Chocolate Boxes

Blossom. Red hair. Pink eyes. Amazing super-nagging powers. Annoying habit of kicking my backside whenever she gets the chance. Grr.

See, everyone thinks my number-one goal in life is making the Powerpuff Girls', in particular, Blossom's, life/s miserable. That's not it, really. At least, not anymore. When I was little, I made Blossom really, really, really mad by trying to destroy her all the time. Now I'm her number-one enemy. Seriously, here are the only things she's said to me in the past few years (we ignored each other for four years and only started communicating two years ago):

"Not so fast, Brick-face!"

"I wonder who this bozo is? Does anybody have any idea?"

"Leave me alone, Carrot-head, I'm trying to study."

"Not now. Go away, please."

"Some day, when I have the money, I'm going to buy you a one-way ticket to the moon. You don't have to thank me."

Hey, is it my fault she's so much fun to tease?

Valentine's Day is coming up, but outside it's in 70s. I'm serious. This is the warmest winter I've lived through. I can wear shorts and a T-shirt without noticing it's February. The nerds in my class say it's the "effect of global warming" yada-yada-yada. I say, whatever. It feels like summer, except I still have to wake up early. Sigh. Seventh grade is tough.

It's Saturday, but I'm in an annoyed mood because Boomer stole my skateboard. He's just too lazy to get his own off the top rack in Mojo Jojo's garage. Sometimes I have half a mind to go and whack Blondie over the head with my helmet. I'm not sure why I need one, anyway. A helmet, not a brother. Actually, being the only child would cool. That way, I wouldn't have to deal with Butch and his roller skates and soccer balls lying all over the house. I trip over his football every day. It's a miracle I've never gotten a concussion. That linoleum floor hurts.

So, skateboard-less and cheerless, I stomp outside to bounce my basketball. Hey, maybe I can dribble it down Main Street without dropping it. I start to bounce the ball slowly, then pick up the pace, moving slowly through the park. I keep bouncing my ball as I wait for the light at the intersection to change, and that's when I notice. It's her. Blossom. She stands close to the curb, watching the cars whiz by. In her hand, she clutches a small red purse with a golden clasp. She smells nice too, like watermelon. I like her outfit - a pink T-shirt with glittery butterflies and a white denim miniskirt. As usual, her bright red hairbow is perched on her head. The sign changes from the word STOP to the green walking guy. Blossom starts to cross the street, skipping lightly, and for some weird reason, I decide to follow her.

She keeps skipping so her hair bounces up and down and swishes around like a pumkin orange wave. I wonder if she's ever been in a shampoo commercial? Speaking of which, I wonder briefly why they call orange hair red. When I think of red, I think of fire and roses and roses on fire (ha!), not Blossom's hair. She has a nice way of walking so her hair swishes. Kind of skipping, but kind of not. I stop dribbling my ball to try it out, but when people give me funny looks, I immediately return to my clomping pace. Better to remain un-noticed.

Blossom starts humming a little song as she turns the corner. I never noticed before, but she has a nice voice when she's not nagging, pouting, or screaming her head off. Oops, did I say that? Bad Brick. Bad Brick. I give myself a few swats to clear my thinking. Silly me, thinking a Powerpuff has a nice voice.

Suddenly, Blossom comes to a stop. I almost bump into her and start to give her a piece of my mind, but then I see which store she's staring up at. Cinnamon's Candy Emporium, the sign says. In the window, someone has taped up a poster. Valentine Chocolate Boxes, 50% off. Blossom opens the door and a bell chimes. She glances around quickly, and I duck behind a lamp post. My opposite number shrugs and steps inside. I wait ten seconds before peeking in through the window.

Wow, there sure is a lot of candy. The walls are a rainbow of lollipops, chocolates, peppermints, red hots (my favorite), gumballs, and a hundred other different types of sweets. I'd better get out of here before I accidentally-on-purpose start sneaking gumdrops. Wait a second, Blossom is picking out three heart-shaped boxes of chocolate, each one tied with a silky ribbon. One is blue, and the other is green. Does Blossom have a valentine? I start to laugh a little. Wait till my brothers hear! I can tease Blossom about her valentine maybe, and maybe even blackmail her into buying me candy! Oh yeah. Good plan. Very good plan. Brick, you are a genius. Wait, I have a better idea! I can grab her chocolate boxes and then blackmail her into buying me candy. Yes, I really am brilliant.

The pink Puff starts to twirl a little after she pays, then resumes her skipping and hop-steps toward the door. I wait a while, then leap up and follow her. Blossom is studying the valentines. She smiles, writes something in tiny letters on each box, then crosses the street. I follow her back into the park before I make my move. I one swift movement, I grab her valentines and make a break for it. Ten points!

"Catch me if you caaa-aan!" I call, laughing. The look on her face!

"Hey!" she yelled, dashing after me. I tear through the park and into the neighborhood, Blossom hot on my heels. Uh-oh, why are there so many cars in the way? Using my superpowers, I take to the sky, making a trail of red. She, too, zooms through the air like a pink bird. I practice my new air-moves. Super spin. Triple Loop-de-loop. Cannonball. Unfortunately, my moves to little to confuse Blossom. Darn. She's a whole lot sharper than my brothers. I touch down again in the park and resume running.

BAM!

I hit the ground, still holding the chocolate boxes. Blossom has tackled me. We roll around, wrestling.

"Give...me...my...stuff!" she says, her hair flying around her face.

"What, these?" I wave the valentines at her. "Are you someone's secret admirer? Huh? Are you?" I bat my eyelids. "Ooh, how sweet- oof!"

Blossom sits on me, pinning me to the ground. "Are you okay?" she asks, peering at me. It takes me a second to get over the shock. Did Blossom Utonuim, who has hated me since I was little, who has beaten me up for stealing candy, who never ever uses anything but angry logic on me, ask with sincere concern if I'm okay?

"I'm, uh, fine," I stammer. Blossom pulls me to my feet and puts my cap back on my head, which fell off when we were fighting. My cap is all wilted and banged-up now. I smooth it out a little.

"May I have my stuff now?" Blossom asks in a sweet honey-with-marshmallow-fluff-on-top voice. She makes a puppy dog face at the same time. I can't look. I hand over the valentines, and Blossom dusts them off. She turns to me and smiles.

"I was hoping I could find you, but it turns out you found me instead!" she giggles.

Blossom was looking for me?

She flashes the two heart-shaped boxes at me, then holds up the blue one. "This," she says, then displays the green one, "and this I got at the candy store. You're right, they are valentines. Only not those kind. More like a peace offering."

Huh? "So..." I tug my bangs in confusion. I cut my hair recently. It looks like Blossom's, only it's shorter, but not as short as the haircut I was created with. "I have no idea what you're driving at."

Blossom giggles again. "Silly Brick. The blue one is for Boomer, and for Butch I got the green one."

WHAT? Blossom got chocolates for my brothers, who are clearly not as amazing as me, but not for her very own counterpart? And she can't have two guys for valentines, right? I must look confused, because Blossom starts laughing. She pulls out something from her pink backpack.

"You took the wrong valentines," she says. "This is for you!" She hands me a big red box shaped like a heart, tied with a shiny ribbon. It smells sticky-sweet, like candy. I am so shocked, I just stand there, staring at Blossom.

"This is to say sorry for ignoring you and, well, being very impolite these past two years. I guess I was just stuck in the past..." she pauses, still holding out the valentine.

Wow! Candy! For me! Nobody's ever given me free candy before. No bribery or anything. Maybe I've been around villains too much my whole life, but I'm always surprised when people act out of kindness for no reason. Maybe I have a thing or two to learn from Powerpuff Blossom. I slowly take the candy. "Hey," I begin.

She looks at me. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for the candy...and, um, d'ya think we could meet at the library sometime? On Friday. Maybe we can talk about books or something, and maybe you could help me out with my science homework...I guess. Biology confuses me, and I've heard you're really good. So..." Now what?

Blossom smiles. It wasn't exactly an apology, but I can tell she's not mad at me anymore. "Sure!" she says.

Wow, I think Blossom and I are meant for each other!

As friends ONLY.

Because she's still annoying, pesky, hotheaded, and totally cool...

Um, I mean... wait, what do I mean?

Whatever!

The End

Heyyyy! So, it's not exactly your average Blossom/Brick story. I didn't want to make it one of those sappy romance stories, though (not that I have anything against them). More like a sort of friendship story. Not much romance, I guess. Oh well! Hope you liked it. Now, hit that little "review-this-story-or-whatever" button and tell me what you think!