A blue glue surrounded the girl, making her already unfocused eyes roll back in her head and her hair fly around her like wings. It was over in a split second, the entity popping out of her unceremoniously and swooping out of sight. Andrea stumbled forward a few steps, dizzy and holding her head.
"Ugh...what happened?" Her rare, normal voice spoke, free of the performative intonation she usually had. Out of the shadows, across the clearing, a figure approached.
"Nice to see you here...Davenport." It said with a smirk.
"Man." Scratch commented, swooping up beside her. "Libs' books are really rubbing off on you." She ignored him and stared down the disoriented rich girl.
"Molly?" Andrea looked up suddenly in surprise. Her brows lowered. "Oh. It's you. Come to apologise after breaking my heart?"
"Actu- wait." Molly's dramatic tone left her. "Me apologise-?!"
"-Well it's too late." She waved her hand. "You already lost your chance, so don't even think about trying to grovel for me to give you another."
"I'm not here to grovel, you stuck up-!" Cutting herself off, Molly pressed her palms together over her mouth and took a deep breath. "No. I am calm. I am calm...Andrea, listen-"
The girl purposefully turned away, making sure to flip her dyed hair as she did. Molly held back a frustrated sigh.
"I just want you to call off the hatemob your fans have against me."
A nonchalant "I told them not to harass anyone. You can't legally hold me responsible."
"Oh what, like you don't know what you're doing playing up how sad you are at school!" Scratch snapped, despite her not being able to hear him. Molly placed a hand on his back to calm him.
"Well regardless of what you said that's what's happening. And I'd really like it to stop. So if you could just make a video asking them to cut it out and owning up to kind-of-sort-of-harassing me-" She made sure to say fast and in the way least likely to cause an outburst. "-then we'll be all good. I won't bother you again."
"Hah!" A fake laugh. Andrea turned around and made a 'no way' gesture with her hands. "Not happening. Why would I go and lie to my loyal Fandreas for you? You're not even a brand."
"Well first of all it's not lying." Molly retorted, dryly. One hand had to be occupied holding onto Scratch's tail so he didn't do something she (probably not he) would regret. "You literally kept bothering me to date you when I already said no."
"Well, yeah?" Andrea rolled her eyes like Molly was being ridiculous. "Like my Daddy says- you never get investors on the first try. You gotta really wow them." For a moment, the sour look she'd been wearing cleared and her eyes widened in a look of awe as she threw her arms out in a wide gesture.
"But-" Stuttering for a second, Molly and Scratch looked at each other to confirm they weren't the crazy ones here. "But I'm not an investor??? I'm a person!" Molly blurted out the obvious. "You can't just throw money at the situation and expect me to fall in love with you!" Andrea blinked at her as though she'd said something completely unheard of.
"Of course you can." The blue haired girl tilted her head, matter of factly. "Thats how my parents got together."
For a moment Molly and Scratch were silent and just. Looked at her.
"Anyway," Flipping her hair again, Andrea spoke. "It's not like it matters now. After what you did I think you got what you deserved. Really, all you had to do was take the bracelet. Your mistake. Have a good life or whatever."
"What a brat." Scratch spat, flabbergasted. "What, does she think she deserves you or something? Geez." His brain was doing that thing again where it gave him feelings like he was remembering a certain event but with no memories attached. "Trust me Moll, stay away from people like that."
Molly looked from her best friend to her bully and narrowed her eyes. "You know you aren't entitled to me just because you're rich, right? I'm allowed to say no."
An inhuman gasp escaped the figure making its leave. "Ex-CUSE you?!" The girl's head snapped around with an expression not dissimilar to the one she wore Molly's first day, when she mispronounced her name. She, and even Scratch, shrunk back.
"Euch..." The ghost shuddered to himself. "How'd she do that...-"
"You think that just because I'm rich I don't have feelings?!"
"I- I never said that-?"
"Well I do!" Andrea held her fist by her sides and a hand to her chest. "And I worked hard for my fanbase too!"
"...Again, never said anything ab-"
"All I wanted was to ask out a cute girl at school! I tried so hard for you and you just embarrassed me like that!"
"Wh- I embarrassed you? What about you putting me on the spot like that in front of everyone, huh?" Molly snapped, stalking forward a few steps and gesturing wildly. "What about you trying to bribe my family?!"
Andrea didn't even seem to hear her she was so busy in her own rant. "That was all I wanted- just one nice thing and you couldn't even let me have that! I don't even want for much! I only have 2 closets for crying out loud! And now you're saying it's my fault?! Like I'm the bad guy?! I did everything right! I bought you a bracelet, I offered you money, WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET YOU TO PAY ATTENTION TO ME?!" Tears had started to form in Andrea's eyes now- real ones this time, Scratch confirmed it. Despite her half-hearted attempts to tilt her head back and fan at her eyes, she was too emotional for it to do much good. Dramatic streaks of black began to stain her cheeks.
"...I don't think we're getting anywhere here." Molly whispered to herself, feeling...incredibly empty all of a sudden. The wriggling worm of guilt tried to slither up her throat, but today it didn't quite have the energy. Instead it lay heavy and still in her stomach. It didn't exactly feel good watching Andrea break down...but it also didn't feel good to have it confirmed that she was seen as just an object. Like a reward in a video game that pressing all the right buttons would unlock. Something about Andrea right now felt so far away. Like her words would never reach her within their lifetimes.
"No use arguing with the rich, Moll. They're from another planet."
...Molly wasn't too sure she agreed with that. Everyone could be good and anyone could enhappify. Andrea certainly had the spirit...at times. Maybe not for the right reasons, but it was there. She didn't think the girl was irredeemable or that she wouldn't ever change. But right now...
Andrea was busy trying to blow her nose as daintily as possible with Davenport branded tissues. Between her slightly exaggerated-sounding sobs she was whispering things to herself about how she didn't deserve this. Molly lowered her head and pulled out her phone.
"She's really not gonna do this on her own. Is she." There wasn't any point in pretending it was a question. Scratch shook his head next to her. She sighed.
"Alright Davenport, listen up." She announced loudly. Andrea looked down from the skies with a glower.
"What?! Can't you see I'm trying to cry here?! God, some people..."
Forcing herself to keep her frustration to just an eyeroll (Scratch imitating the girl was getting all the pettiness out for both of them), Molly just raised her phone. "You are going to make a video telling your fans to stop harassing me and admit that you were the one who couldn't take no for an answer. And if you don't-" She pressed play. "Then I'll show them."
Andrea glared at her, confused for a moment. "What? You're gonna show them a black v-"
"No- I don't want to date you!"
Her eyes widened. The sight was so satisfying Scratch burst into smug laughter and fell over himself midair. Molly tried to contain her own smirk.
"Wait- where did you get that?!" The girl snapped. "Were you recording us?!"
"Nope. You were." This time she let her smirk show through. She'd like to think she'd built up enough karma points to deserve a little smugness. Or maybe that was just her bestie rubbing off on her. "Turns out the video kept going after you put it in your pocket. Doesn't feel fun to be recorded without your knowledge huh?"
By now Andrea was swiping through her phone frantically, face morphing between fury, desperation and concern. "Wha...but how did you get it?! Did you hack my phone?! I can get you arrested for that!"
"Oh," Molly sucked her teeth. "About that. You see your dad tried to bribe my family for my likeness and I'm no lawyer but...that at least doesn't seem like good press." The other girls mouth snapped shut.
"And you know, speaking of bad press, I don't think your fans will take too kindly to learning that on..." Making a point to read the date off the screen, Molly said "May 2nd, you asked me out- three weeks before the whole proposal lifestream- and I said no. Sounds a lot like someone can't take 'no' for an answer. I think they call that a red flag." Ok, Scratch had definitely rubbed off on her. The ghost was busy fanning his own eyes as he watched her gloat, trying not to wail. "Plus, trying to use them to guilt me? Not looking good."
Eyes wide and suddenly paying complete attention, Andrea stuttered "W-wait. They- they wouldn't turn on me just because you said something." It was shaky and unsure, however. Molly raised an eyebrow.
"I mean, I have the proof. And people seemed to turn on me pretty quick, despite not even knowing me." Andrea fell silent.
"...You're such a bully."
Molly flinched, hard. It took a pair of cold hands holding her shoulders and a quiet "'Nother planet, Moll." to get her to somewhat steady herself.
"I don't owe you a date, Andrea." She said, voice softer but firm, trying to draw strength from the chill. "And I'm sure it hurt when I rejected you but that's not an excuse for any of what you did. Just...make this right and I won't ever speak to you again."
"...Fine." She spat. "But I want to see you delete that video."
"When you uphold your side of the deal."
A growl escaped the girl, but, eventually, a nod. She turned on her heal, glaring at the ground as she stormed off. Molly watched her go with a confusing mix of emotions swirling inside her. Satisfaction, relief, lingering anxiety but most frustratingly of all, guilt. It gnawed at her insides and built up inside of her like hot air, begging for release. No matter how much she tried to bury it like the other times, it wasn't going anywhere.
"...Wait- Andrea!" She called, despite herself and despite Scratch's protests. The blue haired girl turned around with a hopeful, puppy dog eyes expression.
"If- if you really want someone to love you," Scratch's criticisms went ignored and Molly's voice remained soft. "Maybe try and be nicer? It won't guarantee anything but...it's a start."
For long moment, the two girls stared at each other. For a long moment Molly thought she'd made a breakthrough.
Then Andrea flipped her hair over her shoulder with a superior look on her face. "I already am super nice." She said, matter of factly. "I did a laptop giveaway just last month." Then she turned on her heal and walked away.
Molly watched the space where the other girl was for a long time. Scratch made a point to swoop down into her line of sight, phasing back into his blue form. "You did it Moll!" He grabbed her cheeks and gave her his biggest smile. Even a quick little hug. When she didn't respond, his voice softened. "Don't worry, kid." He said patting her back. "You did the right thing. There's no reasoning with Andrea. Sometimes you gotta look out for yourself. People like that aren't like entitled to your help or anything." She didn't respond. Only stared straight ahead. "...Molly?"
"I know."
The walk home was bittersweet.