"Hey guys, come check this out!"

Millie and Emily looked up from the grass they had been lying on upon hearing Spencer call them. School had ended early that day, so the the three had gone to the nearby park to relax for a while and watch the clouds roll by. Spencer had wandered off a while ago, presumably to do something more exciting than cloudwatching. Neither Millie or Emily paid much attention, at least up until they heard him yell.

"What do you think he found?" asked Millie as the two got up from their place on the ground.

"Beats me," Emily responded. "Might as well though. I was getting a little bored of that anyway."

As the two came down the opposite side of the hill they had been laying on they noticed Spencer at the bottom, leaning over something they couldn't see. He didn't seem to notice them coming, instead remaining hunched over whatever he had found until his friends were right behind him.

Neither Emily or Millie said a word, and instead stared in confusion at whatever Spencer was doing. He soon noticed their presence and began to stand up. "Oh hey guys. Take a look at this," he said, turning around and revealing he was holding a stick with something large on the end.

It didn't take long for the girls to figure out what it was. The object turned out to be a very large and hairy spider, calmly hanging to the end of the stick with its long, spindly legs. Emily and Millie were not particularly fond of spiders to begin with, but the fact that Spencer held the end of the stick a mere foot from their faces made both recoil in horror.

"YEEK!"

"WHAT THE HELL!"

"Its a rose-hair tarantula," Spencer calmly explained, calmly ignoring his friends' outbursts, "they're a pretty common pet here. Someone must've lost i-"

"We get that, but WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HOLDING IT‽" Emily shouted. Millie said nothing, frozen in fear from having the tarantula held so close to her.

The smile on Spencer's face vanished, replaced with slight annoyance from being shouted at. "Well I didn't expect to find one here," he told them. "Figured I shouldn't leave it all alone."

"A-as in keep as a p-pet?" Millie asked fearfully, receiving a nod in response.

"WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU WANT THAT AS A PET‽" Emily yelled in disbelief.

Spencer breathed deeply, attempting to ignore Emily's voice being blasted into his ears. "Calm down okay? They're kind of poisonous, but they only cause slight pain and itching. Not that it'll bite me anyway. They're quite docile."

Emily stared for a second, only to sigh soon after. "Fine. Sorry," she admitted. "But you're the one that shoved that thing in my face."

"Not a fan of spiders?" Spencer asked, grinning slightly.

Emily narrowed her eyes. "Hell no."

"Well in that case, I think this is a perfect opportunity to fix that."

Both Millie and Emily seemed to turn a shade whiter as they realized what Spencer was implying. "You mean..?"

"Yep," replied Spencer, holding the tarantula up so it could be clearly seen, "Who wants to hold it first?"

Emily stared blankly at the spider. "You're crazy if you think you can make me hold that."

"Alright then," Spencer turned to face Millie. "Looks like you're first."

Millie froze up completely. If one thing was certain about her, it was that she was terrified of spiders. No matter how small or insignificant, she almost always jumped upon seeing one. And now her best friend expected her to hold what was a quite large and terrifying spider. She didn't want to let Spencer down, but seeing the spider held so close to her made her seriously reconsider what she'd do for him.

"O-okay. Fine," she finally relented, and outstretched her right arm for Spencer, shutting her eyes tightly as she did so.

Gently, Spencer held the tarantula close to Millie's hand, jiggling the stick slightly to persuade the spider onto her hand. Millie shivered violently as she felt it crawl onto her hand, but she refused to look at it, as simply feeling it was scary enough.

Eventually the tarantula adequately transferred itself to Millie's hand. It remained still, apparently unwilling to investigate its new surroundings. Millie breathed a shaky sigh of relief when she realized it wasn't in a mood to move, and slowly opened her eyes. She tensed up again upon seeing it in full, but the more she stared at it, the calmer she became.

"You're doing good," Spencer observed, eliciting a smile from Millie.

Slowly, Millie began to grow slightly more confident with her ability to handle the tarantula. She slowly began to bring her other hand up, lightly petting the tarantula when she felt safe enough to do so. The spider did not react, but the bristles on it's back, and the fact she was actually touching it ensured Millie did not pet it for very long.

"Well...I guess this isn't so bad," Millie finally admitted. She turned to face Emily, who had remained quiet the entire time. "You want to?"

Emily finally snapped out of it. "Whoooah no. I'm not touching that damn thing."

"Cmon, it's really not that bad," Millie tried to persuade her.

"That's what they say about school. Look how well that turned out. Loads of fun, eh?" Emily replied sarcastically.

Millie's face changed to one of annoyance. "But I'm holding it aren't I? Just give it a try, it really isn't as bad as you think."

Emily opened her mouth to resist some more, but she realized there was no point. In addition, Millie began to pout. Emily tried to look away at first, but Millie kept up the face, and Emily eventually relented, if only to stop Millie from looking heartbroken.

"God. Fine," Emily finally capitulated, holding out her left hand to reluctantly take the spider.

Millie smiled happily and began to transfer the tarantula for the second time, making sure to do so slowly. Emily grimaced as she felt the bristles of the spider through her thin coat of fur. Slowly she began to calm down, seemingly getting used to holding the unsettling arachnid.

And then she dropped it.

"Whoops," Emily exclaimed, feigning surprise.

Nobody got a chance to see if the unfortunate spider survived the drop. Emily thrust her foot into the patch of ground where the spider had fell, then began to grind it into the dirt. It didn't matter if it survived the fall. Emily grimaced and began to wipe her foot on the grass, revealing that she had indeed succeeded in smashing what remained of the tarantula.

Millie stared in disbelief. "What did you do‽"

"I did the world a favor," Emily calmly explained.

"You killed it!" Spencer exclaimed, equally flustered.

"Brilliant observation, einstein," Emily replied, sarcasm practically dripping from her words.

"Yeah, but what was that for?" Spencer asked angrily.

"Look, maybe you two can handle spiders, but I sure as hell can't," Emily told them. "It's dead anyway, getting angry about it won't help."

"...Could've at least handed it back," Spencer muttered angrily. Millie simply patted him on the back in an attempt to calm him.

Emily faltered slightly upon seeing her friends' crestfallen expressions. It wasn't her fault they had forced her into handling such a terrifying little creature, but the way she reacted may have been a bit mean...Emily bit her lip, debating with herself what to say while trying to ignore Spencer's angered look.

"Fine. I'm sorry," Emily finally admitted. "Just don't force me to hold another if you find one, alright? I can't stand those things."

Spencer hesitated at first, unwilling to get over it just yet. But after a moment of thought he smiled. "Alright. Fair enough." His smile faltered. "...Though I really would've wanted it as a pet..."

Millie offered a smile. "There's a pet store near here. They might have some. Should we go take a look?"

Emily rolled her eyes. "Heh. So long as we can also look at something nicer than spiders."

With that, the three friends began to stroll down the street towards the store, already conversing about other things. The incident with the spider was slowly forgotten, but however unimportant it might've been, it had ever so slightly brought the three closer together.