Season of the Sharks (part one) by Lindsay Meanie
Shonda ran her gloved hand through her dark pink hair as she stood right next to her boyfriend, Frank, and watched the rest of the Sharks fool around. She'd always been a bit uneasy around Frank, and his rebellion bothered her, but in time she'd grown to love him (or so she thought).
Frank gestured the female Shark by his side. "Let's go for a walk. Beats hanging around with these dorks."
"Okay," Shonda smiled at Frank as he put his arm around her and left the rest of the Shark gang.
It was late at night in the small, quaint town of Onett, meaning almost no one was around. Shonda sighed softy and asked Frank, "Have you always been the way you are? I mean, you know, rebellious?"
Frank replied, "Well, I guess. Why do you ask?"
"I was just wondering. I mean, nobody's really born bad. There must have been something that happened to make you like this."
"Well as I recall I've always been this way… And Shonda, I'm glad I have you."
"Me too," Shonda smiled. Yet, deep down, she didn't really mean it. She only accepted Frank's offer to be his because she really didn't have anyone to turn to. No family at all. And deep down she was very depressed. She wanted something new in her life, and she was sick of the rest of the Shark gang. And sick of Onett as well.
"Frank," Shonda sighed. "Can I tell you something?"
"Sure," Frank said.
"Well…you see, I'm getting tired of the same thing day after day. All we ever do is hang out with your dorky friends and do all this crap like taunt the people here and wreak havoc. Can't we do something a little different?"
Frank removed his arm around Shonda. "What? Am I not good enough for ya!?"
"Well no," Shonda tried to reason as she adjusted her pierced fin. "It's not that, I just…"
Frank didn't let her finish. "Look, if you don't wanna do what I wanna do then you can hit the pavement!!!"
"Maybe I will!" Shonda shouted back and stormed off, and Frank went after her.
"Shonda! Get back here!" He called, and Shonda just walked faster. And with that Frank ran after her.
"Get away from me!" She shouted, and ran ahead of him with agility.
"You get back here or I'll…" He ran much faster than she ever could. Shonda was terrified to think about what he might do to her, and she desperately looked around as she ran for a place to go. That's when she noticed a bus pull up nearby. She immediately jumped on and tossed two dollar bills at the driver. As soon as the doors shut Frank caught up and shouted at her louder than ever. He ran after the bus until he no longer could catch up with it.
Shonda caught her breath. She was shaking all over and was too scared to move. Yet she knew she was safe. She finally called, "Hey! Where's this bus headed?"
"Fourside," the driver called back. "One way."
Shonda began to calm down as the bus passed through Twoson. She just lay back and stretched a bit, and wondered what would lie ahead of her in the great city of Fourside.
Shonda awoke in her one room apartment to the usual sounds of hustling traffic. She had been very happy over the week, because Giygas was finally defeated by our well known young heroes. She got out of bed as her pet Mr. Saturn greeted her. "BOING! ZOOM! Morning good!"
"Good morning to you too," she said happily, yet the city life had hardened her considerably compared to when she was living in the much smaller town of Onett. She still looked like a Shark member, but no longer had to deal with Frank, and by now she'd nearly forgotten about him and that fateful night.
After Shonda got dressed in her usual Skater attire, she called out to Mr. Saturn, "Come on, let's go get some chow."
"BOING!" The Mr. Saturn followed her out the door.
It was a beautiful autumn morning, and Shonda took her time walking to the bakery. The wind blew lightly and the leaves were changing to golden hues of orange and red. After she came out of the bakery with a Lucky Sandwich and some (imported) Piggy Jelly for Mr. Saturn she sat down on a bench in the park and started to think about certain things. Besides Mr. Saturn, she really didn't have any friends.
After Shonda ate and snapped back to reality, she told Mr. Saturn, "I've gotta go to work. I'll see you at home, okay?"
"BOING! Home go! Later see you!" Mr. Saturn headed back to the apartment.
Shonda dreaded her job; working at the Burger Shop in the Grand Department Store. It was the only way she could keep a roof over her head, which is the only reason she put up with it. When she arrived the boss snapped, "You're late!"
"What are you talking about?" Shonda asked, perplexed. "I'm five minutes early!" She hastily put on her apron and checked her watch.
"No," the boss said. "Your watch is six minutes slow. And this is the fourth day in a row you've been late. I'm warning you, if you're late again you're fired!"
Shonda pouted as she wrapped a burger with paper covering.
She thought to herself, I think I'd rather live in a shelter than to put up
with all this!
When Shonda came home from work later that afternoon she put on the new Runaway Five CD and got dinner started. Mr. Saturn greeted her, as usual. "Hello! Zoom! See you nice!"
Shonda patted Mr. Saturn on the head and lifted him to the counter as she fixed herself a salad and Mr. Saturn's usual Piggy Jelly.
As she ate Shonda watched how easily Mr. Saturn could be happy. He slurped away on his Piggy Jelly. She wished that her life could be as carefree as his.
After dinner Shonda and Mr. Saturn went out on the balcony and watched as the stars were coming out.
"Mr. Saturn," Shonda said. "Did you have many friends where you lived?"
"Many yes!" Mr. Saturn chanted. "Friends lots! All same! BOING!"
"Lucky you. I wish I could have friends who I could really look up to. I mean, you're my friend of course, but other than you I don't have someone to talk to. The only person that was even close to a friend to me was Frank, and he turned out to be a total creep…all he ever wanted to do was wreak havoc with his friends…"
She paused for a moment, and said, "You know, I think I'm ready to move on again. I've lived in the city long enough…I need to make some new friends. The only thing I can't figure out is how I'd be able to. I'd have to get a new job, and a new place too. But Mr. Saturn, I think we can pull it off. City life is too much."
"ZOOM! BOING! Away move!" Mr. Saturn chanted.
The next morning Shonda was strumming some chords with her guitar as she thought some more about leaving the city. She still wasn't sure on how she'd be able to, but she would start a new life, no matter what.
"Mr. Saturn, I'm going to quit my job, for starters," she said. "But where should we go?"
"Saturn Valley! More Mr. Saturns! ZOOM!" Mr. Saturn said happily.
"I was thinking more of a real town with people."
"Oh, think can't."
"I guess we'll have to decide later," Shonda continued. "Gather your things. We need to leave once and for all."
"BOING!" Mr. Saturn trotted off.
As Shonda started stuffing her backpack with things like her
Discman and CDs, clothes, food, and magazines, she still thought about where to
go. Threed? No, too boring. Twoson, maybe? I don't know… There's Onett, but
how could I go back there without seeing Frank? Oh well, I'll figure it out.
As Shonda and Mr. Saturn were walking to the bus stop, Shonda noticed a strange light beam heading towards her.
"What the…" But before she could move it crashed right into her.
"Ness! Be more careful where you're teleporting!" A bespectacled blonde boy exclaimed.
"Hey, I couldn't see, okay?" A dark haired boy in a baseball cap and striped shirt replied.
A blonde girl in a pink dress and a Dalaamic boy tried to revive unconscious Shonda. The girl rubbed some herbs around Shonda's face and she revived.
"Huh?" Shonda asked. "What happened?" She noticed the four kids who looked a few years younger than her.
It took her a minute to recognize them. "Hey, you're the chosen four!"
"Yes," he replied. "I'm Ness, and this is Paula, and these are my friends Jeff and Poo. Sorry I ran into you like that. Who are you anyway?"
"I'm Shonda," she replied. "And this is Mr. Saturn."
"BOING!" Mr. Saturn ran towards Ness.
"Hey," Jeff said. "She looks just like one of the Shark bunch you told me about!"
"Well, I am, or was before I moved here, but now I'm moving on. I just quit my job, and Mr. Saturn and I have no place to go, so I guess we'll just camp out somewhere."
"Hey," Paula said. "You could stay with me tonight! My folks won't mind. Want to?"
"Hey, thanks!" Shonda replied happily. "I really don't know how to repay you."
"Oh don't worry about that. It's no problem."
After they helped Shonda repack her things which flew out of her bag, Ness asked, "Hey, don't mind me asking, but what exactly happened between you and the Sharks?"
"Oh," Shonda felt a lump in her throat. She never had to explain this before. "It's a very long story, but here it goes…"
Shonda spent quite a while telling them about what Frank would do to her, and then about that night when they had it out. It was painful just for her to talk about.
"That's awful," Poo replied, he couldn't think of much else to say.
"Yeah," Ness said. "But you'd be surprised. Frank's changed, believe me, he has! In fact, he even got the rest of the Sharks to start a food drive. He's a completely different person. You'll have to see for yourself."
Shonda laughed and said, "I'll believe THAT when I see it!"
"Come on," Paula said. "Let's get you to my house. Ness, let's go!"
"Shonda," Ness said. "Grab my hand and hold onto it tight! You'll be in for a wild ride! One…two…three…to Twoson!"
The next thing Shonda knew she felt like she was in a huge windstorm, and the light was so blinding she had to shut her eyes tightly. Just a matter of seconds later she found herself in a Twoson in front of Polestar Preschool.
"Thanks, Ness!" Paula said. "See you guys later!"
"You're welcome. Bye, Shonda! Bye, Mr. Saturn!" Ness, Jeff, and Poo disappeared in a ray of light.
"Come on," Paula said. "I'll show you to my room."
Shonda, Mr. Saturn, and Paula passed by a group of preschoolers playing, and headed upstairs to Paula's room where Shonda dumped out her things on the guest bed.
"Thanks for letting me stay with you," Shonda said happily. "And it's funny, but I knew the minute I saw you and those three boys, we'd be friends."
"Me too," Paula smiled, watching Mr. Saturn trotting around, investigating her room.
"So," Shonda said, starting a conversation. "How did it feel to save the earth?"
"Pretty good. The journey towards it was long and dangerous, but believe me, it was worth it."
"I bet it was."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Meanwhile, Ness was thinking about Shonda and what she told him about Frank. I wonder if they could get back together? He thought, and decided to talk to Frank.
When he got to the Burger Shop where Frank worked, Ness found him sitting at a booth taking a break. "Hey Ness!" He called.
"Hey Frank!" Ness sat across from Frank at the booth.
"What's up, pal?"
"Nothing much. Just wanted to say hi, and…Frank, want me to tell you something?"
"Sure."
"Well, um, you remember…Shonda? Well, I saw her today. She's with Paula."
Frank suddenly froze. He lowered his glasses a little and said very flatly, "Would you mind repeating that?"
Ness started again. "Okay, I'll take it from the top very slowly. Um, you remember Shonda? Well, I bumped into her while teleporting. She just moved out of Fourside where she lived all that time. She's staying with Paula…right now…"
Frank said nothing. He just thought hard for a few minutes. Finally, he said, "Woah…is my past catching up with me! I haven't seen her in over a year!"
"Well," Ness said. "Do you still like her?"
"Yeah…sad to say I do. I've been crushed without her. And I'm sure she hates me for how much of a jerk I was in the past."
"Well I don't think she hates you. When she sees how much of a swell guy you are now she'll forgive you for sure."
"You really think so?"
"Yeah! I'll get you guys together tomorrow!"
"That soon? Um, Ness…make it a few days, okay? I don't know if I'm ready to see her tomorrow!"
"Okay, okay," Ness hesitated. "We'll wait a week."
"Thanks, pal!" Frank shook Ness's hand rapidly. "You're worth a million! Make that two million and a half!"
"Don't mention it," Ness left the Burger Shop and thought, This
is going to be sweet!
Later that evening, Shonda was helping Paula and her parents fix dinner, which was roast beef. When they finished and sat at the table, Paula's mom said, "So you must be Paula's new friend, is that right?"
"Yeah, Mrs. Polestar," Shonda grinned as she ate a bite of mashed potatoes. "Once again, thanks a million for letting me and Mr. Saturn stay here."
"Oh, don't mention it," Mr. Polestar said. "Any friend of Paula's is more than welcome here."
"I haven't had real food in so long!" Shonda ate some more roast beef. "I've been living on fast food and TV dinners up until now!" Paula smiled, and turned to watch Mr. Saturn experiment the roast beef.
"Piggy Jelly not, but tasty, BOING!"
After dinner Shonda and Paula headed upstairs and changed into pajamas. They spent most of the night talking about nearly everything. They were really becoming fast friends. When they finally turned the lights out, Paula said, "You know it is true about what Ness said about Frank. He really has changed."
"I know he said that," Shonda replied hesitantly. "But I still don't know if I can trust him."
"But can't you at least give him a chance?"
Shonda was thoughtful for a moment. "Well…maybe…but I'm still not sure. Goodnight, Paula."
"Goodnight, Shonda."