She's a Little Slow on the Uptake (Inanimate Insanity)

Your Biggest Fan

"Ooh, Marshmallow, what do you have there? It looks like a... piece of paper. It's white and about the size of one. And you're looking at it so much on it that I'll bet there's something on it. Maybe... a drawing? Or some words?"

She scurried behind Marsh in an attempt to see what was on the sheet of paper. Marsh promptly turned around, preventing her from seeing.

"Obviously it's a sheet of paper," Marsh replied absently.

'Ugh, she's hiding something!' Apple's brow furrowed. 'It better not be that stupid drawing again.'

Oh, she and Marsh had had their disagreements about that drawing. It gave Apple an icky feeling deep in her stomach and an ache in her heart.

'It's so stupid that she thinks so much about a dead person! She wasn't cool to begin with!'

"But what's on it?"

"It's none of your business."

Thinking fast, Apple pointed to something over Marsh's shoulder. "Look! It's MePhone 4S!"

The only shouty red thing that Marsh looked at was Apple. She looked profoundly unimpressed. "Why are you so interested in my personal life, anyway? It's not this affects you."

"We're best friends and I wanna know! Also, what's 'interested" mean?"

Marsh sighed. "...Fine. But you have to promise to leave me alone for the rest of today if I show you."

She hesitated. "Fine."

The paper had a bunch of scratchy handwriting on it, in a searing red pen. There were lines on it, but it wasn't lined paper; it was too fancy for that. It had a new-book-smell to it.

"It's not written in blood, is it? This isn't some letter from a murderer?"

"Obviously not."

Apple looked at it for another moment. "I can't read," she declared.

Marsh snatched it away. "It doesn't matter. I showed you. Now you have to leave me alone."

"It doesn't count if I don't know what I'm looking at. Read it."

"You won't even know most of the words. He uses a lot of, uh..." She paused for a second, then laughed uneasily. "Fancy words."

"'He'? Who's he?"

"Um, Fan."

Apple raised an eyebrow. "Why'd Fan write you a letter?"

"He didn't say," Marsh replied. "He invited me to meet him by the lake to talk about it. If I'm honest..." Marsh leaned in and added in a whisper, "I think he's asking me out."

"What? You're going on a date? With Fan?!"

"Not so loud! I'm not interested in him, but I want to let him down gently -- that means, without hurting his feelings."

"That doesn't seem like a good idea at all! What if he forces you to k-kiss him?"

"I seriously doubt that will happen. He's not the type." She gave Apple a firm look. "Now that you know where I'm going for the afternoon, will you let me be?"

Apple tensed up at the thought of being left alone. Loneliness wasn't fun, it was the opposite of fun. Friends hung out all the time to keep each other from feeling lonely. It was even worse when your best friend was out there possibly getting... you know. Kissed.

And yet... well, Marsh was giving her such a fierce expression. She was far too kind to be feared, that much was obvious, but making her feel unhappy wasn't nice. And it was important for friends to listen to each other too, she supposed...