Bittersweet Candy Bowl

But in all honesty, this seems David coded I mean David has seen how much Paulo has changed and gotten closer to Mike, to David if you are close to Paulo you are close to David and to me it seems like he is speaking of reason, Mike is in the track team and the field is there for them to use during free time. If they see them as a problem they can head elsewhere where or not be bothered. Regardless I love this lmao

Though that would have Lucy yet again change what she is doing because of Mike….

Someone correct me if I am wrong … I do not recall a time Mike changed a thing for Lucy.

The only time I remember Mike changing anything was taking another route to go to school and going home but I could also be forgetting other things too.

Tbf Mike said that he would leave Lucy alone and not engage, which he has been doing up until this point…which he may never have broken if Augustus hadn’t brought Lucy into. Mike can’t avoid being in her general area. They go to the same school, and honestly it was unreasonable for Augustus to ask. I am on the side that Augustus is doing this because he wants to hurt Mike. Mike realized that he hurt Lucy during the most recent incident where he got dumped by Sandy and kissed Lucy. That is why he said he would give her space and not bother her. I sort of feel like Augustus is being a hypocrite and isn’t really doing this for Lucy’s sake. I had wished to some degree that Lucy would have called him out on that, but Augustus got what he wanted which was Mike being pushed to give the reaction he wanted. I don’t think Augustus will be satisfied until he pushes Mike off the ledge. He wants him to hurt like how he hurt Lucy.

True true and thank you

Honestly this doesn’t seem out of place, this puts Augustus now in a position to see himself how he is a hypocrite!! Lol

Ngl, and we gotta wait and see, but I think David about to Humble August big time.

David is definitely the friend that will go with no filter on someone when he sees someone being put in a tough position without having their side or say in any of it. But I don’t think he is trying to diss Augustus he just really hitting him with his own logic, if Mike is an issue outside, why not just go inside yourselves?

You’re right, this is technically already no win for anyone, I mean even if Augustus does move spots or not Mike has no reason to be around James as we are seeing how James is ready to drop Mike after this leaving Mike no reason to continue track team, on top of that pretty sure this ordeal will be told round the table and if it’s from James only can further impact Mike and Lucy as their their issue is now to public. All around this definitely just seems like the recipe for disaster and a lot of tension building up.

I mean, that’s on James. And it’s okay if he doesn’t like Mike now. Yet sheesh. How quickly he flipped on him without knowing everything is kinda… Oof.

The situation is almost beyond sides at this point. Both of them aren’t being as truthful as they could be with Mike in a constant state of agitated denial and Lucy being better, but still avoiding the truth of the matter.

This whole outcome is sad and only drives people into further corners, not counting David’s observation. Perhaps he sees that futility, too, and wants it all out in the open.

Maybe but in a perspective he is hitting Augustus with the same insane demands he wants out of Mike. If Augustus goes about on why he shouldn’t need to be inside just makes him a hypocrite, can’t have it both ways

Indeed! No matter how you may feel about any one character, this encounter got out of hand and doesn’t tell the whole story.

@Sap What exactly is insane about asking him to not be outside? So far it’s the only place Lucy feels safe, meanwhile Mike is free to be anywhere else because he has friends everywhere. Mike didn’t put up much of a fight when Augustus first requested it.

Truthfully I don’t think David is trying to downplay Lucy’s struggle or defending mikes actions but he seems like trying to see the neutral stand point that there shouldn’t be an issue for both to be outside as long as there is no direct contact. Although not like this will matter as James already has the look of “I don’t like you at all” towards Mike leading possibly to him quitting the track team

@Vito, Lucy has no issue living her space as long as Mike doesn’t interact. And it’s clear she isn’t suffering only from Mike past action but with more deeper trauma that started catching up to her. You say Mike failed the initial request of Augustus? You mean the one where Mike was cornered by Augustus with no way of speaking his side and pretty much forced to agree to his terms? Yeah I can’t imagine someone under such pressure being technically forced to admit to such terms… otherwise than that Mike has been following every other request that Augustus wanted from Mike such as not interacting with Lucy or going near her. And yeah Mike is a complete spineless coward he can’t make up his mind and can’t stand up for himself but I surely don’t think putting him down and guilt tripping him further to his mental spiral quicker is the answer but yeah I suppose ..

@Sap Cornered?? They talked in the hallway, where other people were. Where anyone could have seen and come intervene. I know it’s well established that Mike is either a doormat or a ticking bomb, but come on. Sometimes you guys act like Augustus had him at gun point or something.

Considering the consequences of denying him, as seen here, he kinda did. It was more a pressured ultimatum than anything and as has been stated Mike can be pretty cowardly. Also, as much as Mike needs a wake up call, “Get in the shame box” wouldn’t solve anything.

Mike doesn’t have an Augustus to hide his fractious state, so he seems even more like an ass, but make no mistake that both Mike and Lucy are hiding.

@Vito, don’t get me wrong. Yes Mike agreed to something Mike never had to agree but when he is being guilt tripped and told he HAS to stay inside for the benefit of the other believe it or not is a tactic of pressuring someone to submission. He exactly knew how to make Mike agree to something absurd knowing it involves Lucy. If Augustus never mentioned it Mike would have most likely declined such a demand. And I’m honestly putting this to a real life scenario people have done this to others to get someone they want to agree to certain circumstances even when it’s over the top. Does that excuse Mike for going back in his word? No. But he definitely was guilt tripped to agreeing to that.

He should’ve told Augustus he changed his mind then. Mike created the continued problem

@baffledbits, even if Mike did do that, doubt Augustus would have made it easy for Mike after that. So the whole ordeal is a lose-lose situation

“david’s only bias is paulo” is an incredibly funny aptly-stated truth

actually I’m wondering… is David just incredibly conflict averse? he disappears constantly whenever pretty heavy stuff is going down. and previous events have shown he’s not exactly fond of Mike (feels like a friends of friends thing most of the time)

Is he really conflict averse? We just watched him drag Sue by her fur lol

That puppy has made it clear where his loyalty is lol everything else is a sidequest

I mean, he made a really bad apology and fled the scene, he was definitely trying to get out of that as quickly as he could

This def feels like a “hold up, let him cook” moment

Cause I got a feeling he’s going to turn the tables on August

Man, even if he doesn’t. I’m still looking forward to seeing what he has to say. Because my boy David, been quiet for too long! Lol

i can’t believe everyone just broke down crying in front of him and here he is being so deeply unserious ajdhfbskakabd

Channeling his inner Chaireth Painsborough from FFVII Remake XD

She’s avoiding the previous friend group.

I know that, but they are not everywhere at ones during lunch. Are there only two options to eat at during lunch time? the lunch room and schoolyard? You can’t go somewhere else inside the school? I’m not from the US, so I don’t know.

I see where you’re coming from. Yet when you really look at it. She really could go inside. It doesn’t even have to be the lunchroom since there’s so many different places where she could go. Just like she chose to go outside.

Lucy’s trying to avoid a majority of the people who care about her. A decision based on Mike’s assessment that their friends would be willing to abandon her for him. Which she never even tried to disprove for herself.

So instead she decided to abandon them first to avoid being hurt. She has no other enemies in that school, just her insecurities that grew into trauma.

Other than Sue and Amaya, none of them have really been good friends to Lucy, especially Daisy with her petty jealousy, so I say it’s fair she wants to avoid them. Also, where is she supposed to go? Some empty classroom or hallway, like realistically there’s not many places for her to go where she doesn’t have to see people who make her uncomfortable. On the other hand, Mike has friends all over and is only chasing James to feel wanted. This isn’t a designated practice time and he could practice before school or after school. There’s no legitimate reason not to give Lucy space for the half an hour of lunch. She has to see him in class, around town, walking home, he could give her 30 minutes to not have to see him.

I think Mike already changed his route going to and from school before Augustus approached him to stay inside.

Also, this may sound strange yet I think Mike and Lucy are sort of in the same spot mentally. Let me explain my thought process.

Even if it’s just Sue and Amaya. That still means she has friends inside she can spend time with. Whether it’s in a classroom, the library, or the gym. There are plenty of places these kids can go. Yet the people she can go to, she’s mentally blocked out due to her own struggles. And that’s valid.

Just like Mike has other friends inside, regardless of who he wants to hang out with and why. We’re also seeing that he’s not doing too well emotionally and is mentally blocking out certain people he can go to. Because he’s also struggling. And that’s valid too.

Also, we have to remember that Lucy never told Augustus that she had a problem with Mike being outside. Augustus assumed that because she’s been struggling lately for reasons that may not even be related to Mike. Yet she’s refusing to share and that has Augustus worried, so he lashed out at Mike even though he may not even be the problem this time.

And even if Lucy did have a problem with Mike being outside. It’s the outdoors, and the area is huge. Mike never goes near her outside either. In fact, all the glimpses they’ve seen of each other out in the open have been for a brief moment from a distance.

So I believe just like Lucy shouldn’t be forced to go inside despite there still being people she can be around. Mike shouldn’t be made to go inside for the same reason. As long as they’re keeping their distance from each other.

Which hadn’t been an issue until Augustus interfered. His heart may have been in the right place, but his execution was way off mark.

Honestly, I don’t think it’s unreasonable that he would drop Mike after this. James is perfectly within his rights to do so. He didn’t like Mike’s behavior and that’s perfectly fine.

Yet I don’t think that’s the issue at all. I think a lot of people are just pointing out how fast James made up his mind without even hearing Mike out. Calling him messed up after only hearing one side of things.

So while James’ reaction is understandable. It still holds true that he’s a fickle person. A trait that James has exhibited on more than one occasion. We’ve already seen how easy it is for him to jump from person to person.

From Paulo to Mike, then Mike to David. Which might explain why his last relationship came to an end. I love James, he’s a cutie patootie. Yet he’s also a very fickle cutie patootie.

Oh yeah, James is fickle. But Mike’s behavior and actions here really look like an admission of guilt. Also, James has asked Mike MULTIPLE times if these things were true, Mike chose not to answer. So Mike had the chance to give his side and didn’t. James owes him no more chances.

For the record, I agree with everything Augustus said (except the demand for Mike to go inside), but if I were James I wouldn’t be turning on Mike regardless of everything that’s happened on the last few pages. Why? Because as far as James is concerned, some randos came over for no reason and started talking shit to my friend to the point it upset him. Idk it seems really immature even for a high schooler. Thinking back to when I was in high school, I’d probably be like, “Okay, but you guys came over here? So maybe fuck off?” I dunno. Seems kinda lame on James’ part. As far as Mike not answering James, I think if James has any critical thinking skills, he could probably figure out Mike might not answer right away because he’s too upset at the moment, and maybe waiting for the people bothering him to leave would get a better answer from Mike. All I’m saying is that James seems really quick to dump a friend. Even the other friend group has seen worse in Mike and they are willing to hear him out.

This makes a lot of sense. It’s sad to see how a lot of these things could’ve been handled with clear communication. Yet I often end up reminding myself that they’re still teens with not much world experience.

Because there’s been plenty of times where I’ve been like, “Oh my gosh! Why can’t y’all just communicate already!?” Then I’m like, “Oh right, they’re still kids whose frontal lobes haven’t fully developed yet.” xD

With that in mind, it’s easy to see how things got here. Especially, since these kids all have their own insecurities and issues, which they bottle up until they explode and hurt those around them based on how they’re feeling in the moment.

We’ve seen so many different incidents between everyone throughout the entirety of the story. Which resulted from bottling things up until they couldn’t anymore. Honestly, a little emotional intelligence could’ve gone a long way for these kids.

Imagine the places we could be if someone told these kids about therapists lmao

Oh!! I remembered something else I was thinking!! Lucy had asked Paulo why everyone was still talking to Mike, and I could absolutely see that being something that might be eating away at her! I can imagine it being a little hard to hang out with everyone when they seem to have gotten over the way Mike treated her (Or rather, how she might be viewing it). Sure, Paulo mentioned that she just needed to say the word and Mike’s gone, but it’s clear that 1) It would not be that easy for him to drop Mike, and 2) That’s a lot to put on Lucy’s shoulders! Yeah, everyone got MAD at him, but after that, then what? the most they ever really seemed sour with him was his attitude about Sandy, and the occasional bringing up of Lucy. They were still friends, they still talked, nobody made the move to cut him off or stop talking to him on their own terms. And obviously they’re kids, and they fight all the time, sometimes moving on from things quickly is just how it goes; how often do you see kids completely cutting each other off as friends, when they’ve known each other for years? Or holding each other accountable and dealing with the consequences of their actions? But I could absolutely see how that kind of behavior, no matter how common it is, would sting after what she went through. I wanna know whats on her mind soooo bad

Yeah, I can see that. Yet if James does decide to stay around Mike. I bet it’d only be for David until he finds his next muse anyway. 😅

It would be beneficial if this also helped to address the underlying issue. Because Lucy never said she had a problem with Mike being outside. Augustus assumed she did based on her mood lately. So maybe we’ll finally get a chance to see what the real issue is with Lucy lately. 🤞