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Penny Fitzgerald walked out of class as the bell rang & headed for her locker as someone came running up behind her. It was her cousin, Leslie.
"Penny! Penny, I need to talk to you about something".
"What's up?" she replied.
Leslie's eyes darted around before he leaned in to whisper, "I need you to promise me you won't speak of this to anyone."
Penny nodded.
"Alan kissed me."
"He what?" Penny gasped.
"I promise you, he did," replied Leslie, "completely out of nowhere! I was sitting on the bench at the back of the schoolyard during lunch, then Alan came over & kissed me."
Penny narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Are you sure? I know you like him, but that really doesn't sound like him, & he'd never do something like that to Carmen."
"I know what happened, Penelope Fitzgerald."
She sighed. "I'm sorry, you're right. I wasn't there, you'd certainly know what happened better than me."
"Thank you," Leslie said.
"So how was it?" Penny asked.
Leslie was surprised that she asked. "It was nice! He kissed me on the cheek & I was so taken aback, I just sat there with a stupid little expression on my face. I wish I'd said something."
"You should talk to him! School is only just over, you could probably catch him."
"No, I think he's busy. He tutors the younger kids after school on Wednesdays, I wouldn't want to make him late for that."
Penny smiled then said, "speaking of which, thank goodness we don't have cheer practice today, Miss Simian gave us so much homework. It's gonna take me all night!"
"& I still have to practise my flute on top of that!" Leslie added. "I don't know how that handsome balloon does it all."
***
Leslie lay awake in bed that night. He thought about that kiss. Oh how overjoyed he was in that moment. Then he thought about Carmen, his poor friend whose boyfriend was probably ch-
No. He couldn't bare the thought. Leslie knew what this situation most likely meant, but he didn't want to think about Alan in such a way. That's not the kind of person he was. Maybe he should speak to Carmen tomorrow & find out what happened..
For now though, all Leslie could think about was that kiss. Did Alan like him back? Did anyone else see what happened? Would it, could it, happen again?
***
Today was a new day. Leslie woke up with a slightly clearer mind. He had to speak to Alan. He looked down at his phone & noticed that he had a text from Penny.
Let's sit together on the bus!
He smiled. He could always count on Penny to be by his side no matter what. He grabbed his school bag & exited through the front door.
Penny was sitting near the back of the school bus in the aisle seat making sure she had a seat free, & as soon as she noticed her cousin getting on board, she scooted over to the window. Leslie walked to the back of the bus & sat down.
"So, what's your plan?" Penny asked.
Leslie sighed, "I want to talk to Alan, but I think I have to do the right thing & speak to Carmen first. I'll try to get to both of them by lunch."
"I'm proud of you, Les," Penny smiled, "I'm so pleased you're putting Carmen's feelings first."
"I just don't want the guilt hanging over my head every time I think of Alan. I'd like to enjoy whatever ends up happening with him properly."
"Did you speak to your mom about it?"
"Yeah," Leslie replied, "she essentially said that she was happy I was excited but I couldn't let my feelings cloud my judgment over the situation, & I have to confront Carmen."
"She sounds just like my mom, she'd say exactly the same thing," Penny giggled.
The bus approached Elmore Jr. High & Leslie noticed something: a certain cactus was missing. Strange, it wasn't like Carmen to skip school. She must've known what happened then, because Alan was sitting all alone on the bus near the front.
Everyone got off the bus, said goodbye to Rocky, & entered the building, ready to start the day. A black car pulled up just behind the bus & a solemn looking Carmen exited from it. So she wasn't skipping school after all, she was avoiding someone, & it was no mystery who. Penny gave her cousin a small nudge on the shoulder, urging him to approach her. His heart began racing, & he approached her cautiously.
"Hi Carmen," he started.
"What?" Carmen asked, bluntly.
"Is.. everything alright?" Leslie hesitated.
"Everything's peachy."
"Are you su-"
"I broke up with Alan," blurted Carmen.
Leslie became even more nervous, "may I ask why?"
"You know very well why!" Carmen yelled at him before running into school in tears.
"So she clearly knows he kissed you," Penny said, stating the obvious.
The two followed behind Carmen & headed for their first class of the day.
Biology with Miss Simian was incredibly boring. Leslie spent most of the lesson either staring out the window, or nervously glancing back & forth at Alan a few rows diagonally to the front, while trying to come up with what he was going to say at lunch. At one point, Alan looked back at Leslie & smiled, causing him to blush. Penny sat next to Leslie & mostly got on with her work, but occasionally she'd turn to him to ask about the class, or to get him to focus.
All of Leslie's classes today were with Carmen, which created an incredibly uncomfortable tension. Every time she looked in his direction he practically begged in his head for the ground to swallow him up. It's not like Leslie was the one who kissed Alan, he technically hadn't done anything wrong himself. With that thought, he actually began to notice that he wasn't the only one being given that prickly look. Carmen was practically giving everyone that exact same glare. The poor girl, she must have felt so humiliated. Maybe people saw what happened. Perhaps rumours were already spreading. Oh, the anxiety. Leslie could hardly think, the last thing he wanted was to sit through his classes all morning. Tobias's eyes darted between him & Carmen, then turned to Leslie from across the room & mouthed "did he kiss you?" to which Leslie didn't respond, instead his face turned red & he hid behind his leafy arm.
***
After what felt like the longest Thursday morning of his life, the lunch bell finally rang & it was time for Leslie to confront the balloon of his dreams. On the way out of class, Penny followed him.
"How are you feeling?" She asked.
"Like my head's going to explode."
Penny put an arm on her cousin's shoulder, "it'll be alright. Despite everything, Alan is a good guy. The worst that's gonna happen is he'll say he doesn't like you that way, which will suck, but it won't be the end of the world. I'll be right here the whole time, you can come back to me no matter what happens."
Leslie covered his face dramatically, "my life is so complicated!"
The two got their green & orange slop from Rocky & then sat down at a table near the entrance. They scanned the room for Alan & saw that he was sitting at a table by himself with a plate of spaghetti & meatballs. Gumball ran over to Alan's table, stole a meatball, then aggressively rubbed it all over his face.
"You're dating this guy?" Leslie turned to Penny, asking in a judgmental tone.
Penny looked embarrassed, "I really don't know what his deal is with Alan."
Gumball left the cafeteria screaming something.
"Okay Les, now's your chance!"
Before he even stood up, however, Alan moved to put his now empty tray away & then floated in Leslie's direction.
"Hey Leslie! Can we talk?" He asked, kindly.
"Uhh.. absolutely!" Leslie stuttered as he got out of his seat & followed Alan into the corridor. He turned to look at Penny & she gave him two thumbs up for good luck.
Alan took a deep breath & began to speak. "Leslie, I'm sorry about yesterday. I never meant to lead you on, & I honestly & truly don't actually remember kissing you."
Leslie was suddenly very confused, "wait what do you mean?"
"Oh, did I dream this? I apologise for making this your problem at all!"
"No no, you kissed me on the cheek yesterday at lunch, but what do you mean you don't remember?"
"I mean that I didn't know it happened until Gumball showed Carmen & I all the photos of me kissing everyone. I wanted to apologise to you first because you were the only person smiling in any of the photos, & I wanted you to know that I care deeply about you, but I never meant to lead you on in any way," Alan explained.
Leslie looked down for a second while trying to understand the situation. "So it wasn't just me? You kissed multiple people?"
"Yes, & I plan on apologising to all of them at some point today too. I'm so sorry if this is all a huge let down for you, I'm flattered you seemed to enjoy it, truly! I just don't feel that way about you. My heart belongs to Carmen."
"I.. understand.." Leslie turned his head away from Alan & gained a sad expression.
Alan reached out & touched his cheek, "hey.. are we still friends?"
Leslie smiled sadly, but said with full sincerity, "friends."
The young flower headed back into the cafeteria & sat back down with his cousin.
"So? How'd it go?" Penny asked, already sensing Leslie's disappointment.
"He doesn't even remember doing it, but apparently Gumball had photographic evidence of him kissing me.. & multiple others."
Penny was taken aback, "multiple others? & he doesn't remember? Something's not right, do you think he was framed?"
"How?" Leslie asked, sounding defeated.
"Well the laws of physics don't exactly apply to many of us here, do they? Anything could have happened."
"I had so much hope, you know? I genuinely thought he liked me for a while there. Maybe that was silly of me."
"It's okay. Even if Alan isn't the one, you will get your moment. I just know it!" Penny smiled.
Leslie laid his head on the table. "Can I be alone for a while?"
Penny nodded & stood up. As she left the cafeteria, Leslie started softly crying.
***
At the end of the school day, Penny & Leslie left class together once again. They each went to their lockers & collected their things for cheer practice.
"After the day I've had, I'm really not in the mood for this," Leslie sighed.
Penny replied, "it's alright, Coach Russo is walking us through our routine today, so you don't have to work as hard as you normally do & give the rest of us pointers."
"That is true."
The two headed out to the track & met up with the other cheerleaders. Carmen looked a lot happier than earlier. Alan must've apologised to her too after speaking to the people he may or may not have kissed.
"Hey, Les," Carmen said gently. "I'm sorry for snapping at you this morning. I know you didn't do anything wrong, & you weren't the one who kissed my boyfriend, I thought he kissed you."
"It's okay, I probably looked way too happy to be having my friend's boyfriend cheat on her with me," Leslie replied.
"Okay, yeah, I was a little mad that you were smiling, but Alan explained everything & to be honest I think Gumball & Darwin had something to do with it, I think they set him up in some way."
"That's what I said," Penny chimed in.
"I asked him if he wanted to get back together, & he said yes. We're cool now. Are you gonna be okay, Leslie?" Asked Carmen.
"Yeah, I'm happy my friend is happy."
Carmen gave Leslie a very tight, loving hug. He hugged her back.
Coach Russo spat through her whistle.
"You three, enough chit chat, get into your positions."
"Yes coach!" All three of them said at once, causing them to laugh.
***
Finally, the day was over. Leslie arrived at home & stepped through the front door.
"How was school?" His mother asked.
"It was okay," Leslie replied.
"How did things go with Alan?"
"He.. doesn't like me in that way. He & Carmen are back together."
"Oh honey," she said gently, putting a leafy arm on her son's shoulder.
"Do you mind letting me be alone?" Asked Leslie.
"Not at all!"
Leslie headed to his room where he lay down to process everything. Thank goodness for his mother. Thank goodness for Penny.