“Yep,” was Maddie's short response. She snorted bitterly. “Think the 'I'm rubber, you're glue' rhyme would've helped get through to them?” She need to find something to laugh about or else she wasn't sure what she'd do. She felt antsy, like she was about to scream. Or burst into frustrated tears. One of the two. Maddie needed her jokes right now.
A shrug and a nod, accepting the logic in Nick's answer. It was true; had Nick told Maddie to back off or decided at the last minute to side with those kids, Maddie's emotion explosion probably would've been worse. “Still, I should've let you talk to them more before losing it like I did. People get defensive when other people get defensive.” She'd learned that from past experiences.
They'd made a strange and sort of awkward duo, she and Nick, and even if their efforts of teaming up hadn't gotten them anywhere with the stopping the kids' game, Maddie didn't regret what they'd done. Well, she regretted losing her cool, but that was about it. She and Nick had teamed up to try to do something good, and she was strangely proud of that effort.
“Yeah, you, too. See ya around.” She nodded a goodbye before wandering off, deciding to head in the direction of the cafeteria.