I smiled widely at my team. It seemed they were getting along just fine.
Oh, hi, by the way. My name's Lightbulb. I'm the leader of the team Bright Lights, if you didn't know!
Anyways, as I stared at my team, lost in thought, I heard a familiar voice from behind me and I smiled even wider.
"Lightbulb! I've been looking for you everywhere, you made me worried sick!"
I turned around, still smiling widely. "Painty! Hi!" I waved and ran towards them. When I got there, Paintbrush had a look on their face that said "I'm gonna kill you".
"You were supposed to stay at the soccer field until I got back! What were you thinking?!"
"Jeezus, Painty. No need to be so uptight!" I joked, then realized they weren't smiling.
"Sorry, Lightbulb, but I'm gonna have to send you to the Calm-down Corner for this. 20 minutes. Running off isn't permitted on my team!"
I rolled my eyes at them and nonchalantly said, "The team is literally named after me! Just because you're the "leader" now doesn't mean anything, I'm still the actual leader cuz of the rules."
Paintbrush rolled their eyes and shot me a stare. I sighed and started to trudge my way over to the Calm-down Corner.
When I got there, I saw a broken yellow crayon sitting in the grass. I jokingly picked it up and wrote: "Painty is toooooo strict!"
I chuckled to myself, satisfied, then put the crayon down. After a while though, I got bored. It was only 10 minutes but it felt like an eternity! So I picked the crayon up again and doodled, first drawing myself, then Painty.
Then I got another idea.
I drew a tic-tac-toe board and wrote by it, "Play with me! I'll be Xs, you be Os."
I put an X smack-dab in the middle of the board, then jumped as I heard a voice. She was less familiar to me, but still someone I knew!
"Alright, Lightbulb, you're good on coming out now."
"Oh, hey Tube! What's up?"
"Paintbrush sent me to get you outta the Calm-down Corner. The challenge is about to start."
I nodded happily and dropped the crayon, energetically jumping up to follow Test Tube.
I skipped alongside her as we walked. I slowed down, and so did she, pausing to glance at me. I looked at her and asked, "Why do ya think Painty hates me so much?"
She stuttered for a moment, clearly taken aback. "I- um- oh, jeez, Lightbulb, I-"
I smiled at her and half said, half whispered, "it's fine if you don't know. I dunno either, so I guess that'd make two of us!"
Test Tube looked at me sympathetically before shaking her head and saying, "They don't hate you. They're just.. stern." She looked at a fancy watch on her wrist. Her eyes widened.
"Ohmygosh Lightbulb we gotta go!"
Before I could even process what she'd said I was being yanked across the field to where our team was.
"For a scientist shut-in, you can run fast! Ever think of doing sports?"
Test Tube laughed and said, "I'm surprised you're not afraid of the ball despite the fact you're made of glass!"
Before I could shoot back a playful retort, we were there. I saw Paintbrush struggling to carry a big, heavy-looking canvas and snickered.
"Lightbulb, could you come help me with this? I'm done with our team logo."
As I walked over to where Paintbrush was, I thought of why we'd need a logo.
When I got there, I saw the logo. Me and Painty were the biggest, we were high-fiving. I smiled.
"Woah, Painty, this looks amazing! You gotta teach me how to paint sometime."
Their face went a slight red and they looked away. "Can you help?"
I nodded and picked up the canvas. As it looked, it was heavy. I heaved it onto my arms so it would be easier to carry and put it where the instructed me to. Right in front of our cabin.
I stepped away to stand beside Paintbrush and we gazed at their amazing creation.
"You did good, Painty. I'm proud of you."
They smiled and whispered, 'Thanks, Lightbulb."
