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“Ah!” Mandy yelped and closed the one eye that got hit by water. Though her glasses protected her, some droplets passed through it. “Moxy!” She playfully yelled after the pink doll.
“You’re too slow!” Moxy yelled over her shoulder as she continued to run away.
“Oh no you don’t!” Mandy aimed her water gun and started shooting after the runaway doll.
Moxy laughed as she ducked for cover, avoiding the other spray attacks her friends were sending each other’s way.
It was one of those rare rest days for Moxy, and so she chose to spend it, playing water gun fights with her friends.
They ran across the streets, rolling, ducking, or firing at each other.
At some point, Lucky tumbled out of his hiding spot.
Mandy, who was hiding behind a bush, aimed, ready to fire.
“Hey, Mandy.” —at least until a voice and someone’s presence made themself known, right next to her.
“Ah!” Mandy shrieked and dropped her water gun, falling over.
The redheaded girl looked up to see a concerned blue haired girl looking down at her.
“Oops… sorry.” Tuesday guiltily apologized, before offering a hand to help her up.
Mandy sighed but laughed it off and took the girl’s hand, and let her pull her up. “It’s fine. I was just super concentrated, that’s all.”
Tuesday tilted her head curiously, “Concentrated, on what? —AHH!” Suddenly she brought her hands up to shield her face when waters sprayed all over her.
Mandy stifled a laugh and instead offered a pitiful smile before answering, “That.”
Both girls looked over and saw Babo, still in a stance for fire, but quickly lowered himself into his hiding spot when they both stared at him. His expression turned embarrassed.
“My bad…” The big grey uglydoll sheepishly apologized.
Mandy just laughed, while Tuesday gave him a friendly wave.
“It’s fine, big guy.” Tuesday said, before turning back to Mandy.
“I was just wondering what you were doing, but...” She trailed off, as she wiped her face and shook the water out of her hair, “…I can take a guess.”
“Right, heh… well…” Mandy scratched the back of her head, before realizing something.
“Hey, where are Lydia and Kitty? Aren’t you usually with them?” She asked her.
Tuesday answered, “I was actually on my way to see them. But then I saw you here, and thought maybe to ask if you wanted to come with us?”
“Oh! Um…” Mandy was taken aback by the offer, and averted her eyes.
She noticed that Moxy and the others still continued with their game, leaving them to talk.
She returned her focus on the blue haired girl, fiddling with the water gun in her hands while thinking about her answer.
“Um… while I appreciate the invite. I think I’ll pass.” She finally told the girl.
Tuesday pursed her lips, her face showing a hint of disappointment before replying, “Aw… that’s fine. I just thought I might try bringing you along again. You haven’t hung out with us since you started hanging out with Moxy.”
She then stammered as she added, “…Not that being friends with her and the other uglydolls is a bad thing and all, but you know? Lydia misses doing your hair.”
Mandy blinked, caught a little off guard by that. “She… does?” She asked, a small smile tugging at her lips.
Tuesday nodded. “Yeah. She keeps saying you were the only one who actually sat still long enough for her to try new styles.” She gave a light shrug. “Kitty complains too much.”
Mandy let out a short laugh.
Tuesday laughed along with her, then glanced toward the still-ongoing water fight. A stream of water shot across the street, followed by Moxy’s cheering and Wage’s dramatic groan.
“So…” Tuesday said more gently, “…you don’t have to come now or anything. I just thought I’d ask.”
Mandy looked down for a moment, rubbing her thumb against the side of her water gun. “It’s not that I don’t want to…” she admitted. “Things just got… different for me.”
Tuesday tilted her head slightly. “Different how?”
Mandy glanced up, then away again. “I don’t know. It just feels like… everyone’s still figuring out where they stand. I guess I’m still doing that too.”
Feet shifted where she stood, as she continued, “Before I got comfortable wearing my glasses in front of everyone, I always felt too different from the other prettydolls, even when I managed to hang out with you three. Moxy and the other uglies, somehow felt less difficult to show my flaws to.”
Tuesday looked at her thoughtfully, “So… uglies are easier to talk to?”
Mandy blinked, sheepishly answering, “I mean… I guess? B-But not in a way where I didn’t appreciate your company, of course! I just had no idea, you guys considered me a friend… since I was kinda, uh, quiet? And you guys always seemed a little weirded out by me… But I’m happy you do!”
Continuing, she says, “But, yeah. I guess you’re right… It’s weird… but in a way… kinda makes sense?”
“I felt too different from my own kind, that I had an easier time talking to a bunch of new dolls…” She finished explaining.
“Yeah…” Tuesday said, her eyes looking past her in deep thought.
Mandys simply stared back. Waiting for the other girl to say anything else.
This is the most pensive Tuesday has ever looked that (probably) didn’t have to do with her “Perfect Boyfriend Lou” daydreams. And dear god, it was kinda creeping Mandy out.
Finally, Tuesday spoke again, “Because they were different from us? Weren’t they?”
“Huh?” Was the only thing Mandy could reply with.
Tuesday continued, “You felt different too from the other prettydolls, that you didn’t feel like a prettydoll, right?”
Mandy squinted her eyes, confused, but tried finding her words. “Well, when you put it that way… yes?”
“Hm…” Tuesday went back into deep thinking.
Without thinking twice, Mandy said, “You’ve been thinking a lot more, lately…” she laughed, but quickly covered her mouth.
Before she could apologize over how rude that must’ve sounded, Tuesday replied with an oblivious laugh. “Yeah, you’re kinda right. I guess ever since I stopped fantasizing about future dates with Lou, I started thinking about other stuff.”
“Oh?” Mandy actually playfully leaned back, in mild surprise.
Through her time with Tuesday and the other two, Tuesday’s entire world revolved around her hair, makeup and ‘Lou, Lou, Lou’…
To hear that she’s not thinking about Lou, is actually pretty shocking.
“What are you thinking about then?” Mandy asked the girl.
Tuesday blinked at the question, before letting out a shy laugh while rubbing her arm, “Well… still Lou, technically…”
Mandy’s smile dropped into a blank expression.
Tuesday held her hands up, “But not in a romantic way, anymore. I just mean that I started to realize something.”
“Speaking of, I need to find Kitty, Lydia, and maybe Nolan too!” She then turned around and began speeding away.
As she ran she looked over her shoulder and called over to Mandy, “Again, if you ever change your mind, you can call us up any time you want!”
With that, she was gone.
With a bit of a delayed response, Mandy waved in Tuesday’s direction. “Okay… bye…” She said in a soft but confused tone.
“Oh!” Mandy yelped and ducked when she felt water hit the back of her head.
“Back in the game yet, little red?” Ox taunted, water gun still aimed at Mandy.
He cackled like a mad man, tongue hanging out from his mouth, as he ran away from Mandy’s counterattack.
.•.•.
“Tuesday are you sure about this?” Kitty said, with crossed arms.
The other dolls behind her clearly felt the same way.
Six dolls were all standing outside, on the porch of Lou’s house.
“Come on, you guys!” Tuesday insisted to the disapproving dolls, looking at her. “Let’s just give it a try. There’s nothing wrong with doing something a little nice, just this once.”
She spread her arms out as she told them, “The whole point of our new and improved institute is to be more accepting and inclusive!”
Before anyone else could protest, she turned back to the door and knocked
No answer.
Tuesday was tempted to knock again, but she gave it a few seconds.
Still no answer.
“Aw, would you look at that? He’s not home!” Nolan shrugged, and turned around to head down the small stairs, “Oh well! At least we tried.”
“Nolan, please!” Tuesday pulled the freckled boy’s arm.
Nolan stopped, sighing in defeat. He's the one who approached the door this time, and knocked. Much louder.
They all flinched back, when they heard a loud ‘thud’ from the second floor. Followed by some loud groaning and colorful indescribable words, that got more audible with every step, until it reached the door just right on the other side.
The door didn’t open right away, there was heavy breathing that was heard, as if they were trying to prepare themself.
“Um… I think we might’ve woken him up.” Michael, whispered to the others.
Finally, the door opened. Revealing a tired blonde doll, on the other side.
Lou had his usual navy blue pants on, but his jacket, cap and shirt were nowhere to be found. His only top wear was a white tank top.
His hair… wasn’t that different from the already moppish look he never bothered fixing. But a few more strands were sticking up beside his cowlick, showing just how recently he got out —or fell out— of his bed.
Collapsing lazily against the doorway, one eye partially open while he rubbed the other, voice still thick with sleep.
“Moxy, what part of ‘your break day, is also my break day’ do you not—” He stopped mid sentence, as he realized the person, or rather, people at his door was not Moxy.
Lou blinked slowly, his gaze traveling across the small crowd on his porch.
Tuesday. Nolan. Kitty. Lydia. Michael. And… some random curly purple haired girl Lou doesn’t know the name of. She had her arms wrapped around Michael’s arm.
He squinted harder, trying to wake his brain up fast enough to process why a group of dolls were standing outside his house.
“…Why are there so many of you?” He muttered.
Tuesday greeted him with a quick wave and smiled brightly. “Good morning, Lou!”
“It is not a good morning…” Lou replied flatly, still leaning most of his weight against the doorframe. “It’s never a good morning, when I get dragged out of bed against my will.”
Michael leaned toward the girl holding him and whispered, “Five seconds in and he’s already cranky. I’m telling you, this won’t be a very pretty hang out, babe.”
The girl merely giggled.
“I heard that.” Lou said without looking at, what appears to be, the couple.
“And ‘hang out’…?” He looked straight into Tuesday’s eyes, as he repeated the blue haired boy’s words.
“Yeah!” Tuesday clasped her hands together and replied, “I was just gonna hang out with Kitty and Lydia today, but we didn’t really have any specific plans.”
Kitty and Lydia only offered reluctant waves.
“So…” She trailed off as she extended her arm to introduce the dolls behind her. “I decided we should come here. I invited Nolan and Michael too, so you wouldn’t be the only guy. And Michael insisted on bringing Meghan, because they started dating a few days ago!”
Lou looked at Tuesday, as if she declared she was going to shave her hair and join a tribe, before inhaling sharply and rubbing the bridge of his nose.
Without looking up or removing the hand covering his face, he slowly said, “I’m sorry… I must be getting more forgetful these days…”
He finally looked up at her and forced a snarled smile, “Would you mind jogging my memory, for anything that I might’ve said back at the party, that made you think I’d be okay with this?”
Tuesday shifted uncomfortably, tugging at the hem of her skirt as she answered, “We just wanted to check on you…”
“She wanted to check on you.” Kitty corrected, but bit her tongue when Tuesday looked back at her. So she sighed and then added, “But… I guess her reasons were pretty valid? This new lifestyle of yours is kinda sad.”
“My lifestyle?” Lou repeated, his eyes narrowed.
Kitty pointed a finger up and down at the blonde’s entirety, “The whole slob chic… constantly sleeping in… and pretty much everything you’ve become.”
Lou gave her an aggressive grin and said, “Great! So, I’m still a bother to your peace of mind, even when all I’m doing is minding my own business.”
“No! It’s not like that.” Tuesday quickly said back.
She sighed and then tried to explain, “Look… I wanted to do this because I’ve come to realize something…”
Lou rolled his eyes and decided to entertain the normally dunce girl, “And something is?”
“Well… You’re different, right?” Tuesday asked the blonde, who only replied with an unamused blink.
“Different, because… you’re something the other prettydolls… aren’t?” She tried to say in the least offensive way.
She wasn’t sure if the ‘P’ word was a forbidden word to be spoken in front of Lou, but she wasn’t taking any chances.
The blonde’s eyes narrowed, and his lips turned as thin as his patience.
Tuesday swallowed before continuing, “And… I guess when you met that Ox guy, you must’ve felt like you found someone to be different from the other dolls with—Hey!”
Nolan quickly wedged his foot between the door before it could shut completely.
Lou glared at the brunette, who stared straight back into his eyes.
He caught a glimpse of pain in his eyes, giving away the real emotion behind his coolheaded expression, which is why Lou didn’t stop pressing onto the door.
“L-Let… her… finish!” Nolan said through his teeth. Whether the strain in his voice was because of suppressed tears or aggression, no one knew.
Tuesday nervously rubbed her hands as she contemplated whether she should keep explaining or not.
“I was just saying…” She continued carefully, “…that maybe when you met Ox, it felt easier.”
She swallowed, “Because he wasn’t… one of us?”
Lou’s jaw tightened as he prompted, “What are you trying to articulate?”
Tuesday hesitated but spoke, “Mandy told me this morning, when I tried to invite her to hang out with the girls, that she had an easier time being with dolls who were already unique and unusual from the rest.”
Her voice softened when she added, “Because they weren’t judging her for one little difference she had.”
“And your point?” Lou asked, humorlessly.
Tuesday inhaled slowly.
“My point is…” She said, thinking through her words instead of blurting them out like she used to, “…maybe you felt the same way, when leading the earlier doll batches?”
Lou leaned closer towards the gap to give her a questioning look.
“Maybe an uglydoll was easier to talk to, because you didn’t have to measure up to him?” She concluded.
Nolan’s foot slipped slightly when he glanced at Tuesday, but he didn’t move it.
Tuesday kept going, “And maybe… judging by what you told us before —you hate prettydolls. Probably even more than uglydolls.”
Kitty and Lydia looked at her.
Tuesday finished the thought anyway, “Maybe you hated them, because they made you feel alone.”
Lou’s expression cracked, just barely. Like porcelain under pressure.
Then it was gone.
He straightened slightly.
“You came all the way here to show off how psychological you got after a failed romance?” He asked flatly.
“No.” Tuesday shook her head, mostly ignoring the jab directed at her.
She clasped her hands together again, “But I did come here, hoping I can make you realize this isn’t the same institute anymore.”
Lou scoffed lightly. “Isn’t it?”
“No.” Nolan cut in quietly. “It’s not.”
All eyes shifted to him.
He met Lou’s stare head-on, his foot was currently numb enough to let him focus on telling the blonde, “I can’t imagine what it was like during your first few years at the institute before leading. But all the dolls here right now, know you as the leader.” He added, “And former leader.”
Then he rubbed his chin in thought as he decided to also add, “And, well… this miserable guy.” He gestured down to Lou’s current state.
Michael nodded in agreement, “Yeah… this might sound obnoxious, but I wasn’t alive long enough to actually care about what you’ve done.”
He and Meghan squeezed each other closer as he added, “Meg and I are more focused on grasping the fact that a whole new normal was established, before we could even experience the old normal.”
“Nice to meet you.” Meghan waved at the blonde, making it the first thing she said since the already expired introductories.
Lou only squinted at her in confusion, before instinctively waving once to acknowledge her before turning back to Tuesday, who played with her hands as she tried to continue.
“Mandy’s still exploring herself.” She said carefully, then gently added, “And you… by the looks of it… kinda gave up.”
Lou rolled his eyes at that statement. He was sure he already made that clear.
“Mandy’s enjoying the company of dolls who made her feel less judged, and maybe that’s what you found with Ox—Sorry! Sorry! I’ll stop saying his name!” Tuesday held her hands up nervously when Lou shot her a bitter glare.
“B-But… if she can try and find her place with some uglydolls…” Tuesday finished quietly, “…maybe you could give prettydolls another chance?”
He stared at Tuesday like she had just suggested he try hugging a cactus, before exhaling through his nose.
“Even if I wanted to… give me one good reason why I should even let you in?” He asked.
Tuesday’s eyes lit up at that, but now she was stuck thinking of something to say.
At least until Nolan bluntly answered for her, “The girls didn’t need an invite the last time we came into your house.”
Lou’s grip on the door slackened, easing the pressure off Nolan’s foot, his eyes staring into oblivion as he thought about the brunette’s statement. That was a fair point, honestly…
Nolan quickly took his foot out and lifted it up to soothe the pain, hopping on one foot as he winced. “Ow ow ow!”
Eventually Lou sighed and straightened up, before opening the door wide. “Fine. But if any of you tick me off, then consider me Irish.”
Everyone looked at him and at each other in surprise, Tuesday’s eyes only gleamed as she smiled wider.
They shuffled in.
His house was exactly what one would expect: neat in structure, chaotic in atmosphere. Papers stacked but organized. Books lined precisely. A mug on the table that had definitely been sitting there overnight. Curtains half-drawn like the room itself hadn’t fully committed to being awake.
Kitty glanced around. “Wow... It smells like a bummer.”
“It smells like a dust collection.” Michael added.
“It smells like mind your business.” Lou shot back.
“So who wants to play truth or dare?” Tuesday cheerily asked.
.•.•.
Truth or Dare apparently wasn’t the safest game to play with Nolan and Michael.
They didn’t even make it past the first five minutes, before Nolan lunged himself at Michael when he revealed that he hid and ate the gift cookies Wage baked specifically for Nolan as a thank you for helping around her diner one time.
His reason? Those specific cookies were always pricey, and so he took his chance.
While it may have succeeded in taking the grumpy look off Lou’s face, they’d rather find a better way to make the blonde laugh without the other boys ripping each other’s heads off.
And so the seven dolls moved on to searching for some good tabletop games to try instead. Which, conveniently, Lou had stashed in his under stairs closet.
They tried chess, but Tuesday kept mixing it up with checkers. And Nolan gave up trying to explain that it was the queen piece that was the most powerful, not the king piece; she forgets after 10 seconds and would start sliding the piece across the board diagonally.
Monopoly was another option, but Michael had accidentally committed something that Meghan tried explaining was ‘tax fraud’ and it somehow ended with the couple bickering for 5 minutes. And as dramatic as it sounded… Lou was sure they almost broke up right then and there too.
Then there was Jenga.
Lydia kept telling Kitty that using a pencil to push the middle blocks out was cheating.
“It doesn’t matter.” Kitty argued, nudging the block again.
“It’s unfair.” Lydia shot back.
Kitty’s eyes glanced at her, “It isn’t any different than using a finger to nudge it out. But I can’t do that with mine, because I just got my nails done!”
Lou pinched the bridge of his nose.
Kitty must’ve looked away a little too long, because the tower started to wobble.
Everyone froze.
“Don’t breathe.” Tuesday whispered.
“Okay.” Kitty said back.
“You’re definitely breathing.”
“Well I need to breathe!”
And then the tower collapsed…
The blocks scattered across the table and floor in a clattering explosion.
Silence.
Tuesday laughed nervously, before abruptly standing up. “Okay! New activity. Something more active and fun!”
Lou leaned back in his seat, bored. “Or you could all leave my house now?”
Tuesday pointed an enthusiastic finger at the grumpy blonde and said, “That’s a good idea Lou! Let’s do an outdoor activity!”
.•.•.
Lou was dragged out of his own house, and into his backyard.
Fortunately for them and unfortunately for Lou, they found some sports equipment in the closet that Lou was sure he had cleared out and disposed of already; looks like he forgot about the tennis gear…
Kitty, Lydia and Tuesday wanted to sit out the first round. And so Lou was up against Meghan and Micheal, and got teamed with Nolan against his will.
The pairs stood on opposite sides of the chalk line.
Meghan bounced the tennis ball a couple of times before preparing to strike it.
Lou watched the ball fly towards him, but rather than chasing it or attempting to hit it, he simply held his racket up in the air, and let the ball fly past it…
“Oops, I missed.” He said flatly.
“Really?” Nolan said in an incredulous tone, approaching the blonde.
“Are you sure we should even be doing this?” Kitty asked, arms crossed as she, Lydia, and Tuesday watched as the boys began to bicker.
“What she said.” Lydia said in the same unamused tone. “The guy literally called us mindless sycophants.”
They managed to finally explain that word’s meaning to Tuesday before, so the girl was able to answer them.
“Okay… I get that it was so totally uncalled for and super mean for him to say that, but to be fair guys, we weren’t any nicer than Lou back then…” She said to the other two girls, turning away from the boys. Lydia and Kitty also took their eyes off them to focus on Tuesday.
“We did kidnap someone afterall.” She pointed out.
“He’s the one who asked us to do it.” Kitty argued.
“Still the kidnappers.” Tuesday said back.
Kitty rolled her eyes, but saw her point.
With the amount of horrible deeds they’ve committed to the uglydolls and petty bullying they’ve done to some slightly flawed prettydolls, it was kinda surprising that they didn’t get stuffed in the washer with Lou.
Tuesday decided to add, “Plus… we’ve been at his side as his fans for a few years, but we weren’t with him that long to say we had any sort of ‘history’ with him. Not the bad kind, at least.”
“Now that he isn’t our boss or idol, why don’t we try making him our friend?” She suggested.
Lydia and Kitty blinked at her, then glanced at each other before looking back up at Tuesday.
“…Friend?” Kitty repeated, like she was tasting the word for the first time.
Lydia fixed a stray strand from her braids thoughtfully, “That would require him not actively hating our company.”
Tuesday confidently said, “He doesn’t hate it.” And quickly added, stepping closer to them. “He didn’t slam the door in our faces, right?”
Both girls paused.
“He tried.” Kitty pointed out.
Tuesday waved her hand dismissively, “The point is, he let us in!”
Lydia glanced toward the boys, where Nolan was yelling at Lou again for presumably ignoring another ball, while Michael and Meghan were discussing whether that last hit counted as ‘out’ or not.
“…I don’t know, girl.” Lydia admitted quietly. “Even if we really want to ‘be friends’ with him, don’t you think it’s a little too late?”
Kitty nodded in agreement, “Yeah… We kinda ditched him after finding out we didn’t need his training, remember?”
That fact sat between them for a moment.
Tuesday’s voice softened, “Then maybe this is our chance to make up for it?”
Both girls looked at her.
“We were saved from being judged for every flaw we had...” She continued, “but now Lou’s stuck being judged for his mistakes.”
Kitty suddenly said, “You’re weirdly wise lately.”
Tuesday smiled sheepishly, “Yeah, well. Turns out when you stop planning imaginary wedding venues, you free up a lot of brain space.”
Lydia snorted.
A loud THWACK interrupted them, making them turn back to the makeshift court.
All three girls covered their mouths as they gasped in shock.
On the other side of the court, Nolan was hunched over on himself while Meghan and Michael, by the looks of it, were helping him cool down.
And then there was Lou, coming closer, dragging his racket across the ground. While another racket, clearly Nolan’s, was hugging his head like a misshapen halo.
He finally made his way to the girls, giving them the most untroubled expression they’ve ever seen, almost as if there wasn’t a tennis racket lodged halfway down his head.
“Nolan and I are still at ‘love’...” He spoke in the same tone someone might use to comment on the weather. “I can’t say there was any of that lost between us, though…”
Lydia lowered her hands, her face dropped and mirrored the blonde’s deadpan expression, “Seriously?” She irately replied to his quip.
Tuesday on the other hand, immediately shouted after the freckled doll with her hands on her hips, “Nolan!”
Nolan quickly turned to them, hands up in the air as he walked towards them.
“You would have done the same thing, trust me...” He told them dryly, while avoiding the blue haired girl’s disapproving glare.
Kitty slowly pointed at the racket, “Shouldn’t we… remove that?”
Lou reached up casually, experimentally tugging at the handle.
Unsurprisingly, it didn’t budge.
As Michael and Meghan approached them, Michael suggested, “Maybe we should all pull on it?”
“No! You might tear his face seams!” Tuesday frantically said, quickly standing in front of Lou, spreading her arms out to shield him.
“Well, what do we do?” Lydia asked, impulsively poking the racket and quickly retracting her hand when Lou turned to look at her.
Lou hummed in thought before suggesting, “Well, there are some electrical saws in the supply shed.”
Nolan squinted his eyes at him in disbelief, “You want us to stick a big deadly power tool near your face?”
“They vary in sizes. One of them is only a little bigger than a pen.” The blonde bluntly replied.
Tuesday shook her head at him, “No power tools. Absolutely not! You could get hurt.”
Michael raised a finger, “Counterpoint: if we don’t get it off, he’s just going to walk around like that for the rest of his life.”
Tuesday’s head lulled and her shoulders dropped, “Well, maybe going to the supplies shed isn’t a bad idea…” she lifted her head to add, “but we’ll try safer, non-electrical tools.”
.•.•.
They all made it to the far end of the neighborhood where the shed was.
But as they got closer, they saw that they weren’t the first ones there.
“Mandy?” Tuesday called out.
The redhead doll, who looked like she was about to head in, turned around to meet seven dolls greeting her.
“Oh! Hi, you guys.” Mandy said, waving.
“What are you—Oh my doll…” She cut herself off when her eyes landed on the blonde doll near behind them.
Lou only offered a single wave to her. But Mandy was more focused on the tennis racket hanging around his neck like an awkward necklace.
At some point during their walk here, the constriction of his nose was starting to irritate him. And since pushing upward did nothing, Lou decided to pull it downward. At least now, he could actually breath, talk and move his face without any problems.
“Please don’t make us explain.” Kitty said to the redhead, exasperated.
And so Mandy didn’t try to ask.
Tuesday stepped forward, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. “We came here to look for tools, to… well… you can tell what they’re for.” She said, gesturing to Lou.
Still processing what’s happening, Mandy slowly said, “Uhhh… okay.”
Then she added, “I was actually looking for some tools too. Wage’s oven is broken, so I told her that I’d grab the toolbox here in the supplied shed, and help her fix it when she comes back from the big world.”
Tuesday clasped her hand together, “Great! Let’s help each other look!”
“Sure.” Mandy smiled softly, but then realized. “Um… but I don’t think we can all fit…”
She stretched a hand towards the door as she explained, “There’s more stuff in here than last time. It’s already hard for one doll to walk around in there.”
“Then I’ll go!” Michael raised his hand, and then started flexing in front of Meghan, who was looking at him fondly. “I’ve got the strength you need to lift some boxes out of the way.”
“He’s got arms that destroy sleeves!” Meghan said, playfully fanning herself.
Lou cringed at the couple’s display. Corny.
Mandy must’ve felt the same way, if her face was anything to go by. “Oookay…”
Despite himself, Lou raised his own hand. “I’ll go too.”
Mandy blinked at him in surprise, and discomfort.
Michael looked at him and raised a brow, “Why?”
Lou answered, “Because I’m the only one who knows what the saw cases look like.”
“Lou, I told you already! We’re not using power tools or anything sharp!” Tuesday scolded him.
The blonde rolled his eyes at her, “It’s just in case you change your mind. I don’t imagine a screwdriver or a hammer to be an efficient tool for the job.” He tapped his finger at the solid material, as if to prove a point.
Mandy sighed and then spoke up again, “Okay, it’s settled. Me, Michael and… Lou are going in. You guys just wait for us out here.”
Everyone came to the same agreement.
Mandy and the two boys stepped in.
Tuesday, with the cheery little voice Lou was starting to get tired of, yelled to them, “Remember, if you need help, we’ll be standing here the whole—”
Lou quickly shut the door with a loud SLAM, muffling her voice and giving him a break from hearing her.
Mandy rolled her eyes at the blonde’s attitude, as she began searching through one of the boxes.
Michael began moving some boxes around. Putting aside the ones that were too small or too flat, and opening up the ones that were big enough to place a toolbox in.
Lou shuffled around the small spaces, hands holding the racket, to prevent it from hitting or hooking onto anything.
They spent the past five minutes looking around and moving stuff from one place to another. Until finally…
“Got it!” Michael suddenly exclaimed, holding up a black case.
“You found the toolbox?” Tuesday’s faint voice asked from the other side.
Michael yelled back, “No. But I found the electric saws Lou was talking about.” He waved the case, despite Tuesday not being able to see it.
“No! We’re not using them!” Tuesday yelled from the other end.
After a few seconds of rummaging through her sixth box Mandy pulled out a very heavy casing and yelled, “Don’t worry, Tuesday! I found the toolbox!”
Lou sighed as he got up from where he was kneeling. “Finally… Let’s get out of here then.”
They all shuffled their way to the door.
Lou grabbed and turned the handle.
The knob didn’t turn with his hand.
“Huh?” He tried again.
Nothing.
Not even when he jiggled, pulled, or pushed the knob.
“Lou… what’s the hold up?” Michael asked him carefully.
Without stopping his wrestling with the knob, Lou answered, “It’s stuck.”
Mandy leaned closer and asked, “What do you mean it’s stuck?”
“I mean it’s stuck. What else would I mean by it?” Lou aggressively asked, still twisting and shaking the doorknob around.
“What’s going on in there?” Nolan’s voice asked.
“The doorknob’s a little jammed… I think.” Michael replied, staring anxiously at the door. Hoping Lou would finally get it to open.
Lou twisted harder.
The knob made a pathetic metallic click.
SNAP.
The whole round piece came off in his hand.
Silence.
All three of them stared at it.
From outside, Tuesday asked in concern. “Did something just break?”
Lou slowly looked down at the knob in his palm. “…Dang it!”
Mandy dropped the toolbox and clutched the sides of her head, “Are you kidding me?!”
“Why’d you break it?!” Michael asked in distress.
Lou snapped his head toward him, slowly tilting his head to the side as if he was daring him to repeat the question.
He held the knob up to Michael’s face and yelled, “I’ve been meaning to expand my doorknob collection!”
The blue haired boy opened his mouth, then closed it.
Mandy rushed to the door, and pressed her ear against it.
“Guys!” she called. “The knob came off!”
“What?!”
“How?!”
“Seriously?!”
Michael tried pushing against the door with both hands, but of course that didn’t work.
Lou crouched and examined where the knob had been. “It looks like the knob only broke from our side. Can you try opening it from there?”
Attempts to twist the other knob were heard, but proved to be fruitless.
“Wait.” Mandy suddenly said before heading towards a window being blocked by stacks of boxes. “Let’s just go through the window.”
Lou shook his head, “It won’t work. Those windows are fixed. They don’t open.”
Mandy paused as soon as he said they, her hands hovered over the box she was about to move.
She slowly turned to Lou, with furrowed eyebrows, glaring straight at him.
“Why… would you install fixed windows to the shed!?” She yelled at him.
Lou moved back, not out of fear, but out of disbelief that he was being blamed for an unpredictable situation. “Uh, because operable windows are expensive?”
He spitefully added, “Do you think I just pull the materials for your homes out of a hat? I have them shipped from Collectible City, and Carl the Carpenters don’t just give them cheaply!”
Mandy’s face dropped into an awkward stare, “Carl the… what?”
But Lou ignored that and continued, “Apart from some exemptions I’ve made, the shed isn’t exactly a living area where anyone needs to let the morning breeze in. I didn’t think it needed working windows.”
Michael blinked before staring at the door again, “Well… this is a very complicated situation.”
Lou rolled his eyes, “Oh don’t be dramatic. This is just a very mild misfortune.”
“Well still, we wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t shut the door.” Michael said.
The blonde crossed his arms, “Oh, so we’re using the butterfly effect now, are we?”
Loudly clapping his hands once, he continued, “If that’s the case, why don’t we just say it was Nolan’s fault? If he hadn’t wedged the racket through my head, we wouldn’t have needed to come here in the first place.”
“Nolan did that?” Mandy asked under her voice, not really expecting to be given an answer.
“Or maybe…” Lou went on, “it’s Tuesday’s fault for taking time out of our day to drag us all into a stupid group bonding?”
“Guys, stop fighting in there!” Tuesday yelled against the door. “Let’s focus on getting you out.”
Then Lydia’s voice spoke up, “Look! There’s a key hole. Lou, you got any keys?”
Lou thought for a moment before replying, “Yes, actually. Back at my house.”
“Where in your house?” Lydia asked.
He was quiet for a beat too long, “… I don’t know?”
Mandy and Michael snapped their heads towards the blonde with bewildered expressions. The others were probably doing the same thing, despite not being able to see him.
“You don’t know!?” Lydia repeated, hoping she heard wrong.
Lou threw his hands in the air, “Dolls used to keep coming to me to open the supply shed, okay? There was never anything valuable in here to keep it locked so I stopped locking it… and eventually forgot I even had keys… But they’re probably lying around somewhere in my house…”
Everyone either groaned or sighed when they heard that.
Lou pushed his hair back as he slowly added, “Actually, I think I gave Moxy my spare key ring since she’s in charge of maintenance now. Why don’t you go find her?”
“Negative.” Mandy said, hanging her head low in defeat. “After our water fight, Moxy and the others left for their kids and probably won’t be back until dark…”
Everyone went quiet.
It was just one thing after another, wasn’t it?
Outside the shed, the remaining dolls were trying to brainstorm for a solution.
Kitty snapped her fingers and said, “Okay, here’s the plan.”
She pointed at herself and her friends. “Me, Lydia, and Tuesday will go to Lou’s house and search for his keys. While Nolan and Meghan…” she pointed at the other two dolls, “go to Moxy’s house and search for the spare keys.”
“Absolutely not!” Michael yelled from inside.
Kitty rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue, before opting, “Lydia why don’t you go with Meghan, instead? Nolan will come with us.”
No objections from the blue haired.
But Mandy did, “Don’t you think raiding Moxy’s house while she’s gone is crossing a line?” She asked hesitantly.
“Do you want to stay in there the whole day?” Kitty asked Mandy, who stayed quiet.
“I see your point…” She eventually answered, “We’ll just explain things to her later.”
Meghan suddenly pressed herself against the door, “Be safe in there Michael. And stay three feet away from Mandy!”
Inside the shed, Michael made dramatically grand gestures that made Lou shuffled away from him.
He replied, “Wouldn’t dream of even looking at her, baby! After all… a girl as gorgeous as you, makes every other girl look like flies hovering over—Ow!”
“Stop!” Lou cut him off, and bopping him one on the head. “God, I thought Nolan’s main character complex was corny, but you two are straight out of the cheese factory!”
Michael glared at him, but pretty obliged out of embarrassment.
“Well now that everything is settled, we should go.” Tuesday said, before leaning towards the door and speaking to them one last time. “Don’t kill each other in there, okay? And remember, no power tools.” She said firmly.
“Got it.” Lou flatly replied, rolling his eyes. “I’ll see if a monkey wrench can pry this off me.”
With that group split.
Footsteps faded in opposite directions.
And then it was quiet.
At least until Michael cleared his throat and looked at Lou expectantly, “So…”
As if he read his mind, Lou pointed towards the far end of the shed, “There’s a power outlet back there. Use the smallest blade, we have time.”
.•.•.
Half an hour passed by, and still no signs of the group’s return.
Mandy tried to pass the time by rearranging the piles of scrapped fabric, while Lou and Micheal were nearly finished cutting the racket off the blonde’s neck.
“Ha!” Michael exclaimed, as half the piece he was cutting through finally snapped off, and fell to the floor. He removed his goggles and let the blonde stand up.
Lou removed the other half that was hanging off him and tossed it aside.
“Finally.” He said, as he rolled his head and massaged his neck.
“That took a lot quicker than I thought.” Michael said, as he unplugged the saw and started packing it again. Then chuckled as he added, “And Tuesday thought using the regular tools would be better.”
Then it clicked…
Michael quickly shot up, as he had an idea. “The toolbox!” He said before running back to where Mandy was and went straight for the toolbox on the ground next to her, and carried the box towards the door.
“What about the toolbox?” Mandy asked, looking up from the stack of felt she was folding.
“I’m a genius!” Michael said first before continuing, “If the door won’t open normally, I can just unscrew the knob and door’s hinges and take the whole door down.”
Mandy’s face brightened when he said that. “That’s a great idea!”
“Wouldn’t call you a genius if you took this long to have that idea, though.” Lou commented, as he made his way to them.
Michael turned to glare at him, “You didn’t exactly think of it either.”
Lou shrugged, “I’m just the clean up guy, Mandy’s a stylist. What’s your excuse?”
“Well I—”
“Alright enough.” Mandy cut the argument short, tiredly rubbing the bridge of her nose before pushing her glasses back up. “Michael, just do what you have to do.”
Michael nodded and returned his focus to the task at hand. He fished a screwdriver out of the toolbox and stopped as he looked at the door again.
“Michael…?” Mandy called him carefully, wonderingly what was taking the boy so long.
Instead of answering, Michael rummaged through the box again. After that, he quickly got up to check the window frames.
“Michael, what’s going on?” Mandy asked again.
Michael replied this time, “They’re all phillips screws.”
“What?”
“Phillips screws.” Michael repeated, “The really small ones too. None of the screwdrivers in here fit.”
Mandy’s shoulders dropped as she slumped down onto a box, propping her elbows on her knees and resting her head in her hands. “So we’re back to square one.”
Michael rubbed his chin, as he sought for another way out.
He snapped his fingers, as he came up with something. “We can use the electric saws, and cut our way through one of the walls.”
Mandy’s eyes widened and held her hounds out, as if to stop him, “Whoa! Let’s dial back a moment, shall we?”
Michael’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “What?”
Mandy tried to reason, “Are we really going to saw through the wall, just to get out of here? Seems a little melodramatic.”
“Well, I thought we all wanted to get out of here.” Michael said back.
“True.” Mandy answered, “But I’m not about to destroy property for that. Especially when we've got friends searching for a safer and less complicated way to get out.”
“While I don’t care for either side of this argument, Mandy has a point.” Lou said, sitting himself down on a bottom up bucket crossing his arms. “Whether we wait for the keys or saw our way through, both will take who knows how long. And I’d rather choose the option that doesn’t involve possible reconstruction.”
Michael huffed and walked past them anyway, “Well, I don’t wanna just sit around with my thumb up my nose. I’d rather pass the time doing a back up plan.”
No one stopped Michael, but he didn’t make it far anyway.
Because he tripped over a paint can on the ground, and fell towards a very unsteady, overflowing shelf.
“Ah!” He yelled, as an avalanche of boxes came pouring down on him.
Mandy and Lou leaned back and shielded their eyes from the dust and stray objects flying towards them.
They finally opened their eyes, fanning away the dusty fog, and looked to where the blue haired doll was.
The only thing left they could see of Michael was his legs sticking out from the large pile.
They momentarily looked at each other, with mirrored concern. Mandy was a little surprised Lou even looked worried, but they both got up and made their way to Michael.
They both grabbed a leg each and pulled, successfully tugging Michael out from under the heap.
Michael took the biggest gulp of air he could get when he was finally freed from the heavy pile, coughing when some dust entered his mouth.
Mandy quickly helped pull him up, while Lou stared at him, crossing his arms.
Adding insult to injury, Lou asked him. “Still wanna commence with plan b?”
Michael coughed out the last bit of dust in his throat before glaring at Lou.
Then slowly turned his head toward the large dam of objects, blocking their only way to the back of the shed. The electric saws were long gone underneath all of them.
He turned back and looked at the ground in defeat. “No…”
Mandy shot Lou a look. “Lou, can you not?”
Lou leaned back against the wall again, folding his arms. “What? I’m just checking with him. We warned him after all.”
Mandy rubbed the sides of her head, groaning. “Honestly… waiting inside this shed isn’t even a problem.”
“Oh, isn’t it?” Lou asked in a sarcastic tone.
“No, it really isn’t.” Mandy said hands on her hips as she glared back at Lou. “Having to tolerate each other while we wait, is the real challenge.”
Lou laughed dryly, “And by 'tolerate each other’, you mean tolerate me, right?” He asked, pressing a hand to his chest as he moved closer to Mandy. “Because you clearly didn’t plan to spend the rest of the afternoon locked in a shed with public enemy number one!”
Mandy crossed her arms, before calmly but bitterly saying back, “Oh please Lou, you’re not that popular. Not anymore at least...” She looked to the side while continuing, “You’ve become so unimportant that barely anyone even remembers you’re still around.”
“I’m aware, thank you very much.” Lou replied in the same tone. “But clearly you remember me, and I think that says plenty in this discussion.”
“Yeah…” She said quietly. “I do remember you.”
Michael looked between them slowly, sensing the air change.
Lou tilted his head slightly. “Oh? And which version is that? The dictator? The perfectionist? The hypocrite who set you up for failure?”
Mandy’s hands clenched at her sides before answering, “The decent guy who I thought was my friend.”
The shed went still.
Even the dust seemed to pause mid-air.
Lou’s expression didn’t change, but it froze.
Michael blinked. “…Wait, what?”
Mandy didn’t look at either of them. She kept her eyes on the wall as she continued, “The same guy who figured out I needed glasses, but stopped talking to me after getting me some, and became the same guy who made me feel ridiculous for needing them…”
Lou tried not to show much emotion, voice was steady but telling. “I was never your friend.”
Michael looked between them again. “Okay, I feel like I missed about twelve chapters again.”
Mandy ignored him and stared straight at Lou, “Yeah, maybe to you we were never friends, but to me… the guy I saw—”
“What were you seeing exactly, Mandy?” Lou cut her off, “The whole time I’ve made conversation with you, you were visually impaired. So whatever you saw, you didn’t.”
Adding to his declaration, “But what did I see? A regular prettydoll, who I decided to stop entertaining after discovering her flaws.”
He rolled his wrist as he added, “Maybe I felt pity. It's impossible to get anywhere with poor eyesight. So I got you the glasses, and gave you the simplest instruction to never let anyone see it. But of course, you couldn’t do that, could you?”
Mandy looked at him in disbelief, “Why are you making it sound like I approached you? You’re the one who came up to me, and—”
“Time OUT!” Michael yelled, getting in between them.
Mandy and Lou stopped arguing and stared at the doll in the middle with shrunken pupils.
A solid 5 seconds of silence went by as he looked back and forth between them.
Michael shook his head rapidly, “No. No. No, I’m not doing this again. I’m tired of it.”
Mandy actually moved back in surprise. “What?”
Michael pointed a finger in the air as he declared, “I am SICK and tired of hearing all these out of context backstories!”
Lou’s face scrunched up in confusion.
He stomped his feet on the ground as he growled out, “Every. Single. Day. I would pass by dolls that were probably here before the whole ‘revolution’, talking about Lou, how he lied to us, their past training experiences, and Lou Lou Lou! Lou’s a liar! My whole life was a lie! Boohoo the leader we trusted was a fraud all this time!”
His hands waved in the air as if he was reciting a poem, as he continued to mimic overheard conversations. “He seemed so good but he’s actually bad, it’s impossible to forgive him for everything —Why are we still talking about this guy!?”
He started pacing back and forth as he continued to rant, “Every now and then, there’d be this circle of dolls surrounding that stupid green bunny, asking for stories of his experience at the institute and his relationship with YOU!” He pointed at Lou, who leaned away from the finger pointing at him.
“He never goes into detail, and mostly shares the surface level of his stories. The falling into the institute, the vague mention of you guys becoming friends, messing up—No details! And everyone just eats it up, while I’m tired of hearing it! They just replaced one celebrity for another, and the new one doesn’t even share well!” Michael complained, waving his hands in the air.
“I mean, why tell a story when you’re not comfortable with giving anything other than a bare wiki summary?” Michael asked no one.
“And you…” He then pointed at Mandy, “I thought whatever story line you had, ended after the ‘I thought you were perfect, but I can see better now’ thing back at the gauntlet. But now you’re telling me, you’ve got actual history with him!? Come on!”
Mandy parted her lips, but quickly closed them, not really knowing what to say.
“Well… you wanna know what my side of the story is?” Michael asked the two while pointing at himself.
The other two stayed quiet, and he took that as an opportunity to continue.
“I was only alive for THREE FREAKING DAYS when the climax of all of this happened! Don't you think this is a lot to take in?! For me AND for the other dolls that just got here the same day Moxy came!”
Michael’s chest heaved.
The shed felt smaller.
Mandy and Lou stared at him.
Michael ran a hand through his hair and kept going before either of them could interrupt.
“Three days…” He repeated, voice cracking slightly. “Three days of figuring out who I am, and what this place is. While other, bigger things were happening at the same time!”
He pointed at two again, “And now this background character is stuck in the same room with Mr. Edgelord and Little Miss Highschool Misfit!”
That earned him quite the look from both dolls.
Michael crossed his arms, “Oh what, you’re offended? Well, I’m sorry but that’s the kinda commentary you’re gonna get from an outside perspective on your lives. You two are nothing but tv tropes to me!”
Lou opened his mouth, ready to tell Michael he was one to talk for all the overly affectionate displays he makes with Meghan. But Mandy held a hand to his chest, letting him know now was not the time for one of his quips.
And so he bit back the comment, and instead, calmly asked, “…You done?”
Michael scoffed. “No. But I’m out of breath.”
Lou leaned back against the wall again, tired.
Michael pointed between them. “I don’t need the full director’s cut of whatever tragic prequel you two have. But if you’re gonna have an exposition, then you’ve really got to stop picking uncultured audiences.”
He turned around and made his way to a small gap between the wall and the blockage he created, “Since the others aren’t back yet, I guess you should continue. It might help ease the tension in here…”
He started squeezing his way in the small space, “But I’ll be over here, minding my own business. I’d rather catch allergies back here, than get kidney failure from all the trauma getting shoved down my throat.”
As Michael tucked himself into the small space, Mandy and Lou silently stared at his disappearing figure, before glancing at each other.
With a heavy breath from both of them, they decided to sit on the floor, separated by a few inches, backs facing each other.
“You know…” Mandy started, “I guess he’s right. Better late than never. And we’ve got all day.”
When Lou stayed quiet, Mandy sighed and turned towards him. “You didn’t have a problem telling all of us the reason why you’re helping Moxy. What’s one more long kept secret revealed?”
She leaned closer, inspecting his face, hoping for him to say anything. “Just answer this one thing. Why were you so nice to me back then? How did you know I needed glasses, and why did you stop talking to me after giving them to me?”
“That’s three questions.” Lou said monotonously.
“Lou.” Mandy pressed tiredly.
Lou sighed, “Alright fine…”
Mandy closed her eyes, and braced herself. She was ready for whatever he was going to say.
“I think I kinda liked you back then, but it was for the wrong reasons, so I got over it really quickly.”
Except that. She definitely didn’t prepare for that.
“I’m sorry, what?” Mandy immediately asked, snapping her eyes open, staring at the blonde in disbelief.
Lou didn’t look at her.
He kept his eyes on the opposite wall, like if he stared long enough, the wood grain might rearrange itself into a better explanation to read to her.
“I said…” He repeated flatly, “I liked you. Past tense. Briefly. Incorrectly.”
Mandy blinked. “Incorrectly?”
When she was met with nothing but silence again, she turned her body fully toward Lou now. “You liked me… until you realized I had bad eyesight?” She tried interpreting his words.
“No.”
“Then explain it.”
He ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. For once, he didn’t have a rehearsed answer.
“You were… different.” He said slowly. “But not in the way the others were. Well… at least I thought you were.”
Mandy frowned.
“Ever since… Ox left…” Lou struggled to find his words as soon as that name came out. But he shook it off and continued, “I was alone again. And… maybe you had a point when you said uglies were easier to talk to…”
Mandy blinked and looked away as she registered his words.
Ah, Tuesday must’ve taken her words to Lou. That actually explained a lot about today.
Not all of it… but a lot, nonetheless.
She refocused in time to hear Lou continue, “…because I already closed myself off from the other prettydolls at that time. But then… you showed up, and I thought I met someone of my own kind who I can actually… be comfortable with.”
“You were really closed off, from what I can tell…” Lou explained, “I was really fixated on how you were always so quick to end the conversation. You didn’t want to look anyone in the eye, almost as if you were avoiding attachment.”
Mandy raised a brow at him, “I don’t remember—Oh. Oh… Ohhhh…” she finally realized what he meant.
“And then you eventually realized I just couldn’t see anything?” She turned to him, as she asked.
He reluctantly nodded his head in confirmation, “After a while of watching you squint and avoid looking at my face… it wasn’t that hard to figure it out…”
But eventually admitted, “Well, I mean, at first I thought you were playing hard to get or just really shy. But that theory didn’t last long after you started bumping into everything, and rejected every book I offered to share with you.”
Mandy tried not to laugh, but failed to contain a little stifled giggled from slipping out.
Lou stared at her with unamused, half-lidded eyes.
“S-Sorry! It’s just…” Mandy lightly patted her chest to push the giggles down. “It just feels really silly to imagine.”
“Yeah.” Lou reluctantly agreed, “I thought I met this cold-faced girl who felt above looking anyone in the eye… only to find out she was just legally blind and probably never saw my face all this time I’ve invited her into my space.”
Mandy chuckled, looking at the blonde in amusement. “So technically… you had some sort of crush on me?”
“You’re enjoying this too much.”
“Well, excuse me…” Mandy said, fixing her glasses and sitting up straight. “Finding out the guy every girl wanted liked me, is going to spark a lot of mixed feelings here. Especially now that I can see your face clearly, it’s a little hard not to feel a little satisfied.”
Lou’s eyes narrowed at her, “Doesn’t that contradict your quip?”
“Just because I can see how much of a jerk you are now, doesn’t mean I’m immune to finding you attractive.” Mandy responded honestly.
Then shamelessly added, “I’m not looking for a boyfriend or anything, let alone a guy who’s technically our landlord or boss —But consider me remorseful, when you stopped inviting me to talk, only after I just got to see how cute you were.”
Lou rolled his eyes, as he let Mandy get the rest of her giggles out.
“Well… I wouldn’t say I had a crush. But… I guess it was close?” He decided to admit.
“I had this ideal version of you in my head. And I guess I got…” He trailed off.
“Disappointed?” Mandy finished.
Lou nodded, “The illusion I had broke… the moment you were able to see.”
“So you realized that how you viewed me in your head wasn’t who you thought I was and just… ditched the idea of talking to me all together?” Mandy continued to interpret.
Then suddenly said, “Kinda like… how everyone in the institute used to see you before you revealed yourself as a prototype?”
Lou’s head quickly lifted and looked at Mandy when she said that.
“Well… when you put it that way…” Lou’s jaw tightened.
He looked away again, staring at the wall. “They were all pretty disappointed, when I failed to be what they wanted.”
Mandy shifted closer, not touching him, but close enough to be felt.
“And you were disappointed because I didn’t turn out to be what you wanted?” She asked gently. “A reflection? Someone with the same high and mighty personality, that doesn’t let them get close to other dolls.”
When Lou didn’t answer, Mandy took that as confirmation.
“Well… I’m glad I wasn’t what you were looking for then.” Mandy said, which surprised Lou and made him turn back to her.
“What?”
Mandy repeated, “I’m glad I didn’t end up being who you wanted me to be… and that you never found a doll like you. —Don’t take it the wrong way though…”
“How else am I supposed to take that, but the wrong way?” Lou asked her, his tone slightly offended.
She met his eyes properly, lenses catching the faint light leaking through the fixed window.
“Encasing yourself with someone who’s exactly like you wouldn’t have helped you, Lou. That’s what I meant.” Mandy explained.
“What you really needed was someone who was more positive and hopeful, despite their situation. Someone you couldn’t get rid of even if you wanted to, because of how unbreakable they were to this… broken version of you.”
Lou looked at her for a few seconds before flatly saying, “Are you… trying to describe your ‘true self’ or something?”
“I’m describing Moxy…” Mandy rolled her eyes. And then said with a soft smile, “And I’m really glad she and the others found this place.”
“Not only is the institute becoming better and happier. I think she might help you too.” She said, looking Lou in the eyes.
“What? By fixing me?” Lou said, a little defensive.
Mandy shook her head, “You can’t fix what’s already broken…” she said, hesitant but blunt. “But she can help you see there’s nothing wrong with it. We’ve all got our ugly parts… including you.”
“But no one was accepting of it…” Lou said, dryly.
Mandy looked at him guiltily.
Sure, he deserved what was coming. But… she can’t imagine what he must’ve felt when he spilled every vulnerable part he hid away from everyone, just to end up being the only doll to be excluded and rejected.
“Well… you’re not wrong about that… we weren’t really the most understanding at that time.” She said quietly.
Then her face contorted into an angry look, “But, it’s pretty hard to have sympathy for someone who tried to recycle me, don’t you think?”
He chuckled as he waved her off calmly. , “Oh, don’t worry. I’m aware and will not be forgetting my crimes any time soon. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t expecting you to apologize or regret your decision. I’m just stating facts.”
And then he added, “No one liked me before I was utterly terrible. It was my decision to become worse. Now I can at least accept all the current hostility.” His tone was disturbingly accepting. It made Mandy wonder how long he lived with these feelings for him to be so calm about it now.
So instead of dragging out her anger, she decided to tell the blonde, “While I’m glad you’re self-aware… I wasn’t trying to discourage you or anything.”
“Um, Okay…?” Was Lou’s only response.
She continued, “Maybe there are dolls that don’t like you, but there are also dolls that don’t know you.”
Lou looked at her and skeptically asked, “Where are you going with this?”
“Michael’s right.” Mandy replied, “He’s new, and so are a lot of dolls.”
“Dolls that knew you up to now will be less likely to accept you, but maybe you should give the new ones a chance to see this you, right now.” She said to the blonde.
Lou groaned, exasperated. “That’s exactly what Tuesday has been yapping at me about…”
Mandy blinked in surprise, “… she was?”
The blonde rolled his eyes before answering, “Yes. She showed up at my front porch with the other five and didn’t leave until I let them in.”
He then added, “She said something about giving prettydolls another chance, or whatever, while you were exploring your place with the uglydolls. And so I was stuck with them the whole day, because she was trying to ‘include’ me in the community healing or whatever…”
Mandy slowly started, “And so… the tennis racket—”
“—was because of one of the games she forced me to play with them.” Lou finished for the redhead.
“I guess it wasn’t so bad? But in a way, I’m still glad I got a little bit of time away from her and her little psychological schtick...” He sighed, slouching as he let himself relax, “Even if it is because we got locked in here.”
Mandy blinked in surprise as she listened.
She really wasn’t expecting the thoughtful idea to come from Tuesday, especially not from the little talk they had during the water fight. Most words thrown her way were just going in one ear and out the other.
So Mandy slowly said, “Well, I have to agree with Tuesday.”
With a bit of hesitation, she placed a hand on his shoulder as she told him, “You don’t have to live up to anyone’s expectations anymore. You can show this version of you, and maybe… they’ll like it?”
Lou blinked at her, and then looked down at himself, then looked up at her again. “Um… this version of me?” His tone was more genuinely confused than hopeful.
“I don’t mean physically.” Mandy let an airy amused sigh, “I mean this relaxed, kinda funny when he’s being sarcastic, kinda lazy… but less stressed out, and… imperfect version of you.”
“Why would anyone like that?” Lou asked before adding, “I get the whole thing with no one caring about ‘being perfect’ anymore, but why would you think this–” He slowly gestured down to himself, “–is more likable?”
Mandy titled her head in thought, before she slowly answered, “Because… it’s more honest.”
“I’ve… always been honest?”
“I don’t mean when you’re being critical.” Mandy said, shaking her head. “I just mean you’re less uptight, and more uh… comfortable with yourself? The old Lou was hiding behind a perfect image. This Lou though, already has his flaws out in the open.”
“You’ll know you’ve made real friends, when they stick by your side even in this state.” She finished with a smile.
Lou looked at her, then the hand on her shoulder, then averted his eyes while letting out an unsure “Ehhhmmm…”
Mandy’s gaze softened, and she took her hand off his shoulder.
She then said, “But that’s up to you of course. And considering how you ended up here in the first place, you did want to give it a try. Maybe even just a little bit.”
“And now I regret it.” Lou said, a little quick.
“No you didn’t.” Mandy sardonically said with a knowing smile.
Lou turned his face away, to avoid looking at how smug her face was getting.
“But, I bet you’re tired and lost your mood to ‘play along’ after all of this.” She said a little more sympathetically.
“Well you’ve got that right.” Lou tiredly said, dropping his posture again. “I just want to go back to sleep…”
Mandy chuckled, “Well I’m sure Tuesday will understand if you want to be left alone, after getting us out.”
Lou shrugged, “I hope.”
He then shuffled across the floor to make his way to a wall, and leaned against it. “Only god knows how long it’ll take before that happens though… Ugh! I wish I remembered where I put those stupid keys!”
Mandy shuffled her way to sit next to him, “Well, as inconvenient as it was right now, your forgetfulness is kinda funny.”
Lou glanced at her with furrowed eyebrows, “Funny how?”
She grinned at him, “Moxy told me some stories.”
She laughed again when Lou groaned and hit the back of his head against the wall.
“It’s fine, Lou.” Mandy tried to assure the blonde. “You forgetting or misplacing stuff, isn’t that different from when I used to run into things when I don’t have my glasses.”
“It is different, actually… because while I’m still fixing my body clock, you have a quicker solution to yours.” Lou argued, pointing at the black frames donning her face. But he held no bite in his tone. He simply stated the obvious.
Mandy hummed in agreement, “Right.”
“Speaking of…” She started, glancing up at Lou. “I still wanna know… where’d you get the glasses from? We don’t have any of those lying around here as prettydoll accessories.”
Without beating around the bush, Lou answered, “Collectible City. Pretty much everything that isn’t in the institute, I’ve ordered from there…”
Mandy closed her eyes and hummed in acknowledgment, “Right… of course.”
“But uh…” She thought for a second before continuing, “How did you know what to do?”
Lou could only offer a short and confused, “Huh?”
“You brought that weird goggle thingy that checked how blurry my eyes were.” She brought her hands up to her eyes and cupped them around her glass frames, as if to mimic the ‘goggles’ while she tried to explain. “I think I saw the same thing used on my kid when she went to the eye doctor but it was bigger?”
“It’s called a phoropter.” Lou corrected her before explaining, “And I rented a portable version to use on you. It’s meant to check if your lenses should be near or far sighted, and how strong the grade you need, before I went and got you the kind of glasses you needed.”
Mandy nodded, fascinated.
“Where’d you learn this?” She suddenly asked.
“What?” Lou looked at her confused.
She bit her lip, hoping she didn’t sound too nosy. “Well, it’s just… It kinda seems like I wasn’t the first doll that needed glasses, considering how well thought out you had mine made.”
Lou stared at her momentarily, before quickly averting his gaze. The shift was subtle, but Mandy was sure he got nervous.
“What?” She leaned a little closer, not too close to make him uncomfortable, but enough to let him know she’s piqued in whatever his shifting meant.
Lou looked at her again, while his expression looked like he was contemplating, before closing his eyes and sighing in defeat.
Mandy leaned away when Lou sat up straight, and started patting his jacket and his pants. She looked at him curiously, wondering what he was looking for.
Eventually, whatever that thing was, he found it when rummaging around some inside pockets.
Mandy’s eyes widened and her lips parted in surprise when Lou pulled out a pair of glasses, lifting it to his face and putting them on.
The blonde turned to meet her eyes again, his face blank, but told a lot.
Mandy slowly brought a finger up to point at him, “You…”
Lou sighed, “Yeah… I got these around the time I was still studying at Collectibles.”
Her face scrunched into a perplexed expression, “But, if you have your own glasses… and you’re not wearing them… how come…”
“How come I haven’t rammed my head into a tree, or ran into a glass door like a bird?” Lou asked, the smugness in his tone was slowly returning.
Mandy immediately glared at him with half-lidded eyes, unamused.
“The glass door was one time!” She said defensively.
Lou crossed his arms and smirked at her, “Yeah, because I put decorative stickers all over my back door, before it could happen again.”
He laughed for a while as he enjoyed the annoyed glare Mandy was giving him.
“But…” He started, trying to push his laughter back down. “To answer your question…”
He slowly took the glasses off and looked down at them. “My vision isn’t as bad as yours… but I did need something just a little stronger than regular reading glasses. I only ever needed to wear them when I’m reading really small letters, so I never had a problem hiding them.”
“Why do you just have them, if you don’t need them that often?” Mandy asked.
Lou shrugged, “You’ll never know when you need to read something.”
The redhead rolled her eyes, holding back an amused smile. “Right…”
“Oh, and… I guess I'd like to apologize?” Lou slowly said, as he was fiddling with his glasses.
Mandy tilted her head and raised a brow, “For?”
He held his glasses up to her, as he said. “That I couldn’t get you frames that would flatter your face more…”
After he said that, Mandy fully noticed the difference between his and her glasses.
Unlike her thick, round, black plastic frames, Lou’s frames were more square in shape. They were also made with fine metal, and were thin enough to not take the attention off his naturally charming face.
She was quite content with the glasses she had now, and she didn’t have any desire to switch them out. But she had to admit… Lou’s glasses looked really nice too.
“Those frames I got you were the cheapest I could find…” The blonde continued, “Apparently, because of how thick your lens grade was, it costs extra to get them to fit into thinner frames… and so I went for some plastic frames instead.”
Gesturing to his own pair again, he added, “It was one of my professors that paid for mine, after noticing that I had a hard time reading… Hildegard said that even if she wanted me to pay her back, I wouldn’t be able to… She was right.”
“Huh…” Mandy said thoughtfully. “Do your professors just offer personal help like that to all their students?”
Lou shook his head, “No… but, Hildegard started liking me the best when I got used to her class… And when she got me these glasses, I felt a little more compelled to take her lessons seriously.”
His cheeks turned a small barely noticeable shade of pink, “It got to the point where the whole class moved on from calling me teacher’s pet to mama’s boy…”
He immediately whipped his head towards Mandy and pointed at her, before saying. “Don’t tell anyone that! Especially not Moxy! I don’t want her bringing me up to Hildegard or any of my other professors!”
Mandy snorted, quickly covering her mouth to prevent any more from coming out.
It was only now did they realize the tension was long gone, and they had completely forgotten this all started from an argument.
They relaxed against the wall and stared up at the dust particles that were illuminated by the light floating around.
Neither of them said anything for the past few minutes.
At least until Lou broke the silence.
“Mandy…?”
“Hm?” Mandy glanced at him, waiting for him to continue.
“I’m not expecting, nor am I going to be dramatic about it… But just out of curiosity, if you don’t mind me asking…” He started.
Rolling his wrist as he tried to voice his question, “With the whole… thing here and how we finally talked… Are we–”
He slowly pointed back and forth between them as he awkwardly asked, “–back to… friendly-ish-ness…?”
Mandy blinked at him, baffled. Less because of the question itself, and more because of how ridiculous Lou sounded.
She tried not to laugh, as she thought about her answer.
“Well…” Mandy bit her lip as she hesitated to answer. “I don’t know about ‘friends’…”
She continued, “There’s so much that you’ve done, that I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for…”
Lou idly looked off to the side, shrugging. His eyes were half-lidded, his lips flattened and tightened in resignation.
Mandy wasn’t even offended by the reaction —or lack of reaction. Rather than heartless, the blonde just seemed to be really numb when it comes to these topics being brought back up.
She brushed it off and continued, “But… while it's hard to forget what happened… there’s no point in constantly looking at the past. At some point, we do have to stop talking about…”
“Me?” Lou finished where Mandy trailed off.
“Yes.” Mandy nodded but quickly corrected, “Only the ‘bad person’ you, I mean… At some point we have to stop talking about every bad thing you did and… finally move on.”
Lou only listened. Not really sure what to say.
“But, you know what?” Mandy slowly said, “After everything that happened here… I say, we’re on… good terms.”
She looked up at Lou and smiled, “I don’t mind having a talk once in a while, if you’re up for it.”
Lou’s gaze softened momentarily, before he tensed a little bit to look at least a bit more guarded.
Still, he answered, “That would be nice.”
His hands went back to fiddling with the glasses left in his lap. “It’s pretty easy to talk to Moxy, considering that woman has no shame in invading my space anyway…”
“But…” He trailed off, “she has other friends, and I’ve got none… Maybe it’s not too far off to say… I do want to try talking with some prettydolls again.”
Mandy hummed as she smiled at him.
“Then I hope you get along with Tuesday and the friend group she ‘pre-ordered’ for you.” She said to him, in a bit of a teasing tone.
Lou chuckled at her choice of words.
They both jumped in their spot on the floor, when loud banging suddenly erupted frol the shed door.
“Guys!” Tuesday frantically called out to them, still slapping the wooden door. “Sorry we took so long, but we finally found the key!”
Mandy and Lou scampered off the floor, and patted down their clothes.
Lou quickly tucked his glasses back in his jacket when he heard the jingling of keys and the click of one twisting into the knob.
“Finally.” Michael’s voice said, as he crawled out of his ‘hidey hole’. His sudden presence successfully made Mandy and Lou flinch, as they forgot the blue haired doll was still in here with them.
.•.•.
“Girl, he ain’t gonna come! So let’s just go already!” Lydia yelled at Tuesday for the umpteenth time, in the past 30 minutes.
The six dolls were waiting by a bench that was just a block away from, you guessed it —Lou’s house.
They all had plans to go see a movie, but Tuesday insisted on calling Lou to invite him on their plans. And now they were being forced to wait for a doll who was probably still sound asleep on his couch.
“He’ll come! I just know it!” Tuesday insisted.
Nolan stood up from his seat and told her, “Tuesday, no offense and all. I like that you’re trying to help him, but he’s been uninterested in hanging out with us the whole day yesterday. Heck! He spent half that day locked up in a dingy old shed! What makes you think he wants to see us again?”
Tuesday huffed, crossing her arms stubbornly. “Because before he hung up, he told me himself that he’ll be here in a few minutes! He just needs to get ready!”
“And how do you know he’s not lying?” Nolan pressed on.
Tuesday’s demeanor dropped when the thought came to mind.
“Well…” She started but couldn’t come up with anything.
Kitty walked up to her and draped an arm over her shoulder.
“I think that even if you’re right about him needing friends… maybe he just doesn’t want us as friends, okay?” She tried to comfort the girl. “It’s time to leave him alone.”
Tuesday hung her head low, sighing as she finally gave up.
“Okay…” She said sadly. “Let’s go.”
The group got up from where they sat or leaned, and offered a small comfort of rubbing the blue haired girl’s shoulders, before they all started walking.
They slowed in their steps when they heard heavy steps and breathing that stopped behind them.
“Geez, did I really take that long?” A familiar male voice asked through huffed breathing. “Sorry… I didn’t expect to have to go all the way to the back of my closet.”
They all turned around and were surprised to see Lou, who had shown up after all.
Not only that, but he was finally dressed in something other than the janitor uniform.
It wasn’t anything special, really… but it was so strange to see the guy who used to wear such presidential clothing, wearing their regular uniform; white dress shirt, black vest, checkered pants.
The only difference was the neckwear. Instead of a necktie, the blonde had his signature dark purple checkered scarf wrapped around his neck, and tucked into his collar.
His hair… still a mess, but it actually looked like he brushed it, even just a little bit, as the bangs that normally fell against his face were slightly swept to the side to uncover the previously buried eye.
The group’s mouths collectively dropped open, but only for a second.
Nolan was the first to regain his composure.
“Well… look who decided to show up.” He said, trying to sound casual but failing miserably.
Lou gave a small shrug, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah… well..” his voice softened just a touch, “I did tell Tuesday I’d come.”
Tuesday’s face immediately lit up, a mix of relief and excitement bubbling over.” You did!” She squealed, practically hopping in her place.
Lou gave a tiny, almost imperceptible smile at her enthusiasm. “Yeah… I did.”
Kitty placed her hands on her hips, a teasing smirk in place. “Nice scarf. Didn’t know you still had that.”
Lou brought his hands up and instinctively fixed the scarf, though it didn’t need to be fixed. “It’s the only thing from my old suit that didn’t shrink in the wash.”
Lydia rolled her eyes, but there was a softening in her tone. “I’ll admit… you don’t look half bad. But you’re starting to scare us with your, you know… growing approachable personality.”
Lou rolled his eyes, “I’ll try not to traumatize anyone.”
He thought to flash a grin at Michael when he said that, which earned him an eye roll from the blue haired boy.
“Why did you think to get dressed though?” Nolan asked the blonde, still looking at him up and down.
Lou rubbed the back of his neck as he explained, “Well… I thought the whole ‘slob chic’–” he momentarily glanced at Kitty when he said that, “was part of the reason I was being kind of a… slob.”
He shrugged before saying, “I thought maybe getting dressed into something a little ‘neater’ when I’m not working, might start lightening my mood again…”
“Well… good for you.” Lydia said, flashing the blonde a grin.
Tuesday, bouncing on the balls of her feet, nearly grabbing Lou but quickly went for Nolan’s arm instead and tugged gently at it. “Come on! Let’s go! We still have to pick a movie we can all watch together!”
Lou glanced at the group who all seemed eager to get going.
“Alright.” He said, voice steady. “Let’s go see a movie.”
As they began walking toward the theater, Lou fell into step within the group, letting them surround him naturally.
For the first time in a long while, he felt… like he actually belonged somewhere with his own people.
And maybe… he could get used to it.