"Tag! You're it!" Betty shouted as she tagged Mable "I'm going to get you!" Mable shouted back. Betty and Mable giggled, playfully. "Mable! Get inside, now!" Mable's parents shouted. "Aw! I'll be back tomorrow, Betty." Mable said as she went back to her house. Betty, happily, skipped into her house. She went upstairs to her room. She opened the door and saw her pet rabbit, Cookie. "Hi, Cookie!" Betty greeted her pet as she approached the cage. The rabbit responded by staring at her. Betty wandered over to her bed and proceeded to sleep.
She woke up to the sound of her doorbell ringing "coming!" Betty happily shouted, thinking this was Mable. She happily skipped downstairs and opened the front door. "Oh, hi mailman!" Betty happily greeted. "Hello, Betty! I have some mail for you!" The mailman said as he handed her a letter. "Have a beautiful day, Betty!" He walked off. "Who's this from?" Betty asked herself. She opened it and read the letter;
Hello there, reader.
I am Thelma and I am a former test subject at Rosewind Laboratory. I was wondering if you could help save me. If you could, it would be great! Anyway, if you prefer not to, that's fine. I am cellmate #36. I look forward to your response!
From, Thelma.
"hmm... I should save her!" Betty quickly ran outside and ran to the Rosewind Laboratory. "Oh, hello there, Betty!" Betty's neighbor, Ms. Lisa, greeted. Betty stopped and went up to her "hello, Ms. Lisa!" Betty greeted "would you like to come in for breakfast?" Ms. Lisa asked "sure!" Betty responded. "Come, my child" the old woman stepped inside the house, Betty following her. "Where were you heading out to this morning?" Ms. Lisa asked as Betty sat down on her couch. "I got this letter. It said something about Rosewind Laboratory so I tried to run over there." Betty explained "my child, Rosewind Laboratory is far from here!" Ms. Lisa said as she set down two plates full of pancakes onto the dining table. "You know, I could drive you there." Ms. Lisa said as she motioned Betty to come eat. Betty got up and skipped over to the dining table. "Did the letter have a name on it?" Ms. Lisa asked as she was cutting her pancakes. "Yes, it did. It had the name 'Thelma' on it." Betty replied. She stared down at her plate of pancakes, thinking I can't eat this. "Thelma sounds like a beautiful name!" Ms. Lisa exclaimed "oh, don't worry, my child. I made sure to add human things in yours!" She explained "oh, okay!" Betty lifted up a pancake onto her fork and bit into half of it.
"Thank you for the breakfast, Ms. Lisa!" Betty thanked "oh, you're very welcome!" Ms. Lisa welcomed with a smile on her face "now then, how about we travel to Rosewind Laboratory?" The old woman asked Betty. "Okay!" Betty exclaimed as she crawled into Ms. Lisa's car.
As they arrived, Betty hopped out of the car. Ms. Lisa got out and examined the place "this place is quite big." She mumbled. "Well, the letter said that this is the place..." Betty responded. She skipped towards the entrance. "Betty, be careful!" Ms. Lisa shouted "okay, Ms. Lisa!" Betty replied. She opened the entrance doors. Only to see a bunch of pre-teens in what seems like a cell. "Um... excuse me?" Betty yelled out as Ms. Lisa caught up to her. "I'm looking for a 'Thelma'!" She continued "over here!" A voice shouted from the left side of Betty. They turned their heads. "Hi! Are you Thelma?" Betty asked "yes, I'm afraid that is me." The girl spoke, quietly. "Um, how do I unlock this cell?" Betty asked her. "No need. All I need you to do is remove those bars in that empty cell over there." Thelma pointed to the cell that had a painting in it. "Okay!" Betty, happily, examined the cell bars. "My child, those are quite sturdy..." Ms. Lisa spoke. "I think I can chew on the bars with my teeth!" Betty said while she pointed to her unusual teeth. "Go on, try." Thelma sighed. Betty started chewing on the bars with her teeth, leaving bite marks. "Is it working?" Thelma asked "I'm sure it is working." Ms. Lisa said. "Wait, really?" Thelma asked "I'm sure it is!" Ms. Lisa responded. "I can't believe this..." Thelma mumbled. "Got it!" Betty exclaimed as she managed to nibble through the bars. "Is this reality?" Thelma asked "pinch yourself to find out" Ms. Lisa said. Thelma pinched herself. "This is reality..." Thelma sighed. Thelma stood up and moved a painting aside, reveling a hidden passage way. Ms. Lisa looked around, searching for any laboratory workers. "Okay. Let's go." Thelma said as she appeared behind them.
As Ms. Lisa parked her car, Betty hopped out. She waited for Thelma, which took her a while. "Come on, Thelma!" Betty exclaimed. "I'm coming, don't worry." Thelma said with a smile. "You two be safe and have fun!" Ms. Lisa waved goodbye as she went inside her house. "Oh! You should meet my best friend, Mable!" Betty exclaimed as she led Thelma to Mable's house. She knocked on the front door as Thelma just stood there. Mable's mother opened the door "hello? Is this Betty?" She asked "yep! And I brought a new friend with me!" Betty pointed to Thelma. She waved, shyly. "My daughter isn't allowed to have more than one friend." Her mother said. "Well, Thelma's really nice! She promises to play with Mable and-" Betty got cut off "I don't want Mable to play any games with a random homeless child!" Her mother gave Thelma a death glare. "Thelma isn't homeless! She- uh.." Betty tried to think of a lie, fast. "She lives with me!" Betty lied "she does?" Mable's mother asked her. "Yep! Is that right, Thelma?" Betty asked her "huh? Oh, um, yeah!" Thelma lied. "Mable! Get down here, now!" Her mother yelled. A little while later, Mable came down. "Hi, Betty! And... some random homeless kid..." Mable's tone instantly changes when Thelma comes into her view. "Want to play 'Tag' today?" Mable asked Betty "sure! Can Thelma play?" Betty asked her. "Um... sure." Mable's voice had disgust in it.
"Tag! You're it!" Thelma tagged Betty. "Betty? Can I talk to you privately?" Mable asked Betty. "Oh, sure! I'll be back, Thelma!" Betty said as she skipped away with Mable "I'll be waiting right here!" Thelma said. As Mable and Betty turn the corner, it seemed like Mable had a completely different personality. "Let's play without Thelma." She said, not really giving Betty a choice. "What? Mable, that's mean! Let's play with Thelma!" Betty said with a grin. "I said no. Let's play inside without Thelma!" Mable said. "Mable. It's not nice to ignore others. Let's play with her." Betty said, her grin was slowly becoming a frown. "No! I said let's play without Thelma!" Mable yelled. Betty really had no options left. "Fine..." Betty sighed.
~ A couple months later ~
Betty woke up to her doorbell ringing "coming!" Betty happily yelled. She skipped downstairs and opened the door just to see Mable. "Betty! Let's play 'Tag' without Thelma today!" Mable smiled. Betty really didn't want to, but she had to. "Okay." She said as she tried to force a smile. "Great! Tag! You're it!" Mable yelled as she tagged Betty. Betty ran towards Mable. Mable was happily giggling, but Betty didn't feel happy. Mable always forced her to do what she wanted, despite her wanting to do something else. If she said she wanted to do something else, Mable would be angry with Betty. She'd claim that she doesn't want to be friends anymore and that Thelma is better than her. And, despite all the red flags Betty noticed, she still was friends with Mable. "Mable?" Betty quietly asked "yes?" Mable stopped running and walked towards Betty. "I-I can't do this anymore." Betty started tearing up. "What do you mean? You don't want to play Tag anymore? We can play Hide And Seek." Mable suggested "I mean that I can't keep being friends with you!" Betty started crying. "No. You can't end our friendship!" Mable yelled "I'm sorry, Mable. This friendship is toxic." Betty sniffed "you can't end our friendship! I am demanding that you keep being my friend!" Mable shouted. "Don't you realize it? You aren't the sweet Mable I knew and loved! You're controlling and you force me into what you want to do!" Betty sulked. "Betty! I am still the same person! H-How dare you!" Mable started fake crying "n-now look what you've done! Y-You made me c-cry! Apologize t-this instant!" Mable yelled through her 'tears'. "No!" Betty wiped away her own tears. "E-Excuse me?" Mable asked. "Apologize a-at once!" She demanded. "I said no!" Betty refused, trying to not let her tears take over. "Apologize. Now!" Mable quit fake crying and shouted at Betty. "No! I'm tired of you taking advantage of me!" Betty stood up for herself. "Say you're sorry! Right. This. Instant." Mable grabbed Betty's wrist and squeezed it, hard. "Ow!" Betty whined "don't make me count to three!" Mable yelled, squeezing Betty's wrist harder and harder. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Mable! Stop!" Betty demanded as her tears returned. "One." Mable started counting to three. She squeezed her wrist harder. "Ow! Mable! Stop!" Betty cried again. "Two." Mable's tone kept getting angrier and angrier while her grip kept getting tighter and tighter, causing Betty to bawl. "Three!" Mable dragged Betty to her house "Mable! Stop it!" Betty bawled. "Hey! Where are you taking Betty?" Ms. Lisa yelled to Mable, causing her to drop Betty in the road and run off. Betty quickly got up and ran back to her house.
"Thank you for saving me, Ms. Lisa!" Betty hugged her "anything for you, my child!" Ms. Lisa hugged Betty back "say, what was that about?" She asked Betty. "Well, Mable was controlling me and I didn't like it so I tried ending our friendship. She got mad, demanded that I apologize to her and I refused. She got so angry that she was dragging me to her house and you saved me!" Betty hugged the old woman "oh, Betty, you were in a toxic relationship. Good job standing up for yourself!" Ms. Lisa hugged Betty back. Thelma came over "what was that about, Betty?" She asked her "my child was in a toxic relationship." Ms. Lisa explained. "Don't worry, Betty. I'm here." Thelma said as she hugged Betty "thank you, Thelma." Betty said as she let go of Ms. Lisa and hugged Thelma.
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