
"He didn't drown per say, but she was really upset about him." Bob pouted a bit. "But that's not what disturbed me most."
Norton jumped down from the chair directly in front of the primate.
"Well get on with it, what did she say?!"
"She said someone had planned the explosion."
"You mean the explosion wasn't an accident? Why would someone blow up the country club? They serve such wonderful fish after parties." Norton's mouth watered.
"I don't know who did, but I fear I know who would."
"Who?"
At that moment there came the usual wake-up calls in the Botsford home, along with the usual smell of the Friday breakfast being made.
"Well that's my cue to go."
Norton was back out the window in the blink of an eye, and with some fancy footwork, Norton was safe on the ground and on his way. He had learned over the years that the Botsford's didn't enjoy the company of strange animals in the house.
Bob went and poked his head out of the bedroom in time to see Sally disappear down the stairs. Looking over at Becky's brother's room, TJ had barely opened the door and was trying to beat his sister to the shower. Unfortunately his scramble only got him a bump on the head.
"Stupid door," he hallowed at the slightly ajar door.
Bob went back into the room and shut the door.
Becky was slowly adjusting to the waking world when her dear friend joined her in the bed. Becky smiled at the monkey as she slowly sat up and stroked Bob's head.
It had been such a long week; two days of which she had spent sick in bed. The changing temperature of the water, the lack of sleep and the stress she had been through took their toll on her Wednesday. She woke up with a 100.2 fever and the accompanying stomach virus encouraged her mother to keep her home from school Thursday.
Time would only tell what mayhem had ensued while WordGirl was out sick for two days.
. . .especially since Dr. Two-Brains had "escaped."
Becky didn't want to think about that right now. She had already beaten herself up about the events of Tuesday for the last 48 hours. She needed to try and focus on getting ready for school.
Groan.
And that promise she had made with Tobey. Today was going to be dreadful.
Becky swung her legs over the side of the bed with the intent of getting up, but then she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her hair was not the same length on both sides. She had completely forgotten; no wonder her dad was giving her odd looks yesterday.
Scoops would definitely notice. That's if he could even make it to school.
Becky shook the memory from her mind. She couldn't think about that. "Becky" wasn't there and thus she wasn't deeply affected by it. She was only a concerned friend.
Sigh.
"I'm going to have to do something Bob, help me think." Becky approached the mirror with a rather sadden disposition.
Bob chipped his thoughts but quickly received a rebuttal.
"I can't just cut the other half three inches." Becky fussed, her displeasure with current circumstances slipping out in her words.
Becky played with the loose strands still remaining on the damaged side. Why did he have to do this? Why'd he have to be there in the first place? He never would have been hurt if he. . .
Focus on school.
Becky felt Bob pulling on her night shirt. Looking down she was confronted with the answer to her hair problem. Bob was holding up a hair tie.
"Great idea Bob," Becky took the scrunchy from him. "I'll just put my hair up today. It won't look like I've cut it short and Scoops won't be able to tell what he's done to it."
With a new sense of self confidence Becky went to pick out her clothes for the day and grab her book-bag. It was then she realized she had never gone back for her bag Monday. Becky also didn't ask for the instructions for that assignment Tuesday.
Becky had forgotten to do her project!
"Oh, Bob." Becky dropped to her knees. "How could I have forgotten; this project was worth so much and it was part of my English grade."
Becky lowered her head in defeat. It was official, today was the worst day in history. All Bob could do was pat Becky on the back and hope it provided some comfort.
"Oh well," Becky got up and headed for the shower. "Not much I can do about it now, except beg for more time."
The bathroom door was locked. TJ had beaten her to it.
"Hurry up TJ!" Becky knocked several times.
TJ's muffled voice replied, "You always waste all the hot water, it's my turn!"
"I do not waste water; you're the one who takes five hours to wash off!"
"Can it, sis! I made it first, so deal!"
Becky scowled, but could do nothing else but wait. At least there was the hope her teacher would give her more time due to her illness.
Cleaned and dressed, Becky was ready for school. She joined her family downstairs for breakfast with the brightest, most surefooted smile she could muster.
"Becky!" Mr. Botsford greeted his daughter as she sat at the table. "Feeling good enough for school again?"
Becky's confidence fled at this question.
"Maybe." Becky much rather skip another day than face her teacher without her homework.
"Is your stomach still upset?" Mrs. Botsford asked as she placed a very small helping on Becky's plate. "I don't want you eating too much today and no heavy activities."
"Don't worry mom, I'm fine." Becky didn't want to put her mother through any more tension if possible. Becky knew her mom had already been through so much due to Becky's lies and bad attitude. Not to mention that extra attention she had been getting due to being sick.
Becky couldn't help but smile at the thought of how much her parents loved her. She was very lucky to have them. Too bad crime fighting always seemed to get in the way.
The doorbell?
It was at that moment the Botsfords' family breakfast was interrupted by the familiar sound.
"I'll get it." Sally rose from the table.
Upon the door opening, Becky almost had her own drowning experience in her orange juice glass. Violet had come to walk with Becky to school. Why had she come today? Violet didn't come yesterday, why now? If Mrs. Botsford said anything about her daughter spending the summer with Violet, all her lies would be exposed.
"Good morning Mrs. Botsford," Violet sang. "Is Becky well enough to come to school today?"
Becky quickly sprang from the table and over to the door.
"Here I am, I'm ready to go; let's go!" Becky tried to push Violet from the door.
"What's the big hurry Becky?" Sally patted Becky's head lightly. "We made a pretty large breakfast; would you like some Violet?"
"Oh it does smell good." Violet took a step into the house but was pulled back out by her friend.
"What Violet means to say is that it smells great, but we really need to be heading to school."
"But we'd be really early?" Violet turned to her friend with concern.
Becky didn't know what to say to that, yet she had to do something.
"Exactly Becky," Sally agreed with Violet. "Please come in and help yourself. It's the least we can do since you'll be feeding Becky all summer."
Becky's heart felt like it had stopped. Violet's face was covered in confusion by this statement and she was bound to ask about it. What could Becky do?
"What do you mea. . . ?"
"We'd love to stay mom." Becky trampled over Violet's words. "But there's that project we should be working on and I'd like an early start since I was sick."
Becky grabbed her friend's hand and dragged her out the door. Violet couldn't protest against Becky's 'newfound' strength nor did Sally wish to interfere with Becky's studies.
"But Becky, the project's due today."
Again Becky ignored Violet's remarks and waved goodbye to her mother forcing Violet down the driveway.
"Becky?" Violet pushed the aggressive girl away from her just as they reached the end of the driveway. "Why are you acting like this? You knew the project was due today; you can't work on it now."
Becky hadn't mentioned the English project to her parents; they most likely thought she meant her "science" project.
"I'm sorry, it's just. . ." Becky couldn't explain, but she didn't want to lie to her friend like she had to her parents. Perhaps a partial truth would be enough, at least enough to keep her from going back inside. "Violet, I never did my project."
Gasp.
"Becky that assignment is worth a lot! Why didn't you do it?"
"I was sick and very tired."
"But you never forget your homework! It's so not-like-you . . ."
Becky didn't like the way Violet had said that. The look she was receiving made her feel like the subject of scrutiny. Becky took a step back from Violet; somehow frightened by what surely was congenial concern.
Violet only had one thing on her mind; this was suspicious.
"Well, sorry." Becky lowered her gaze. "I have to go."
Becky made her way to the school; alone. She needed time to think, away from everyone. Violet began to follow Becky, but stopped, and stared. This was out of character for Becky. WordGirl or not, Becky would never forget a homework assignment. One thing was for sure, something was defiantly wrong with Becky and it was coming in-between their friendship.
Becky's mind became a battlefield. So many things to think about and yet no way to sort them out. Becky stopped walking and leaned against something mounted by the sidewalk; she just needed to take a quick breather and think.
Her family was on their way to Florida; a trip WordGirl couldn't take and yet Becky shouldn't miss. Her parents were worried that she was suffering from separation anxiety and were only letting her stay due to their guilt; a guilt she had given them. Crime was running rampant and she was losing track of most of the villains.
She had failed to keep up with her school work and she was lying to her parents with the help of her enemies, while at the same time protecting the citizens of the city.
She had lied to the faces of her best friends who were now acting very weird and seemingly coming close to discovering her secret. She was going to have to lie to her family for a month as she would also have to take care of herself alone.
But the issue most weighing on her mind; someone wanted to hurt her.
The building didn't explode due to a leak, but because someone had planned it to. A fact that was still unsettling to Becky as four other people almost died with her. This person didn't care if they hurt others as long as they got to her. Perhaps she was misinterpreting the attack; maybe the person was after Dr. Two-Brains. That didn't seem likely though. She was the prime target to any and all evil in this city.
Sigh.
Did someone really make an attempt on her life or was she just freaking herself out? Maybe this was just the result of being stuck in bed for two days with nothing better to think about.
Becky glanced down at the object she had been leaning against. It was a newspaper dispenser and a reminder of the unpleasant events of the explosion. Scoops had almost died due to her inability to conjure up an escape plan.
She hadn't meant to keep the group under water as long as she did. There was so much going on at once she wasn't sure what to do. WordGirl had never experienced a situation like that before, and she had no hero instinct kicking in once she entered the water. It was like she had jumped into a sea of panic with four large weights tired to her neck.
What was worse was having to pull everyone up on shore to find Scoops had stopped breathing. Becky's heart pounded hard as the memories flooded back.
o
Although the henchmen coughed and stirred with life, WordGirl couldn't help but stare at the motionless body of the reporter. It was apparent she had drawn a blank on what to do as her eyes seemed hallow and thoughtless.
Any onlooker could see that this event had deeply wounded the super hero. The world seemed to stop around her; everything faded away except for the limp child on the ground.
"I, I. . . don't know what to do. . ." terror flickered in WordGirl's eyes as a quick reminder of her young age and inexperienced heroism. "I don't know CPR!"
It was that vociferation that echoed through Dr. Two-Brains' mind. That cry remained with him the entire evening and well into Friday morning.
Without any other place to go, Two-Brains and his henchmen returned to the old lair. It was comforting to be surrounded by the warehouse where he birth some of his greatest schemes, but right now Two-Brains felt his lair was more of a hide away from his own uncertainties.
That day at the lake extremely disturbed him. The doctor didn't want to care about it, he didn't need to care about it, but somewhere within him Prof. Boxleitner did. In him was some illogical fear for his dear friend and lifelong enemy.
"Curse this split personality of mine."
Two-Brains slammed a fist down on the table he had been sitting at. The two henchmen looked over at the doctor from the back of the warehouse. They were concerned about their boss' strange behavior, yet their better judgment kept them away from confronting him.
Two-Brains leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples.
"Maybe I just need to, steal some cheese, take a break, that could be nice."
Two-Brains' speech to himself didn't calm his anxieties. Not even the thought of cheese could erase the image of what WordGirl looked like in that moment.
She never looked so scared before. She didn't even flinch at the thought of harm coming to herself, but she seemed to lose it at the reporter's near death experience. It was in that instant that Two-Brains remembered that WordGirl was, well, a girl. Not a power house, not an unfeeling robot hero, but a frail human being like anyone else. . . save from being from the planet Lexicon.
Either way, she was a kid taking on responsibilities that even adults would have trouble dealing with.
But why did he care?!
"I don't!" Two-Brains said to himself in a failed attempt to overwhelm his former feelings. "I don't care about WordGirl anymore than I do for mouse traps!"
The doctor grabbed his head as it felt like both his brains were swelling. He hadn't felt Prof. Boxleitner fighting with his better reason in years. The feeling was almost destructive.
To Steven Boxleitner WordGirl was more than just a superhero or defender of the city, she was his friend and most trusted supporter. They had known each other since she started the whole super hero business. And even when the scientific community had mocked Boxleitner's advancements in the perfect pancake flipping spatula, WordGirl was there to cheer him on to marketing the thing in France. And it sold splendidly. She had even allowed him to study her life for his book, Super Heroes and You, a record he turned around and used against her.
"Oh how could I have done so much evil!"
At this cry the two henchmen could no longer ignore the pain of the doctor. They speedily made their way to where he was seated to see that he had fallen to his knees holding his head tightly between his hands.
"Boss, boss!"
The henchmen dropped to the doctor's level trying to locate the source of his pain. As they reached out to help him up, however, he rapidly swatted their hands away.
"Don't touch me." The doctor hissed causing his men to stand back away from him.
But just as readily as he frighten them; he begged for them to return.
"No, please help me."
The two lackeys were so confused by their boss' actions that they only stood back and watched the man struggle with himself.
"How could I have done this to my friend; a child! She never would have put herself in danger if it hadn't been for me. Someone could have died because of me. I don't want to do this evil anymore!" Boxleitner voiced.
"No, I am Dr. Two-Brains. I am the terror of this city and I will have the cheese. WordGirl's safety doesn't concern me. If she destroys herself all the better for me." Squeaky barked.
"She's like a little sister to me!"
"She's an annoyance that always gets in the way of my happiness!"
The henchmen shot worried glances at one another as the doctor carried on like that for several long minutes. Finally the doctor stopped. He stood upright and shook his head.
"Uh, you okay boss?"
"What?" Two-Brains was unaware that his men had been watching him that whole time. "Yeah I'm fine, just ignore any vociferations like that." He tried to laugh off his embarrassment.
"Of course boss but, uh. . ?"
"But what?" the doctor vexed.
"What does vo-ver-cation mean?"
Two-Brains sighed.
"It's another word for cry or noisy, clamorous shout."
"Oh."
Back at Wood View Elementary, students had arrived for class. There was an extreme joy among the students as today wasn't just Friday, but the second to the last week of school. The children's excitement could hardly be contained, to the great dismay of their teachers.
Violet approached the school with her head down. She watched her left foot advance the right and then vice versa.
"I wonder if we're still friends." Violet sniffed as she stopped outside the school doors.
Maybe Becky just wanted to walk alone. But why didn't she do her homework? Becky was such a good student. . . kind of like how she use to be a good friend. Something must have happened to Becky.
Violet closed her eyes and tried to think of the moment she first noticed Becky acting out of sorts. She was always busy, always running off to do something random. . . but Becky always did that. From the first art class they shared till now, leaving was just what Becky did.
"But friends shouldn't leave friends."
What about the WordGirl theory? Aside from alien parasites, what if Becky was WordGirl? It would explain why Becky was always running off. And maybe that's why Becky missed doing her homework, she was fighting crime.
Violet opened her eyes and looked at the reflective glass in the doors.
"But why would she not tell me?"
If Becky was WordGirl, then she wasn't Violet's best friend. Friends don't hide things like that from each other. Could Violet really accept that?
Just then Violet's lone time was interrupted.
Scoops had made it to school today and was now waving vigorously at Violet through the glass.
"Morning!" Scoops opened the door and gestured for Violet to come in.
"Oh, hi." Violet spoke rather dejectedly. "I'm happy to see you're feeling better."
"Never better."
"I heard you were in the hospital."
"Only for a night, nothing to be too worried about." Scoops laughed; apprehension springing up at the memory. "I just wish I could have written an article about it."
"Why didn't you?"
"My dad took me off the paper for the rest of the year." Scoops frowned as he pointed to his head.
It was then Violet noticed he wasn't wearing his usual hat. His parents must have taken it away as a physical showing of his demotion.
"I'm sorry to hear that, I know you really like your paper."
"Yeah, dad said I needed to take a break from it and find a 'new' hobby."
He spoke the word 'new' with such disgust that Violet couldn't help but smile. It was a relief to hear he wasn't working on the paper, at least now he wouldn't ask about WordG-
"So have you noticed Becky acting weird lately?" Scoops seemed almost too excited.
Violet couldn't think of what to say. How was she supposed to answer a question like that?
"Does it look like she got a hair cut or anything?"
"Uh, um, she put her hair up, I can't tell." Violet diverted her eye contact.
"Clever, but not clever enough." Scoops grinned. "Do you think you could get her to put her hair down for ya?"
Was this all he could think about?
"Why does it matter Scoops? Aren't you grounded from the paper anyway?" Violet did her best not to sound upset. She just wanted to avoid the subject altogether and get her friend back.
"Only from the Daily Rag, but I still need this story to impress the Times." Scoops could have kicked himself after saying that. He knew Violet would not react well to his ulterior motive.
"Is that why you're doing this? Just to get a story?!" Violet's eyes narrowed.
"No, no, no. I mean, it's part of it yes, but you see these two men from the Times offered me a place in the paper, but I'm really trying to help. . ."
"Just stop it Todd!" Violet was mad and her anger was beginning to catch the ears of passers-by. "Becky is my friend and I want to help her, not boost your ego. If all you care about is writing stories and impressing people, then I want nothing to do with it."
With that Violet pulled the reporter's notebook from her pocket and threw it on the ground in front of him. Violet then put her nose as high up as she could to walk past Scoops, hoping to send the signal of pure disapproval. She then stopped to say one more thing; not so much to him as herself.
"Even if Becky's not 'my' best friend anymore, true friends don't betray each other."
Violet left.
Across the hall, Tobey watched as Scoops stoped and stare at the book on the ground. The ex-reporter blinked as he seemed to be thinking about what was said to him. He then grabbed his notepad and tore the first few pages out. Tobey couldn't resist a good snicker. It was funny seeing the 'ace reporter' getting chewed-out, especially by Violet. Good times.
(A/N) I hope this was enjoyed by all. Thank you my reviewers. School starts up Wed. for me and it looks like it will be a very busy semester. Your patience, as always, will be greatly appreciated. I'll work harder on my character development as well.