Chapter 3 is here.! Enjoy! ^^


"Hi, Scarlett!"

The two faces stared me in the eye. I just gawped. How on Earth did they get here? They were both good friends of mine from school called Jasmine and Jazmin respectively. But to tell them apart, I often called Jazmin 'Jazz. T' for short. But still... my mind just about blanked out from too many things going on at once.

"Scarlett? Hello, earth to Scarlett-Romany!"

That snapped me out of it; I hated being called by my full name.

"What! You know I can't stand that!"

Jasmine smiled. "There you are. You agreed that I'd come over today, didn't you?"

"And that I could come too, since I'm only in town."

"... Say what?"

Jazz. T gawked at me like she thought I was crazy. "Scarlett, are you serious?"

"What?"

"We can come over can't we?" Jasmine looked concerned.

"Y-Yeah, come on in." As the two girls strode in, I tried to rub the confusion out of my brain. So much had happened; I couldn't tell what was going through my head... I felt like I'd come out of a washing machine at full pelt.

"Scarlett?"

Jasmine put a hand on my shoulder and gently shook me. I looked up wearily.

"You sure you're okay? You look tired."

"Yeah," I sighed. "Rough night."

The tensing silence was interrupted by a sliding, slapping and bouncing noise, followed by a loud, playful, 'Poyo!' My head cleared and my stomach plummeted.

"Shit!" I charged into the kitchen with Jasmine and Jazz. T hot on my heels. We stopped and stared.

Kirby had knocked over a pile of papers and sent them flying so now they were strewn all over the floor. He was laughing and twirling around, waving the papers like celebration flags. He was obviously having a blast. Kirby twirled around so fast he kicked up a couple of papers back into the air and then he lost his balance and fell over, landing as if he were sitting up. His eyes goggled a little and his body swayed as he'd made himself dizzy. He stared unsteadily up to us.

Great. Just ruddy great. Here I am, with a game character in my world and two good friends standing right behind me, watching the whole thing. What was I going to do now? I had to think of something to say! Anything! Anything, godammit!

"Uh... sorry the house is a tip?"

Silence followed – it was that awkward, uneasy silence when something obscure had happened and no-one quite knew what to say. Well, I'd hardly say something obscure had happened – I'd say that something very, very obscene had just happened. Beyond obscene even! This was definitely not a good day for me.

I sighed and stiffly picked up Kirby, scolding him under my breath.

"Kirby, you numb nuts! What'd tell ya: stay still I said!" I glanced up apologetically at Jasmine and Jazz. T; I jumped at their expressions.

Jazz. T looked like a mix of between disbelief and being about to burst into a cuteness fit. Her eyes were wide and shining like the sun, she leant slightly forward and, if it could, her mouth would surely be halfway to the Earth's core by now. Jasmine looked more between disbelief and denial. She looked sceptical, almost. Someone must've painted a rainbow on Jazz. T's brain and a 'What in God's name is happening?' sign on Jasmine's.

"Girls..."

Jazz. T burst into a long high squeal, ran forward and whisked Kirby away from me, dancing round the room with him above her head. I darted back in shock and bumped the base of my spine into the counter but I barely noticed the pain. I just watched, absolutely lost for words. Since he found it fun to be on a fan girl human rollercoaster, Kirby giggled loudly and waved his arms. I was completely taken away by Jazz. T's reaction – what the hell was I watching?

I jumped again as Jasmine came over and placed a hand on my shoulder again. I sighed heavily and placed a hand to my heart – it was going to come out the ribcage at this rate.

"Scar-Scarlett? What's – "

"Look, I have no idea, I swear!"

"No, no. I meant... th-this is cute but... what on earth is he doing here?"

I felt like slipping to the ground. "I'll try and explain..."

About an hour or so later, every mess had been cleaned up and we were all at the table with a cup of something. Kirby had a hot chocolate, Jasmine had a green tea and Jazz. T had a Darjeeling. I had a cup of water with lavender drops in to steady my nerves; I couldn't even begin to want food or drink after this morning's events. I was also armed with a cloth in case Kirby made a mess. I tried to steadily explain all that had happened. At the end of it, the girls were silent. Jasmine broke it at last:

"So that's what happened..."

"I have no idea how he got here, for the life of me I don't."

"Yeah. I mean, it's not like a game character can just hop from one world to another."

"It's just unheard of."

I looked up quickly before inhaling a deep breath of lavender. I then looked back at Jasmine.

"'Unheard of?' The idea's practically extinct! Not even that, if you look at it from a logical and methodical sense, it can't happen. It just can't happen, can it?"

Jazz. T piped in again: "If that sort of thing can't happen Scarlett, then what's that on the end of the table?"

"Kirby," I replied patiently. Kirby gave me a puzzled but inquisitive stare, wondering what I was talking about.

"Poyo?"

I had to clamp her hand down to stop Jazz. T from squealing. "Don't worry, Kirby..."

"It's just a complicated matter of gaming philosophy." Jasmine and I said together.

Then we both burst out laughing, the way we always did when we said something in perfect unison. Jazz. T laughed too. In the end, Kirby coined on and he was gurgling too. This free cacophony of laughter eased me right down and totally released the doubt and embarrassment out. We shared a happy moment in which none of us wanted to stop; we were all too hyped up to hear someone calm down so we kept laughing. We split our sides laughing, we cried laughing, we laughed until our lungs hurt us but we didn't stop. Even Kirby was on his front, laughing away and banging his little hand on the table.

Eventually, the noise settled and the steady air of chatter took its place. I wiped my eyes and sniffed.

"Oh... I haven't laughed like that since forever..."

"Same..." Jazz. T smiled, using a tissue from her bag to wipe away the smudging mascara.

"That was just... priceless," Jasmine finished, running her hands down her waistline.

Kirby giggled a little more, walked over to me and gently plopped himself into my lap, snuggling down to snooze. Jazz. T made a cute face.

"Aww..."

"I know..." I said quietly, stroking Kirby's head and back. He responded by means of a muffled squeak and snuggled deeper into my shirt. A small smile was set on his face. Suddenly, he stiffened and his eyes popped open. He stood and swung his gaze up to the window and frowned, looking intensely into the blank sky. I took my hand away, holding it near him.

"Kirby?"

I followed his stare, curious as to what he was looking at. Jasmine and Jazz. T looked up too but we could see nothing. Except... what was that black dot?


Oooh, what's gonna happen here, d'you think? You'll have to wait and see. ;) I have Monday and Wednesday off school next week, so if I don't have too much work to do, I'll try and save some time for this. Please review - I want to know if it's any good! Thank you! :)