Friday, October 16, 1987
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you!~"
Evan stirred awake to the sound of someone with a beautiful voice singing to him. He groggily opened his eyes to see that it was Mangle, and a smile crept onto his face as he watched her continue her song.
"Happy birthday, dear Evan!~ Happy birthday to you!~"
Evan regarded the animatronic with great fondness and then hugged her, "Thank you, Mangle. That was really nice."
Mangle giggled as she leaned into the hug and nuzzled the boy's cheek. "You're welcome!" They broke the hug and she looked him in the eyes while tilting her head to the side. "So what do you wanna do today?"
"Well, first off I have to go to school," Evan replied with a sigh as he got out of bed.
"Yeah, but what about after school?" Mangle asked playfully. "What do you wanna do then?"
Evan gave her a warm smile and said, "Mangle, just getting to spend time with you is more than enough. We don't have to do anything special."
Mangle raised her eyelids in a smile upon hearing that and giggled. "Okay then, but if you change your mind later, let me know."
"Will do," Evan replied. He paused to think and then asked, "Hey, Mangle? Do you have a birthday?"
Mangle lowered her ears and looked away in shame. "No, not really… I'm just a robot, after all…"
Evan frowned and then cupped her cheeks. "Hey, you're not just a robot. You're the nicest person I've ever known, and you're my best friend," he said and gave her a reassuring smile. "And even if you weren't 'born', we could still come up with a birthday for you."
Mangle looked into Evan's eyes and tilted her head to the side. "How? Do we just pick a day, or…?"
"Hmm…" Evan thought for a moment and then said, "I think I have a better idea. What's the very first thing you remember?"
Mangle considered the question and then replied, "The first thing I remember is two technicians running diagnostics on me."
"When was that?" Evan asked. "Like, what date?"
"June twelfth, this year," Mangle replied.
Evan smiled at her. "Well then, in that case let's just say that your birthday is on June twelfth."
"Really?" Mangle asked, looking quite excited.
Evan chuckled and nodded. "Of course! Everyone should have a birthday."
"Ooh, I can't wait to have my first birthday!" Mangle said excitedly. However, she gave Evan a sheepish look and added, "But let's focus on your birthday first."
Evan huffed a laugh. "Of course! But, um, for now I need to get going."
Mangle hummed in reply as the boy walked over to the barn doors, where he put on his shoes.
Before leaving, Evan turned to look at Mangle and waved at her. "Bye, Mangle!"
"Bye, Evan!" She replied, waving back.
And with that, the boy exited the building and closed the doors behind him.
As Evan waited for the school bus with Michael, he couldn't help but feel proud of himself. He was now on the verge of completing his fourth grade math course. All that was left was to complete one more test and then he could progress to fifth grade math, bringing him one step closer to giving Mangle a new, better body.
The school bus for Hurricane Elementary arrived, and Evan felt a knot in his stomach as he stepped onto it. Inside he was met by the sight and sound of countless kids chatting, laughing, and picking on each other. Evan nervously walked along the bus, trying to find a seat, when a spitball hit him in the face, just below his right eye.
"Aw, man, I almost had it!" Whined Garry Morrison, one of the bullies from Evan's class.
Evan frowned and wiped the spitball off of him before he held up his hand to shield his eyes and continued to look for a seat. He hadn't gone far before he felt another spitball hit his ear. He let out a sigh as he wiped that one off too.
Finally, Evan found an empty seat towards the back of the bus and sat down. Though, he made sure to duck down enough to no longer be in Garry's line of fire.
Later that day, just before math class, Evan entered the classroom early to talk to his teacher, Mrs. Emerson.
The middle-aged woman smiled at him as he approached and said, "Well, if it isn't my top student! What's on your mind, Evan?"
"Um, I finished my textbook," Evan began as he removed his backpack. Opening it, he pulled out the book in question and handed it to her. "So can I do the final test for this course now?"
"Of course!" Mrs. Emerson said as she placed the textbook down on her desk. Opening a drawer, she pulled out a couple of paper sheets. "I've already prepared it for you," she continued as she handed the papers to Evan. "Here you go!"
"Thanks, Mrs. Emerson," Evan said, smiling at the woman as he took the papers.
The boy then went over to his desk, where he sat down and began the test.
It had only been a few minutes when the rest of the fourth-graders entered the classroom, and as they did, quite a few of them gave Evan weird looks.
"Who the hell comes to class early?" Asked one boy incredulously.
"What a nerd!" Laughed another.
And a third walked into Evan's shoulder, causing him pain and disrupting his test. Evan looked up in annoyance at the culprit, who just smirked at him before continuing to his own desk.
Mrs. Emerson then started the day's lesson, giving Evan some much needed relief so that he could focus on his test. By the time the lesson had concluded, he had finished and triple-checked it for any errors.
As the other students left the classroom, Evan went up to his teacher's desk and handed her the test. "Here you go, Mrs. Emerson."
She briefly looked it over and then smiled at him. "From what I can tell at a glance, it looks good, Evan! Of course, I still need to go over it more thoroughly, but if you pass, I'll have the learning materials for the fifth grade course for you tomorrow."
Evan smiled to himself, feeling quite proud of what he had managed to achieve in such a short amount of time. "Thanks, Mrs. Emerson! Um, see you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow, Evan," she replied with another smile.
The nine-year-old left the classroom and walked down the hallway towards the cafeteria. As he walked, Evan's thoughts went to Mangle. Before she came into his life, he was so alone. Always so alone. But now, that ever-present loneliness, that emptiness, was gone. Better yet, her friendship had motivated him to study hard—harder than he ever thought possible. Evan had always thought that he was stupid—Michael and the kids at school sure made him feel as though he was—but now he was proving them all wrong. Better yet, he was proving himself wrong.
Evan felt a knot in his stomach as he entered the cafeteria. Next to the playground, it was the absolute worst place in school. Not only was it incredibly noisy, but it was also one of the places where the older kids, such as Ned and Timmy, would frequently bully him.
The nine-year-old grabbed a tray and got today's lunch, which consisted of a very unappetizing lasagna, corn, a fruit cup, a stale-looking oatmeal cookie, and a carton of chocolate milk. He then began to make his way towards an empty table so he could sit by himself.
But then, suddenly, someone shoved Evan from behind, causing him to fall to the floor and land on top of his lunch tray with a splat. Seemingly everyone laughed at the sight, and as he raised himself off of the ground, Evan looked down to see his shirt completely soiled, much to his dismay. He then looked behind him and saw the culprit—Ned, who was laughing his ass off along with Timmy.
Evan tried so hard to not cry, but between the cruelty of the bullies and everyone laughing at him, it was just too much.
"Aww, are you gonna cry, crybaby?" Timmy asked mockingly. "Do it, you crybaby! Cry!"
As he felt his eyes well up with tears, Evan quickly got up and ran out of the cafeteria sobbing, all the while the other kids kept laughing at him.
Evan ran and ran down the hallway until he got to a closet. He opened it and hid inside. There, in the dark, he was able to cry without anyone watching or making fun of him.
He couldn't understand why everyone was so mean to him. Was there something wrong with him or were people—no, humans—just mean in general? His father was nice, Evan supposed, but… there were times when he wasn't. Mangle, by contrast, was nothing but sweet to him. While there had been a few scary moments involving her in the past, he never felt uncomfortable or unsafe when he was around her. In fact, she was the only person he felt comfortable enough being around to just be himself.
She really meant the world to him.
After having spent a good while crying, the nine-year-old finally left the closet and made his way to the bathroom, where he cleaned his shirt and face as best he could.
Having not had any food, Evan felt a bit hungry. However, after what happened, he wasn't particularly keen on returning to the cafeteria. Instead, he opted to go to the school library, where he could get some peace and quiet. Mrs. Harper, the school librarian, was very strict, and although she could be mean at times, none of the bullies dared to start any sort of trouble while in her library.
Entering the library, Evan made his way to one of the reading tables. There, he removed his backpack and pulled out a book from it, which he placed on the table. He also pulled out a banana, which he had packed for situations like this where he wasn't comfortable going to the cafeteria. The nine-year-old then closed his backpack and leaned it against one of the legs of the table before he took a seat. Evan opened the book, peeled the banana, and ate as he read. The book in question was one of his father's old college textbooks, which served as an introduction to electrical engineering. While Evan was yet unable to decipher the mathematical formulae shown throughout the book, he was able to understand the underlying concepts as explained in the text with only some difficulty.
Once the bell rang, signaling the end of recess, Evan closed the book and returned it to his backpack. Then, after throwing away the banana peel in a trash can, he left the library and went to class.
Evan stepped out of the school bus, thankful to finally be back home. He quickly ran his fingers through his hair to make sure that no one had put anything in it before he made his way over to the barn.
As he approached the doors, he smiled to himself, knowing fully well what was going to happen once he stepped inside. He opened one of the doors and entered the barn, and sure enough, Mangle pounced and pulled him into a hug.
"Welcome home, Evan!" Mangle exclaimed with a giggle.
"Thanks, Mangle. It's nice to be back," Evan replied with a chuckle. They broke their hug and the boy smiled at her. "Did you have a nice day today?"
"Mm-hm!" Mangle nodded with her eyelids raised in a smile. "I watched a cooking show where they made cupcakes! Real cupcakes! And they looked so pretty!" She giggled and then tilted her head to the side. "Have you ever had cupcakes? Do they taste good?"
Evan couldn't help but to huff a laugh at Mangle's enthusiasm. He gave her a warm smile and said, "I have, and they're really yummy."
Mangle hopped up and down in excitement. "Ooh, I can't wait until I'm finally able to taste so I can try some!" She tilted her head to the side again and asked, "What about you? How was your day? Have you had a nice birthday so far?"
Evan's smile vanished instantly and he began to fidget as he averted his gaze. "Um… not really…" He swallowed and then looked at Mangle again, regarding her fondly. A tender smile crept onto his face, and he added, "But… it's all better now."
"That's good, at least," Mangle replied, giving the boy a look of sympathy.
The buzzer on the wall then lit up, signaling that Evan's father wanted him to come inside of the house.
The boy turned to look at the buzzer and then looked back at Mangle with a rueful smile. "Looks like it's time for my lessons."
"Oh, right," Mangle said, lowering her head slightly while her ears drooped. However, she tried to keep her cheerful demeanor and added, "I'll see you later, okay?"
Evan smiled at her and nodded. "Of course! But, um, bye for now."
"Bye," Mangle replied.
Evan turned to leave, but then stopped himself. He looked back at the animatronic and said, "Hey, Mangle?" He paused to swallow, but his voice cracked when he spoke up again. "Thank you for being my friend."
Mangle raised her eyelids in a smile as she regarded the boy with great affection. "Thank you for being mine."