The next day
was a lot like the day before. The Girls woke up, tension evident as soon
as Blossom and Buttercup saw eachother, stilted breakfast conversation
followed, and there was little recognition of each other at school. Luckily,
no monsters or villains attacked Townsville.
It was the day after
that, Friday, that was interesting.
The Professor woke
the Girls earlier than usual. So early it was hardly light outside and
Blossom and Buttercup were too tired to bother trying to hate each other.
"I have a surprise
for you down in the lab," was the Professor's excuse. He was giddy and
had faint beard stubble on his chin. I was obvious that whatever the Professor
had made, he'd spent all night on it.
The three very tired
Girls dutifully followed the Professor down to his lab.
"Close your eyes,"
he said. The Girls obeyed, and immediately fell back asleep, floating in
mid-air. "Okay, bad idea there," he muttered to himself. He gently shook
each Girl awake and handed them their gifts without any further preparation.
Bubbles looked down
at what she held in her hands. "A pager?"
The Professor nodded
enthusiastically. "Each of you has one, but they all have the same number,
directly connected to the hotline. Now you Girls can go your separate ways,
but you'll be paged any time the Hotline rings so you won't be left out."
"Cool," Buttercup said
with as much enthusiasm as she could muster at six A.M. on a school morning,
which wasn't much. She clipped the green pager to the collar of her nightgown.
Bubbles and Blossom did the same with their blue and pink pagers.
"When the office at
school opens, I'll call and get you permission to wear those in school,"
the Professor explained as all four family members left the lab. "You should
probably keep them turn off, or at least on silent, during class, but turn
them back on at lunch, or anytime you're away from the Hotline.
"Yes, Professor," Blossom
said with a yawn. "Now, can we go get dressed?"
The Professor laughed,
realizing that in his excitement, he had dragged the Girls out of their
room still in their nightgowns. "Of course, sweet heart. I'll get breakfast
started while you three get ready."
***
"It was awful nice of the
Professor to make these for us," Bubbles said as she clipped her pager
to the waist of her denim skirt.
"Yeah," Buttercup muttered,
still not totally awake or happy that she had to go to school. Her pager
was clipped to the belt of her jeans. She turned away from her mirror and
gave the closed bathroom door a dirty look. Blossom was in there, spending
forever on that hair of hers. But now she wasn't going to be able to mad
at Buttercup anymore, now that they had the pagers. And she must have been
getting tired of being punished by now. Hopefully she'd be on good behavior
now.
"C'mon, Blossom! I
smell breakfast!" Bubbles shouted.
"I'm coming," Blossom
called back. "Go on down without me." Bubbles flew off, but Buttercup lingered
for a minute, though she didn't know why.
When Blossom came out
of the bathroom - her hair looking perfect as always - she was surprised
to see Buttercup still in the room. She went to her desk and picked up
her pager. As she clipped it to the waist of her pink capri pants she noticed
Buttercup staring at her. "What?"
"Nothing, just trying
to figure you out."
"Take a picture, it'll
last longer." It took all of Blossom's self control to keep from clamping
a hand over her mouth. Where on Earth had that petty comment come from?
"I would, if I wanted
to break the camera," Buttercup shot back, not caring how impertinent she
sounded. If Blossom, of all people, could sink to elementary school
insults, then so could she.
Blossom sighed, giving
herself a chance to regain her composure and keep herself from getting
into an argument with her sister. With fate working against her like it
had been lately, it only would have gotten her in more trouble. She checked
her appearance in her mirror one last time, then flew down to the kitchen,
leaving Buttercup with no choice but to follow.
***
As had become habit, Buttercup
left for school before her sisters, though today it wasn't to get away
from them. Indeed, breakfast had almost returned to normal, the only difference
being that Buttercup and Blossom only spoke to eachother when they needed
something. But today, Buttercup left early to meet with Andra.
Andra was standing
at the locker, obviously waiting for her partner. Ever since that first
fight with her sisters, Buttercup had been arriving at school early, giving
the friends plenty of time to talk.
"What's that?" Andra
pointed to the pager at Buttercup's waist after they'd exchanged greetings.
"Oh, the Professor
made those for us. They're beepers. If the Mayor calls the hotline, we're
all paged so we don't miss anything."
"That's cool," Andra
said. "So, hey, that means you can get away from your sisters."
"Yep."
"So you're free tonight?"
"Yep."
"Great. Wanna spend
the night at my house?"
"That'd be fun."
"Cool!"
"But I'll have to ask
the Professor first." Buttercup rolled her eyes, "You know how adults can
be."
Andra checked her watch.
"If we hurry, we can call before school starts."
"Cool." The girls swung
their backpacks on their backs and ran down the hall way.
***
"Hey, Buttercup! Where
ya' goin'?"
Buttercup turned away
from Andra to see Bubbles and Blossom following her and Andra out of the
school. "I'm going over to Andra's for the night. We'll be by later to
pick up my stuff. And yes, Blossom," she added as an afterthought, "I have
both my pager and the Professor's permission."
Blossom shut her mouth.
How had Buttercup known what she was about to ask? Anyway, maybe it was
better that her sister had pre-empted her. Blossom couldn't get in trouble
now.
bubbles couldn't help
but let a frown mar her features for a moment. it didn't seem fair that
Buttercup was spending the night at Andra's. They'd never been apart for
a substantial ammount of time. The Powerpuff Girls were an inseparable
trio, but here Buttercup was, going off on her own. Bubbles understood
in her head what the Professor had said was true, they were unique and
needed to have their space. But in practice, it hurt to see Buttercup leave
her and Blossom behind for other friends.
"Um. We'll see you
tomorrow then?" Bubbles asked.
"Yeah," Buttercup said.
"Tomorrow. Bye." With that curt farewell, the two pairs of girls left each
other, two by foot, two by air.
***
"Okay, I gotta warn you,
my mom is considered a little strange by most people's standards," Andra
warned as she and Buttercup walked up the driveway of Andra's house.
"You don't know weird
until Sedusa tries to become your. . . well, step mother," Buttercup said.
Andra shook her head.
"I'm afraid I haven't been here long enough to know all the crazy villains
you Girls fight."
"Don't worry, you will."
"Okay. Well, if you're
sure. . . let's go in." Andra opened the front door and led Buttercup into
the house.
After the warning Andra
had given her, Buttercup wasn't sure what to expect in the Meda house.
Skulls hanging from the walls and bear throw rugs on the floors? Rose bushes
with the blossoms cut off and dismembered hands wandering around on their
own free will? Hey, this was Townsville, where talking dogs, monkeys and
demons ran amok, anything was possible.
So Buttercup was surprised
to enter a living room that looked no different than her locker. Either
Andra had inherited her love of the stars from the decorator, or Andra
had been allowed to decorate the room herself. Either way, the celestial
theme of the room, with the deep blue and gold walls and rugs, the sun
shaped sun catcher and the crystal star wind chimes didn't strike Buttercup
as particularly weird. It was better than her own house, which seemed to
be decorated along the lines of a hotel room, except for the room the Girls
shared.
"Hey, Mom! We're here!"
Andra shouted.
A tall woman, with
the same blond hair and blue eyes Andra had, entered from the kitchen.
She wasn't dressed how Buttercup imagined a mother would dress, she had
a navy blue tie-dyed wrap around skirt and a lacy tank top, her hair tied
back in a loose pony tail. She looked more like a high schooler than anybody's
mother. But nothing too weird yet. Maybe Andra was just paranoid.
"Hi, Honey." The woman
bent down and kissed Andra's cheek.
"Hi, this is Buttercup,
Mom. Buttercup, my mother, Cassie O'Peia."
Cassie put a hand out.
"Just Cassie, please. It's a pleasure to meet you, Buttercup, I've heard
lots about you."
Buttercup shook Cassie's
hand kind of awkwardly. Hand shakes weren't the greeting of choice for
12 year olds. "Most people have."
Cassie laughed lightly.
It was obvious now to Buttercup where Andra's best features came from.
"Yes, I suppose so. Anyway, there's a snack on the counter for you girls,
after you eat that you can call your parents and have them bring your things,
Buttercup. I'll go make myself scarce until then, you two don't want an
old mother hanging around ruining your fun."
"Right, Mom," Andra
answered, but she was smiling so her mother didn't mind. Cassie went down
to the basement while Andra and Buttercup went to the kitchen.
"I'm sorry 'bout what
my mom said," Andra said to Buttercup as she poured glasses of milk for
both of them.
"What'dya mean?"
"Calling your parents.
I mean, maybe this is just me, but if I was in your situation I'd feel
pretty awkward about that."
Buttercup shrugged.
"Nah. As you've said, you guys are new here, you can't be expected to know
the long, bizarre story of my relation to the Professor right away."
"True. The phone's
right there on the wall," Andra pointed with one hand while she continued
to heap two plates with fresh brownies. "You can call and the Professor
should be here by the time we finish eating. The sooner he gets here, the
sooner he meets Mom, the sooner we can get on with our party."
"Cool."
***
Just as Andra and Buttercup
were finishing their snack the doorbell rang. "Mom!" Andra shouted. "The
Professor's here!"
"Well get the door,
silly," Cassie called back. "I'll be there in a sec."
Andra and Buttercup
went to the front door and let the Professor in. "Hi, girls," he greeted
cheerfully.
"Hey, Professor," Buttercup
said. She grabbed the green overnight bag and sleeping bag from him while
Andra led the Professor to the couch in the living room.
As they were settling
on the chairs and couches, Cassie came up from the basement. "Hello! You're
Buttercup's father?"
The Professor's eyes
widened in surprise. It certainly had been awhile since he'd been mistaken
for the Girl's father! "Ah, no, not in the sense you mean anyway. The best
phrase would probably be guardian."
Cassie flushed. "Oh,
I'm sorry -"
"No need to be. Buttercup
told me you only moved here a few months ago, the story of the Girls birth
is so well known around here that it's not told very often."
Cassie smoothed out
her skirt several times before she spoke again. "Was there anything in
particular you wished to discuss, Professor?"
"Not really, just doing
my job, meeting Buttercup's friend and her family."
"Of course. I've actually
wanted to do the same for awhile, with the way Andra goes on and on about
how cool Buttercup is," Both girls blushed. "Why don't you girls go play
while the Professor and I talk?"
"'Kay," Andra and Buttercup
answered in unison.
"It's been nice meeting
you, Professor," Andra said as she began walking up the stairs to her room.
"You too, Andra."
"See ya', Professor!"
Buttercup ran after her friend, not waiting for the Professor's reply.
Cassie watched the
two girls dash out of sight. "Ah, to be young and actually have energy
like that."
The Professor laughed
amicably. "I know how you feel."
"So how are things
for Buttercup at home? Andra told me she was fighting with her sisters.
That's why I let her invite Buttercup over, it sounded like she needed
a break."
"Yeah, Buttercup and
Blossom are in the middle of a little argument," the Professor admitted.
"You know how fights among kids can go. The littlest things get blown out
of proportion. Blossom has repeatedly read Buttercup's diary, and tries
to control Buttercup's life. Sometimes she forgets that just because she
the leader of the Powerpuff Girls doesn't mean she gets to run her sisters'
lives."
"My older sister tried
to do that to me when I was Buttercup's age, and we weren't even super
heroes!" Cassie said with a laugh. "We didn't speak for a month. My parents
tried everything to get us to start talking, but we refused to cave. Finally
we just worked it out on our own."
"That's what I'm hoping
the Girls do. They usually act so much more mature than their peers that
when they act their age it's hard to know how to deal with them."
"I'm sure if they're
given their space they'll work it out on their own. They aren't the first
sisters in history to have a fight, and they aren't the last either."
There was a short pause
before the Professor asked, "How do you and Andra like Townsville? Are
you adjusting well?"
"Oh, we love it here,"
Cassie said warmly. "The dynamic is completely different from home. And
of course, Andra's made fast friends with Buttercup, which has made the
transition much easier."
"Where did you move
here from?"
"A suburb of Los Angeles,
out in California. We loved it there but. . . it was time for a change.
Variety is the spice of life, right?"
The Professor had caught
Cassie's pause and was curious to know more about the reason for their
move, but knew better than to press the issue. If Cassie didn't want to
talk about it then he'd respect her wishes. "I should probably be heading
back home. I have to get back to an experiment I left in my lab."
"Of course," Cassie
said. "When would you like Buttercup to go home tomorrow?"
"I'll come by around
ten. Unless you'd like her to leave earlier?"
"Ten's fine. I'm sure
the girls will think it's too early, but I'll tell them. So see you tomorrow."
"Yes, see you tomorrow."
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