MePhone talked to Tennis Ball for a while when he came back, until sunset came. Tennis Ball said he had to meet Golf Ball downstairs, in her Underground Lab, for some...important matters he didn't specify, so MePhone decided to head to his room.
MePhone flopped onto his bed, face first. A new screen. It might be a good thing. Although, it would mean starting over. Starting over is a good thing. A new leaf. They say start a new leaf. So, why can't he? Why is it so hard to turn over a new leaf? Why is it so hard to start again?
MePhone woke up that morning with his light ball in his arms and his blanket tossed on the ground. He never turned on his light that night, but he must've been so tired he fell asleep without it.
MePhone put it back on the bedside table, then threw his feet over the side of his bed. He vibrated, as his system buzzed. A notification popped up on the top of his screen. A calendar alert. A calendar alert? What could it be?
He opened the pop up notification, then scanned his calendar. MePad's Birthday. Oh no. That's today? He...he died a week before his birthday? He...he didn't get a chance to celebrate.
MePad never wanted MePhone to celebrate his birthday. MePhone wanted to have a party, just the two of them, and when he said no, MePhone suggested having a party with all his contestants. MePad still refused and told him not to celebrate his birthday. MePhone never understood why, but he respected MePad's wishes. He wanted to make him a cake, but MePad didn't want his birthday to be, in his words, 'known by the contestants.' It's almost like...he didn't like his birthday. Like...he didn't like being alive.
"Oh, MePhone!" Two sang outside the door, knocking in a musical tone. "I brought you breakfast!"
MePhone didn't answer. "MePhone?" Two checked. "Are you in there?" Still no answer. "I'm coming in!"
Two popped inside his door, holding scrambled eggs on a plate, with a fork sticking out of it. "MePhone! I got-you okay?"
MePhone turned around, tears in his eyes, and the calendar even on his face. Two squinted at it. "'Me...Pad's...Birth-MePad's Birthday! Aww!" Two cheered. He hesitated. MePhone is sad. He has tears in his eyes. Why is he looking at him like that? What did he miss? Was it something in his story?
He mentioned a corn man, he kept calling Cobs. And MePad was-
Two gasped. "MePad's birthday? Oh my goodness!" Two put MePhone's breakfast on the table next to the television set, then joined MePhone on his bed. "You okay?" he asked.
"It's...MePad's birthday and...and I don't know what to do," MePhone replied. MePhone started crying. "He never wanted me to celebrate, and now he's-" MePhone cut himself off when he made a weird moaning sound.
"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay," Two said. He put his hand on MePhone's back. "We can celebrate."
"He never wanted me to celebrate!" MePhone cried.
"That's why we have to," Two replied quickly. "To honor him."
"Celebrating his birthday will be honoring him?" MePhone asked, his tears slowed. His voice is still tearful, but at least it's easier to hear.
"Of course!" Two replied, smiling. "We'll celebrate! Do you want it to be just us or my contestants too?"
MePhone paused. He did always want to celebrate MePad's birthday with everyone. All his contestants, the one hanging out in OJ's Hotel, and even Toilet, even if he didn't like him much. Two's contestants shouldn't be any different. There are a lot of them, and parties are easier with a lot of people. "Could I, uh...share a eulogy?" MePhone asked. "I know it's his birthday party, but...there are things I haven't told him. I missed his funeral and...I think I need to get these out."
"Sure, buddy," Two replied. "You can do what you need! My contestants are rather patient, er, most of the time, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind a eulogy!"
"Thank you, Two," MePhone replied, smiling. He wiped his eyes. "I have an idea for the cake. I've had this idea for a while now, but...I can't bake."
"Alright, buddy! You can come into the kitchen and show me!"
Two led MePhone into the kitchen. "Hi again, Two!" Gaty called. "MePhone!"
"Hi, Gaty!" Two cheered, floating over to her. "How's it going?"
"It's going," Gaty replied.
"Where's Four and X?" Two asked.
"Four burnt something and he threw a tantrum, so X took him outside to calm him down," Gaty replied. "I'm in charge until he comes back."
"I see..." Two replied.
"What's up?" Gaty asked.
"Oh! We wanted to make food and a cake for a party!" Two replied.
"A party?" Gaty asked. "What for?"
"MePhone has a...a, uh, a passed friend's birthday today and he wants to celebrate," Two replied.
"Aw, I'm sorry for your loss!" Gaty replied. "And happy birthday!"
"Heh, thanks," MePhone said, lightly chuckling.
"I have no problem with it!" Gaty said, smiling. "I give you access to everything in the kitchen!"
"Thanks!" Two cheered.
"What kind of food do we want?" Gaty asked.
"MePad liked casual things, and...fruit punch," MePhone replied. "So...things like vegetable platters and..." MePhone laughed a little, "he always liked sea food."
"Sea food?" Gaty asked.
"Yeah, believe it or not," MePhone replied. "He liked sticking his shrimp in curry dips."
"Uh, I don't know if we have any shrimp, but I'll definitely check for you!" Gaty replied.
She walked away for a minute. "There you go!" Two cheered. "It feels like you've been planning this forever!"
"Just a half year," MePhone said. "I've always wanted to celebrate his birthday."
Gaty returned, with a large smile on her face. "Good news! We have shrimp! We never cook it so I'm not entirely sure why we have it, but it's there!"
"That's great!" Two cheered.
"Show me what you want done and I can do that for you!" Gaty smiled.
MePhone pulled up an entire list of different foods MePad liked. Gaty looked over the list, wrote them down, a few of them had questions marks on her sheet, then closed her pen. "Thank you! You two can get to work on the cake! If we do it quicky, we should be finished before Four and X come back."
"Why will they take so long?" Two asked.
"Four and X usually go out for a treat after one of Four's tantrums," Gaty replied. "It's silly, but I don't mind."
"Ah," Two said. "O...kay."
"Yeah, it's silly," Gaty said. She happily walked into the kitchen, humming a tune, bringing her list of foods with her. "Okay, buddy! Show me that cake!"
MePhone opened his drawing app and pulled up a poorly drawn picture of a cake in pink and blue colors. The center of the cake is pink, with a blue stripe down the center. There are small blue dots on the opposite side of the cake. "Aw!" Two cried. "It's so cute!"
"I inspired it off of him," MePhone said, his face not visible, and flipping to his gallery, where a blurry picture of MePhone is. Two squinted, then tilted. "Oh, I see," Two said. "Let's get to work on that cake!"
A couple hours later, in during which Two told his contestants they were having a party, which they all celebrated in, the food, and cake was done. MePhone put two candles on the cake, between a cluster of small, blue dots. Two grabbed the cake, sticking it on a plate. "Okay, buddy, you ready?"
MePhone inhaled. "Yeah, let's go." Gaty walked out a couple of times with some food, sticking it on the table that Donut, Black Hole and Tree set up. Yellow Face put up a couple of chair in odd spots, in groups of three each. MePhone walked out first, a stack of papers in his hand. He shuffled through them as Two walked out with the cake. Pencil was talking to Liy, until she started whispering to her when MePhone appeared. Liy seemed somewhat offended and stopped talking to her.
"Thank you for coming!" Two cheered as he put the cake on the far end of the table. "You remember what I said earlier? This is a party for-"
"MePad," MePhone replied.
"Yeah," Two said. He leaned in closer to MePhone. "Do you want to share your eulogy now or wait 'till later?"
"Later," MePhone replied. "It's better that way."
"Alright," Two said. He stood straight again. "Everyone have fun!" Two cheered, putting his hands in the air. The contestants cheered and began digging in. Everyone scattered to talk to each other, or their own teams. Two put some food on a plate and walked back inside the hotel with it. He came back out shortly later.
About an hour later, MePhone called everyone's attention. At least, he tried to. "Uh, guys, I-guys." Two put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. "Listen up!" he cried. The contestants got quiet, except for Pillow and Pencil, who argued. Eventually, they did quiet down and waited for Two.
"Go ahead, MePhone," Two said, smiling. Two walked away, but stayed close to MePhone, if he still needed it. "Thank you," MePhone said. He cleared his throat. "I, um, I have a eulogy-"
"Boo!" Yellow Face cried. He was silenced by an elbow from Pin. MePhone glared at Yellow Face, but continued nonetheless. "This party was for...MePad. Today he turns one."
Some whispers from the crowd, but they all stayed silent. "MePad was...the best assistant I've ever had. He was my co-host, who I chose, and he knew how to help me. He was always there for me, whether he sassed me or not, and he always knew what to say and when to say it. He...he was with me the whole time, and he listened to me when I rambled and...overshared. I probably shared too much but...he still listened.
"But he wasn't just there for me. He was there for the contestants. He knew who to help and how to help them." This created more whispers, but they were different. "He...he abandoned me for one of my old contestants. As frustrating as it was, I...I think she needed him more than me. He helped everyone who needed it, and he was always in the right place at the right time.
"Nothing he did was out of place. When...uh, when-" He stopped. His hands shook lightly. Two walked over to him. "You okay?" he asked.
"Y-I...I don't know. I...I can't continue." Two looked at the paper, scanning for where MePhone left off. The last page. He scanned ahead to read a sentence that has Cobs' name in it. "MePhone, you don't have to go on."
"No, I have to," MePhone said. MePhone inhaled deeply, then exhaled. "I got this," he whispered. He put the paper back up. "When...when I needed him most-" he skipped the line with Cobs' name, "he came back. He...died for me. But...he said he didn't do it for me. He did it for my contestants. We were all threatened. Me. Him. My contestants. All of us. He saved us...all of us. His heart was always in the right place. And...I will always be grateful."
MePhone held back his tears, as the silence grew. They stared at him. "MePhone!" Two cried. "That was so sweet! I didn't know you could be so sentimental!" Two ran over to MePhone and hugged him, lifting him into the air. "I'm sure he'll like it."
Two poured himself a cup of water. "To MePad!" he cheered. He put his cup into the air. A few other contestants followed. The rest of them poured themselves cups of water. "To MePhone!" they all cheered. Two looked at MePhone. He smiled.
MePhone smiled and poured himself a cup of water. "To MePad!" They all cheered. "To MePad!" They all toasted, some cups actually clinking against others. Two and MePhone clinked theirs. MePhone cut the cake, Two helping him hand it out.
The contestants talked the rest of the night. MePhone became comfortable enough to talk to more of Two's contestants, starting with Tennis Ball and Golf Ball. He thanked them for helping him when he overheated. They were just grateful he was okay.
Two walked MePhone up to his bedroom at eleven. "MePhone, you did a nice job," he said. "I've never heard you share your feelings like that before."
"I usually don't," MePhone said. "But...I feel much better, actually. So...thanks."
"Anytime, buddy!" Two smiled.
Author's Note
This chapter took too long!