Chapter Text
”Stop going out of your way to hurt other people. Apologize for the bads things you’ve done.”
Kid’s words rang in Cindy’s ears as she paced around the playground. Deep down, she knew what he meant. The difficult part was admitting she had done something wrong. She had thought she was playing the part of the popular girl really well, yet she was the one with hardly any friends. It was the opposite of what she had seen in the movies and on TV. Cindy did want to have friends, though, so it seemed that she would have to take Kid’s advice. As much as she didn’t want to.
She saw Lily hanging out with her brother and Nugget, like always. Billy was scribbling away at a piece of paper, talking animatedly. Lily listened quietly, running her fingers through her hair. Nugget was digging in the dirt a short distance away, but he seemed to be listening as well. Cindy knew what she had to do. She took a deep breath. It was now or never.
“Hey! Lily!”
Lily flinched slightly as Cindy approached, inching closer to Billy for comfort. Nugget stood up, placing himself between the two girls.
“What does the nasty Cindy want with the pretty Lily?” he growled.
Cindy rolled her eyes. “Chill out, weirdo. I just want to talk.”
Nugget stayed put, but he didn’t say anything else. Cindy took that as her cue to continue.
“I... I’m sorry for being really mean to you. We should be friends again.” Cindy spoke quickly, fighting to get the words out. She stared at the ground, her face flushed.
“You... really mean that?” Lily asked.
“Really,” Cindy said.
“I... wow...” Lily stared at Cindy with wide eyes. “I appreciate the apology. It means a lot to me. But... I don’t think I’m ready to be friends with you again. I’m sorry.”
Cindy’s head snapped up. “Wait, what?! But I apologized! That means you gotta forgive me!”
“I just can’t! Not after everything you did to me. At least, for now...” Lily spoke firmly. There was a strength in her eyes that Cindy had never seen before.
“B-but... That’s not how this works! I apologized! Can’t you just forgive me?! C’mon, forgive me already!” Cindy’s voice caught in her throat. She was shaking. She couldn’t stop. The pitch of her words grew higher and higher, morphing into a shriek.
“Forgive me, forgive me, FORGIVE ME!”
Cindy was just barely aware of the hand that slipped around her wrist, leading her to the back of the playground. She slumped onto to the ground. Hot tears ran down her cheeks as she bit back sobs. Kid sat next to her. He didn’t say anything, but that was enough. After a while, Cindy had cried herself dry. She tucked her legs against her chest, resting her head on her knees.
“U-um, Cindy?”
Cindy looked up. Penny was standing in front of her, looking slightly nervous. Cindy didn’t know Penny that well. Outside of a friendly greeting from the (former) principal’s daughter when they first met on Tuesday, the two hadn’t spoken to each other at all. Cindy was confused as to why the android was approaching her now.
“I just wanted to say, I thought it was really nice how you tried apologizing to Lily like that. I know... I know how hard it is to make up for the things you’ve done in the past. So... I think that was very brave of you,” Penny said softly.
“R-really?” Cindy sniffed.
“Yeah.” Penny nodded.
“Thanks. Penny, right? Um... I’m sorry about making Kid stick gum in your hair the other day,” Cindy said.
Penny paused. For a second, Cindy could’ve sworn she heard a whirring noise coming from the other girl. Then she perked up.
“Oh, that! I forgive you. Honestly, I had forgotten all about that. It definitely wasn’t the most traumatizing thing to happen to me that day.”
Cindy saw Kid cringe slightly out of the corner of her eye. Clearly, he knew more about that situation than she did. Not like that was surprising. He was always getting himself involved in the weirdest things. Cindy returned her attention to Penny, who had stuck out her hand. She was holding something pink and purple.
“This is for you. I was actually wondering if, maybe, you would... want to be friends?” she asked shyly.
Cindy took the something from Penny’s hands. It was a friendship bracelet, the same bright pink and purple as her favorite dress. She wordlessly ran her fingers over it. The thread was surprisingly soft, and the knots were perfectly aligned. Cindy could see the care that had gone into the craftsmanship. For a moment, she thought of the paper flower shoved under her bed, and felt a pang in her chest. Something warm and wet roll down her cheeks. Oh. She was crying again.
“I-I’m sorry! Do you not like it?” Penny asked, panicked.
Cindy shook her head, rubbing the tears off of her face. “No. I like it a lot. I would... I would really like to be friends with you.”
Penny beamed. “Oh, I’m so happy! You were right, Kid. This was a good idea!”
“Wait, what?” Cindy turned to Kid. A light blush dusted his cheeks.
“Well, you both needed friends, so...” Kid scratched the back of his head.
Cindy rolled her eyes. “You didn’t have to do that, you dork. You’re my friend too, remember?”
“Yeah! I even made you your own bracelet!” Penny added.
She promptly slipped it onto his wrist. Kid’s bracelet was bright blue, gold, and white. It kinda reminded Cindy of the backs of Monstermon cards. Kid seemed stunned for a moment. Cindy jumped up.
“C’mon. Enough of this sappy stuff. Let’s go play!”
Cindy grabbed her two friends by the hand and pulled them toward the pile of playground toys provided by the school. She was fairly sure she had seen a jumprope in there. As he stumbled to keep up, Kid watched Cindy’s face. Her eyes were still bloodshot and puffy, but her usual stubborn determination had returned. It was nice, he thought, now that it lacked the air of malice he had gotten to know so well. Kid found himself smiling at the change.
Yeah, maybe this will work out.