theme: Cabbage Patch Kids

"...Ever heard of them?"

"Heard of them?! I had, like, twenty-eight!"

Cloudy Jay's elevation of volume caused a group of customers, seated at a table parallel to hers, to roll their eyes and collectively murmur about how they can never go out to a quiet lunch after work, etc., etc. Eileen had paused her workday toil to chat with her friend.

"Woah, really? That's awesome!" Eileen excliamed. "Well, I guess that's not too surprising, considering how the toy line had basically a cult following of little girls and all..."

Rigby stabbed his meatball sub with a plastic fork. For one of the first times ever, he didn't have that much of an appetite. He just really hoped that Mordecai would be back from the bathroom soon. In the back of his mind, Rigby dreaded not choosing to go with him. He hated being third wheel to Eileen and CJ's mindless conversations.

"Seriously though, I had so many of those things," CJ recollected. "I remember collecting some TMNT dolls when I was younger, too, so I would take the ninja masks and weapons off them and dress up a lucky few of my Cabbage Patch Kids!"

Eileen laughed, her shoulders bouncing up and down.

"Toy companies missed the oppurtunity of a lifetime," she insisted. "They could of made a fotune off that crossover!"

Rigby suddenly dropped his maranara-coated fork, trying desperately to grab it before it reached the ground, but to no avail. He let out an irritated groan.

"Can't we talk about something else besides the ugliest things ever made?" he asked them.

CJ and Eileen exchanged glances.

"Oh man, I almost forgot you were there!" CJ said, feigning surprise. "You need to work on your conversational skills a tad more, dude."

Rigby glared at her for a second and then continued looking down at his plate. Eileen noticed this and frowned.

"Hey guys," Mordecai announced, wiping his damp hands on his feathers. "What did I miss?"

Rigby abruptly pushed his stool back and stood up. "I need to use it," he told him before marching off, past a perturbed Mordecai, to the restroom.

Eileen grabbed her empty platter. "Uh, I think it's the end of my break time," she hurriedly said to CJ.

Eileen strode past their table and zoomed into the next corridor, where she soon caught up with Rigby.

She put her hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay? You seemed upset back there."

"All I said was I needed to use it!" he snapped. Rigby brushed her off of him and approached the door to the men's room. Eileen stood behind him, but didn't proceed to go any farther. "I'm sorry," she told him, in a hushed tone.

Rigby looked taken aback and swung back around. "Huh? For what?"

"Rigby, I can read people better than you'd think," Eileen replied, pressing the platter against her chest. "You were clearly uncomfortable when CJ and I started talking. And so, I'm sorry for excluding you from the conversation... even if it was unintensional."

"Hey, I never told you anything about being left out," Rigby said after a short pause.

"Whatever you say," she responded, taking a step back. "But just know that... ever since Margaret left, I haven't had a real girlfriend to hang out with. I still get texts and updates from her time to time, but she's still not here. With me. Aside from a few ladies from Chess club, CJ is basically my only gal pal. You and Mordecai are different. You wouldn't wanna discuss which character you want to end up with Prince Jamie, or go to the mall, or... talk about Cabbage Patch Kids. Both you and CJ are my best friends; just on different terms."

With that, Eileen turned around and went back to her shift.

(A/N: this was baddd, the next one will be better)