Chapter 1: Tissues and Trombones
The cold, November wind whipped through the window in Andy's room as all the toys gathered to watch their owner leave. That night was instrument selection night at the middle school Andy would be going to the next year. He was going to go try out all the instruments 6th graders had the option to learn and pick one to play. For the toys it was as much of a happy milestone as a sad milestone. It was happy because he was almost in middle school and he seemed to be so excited to play an instrument. It was sad because it meant that he was getting older. The toys had been getting played with less and less since Andy's fifth grade year started three months ago. Now they were lucky if they got played with once every 2 days. Things were changing very rapidly.
"Would you look at how old he is? Our Andy is growing up!" Buzz said in an amazed tone. Mrs. Potato Head burst into tears.
"Can it, Lightyear! You're upsetting the Mrs!" Mr. Potato Head grumbled as he comforted his wife.
"He better not be playing the flute because 85% of flute players in the tri-county area are girls!" Hamm exclaimed in a know-it-all way.
"It doesn't matter what he chooses, just as long as he is playing something he enjoys." Bo argued.
"What if he picks the trombone? I'm allergic to those!" Rex cried, shifting his weight from foot to foot uncomfortably.
"How can you be allergic to trombones?" Mr. Potato Head questioned while giving Rex the "you're crazy" look.
"Maybe it was pollen that I'm allergic to…" Rex responded.
"Everyone calm down! Let's look at the bright side of things! For one, we have control of the house for another two and a half hours and maybe another hour if they stop at Pizza Planet." Woody reasoned. He pulled down the bedroom window as everyone dispersed.
Buzz jumped down from the desk and immediately walked over to Jessie, who wasn't looking like her normal, perky self. "Is there anything uh, wrong Jessie?" Buzz asked, somewhat stumbling over his words.
Jessie shook her head sadly and replied, "I don't know Buzz. It just feels like history is repeating itself."
"Oh you mean Em…" Buzz stopped suddenly as Jessie shot him a death glare.
"Yeah. Now if ya don't mind, I'm going to go for a ride on Bullseye." Jessie mumbled as she walked off towards her noble steed.
Buzz rubbed the back of his neck. He would give anything to see her being happy-go-lucky again. He ached to make her happy. Then his eyes caught onto Woody. "Woody! I have a question." Buzz said as he walked up to his friend.
"If it's about how to work the microwave, I'm not telling! Remember what happened last time with the burrito and the…" Woody was cut off by Buzz.
"It's about, um, girls. You have a girlfriend so you should know this stuff." Buzz told Woody.
"Well I don't know that much, but I'd be glad to help." The cowboy replied.
"What do you do when a girl is sad and you want to make her happy?" Buzz quickly questioned.
"For Bo I normally make her a card or do something special for her. But I'm not sure what to do for Jessie." Woody explained.
"I never said who needed to be cheered up!" The space ranger exclaimed. His cheeks were going red.
"Oh come on Buzz." Woody said while rolling his eyes.
"Fine, it's Jessie. I'll have to figure out something special to do for her. I'm on it." Buzz walked off in another direction.