To warn you...I cried when I wrote this...I hate myself. The whole time I was like, "NIKKI OH MY GOD WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? BAD NIKKI! NICKOLE! THAT'S NOT GOOD!" But...here you are...
"I don't want you to go," the Once-ler says to me, wrapping his arms tight around my waist. "You aren't allowed to."
"Once," I laugh, "you're insane." I grab his hands and try to pry them off, but he shakes his head and refuses to let me.
"I just told you," he says, " you can't go." I laugh again and glance over my shoulder at him. We're sitting down by the river, me on his lap and his arms still tight around my waist. He leans in and lightly kisses my cheek.
Before you ask, no, nothing happened. After the Lorax walked in, we realized how crazy we were and just dropped the subject entirely. We'll do it when we married. And we will get married. I look down at my ring. He promised we would.
"I have to," I say, leaning my head on his shoulder. "I have a huge performance in three weeks." Lolly had suggested I entered in the town's local theater. So I did. So far, I've been Leisl in The Sound of Music, the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz, and countless background singers and dancers. I was soon to be Mrs. Hannigan in Annie.
"Are you sure?" he asks, hugging me tighter. I nod.
"I'm sure." Something dawns on me. "Oh! I almost forgot!" I wiggle free from his grasp and run inside, shouting, "Come on!"
"Why?" he asks once he's reached the door. I'm digging through my bag. "What are you looking for?"
"This!" I say, victoriously holding up an old tape. "Mom found it in the attack a few weeks ago." I grab his hand and pull him over to the TV, sitting on the floor and yanking him down beside me. I shove the tape in and lean comfortably on his shoulder.
"What is-?" he begins, but then the video starts.
"Say hi, Sally and Oncie!" my mother's voice crackles from it. Two little kids, about two or three, are sitting on the chairs in my kitchen, covered head to toe in peanut butter.
"Are we in twubble?" little Oncie asks, his blue eyes wide as he wipes peanut butter off his cheek.
"No," my father laughs, his hand reaching out and ruffling my hair. "But we do need more peanut butter."
"Why don't you tell everyone what you did?"
my mother says, smothering laughter. I look up, my chubby cheeks covered in peanut butter.
"We painted each udder wiff peanut butter," I say proudly.
"Just each other?" Daddy asks.
"No," Oncie says, pointing. The camera follows his point to the wall, which is also covered in peanut butter. The camera turns back on us.
"Two years old and already troublemakers!" Mom laughs.
"No, Allulah, don't eat that!" my dad says. "It's dirty!" My mother laughs again and the camera shuts off. I look at Oncie and smile.
"That's what I wanted to show you," I say. He shakes his head and smiles.
"We were crazy little kids, weren't we?" he asks, still smiling. I nod.
"Not much has changed." I smile and he smiles back.
"I love you, Sal."
"I love you too. I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too."
"You're coming for graduation, right?" I ask. He nods.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," he promises.
~!~!~!~
"Pinwheel!" Yo-Yo barges into my bedroom and I turn and smile at her.
"Hey, Yo-Yo!" I say, smiling widely. "I missed you."
"Of course you did. Guess what!"
I roll my eyes. "What?"
"We have a hot new kid in town, and he's in our grade!"
"What's his name?" I ask boredly.
"Sexy."
I raise my eyebrows. "Sexy?"
"Well, that's what I call him..." She shrugs.
"To his face?" I ask in amazement.
"I've only ever talked to him once..." She shrugs again. "I asked what grade he was in."
"Did you catch his real name?" I ask.
"Leron."
"Leron?" I repeat. She nods. "Oh...okay." I sit down on my bed and look around my room. "I miss him already."
"Sure." She rolls her eyes.
"But I'll see him in a few months," I say, more to myself than to her. "He'll be at graduation."
~!~Graduation~!~
"Do you see him?" I anxiously ask Allulah, straightening my cap. She peeks out through the curtains again.
"No..." She glanced around. "But I might be overlooking him."
"I'm hoping you are," I say, twisting my hands together. I bite the inside of my cheek slightly. "He promised he'd be here."
"He probably is," Allulah says reassuringly. "There's hundreds of people in the crowd. I'm overlooking him." I nod and scratch the back of my neck where the tag it. It's been bugging me all morning.
"Yeah, probably." I turn around and smile at Yo-Yo, who's talking to her boyfriend, Leron. Yes, she calls him Sexy to his face, and he doesn't argue. How she ever got him to go out with her in the first place, I don't know, but he fell for her.
"He's gotta be here," my sister continues. "You know he will."
"I know." I nod. "It's not like him to break a promise."
~!~Oncie's POV~!~
"What day is it?" I groggily ask my mother as I walk out of my bedroom, rubbing my eyes sleepily. She glances at the calendar on the wall behind her.
"June fourth," she answers, turning back to the computer she's typing at. I frown.
"I had something to do today," I mumble. "What was it..." I lean on her desk, pinching the bridge of my nose and trying my best to remember. "God, what was it...it was big..." I shake my head. "If it's important, I'll remember." I turn around and walk to the kitchen, still in my bathrobe and pajamas. I open the fridge and reach my hand in to grab the milk when it hits me.
"Oh, shit!" I say aloud, my jaw dropping. "Graduation!" I look at the clock. "And it starts in half an hour!" I pinch the bridge of my nose again. "Dammit!" I turn on my heels and run back to my room, about to open the door when Uncle Ubb literally pops up out of nowhere. "Move!"
"No siree!" he happily cries. "We have to get you fitted for your new suits!"
"Uncle Ubb," I groan, rolling my eyes, "I have something way more important to do!"
"No siree!" he says again, shoving on my stomach to get me to go in the other direction. He's small, but stronger than you'd think for a man of his size, and he ends up pushing me a few feet back. "Come on!"
"No!" I snap, grabbing him under his arms and lifting him off his feet, plopping him down on my mother's desk. I take a step towards my room, but my brothers suddenly grab my arms, causing me to yelp with surprise. "Let go!"
"No!" Chet yells. They never quite got the hang of "indoor voices".
"Yes!" I yell back. "Let me go!"
"No!" Bret repeats his twin brother. After a lot of struggling, they get me into the desired room, where I'm sat down on an uncomfortable chair.
"Do you have any idea what day it is?" I snap at them.
"Its Independence Day, right?" Bret asks. I roll my eyes.
"That's July Fourth, idiot."
"Then you shouldn't care what day it is."
I groan and roll my eyes before some lady comes in with measuring tape around her neck. "You're Mr. Once-ler?" she asks, looking at me. I nod. "Stand up, Mr. Once-ler." I sigh and do as she says. I'll call Sally later and beg for forgiveness.
~!~Sally's POV~!~
"He..." I wipe my nose on my sleeve. "He d-didn't come..." A single tear streaks down my face and Allulah wraps her arms around me, hugging me tight. "I...I c-can't b-believe..."
"Shh," Allulah says comfortingly, hugging me tight. "Shh. I'm here." I sniffle and bury my face into her shoulder.
"B-but he isn't..."
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