Original post date: 17/09/2012 | Edited post date: 25/08/2017
A/C: No major changes with this one, just dialogue and characterisation: in which Silver burns Sally's hair (metaphorically), Sonic is incredibly proud of himself for coming up with "Ames" and Sally and Amy go to war.
Thank you to: TheBlueAlienRobotZombie, GOWERNCMW, ProwerPower85, Fables-and-FairyTale, Person46, Lilovestails, Blazing-SongBird, CharleytheTitan, Savvy0417, RealDove-Staar, trashings and Born iNSaNiTY!
TheBlueAlienRobotZombie - Thank you ever so much! :D
GOWERNCMW - Things are getting feisty between them all! And I'm so glad that this chapter made you laugh; they do go a liiiiiiittle bit over the top with their feelings xD Poor ol' Shadow, he was doing a nice thing and just gets punished for it!
ProwerPower85 - Let the prank war commence! ;D Thank you!
Fables-and-FairyTale - *fangirls* Yay! That is awesome to hear! Thank you so much!
Person46 - Aww, thank you very much! Hehe, tensions are high and the drama is starting to flood through! ;D Ah, I definitely agree with you there - Shadow is hot as hell and a complete badass! *swoons*
Lilovestails - Thank you so freakin' much! That is so sweet and absolutely made my day! :') I'm so glad! Thank you!
Blazing-SongBird - I can tell, haha! Perhaps not cloaked in mystery, but oh well! ;'D And thank you for being so kind! Ah, yes, I suppose this was a bit of a shorter chapter - the next one should be longer! :D
CharleytheTitan - My absolute pleasure! ;D Yeaaaaaaaah! SonAmyShad triangle time, WOO! xD Thank you for all of your heart-warming support :'3
Savvy0417 - Thank you very much! ^w^
RealDove-Staar - I'm so glad, thank you! Hahaha, oh gosh, your school is riddled with drama (that cracked me up - thankfully, less animals! X'D)!
trashings - Gah, that is awesome because I totally know the feeling! Helpful tip - muffle your face with the duvet/sheets! Then all your squeals will be handily quiet! xD I'm so glad you're having that reaction and staying up so late to read it - thank you!
Born iNSaNiTY - Thank you ever so much! :'3
Chapter Eight - What Do I Do With a Boy Like Sonic?
(...Amy's P.O.V...)
I had to admit, a laugh passed over my lips when I saw Sally later that week. Silver and Knuckles had somehow - I decided not to ask - managed to tamper with her hair gel (they later told me they had mixed olive oil in). Now, instead of red, radiant, ravishing hair, it had turned into a massive explosion of stickiness. Sally's hair stuck up all over the place and it was a darker shade of red, verging on brown. It made her look weirdly plain and kinda amusing.
"It doesn't look that bad, honestly!" Molly the Raccoon was trying to soothe her. But it was a lost cause: Sally was red with rage. They were lingering at their lockers, when Silver and I had the misfortune of needing to go past them.
"It's that bitch, Amy Rose," Sally muttered. She slammed her locker door so hard that it rattled. I flinched, repeating a mantra of I must hold my head up high. But when her eyes fell on me, I felt all my confidence shatter, "Oh, look, it's the hedgehog that spikes girls' hair gel,"
"Nice hair style, Sal! Where'd you get it? I think they're asking for models at the rubbish dump," Silver called, with a smirk etched on his face.
"You'll pay for this. Trust me. You'll regret it for years to come," I didn't know how but, even whilst humiliated, Sally managed to send a spark of fear through me. She stormed off, with her minions at her heels.
"Right," I mumbled.
"Don't worry, Amy. That was a Level One park. 'Plenty more where that came from!" Silver reassured me, heading towards our class. I nodded and followed after him, but there was a worried pit in my stomach. If that was Level One, then what was Level Ten?
"Amy?"
I looked up and my heart froze over. Sonic was standing in front of me, lightly frowning, but he seemed embarrassed rather than anything else.
"Hi, Sonic," I shoved my seat over, giving him more room to sit down. He nodded, gratefully, and took the seat beside me.
"Listen, I wanna say sorry about the other day. I dunno what came over me. It shouldn't have happened. And you definitely shouldn't have had to deal with it," The blue hedgehog looked like he was struggling not to put his head in his hands.
"Hey. Don't worry about it. We all get like that, sometimes," I said with a smile. I tried to keep my cool, but my heart was doing back-flips. It practically exploded when Sonic placed his hand on mine.
"Thanks, Ames. You're a real friend," He returned an easy smile, before removing his hand and twirling a pencil between his fingertips. I tried not to dwell on his distance and instead echoed:
"Ames?"
"Ames," Sonic nodded, as if that was that, but then he broke out in laughter, "Sorry. I just thought of it. I think it's cute. You don't mind, do you?"
"N-Not at all!" Cute? No. No way, "...Is everything okay with you and Shadow now?"
He breathed in, running a hand through his quills. He seemed troubled, "Yeah. We just get like that sometimes. It's kinda just part of our friendship. It's nothing to worry about,"
I wasn't entirely convinced but I didn't want to push it too far, since neither of them seemed too troubled by it. Even if I'd had the courage to ask, there was a prominent cough from the front of the classroom and, as the chatter died down, I suddenly remembered where I was. During Miss Green's explanation of using watercolours correctly, Sonic continued to weave the pencil between his fingers at absent-minded, lightning speed and he looked vaguely amused as I vigilantly took down notes. He only dropped the pencil once, during his incredible display of skill; he only caught me, twice, when I was admiring him.
The lesson passed in no time at all and a part of me wished that I could spend an eternity there, sitting beside Sonic and fizzing when he briefly brushed against me, now and again. I repeatedly cursed the dingy ring of the school bell, which signaled that school was over, and watched Sonic stretch up to slip his bag over his head. My breath hitched: crap, he's really gorgeous.
"You coming with?" He asked, grinning with that oh-so-perfect smile of his, "Or are you planning to sit there all day?"
Shakily, I laughed it off - you have no idea, I'd happily spend a day sitting with you, why are you so unfairly handsome? - and followed him out of the classroom. There was suddenly a distinct lack of conversation, as we passed through the corridors, with merely the brief question of "Need to go to your locker?" to which I replied "No, thanks." (Absolutely riveting.) I squirmed, desperately trying to think of something to say. Why was talking suddenly so difficult?
"So, are you going to refuse to let me walk you home again?" Sonic joked, as we approached the gates again. I vaguely remembered what had happened the last time we were here together, but it became a distant memory as I answered.
"I'm afraid so,"
"Well, in that case, I might as well ask you," He smiled, but it wasn't quite as confident as it usually was. There was something bashful about it.
"What do you want to ask me?" I inquired, with my heart in my mouth and my pulse beating like a drum.
"It's a little embarrassing..." Sonic blushed, just a little, but it completely threw me off and his words suddenly smushed together, "Howwouldyouliketocometominetomorrownight?"
I blinked.
After managing to translate, I wasn't sure what to say. I'd only admit to myself that I'd been hoping that he was going to ask me out, but asking me to his house? To maybe meet his family? That was...the right amount of good, mixed with a slight pinch of weird, but an incredible amount of adorable.
"Umm...Amy?" The blue hedgehog waved his gloved hand in front of my face. I snapped out of my thoughts and was suddenly plugged back into reality, "Listen, don't feel that you have to. I just thought I'd ask, 'cause my family is embarrassingly sociable and my mum's cooking something amazing, apparently, so...!"
"Sonic, I'd love to! Tomorrow, right?" I clasped my hands together with a feeling that was close to being star-struck.
"Great!" Sonic breathed a sigh of relief, miming wiping his forehead, "I was scared you'd laugh in my face!"
"Gee, thanks! I'm hurt!" I pouted, comically, despite giggling.
"Sorry, Ames. I know you wouldn't. Okay, tomorrow! Meet me at your locker, last thing!"
With a slight wave of his hand - something similar to a salute - he sped off and blurred into a flash of blue, as he picked up speed. He soon disappeared out of sight.
Ecstatically, I bit my lip in a grin and clenched my fists, trying to contain a squeal. Spinning on my heel and skipping off down the road, I ignored the strange stares that my goofy smile attracted. Bursting with excitement, I didn't know what to do with my hands, so I wrapped them around my body and squeezed.
Sonic invited me to his house! I squeezed harder.
Unhelpful fantasies swamped my mind, like the cliche love-struck teenager that I was. (Love-struck? When did that happen? It'd all happened so fast...) I imagined his room and what it might look like: painted blue walls, probably, but my mind drew a blank at any other details. I moved on to how the conversation would go, whether he would suddenly surge with confidence, develop a flirtatious lilt to his beautifully smooth tone, step forward and wrap me up in his arms-
My cheeks were hot as I pictured his lips on mine. Just the feeling of Sonic touching my hand had sent sparks flying through my body; simply imagining a kiss had made me overheat. What would an actual kiss be like?
Snap out of it, Amy. He's a crush, that's it. He only likes you as a friend and nothing is going to happen between you two. I mean, look at him. So stop thinking about kissing him. Now.
Despondent, but still giddy, I yanked my phone out of my pocket and clipped my earphones in. Tapping the 'Shuffle' symbol in the music app, I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the beat, as my shoes smacked against concrete.
I tried to hum along, but I became increasingly aware that it was a love song that was playing - of all things! - and my mind was already filling up with recent memories involving blue quills.
Walking with great haste, my hand hovered over the 'Pause' button. But I left it alone and the phone slipped back into my pocket, with guitars filling the air.
The next day felt awkwardly monumental.
I hadn't gone to an extraordinary amount of effort for the date- dinner! Dinner. But I indulged in a spray of perfume, a flick of mascara and curling the ends of my hair.
"School work," I'd said, when my mum asked what I would be doing, after agreeing that yes, I was allowed to spend dinner at Sonic's house, "We're working on a project together, for one of our classes."
She didn't really look like she believed me, but she thankfully didn't say anything other than she hoped that I'd have a good time and reminding me of the consequences of breaking my curfew and giving some veiled lecture about 'staying safe'. I listened and grew redder by the second, hoping that she wouldn't suddenly pull out a pamphlet on teenage pregnancy. Certain careers gave out certain free pranks - like bankers receiving free pens, or sales workers with staff discounts. With a doctor as a parent, we got health-related leaflets from the hospital with pictures on the front that were not U-rated, quite frankly.
In my anticipation to get away from awkward conversations and progress the day further, I ended up arriving at school rather early. Things appeared to be calm and uneventful.
I went to my locker. A wave of confusion washed over me when I saw a crowd of catcalling students huddled in the area. I pushed past them, wondering what they were staring at, and ignored the jeers as they left. I gasped at the spray-painted message on my locker door, trying to fight the tears that were threatening to fall.
"Amy!" I heard Sonic call, who couldn't have caught me at a worse moment, but his voice was a distant sound, "...What's wrong? What are you staring-?"
He stopped, when he saw the message.
Having fun whoring it up, Amy Rose? Try not to catch anything, if you haven't already. And watch out, ladies - she has a thing for spiking girls' hair gel.
Sally had publically declared war.
