Hey readers, I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I took November off to do NaNoWriMo, and then I lost the outline for the story from the old version of it. I'm back now, but updates might slow down for awhile while I'm trying to get the outline back. Thanks for being patient, and enjoy the next chapter.
Chapter 11-
Niki, Sara, and Marissa were seated together at a tiny round table in the corner of Pizza Shack, Rosebud's local pizza place, which was an old, shabby brown shack that used to be Nook's Cranny. Nook's two nephews, Timmy and Tommy, had recently taken up pizza making, and since the family business had already been remodeled into Nookington's, their uncle was surprisingly kind enough to set up his old store as a pizza shop for the boys to use to create their own little business. The shack had metal round tables and stools scattered throughout the restaurant, as well as a long, narrow counter, half it taken up by the cash register and the other half used as more places for people to eat. The human girls had just been served a medium-sized pepperoni pizza, and they begun to chow down, the soles of their feet digging into the shanty flooring, while plaster covered the walls.
"I heard there are a lot of people in the talent show this year," Sara said between bites of her slice. "Between Chrissy and her crew, another girl band, and some diva singer, there's a lot of competition."
"Don't worry, we got this!" Niki exclaimed boastfully as she bit into her pizza. "And besides, even if we don't win, it'll still be fun, right? The way I see it, it would only suck if Chrissy and her friends won and rubbed it in our faces for the rest of the year."
"That you are right about," Sara responded, nodding as she took a quick sip of iced tea. "But winning might not be so easy. We'd have to really "wow" the judges."
"That's not so hard," Marissa chimed in, finally speaking up. "All you really have to do is hit all the right notes, smile at the judges, and connect with the audience. If you can do all of that, then there's nothing to it."
"I've never thought of it as that easy," Sara said, glancing over at Marissa while absorbing the thought. "But now that I think about it, I suppose that's true." Marissa shrugged and finished devouring her crust, before grabbing her second slice. Niki and Sara followed suit, while Sara glanced out the window. Her eyes widened with intrigue when she saw a familiar figure walking through town with an unfamiliar figure.
"Hey, isn't that Kitty?" Sara asked, putting down her pizza and staring through the smudged, slightly tinted glass. At the sound of her friend's name, Niki immediately whirled around in her silver, metal swivel stool to take a look, the end of her crust loosely hanging out of her mouth. Marissa too followed Sara's gaze, and saw a vague-looking cat and an all-too familiar hedgehog. Shadow! Marissa's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, and her face blanked in clear surprise.
"Oh my God, it is Kitty!" Niki replied, her mouth slightly dropping open. "But who's that hedgehog she's with?"
"I think that guy's in my gym class," Sara answered with a mix of curiosity and suspicion. "I wonder what he's doing with her."
"Me too," Niki agreed, hastily gulping down the last of her water. "She didn't tell us she was hanging out with anyone new. Weird…" Marissa's mind became overflowed with thoughts, mostly of astonishment and skepticism, as she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Shadow! What are you doing? And you told ME that I need to focus on the mission? What's going on? Luckily though, she managed to wipe off her shocked expression right before her companions turned back around, oblivious to the fact that Marissa was practically reeling.
"Eh, whatever," Sara said, gently nudging her plate towards the center of the table. "We'll just ask her about it later. So, who wants to go see a movie?"
"I do!" Niki quickly replied, leaping out of her seat. "I was thinking we go see either Cary's Tragic Life or Mary-Sue's Diary."
"Ooh, Mary-Sue's Diary for sure," Sara mused while Marissa picked up the money everyone laid on the table and paid Tommy for their dinner. "I've been dying to see that. What do you think, Marissa?"
"Eh, whatever you guys want, I'm down for," Marissa answered nonchalantly, as the girls headed out of the shack.
"Alright, Mary-Sue's Diary it is!" Niki said decidedly. "Let's go!" The girls spent the next ten minutes walking through the northern half of Rosebud, before hopping on a bus to the city to get to the Marquee.
Meanwhile, Shadow and Kitty were entering the Marquee, walking along the fuzzy red carpet when Shadow handed two movie tickets over to one of the ticket takers that appeared to be shrouded by the booth they were sitting at, while Kitty approached the animal behind the other counter to buy a bucket of popcorn.
"Thank you, enjoy the movie," the mysterious ticket taker said to them, returning two ticket stubs to the hedgehog. Shadow silently nodded and led Kitty into the first theater on the left.
"You're taking me to see Sailor Moon: The Movie?" Kitty gasped, peeking at the flimsy little ticket stubs in Shadow's hand. "I love Sailor Moon! How did you know?" Shadow paused as he glanced down at Kitty's shirt, a white t-shirt with Sailor Moon on it, waving and striking a saluting pose; a pattern that Kitty made during the sewing unit of home economics.
"I…had a feeling," Shadow answered with a cheeky grin. "You know, a cool guy's intuition."
"Cool guy's intuition? Really?" Kitty asked sarcastically, and the two laughed as they took their seats in the center row of the theater. "That sure is interesting." Once the pair was settled into their thick-cushions chairs, the lights went out, and the previews quickly rolled by, before the movie started. Throughout the film, Shadow and Kitty poked each other's hands when they met in the popcorn bucket, flicked kernels of popcorn at each other, and cheer on the title character as she fights and defeats an energy-sucking monster, the latter being mostly Kitty while Shadow stifled a chuckle. The movie ends an hour later, and the duo are exiting the theater, when Kitty stops and gapes in shock when she sees Niki, Sara, and Marissa walking into a theater on the right. Shadow seemed to have noticed them as well, for he quickened his leisured pace to allow the two to slip out of the Marquee unnoticed.
"Right on time," Shadow said, a little more to himself as they stepped off the bus, returning to Rosebud.
"Right on time for what?" Kitty asked, tilting her head. "What are we doing?"
"The sun's about to set," Shadow told Kitty, pointing to the horizon, the sun's outer rays of red and orange washing over the sky's blue hue. "It's a lot nicer to watch on the beach. You'll see." Shadow took Kitty's hand, before dashing off at supersonic speed. Afraid to fall and be left behind, Kitty grasped tightly onto Shadow's hand and looked down as she watched her feet running alongside Shadow, realizing that she was able to keep up with him despite the speed. She blinked a few times, and they arrived at the beach, right as the sun was slowly starting to descend. The sky above had turned a light orange, while the atmosphere backing the sun below became a mixture of orange, yellow, pink, purple, and a hint of red.
"Oh, wow," Kitty mused, breathlessly, her eyes glued dreamily to the sunset. "It's beautiful…" The ocean glistened in the sun's radiance, as the smallest waves rippled onto the shore while the sun went down, disappearing behind the horizon. After the sun was gone for the day, the sky retained its orange shade for a few minutes, before starting to turn black for the night. "That was amazing," Kitty gushed, leaning her head back to look up at the sky. "The beach made it even prettier."
"I know," Shadow said with a short sigh. "It's even nicer watching it with someone else, so I thought that you would like to see it."
"Aw, thank you," Kitty responded shyly, smiling to herself, heat rising to her cheeks. "I did like it." Shadow and Kitty faced each other and locked eyes, both remaining still for what could have been all night. Shadow readied himself to say something, but he paused when he heard a faint beeping noise, the sound that his communicator makes when he's about to receive a message.
"Shadow? What are you doing?" Eggman's voice hissed from the communicator. "Get back here this instant! I need to discuss some information and details with you before Friday!" Shadow quickly pressed his hand against the miniscule speaker to muffle Eggman's voice, hoping Kitty wouldn't notice. Fortunately, Kitty seemed to be lost in her own thoughts, an absent-minded expression crossing her face as she looked around her.
"Hey, um, Kitty," Shadow said, and she whirled her head around, her attention hastily returning to him. "I'm afraid I have to get going now, but I had a nice time with you."
"Oh! Um," Kitty replied, brushing off her thoughts for now. "Alright, that's fine. I should probably be getting home anyway. I had fun hanging out with you though, thanks."
"No problem," Shadow responded, as they began walking off the beach. "Come on, I'll take you home if you want." Kitty smiled and nodded, as she led Shadow a few yards above the beach to a green one-story abode with a purple roof that she called home. The brown cat started for the green wooden door, before stopping to glance back at Shadow.
"Goodbye Shadow," she said, rather softly. "Thanks again."
"Goodbye, Kitty," the hedgehog replied, turning to go. "'I'll see you soon." Kitty unlocked the door and disappeared inside her house, and Shadow dashed off into the night.