Only Differently Designed // ODD

3. Only Party Animal (Part 1)

A/N: A little Mark fanart up there! Feel free to draw your own fanart of any of the characters, I'd be happy to post them on any of the next chapters with credits ^_^

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Brendan. Little Brendan gets invited to a lot of birthday parties by his classmates. But Brendan's mommy Aunt Heide can't afford spending her youthful days attending kiddie carnivals. And so what better solution is there than to send his sweet, responsible and understanding older cousin along with him?

And that unfortunate cousin is none other than me.

Once again I am summoned to attend a random five year old kid's birthday party. Aren't I a party animal? I have no choice but to comply, really.

And that's how I end up trudging grudgingly after Brendan into a brat zoo on a Saturday morning. This time it's an indoor play center with different sections and children waddling everywhere. Brendan skips merrily, sticking his head into each room to check out the toys.

We pass by the karaoke section and I'm more than glad that Brendan doesn't enter it. There's way too much squealing going on in that room – I wouldn't be surprised if a window or two cracked. Finally we settle down in the coloring section. I take a seat next to Brendan, who is already immersed in his scribbles. I start doodling for amusement.

A little girl asks to borrow the red crayon I'm using. I hand it to her and pick up a blue one. She then asks for the blue one. Then the green one I pick up after that. Then the purple one. Then the yellow one. I huff and shove the entire box of crayons towards her. She happily hugs it to her chest and starts coloring, three crayons at a time, both hands.

Picasso's daughter, presumably.

I rest my chin on my palm and scan my surroundings. I can see the section in front of ours, which consists of fake ovens, fake refrigerators and fake food. A cute little fake kitchen.

There are only a few kids in there, in addition to a black-haired girl around my age, who probably works at the play center judging by her yellow uniform and name tag. The girl pretends to taste the toy food and praises the little chef who made it. When the chef goes back to his "cooking", she lifts her head. My heart drops into my stomach.

Scarlet.

It's been a while since the sweater incident, and I haven't spoken to her save for the occasional good morning. But what about now? Am I obliged to start a conversation of some sort? I'm not a conversation type of person, especially not with my classmates. Maybe I should pretend that I haven't seen her? It's a weekend after all. Who would want to socialize on a weekend?

Her eyes meet mine. Game over. Scarlet looks surprised for a moment, and then she smiles and waves enthusiastically. I wave back weakly. She steps out of the kitchen and approaches our table. Time to put my socializing cap on.

Well, at least my sorry-excuse-of-socializing cap.

"Heather! Didn't expect to see you here. Is that your little sister?"

She gestures to the crayon-obsessed girl sitting next to me.

"Oh, no, we're not related, no." I shake my head a little too violently. "Um, actually I'm here with him," I point at Brendan. "He's my cousin."

"Hey there, little man." She crouches next to him. Brendan sorts of blushes and pretends not to hear. I kind of want to do that too – pretend not to hear people who want to talk.

"He's, uh, a little shy, I guess." Did I have to add that lame "I guess" at the end?

There's an awkward silence after that. Where am I supposed to look in moments like this? What should I do with my eyes? Can't I just pocket them away? And what about my hands? I fiddle with a thread on my trousers. But that only needs one hand. What about the other? It's just lying uselessly on the table. I shove it in my pocket.

I decide to come up with a good statement to revive the conversation. I take a breath and speak.

"I didn't–"

"Does he–"

Silence. Someone needs to go first. I take the jump.

"–know you worked here."

"–like chocolate cake? Oh. Oh yes, I'm quite new here, it's only been a month so far. But I'm really enjoying it. The kids are all absolutely adorable!"

Adorable? Adorable my foot.

Something catches Scarlet's attention. "I'll be right back."

Two brats fighting over a toy truck – that's what saved me from socializing. At least for the moment. Maybe if I wander around, get a little lost for a while perhaps, Scarlet would forget about me and get busy chasing after more rascals.

So I stand up.

I stand up and realize with horror that the cheap plastic chair I was sitting on is still hanging onto my bottom. I grip its handles and push. I push it back again. I hold my breath and push as hard as I can.

It's stuck.

My bottom is stuck in a cheap plastic chair.

Swell.