"Puberty" had been much worse than they had expected. Sadness and Anger were quick to take over when the growing pains begun, and you can bet Disgust and Fear had a field day when Riley's first period came around. Middle school wasn't much better; classes were confusing and the teachers were strict and there were so many people Riley didn't know around. It seemed that as soon as they were used to San Francisco, it had something new to throw at them.
It wasn't as if Riley wasn't happy, though—no, Joy still had plenty of time at the console. It was all such a frenzy, though. There was so much to get used to, and they often found themselves scrambling, reaching over each other to press a button or grab hold of a lever; not to mention all the time they were running around, grabbing daydreams, ideas, memories... There was a sort of hustle they had never had before. You could even call it a panic, except no one other than Fear actually called it that.
But of course, the biggest challenge came in boys, but not necessarily for the expected reason. They had all seen Boy Band Island, of course, but only Joy and Sadness had seen the Imaginary Boyfriend Generator, and neither of them were keen enough on the idea to mention it to the others. So that means no one could have possibly been prepared for when an eighth grade boy approached Riley not a week into her first week of seventh grade, grinning her in a way that was not at all subtle.
No one quite knew what to do, but they didn't have to, because Disgust was drawn to the console like a magnet. "No!" she shrieked, offering little explanation as she pushed any button she could. "No way, not happening!" On the monitor, they could hear Riley respond to his overly friendly remarks with a bit of quick wit, and the not-at-all-subtle boy was gone within moments.
"Disgust," Joy started, not doing anything to stop her. Somehow, she didn't feel a need to. "What?"
Disgust let her hands fall on the console with a mighty slam and turned a pointed expression to the rest of the group. "Riley cannot associate with the likes of him. Or any of them, for that matter."
"Who?" Sadness drawled. "Everyone? Because I think I saw most of them looking at us funny and—"
"No!" Disgust nearly scoffed, turning on her heel to face them fully. "The boys."
"What's wrong with boys?" is what Anger wanted to know, and the way he furrowed his brow only spelled out danger. Fear clearly looked like he wanted to ask the same of Disgust, but he seemed more than content to let Anger do the talking for him.
Disgust scowled, and then she pouted, her lilac lips scrunching up to one side of her face. "It's nothing personal, guys. I just... I feel like Riley shouldn't get involved with these guys, you know?" She turned back to the view screen, staring at it like she could pull from it the words she wanted to say. "Like... it's not right for her."
And in that moment, some sort of strange understanding was flowing between them. They didn't know what it meant, and they wouldn't for quite a while, but no one made a move to stop Disgust the next time a boy tried to "introduce himself" to Riley.
But at the same time, no one thought much of the field day Joy was having in the presence of a few of Riley's female friends.