Now she was begging to be their friend again, and prepared to accept harsh bullying in order to make that happen, Molly was in the weakest position imaginable. They could play on this endlessly.
As she lived with Molly, it was going to be tricky for Nick to keep the shoe hidden - but she'd probably just store it in that air brick in their bedroom wall where she stashed her own secret mobile phone that she used to keep in touch with her dodgy foster parents.
Molly looked so pathetic standing there on the grass in her narrow bare feet, a soaked-through blue t-shirt and black leggings.
Her being soaked with water emphasised just how weak (untoned and unmuscled) her body was.
On top of it all her ass was sore. Really sore.
The fact that she was prepared to endure all that and still beg to be their friend made her desperate and therefore even more vulnerable.
By continuing to give her hope and throwing her some crumbs of friendship every so often, they could keep Molly on their hook....
...and convince her that being bullied was what she needed to become more likeable and to win her friends back.
For now, they were leaving her on her own to fend for herself, and they'd use her shoes as good bargaining power in the days (or perhaps weeks) to come.
In her confusion, Molly hadn't yet noticed that her shoes were missing. She assumed that they'd been left somewhere on the ground for her to pick up, and didn't imagine that her 'friends' would actually steal them!
"Wait, what about my jacket?", Molly asked them. "You promised..."
"Oh yeah. Here it is," said Becky as she chucked it over Molly's head before they all walked off.
As they walked home together at snail's pace, Molly's four 'friends' felt super powerful knowing that all they had to do now was go home, relax and wait for the begging texts to start rolling in from Molly once she realised that her shoes had been stolen. Not to speak of her inevitable complaints about her jacket once she realised what they'd done...