Making a Difference - Ch. 4 - Entire story is abandoned, soz

	"*Say, Kris..."
	"...Yeah?" Kris was still fishing for his nice, navy-blue button-up shirt in his dresser he always wore to church.
	"*You know that uh... OTHER folder you got? The one with all the plans?"
	Kris stopped for a brief moment. "...What about it?"
	"*Before we head to church, why don't you open it up and let me take a peek?"
	Kris narrowed his eyes and turned his head to the side. "...Wait a minute, why are y-?"
	"*I think I owe you a favor. If you're forced to forfeit your privacy, then it's only fair that I try to make it up to you."
	"............"
	"*Come on, Kris. You like pranks, don't you?"

	A smile curled into Kris' face. If this thing inside of him was real, and if it wasn't lying, then this could be the push he needs to get back into business more rewarding than grabbing a timid deer girl by the ankle from underneath a bed. His train of thought was cut short when Kris managed to actually find what he was looking for. The human removed his white undershirt and threw it onto his bed before donning his button-up shirt, making sure to properly fix his collar and fold the sleeves up. Turning to his dresser, Kris pulled out the bottom drawer. Under a heap of haphazardly folded clothes, a small black and white book held together by a binder stared up at him. After snagging the book, Kris flipped it open onto a random page. After gazing at the mischievous contents of the book, one prank in particular caught the soul's attention. Taking control of Kris' right hand, the soul forced Kris' finger to point to the prank they had in mind.

	"*That one."
	"...You can let go of my hand now."
	"*...Uh... right." Control of Kris' arm was given back to him. "*Anyway, that's a really good one. Let's do it TONIGHT."
	"...You sure? It's one of my favorites, but it's way too risky. Besides, where would I even get the materials? I don't even know what the inside of his house looks like."
	"*You won't get caught if you don't get sloppy, Kris. I'll be there to make sure that you don't fuck it up. Now, you said that you don't know what the inside of his house looked like, right?"
	"That's literally the last thing I just said."
	"*Uh-huh... How big is his house, Kris?"
	"...About as big as this one."
	"*Alright, that's not bad. It'll be easier to locate the bathroom that way."
	"Are you REALLY sure about this one?"
	"*Yes."
	"..."

	The teenager let out a half groan, half sigh as he placed the book back under his stack of clothes in the bottom drawer. He was nervous and unsure of how he was going to pull this off. The risk was high, but the mere thought of the payoff made Kris grin. His victim wouldn't hear the end of it for weeks. It wasn't long before he heard those muffled footsteps and a knock at his door, so it was time to head out.

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	Church went as it usually did. All the regular Angel worshipers got into their usual seats, including the Holidays, Jockington's family, Catty and Catti's family, Tem, and Tem's odd egg she took with her everywhere, among many others. Non-alcoholic wine, or "sick juice" as Kris called it, was passed around as a tradition picked up from human culture. Hymns about the Angel were sung, passages from a dusty old book were transcribed by Father Alvin, and things were generally extremely boring for the adolescent human. For his mother, however, it was like every Sunday was a special holiday. She listened intently to Father Alvin's words, sang religious songs with passion, and kept a bright smile on her face for the entire duration. All Kris could do was nod along and try to act like he was singing by mouthing the words without actually using his vocal chords. After an hour of sleep-inducing Angel worship, it was finally over as the Hometownsfolk went their own ways as Toriel excused herself to talk to Father Alvin about something church-y, leaving Kris to wait by the car outside.

	"*Wow, I think that was the most boring hour I've spent sitting there doing nothing since... Never mind."
	"Yeah, how do you think I fee-... what the fuck...?"

	Off in the distance, Kris could see Tem, the local Temmie of Hometown, walking away from church with elongated legs that stretched taller than the church itself towards the northeast before slowly lowering herself down by what looked like the apartment complex.

	"...I've never seen her do that before."
	"*That was... uh... Does she always do that?"
	"...She usually just somehow vibrates back home without even moving her legs."
	"*You think she was in a hurry, then?"
	"Maybe."

	Kris stared at the direction the odd monster left to for several seconds before he heard someone calling to him.

	"Hi, Kris!" It was Noelle, the chipper, bucktoothed deer girl. "Who were you talking to?"
	"...Nobody." Kris unconvincingly replied.
	"*Just say you were thinking out loud."
	"I was just thinking out loud." Kris repeated.
	"Oh, okay. Did you enjoy today's sermon?" Noelle asked.
	Kris shrugged. "...It was alright."
	"You don't have to lie to me, Kris. I thought it was boring, too." Noelle said with a smile.
	"...Yeah..." A barely noticeable smile crept onto Kris' lips.
	"So, what were you thinking out loud about?"
	"Huh? Oh, uh... I just saw Tem leave, but... not like she usually does. It was weird."
	"Yeah, she's kinda odd, isn't she? Did she walk with her legs stretched out?"
	"You've seen it happen?"
	"Once or twice...... Is your mom talking to Father Alvin again?"
	"Yep."
	"Well, I don't have anything I need to attend to right now. Is it alright if I wait with you?"
	"...Sure."

	The unusually social teenager led Noelle to the sidewalk as they both sat on the curb. It seemed that Toriel would be talking to Father Alvin for a while, so it wouldn't hurt to have a small chitchat with an old childhood friend. They had known each other since preschool, but they didn't become friends until the third grade, or what Kris internally perceived as 'friendship due to pity'. She was nice enough and seemed to genuinely care about his well being, but Kris had always suspected that Noelle was only really friends with him because she felt bad for him. It was due to this that a small feeling of resentment built up inside of the young man for several years, but it never came out or was otherwise made known to anyone except himself.

	"You seem a little different today." Noelle remarked.
	"...Hm."
	"I-I mean...! N-not in a BAD way, just... You're a bit more talkative than usual is all."
	"...Yeah, maybe."
	"W-well, I don't mind! It's good, actually, that you're um... talking more? S-sorry, I'm n-not to say that there w-"
	"Noelle." Kris raised his hand at the timid deer. "Calm down. It's cool."
	"O-oh, okay."
	Kris set his hand back down before speaking again. "...You got a ride home?"
	"Oh, I'm just going to walk home. Mom is really busy, and dad is..." A forlorn expression appeared on Noelle's face as she spoke.
	"...You need a ride? I'm sure my mom would be happy to take you." Kris offered.
	"...You sure, Kris?"
	"...I wouldn't worry about it."
	"O-okay, if your mom is fine with it..."
	"Fine with what?" Toriel had just exited the church's double door with Father Alvin following closely behind.
	"Uh-" Noelle almost stammered out a nervous response before Kris cut her off.
	"Noelle needs a ride home."
	"Oh! Well, I would be delighted to drive you home! We ARE neighbors, after all!"
	"Thank you, Ms. Dreemurr."
	"You are welcome, child." Toriel's attention turned to her son. "Kris, are you ready to go?"
	"...Yeah."

	Kris quickly stood up from the curb, but he felt the soul take control for a brief moment, forcing him to extend a hand to help Noelle off the ground. "O-oh, thank you, Kris." Noelle said with a half grunt as she pulled herself up. Kris felt a warm, proud smile shining on him from his mother's general direction before three of four car doors opened in sync. "Goodbye, Father! Stay safe!" Toriel called to the old, waving turtle standing in the church's doorway. The doors closed, the ignition was started with a single key-turn, and Toriel began to pull away from the dead end in the road. When nobody was looking, Kris tried to give the soul inside of him a message by pinching himself in the arm.

	*There's no harm in being a gentleman."

	Kris rolled his eyes. He would talk with the soul about this when he had more privacy.

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