Chapter Nine: Pet shopping with Ninjas!

I drummed my fingers on the handles of my motorcycle, waiting for the ninja to show up. Today was the day… I was getting a pet of my very own! A smile tugged at the corner of my lips, right before the ninjas tackled me.

"Let's get you a pet! This is so exciting!" Wow. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that they were more excited about this than me.

Shaking my head at their enthusiasm, I stood up, stretching backwards. "Come on…let's go guys."

I led the way into the PetSmart, snagging a cart for all the stuff I was about to buy. This was going to be fun. It didn't take long to find where the birds were kept. Scanning the selection, I noticed a pretty pale blue bird with a white stripe fluttering about the place.

An employee walked over to assist us, shooting Lloyd a death glare. Interestingly enough, he ignored it in favor of rambling on about facts that I didn't even know about the types of birds that the store had. "Can I help you?"

"Yes…I'm looking to buy a pet. My first pet. Anyway I can see about a bird?" I crossed my fingers, hoping that my mother's worry about me being too jumpy for a bird would prove false.

The lady smiled warmly at me, before shooting Lloyd another death glare and quickly turned to call someone over. "Susan! Someone wants to look at the birds!"

Another employee, a lady that looked to be slightly older than the first walked over to us. "Right which one of you wanted to look at the birds?"

"That would be me." I pushed a loose strand of brown hair back vaguely wondering why I bothered to tie it back. It was too short to stay in a ponytail.

Susan nodded as she glanced between me and the birds. "Have you ever had a pet before?"

I winced as I fingered my purse. "Not exactly. My parents had a few pets when I was growing up…"

"Any of them birds?" I quickly shook my head, feeling my heart clench tightly. Maybe I was too jumpy for this kind of pet… She hummed to herself as she moved to the back of the cage. "Come here and let me show you something about having a bird." She pulled open a door, and reached into the cage…and every single bird darted out of reach. "Not only that, but until you train it, birds will bite. And their beaks are sharp. Think you can hold one without letting go when it bites?"

I flinched at that, realizing that Mom had a point…I was too jumpy for that kind of pet. "What do you recommend for a first pet?"

"Personally? I'll go for a guinea pig." She moved to the aisle next door, where several guinea pigs were located. Opening one of the cages, she chased a pretty white with black and brown spots guinea pig around the place before finally catching it. Pulling it out, she held it out for us to stroke. My fingers skimmed across the soft fur, a small smile flickering across my face. "Well?"

"I think this one will do." I glanced over at the others, all of whom nodded in agreement.

"Sweet. Do you want to look at the others or take this one home?" Susan nodded to the other guinea pig that shared the cage with the little fellow.

I glanced between the two, noting how prettier this one was to the other. "I'll take this one."

"Good choice. I'll leave you to get the supplies while I'll get you a box and some paperwork for you to fill out." Susan left us alone.

I turned the cart down the aisle, making a mental list of things that I needed. First stop…the cage. Kai darted past me, reaching up to pull down a gray and blue guinea pig cage down. "Hey….Lloyd, I was wondering…why wasn't Susan completely rude to you? I mean, she didn't exactly acknowledge you either, but she wasn't acting like she expected you to rob her blind or something."

Lloyd shrugged as he grabbed a few toys to place in the cart. "Oh that…Susan and I volunteer at the same pet shelter every Saturday. She's quite nice actually."

I fought the urge to raise an eyebrow up at him. Pausing next to the bedding, I grabbed a bag of white and pink bedding, before moving onto the hay. After grabbing a bag of that, I snagged a bag of food. The bag I grabbed mentioned that it had both seeds and dried fruits in there, not just pellets. That'll be fun for my new pet.

"What are you going to name it?" Zane asked as he placed a grayish in color tree stump shaped hideout inside the cart.

"Umm…I don't know yet. Guess it depends on the gender." I really don't like guys with girl names and vice versa. It just doesn't make sense to me.

Susan came back. Carrying a white cardboard pet carrier and a clipboard with a pen and paper. "Here you go. I'll just hand the little guy over to Lloyd. He's great with animals." She handed the box to him. "Do you have a parent to fill out the information?"

"I'm a legal adult." I interjected quickly, a brief flash of annoyance flaring up. I really should be used to people thinking that I'm younger than what I am.

"Sweet. I'll leave everything up to you then." She then left us.

I turned to stare at Lloyd. "Saturday at a pet shelter uh?" I began to scribble out my address for this universe, and my phone number. Once the paper was completely filled, I signed it. "Right…unless you can think of something else we need. I think that is everything."

"Let's go checkout! And get him settled in your apartment." They ran to the front.

I shook my head at them, before following them over. Susan somehow ended up being our cash register. After scanning everything in, and working with my paperwork, she smiled at me. "That'll be two hundred and twenty-five dollars."

I winced as I pulled out my card, sticking it in quickly. Pets were spendy. "Thank you. Oh! Before I forget, is it a boy or a girl?"

"It's a boy. Enjoy your new pet. I'll see you Saturday Lloyd." She waved us off, as if there was nothing criminal about associating with us.

I nudged Lloyd playfully as we headed out of there. "You know? I think I like her."

Lloyd rolled his eyes at us, as if we were the crazy ones. "Yeah…she's nice compared to most folks."

A/N: Done! And yes! I got a pet…guinea pig. Yeah…to jumpy for a bird and Dad is positive that bunnies are not indoor pets. (My research says otherwise.) So…I now have a guinea pig of my own. So far… he doesn't like his nails being clipped. Or being picked up, BUT he likes to cuddle. He really likes his hay… and his tree trunk that I did get him. He also doesn't like fresh bananas but does like fresh watermelon. I bought him watermelon treats Tuesday to see if he'll like those. Have not opened them yet.

Also…who likes Susan and her Lloyd is nice attitude?

Review!

SkyTalon