A/N: I've got good news and bad news.
Bad news: I got nothing on my mind to talk about. Except, sorry it took so long! I'm a lazy butt-head...sometimes..
Good news: Here's chapter 11! Enjoy the show!
Chapter 11: Tearful Good-Byes!
The very next morning, Crystal sat up from bed. She had barely slept a wink during the last four long hours. All she could do was lie on her side and watch the sun slowly rise. Finally, she had decided to get up just a few moments ago. As Crystal got out of bed, she almost fell to the floor from her anxiety. The girl stepped out of her room and walked to the huge water bottle clinging to the metal cage bar. She could fell her teeth chattering--but not from the chilly morning current, but from the jitters in the pit of her stomach. She got ready to leave by doing her hair, washing her face, etc. etc. blah, blah, blah. Crystal thought of Stan and how she and him had met and how much they had in common.
Too bad he has to go... she thought sadly. Crystal bent down to find her present, but stopped. Stan's present. It was gone! "Ack! Where is it? Where is it? Oh no, it can't be missing! NOT NOW!" Crystal frantically searched underneath her bed. Soon, under the bed turned to the whole bed, then it turned to the entire room. Nothing! Just when she was ready to freak out...
"G' morning Crystal! Looking for something?" a deadly innocent voice asked her. Crystal's blood went cold as she looked up. Nikki was towering over her, a sneaky smirk on her face and Stan's good-bye present in her paws! Crystal hopped to her feet the moment she saw what Nikki possessed.
"Nikki? Gimme that back!" Crystal snapped. "Umm let me think that over...NO!" Nikki said coolly. (A/N: Evil!) "Nikki, I do not have time for your nonsense! Now, give me the damn box!" Crystal demanded again. "Not until you tell me who's it for!" Nikki stated. Crystal's cheeks immedietaly drowned in a massive red wave of embarassment. She felt her face grow fire-hot. (A/N: SO evil!) "W-Why should I tell you?" she shot back, trying her best to hide the flushed tint on her cheeks. "No talky. No gifty." Nikki said as if to say "that's final". (A/N: So, SO evil!) There was a slight pause between them. Finally, Crystal sighed, defeated. She was cornered--and there was no way out!
"Okay...do you promise you won't tell anyone?" she asked. "Pffth! Duh!" Nikki rolled her eyes. But Crystal knew her cousin much better than that. "That does not include telling Haylie, Rose, my mom, your mom, Haylie and Rose's mom, even the talking parrot over there that spread every piece of gossip it hears to all the animals, or anybody else you have in your phone book!" Crystal added with a smile.
"Aww! Not even the parrots that don't talk?" Nikki whined. "Nope! Nobody, my friend. That's what keeping a Secret is all about!" Crystal told her. "They have a word for it now?" Nikki asked cluelessly. "Nikki?" Crystal warned with a deadly tone. "Okay, okay! So, who's Stan?" she questioned. "Heke? How did you know his--" To answer Crystal's incomplete question, Nikki pointed to a sticker that said, "2: Stan", something that even Nikki would read. Crystal sweatdropped. "Riiight. Stan." The ponytailed girl looked around cautiously. "Okay, c'mere.." Then she pulled Nikki closer and started whispering in her ear.
§ Outside... §
Stan squirmed nervously, waiting for Crystal. He was leaving in a few minutes and she still hadn't arrived. I wonder if she'll like this... Stan looked behind him at something he had. "Ahem." a voice cleared her throat. Stan whirled around. Crystal. "Hi.." she whispered. "H-Hey.." Stan replied. They stared at each other until Crystal could feel herself start to blush. "I...I'm sorry you have to go. If you didn't, we'd still be friends." Crystal said softly. "Hey, we don't have to live across the street from each other to be friends!" Stan smiled. Crystal felt the lump on her throat slowly start to creep back. But she bravely held back on the tears. Then, she noticed Stan was positioned strangely. He was keeping something a secret. Something in her guts told her so.
"Hey Stan?"
"Yeah?"
"Uhhh..whatcha hiding behind your back?"
"Umm, my paws?" Stan answered as if he was asking a question.
"Thanks for pointing that out Captain Obvious, but what's in your paws?"
Stan squirmed again. "Uhhh...umm...it's aaaa...oh hell! It's for you!" Stan thrust out a present. It was small, but colorful. Crystal froze. "For m-me?" she whispered. "Yeah. I got it the night I found out we were leaving. Thought you'd like it." the boy shrugged as if it was no big deal. "Oh, well...thank you! I mean, you really shouldn't have--" Just then, Crystal opened her gift and stopped dead in her tracks. Inside, was a pink jewelry box with red, blue and lavendar rhimestones. She gasped lightly. "It's sooo pretty! Where'd you get it?" Crystal had to know. "The mall, duh!" Stan smiled. Crystal frowned. Oh, that helped! "Look inside."
"Heke?" Crystal blinked. "You heard me. Look inside the box thing." Stan repeated patiently. Shrugging, Crystal simply did as she was told. Then, she screamed. "Aahhhh! Crystal, shut up! You're breaking the sound barrier!" Stan covered his orange ears. "Sound barrier?" Crystal squinted at the new word. "...that's a word, right?" Stan asked. "How should I know!" Crystal shrugged. "Never mind! Sooo, do you like it?" Stan changed the subject. "Well, duh I do!" Crystal squealed as she looked inside the box once again. Sitting in the middle of some fluffy cotton stuffing, was a..(A/N: Can anybody take a last-minute guess? C'mon...okay, time's up! It's a...) pink flower-shaped hairclip.(A/N: Ohhh! So that's where she got it from!)
"It might be a little big on you now, so you're gonna have to wait for it to--" But Stan never got to finish, for Crystal had thrown her arms around him and squeezed him into a hug. "Thank-Q sooo much, Stan. Thank-Q, thank-Q, thank-Q, thank-Q! How did you know I had hair issues?" she squealed. "Well, for starters, you always poked at your ribbon and complained under your breath about how you hated it. Can you let go of me now?" Stan said. "Oopsie. Sorry!" Crystal giggled nervously and let go.
"Anyways, I got something for you too!" she added. "Oh, you did? Well, bring it on!" Stan smiled. Grinning like an idiot, Crystal ran to the bush nearby and pulled out her package. Crystal--unfortunetaly--had to spill everything in order to take back Stan's secret gift. On the plus side though, Crystal made Nikki promise with all her stinkin' heart not to tell anyone...or else Crystal would reveal a blackmail movie she had filmed a while back, featuring Nikki snoring in her sleep!
"Here. I got this for you." Crystal placed the wrapped package into Stan's paws. The eager male hamster shook the box. "Hmm...I wonder what this could be?" he said sarcastically. Crystal giggled. But inside, her heart speed skyrocketed as Stan tore the wrappings to pieces. Then he gasped. "Oh Crystal! This is totally awesome!" he exclaimed as he picked up his gift. "Uhh..what are they?" he added. Crystal smiled. "They're called maracas, silly boy. If you shake 'em, they make a rattling sound. It's a musical instrument." she explained. "Give it a little shake. Go ahead!"
Stan was a little hesitant, but shook them anyways. Ch, ch, ch! Stan liked the sound they made. "Ooh! Me like sound!" he cooed. He shook them a little harder. "Oh yeah! Shake it up, baby!" he hopped up and down. Before he knew it, Stan was fooling around with his new toys. "Glad you like it! I had a gut feeling you liked making your own music." Crystal said. "Do I!" Stan nodded. (A/N: I'm not sure exactly HOW Stan got his maracas, but let's just pretend this is how. And no complaining. C'mon! Roll with it, peoples, roll with it!)
Slam!
The car door to Noel's trunk was closed shut. "Kay, all set back here!" one of Noel's friends called. Stan and Crystal's smiles faded. It was time. They turned to face one another. "Sooo...I guess it's time, huh?" Stan gulped. Tears were already burning in Crystal's eyes. "Y-Ye-yeah. I-I-I g-gues-s-s.." she stuttered, trying her best not to cry. "I'm really gonna miss you..." Stan whispered. Crystal lowered her head. A few secondspassed.
"You're not gonna forget me, right?"
Stan had to pause from that sentence. He smiled. "No way! Not in a thousand years! I'm always gonna remember you! You have become one of my bestest friends." he told her. Crystal looked up and forced a smile. "Wait. You're not gonna forget m-me..are you?" Stan asked. There was a pause. "I'll never forget you, Stan. Not in a million years! Thanks to you, I've finally got the courage to go outside without having to worry how long Mom'll ground me for!" Crystal said weakly.
There was yet another pause.
"Thanks for the maracas. They're great!"
"Thank you for this hairclip. I'll treasure it for the rest of my life!"
Then, they hugged. It lasted ten long seconds.
"Good luck in the future Stan."
"You too, Crystal."
Crestfallen(A/N: Whatever that means...), Stan bounded to the car and slipped through the open window in the passenger seat. Crystal looked on with tears falling down her cheeks. Before entering his cage, Stan peeked through the window. Crystal was squeezing the hairclip and the jewelry box to her chest.
Brrroom!
The car's engine turned on.
Crystal was on the verge of breaking down. It was hard to breathe. Stan gulped back his own cries. Instead, he waved. "Bye..." he whispered. Although Crystal couldn't hear him, she saw him mouth it out. "Bye..." she whispered back and waved. Stan saw her mouth it as well. He held the maracas tightly. Stan felt a jolt as Noel put the car in Drive.
"Bye Noel!"
"Call us, dude!"
Noel's friends waved good-bye as the car slowly pulled away from the parking spot. Stan tried to smile. Crystal smiled back, but inside, her soul was crying.
The last thing she saw was Stan's eye wink at her...(A/N: I'm not gonna cry. This is MY story, so I'm not gonna cry...sniffs...oh hell. WAAAAHHHH!)
§ Inside the pet store... §
"So, how'd it go?" Nikki asked in a small voice as Crystal slipped through the cage door. The young girl-ham was sitting on a lounge chair, reading a magazine.
"Not good. Stan left..."
"Oh...sorry.."
"Thanks.."
There was a long pause. Finally, Crystal sighed. "I..I wanna be alone.." she announced. "Okay." Nikki nodded. She left and went to her room. But even though she was far away from Crystal's room, she could still hear her soft cries echoing in the air...
§ That afternoon... §
"Hello, my dearest family and friends!"
Angie, Nikki, Faith, Haylie, Rose and their mom turned to see Crystal smiling brightly as she stepped out of her room. She hugged Haylie and Rose. "Glorious to see you, friends! And same to you, ma'am!" she squealed as she hugged their mother. "Nicole! How is my favoritest cousin in the entire universe?" Nikki was baffled as Crystal squeezed her. Who was Nicole? Her name was Nikki! "Auntie Faith! Such a pleasure to see you today! And mother, how are you on this perfect day of all days?" Crystal embraced Faith and kissed Angie's cheek.
"Okay, cut the crap Crystal. We know you're depressed!" Nikki sighed. "Nikki?" Faith snapped. Crystal's overly excited smile immedietaly faded. "Yeah, you're right. How's it goin' peoples?" she said in a bored voice tone. "Umm fine, I guess. Crystal, I know losing a friend is difficult, but you'll get over it." Angie comforted. "Yeah! At least you two had fun while it lasted!" Haylie added. Crystal smiled as her family and friends reassured her. "Thanks, you guys!" she replied. The rest of the day went on like that. Crystal tried her best to get Stan off her mind. Unfortunetaly, things would get worse for not only Crystal, but for Nikki, Rose and Haylie as well the next day!
§ The next day... §
Crystal and Nikki came back to their cage with smiles on their faces. In order to make her feel better, Nikki had taken Crystal to a hamster spa(A/N: Please don't ask! Sister's idea..) for intensive treatment, relaxation and paradise. "Ahh! Thanks for taking me to the spa, Nik! I feel so alive!" Crystal sighed. "Don't thank me, thank health and beauty!" Nikki winked. "Oh, okay!" Crystal looked at the sky. "Thanks Health and Beauty!" Nikki sweatdropped. "Ooookaaay!" she mumbled.
All of a sudden, the two cousins saw Haylie and Rose, tear-stained. Nikki gasped. "Girls! What on earth happened?" she asked. "Are you okay?" CVrystal added. "N-No! We just got some totally horrid news!" Haylie sniffled. "Well, spit it out!" Crystal exclaimed. "Okay...th-they're tak-king o-our moms-s awaaayy!" Rose choked out. "What?" Crystal and Nikki were speechless. "What the hell do you mean they're taking them away?" Crystal just then realized Stan's "colorful-vocabulary" habits had kind of rubbed off on her. But now was not the time to think about that. "We don't know, but they took our moms and said that we're not gonna see them for quite a while!" Rose added. Nikki, realizing her mother wasn't in the cage, burst into tears. "Nooo! Where's my mom?" she cried.
"Where are they?" Crystal demanded. "Over there!" Haylie pointed to a cage not too far away from the cash register. "C'mon! We're gonna rescue our moms! No flat-foot humans are gonna break up this family!" she said bravely. With that said, Crystal ran to the cage door and slid it open. "C'mon, are you in or are you out?" she asked. "I'm in!" Nikki stepped up. "Me too!" Haylie volunteered. "Me three!" Rose followed. The four young hamsters escaped the cage and scurried onto the floor. "EEP! The floor's so cold and clammy!" Haylie whined. "It's waaaay too big out here!" Rose added. "Never mind that! Now, let's go!" Crystal commanded. The others reluctantly ran at her heel. It wasn't long until Crystal saw the three adult women in the cage. "Mom!" they all squealed.
"Heke?" Angie looked up to see four tiny little girls racing thowards them. "I can't believe it!" Faith gasped. "I know...Haylie and Rose are actually out of the cage!" Samantha(that's her name) blinked. Angie opened the cage, allowing the daughters to enter. Then, each daughter embraced their mother. "Mom! I'm so glad you're okay!" Crystal sighed. "Now, c'mon!" Nikki urged. "There's still time to bail you out!"Haylie rushed.
"Honey...we're not leaving this cage." Angie confessed.
For a moment, time stood still. Nobody breathed.
"W-what do you mean?" Nikki broke the silence. "Oh Nikki. The pet shop has decided that it's time to move on. Starting today, you're all officially for sale." Faith told them. "What?" the four hamsters shrieked. "What do you mean For Sale?" Rose demanded. Those two words were the only thing pet shop hamsters feared the most. Being for sale meant that hamsters would be seperated from their families and put in totally different cages. Then, they would wait for some human to buy them and take them away.
"Sweetie, you're all now old enough to be put in a group of your own kind and sold. Once a hamster reaches a certain age, they don't need to be in baby care." Samantha explained. "But I don't want to be for sale! And what about you guys?" Nikki protested. "We're being transferred. To another store. So, unfortunetaly, we won't be seeing you for a long time." Angie answered. Crystal, Nikki, Haylie and Rose burst out sobbing. "This is so unfair!" Crystal choked out. After a while, the mothers began to cry as well. They all said their painful good-byes.
"Mommy..?" Crystal whimpered. "Yes, Crystal?" Angie looked down at her daughter. "I promise...I promise that I'll never leave my cage ever ever again! Just don't leave! I'm only four years old, for cryin' out loud!" Crystal protested. "Crystal...there is nothing I can do. I'll miss you though..alot." Angie sighed. Crystal let out a sob. "Cr-Crystal? I want you to remember something...sniffles.. you are the strongest young girl I have ever met and I am proud that you are my daughter. Don't ever give up on yourself. If you want something, go for it! Go outside if you want for all I care!" she continued. "But I thought you said that I wasn't allowed outside.." Crystal started.
"Forget what I said. Promise me you'll do what your conscience tells you to do! And promise you'll take care of Nikki and the other girls." Angie told her. "What? Why me?" Crystal gasped. "Because, you're the oldest out of all of them. Now please promise me you'll do this." Angire almost begged. Crystal was silent for a while. "Okay...I promise.." Then, the little girl hugged her mother one last time...
§ The Ham-Ham Clubhouse... §
(Back to the present!)
"..Mom and the others left that day. And like she said, we were put into our own little species. Thankfully, since Nik and I looked so alike, we were put together." Present-day Crystal stared at the table. The others listened intently.
"I recently visited Haylie and Rose. A few days later, my owner today and her cousin--which is seriously ironic since me and Nikki are cousins--bought me and Nikki. Life was good since that day. I guess I was so caught up with living with Catrina, that I ended up growing up without thinking about my childhood friend...whose name still slips me to this very second! I almost forgot about him...until today.."
To be con't...
A/N: FINALLY! THE END OF CHAPTER 11...and the beginning of chapter 12...greeeeeaaaat! Luckily, it is also the final chapter of Childhood Friends. Why? Because, there's gonna be a sequel. Duh! smiles Also I have some more news. I'm going on vacation...AGAIN! Only this time, it's a whole week! frowns I hope you guys can bear without having me updating! That's why I seperated Childhood Friends.
You see, I wasn't intentionally planning on splitting it in two, but when I realized how slow things were going and that I still had a lot more to write, I decided, "Oh hell! Do yourself a favor and split the story!" So, there will be a sequel coming up after chapter 12. I'll get more to that on chapter 12.
Okay, now that you know..
Back to writing out chapter 12!
Buh-bye!
crystalgurl101