Again, sorry this one's late. Although this time it wasn't my fault because Fanfiction decided to break down! I'm starting to wonder if my lack of reviews is a result of people not wanting to deal with all the problems this site has. Probably not, though.

Okay, "The Don't-Gooder." This one's rather infamous, I've heard. To put it simply, it's everyone's least favorite episode of the entire series. And frankly, it might be mine, too. I think there were more things I didn't like about this episode than I did. The song's pretty good (an honestly good parody of Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy") and the moral "goodness is its own reward" is a solid one. However, the execution is just terrible here. In fact, it has a similar issue to the MLP episode "One Bad Apple," another episode I've grown to dislike over time (I consider the remake I wrote for "Meeting Grojband" to be one of my biggest regrets). Basically, Molly has been working her butt off doing charity for Brighton, but no matter what she does, nobody notices. Meanwhile, Andrea is getting rewarded left and right for doing the bare minimum which makes Molly jealous. So, Molly tries to sabotage her and ruin her reputation by exposing her charity secrets to all of Brighton. But it turns out Andrea has a totally valid excuse for constantly upstaging Molly and that excuse is...her parents weren't giving her enough attention. And just like that, we're supposed to see Molly as the bad guy for trying to teach Andrea a lesson in why it's not a good idea to cut corners. Also, I thought the moral of the episode was "don't do good deeds just to get attention"? So, it's okay for Andrea to do it but not Molly?

Here's the thing; if Andrea was getting all the credit for doing just as much work as Molly, or if she was doing more work than her (which would give Molly a good reason to think she's trying to one-up her), then I think the message would have worked better. Instead, however, it seems like the episode is going out of its way to torment Molly just to teach her a lesson that she probably didn't need to learn in the first place. Also, this was meant to be the first episode where Andrea receives much-needed character development. But again, because she receives everything she wants and doesn't get any consequences for her actions, it doesn't mean much of anything. Yeah, she thanks Molly in the end, but that's about it.

That said, I changed up the ending a little bit to help develop Andrea's character a bit more and also to reinforce the lesson of doing good for the sake of doing good. It's not perfect, but in the end, hopefully people at least like it better than how the episode portrays it. Okay, let's get started...

Stretch, Stinkie, & Fatso: Muahahahahahaaaa!

Molly: Can't believe you're all mine

Fatso: Uh, what?

Molly: You and me for all time

Stretch: No way!

Molly: I'm never, ever, EVER gonna be alone again

Stinkie: This stinks!

Molly: It's just you three and me

Fatso:c For all eternity?!

Molly: For all ETERNITY!

Stretch, Stinkie, & Fatso: NOOOO!

Molly & Ghostly Trio: It's the Ghost-Ghostly Trio and Molly McGee

Fatso: We've been cursed!

Stinkie: It's the worst!

Molly: Now you're stuck with me

Molly & Ghostly Trio: We're never gonna be apart

Stretch: Is there a way to hit 'restart'?

Molly: Nope!

Molly & Ghostly Trio: We're the Ghost-Ghostly Trio and Molly McGee

Molly: That's me!

Stinkie: Well, that's she. Hee, hee, hee!

Molly & Ghostly Trio: Ghostly Trio and Molly McGee!

Fatso: Oh yeah!

Chapter 14

Charity Disparity

"And…there we go!" Molly McGee said as she proudly finished hanging up a bright green banner above the trash cans outside of her school.

"Check it out, Fatso! Brighton Middle School's recycling program is officially a go! What a great way to kick off Volunteer Week!"

Fatso stared at the big banner that read "Recycle!"

"Wait…I thought Volunteer Week was last week…" the big ghost recalled. "Or was it the week before that? Or the week before the week before that? Now that I think about it, ain't every week Volunteer Week for you?"

"Better question; would you rather stand there and make smart remarks oooorrrr…" Molly held out a soda can. "Help me be the first one to test out the program?"

Fatso swiped the can. "Well, when ya put it like that…" he guzzled it down and belched. "Here's to a cleaner, more carbonated future!"

But before Fatso could drop the empty can into the bins, the school doors opened and slammed him into the walls. The can fell to the feet of the person who had opened the doors, local influencer and most popular girl in school, Andrea Davenport.

"Happy Volunteer Week, Fan-dreas!" she greeted while filming herself on her phone. "Remember to do your part by recycling anything you can!"

As she said this, she picked up Fatso's can and threw it in a bin.

"Hee, hee! See what I did there?"

Andrea's phone then blew up with comments and overwhelming positive feedback. A split second later, the rest of the school rushed outside to recycle all of their items, too. Molly beamed upon seeing the full bins, but everybody was too busy praising Andrea to pay any attention to her hard work.

"Yeah, it's not easy saving the earth." Andrea told her adoring fans as she got into the back of her parents' limo. "But somebody's gotta do it! Kay, love you! Byeeee!"

The limo drove off, leaving behind a huge trail of smoke from the exhaust that made the students cough.

Fatso peeled himself off of the wall and coughed from the smoke as well.

"Hmph! For someone who claims to wanna 'save the earth,' she sure don't seem to mind creatin' all that air pollution!"

Molly shrugged. "I admit it's a little hypocritical, but to be fair, she did get people to recycle. That's something, right?"

"Yeah, but you're the one who set this whole thing up in the first place. Ya practically put your blood, sweat, and tears into it! And what does she do? She swoops in and takes all the credit! And she swiped my soda can, too! It ain't fair!"

"Well, at least you still got to drink the soda." Molly pointed out. "And who cares if nobody thanks me for my hard work? All I need at the end of the day is the satisfaction of a job well done."

"Satisfaction. Right." Fatso scoffed. "That's not even edible…"

The next day, Molly continued her regime of volunteer work by cleaning up the Brighton Dog Park. She tossed one final trash bag into a pile she had accumulated.

"Whew!" she wiped some sweat from her forehead. "All done! Thanks for tagging along with me, Stinkie."

Stinkie phased out of the trash bags.

"You kiddin'? I'd do anythin' to get up close and personal with garbage. And with dogs. One of these days, I'm gonna find out their secret of how they maintain their persistent halitosis."

"Well, ya might just find out today, Stinkbug!" Molly anticipated. "'Cause now that the park is clean again, I'll soon be covered head to toe in drool from grateful puppy kisses! Any second now…"

But no puppies came her way, probably because they were too busy slobbering over Andrea, who was pouring them a single bowl of water. A news anchor was filming the whole thing.

"I love what you've done here, Andrea! I can see the headline now: 'Local Do-Gooder Proves Anything is Paws-ible!'"

"What can I say?" Andrea giggled. "I don't mind getting a little dirty to help our furry friends."

One of the pups jumped onto her skirt and tried to lick her face.

"Eww…dog germs…" she gently pushed it away.

"Why that rotten, ugly little mutt!" Stinkie snarled.

"Stinkie! Don't say that! It's only a puppy!" Molly scolded.

"Not the dog! Andrea! She just stole yer thunder! Thanks to her, nobody even cares about what you done! And to top it all off, she don't even appreciate that delightful canine spit! It ain't fair!"

Fatso suddenly appeared. "That's what I said!"

Molly pretended she wasn't bothered. "No, no, it's okay. The way I see it, everyone wins. Andrea gets her fancy photo ops and beagle smooches, Stinkie gets to wallow around in trash, and I get-"

"Don't say 'satisfaction.'" Fatso ordered.

"Uh…okay, in that case, I need to think a little bit."

Despite her previous two volunteer jobs not going over so smoothly, Molly still chose to keep at it the following morning when she went to clean out the Brighton River.

"Ha, ha!" she cheered once she finally finished. "Look at that, Stretch! Isn't it beautiful?"

Stretch was lazily lying on top of the Brighton River sign. He looked out at the water, which still appeared to be quite filthy.

"Uh, we're usin' that word comparatively, right?"

"Of course! Because now it's only a 'health hazard' as opposed to a 'health nightmare.'"

"Hmph. If ya ask me, somethin' not bein' a nightmare anymore ain't an improvement. By the way, ya got an opossum on yer head."

"A what?" Molly shrieked as she noticed the creature screeching on top of her head. She was so frightened that she ran into the sign multiple times while trying to pry it off.

Stretch chuckled. "Try playin' dead, it might leave ya alone."

His attention then turned to Andrea dropping a single leaf into one of Molly's trash bags. The news reporter from the day before was once again on the scene.

"I'm here with hometown do-gooder, Andrea Davenport!" the reporter handed the bluenette a sash. "How does it feel to be named Volunteer Week's 'Volunteer of the Week'?"

Andrea smiled and took a selfie while wearing her sash. Stretch was enraged.

"They named her WHAT?! Oh, that's it! Lemme at 'er!"

"Stretch, no!" Molly pulled him back. "Stop it! Bad ghost! Heel!"

"What's wrong with you?" Stretch demanded, breaking free. "We both know that spoiled snake did nothin' to deserve that title!"

Molly winced. "Well, I don't know if she did absolutely nothing…"

Stretch got in Molly's face. "Compared to what you did this week, she's done squat! And yet, she's gettin' all the fame and glory around here! It ain't fair!"

"That's what we said!" Stinkie and Fatso chimed in, appearing out of nowhere.

"Okay, okay, sure. But, once again, I think we all benefitted from this. Andrea got an award…along with everything else she wants…" Molly's tone suddenly became bitter, but she quickly changed it when turning back to Stretch. "You got to watch me get attacked by an opossum, and I got-"

"Don't say 'satisfaction'!" the Trio shouted together.

"Well..then I got…um…uh…okay, I got nothing…"

"Yeah, exactly." Stretch grumped. "Now, if you'll excuse us…"

Molly grabbed the Trio by their tails before they could charge at Andrea.

"Oh no you don't!"

Things didn't get any better when Molly arrived home that afternoon. When she and the Trio came into the house, the other McGees were in the middle of watching Andrea on TV.

"Volunteer of the Week of Volunteer Week?" Andrea laughed as some geese ate out of her hand. "This is way too much! I'm so honored! To be honest, I'm just doing this to enhappify Brighton. That's a silly little word I came up with. And trademarked."

Molly was furious. "WHAT?! First she steals all the credit for my hard work and now she goes and steals my word, too?! She can't do that!"

"We've been tryin' to tell ya that this whole time!" Stretch claimed, grabbing Molly by the face. "Do ya get it now? You'll never make a name for yerself as long as Fraudrea keeps gettin' in the way! You gotta stop lettin' her walk all over ya!"

"You gotta teach her a good lesson!" Stinkie added.

"You gotta dig a little deeper!" Fatso sang. "The author loved that ride, by the way."

Stretch whacked him upside the head.

"Molly," Pete put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "The important thing is you volunteer for the right reasons. And that's helping others."

"Right." Sharon agreed. "You don't need to be on TV."

Just when Molly was starting to feel a little better, Darryl piped up.

"Look! Molly's on TV!"

Sure enough, in the shot focusing on Andrea, Molly could be seen in the background, nearly getting her shoe torn off by the opossum from earlier. She turned red upon seeing this.

"Um…Mom? Let's not send this to Grandma Nin, okay?"

The sound signifying a sent message was heard from Pete's phone.

"Oh…whoops…" he smiled guiltily.

Molly groaned in despair and slid off the couch, while Sharon gave her husband a disappointed look.

The next day at school, Molly did her best to forget about her broadcasted moment of humiliation and, at the same time, prayed nobody else would be talking about it. Thankfully, nobody was, but only because they couldn't stop talking about something else that made Molly feel bad.

"Can you believe Andrea cleaned up the whole Bark Park by herself?" Kat told her and Sheela at lunch. "And she started the school recycling program, too."

"She only recycled one can!" Molly argued.

At that moment, Principal O'Connor cut in.

"Miss McGee, charity is not a competition. Doing good should be its own reward."

"I already know that, I just-"

"Now onto the charity competition!" O'Connor suddenly announced. "For Volunteer Week's final event, we're raising money for a much-needed school marquee! Whoever sells the most nougat bars will get a big, fancy trophy! Sign up now for the Tournament of Nougat!"

Molly brightened up.

"The school needs a new marquee? Then I'm gonna be the one to help us get it!" she pulled out a pen, which the Ghostly Trio wrapped around.

"Too bad ghosts don't typically have money." Fatso complained. "'Cause otherwise, I'd buy every box ya had and you'd win for sure!"

"Thanks Fatso, but even without your help, I can still sell loads of candy." Molly clenched her teeth in anger. "And I can certainly sell more than Andrea Davenport…"

"You bet you can!" Stretch encouraged. "And then you'll be the one gettin' praise instead of that trendin' twerp! It's the perfect revenge!"

Stinkie sniffled. "Aw, our little Molly is takin' up retaliation. 'Bout time!"

"I know, right? I'm so proud!" Fatso sobbed happily.

Molly scoffed. "What are you talking about? This has nothing to do with petty vengeance."

"Sure it don't." Stretch rolled his eyes playfully.

"I'm doing this for the good of the school."

"Sure ya are." Stinkie wiped away a tear.

"Though, I suppose if I were the one to win the competition, I could show Brighton who the real do-gooder is and then…"

"And then Andrea will be finished!" Stretch concluded. "Sounds good to me!"

"Me too!" Stinkie agreed.

"You go girl!" Fatso cheered.

Molly was about to write her name on the sign-up sheet, only to find most of it was already covered up by another name: Andrea's. She dropped her pen in shock.

"Oh, hi Molly!" Andrea greeted. "I didn't know you were into volunteering, too!"

"Oh yeah, I am…" Molly clenched her teeth again. "At least somebody noticed…"

"Well, it's super sweet that you wanna help out the school. Just think! With you selling nougat and me selling more nougat, we'll have enough for a new marquee in no time."

Molly begrudgingly shook Andrea's hand. "May the best do-gooder win…"

And so, Molly wasted no time selling all the nougat bars she could. She knew it would take a lot of hard work to win the contest, but with her charming spirit, persuasive attitude, and a few puppy-like stares, she could convince anyone to buy anything. Before long, she had sold nougat to everyone in town, from Mayor Brunson to the elders at the Brighton retirement home. Meanwhile, Andrea was barely putting any effort into selling her candy, showing more interest in increasing her publicity instead. Despite this, the Ghostly Trio still saw to it that she didn't sell a single bar by swiping her products and hiding them in various places, including underground, in the Ghost World, and inside Fatso's belly.

I'm givin' my all to win this (Na, na, na, na-na)

I won't let no one steal the show (Na, na, na, na-na)

I'm workin' myself senseless (Na, na, na, na-na)

While you're just over there paintin' your toes (Na, na, na, na-na)

You look good for the camera

But that won't stop me from workin' hard

I'm gonna show the world just what I'm made of

You may be standin' in the spotlight

But I'm workin' hard

It's only a matter of time 'til I break through

And they'll see that you?

You're hardly workin'

You're hardly workin' (You're not doing anything!)

You're hardly workin'

Friday was the last day of the contest. The students of Brighton Middle School gathered in the auditorium to hear Principal O'Connor announce the winner. Molly was on the literal edge of her seat.

"This is it!" she told the Trio. "I worked twice as hard and cared nine times as much as Andrea did! There's no way I'm not gonna win that award! Finally…my revenge will be complete…"

"Uh…I thought ya said you were just doin' this for the good of the school?" Stretch reminded her, somewhat worried.

"Oh yeah…" Molly sat back with an evil smirk. "Totally…"

The Trio exchanged concerned looks. They thought seeing their fleshie friend act mean and nasty like them would make them happy, but instead it just made them uneasy.

Principal O'Connor stepped up to the podium.

"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for…the winner of Volunteer Week's Tournament of Nougat iiiiiiissss…."

Molly squealed internally and stood up, ready to take her place on the stage.

"Aw, we don't need a dramatic pause!" the principal continued. "You already know the winner is none other than Andrea Davenport!"

"WHAT?!" Molly and the Trio went.

Andrea came forward.

"Oh my gosh, thank you so much!" she waved to the audience. "I knew all my hard work would pay off."

Molly slumped in her chair, scowling at her opponent.

"This is ridiculous!" she vented to the Trio after school was over. "I'm the one who worked hard! I'm the one who really cares about Brighton! I should have won that trophy, not Andrea!"

"You're right! It don't make no sense!" Stretch shook his head. "'Cause even if ya didn't do all that work, we still sabotaged Miss Moneybags to make sure she didn't make a single sale!"

Molly looked up. "You did what?"

Stretch realized he had said too much. "Oh. Uh, nothin'. Fuggedaboudit."

"Yeah," Stinkie nodded. "It don't matter anyway. The bottom line is, right now, I'm smellin' somethin' real funky…and it ain't my armpits…"

"You're right." Molly seethed. "Not even they can compare to the soul-rotting stench of…a charity-cheater! A don't-gooder, if you will."

Fatso raised an eyebrow. "Don't-gooder? I know I make cheesy jokes all the time so I ain't one to talk, but that right there? It just don't work."

Molly grabbed the big ghost and shook him angrily. "It does too work! It's what Andrea is and we're gonna find out what her secret is and expose it to everyone! Got it, cellulite boy?!"

Fatso gasped and tears filled his eyes.

"Hey, hey! Take it easy!" Stinkie persuaded. "We's enjoy pickin' on Fatso, too, but that seemed a little too personal, don't ya think?"

"Stay out of this, stink brain! Go find a sewer grate to crawl into it! It's where you belong anyway!"

Stretch intervened. "Okay missy, ya've made yer point, now knock it off! I'm the only one who gets to do harsh insults around here!"

Molly squeezed her fist around Stretch's neck. "You don't get to tell me what I can and can't do! So stop sticking that big nose where it doesn't belong, string bean, and listen up! You three are going to help me break into Andrea's house tonight so we can find out how she managed to beat me at the one thing I'm supposed to be the best at! And once we do, we will take her down! Do you understand?!"

She stormed off, leaving the Trio absolutely shaken. This was not the Molly McGee they knew and, deep down, cared for. But the curse had yet to be broken, so no matter what, they were forced to accompany her that night at Andrea's place.

"There it is…" Molly whispered as she hung upside-down from a tree in the front yard. "The lair of don't-gooding…"

She jumped down and discreetly made her way over to the garage, slinking into multiple hiding places along the way. The Trio, on the other hand, didn't bother with the sneaking around, since they were invisible to everyone besides Molly, and simply floated across the yard.

"Okay, here's what I'm thinking." Molly instructed the Trio once they made it to the other side. "I'll climb up to the roof and pry off the air duct cover. Once I'm inside, you guys will-"

Stretch put a finger to her lips. "Uh, Molly? Can we talk for a sec?"

Molly pushed him off. "We are talking. Now, when I give you the signal-"

"Look Moll," Stinkie interrupted. "We admire your grit and determination in all of this. But as much as we love committin' devious acts, we can't help but feel that yer not actin' like…well…yerself."

"Yeah," Fatso agreed. "You're so concerned with takin' down Andrea, it's like ya forgot who you really are. Trust me, I know what that's like. I do it all the time. Wait, why am I here again?"

Stretch rolled his eyes. "The point is Moll, if ya need to open up about anythin', we're all ears."

The Trio grew pairs of ears all over their bodies.

Molly smiled. "Aww…thanks, you guys. You know what? I do need to open up…or rather, I need you three to open up…the garage for me!"

Before the Trio could react, Molly lifted her foot and kicked them straight through Andrea's garage.

"Holy cannoli!" Stretch cried from inside.

"Holy mackerel!" Stinkie called.

"Holy rollers!" Fatso shouted. "Can ya give me an amen?"

"Guys, what is it?" Molly demanded.

"You are definitely not gonna believe this!"

Stretch unlocked and opened the door to let Molly in. Once she saw what was inside, Molly completely understood the Trio's shock. For in the garage were dozens upon dozens of boxes of nougat bars.

"Whoa…I don't believe it!"

"I know!" Fatso claimed. "I never seen so much confection in my entire afterlife! Woohoo!"

He immediately dug into a box, stuffing his face with handfuls of the delicacies at one time.

"I know I'm dead now, 'cause this feels like heaven!" he picked up a nearby piece of paper, about to use it to wipe his mouth.

"Fatso, wait!" Molly snatched it from him. "There's something written here…I think it's a receipt…but not just any receipt…a receipt for 4,000 nougat bars! And it's got Andrea's name on it! Do you guys know what this means?!"

The three ghosts each gave her different answers.

"Andrea's allowance is too high?"

"Andrea's dental bills must be through the roof?"

"Andrea's got great taste in candy?"

Molly groaned. "It means Andrea sold all the bars to herself! She cheated! How do you not see that? I thought you three were supposed to be experts in the art of unfair play!"

Stretch looked over the receipt. "Well, technically, the rules never said ya couldn't sell to yerself. So, really there ain't no cheatin' to be found here. Sorry, kiddo. Looks like Andrea won fair and square."

Molly didn't reply, instead choosing to take pictures of the boxes.

"What the heehaw are ya doin'?" Stinkie inquired.

"I'm just doing what you guys wanted me to." Molly explained. "I'm teaching Andrea a lesson! Tomorrow, they're holding a ceremony to present the school's new marquee. When that no-good charity-cheater tries to take all the credit again, I'll show everyone these photos and then finally, they'll all see that Andrea Davenport is nothing but a lying, swindling, spotlight-stealing don't-gooder!"

"That still don't work." Fatso responded.

Stretch put a hand on Molly's shoulder. "Molly, I know this is gonna sound weird and out-of-character comin' from me, but maybe revenge ain't the best solution after all. At the end of the day, both you and Andrea raised enough money for the school, so the way I sees it, everyone wins! The school gets their new marquee, Andrea gets her trophy, the boys and I get to swipe all this nougat 'cause let's be honest, they ain't gonna eat any of it…and you? You get-"

Molly pressed her face against Stretch's. "Don't…say…'satisfaction'!"

"Oh…uh, okay. How 'bout uh…'contentment' then?"

Molly glared.

"No? What about 'gratification'?"

Another glare.

"'Fulfillment'?"

She kept glaring.

"'A sense of well-being'?" he looked toward his brothers. "Little help here…"

Fatso was flipping through a thesaurus. "Oh! You forgot 'relish'! Mm…relish…Now I want a hot dog."

"You guys don't get it! You never did!" Molly argued, standing on one of the nougat boxes. "This is about more than just doing good; it's about doing right! And about showing do-gooders everywhere that their hard work is appreciated and awarded with shiny objects! It's about sending a message to all the Andrea Davenports in the world that she can't take this away from us! But most of all…this…is about…justice!"

She pinned the Ghostly Trio against a box and gave them a determined, but creepy grin.

"Whoa…" Stretch shuddered. "I never thought I'd see the day…Molly McGee bein' terrifyin'…"

"If I wore pants, they'd be soiled right now…" Stinkie agreed.

"Her mom must be rubbin' off on her…" Fatso concluded.

The following morning, Brighton Middle School was prepared to unveil its brand new marquee. All of the students were standing outside, including Andrea, who was eager to admire the fruits of her own "labor."

"Hey Fan-dreas!" she greeted into her phone. "Check it out!"

She removed the cloth covering the marquee.

"All my hard work selling nougats paid off! Everybody showed up for the unveiling, even my parents!"

Andrea gestured toward a businessman and his wife, both of whom were texting on their phones, clearly disinterested in what was happening.

Little did the rich kid know, that Molly was watching her from the rooftop of the school, an evil scheme forming in her brain. Darryl and the Trio were there, too, the former a big part of Molly's plan.

"Okay, Darryl," she handed her brother her laptop. "Here's what I need you to do: when the principal calls Andrea's name, you get these photos onto that marquee, got it?"

"Wait, you're usin' the thing ya worked yer tail off for to enact yer revenge?" Stretch clarified.

Molly nodded. "I just thought: 'Hey, wouldn't it be ironic if what brought Andrea up was what ended up bringing her down in the end'? Brilliant, no?"

Darryl started to type on Molly's laptop. "Oh, I see how it is. It's okay to hack the school server to ruin someone's reputation, but when I wanna do it just to change my grades? Nooo…that's wrong."

The Trio noticed Molly about to climb off the roof.

"Molly, ya sure you wanna go through with this?" Stretch asked. "It ain't too late to step back from the brink of madness."

Molly gave him a wicked smirk. "Yes it is…"

With that, she climbed down the ladder and approached Andrea as she was in the middle of taking selfies.

"Oh, hi Andrea." Molly greeted in a sarcastic tone. "I just wanted to congratulate you on your big win. You must have worked sooo hard to sell all that candy."

Andrea shrugged. "Guess I'm just a natural born salesperson. Like my parents! Right, Daddy?"

She opened her arms to hug her dad, but he didn't even look up from his phone.

"Not now, button. Save it for the cameras. We'll get more likes if people think it's real."

Andrea frowned as Mr. and Mrs. Davenport ignored her and walked away. Molly gasped as the realization hit her.

"Oh no…oh no, no, no, no! What have I done?" she panicked as the Trio caught up to her. "You guys, Andrea wasn't trying to steal the attention away from me, she was just trying to get some from her parents!"

"Wow. That's actually…kinda sad." Stretch noted.

"Yeah, I almost feel sorry for the little nuisance." Stinkie agreed.

Fatso started to sob. "Poor kid. I feel her pain. Our parents never noticed me neither!"

"Yeah, clearly they musta been blind to not see all this!" Stinkie pinched Fatso's side.

"And you say Molly's comments were too personal?"

Stretch continued. "Well, that preppy bone bag will definitely have her folks' attention once Darryl uploads those pictures. Looks like you're both gettin' what ya want, Moll."

"No!" Molly refused. "That's not what I want! What was I thinking? I let my jealousy get in the way of charity! I'm such a…a don't-gooder!"

"Still don't work." Fatso shook his head.

"Whatever! Who cares about terminology? I wonder if there's still time to make things right…"

Right after she said that, Principal O'Connor started to speak in front of the school.

"And now, presenting the winner of the Tournament of Nougat—and our hearts—iiiit's…"

"I'd say you've got about 0.5 seconds." Stretch observed.

"Quick! Get up there and stop Darryl before he releases those photos!"

"Do we have time for a 'we told ya so'?"

"No! You can say it twice later!"

Molly picked up the ghosts and threw them toward the roof.

"Oh boy!" Fatso clapped his hands. "Now's the part where everything sounds like it's in slow motion!"

"Aaaaaannnndreeeeaaaa Daaaaveeeeennnnpooorrrrrt…"

In the half-second it took for Principal O'Connor to say Andrea's name, the Trio slammed into the laptop, closing it and preventing Darryl from pressing the "Enter" key.

"Whew!" Stretch sighed. "Sorry 'bout that Darryl, but we had to stop ya before ya released those photos."

Darryl sat up after being knocked over.

"Uh, no. You actually stopped me from ordering a burrito. The photos are already up."

The Trio noticed Molly's pictures were now being displayed in plain view of everybody.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Fatso wailed.

"Upset 'cause we were too late to stop the photos?" Stinkie inquired.

"No. I'm upset 'cause I didn't get a chance to ask Darryl for a side of nachos!"

Stretch only facepalmed.

Meanwhile, Andrea, Principal O'Connor, Andrea's parents, and the rest of Brighton Middle School had seen the incriminating evidence on the marquee and were indeed quite shocked by them.

"What is the meaning of all this excess nougat?" Mr. Davenport demanded.

Andrea winced, desperately trying to come up with an explanation. But she couldn't. It seemed like she was busted for sure. That is, until Molly made herself known and began to speak into the microphone Principal O'Connor had been holding.

"Oh, this?" she chuckled. "This is just…uh…all the nougat Andrea sold! In her garage! Because…she sold it all to herself…"

Andrea faked a smile and whispered to her. "What are you doing?"

Mr. and Mrs. Davenport began typing on their phones, disappointment on both of their faces.

"I don't know, just roll with it…" Molly whispered back before speaking into the mic again. "Okay, here's what happened; you see, Andrea wanted to raise enough for the new marquee, but she also wanted to make sure no one had to eat any nougat. Because nougat, as I'm sure all of you know, is terrible for your teeth! Right?"

Some of the audience members nodded in understanding.

"Right. And because she knew that eating too much nougat causes cavities, she decided to buy it all for herself to um…protect Brighton's overworked dentistry community?"

A dental hygienist in the crowd clapped at this. Molly smiled, for she knew she had won everyone over.

"So, without further ado, let's give a big hand to Volunteer Week's Volunteer of the Week…Andrea Davenport!"

"YAY!"

All of the students and teachers cheered and applauded for the young influencer while Mr. and Mrs. Davenport sent her clapping emojis. She gave Molly a grateful smile before running over to give her parents a hug.

"Our baby girl did it!" Mr. Davenport posed for a camera. "That's the brand."

Mrs. Davenport nodded. "Never doubted it. She's just like us, after all."

Molly grinned, satisfied with the outcome. She was about to turn around and head for home when Andrea caught up to her.

"Molly, wait! I…just wanted to say 'thank you' for what you did back there. I know I probably don't deserve it after I cheated my way to the top and undermined all the hard work you did. Let's be honest; you're the real do-gooder here."

"Thanks, Andrea. I appreciate that."

"Hey, if you want, I can put in a good word about you to the school. Maybe they can make a prize for the runner-up? No, wait! I've got a better idea! They're taking my photo for the front page of the newspaper later today. I can ask about getting you in the photo, too?"

"Nah, I'm good." Molly declined. "I've decided I don't need awards or the media's attention to feel proud of my good deeds. All I need to be happy is good, old-fashioned…"

"Oh no…" Stretch groaned. "Don't say it…"

"Satisfaction."

The Ghostly Trio shuddered.

"Ugh…"

"So sappy…"

"This runnin' gag has really run its course."

When Andrea walked off to pose for more pictures, Molly hugged the Trio.

"You three were right. Jealousy and revenge weren't the answers. At the end of the day, charity should be about bringing others up, not taking others down. You helped me realize that."

"Yeah, we did." Stretch admitted grumpily. "But after seein' you give up not just the chance to get even but the chance to reap in yer own rewards, I'm startin' to regret it."

"Yeah, that was a real dumb decision ya made just now." Stinkie commented. "You coulda gotten millions of fans, for ghoul's sake!"

"Aw, who needs millions of fans when I've got three great friends? One…two…" Molly paused when she realized Fatso had disappeared. "Hey, where's Fatso?"

Meanwhile, at Andrea's place, Fatso had just finished devouring all of the nougat bars in the garage. His face and stomach was covered in the stuff and he was even more bloated than normal.

"Owww…" he moaned, grabbing his cheek. "She wasn't kiddin' about the cavities…still worth it, though…"

Ghostly Trio and Molly McGee!

Well, the next one is another challenging one, because it's another one where I had difficulty with the casting. Because of that, it might be another one of those "hey, this episode exists and now this does, too!" chapters. If it ends up being of lower quality, I apologize. But the good news is, I think the following chapters will be a blast to write up. And as you all know, when I have fun writing something, that usually means it has the potential to becoming my best work. I'll see you all next time!