UPDATED 22/12/08 – certain things have been corrected and/or re-written to what I believe is better
-Here's Chapter 4. A personal fave of mine, I hope you guys like it too ;-)
Chapter 4
What Does He Think?
– The Next Day –
"Who knew Rouge could shriek that loudly?" Knuckles grumbled, scratching his head.
"Hey, she hates waiting," Sonic replied, as if Knuckles had brought it on himself.
It was noon. The two of them were headed to check out a new sandwich shop that had opened up. Sonic had wanted to just grab a chilli dog off a street vendor for lunch, but with a little arm-twisting (almost literally) from Knuckles, he had been convinced to give the sandwich shop a chance.
When they entered the shop, they discovered it was packed with people.
"A chilli dog wouldn't have been this much of a hassle," Sonic complained, observing the long line of customers waiting to purchase a sandwich.
"Shut up, will you?" Knuckles snapped. "I'm sure the wait will be worth it."
They both walked to the back of the line, Sonic dragging his heels.
"So what's happening with you and Amy?" Knuckles questioned Sonic.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, yesterday she called me on the phone to ask me for a date."
"Wow, Knuckles, I honestly had no idea." Sonic smirked.
Knuckles punched him in the arm hard. "Idiot. I don't like her that way…and I don't think she likes me that way either."
"Then why would she be calling you?"
"I don't know. What I do believe, though, is that if Amy could choose anyone to go out with, it'd be you."
Sonic made a face. "Are you sure about that? Amy's not a kid anymore – she's eighteen. Don't you think she's decided to stop chasing me by now? I mean, that kind of stuff's juvenile."
"I wouldn't say she's still chasing you exactly, but it's definitely possible that she's still in love with you," Knuckles told him.
"I thought that phase was behind us." Sonic sighed, shaking his head from side to side. "I thought she got over me."
"Maybe she has, maybe she hasn't. The only way you'll know for sure is if you straight-up ask her and address your issues." Knuckles shrugged. "…And I think we both know you're not going to do that."
"Got that right. Hey, we're almost at the front of the line."
Knuckles looked ahead. The fourth person ahead of them was at the cashier. "Wow, that went by pretty quickly." He turned back to Sonic, a smug expression on his face. "You made a big deal out of nothing."
"Yeah, yeah," Sonic snorted. "You're paying for lunch."
Knuckles glared at him. "I thought we agreed that we'd split the cost of the sandwiches, or at least pay for our own."
"You see…the problem with that is I'm broke." Sonic attempted something of a charming smile. "Of course, I know you – my good buddy – will understand my situation and not get irrationally angry."
"Ugh! Fine! But this is the last time, I mean it!"
"Thanks, Knuckles."
The two ordered and received their sandwiches, for which Knuckles paid, and made their way back outside, where they stood in front of the shop's doors.
Knuckles unwrapped the plastic wrap from his sandwich. "I hear you've been dating someone." He took a gargantuan bite out of the sandwich.
"Where did you hear that?" Sonic demanded.
"I have my sources. It's pointless denying it."
Sonic didn't say anything, unwrapping his own sandwich and digging into it.
"For how long as this new relationship been going on?"
Sonic swallowed his food down and sighed. "A few months."
"What's her name? That is…if it is a her." Knuckles grinned mischievously.
Sonic shot him a dark look. "It's a her, and I'm not going to tell you her name."
"I should have guessed. You've always been the secretive type."
Sonic took another bite out of his sandwich.
Knuckles finished up his lunch and tossed the plastic wrapping into a garbage can. "I should get going. See you around, Sonic."
"Later." Sonic watched Knuckles take off. Thanks to Knuckles and their conversation, Amy was on his mind. He didn't want to hurt Amy's feelings, if she still liked him, but he didn't think of her romantically. They were just friends; he was allowed to date other girls. "I hope for my sake she's over her crush on me," he mumbled. Sonic threw out his sandwich wrapping and began walking down the street.
Amy ducked behind a wall just as Sonic passed by her, saying, "The Bijou cinema better not be too crowded for my 7:00 date tonight."
"Yes…the dirt I needed." Amy waited until Sonic was a safe distance away, and then she rushed off to call Jake back about a date.
-Here it was, Chapter 4 in all its shining glory. Maybe a little short but I didn't have more to say. I hope all you readers will review this chappie ;-)
