Making History

We were cluttered in Tails' living room, eyes glued to the television as they reported our latest attempts to foil Eggman's plans. Sonic's face was plastered all along the screen, his trademark cocky smile contagious. He wore his regular thumbs-up and was winking to the audience. Somewhere I knew that girls were swooning over him, just like I used to.

Correction. Like I was.

"Tonight we say thank you to Sonic the Hedgehog for once again saving the city from Robotnik's clutches. This is Scarlett Garcia reporting for-"

The screen shuttered and emptied into darkness before she had the chance to finish. I clutched the remote in my hand, my knuckles white from anger.

Eyes were glued to me instead of Sonic's image on the box.

"What?" I snapped. "What are you looking at?"

They all looked away as if they were embarrassed for me. All except Sonic, who was giving me a puzzled stare, as if he could somehow piece together the pieces of my sudden outburst.

"Guys," the hero stated, "could you give us a minute?"

Eyebrows were raised, but they did not dare question him. Slowly, they shuffled into the kitchen, eyes peaking back as if they could see what was about to transpire. I knew as soon as the door closed they would be behind it eavesdropping, maybe making bets.

I dared not get my hopes up. I knew this conversation would not be about us, but about me. It was always about me and my temper, and my idiocy, and my inability to let him go.

Instead, I heard unlikely words tumble out of his mouth. "You did well today."

I snapped my gaze up in his direction. He had a lazy smile playing on his face, his arm dangled over his knee, like he was comfortable. He was never comfortable alone with me.

I felt naked with his eyes on me, so I averted my own. "What?"

"I said you did well today. Fighting Eggman, I mean. You're getting better."

I felt a swell of pride rise in my chest at his compliment. I wanted to say thank you, but instead I whispered, "I want to make history."

Now it was his turn to be surprised. "What?"

"It's always you up on the big screen," I said, clearing my throat. I faced him before the courage left my body and nothing was left but an empty shell. "It's always about you. I know you do a lot of the work, but what about us? I don't just want to be Sonic's friend when they mention you saving the day. I don't want to be the damsel in distress that he had to save once again. I want to be the hero and be by your side while you fight against evil."

I suddenly felt foolish but he was still smiling at me. "I want to make history," I repeated. "I want to be someone you can be proud of."

He laughed at me and then I really feel foolish. "Ames," he said with a wink, "you already have made history. You already are a hero. Stop second guessing yourself." He extended his hand to me after standing. "Let's go eat some chili dogs in celebration."

The way he looked at me made me feel like I could do anything. Like I could be anything. His smile was catching and I could not help but laugh as I grabbed his hand, leading him into the kitchen.

I made a mental promise to myself to become better. For him and for me.