It's a sunny Friday afternoon in Peachwood. Normally at this time, Alex and friends would be gathered at Alice's house to continue working on their science project, but yesterday Alice had mentioned to Alex and Tommy that she has a dentist appointment today, so they won't be able to meet to work on the science project this time.
Taking this opportunity to do something else for a change, Tommy decides to visit the park, with his paper and art kit, and just take some time to draw. Few things inspire his creativity quite as much as nature does. The singing of the birds, the feeling of the sun on his skin, the mild breeze that makes the leaves from the trees rustle gently, this is the kind of environment that really inspires Tommy to draw.
He takes a seat at one of the picnic tables in the park, and after just a few minutes, he's completely immersed in his art, enjoying every moment as he draws. If there's anything that he enjoys doing when he's alone more than anything else, it definitely has to be drawing.
As he continues working on his art, his state of focus and concentration is abruptly broken as he hears some screaming not too far away from where he's sitting. Breaking out of his focus, he turns his head to see where the screaming is coming from. It's Julia, standing next to one of the trees here at the park.
"Luna, are you stuck?" Julia asks her white cat, who is now at the top of the tree. She sighs, seeming really worried about her cat. "Oh my... don't worry Luna, I'll try to get you down from there." she says, as she tries to climb the tree.
Seeing this, Tommy comes towards her, seeing her struggle to climb the tree. "Hey, are you sure that's a good idea?" he asks her, causing Julia to look at him.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine." she replies to him. "I have to get Luna down from there..." she says as she reaches out for a branch to grab to climb up higher, but as she climbs higher, almost high enough to reach Luna at the top, the branch she's grabbing snaps with a loud crack, causing Julia to start falling towards the ground. She lets out a high-pitched yell, but far from hitting the ground with a loud thud, she finds her fall stopped short as someone grabs her in mid-air.
"H-Huh?" she says, trying to figure out what just happened, but then she hears a familiar voice.
"Don't worry, I'm here to help!" Alex tells her, having flown over to grab her and stop her fall. Julia smiles as she realizes it's him, and Alex places her down safely on the ground.
"Alex... I didn't know you were here." she tells him, smiling at him. "Thanks for saving me there."
Alex blushes a bit as he realizes he just saved Julia, and lets out a nervous laugh. "Well, you know me... I'm always trying to help people whenever I can!" he tells her, clearly more excited than usual about the fact that he saved someone. He then regains his composure as he asks her something. "What were you doing up in that tree anyway?" he asks her. "That's really dangerous!"
Julia looks at him, with a concerned expression. "It's about my cat, Luna." she tells him. "A dog passed by and barked at her, so she climbed up that tree in fear, and now she's stuck up there..." she explains. "I tried to climb up there to save her... but that didn't really work..."
Alex nods, realizing what he needs to do. He's a bit nervous, remembering how the last time he helped a cat down from a tree, the cat scratched him all over, but his desire to help Julia beats his fear of getting scratched by a cat. "Don't worry Julia, I'll get her down from there!" he tells her with a confident smile, as he flies up to where Luna is.
Reaching out to her to grab her, Alex talks to the cat. "Come on here Luna... I'm here to save you... please don't hurt me..." he tells Luna. Julia watches from the ground, hoping it goes well.
Luna stares at Alex, making him start to get nervous, but he grabs her and starts to bring her down. As soon as he lifts Luna up though, she hisses at him and starts scratching him, climbing onto his head and scratching him. "No no... aah!" Alex exclaims as he flies down as Luna attacks him.
Once Alex lands on the ground, Luna leaves Alex alone, and jumps into Julia's arms, and starts licking her hand and purr. Julia gasps, relieved to see Luna is fine. "Luna, I'm so glad you're ok!" she says, happily carrying her cat. She then looks over at Alex, and sees him all scratched, with messy hair. "Oh my... I'm really sorry she did that to you Alex," she tells him. "she really doesn't like strangers."
Alex chuckles a bit, trying to fix his hair with his hands. "Don't worry about it... I've had this happen to me before." he tells her. "At least she's safe now." Alex adds.
Julia nods, smiling at him. "Thank you Alex, for saving her. You're so sweet." she tells him, relieved that Luna is safe.
Alex blushes again, laughing nervously. "Aw... it's not a problem, really! Whenever you need me, I'll do my best!" he adds, clearly really happy about that compliment he just got from Julia.
Tommy smiles as well, and runs over to Alex. "You're a great hero!" he tells Alex. "But doesn't that hurt?"
Alex looks back at him, and smiles, giving him a thumbs up. "A bit... but that's alright." he says, before looking at Julia. "She... she said I'm sweet..." he adds, his pupils turning into hearts for a bit.
Tommy looks back at Julia, then at Alex again, starting to realize what's going on. He just smiles, glad to see Alex happy, and just admiring how heroic his friend is.
However, soon Lily appears from behind some bushes, coming out with her notebook and her camera. "Sweet! I was just on time to watch you do a heroic deed again!" she exclaims, startling Alex as she essentially came out of nowhere.
"Where'd you come from!?" Alex asks her.
Lily just smiles. "I saw you doing something heroic, so of course I had to write a report on it for the Peachwood High News!" she adds, with the same excited smile.
Alex just looks at her. "How are you always at the right place though? Are you spying on me or something?" he asks her, raising an eyebrow.
Lily lets out a nervous giggle. "What? Of course not!" she replies, giggling a bit more. "I'm just that good a journalist. I can sense where the action is going to be! And well, you're the one that has the most exciting stories!" she tells him.
Alex rolls his eyes a bit. "If you say so..." he replies, a bit concerned about the fact that she might very well be constantly spying on him, but he'd deal with that later. For now he just smiles as Lily comes over to ask him questions and write for the school newspaper.
Julia smiles, seeing Alex enjoy the attention. "Well, I think I'll go back home with Luna now, so you can enjoy your interview, Mr. Hero." she teases playfully, winking as she leaves with her cat.
Alex blushes a bit, and waves good-bye at her. "O-Okay! I'll see you later then!" he replies.
Tommy stays to watch the interview. After a few questions, Alex decides he should go now. "I think that's enough for now. I have to get going now. But I'll see you two later!" he says to Lily and Tommy, before flying away.
Lily smiles wide, waving good-bye at Alex. Once he leaves, she giggles a bit. "The Peachwood High News have never been so popular before he got powers! Everyone loves reading about Blast!" she exclaims.
Tommy smiles, realizing how much everyone loves Alex. "He's really cool." he replies.
Lily smiles again. "Of course he is! No wonder everyone can't get enough from his stories." she tells Tommy.
Tommy laughs a bit. "Yeah, that makes sense."
Lily nods. "Well, I'd better be going now. Keeping up with him is so exhausting..." she says, before realizing what she just said, and giggling it off. "Ahem, I mean, the work of a journalist, yeah, that's really exhausting." she corrects herself, hoping Tommy doesn't suspect anything from what she said. "Anyway... I've gotta go now. See you later Tommy!" she says, before leaving.
Tommy however, doesn't even realize the implication that Lily has been following Alex around. Instead, he's just focused on one thing. "Wow... everyone really loves Alex so much." He thinks to himself.
The very next day, Tommy is in the mall, buying some clothes in one of the stores there, when he suddenly runs into Alice and Max.
"Oh, hello Tommy!" Alice tells him with a smile. "I didn't expect to run into you here." she adds.
Tommy smiles, holding a blue jacket in his hand. "Oh, hi Alice!" he replies to her, waving with his free hand.
Max just sighs, seeming annoyed. "Come on Alice... this has already taken way too long. I just want to go home and play video games!" he protests.
Alice looks back at him, frowning a bit. "You know we're here for you, right?" she replies to him. "Dad said he wanted me to bring you here to buy you some new clothes. I'm not any more eager to be here than you are, but I'd rather not spend the weekend grounded, thank you very much." she replies to him.
Max chuckles a bit, thinking of Alice spending the weekend in her room, grounded. "That would be pretty funny though."
"No it wouldn't!" Alice says back, seeming annoyed at him.
Tommy decides to intervene to calm the tensions. "Hey, it's alright. If you work together, you'll both be out of here sooner, right?" he tells them.
Alice nods. "Yes, that's right. Come on now Max, go and try this out and see if you like it." she tells her brother, giving him some shirts to try out. Max leaves to the changing room, and while he does that, Alice looks back at Tommy. "Sorry about that Tommy, he never wants to cooperate."
Tommy lets out a bit of a laugh. "Oh, don't worry about it. It's fine." Tommy says to her. "Hey, don't you think Alex is really cool?" he asks her.
Alice however, upon hearing this, immediately hears Brittany's words resounding in her mind again:
"So is he special to you?"
"What makes you think that!?" Alice yells at Tommy, but upon seeing Tommy's startled expression, she realizes that was uncalled for. "I-I'm sorry Tommy, I didn't mean to yell at you..." she says, in an apologetic tone.
"That's ok..." Tommy says. "I meant, everyone seems to like Alex so much. He's really popular, and so cool!" he adds with a smile.
"Oh, so that's what you meant?" Alice says, realizing he wasn't, in fact, trying to imply she had a crush on Alex.
Tommy tilts his head a bit, confused. "Yeah... what did you think I meant?" he asks her.
Alice blushes a bit, and turns her head away. "Nothing! Forget about it!" she replies, confusing Tommy even more.
"Uh... ok?" he replies. "I mean... I do think he's really cool. I kind of want to be more like him!" Tommy says, smiling as he imagines what it'd be like to be as cool as Alex.
Alice glances back at him. "You don't have to be like him, you know." she tells him.
Tommy shakes his head. "But he's so cool! He's like a role model!" he adds cheerfully.
Alice herself starts thinking about Alex, and how he's also inspired her to some extent. Her own life has been more exciting ever since he showed up... and then she immediately snaps herself out of that, Brittany's words resounding in her mind again. She feels so angry that she's letting her words get to her so much.
"Uh, Alice?" Tommy asks, seeing that Alice isn't responding, but before she can say anything, Max comes back wearing a T-shirt.
"I like this one, let's go." Max tells Alice.
Tommy realizes that Alice is probably going to be too busy to talk, so he decides to excuse himself and just end the conversation here. "Well uh... I guess you're kind of busy right now. I'll talk to you later then." he tells Alice, as he walks away.
"Ok... see you later then." Alice says, internally cringing at how she acted while talking to Tommy. He definitely doesn't deserve that. She'll have to apologize to him again later.
"So... is he your boyfriend?" Max asks Alice, looking up at her.
Alice just turns back at Max. "Stop it, Max!" she scolds him.
On Monday morning, Alex flies his way to school as usual, and sees Tommy waiting for him, as usual too. However, what isn't usual is that instead of Tommy wearing his typical green jacket, he's wearing a blue jacket that's identical to Alex's jacket.
"Hi Alex!" Tommy greets Alex.
"Hi Tommy," Alex replies back, surprised by Tommy's new choice of jacket. "Is that a new jacket you just bought?" he asks Tommy.
"Yeah it is, thanks for noticing!" Tommy replies with a smile.
"Well, it looks pretty cool, it's kind of like mine." Alex adds, smiling a bit at the idea of him and his friend both wearing matching jackets.
Tommy nods. "Yeah, that's the point!" he replies. "You're really cool, I want to be more like you." he tells Alex.
Alex laughs a bit. "Oh, really?" he says to Tommy, feeling flattered. "Well, if that's what you want, I guess I won't stop you." he adds with a smile. Is this what it feels like to have fans?
Tommy smiles cheerfully. "I'm gonna be cool like you!" he adds. "That's why I got the matching jacket! I'm gonna be stylish like you!"
Alex nods. "Fair, fair." he tells Tommy. "Well, let's go, class is about to start."
Tommy follows Alex all the way to class, which isn't something Alex considers out of the ordinary at all. They go together to class all the time. But as the day progresses, he only realizes Tommy is imitating everything he does.
At the cafeteria, Tommy watches what Alex picks for lunch, and picks the exact same thing as him, and then follows Alex to the table he's going to have lunch at.
Alice watches as Alex makes a beeline towards Julia's table, with Tommy following him now, and just sighs. "Uh... have fun I guess..." she says, annoyed that both of them completely ignored her. "Wait, is that Tommy!?" she exclaims, seeing Tommy with the same jacket as Alex.
Alex arrives at Julia's table and smiles, blushing a bit. "Hey, you wouldn't mind if I sit here with you, would you?" he asks Julia, who just smiles back at him.
"Sure, come on." she tells him. Then Tommy walks over to her and does the same thing.
"Hey, you wouldn't mind if I sit here with you, would you?" Tommy asks Julia.
Julia looks at him, seeing that he's wearing the same color of jacket as Alex, and said the exact same thing as him. "Uh... sure?" she replies, a bit confused as to why he's doing this. Tommy then sits down next to Alex.
"So Julia... what kind of things do you like to do in your free time?" Alex asks Julia, wanting to start some conversation with her.
"Well, I like shopping, singing... oh, and I really like baking too!" Julia replies, smiling. "How about you?" Julia asks in response.
Alex smiles. "Well, I like video games... oh, and I bake too! I actually sell cookies!" he adds with a smile. Ever since he started baking and selling cookies, he's decided to keep doing so. Even if he doesn't need to save for anything anymore, he appreciates the bit of money he makes with it.
"Oh, really? That's nice. I used to make cookies to sell with the girl scouts back where I used to live." Julia mentions with a smile.
Tommy however, chimes in, deciding to follow Alex's response. "I like video games too! And I also bake!" Tommy replies, making Alex glance back at Tommy.
Julia smiles sweetly at Tommy. "Oh nice! I bet you two know how to make really good cookies." she replies, not really understanding what Tommy is up to, but choosing to roll with it anyway.
Alex however, decides to take the conversation in another direction. "What's your favorite color?" he asks Julia.
Julia giggles slightly at him. "Try and guess." she says, smiling at him.
Alex thinks for a bit. "Well, you wear pink clothes a lot, so my guess is pink!" he tells her.
Julia nods. "Yes, that's right!" she tells him. "So by that logic... I guess your favorite color is blue?"
Alex chuckles a bit. "Yup, that's right."
Tommy chimes in again. "My favorite color is blue too!" he adds.
Alex looks at him again, this time realizing something really is off. "No way Tommy, you've always said your favorite color is green." he tells Tommy.
Tommy shakes his head. "Well, now it's blue!" he replies.
Alex looks back at him, now starting to get frustrated. "Alright, it was fun for a while, but really, cut it out Tommy!" he tells Tommy.
Julia is starting to realize that Tommy is just copying Alex, which she doesn't really understand. "Uh... is there something going on?" she asks them.
Alex looks back at Julia, realizing she's starting to get a bit uncomfortable with the situation. "No no, it's all fine!"
"Because if there's something you two need to work out, I can give you some space to talk it out." she offers, as she starts to get up from the table.
Alex looks at her, really worried that she's about to leave. "No Julia, I promise! Everything's ok!" he tells her.
Tommy decides to imitate him again, and looks at Julia. "Yeah Julia, I promise! Everything's ok!"
Alex groans a bit, and looks back at Tommy. "Stop copying me!" he yells at him.
Julia, realizing that something does seem to be wrong, decides she should leave. "You two are good friends, please don't fight." Julia tells them. "I'd help, but I think this is something you two should solve. Look, I'll go to another table, and you two can stay here to talk it out, ok?" she tells them, as she gets up and takes her tray to another table.
"No, Julia, don't-" he begins, but Julia goes to another table.
"Julia, don't!" Tommy adds, with the exact same tone Alex said it.
Alex glances back at Tommy, really frustrated with him. "Tommy, this is your fault!" he exclaims. "Stop copying me, please!"
"But I want to be like you!" Tommy replies.
"Enough, it's annoying!" Alex exclaims, as he runs off.
Alice sees Alex coming towards her table, and her expression starts to light up a bit. "Alex, how are you-" she begins, but Alex just runs past her to a different table, and she frowns again. "Sure... bye Alex..." she says, frustrated that she was ignored yet again.
Meanwhile, Tommy sighs, feeling bad that Alex ran away frustrated. As he now eats his lunch alone, he suddenly sees Lily running towards him, and looks at her.
"Alex!" Lily yells as she runs over to Tommy's table, but as she comes closer, she realizes it's not Alex. "Oh... it's just you, Tommy." she says, feeling a bit disappointed.
Tommy sighs a bit. "Yeah... it's just me..:"
"No no, I didn't mean it like that." Lily tells Tommy. "I just wanted to talk to Alex, it's about the new article I'm writing for the Peachwood High News." she explains.
Tommy just shrugs. "I guess I kind of look like Alex with with jacket, right?" he asks.
Lily nods. "Well, from a distance you kind of do." she tells him. "But yeah, sorry Tommy, I just wanted to talk to Alex about his heroics."
Tommy smiles all of a sudden, as he gets an idea. "That's it! To be like Alex, I have to do heroic stuff like him!" he says out loud.
Lily looks at him, a bit concerned. "Tommy, I don't think you should-" she begins, but she's quickly interrupted by Tommy.
"You're right, that's what I should do! Thanks Lily, you're the best!" Tommy tells her, as he runs off.
"No Tommy, don't-" Lily says, but Tommy runs off before he can hear her, which causes her to just sigh. "And... he's gone." she says to herself, shaking her head. "I really hope he doesn't get himself into trouble."
Later that day, Alice is at her locker, saving her things in the locker, when Alex comes over to her. "Alice, you've gotta help me!" Alex tells her with a concerned expression.
Alice looks at him, raising an eyebrow. "Let me guess, Tommy's copying you and you got tired of it?" she asks him.
Alex nods, surprised that she knows. "Y-Yeah, that's it! How did you know?" he asks her.
"I saw it all." she replies, giving him a serious glance.
"Oh, I see." Alex responds, chuckling a bit. "I didn't know you were nearby!"
Alice sighs, crossing her arms. "Yeah... you were kind of busy trying to talk to someone else, weren't you?" she asks, rolling her eyes a bit. She's definitely not happy about this whole situation.
Alex blushes a bit. "What about it? Julia and I are friends after all." he says. "Besides, that's not the problem. We've got to get Tommy to stop trying to be like me." he tells her.
Alice nods. "Yeah, I don't really like the idea of him trying to change his whole personality just so he can be like you." she adds, shaking her head a bit. "We have to get him to understand that he should just be himself. The real question is how to achieve that..." Alice says, putting a hand below her chin as she thinks about how to proceed.
Meanwhile, Tommy is outside the school, looking around for something heroic to do. "Come on... there's gotta be something I can do!" he says as he looks around. "Something cool, something heroic, so I can be more like Alex!"
He then notices something happening not too far away. Ralph, the tall, muscular student who plays on the school's football team, knocks all the books out of Sherman's hands with a single swipe.
"Hey nerd! If you can guess what word I'm thinking of, I'm not gonna punch you." he tells Sherman.
Sherman already seems nervous, and starts trying to think. "Uh... is that word... 'chemistry'?" he asks.
Ralph just laughs at the response. "Ha, wrong! And you're supposed to be smart!" he replies at Sherman.
"Th-That's just a guessing game! There's no smarts involved..." he says, trying to step away slowly. "What was the word anyway?"
Ralph smiles. "The word was fist!" he exclaims, as he prepares to punch Sherman in the face.
Tommy runs over to the scene, standing in front of Sherman. "Hold it!" he exclaims, startling Ralph.
"What do you want, shrimp?" Ralph asks Tommy. "Can't you see I'm busy? Get outta my way!"
Tommy shakes his head. "Nuh uh! You're bullying another student, that's bad! So I'm gonna stop you, evil-doer!" he says confidently, pointing at Ralph.
Ralph grits his teeth, and cracks his knuckles. "Some nerve you got, standing up to me of all people." he tells Tommy, starting to make Tommy lose his confidence and feel intimidated. Ralph is much taller and stronger than he is.
Sherman runs away as fast as he can, leaving Tommy alone against Ralph. Ralph laughs, and then prepares to fight. Tommy gulps nervously, realizing the big problem he just got himself into. "C-Can we maybe... talk about this?" he asks Ralph. Ralph just snarls at him, having his fist raised. "I guess not..." Tommy says, and then starts yelling as he tries to run away.
"Hey, come back here, you coward!" Ralph yells as he chases after Tommy. Tommy runs for his life, but it's not seeming to be nearly enough. Tommy isn't very athletic, while Ralph is a star player of the football team, so as to be expected, Ralph is catching up to Tommy very quickly, and closing the distance between them. Tommy just keeps on yelling, as he and Ralph run around.
Lily is walking out of the school, ready to head back home, when she hears a yell. "Huh? That sounds kinda like... Tommy?" she says, as he looks around, and sees Tommy running with Ralph coming after him. "Tommy! What's going on!?" Lily asks, but Tommy just runs past her.
"Help!" is all he can yell as he runs off.
Lily wastes no time, and runs away to find Alex, who is still talking to Alice. "Alex! Alex!" Lily yells at him.
Alex sighs. "Lily, I have fun with the interviews, but I think it's been enough for now." he tells her.
Lily shakes her head. "No! It's not about that! Tommy's in danger!" she tells him.
Alex's and Alice's eyes widen as they hear that. "In danger!?" they both exclaim at the same time.
"Where is he?" Alex asks Lily.
"The school's front yard!" she responds. Alex wastes no time, and flies away to go help.
Meanwhile, Tommy keeps running, until he trips on a rock and falls flat on the ground, and finally Ralph catches up to him, grabbing him by the arm and holding him up like a doll. "Alright shrimp, time to get what you deserve for meddling in my business!" Ralph tells him as he prepares to punch him.
However, he's once again interrupted, this time by another voice. "Stop right there, you brute!" Alex exclaims as he flies up to them from behind Ralph.
Tommy sees Alex coming, and smiles. "Alex!" he exclaims, so happy to see him here.
Ralph narrows his eyes. "Yeah right, there's no way he's here to save you." Ralph tells him, but then Alex taps on Ralph's shoulder, causing him to turn around and see him. "Hey." Ralph says at first, turning back to Tommy, but he then turns back again, and sees Alex with an angry glare. Ralph puts on a nervous smile, and lets Tommy down, patting him on the head gently.
"I've gotta go." Ralph tells Alex, as he starts to run off, but Alex grabs Ralph by the shirt and pulls him closer. "Listen... I don't like being violent, but if you ever hurt a friend of mine... I'm going to have to, and you won't like that. Got it?" he tells Ralph, causing the bigger guy to feel intimidated.
"Y-Yeah... I got it..." Ralph replies, really nervous about having to face Alex again. Alex then lets go of Ralph, and Ralph runs off into the distance.
"Are you ok Tommy?" Alex asks his friend.
Tommy sighs. "Yeah, I guess so." he responds. However, before they can say anything else, they suddenly hear a cheering crowd. Once again the students have gathered around to see one of Alex's heroic acts.
"You showed him!" one of the students yells out loud.
"You're amazing, Blast!" another one exclaims.
Lily squeezes past the crowd, and comes up to Alex. "Phew, I'm glad everything's ok." she tells Alex and Tommy.
Tommy however, while he feels relieved that Alex saved him, starts to feel sad. He really wants to be cool and heroic like Alex, but it seems like he just can't do that. He sighs, starting to walk away.
Alex notices, and looks at Tommy. "Tommy, where are you going?" Alex asks him.
Tommy shakes his head. "I don't know..." he replies. "I guess I just wanna... be alone..." he adds, walking away with his head facing downwards.
Alex looks at Tommy. "Come on Tommy, don't feel bad." he tells his friend. "You don't have to be like me."
Tommy just sighs, walking away without a response.
Alex sighs, not liking to see his friend sad. "Tommy... I don't get it. Why does he want to be like me?" he wonders.
Lily looks at Alex, and shrugs. "I don't know..." she replies. "But he seems really sad that he can't." she adds.
Alex shakes his head, still having no idea how to help Tommy. However, he's snapped out of his thoughts as the crowd closes in more on him, demanding his attention.
Meanwhile, Tommy walks away, arriving at the park, and deciding to sit down and draw something. Even if he's feeling sad, drawing is one way he likes to express his emotions. He starts drawing a dark, rainy sky, and adding all the details to the scenery, but as he draws, he keeps feeling down about the fact that he can't be as cool as Alex.
"I tried my best..." he says to himself as he draws. "I tried to have the looks, I tried doing the things Alex does... but I guess it's hopeless..." Tommy thinks out loud. "I guess I'll just... never be as cool as Alex." he says, sighing as he just feels so sad right now.
He keeps drawing, until his art is pretty much finished. He gives it a quick glance, and then, as he starts to stand up to leave, he hears a voice behind him. "That drawing looks amazing! Did you draw that yourself?" he hears. Tommy recognizes that voice all too well. He turns around, and it's exactly the person he expected: Lily.
"Yeah... I did." Tommy tells her, still sounding sad.
Lily takes a closer look at the drawing. "That's really cool. I wish I could draw like you." Lily tells him.
Tommy just shrugs. "Eh..." he replies, clearly not excited at all about it.
Lily looks at him for a bit. "Hey, would you mind if I take a picture of you with your drawing for the Peachwood High News?" she asks him.
Tommy looks at her, seeming a bit confused. "Uh... sure?" he says, as he stands up and holds the drawing, while Lily prepares to take a picture with her camera.
However, Lily stops and looks at Tommy. "Come on Tommy, you have to smile for the picture!" she tells him. "Why are you feeling down? You're usually so cheerful." she asks him.
Tommy sighs a bit. "No matter how much I try, I can't be as cool as Alex." he tells her.
Lily shakes her head. "That's not true." she tells him. "You don't have to be like Alex to be cool, you know." she tells him.
"But you don't get it!" Tommy replies. "He's brave, heroic, confident, so many cool things!" he adds. "I just wish I could be like him."
Lily looks at Tommy. "You're really cool too, Tommy." she tells him. "You're cheerful, funny, creative, and you're the best artist in school!" she adds. "You don't have to be like Alex, you're cool in your own way." she tells him. She then looks at the camera. "Come on, at least smile for the picture. Please?" she asks him.
Tommy nods, and smiles for the picture. Once Lily has taken the picture, she shows it to Tommy. "See? Your art is amazing! I'm gonna put this in the Peachwood High News, the best artist in school draws a new masterpiece!" she tells him. "What do you think?"
Tommy smiles a bit, looking at the picture. "You really like it that much?" Tommy asks her.
Lily nods. "Yeah, I do! And the others will too, I'm sure of it!" she adds. "You know, Alex is lucky to have a friend like you, who's always by his side when he needs you." she adds. "I bet Alex thinks you're really cool too." she adds.
Tommy nods. "Yeah... I guess you're right." he adds.
Lily smiles. "I've gotta go now. I've gotta go work more on the newspaper if I want everything to be ready!" she tells Tommy. "But hey, keep being cool in your own way! I can't wait to see more of your art." she adds, before waving good-bye and walking away.
Tommy waves back at her. "Thanks... bye Lily!" he tells her, smiling as he thinks about what Lily told him. Maybe he doesn't really have to be like Alex after all...
And all of a sudden, both Alex and Alice arrive, coming to Tommy. "Tommy!" Alex tells him. "You don't have to be like me!" Alex exclaims.
Tommy looks at them, and starts laughing. This reaction makes both Alex and Alice seem somewhat confused.
"Are you... laughing?" Alice asks, not understanding what's going on.
Tommy just smiles at them. "Oh, don't worry guys. I think I already understood that I shouldn't try to be like Alex." he tells them.
Alex looks at him. "Are you sure? Because you seemed really upset back there."
Tommy nods. "Yeah, I'm sure." he tells them. "I just thought that if I was more like Alex, I'd be cool like him. But I guess I can be cool in my own way too, right?"
Alex smiles, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Tommy, you're our friend. And you don't need to be like me for us to like you or think you're cool." he tells Tommy. "I couldn't have asked for a better friend than you, Tommy."
Tommy's eyes start watering up a bit. "That's... that's... thank you!" he says, as he hugs both Alex and Alice, crying as he does so. "You're great friends too!"
Alice smiles, relieved that Tommy seems to be feeling better now. "What made you change your mind before we came?" she asks him, curious as to what happened earlier.
Tommy pulls away from them, ending the hug, and smiles full of excitement. "Oh, you didn't know? My art is gonna be in the newspaper!" he tells them, exclaiming cheerfully. "Lily said she loves it, and that she wanted to write about it!" he adds, laughing a bit. "I guess I have my own talents to be proud of."
Alex nods, grinning as he sees his friend so happy. "Yup, you sure do." Alex replies. "I'm proud of you." he adds, giving his friend a thumbs up.
Tommy laughs a bit. "Thanks!" he replies. "Wow, this means both of us will have been in the newspaper!" he tells Alex. He then looks over at Alice. "When will you be in the newspaper, Alice?" he asks her.
This takes her by surprise, as she has no idea how to respond. "W-Well I-" she begins, and then crosses her arms. "I mean, you don't have to be in the newspaper to be cool, right?" she tells Tommy, dodging his question.
Alex can't help but laugh. "I think that's enough about the newspaper for a day. Why don't we go for some ice cream?" He suggests the two of them.
Tommy jumps up and down, loving the idea. "That sounds great!"
Alice looks at Alex, and smiles at him. "I guess I wouldn't mind some ice cream." she says, not quite as expressive as Tommy, but still liking the idea nonetheless.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go get some ice cream!" Alex says, as the three of them go to the ice cream parlor to eat some ice cream together.