Bittersweet Candy Bowl

22. A Difficult Choice, original chapter posted 9/12/06

Page 4 of 5

Transcript

*Mike cries and wails, throwing his hands in the air, as Lucy leaves the table in a huff, fist clenched.*
Mike: Lucyyy!
Lucy: Hmph!
Mike: I’m sorry!!

*Mike flops his face back onto the table. Tess looks coy.*
Tess: There’s a Freudian slip if I ever heard one.
Mike: How do I keep doing that..

*Tess glances back at Mike.*
Tess: So.. “Sandy” is your long-distance girlfriend, huh?
*Mike’s eyes widen.*
Mike: ..!

*Mike frowns.*
Mike: But she’s not my..
*Tess looks down at him, smirking.*
Tess: Oh, I heard you’d deny it.

*Mike looks down, blushing and furrowing his eyebrows.*
Mike: Guh..
Tess: Hah, that look tells me enough! You even dream about snuggling with her!

*Tess rolls her eyes, waving her hand at Mike dismissively. Mike looks up at her, panicked.*
Tess: Looks like a girlfriend to me!
Mike: But.. I don’t know if she feels the same way!

Tess: Sounds like she gave you the answer the other day! Some kind of romantic gift, right?
*Mike looks down, frowning and blushing a little as he remembers the figures of himself and Sandy placed under the bonsai tree Sandy gifted him.*
Mike: I guess..

Mike: She really did wait for me.. Maybe we do have something serious. I need to talk to her..
*Tess looks on as Mike continues, a kind smile on her face.*

*Paulo and David slide into the scene, teasing grins on their faces.*
Paulo: What’s this I hear? Are you actually admitting it?
David: Ehh? ♥
*Mike looks surprised.*
Mike: Uh?

*Paulo and David rejoice.*
Paulo: Lucy’s free for the taking!!
David: It’s like duck season, except you get kisses instead of food!

*Paulo folds his arms and smirks back at Mike.*
Paulo: Not jealous, are you? Well, you gotta deal with it!
*Mike scowls, trembling.*
Mike: Grr

*Paulo dramatically points at Mike.*
Paulo: You don’t wanna be adulterous to your new girlfriend, right? You’re not a cheating scumbag, are you?
[An arrow, pointed to Mike: Guilt!!!]
*Mike looks down, shocked and scandalized.*
Mike: Guh!

*Paulo continues, smirking triumphantly at Mike as Mike goes white with shock.*
Paulo: You’ve been pining after Lucy all this time while you had a girlfriend waiting on ya? That’s cheating, kid. You’re cheating.
[An arrow, pointed to Mike: Guilt!]
*David points and laughs.*
David: The cheat!

*Paulo shouts at Mike endlessly.*
Paulo: Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater

*Paulo punches Mike in the face.*
Paulo: Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater

*Paulo beats Mike down with a bat.*
Paulo: Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater

Sue: What the hell are you doing?!
*Paulo pauses, bat held in the air, turning to Sue with an innocent smile on his face.*
Paulo: I’m giving a cheater what he deserves?

*Paulo cheerfully resumes beating Mike up. Katie and another girl join in to kick him while he’s down. A crowd has gathered to chant “Cheater” at Mike.*
Crowd: Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater Cheater

Author commentary

Veronica: The really funny thing about this chapter is that originally, Mike just plain ol’ decides he’s dating Sandy, without actually confirming it with her?? I guess he thinks it’s THAT obvious now..

I remember a fan pointing that out, and that actually resulted in the following sequence, isn’t that just silly? Back then I was just doing whatever I wanted to the point that I needed the audience to tell me when I wasn’t making sense! WELL NOT ANYMORE OF COURSE, I take this comic super seriously now!!!!!

.. I would hope!!!

Seriously enough in the sense that I’m not making up garbage as I go! Eventually around a certain point in Volume One I genuinely started planning ahead, and this chapter is an example of when I wasn’t doing that so much. Thank you, fan that told me it was weird Mike decided he was dating Sandy without talking to her about it! You changed history!

And with the redraw/rewrite, I make it very extra clear Mike is going to talk to Sandy after this.