Second String

From Candypedia
Second String
Chapter124 of 129 (list of chapters)
PublishedMarch 28, 2025 (2025-03-28)
Page count20
Major charactersMike, David, James, Felix, Ellen, Chris
Minor charactersFinn, Lucas, Darwin, Max
LocationsRoseville High School, Mike’s house
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Mike has been the track team’s star since the day he joined, so it stings when David outruns him and James cheerfully declares him unnecessary. At least David’s discovery of Paulo and Daisy’s secret gives the gym something to scream about.

Synopsis

At track practice, David beats Mike in a timed sprint. Dazzled by David’s run, James blurts out “It’s like we don’t even NEED Mike anymore with you on the team!”[1][2] Mike insists he’s fine, then stands alone tugging at his jersey with a forced smile.[3]

Over by the bleachers, James lets on that the team’s usual “stalkers,” Paulo and Daisy, have fallen for each other.[4] He admits he wishes he’d known about Paulo’s old crush sooner, and Felix teases that maybe Paulo simply found him exhausting.[5] James goes quiet at the remark. When Felix tries to apologize, James clings to his neck and wails “What makes you think I’ll EVER get over you!!”[6]

The one person who hadn’t heard is David. When he tries to set James up with Paulo, James lets slip that Paulo and Daisy are dating now.[7] David goes eerily blank for an entire wordless page, then erupts into a scream that fills the next one.[8] He declares himself thrilled and offended, shouting that he is supposed to be best man at their wedding.[9] Mike explains that the couple is keeping quiet for Abbey’s sake.[10] David vows to guard the secret until the end of time, then leaps into the air shrieking that they’re in love.[11]

Mike walks away from the conversation, drops into a starting crouch, and asks to be timed.[12] As he runs, he remembers three people who once loved him: Daisy at the carnival, Lucy confessing her feelings, and Paulo crying on New Year’s.[13] He catches sight of James and David stretching together, and the smile drops off his face before the lap is done. “I should be used to it by now.”[14]

Mike arrives home to find his mother Ellen shouting into the phone at his father over who is supposed to watch toddler Chris.[15] She has a work function that evening, and Haley, the usual babysitter, isn’t answering her texts. Mike volunteers to babysit. Ellen calls him her perfect boy, then gratefully gives in.[16] Ellen says she would rather Mike focus on his studies because “Haley doesn’t ace her exams,” and reminds him that he never asks for anything.[17]

Chris asks for what Haley always gives him: “Panda movie an’ oranges!”[18] Mike slumps through the movie until he recognizes its song as the one he always hears from upstairs. Sitting beside an enthralled Chris, he smiles faintly.[18]

Character dynamics

David grips James by the shoulders and screams, his scream filling the entire page background.
David handles the news of his best friend’s relationship with characteristic restraint.
  • Mike and the track team: Mike came onto the team as its star and James’s personal idol.[19] After David beats him in a timed sprint, James praises David and declares Mike unnecessary. Mike insists he’s fine, then pulls at his jersey alone with a forced smile.[2][3]
  • Mike and Ellen: Ellen calls Mike her “perfect boy” when he volunteers to babysit.[16] She then says she would rather he focus on acing his exams because Haley does not ace hers, adding that Mike never asks for anything. He gives a faint smile as his face darkens.[17]
  • David and Paulo: David celebrates Paulo’s new relationship, but he also shouts that he should have been told and is supposed to be best man at the wedding. He has been declaring his love for “Aibou” since long before this chapter.[20] Mike says Paulo and Daisy kept quiet to avoid blabbermouths. David promises to guard the secret, then immediately leaps into the air and shouts that they are in love.[11]
  • James and Felix: James has a history with Felix that the comic had only hinted at once before, when he cut himself off mid-sentence about Felix in Date Night.[21] Now it’s said outright: James had feelings for him and, by his own wailing account, never got over them.[6] Felix scolds James for careless jokes and then wounds him with a worse one of his own, though he does try to apologize for it.[5]
  • Mike and Chris: Mike volunteers to mind Chris when the usual childcare falls through. Chris asks for a panda movie and orange slices. Mike slumps through the film at first, but recognizing its song leaves him smiling beside Chris.[18]

Trivia & observations

Ellen says "But you never ask for anything. Michael. My diamond." as Mike bows his head, rubbing his neck with a faint smile.
Ellen’s compliments land heavier than she means them to.
  • The chapter title sits in the middle of a numeric countdown, between Third Wheel and First-Degree Burn. A second-string player is the backup, which is more or less Mike’s new spot on the roster.
  • For a chapter this full of Paulo and Daisy talk, neither of them actually shows up. They appear only in James’s Burger-Tron flashback, and Lucy only in Mike’s mid-run memory.[12][13]
  • In the comic Mike blames James for spreading the secret, but Veronica’s commentary sets the record straight: it was Daisy “who went around blabbing to everyone,” while Paulo “would have rather nobody known!”[10]
  • “Aibou,” David’s pet name for Paulo, is the same one he used in New Year’s Resolution (“I love you, Aibou”).[11][20]
  • Mike covering his ears during David’s scream is his old noise sensitivity at work, a trait first shown in Pep Rally.[22][23]
  • The panda movie Chris requests, starring a smug panda who mentors a nervous deer in glasses, is a parody of Kung Fu Panda.[18]
  • A small Christmas tree still stands in the corner of the living room, putting the chapter squarely in the holiday season.[18]

Related chapters

  • Track Meet: Mike joined the team as its star recruit here, and the rest of the track roster made their debut. It’s also where Paulo and Daisy earned their “stalkers” reputation by watching every practice from the bleachers.
  • Date Night: The date Lucas brings up happened in this chapter, when James kissed Mike and was gently turned down. James also stopped himself mid-sentence about Felix here, and David outran Mike to win his spot on the team.
  • First-Degree Burn: Mike panics when James and David head out together, and Felix has to reassure him that James still likes him.
  • Adult Supervision: Mike’s first night minding Chris, back when the job was dumped on him and Chris ended the evening with a black eye. Haley goes missing in both chapters, but this time Mike volunteers and the night goes fine.

References

  1. ↑ Chapter 124: Second String, page 2
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chapter 124: Second String, page 3
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 124: Second String, page 4
  4. ↑ Chapter 124: Second String, page 5
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chapter 124: Second String, page 6
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chapter 124: Second String, page 7
  7. ↑ Chapter 124: Second String, page 8
  8. ↑ Chapter 124: Second String, page 9
  9. ↑ Chapter 124: Second String, page 11
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Chapter 124: Second String, page 12
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Chapter 124: Second String, page 13
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Chapter 124: Second String, page 14
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Chapter 124: Second String, page 15
  14. ↑ Chapter 124: Second String, page 16
  15. ↑ Chapter 124: Second String, page 17
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Chapter 124: Second String, page 18
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Chapter 124: Second String, page 19
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 Chapter 124: Second String, page 20
  19. ↑ Chapter 115: Track Meet, page 10
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Chapter 119: New Year’s Resolution, page 38
  21. ↑ Chapter 118: Date Night, page 3
  22. ↑ Chapter 124: Second String, page 10
  23. ↑ Chapter 11: Pep Rally, page 3
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