Little Miss Perfect | Neteyam¹

Chapter 36: Silent Treatment

The three teens looked at each other, and slowly but surely they started to understand Spider's actions. It still didn't justify them, but it made the entire situation easier to chew. Neteyam was right, and they all knew it.

"That still doesn't make what he did right. And it certainly doesn't mean that we have to forgive him," Marali said.

"I'm not saying that you have to forgive him. I'm saying that you could show a little empathy and compassion towards him." Neteyam responded. "Spider's just a kid like us. He makes mistakes like us. He does things without thinking like us. Who are we to judge Spider when we will never fully understand his situation?"

Marali glanced at the ground as her guilt started to grow. "It just hurts so much," Marali whispered. Kiri and Lo'ak nodded at her statement as they too felt guilty for their harsh treatment of Spider.

"It hurts because you love him, Mari. It hurt all of us because we love and care about him," Neteyam said, causing Marali to look him in the eye.

"I'm still mad at him, and I don't think I'll be able to talk to him for a while. I don't know what I'll do if I get too close to him right now," Lo'ak said.

"It's probably going to take some time to forgive him, and to rebuild that trust, bro," Neteyam responded.

"Since when did you become so wise?" Kiri said, scrunching her nose. Neteyam looked at his younger sister and scoffed, "I've always been wise. It's Lo'ak who's the dumb one," He said, pointing at Lo'ak.

"Hey!" Lo'ak glared.

"We all knew that," Kiri said, causing everyone in the group beside Lo'ak to snort. "What I meant was, when did you become so diplomatic? It's kind of annoying," Kiri shrugged, and Neteyam rolled his eyes.

"I'm trying to do the right thing." Neteyam exhaled.

"Well, don't. I'm trying to be mad over here, and you're making it really hard," Kiri exclaimed as she saw Marali from the corner of her eye.

Marali smirked at her friend before she decided to speak, "I personally think that Neteyam being diplomatic is hot," Neteyam smugly smiled at Marali as Lo'ak and Kiri gagged in disgust.

"Alright, I think that's enough for tonight. I'm going to go back to the pod to try and get some sleep," Lo'ak said, standing up. "Yeah, I'm getting kind of tired." Marali yawned as she also stood up.

The group of teens brushed themselves off as they headed back to the Mauri pod to turn in for the night. They suspected that after the big argument, everything would be quiet enough so that they could sleep undisturbed, but when they got to the pod and saw Jake and Neytiri waiting for their arrival, they knew something was up.

They looked around the pod to see that Tuk wasn't there, and Spider sat at the furthest corner of the pod with his back to them. "Did you take Tuk to a friend's house?" Kiri asked, and Neytiri shook her head.

"Tuk is with Ronal and Tonowari. She and Tsireya are going to have a sleepover." Jake informed.

"Yes, and when we are done with this conversation, if all of you would like to join Tuk, Ronal, and Tonowari said they would be glad to have you," Neytiri added.

"What conversation?" Lo'ak asked, taking a seat in front of his parents.

Jake looked at the teenagers and took a deep breath, "Neytiri and I have decided to postpone the trip home," Jake said.

"Why?" Kiri questioned.

The two parents shared a look before Neytiri scoffed as Jake nudged her to speak. "We can't go home with what just happened. Everyone needs some time to process and decide what they want to do,"