Strawberry Shortcake ran and ran. Her legs started to ache, but she didn't let it bother her. Every once in a while, she'd stop to take a sip of her juice, but never to rest her legs. The sky being as dark as it was made her antsy, and she felt that she needed to get home. Not even Custard was this desperate to find their house.
"Whoa, Strawberry," she said, "slow down! I want to find our house as much as you do, but this is insane!"
Strawberry did not reply. She just kept running, while Custard prayed for dear life. Eventually, the two passed a house that looked like a lemon meringue pie. Outside of that house was a blonde girl, looking up at the stars. Strawberry paid no attention to her, but when the blonde heard the sound of running feet and wagon wheels across the dirt road, she instantly turned towards the sound. That's where she saw Strawberry Shortcake and Custard. She gasped loudly, which caused Strawberry to stop in her tracks. When Strawberry turned around, she saw the blonde girl running towards her.
"Oh my!" the blonde said worriedly.
"What's the matter?" Strawberry asked.
"Your outfit," the blonde girl said, "it's ruined!"
Strawberry Shortcake looked down at her clothes. Her shirt, jacket, and jeans were all completely covered in dirt. Somehow, a little bit of red icing had stained Strawberry's shirt as well. She certainly needed a change of clothes.
"Ruined?" Strawberry said, "I can change later!"
"'Later' isn't good enough," replied the blonde, "come inside, I'll get you fixed right up."
"Um, alright." Strawberry nervously nodded.
The blonde took Strawberry Shortcake's hand and rushed her inside her house. Custard, noticing that Strawberry had been dragged off without her, decided to stay in the wagon and get some much-needed sleep. She laid down in the wagon and closed her eyes.
When the blonde girl opened the door, Strawberry saw several mirrors and what appeared to be fitting rooms. On the wall was a clock that looked like a lemon slice. She looked around for a little bit in amazement.
"Pardon me," the blonde girl said, "I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Lemon Meringue, style extraordinaire. What's your name?"
"I'm Strawberry Shortcake!" she exclaimed, "it's berry nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you too!" Lemon replied.
Strawberry Shortcake offered her hand to Lemon Meringue for a handshake, but Lemon didn't take it. She moved her hand away from Strawberry.
"Not until after you've changed out of that," Lemon said.
"I have some clothes in my wagon!" Strawberry replied.
"Oh, you do?" Lemon asked.
"I sure do!"
"Anything... particularly nice?"
"No, not really. Why?"
"The party tonight, of course! Everyone's going, and you're going to need a nice dress."
Strawberry sheepishly smiled and looked away. The wagon she brought along with her contained anything that she felt was necessary. The clothes she brought were casual: shirts, pants, skirts, jackets, shoes, but she didn't bring any dresses with her. She had left them all at her old home in Big Apple City. She didn't expect that she'd need them.
"Psst." Lemon Meringue tapped on Strawberry's shoulder.
"What is it?" Strawberry said as she turned around.
"What's up?" Lemon asked.
"I used to have a ton of dresses. Thing is, I left them all at home."
"Home? Home where? I don't believe we've met before..."
"Big Apple City."
Strawberry Shortcake sighed. She didn't like to think about Big Apple City. She moved there when she was little, and she had been dying to leave for as long as she could remember. She knew that moving for the first time would be tough, but she didn't expect it to be as tough as it was. The only thing tougher than moving itself, however, was getting through every day after the move. Every morning, she woke up to the smell of smog. To her, it smelled like death. The sky was always a dreary shade of gray during the day and pitch black at night. Normally, rainy days were fun, but not in Big Apple City. The raindrops just hit the pavement. Strawberry used to love jumping in puddles, but she stopped doing it because of the nasty glares she got from people. Strawberry always tried her best to be friendly. She was always known for her bright smile and positive attitude, but the people in Big Apple City nearly destroyed her can-do attitude. Never a smile, never a laugh, never a "hello," never a "how are you," never a "please" or a "thank you," just a cold glare from nearly everyone she met. Eventually, her bright smile turned into a fake one, and the sound of her laughter became forced. If
Just thinking about that miserable place made Strawberry's mood go sour. She still didn't face Lemon Meringue; she didn't want her new friend to see her like this, especially not as a first impression. Her fake smile turned into a frown. She closed her eyes, walked away from Lemon, and drifted off into a world of negative emotions. Lemon started to worry. She walked up to Strawberry and tapped her on the shoulder again.
"Are you OK?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Strawberry said as she turned around.
"You certainly don't sound fine," Lemon replied.
Strawberry sighed. She didn't enjoy lying to others, even if it was a lie as simple as telling someone she was alright when in reality, she was anything but. In her mind, the only option was to let Lemon Meringue know about her situation.
"Actually, I'm not fine," she said.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Lemon asked.
"Well," Strawberry began, "if talking about it will get it off my mind, then sure."
Strawberry Shortcake turned around to look at Lemon Meringue. Strawberry sighed again, but Lemon put her hand on Strawberry's shoulder. She smiled at her new friend. Lemon had no idea how reassuring that hand was, and she certainly had no clue how much Strawberry needed someone to talk to.
"So," Lemon said, "what's on your mind?"
"Big Apple City," Strawberry answered.
"Oh," Lemon replied, "what about Big Apple City?"
"I used to live there. It... wasn't a fun time for me. Everything was so dreary and everyone was so nasty to me. When I got the chance to leave the city, I took it. Moving out was the best day of my life."
"I assume you don't like to think about Big Apple City?"
"I sure don't. I was hoping I wouldn't have to mention it all now that I'm here in Strawberry Stream."
"I see," Lemon said as she slowly nodded her head.
Then, Strawberry Shortcake smiled at Lemon Meringue. This was a genuine smile, which she had been giving to others all day, but this time, she was proud of herself for being able to do it. Just getting that off of her chest to someone made things much better.
"Let's go sit down somewhere," Lemon suggested.
"Good idea," Strawberry replied.
Lemon walked Strawberry to one of the mirrors. There was a chair in front of this mirror, which Strawberry sat down in. Lemon, however, did not sit down. She stood behind Strawberry and picked up her long, red hair. She then picked up a hairbrush and started brushing Strawberry's hair.
"Hey, what's going on?" Strawberry said.
"I'm brushing your hair," Lemon replied.
"Did it get tangled?" Strawberry asked.
"Well, you certainly wouldn't want your hair to be knotty if you're going to the party tonight."
"But I'm not sure if I can go to the party tonight!"
"Why not?"
"I have nothing nice to wear, for starters."
"Oh, I can fix that. Your name is Strawberry, right?"
"Sure is!"
Lemon Meringue finished brushing Strawberry Shortcake's hair and started walking off. Strawberry stood up and followed Lemon. Lemon stopped in front of a curtain, and when she opened this curtain, Strawberry saw a bunch of dresses in all sorts of colors. Some were sparkly, others were covered in ribbons. A couple had poofy sleeves, while others were covered in embroidery. Strawberry's eyes lit up as she saw them.
"Wow!" she exclaimed, "Lemon, where did you get all these dresses from?"
"Oh," Lemon explained, "I actually made all of these myself!"
"You did?" Strawberry asked.
"Sure did! I make dresses in my spare time."
"Lemon, these look amazing!"
"Why, thank you! Now, why don't you go pick one out?"
"Wait, you want me to try one of them on?"
"Of course! If you like what you see, just put it on!"
Strawberry Shortcake started looking at all of the dresses, walking around Lemon's house. She thought all of them were gorgeous, but none of them really caught her eye at first. Then, she noticed a mannequin wearing a sparkly, pale pink dress. She stopped to admire it some more. The dress had poofy sleeves that resembled strawberries. On the bodice of the dress was a shiny pink gem, brighter in color than the dress itself, also resembling a strawberry. To Strawberry Shortcake, this dress was calling her name.
"This one," she said.
Lemon Meringue rushed over and took the dress off the mannequin. She then handed it to Strawberry Shortcake, who rushed to a fitting room with the dress in her hands. Lemon stood outside of the fitting room and waited for Strawberry to change. She whistled as she waited, when suddenly, she heard the sound of a fitting room door opening. Lemon looked up and saw Strawberry in the dress. She held the clothes she came in in her hands, but she was still wearing her sunhat with the dress.
"Wow!" Lemon exclaimed, "Strawberry, you look like a princess in that!"
"I certainly feel like one!" Strawberry added.
"Well," Lemon said, "since you like it so much, it's yours now! Keep it!"
"Do you... really mean it?"
"Of course I do! You said you left all your dresses in Big Apple City, so letting you keep this one is the least I could do!"
"Oh, Lemon Meringue, thank you berry much!"
"Oh, of course!"
Strawberry Shortcake and Lemon Meringue giggled for a little while, when suddenly, Lemon disappeared somewhere. Strawberry started to run after her, but Lemon came back, holding a fancy piece of paper. She handed it to Strawberry.
"Take this," Lemon said.
"What is it?" Strawberry asked.
"It's an invitation to the party," Lemon replied, "just in case."
"Oh, thank you Lemon Meringue!"
"No problem!"
Lemon Meringue looked at the lemon-shaped clock on her wall. It was exactly nine o'clock. She started to panic.
"Oh my!" she said.
"What's wrong, Lemon?" Strawberry asked.
"You should get on your way, the party's gonna start soon!" Lemon explained.
Strawberry then took a look at the clock for herself.
"Oh," she began, "I probably should be on my way! Thank you for the dress, Lemon Meringue!"
"You're very welcome!" Lemon replied, "I'll see you later!"
"See you!" Strawberry said.
Strawberry Shortcake rushed out the door. She ran to the wagon and put her clothes inside. Custard was still fast asleep. Strawberry started walking at a brisk pace: fast enough to make it to her home before at least midnight in her mind, but slow enough to let Custard sleep.