Yay! So many positive comments, I'll definately be continuing this story =) Enjoy Chater Three!
Disclaimer : Rhaja and Zella belong to me, everyone else is (c) Sega and whatever.
In Chapter Two:
Wearily Amy put her empty bowl in the sink and changed into her pajamas - a pair of shorts and a baggy pink tye-dye tee shirt - brushing her teeth without enthusiasm and finally flopping onto her almost-bare mattress. The tired hedgehog grumbled, pulling the heap of sheets onto the bed and streightening them before lying down again.
She soon drifted to sleep again, her last thought a faint memory of playing croquet.
-----Sticky Wicket, Chapter Three-----
Amy smiled. It was such a beautiful day. White wisps of cloud floated by on the light summer breeze, making the grass tickle her bare feet. The sun's warmth felt good on her face, and Amy found herself closing her eyes to enjoy it. Sonic and Tails were playing a game of frisbee in the grass nearby, and Knuckles and Rouge were setting up a pick-nick lunch. Shadow was leaning against a tree, high up in the shady branches, with his eyes closed. Cream and Cheese were playing in the patch of flowers. And she, Amy, was sitting down in the middle of the field, doing nothing in particular.
"Hey, Amy!" Rouge called, "We were thinking of playing a game. Wanna join?"
Amy rose, brushing stray blades of grass off her red skirt, "What kind of game?" She strode over to where everyone had gathered near the blanket.
"We can't decide," Tails explained, "What are our choices?"
"We could play frisbee," suggested Knuckles. Sonic and Tails glanced at each other.
"We've already done that."
"How about tag or hide-and-go-seek?" Cream spoke up.
"No, I think we were thinking of a more official game," Rouge said.
"What about croquet?" Cream tried.
"Croquet," Knuckles thought aloud, "That sounds like a good idea."
They spent the next fifteen minutes setting up the field, placing out wickets and pounding the colorfully-striped stakes into the ground.
"I get blue!" Sonic grinned, snatching up the blue ball.
"I'll take red!" Amy grabbed that one.
"Hey!" Knuckles whined, "I was going to take that!"
"Take green, then," Rouge tossed him the ball, which he caught, "I'm taking black."
"I'll have yellow, then," Tails looked at the banana-colored ball in his hand, tossing it up and down a few times.
"We'll take orange," Cream smiled. "Chao Chao!" Cheese confirmed.
"What about Shadow?" Knuckles asked. The hedgehog looked down at him, out of the corner of his ruby-colored eyes.
"Yeah, there aren't any colors left," pointed out Amy.
"I'll be the referee then," Shadow jumped out of the tree, "Blue is first."
-----
"Huh?"Amy opened her eyes halfway, meeting the sight of her alarm clock, which read ten forty-two. She sat up in her bed, running her fingers through her messy pink quills.
"It was just a memory," she sighed. Pulling off the covers, she hopped onto the carpeted floor, which was cold for the summer it was.
Amy yelped. "Rouge must've forgotten to turn off the air conditioning last night." She shivered, grabbing a crimson sweater and pulling it over her tee-shirt. She quietly made her way to the kitchen, gasping when her bare feet met the cold tile floor. Hurridly she made her way to the living room, where she turned off the still working AC. She rubbed her arms and fingers, feeling the warmth returning to them.
The pink hedgehog returned to the kitchen, making herself a cup of hot chocolate, even though it was the middle of the summer. She sipped it slowly, welcoming the feeling of the warm liquid rushing down her throat and settling into her stomach.
A flashing red light caught her eye, and Amy realized it was the answering machine. Leaving her warm mug still half-full, she got up and pressed the play button before sitting back down.
"Hi Amy, it's Rouge. Sorry you weren't awake when I left, I didn't want to wake you up just to tell you I'm going to work. I have the morning shift, so will you meet me at Zella's for lunch? Call me if you can't. See you there!"
Amy sighed, realizing that she would be alone for a few hours. She would spend what little time she had relaxing before she met up with Rouge.
"Hi, Amy, this is Rhaja. I just wanted to tell you that you did a great job at your lesson yesterday."
Amy smiled, listening while sipping her drink.
"Also, in the Annual Croquet Cup this weekend, my main player had an accident. Poor guy, he broke his arm. That means there's an empty spot on my list for the tournament. I'd be happy if you'd take the spot. If you don't want it that's fine, I have other students that can fill in. But I'm offering to you first because you have a great potential. Please call me, either way. You have my number. Thanks."
Amy stared at the little machine on the counter. Had it just said...
"Wait!" Of course, the machine was already done playing the message. Amy scrambled out of her chair and grabbed the phone. In her rush, she dropped it on the floor, making a loud, plastic-meets-ceramic sound. She plucked it off the floor and dialed Rhaja's number furiously.
Amy's heart raced as the phone rang. On the third ring her instructor picked up.
"Hello?"
"Err, good morning Rhaja," Amy stammered. While she was worried and scrambling for the phone, she hadn't thought about what she was going to say.
"Oh, good morning Amy," the dark blue hedgehog smiled on her end of the phone.
"Yes, well, I'd like that spot in the tournament. I mean, please ! Err, that is, if it's still open..." Amy stuttered nervously.
Rhaja chuckled, "It's still open, Amy, and you can have the spot," Amy sighed in relief, "I had a feeling you would, so you're already all signed up. But, you still should have more practice before the tournament this weekend," Rhaja continued, "So we'll have to practice every day."
Amy nodded, then realized that Rhaja couldn't see her, "Yes ma'am, that's fine."
"Great. See you today at two o'clock sharp."
"Yes, and thank you!"
"Thank you to you, as well. Have a good morning!"
Amy sighed as she hung up. She was going to be in an official tournament! The pink hedgehog couldn't wait to tell her friends the news.
"Rouge will be really excited once she hears this!" Amy smiled, talking to no one in particular.
"Hears what?" Amy whirled around to find Sonic standing in the doorway.
"Oh, hey Sonic," Amy smiled, "That I've been entered into a croquet tournament this weekend."
"That's great!" Sonic gave her the thumbs up.
"Thanks," Amy tucked a few stray quills behind her ears, "Say, what're you doing here?"
"I just wanted to see if you were all right," Sonic explained with a shrug, "You seem really exhausted lately."
"Yeah," Amy sighed, "I've been busy. And it seems things are going to get even busier with the extra practices and all..."
"Extra practices?" the blue hedgehog repeated.
"Uh-huh," Amy played with a loose string on the edge of the sweater, "Rhaja's going to have me play every day, to get ready for the tournament."
"Don't worry about it. We'll be there to cheer you on," Sonic smiled.
"Really?" Amy asked, "You'd come and watch?"
"Sure. I think that everyone would be interested in watching you play."
"That would be great," Amy's face radiated joy, "It really means a lot to me."
"Well, see you around!" Sonic turned and headed for the door.
"Bye!" Amy waved, even though he was out the door already. She stole a glance at the clock hanging from the wall.
"Wow, it's eleven already?" Amy gulped down the rest of her hot chocolate, which had cooled down quite a bit during her distractions. Because she was meeting Rouge for lunch, she had a slice of toast with butter for breakfast. It seemed as if she had barely enough time to change out of her pajamas and brush out her quills before she had to leave. The pink hedgehog snatched her backpack on her way out the door, heading for Zella's Cafe, which was a few blocks away.
Zella's Cafe was a small local resturant on a corner of a large intersection. It was owned and managed by Zella, a young red fox with a knack for cooking. Today it seemed that she had been busy baking, the whole block smelled of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and Zella's famous double carmel fudge brownies.
The white bat was sitting at one of the outdoor tables of the Cafe, waiting for Amy to arrive. Rouge worked at a newspaper, writing the "Dear Noir" column (Noir being her pen-name) in the weekend editions, as well as information scoops during the rest of the week. Being an ex-spy really came in handy when she was researching the latest scandal.
Rouge looked up when Amy came into sight, walking quickly down the sidewalk and sitting down in the seat across from her.
"How was sleeping in late?" Rouge inquired, knowing her friend's love of sleep.
"Great! But you won't believe what happened!" Amy gushed. The white bat raised her eyebrows and motioned for her to continue.
"Rhaja called and said that I get to be in the tournament this weekend!' Amy said, her features filled with excitement.
"Really?" Rouge's eyes widened somewhat, "That's wonderful!"
"Apparently, one of Rhaja's main players broke an arm, so there was an empty spot," Amy explained.
"That's too bad. I don't think you can play croquet with a broken arm," Rouge said thoughfully.
Amy shook her head, "It would be hard! Anyways, I have to get going before two. Rhaja said in preparation I have to practice every day!"
"All right then," Rouge chuckled, "We should order then."
"Did someone over here say 'order'?" Zella asked, striding up to there table and leaning on it casually, pen and notepad in hand. The two girls came in frequently for lunch, and they had become friends with the red fox. Zella wore her trademark black apron over her gray tee-shirt and jeans.
"Hello Zella," Amy smiled, "It's good to see you!"
"Good to see you too, Amy. You haven't been around here in a while. So, what can I get you two?"
Rouge and Amy placed their orders and Zella headed back into the Cafe, shouting instructions to the chefs in the back. Although she did cook, Zella worked the tables sometimes, mostly on the week days, when lunch was the busiest time.
"So, what else is there to know about this tournament?" Rouge asked.
"It's called the Annual Croquet Cup," explained Amy, "It's a once-a-year tournament for top croquet players. Rhaja was telling me about it the other day, and it sounds really high-class. Competitors get photo IDs' for the tournament."
"Wow. Sounds like it's gonna be challenging," Rouge sipped at her soda, which Zella had brought over previously.
"It will be great," Amy sighed, "I can't wait!"
At that moment Zella came over to deliver their dishes. Both had gotten salads, because Amy needed to "watch what she ate" before the tournament and Rouge wanted to "work on her figure". They chatted aimiably while crunching on crutons and grazing on other greens. By one-thirty, when they had finished their dessert and split the bill, it was time for Amy to head to practice.
-----
Thanks everyone for being a great audience! It makes me happy to know people are enjoying my story .
amyR90 -
thanks! I'm glad you like it. And, well, I'm not saying anything about the pairings yet . ;)
Ayla Skyrider -
thanks for the tip! I've fixed that up, it should be all better now :)
Silhouette the Hedgehog -
thanks! I'll be updating a lot, don't worry . I like the title too (of course, it's my story) It fits well, I think.
Kryptic the Fox -
Wow, thanks a lot! Of course, there isn't much plot yet, but that will change soon.... and thanks again! :)
xoxoxPerfect By Naturexoxox -
Really? Wow, I didn't know SW was so popular! thanks! :)
I really enjoy getting reviews. It makes me happy. And when I'm happy, I write. And when I write you get another chapter, which you can review to start the cycle all over again . :P
Next chapter will be when I get at least 13 reviews. Enjoy :D
-YTN