Present Day
The Pepper house was, as always, a bit chaotic that morning. The Twins had already rushed out the door, headed to some early morning soccer practice or something of that nature, admittedly when it came to what the two sportier teenagers of his family did Carter could never keep things straight. But needless to say the two of them were out. The younger girls were arguing over who got the tv...and Kristy, the eldest of the Pepper kids, a 18 year old in her last year of high school had just gotten out of her upstairs room and was headed downstairs with the intent to get the other kids under control...before she noticed Carter sitting somewhat glumly atop the kitchen table, a half-eaten bowl of cereal in front of him.
"Uh...hey Carter. What's uh, what's wrong buddy?" She sat down at the table behind her youngest sibling, trying to sound upbeat despite his clear melancholy.
"It happened again."
"What happened again?"
"Every single time. Every time I have a friend over after school, as soon as I leave them alone with one of you guys they get a phone call or something and end up having to leave" Carter sighs. "And when I try to get them to come over again I either can't find them or they seem really against the idea of coming back. I'm starting to think I'm causing it."
"I mean, buddy, you're a human, going to a human school, but your entire family are macros. Maybe they're just...intimidated?" Kristy tried to explain away this concern of Carters without going into too much detail.
"No, it can't be that. I mean, most of the time they get really excited when I tell them my mom's a macro." Carter sighs. "You guys are really cool, everyone thinks so. I mean it must be awesome to be as big as you."
"Yeah but because of like, city rules and stuff most humans living in Smalltown have never actually been around a macro." Kristy poured herself a bowl of cereal as she spoke. "Even if they think we're cool, suddenly being confronted by someone that much bigger than you can be...a little... intimidating I guess. I mean I remember how I felt when I met a full-grown macro for the first time who WASN'T a mouse. They make Ma look short..."
"But still, even if they don't wanna come over why do they just start ghosting me?"
"Look, Carter. You're a great kid. You're one of the nicest people I know. And eventually if you keep trying you'll make some human friends who won't get scared just cause we're bigger than them. I promise. Just keep bringing em over and eventually one of them will have to be comfortable around us."
Kristy should...probably feel guilty for saying that last part. You see she knew exactly why Carter's friends kept disappearing. The Peppers didn't trust them. It was true that Carter was one of the nicest kids they knew, but humans had literally tried to throw him away when he was born. As far as the mice were concerned that was a good reason to keep them far away from him. So, whenever Carter brought friends over, Holly or one of the kids would find an excuse to get Carter to leave for a moment...and then scare them off. Or, in a couple more extreme cases, get rid of them. Usually by swiftly, "accidentally" stepping on them, or Kristy thought her mom might be getting a taste for eating them. But always ways that took them out before they could feel anything. After all, no one looks into missing humans in Zootopia...which was part of the reason they were all so protective of Carter.
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