Note: I haven't made any kind of announcements or anything for this story, but I am dedicating this chapter to Strife the Dark 152 and Chaotic Hedgehog who both had birthdays recently. Happy belated birthday guys- I love you both! :D
Chaotic hedgehog: Crunchy peanut butter is amazing.
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! :3
I am trying as hard as I can! :P
Yes it does. *pets Shadow*
Shadow: *petted, scoots away*
*sues Chaos* :P
It is an awesome song :D I've been listening to it on repeat.
Pfffft, Robyn is me when it comes to shopping. "Scared, hedgehog?"
*also pets Chaos* It gets worse before it gets better. Wait, I don't think that helps…
Addicted disclaimer: Strife the Dark belongs to Strife the Dark 152.
Chapter Eight
"ROBYN! SONIC IS HERE!" Alustriel called from downstairs.
I slowly opened my eyes. "… Huhh…?"
I saw Chaos sitting on the edge of my bed, still in the shorts and t shirt he had slept in. "Sonic just pulled up. Better get going, sunshine."
It took a few seconds for my brain to process this, and then I was instantly alert. "Shit!"
I practically threw myself out of bed and looked to Chaos frantically. "Can you stall him for like 10 minutes while I shower?"
He sighed and waved a hand at me before leaving the room. Within seconds I was turning the water on for my shower and hopping inside. I washed myself quickly and was out within several minutes. I dried myself off with my favorite blue towel, smoothed my fur down, and got dressed. I decided on my favorite dark blue jeans, a black sweatshirt that said "Violinist: will play for chocolate" in bold white letters, and my TARDIS-blue converse. I put on Sapphira's necklace, grabbed my wallet, and ran downstairs.
"Hey Robyn," Sonic greeted.
"Morning. Sorry for the delay. I kinda ignored my alarm clock," I explained.
"It's all good. Chaos said that you were getting ready," the blue hedgehog smiled.
My red-quilled friend was sitting at the table picking at a blueberry muffin. His mouth was set in a thin line, and it immediately made me worry. Was something wrong? I grabbed a blueberry muffin for myself and tried to lock eyes with Chaos. He gazed back at me and shook his head slightly. It was Chaos talk for "Don't worry about it."
"We better get going. I don't wanna be there all day," Sonic said, thus pulling me from my thoughts.
"Right. Right. Chaos, I'll text you when I'm on my way back. Okay?"
"Sure."
Sneaking a last glance at him over my shoulder, I followed Sonic outside. For late November, the weather was pretty decent outside. A little bit windy, but my phone said that it was only about forty degrees outside with the sun shining above us. I got into the passenger's seat of Sonic's sports car (which was ridiculously fast and suited him perfectly) and we pulled out of the driveway. Zoey waved to me from the living room window, as did Tails and Shadow, and I managed a small wave before they disappeared from view.
"Sleep okay?" Sonic asked.
"Kind of. We went to bed late because Shadow and Chaos were determined to beat each other at Mario Kart."
"Hah. I'd like to take them on sometime. I was king of Mario Kart back home."
"What was Knothole like?" I asked curiously.
"It was quiet. Pretty much a small town. I was born there, raised there, and thought I'd spend the rest of my life there. Then my mom got a new job a few months back up here in Station Square. At first she made my siblings and I stay in Knothole, and she would travel back and forth between here and there. But the drive got to be too much, so one day she bought a house here and we all moved," Sonic said.
"I can't imagine leaving Station Square like that… especially after everything my family has been through. You've got a lot of courage, dude," I said.
He smiled. "Thanks. That means a lot. People used to say that I got it from my dad. He was the bravest man I ever knew."
"I wish I could've gotten to meet him."
"He would've liked you. I know he would've. My mom and my siblings already like you and they haven't even met you yet."
"You talk a lot about me then, huh?" I teased.
He turned a light shade of pink. "Well… yeah… I told them all about my first day and how I hit you in the face with a basketball, and how musically talented you are, and how you have such an awesome brother and awesome sisters…"
I laughed. "I do, don't I?"
He chuckled. "Yep."
"You seriously told them about the basketball incident though?"
"Yeah. My sister picked me up from school that day, and Silver happened to be passing by. He made a comment about it before walking off, so naturally I had to explain to Sonia what happened. Then she made me retell it at dinner."
"Well… at least it made for an interesting first day."
Before he could respond, I pointed at the upcoming traffic light. "Oh, if you turn left here, you can take a short-cut to get to the back entrance of the mall. It's better than getting on the highway because the mall exit there is always under some kind of construction."
"Cool. Thanks."
-XxXxX-
"Well, we've been to JC Penny's, Macy's, Sears, Bath and Body Works… anywhere else you wanna go?" I asked.
"Let's hit the food court before we go anywhere else. I'm starving, and I'm sure you are too since you really didn't get to eat this morning," Sonic answered.
My stomach growled in response. "No complaints here."
Sonic went to the chili dog stand while I decided on some Mexican food. Nothing wrong with a good ol' burrito stuffed with chicken, rice, cheese, and tomatoes. I got a side of chips and salsa, a coke, and a handful of napkins before sitting down at the nearest table. The chili dog stand was two spots away from the Mexican place, so Sonic had no problem spotting me when he had his food.
"Dude. That dog is huge!" I exclaimed as he sat down.
It really was huge. It was about the size of my head, topped with chili and cheese. Beside it sat a bag of plain potato chips and a coke. Sonic chuckled as he picked it up and bit into it. He chewed, swallowed, and grinned at me. "And it's really good."
"I'll take your word for it," I said as I dipped a tortilla chip into my salsa.
My phone suddenly buzzed in my pocket. I tugged it out and glanced at the screen. To my surprise, I had a text from Kelly's friend Xavier. I had met him several times before when I had gone to Angel Island with the echidna family, and we were pretty good friends. He knew he could come to me for anything Kelly-related, so I figured that it was important.
Xavier: Hi Robyn! Hope you're able to get back to me as soon as humanly possible. I have something to ask you.
Robyn: Hey kid! I'm eating right now but I have a little bit of time. What's up?
Xavier: Ooh, food sounds good right now. XD anyway, do you guys have school on Monday?
Robyn: Yeah. We have to go back from Thanksgiving break. Why?
Xavier: Weeeeeeeeeeelllllllll…..
Robyn: Dude. Don't keep me in suspense. :P
Xavier: Haha, sorry. Couldn't resist. So I actually have the next month off of school because of somebody blowing up the science hall and the gym.
Robyn: WHAT!? What the heck happened?!
Xavier: Nobody knows. It happened yesterday, so thankfully no one was there. But now they've gotta redo the hall and the gym which is gonna take about 3 and a half weeks, and by then we're all gonna be on Winter break. So the principal sent out an email this morning saying that we're now on break early. We don't have to be back until after the start of the New Year.
Robyn: I'm glad no one was hurt. But I wish something like that would happen here… xD I feel kinda bad saying that. So what are you gonna do in the mean time?
Xavier: I'm coming up on Monday to see Kelly, that's what.
Robyn: :O DUDE! She'll be so excited to see you! Does she know?
Xavier: Nope. It's gonna be a surprise. Which is why I wanted to ask you if you could get her out of class early? I'll be there roughly around 1:15 with Strife, if you remember him.
Robyn: Strife's coming too!?
Xavier: Yup.
Robyn: Weeeellllllll I probably can, but you better check with Knuckles and Tikal first. Tikal is gonna have to send a note in excusing Kelly from class before I can take over.
Xavier: I've already called her, and she's talked to Knuckles. :D
Robyn: Awesome! Then consider it done! I shall see you Monday at 1:15! Xavier: YAY! See ya then!
"Who on Mobius are you texting?"
I looked up from my phone and grinned. "Xavier."
Sonic cocked his head to the side. "That's Kelly's friend, right? From back home?"
"Yep. He's coming up on Monday to see her, and he wants me to help surprise her!" I squealed.
"That's awesome!" Sonic beamed.
I squirmed with excitement. "Can't believe I'm saying this, but I can't wait for Monday!"
Sonic laughed. "We gotta get through the rest of the weekend first. You ready to go?"
I looked at my empty plate. "Yup."
"Cool. I only wanna make one more stop before we leave. It's already 2 o'clock."
My eyes widened. "It's already 2!? How?"
"Considering the size of the lines in the stores today, yeah it's already 2. Remember we spent an hour in Macy's and in Sears solely because of the lines," Sonic said.
"True… true… I should probably text Chaos to let him know."
"Why?"
"I told him we'd only be a couple hours. See, he and I kind of have a Black Friday tradition and I've already broken it by leaving the house today. We usually stay in and watch movies all day."
"So you went out today instead of staying in. Big deal. You did it to help a friend. Besides, you still have the rest of the day and tomorrow to watch movies."
"True…"
Sonic smiled faintly. "I don't mean to poke fun at your tradition. I really don't."
"I know. And you have a point. I'm sure he'll be fine," I said as I put my phone away.
"Okay. TO THE CANDY SHOP!"
I laughed as I followed him over to the candy shop. The place had every kind of candy imaginable, and then some. My favorites were the giant chocolate balls filled with crushed Oreos, as well as the dark chocolate sea salt caramel teddy bears. I started drooling at the thought of them.
Before we had even stepped in the door, my eyes wandered to the jewelry shop across the way. It wasn't one of those big brand jewelry places, but it did have the same kind of quality in stones. In the window of the shop was a pretty diamond bracelet. The diamonds were in the shape of various music notes, and they were connected by a shiny platinum band. My thoughts about chocolate forgotten, I walked over to look at the bracelet some more. It was absolutely beautiful.
"I see a musical soul has discovered our special bracelet today," a voice said from the doorway.
I turned to look at the sales clerk, a female Husky with a nice uniform. Black pants, a grey dress shirt, and her fur neatly groomed. "How did you know that I was a 'musical soul'?"
"There is an aura about you, my friend. Something about you screams music." She studied me for a moment. "You go to Chaos High, do you not?"
"I-I do. I play violin for the orchestra," I said.
She smiled. "I have heard of you then. Your teacher, Miss Hallins, is prepping you for the show in which you shall play 'Shatter Me'. I am one of the judges for that show."
My eyes widened. "Really?!"
"Yes. I am quite looking forward to it. Now, about this bracelet… it is actually on sale today. I think it would fit you perfectly. Would you like to see?"
I nodded, speechless. The clerk stepped back inside and removed the bracelet from the window display. She motioned for me to come inside, which I did. As soon as I came over to her she unclipped the bracelet and fastened it around my wrist. She was right- it did fit perfectly.
"Wow," I whispered.
"Absolutely beautiful… for you, I will mark it further down in price. You are looking at about $350," the clerk said.
My stomach lurched. "$350, huh…?"
"You are also able to put it on layaway, if you cannot afford it today," she said quickly.
"How much would I have to put down for that?" My thoughts went to my wallet, which was in the pocket of my sweatshirt.
"$25.99."
"Okay… that I can do."
She brought me to the front counter and quickly arranged the transaction. "I will hold this for you until New Year's eve at this discounted price. Once January 1st begins, it will go back up to its sale price of $675."
My heart stopped. "That's the sale price?"
"Yes. And it is only on sale until January 15th. Its original price is $1,130."
Holy shit. "These are quality diamonds, then?"
"Yes. My father, who is the owner of this store, personally mined and inspected them himself."
"Wow… okay… I will do my best to bring in the remaining $324 before New Year's eve then."
"That sounds wonderful. Have a nice day."
I thanked her and left the shop, feeling a mix of emotions. I wanted that bracelet more than anything. However I didn't make that kind of money easily. With my allowance of $20 a week, it would take me roughly four months to earn the $324. By then, it would be back to its sale price.
There's gotta be a way to earn the money. Maybe I should ask Alustriel when I get home, I thought as I walked back into the candy shop.
"There you are. Where did you go?" Sonic asked as he came out of the shop.
"I was looking at this bracelet over there. Sonic, you should see it. It's absolutely gorgeous. The clerk was nice enough to discount it for me, but I had to put it on layaway. I've only got until December 31st to come up with the remaining money or I'll never be able to afford it before someone else buys it," I moaned.
"You really wanted it, huh?" he asked.
I nodded. "I do. When I get home I'm going to ask Alustriel if there's anything I can do to earn some extra money for the next month."
"Well, I wish you luck Robyn. By the way, the candy shop has those teddy bears you like on sale. I think it was five for $10."
"Seriously?! I'm gonna go get me some!"
-XxXxX-
"Thanks for the help today, Robyn. I really appreciate it," Sonic said as we pulled into his driveway.
"You're welcome. Thanks for inviting me," I smiled.
He parked his car and looked into the back seat. "Now I gotta get these to my room without my family seeing them. Would you mind distracting them for me?"
"O-Oh." Meeting Sonic's family… was I ready for that? "Are you sure there's no other way around it?"
He laughed. "Robyn, they won't bite. Trust me, they've been wanting to meet you."
"… Okay. Fine."
"Sweet."
He got out of the car and walked up to the door, motioning for me to follow him. I got out as well and stood behind him awkwardly. He unlocked the door and stepped inside. "I'm home!"
"About time, little bro! I want my rematch at Mario Kart!" someone yelled from the living room.
"Well, I was busy! I had plans! By the way, Manic, there's someone here you have been wanting to meet," Sonic said.
Manic turned around. He was a green hedgehog with messy quills (and when I say messy, I mean MESSY). They stuck up everywhere, even worse than Silver's. He had four piercings in his left ear and was only wearing a pair of black sweatpants. His eyes fixed on me and a grin curled his lips. "You must be Robyn! HEY MA! SONIA! SONIC HAS FINALLY BROUGHT ROBYN OVER!"
"WHAT!?"
Two female hedgehogs immediately scurried out of the kitchen. One had magenta quills and a puff of magenta bangs. She was really pretty- she was wearing a white v-neck shirt and black shorts. Simple, but she made the outfit look classy. She had to be Sonia, Sonic's sister. The other was older, and had purple quills. She was wearing a blue nightgown that came to the floor. She could only be Sonic's mother, Aleena.
She immediately tsked at Sonic. "Why didn't you warn me you were bringing her over? I would have made myself look decent!"
"Mom, you look fine. Right Robyn?" Sonic asked me.
"Uh, yep! I love that color!" I exclaimed.
A smile grew on Aleena's face. She twirled around. "I'm glad you think so."
"So you're the famous Robyn? It's nice to finally meet you." Sonia walked over and took my hand. "My brother never stops talking about you."
"So I've heard," I laughed.
"It's true! From day one, it was 'Robyn this' and 'Robyn that'. He's got the hots for you, it's obvious," Manic said as he stood up.
"Manic!" Aleena scolded.
"What?! You have been saying the same thing, ma!"
"That's not the point! Don't embarrass the poor girl!"
"I think it's a little too late for that," Sonia chuckled.
My face was pretty warm. "Um…"
"Come, sit. Sonia and I just finished making chocolate chip cookies," Aleena said as she led me over to the table.
A quick glance behind me showed that Sonic was taking the opportunity to run his shopping up into his room. His family hadn't noticed his absence; they were too busy fussing over me. I felt slightly uncomfortable by all the attention, but I kept quiet. I wanted to make a good impression. Sonia offered me a warm cookie and I bit into it. "… Oh my god. These are amazing!"
Aleena's smile widened. "It's a family recipe."
"I think my sister Alustriel may have some competition," I laughed.
"Sonic's talked about your siblings. You have two sisters and a brother, right?" Sonia asked.
"Yeah. Tails is younger, and Zoey and Alustriel are older," I explained.
"I've heard quite a bit about Zoey." Manic took a drumstick from his pocket and started a beat on the table. "She drums too, right?"
"Yep."
A smirk crossed his lips. "I'll have to challenge her sometime. See who's better."
"Unless you have been playing since the age of three, she'll wipe the floor with you," I declared.
His smirk grew. "I have been."
"… Well crap."
Sonic came back in, giving me a slight glance to indicate that he had finished. "What?"
"Nothing. Just that Zoey may have a rival in drumming now," I laughed.
"Yeah, well. What can you do?" He smiled. "Ready to go?"
"Does she have to leave?! I've been waiting forever to meet this girl!" Sonia complained.
I laughed again. "I guess I can stay a while longer…"
-XxXxX-
That following Monday, I couldn't stop smiling the entire day. It was going to be awesome to see the look on Kelly's face when she witnessed her surprise. I kept looking at the clock all day, impatiently waiting for 1:15 to roll around. Sonic kept chuckling every time he saw my eyes wander to the wall. He understood my excitement.
Finally, the moment arrived. I nodded to Mr. Turner, who gave me a wink in return (he was well aware of what was going to happen). Then I turned to Kelly and tapped her on the shoulder. "Come with me for a minute."
"Why?" she asked as she looked up from her writing assignment.
"Just follow me. Please. It's important. Bring your stuff with you."
With a confused expression she gathered her things together and stood up, looking to Mr. Turner. The porcupine waved a hand at her, indicating it was okay. The blue echidna looked back at me, trying to ignore several whispers around us about what was going on. I quickly snuck a glance at Sonic and he gave me a thumbs up, mouthing "Good luck" as I led Kelly to the door.
"Where are we going?" Kelly asked as we walked down the hallway.
"You'll see," I answered with a mischievous grin.
Kelly pouted. "Robyn…!"
"I have an emergency, okay? I need you with me."
"Why? What's wrong?"
Crap. I quickly thought of an excuse. "I, uh… jammed the trunk of my car this morning. My violin is in it, and I need it for next period. I asked Mr. Turner if I could try to get it out and if you could come help me."
Kelly shrugged. "Okay… but why didn't you ask one of the guys to help?"
"You ask a lot of questions, missy," I said while I poked her nose.
"You would too if your best friend was acting weird," she protested.
I pretended to be offended. "I am not being weird!"
The blue echidna held her hands up in surrender and went quiet. We went past the main office and out into the parking lot. I quickly scanned the lot for Shadow's car and smiled to myself when I saw it. They were here somewhere. I had given them a description of my own car so they were probably hiding somewhere near it.
"Why do you have that goofy grin on your face?" Kelly asked me.
"My grin is not goofy! I'm just happy. It's a good day," I responded.
"Oooooookay, then."
We arrived at my car and I dug my keys out of my pocket. I stuck the key in the trunk and pretended to have trouble opening it. "Geez. What the hell did I get stuck in here?"
"Hopefully not something important, like your sanity," Kelly quipped.
I slowly turned around and gave her a stare. "You're mean."
"You're being weird."
"Am not!"
"Are too! Here, let me try."
She took over and opened my trunk with ease. "… It's not jammed, you dummy. What gives?"
I smiled at her. She eyed me suspiciously. "Your violin isn't in here either. Why am I out here in the cold?"
Her mouth suddenly dropped open and she pointed an accusing finger at me. "Did Fiona brainwash you and now you're gonna try and kidnap me?!"
"Wow, Kelly. You have quite the imagination. Nice to see that nothing has changed from your letters," a deep voice said with amusement.
My smile got even wider as Kelly's eyes widened. She slowly turned around to see a black hedgehog with pale blue streaks in his quills and green reptilian-like eyes. He wore white gloves with a black circle in the palm, plain black shoes, a dark grey sweatshirt, and jeans. He smiled faintly and spread his arms out for her. "Then again I really shouldn't expect anything less."
"STRIFE! ! !" Kelly squealed as she ran over and tackled him.
With an "Oof", he accepted her hug. "Hey kiddo."
"What are you doing here!?" the echidna asked eagerly.
Strife chuckled. "No reason. I'm not the only one here to see you though."
Kelly blinked. "Who…?"
"KELLY!" a voice suddenly yelled happily.
The poor echidna just about had a heart attack upon hearing that. Her eyes got even wider and she turned to see a yellow-furred cat with blue eyes and leaf-like ears. He was wearing a similar outfit to Strife (which I didn't blame him- it was cold outside) and he had a huge grin on his face. "Kelly, Kelly, Kelly!"
"XAVIER! ! ! ! !" the echidna screamed with glee.
The two practically ran each other over in their attempt at a glomp. I couldn't help but laugh as they hugged each other tight. Xavier managed to lift Kelly off of the ground and swing her around in his arms. Strife crossed his arms, chuckled, and looked at me. "You weren't kidding."
"Pfft, nope. I told you she would be beyond excited," I grinned.
"What are you guys doing here?!" Kelly squealed when Xavier finally put her back down. She started hopping up and down with excitement as she looked to Strife.
"We've got a month off school now because some caudex managed to blow up half the science hall AND the gym. So Xavier messaged me the other day and asked if I wanted to accompany him on a road trip to see you," Strife explained.
Xavier beamed. "I haven't been able to see you since you started senior year, which sucks because I didn't get to celebrate your birthday with you, and I really didn't want to wait for Christmas, so here we are!"
Kelly squealed again and hugged them both. "Does Knuckles know you guys are here?"
"Yep. He said we were welcome to the two guest rooms," Strife grinned.
I seriously thought Kelly was gonna faint right then and there. She was practically bouncing now. "SWEET CHAOS ABOVE, THIS IS AWESOME! ! !"
She looked at me. "But how do you play into this, Robyn?"
"Xavier texted me on Friday when I was at the mall with Sonic, asking if I could help them surprise you. He told me when they were gonna get to town, so I told them to come here and I would get you pulled out of class for the rest of the day," I said with a smile.
"… Does Tikal know about this?"
"Yep. She sent a note in this morning with Knuckles saying that you had some friends from out of town coming to visit so I was to escort you out when the time came."
Kelly looked like she was gonna start crying tears of happiness. Xavier pulled her into a side hug and ruffled her dreads. "Whaddya say, Kels? Let's get out of here! We have a car!"
"Shadow let me borrow his car so we could get back to your place. He's gonna come get it later," Strife explained at the questioning look on Kelly's face.
Kelly pulled a face. "You're friends with Shadow?"
"Don't start. Be glad he's being helpful," I scolded teasingly.
Strife rolled his eyes. "I'm not even gonna ask. Anyway, Kels, there's someone I want you to meet. We have to go get her first."
"Oh! OH! Is it who I think it is?!" she questioned.
"Yep."
"YAY!"
I chuckled and waved. "Have fun guys. I will come by later, if that's all right."
"Sure! It's been a long while since I've seen you. We have some catching up to do," Strife said.
"Awesome. Later!"
The three of them walked off to Shadow's car, talking and laughing. I smiled to myself as I turned around to walk back to class. As I came up to the doors Chaos appeared in front of me. I stopped, surprised. "Hey."
"Where's Kelly?" he asked.
"She just left with Xavier and Strife. They came up to see her," I explained.
He stared at me. "I didn't know that."
"She didn't tell you?"
"No. And apparently neither did you."
His tone made me blink. "Huh?"
"How come you knew about this?"
"Xavier texted me on Friday asking if I could help surprise her…"
He frowned. "Friday… let me guess, that was when you were at Sonic's. Until who knows when."
"No… this was while I was at the mall with him."
He rolled his eyes. I stared at him. "What is your issue…?"
"Gee, I don't know Robyn. Why don't you figure it out?" he snapped.
Whoa. "What did I do?"
"Let me give your brain a reminder: Friday. Tradition. Your promise to text me on your way home, and to only be gone a few hours."
Uh oh. I reflected back to Friday: hanging out with Sonic's family for longer than I intended. Sonic dropping me off sometime after 8pm. With a panic I realized that I never texted Chaos back. I had gone up into my room and had fallen asleep without even thinking about him that night. Sunday Zoey had taken me out to go grocery shopping for the week and I had texted only Xavier and Sonic all day.
My ears flattened. "… Oops."
"Yeah. Oops."
"Chaos, I'm sorry. It wasn't intentional. Sonic's family wanted to meet me, that's all."
He squinted at me for a few minutes, and then turned to walk away. Before he could get far, I grabbed his wrist. "Dude, I said I was sorry."
He mumbled something under his breath before tugging away. As he disappeared around the corner, I stood there speechless.
Why?
Because I was pretty sure he had said "This wasn't the first time".
