It was a normal day in Diamond City; the children are laughing and the birds are tweeting, but that never happens where Ashley lives. Ashley, a gothic 15-year-old witch, was brewing a potion for something that was considered significant in her perspective. 'Finally,' she thought, 'I got all of the ingredients I need for my spells. Now I need to-'
Her doorbell rang, interrupting her thoughts and her intentions to add the ingredients. She sighed in frustration, and walked down the stairs to answer the door. 'Please don't be him,' she begged internally, 'Please don't be him, please don't be him. Oh dear god, please give me anybody, but him.'
She opened the door, to find Master Mantis's pupil to be standing outside the door. "Hey Ashley," said Young Cricket, smiling, "What's up?"
It's him. It's always him; why can't he just leave her alone? "Go away," said Ashley, "I'm busy; don't you have anything else to do? What happened to that training session with your master?"
Young Cricket shrugged; oh no, what happened now? "Master Mantis has another date with this woman I don't really know," he replied, "So we had to cut it short for the day. I was planning to hang out with our co-workers today, but they were all busy. You're always busy, but I bet you won't mind me visiting."
Was he crazy? He should know that she was going to say no. Before she could kick him out, Red came in and greeted them both. "Hey Ashley!" said Red, "Is that Young Cricket? He said he was going to help us with the chores and all, but I don't really trust him."
Wait, he was going to do the chores? Oh, that leaves her with less work to do; who cares if Red doesn't trust him? All that matters if he finishes them with perfection; besides, Ashley won't be bothered by him anymore. "You can stay," she replied, "Just help Red with the dishes, laundry, and the cleaning. Whatever you do, don't mess up."
Young Cricket nodded, smiling; Red on the other hand, looked worried, but feels like there might be a possibility he would help out. Once the two left, Ashley smiled and went back to her room to brew up her potion. 'Finally,' she thought, 'Some peace and quiet.'
At last, her summoning potion has finally been crafted. She placed it on the top shelf, where Red wouldn't try to grab it himself. 'This is one of my great accomplishments,' she thought, praising herself, 'Someday, I might summon the most terrifying creature of all time! But still, I wonder where Young Cricket is.'
She snapped herself from her thoughts and shook her head; why was she so worried about him? She sent him to do chores, obviously, so she shouldn't be wondering. "Hey Ash," said a familiar voice, "Finished one of your potions, right?"
She turned around, to see Young Cricket standing in the doorway. Ashley glared at him, clearly annoyed that he was still here. "What do you want?" she asked sternly, "What happened to the chores I gave you? Why won't you just leave me alone?"
Young Cricket smiled, and said, "Well, I just want to see you, that's all. The chores were also finished, and Red said that was the quickest time he has ever done laundry. Heh, Red's actually not a bad person once you get to know him."
Ashley scoffed; he's too light-hearted and irritating for her liking. Sometimes, she wishes she could take Red's place, so she doesn't have deal with this guy anymore. "As for the last question," he said, walking up to her, "I need to know if you're okay."
He held her hands firmly, but not rough like how he usually was sometimes. Ashley looked up in his face and noticed something different; he was serious. He really was worried about her, and the only time he was serious was when he was training with Master Mantis or working on the microgames. "What do you mean?" she asked, "I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with me, so stop trying to visit me."
He blinked, before frowning with dissatisfaction. His brow furrowed, this means he was really serious. "Are you kidding me?" he said, "You're definitely not okay! I saw you walking to school with your face looking gloomier than usual. I know that you never let anyone bother you, and you'd usually have that apathetic face all the time! Penny is worried about you, Red is worried about you, and even Wario is worried about you!"
His face relaxed, and he took a deep breath in. "Ashley," he said with concern, "Just please tell me what's wrong."
Ashley hesitated to answer; she really didn't want him to worry, and this was something she wanted to handle by herself. But still, she answered anyway; it would've been better if she did. "I've actually been used," she replied, "No one truly values me as a friend. All they want is some spells that would help them with something that they can't solve for themselves. I don't mind being friends with at least someone, and it bothers me that everybody wants me to help them with some crap I don't know."
There was a brief moment of silence; to Ashley, it felt like forever for Young Cricket to respond. "Ashley," he said, "I promise I won't do the same thing. You're the most beautiful person I know, and I won't let anyone take advantage of you. I'll ask our co-workers to do the same thing, because you deserve to be treated as one of us. And if anyone tries to take advantage of you, you can always come to me for help."
Ashley couldn't help, but give a small smile; no one hasn't done something like this before. "Thanks," she said, "I'll keep that in mind. Oh, you can visit me anytime you want."
Young Cricket smiled, saying, "Yeah, I'd like that. I'm about to go home, how about a kiss goodbye?"
"Don't push it."
He chuckled, before walking out the door. Before he left, however, he said, "Hey, Penny is inviting us over for a special event tomorrow. I don't know what it is, but it's going to be a surprise. Do you want to come over?"
She nodded, and Young Cricket smiled at her approval. Once he left, she had a feeling that things were going to be different. Maybe things will get better after this.
Author's Note: Hello Warioware fans! I hope you liked my interpretation of the characters and I hope you liked this story as well. Check out my other stories if you'd like and give me some support. Please don't bash my stories with hate comments, because I sometimes look down on myself if you do. Anyway, see you next time!