𝒻𝑜𝒸𝓊𝓈...!
┊ ┊ ┊ ┊
ᴏɴ ʟᴀᴢʏ ꜱᴜɴᴅᴀʏ afternoons like today, sometimes Kel just liked to play video games. It took his mind off of the horrors of Monday and all the focusing he would have to do. He was terrible at focusing on things he didn't want to focus on, but he could focus on video games just fine.
He was hanging out with Aubrey and Basil earlier. They came by his house since Hero and Mari were doing their own thing somewhere and Sunny was at violin practice. Basil had to go home to help his grandmother find a potential caretaker he may or may not get, so it was just Kel and Aubrey.
Aubrey didn't complain when Kel decided to play a single-player video game. She just held her Mister Plantegg plushie and watched the screen in silence.
The silence made him a little scared.
Eventually, he forgot about it. It was kind of nice being in this type of silence with her. No yelling, no anger, nothing. And there was no one to interrupt them. He could deal with that more often.
Kel had played this video game tons of times. He usually just played it whenever he was bored. Everything was easy to him now, so when he was approaching the first boss fight, he wasn't worried at all, despite the game trying to make him feel that way.
That was when his shoulder felt heavier.
It took him a second to realize Aubrey had fallen asleep and was resting her head against his shoulder. She did seem pretty tired earlier, but he shrugged it off and thought she would sleep when she got home. She held Mister Plantegg in a gentle hold, her mouth slightly open, and probably unaware her head was on Kel's shoulder.
Kel had stopped playing when he noticed. He tried to get his attention back to the video game, but it was hard to do that when his mind went back to Aubrey. Her cheek was pressed against his shoulder, and her dark hair was falling over to his back too. Her breathing was slow and steady, and she smelt of the cookies she and Mari baked together before Mari went off with Hero.
He remembered her falling asleep on Sunny's shoulder a while back. Their friend group was coming back from a day at the beach, and Kel fell asleep pretty quickly. When he woke up, he saw that Aubrey had fallen asleep with her head on Sunny's shoulder, also asleep. Both of them looked peaceful and relaxed, like they were a future couple just waiting to happen.
Kel hated that.
Believe it or not, but he was jealous of Sunny. He was his friend, his first friend, and it made him feel really bad for thinking that way. He still liked him and everything, but he had a lot of things he wanted, from having all the newest toys to having parents who gave him the same amount of attention as his older sibling. Kel refused to believe he had anything close to a crush on Aubrey, but when he finally admitted to himself that he might—keyword: might—have a crush on Aubrey, Sunny already developed one.
He didn't know if she knew about either of their crushes, but she always gave Sunny more attention. Just looking at them together made his stomach twist when his brain thought that they were going to be together somewhere in the future. They weren't Hero-Mari perfect, but they were still perfect for each other.
He hated that so much, but what could he do? He never got whatever he wanted, so why would this be any different? Sunny already had everything Kel ever wanted, so this wasn't a surprise. Aubrey and Sunny would probably end up together, and he would just...be there. Supporting them. Like the friend he was.
So, Kel shoved all of his feelings for Aubrey away and did what he did what he always did when Hero got more attention from their parents: get the scraps.
Even if the scraps were getting hurt and then getting scolded or even yelled at by his parents, that was still attention. It wasn't close to the attention Hero got, but it was still attention. And after all the yelling and scolding, he still had Hero who always treated his injuries with worry and care. He helped to give the attention he got, but the scraps weren't ever enough.
In this case, he would get the scraps by arguing with Aubrey. It didn't matter what they were arguing about; as long as he was getting her attention, it would do. Sure, she might get annoyed with him for the rest of the day, but at least she was focusing on him. Like the scraps with his parents, it wasn't ever enough, but it would do.
Sunny deserved to be happy with her.
Kel tore his eyes away from Aubrey and went back to his video game. He focused on her for long enough, so it was time to go back to what really mattered: beating the first boss! He did it tons of times before, so he could do it again! He could do it with his eyes closed!
But apparently, he couldn't do it with Aubrey sleeping on his shoulder. He tried to focus on the boss fight, but the smell of freshly-baked cookies kept drifting up his nose, so his eyes naturally went to the source of the smell, his hands would stop moving the controller...
But then he forced himself to be reminded of the video game. That was the important thing right now. Not Aubrey who fell asleep on his shoulder. Not Aubrey who looked peaceful as she slept. Not Aubrey who held Mister Plantegg, the plushie he gave her, with complete gentleness. Not Aubrey who made him wonder if she would ever hold him with that same gentleness. Not Aubrey who made him wonder what she would do if he slept on her shoulder. Not Aubrey who made him want to fall asleep on her shoulder just to smell more of the freshly-baked cookies she smelt of. Not Aubrey who looked and was absolutely perfect right now.
Not Aubrey who just made him lose the boss fight.
Kel stared at the Game Over that was on the screen in horror. When he first played the video game, he beat the first boss on the first try. He never lost to it! The one time Aubrey fell asleep on his shoulder just had to make him lose the easiest boss fight. Couldn't she have fallen asleep on him during a car ride home or something like with Sunny?
The whole thing was embarrassing. He was never letting anyone else know this happened.
- - - -
𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝙾𝚖𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙺𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝, 𝙸 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝙾𝚖𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍. 𝙳𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝙺𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛? 𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐, 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝙰𝚞𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚐𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚌𝚞𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙳𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝚠𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚢 𝙻𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝙺𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝? 𝙻𝚒𝚔𝚎, 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝, 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝙺𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚌 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚏 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚢𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝙻𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢. 𝙸𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚘𝚗 𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚢 𝙻𝚎𝚏𝚝, 𝚒𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚜𝚖 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚘. 𝙸𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝙺𝚎𝚕 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚢 𝙻𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊 𝙽𝚎𝚞𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝙴𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑. 𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚍𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚌𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙸𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚢'𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙺𝚎𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚘, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚢.
𝚆𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚍𝚍 𝙰𝚞𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝙺𝚎𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚒'𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑, 𝚜𝚘 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙺𝚎𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚒'𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑. 𝙸𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚜 𝙺𝚎𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚒'𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚒'𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝-𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢!
𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝙱𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚕 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚘 𝚒𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚜𝚖, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝚆𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝'𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚒'𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚝'𝚜 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝙻𝚎𝚝'𝚜 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚜𝚖 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎. 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙰𝚞𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚖 𝙺𝚎𝚕 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗, 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚢, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙰𝚞𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝙺𝚎𝚕 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚝, 𝚐𝚘 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚘 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍. 𝙷𝚎'𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎, "𝙱𝚛𝚘, 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚌𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐," 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚞𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚢 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚞𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎, "𝙺𝚎𝚕 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚑," 𝚜𝚘 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝙺𝚎𝚕 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢, 𝚜𝚘 𝙰𝚞𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚘, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚐𝚘 𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙰𝚞𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝙺𝚎𝚕, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙺𝚎𝚕 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚞𝚙𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙰𝚞𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝.
𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝙰/𝙽, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙾𝚖𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙺𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝙾𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟷𝟶 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚍𝚊𝚢! 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 $𝟻, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎, 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝟷𝟶𝟶% 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙺𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝! 𝚆𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚙𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚛 𝙰𝙾𝟹, 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎. 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝙺𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝!
𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 (𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙰/𝙽): 𝟷𝟷𝟶𝟾