A/N: School sucks big time, but then again, what else is new? Anyways, sorry I didn't update that last chapter so soon. I'm so slow! I gotta start typing faster and stop getting distracted so easily! Ooh! Also in this chapter, Stan's not-so-dream date is revealed! YAY! Hope you enjoy it!

PS: There'll be some personal POV's.

Chapter 6: And The Winner Is...

§ Boss... §

"Thanks, Cappy." I nodded as the young hamster handed me The Box. As in The Box that possessed the Ultimate Chooser. In moments, this would decide who would take Stan on that pretend distraction "date". I pulled out the supplies inside and put them together with great care. My fellow friends, the Ham-Hams watched me, Bijou and Pashmina being the most anxious out of all of them.

I turned to face them. "Are you both ready?" I asked the two un-lucky girl-hams. I barely saw them nod. "Good. Now then.."

§ Normal POV... §

"...LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Boss boomed into a microphone that apperantly came out of nowhere. He put on a red bowtie to make himself look like some kind of TV show host. The gang found themselves in an anime wrestling arena. Sitting on one corner was Bijou and on the one opposite of it was Pashmina. The song "You Ready For This" was playing in the background. (A/N: What? It's anime background! What did you expect?) Hamtaro was seen massaging Bijou's shoulders. Howdy and Dexter had started fighting over who would massage Pashmina, so Sandy did it instead.

Hamtaro then began to file Bijou's nails--or claws--whichever comes first..and Cappy was brushing Bijou's hair. Sandy did Pashmina's nails/claws and Penelope was brushing a lint roller on Pashmina's scarf.

Then Hamtaro gave Bijou a cup of mouthwash. Penelope handed Pashmina a toothbrush.

Bijou rinsed her mouth with the strong substance.

Pashmina brushed her teeth.

Bijou spat out the mouthwash and dabbed her lips with a napkin.

Pashmina rinsed and spit.

(A/N: Well, that was stupid! But then again, it's anime!)

"Will Miss Bijou and Pashmina approach center stage please?" Boss called over the microphone. "Boss, we can hear you." Pashmina said as she and Bijou took their positions. "Right..now anyways, you know the rules. If you--"

"Ooh! Bossman, can I do it? Pretty please! This is my favorite part!" Hamtaro interrupted. "Please, Boss? I'm very good at this! Gimme a shot!" He hopped up and down and flapped his arms wildly in the air. Boss sweatdropped slightly. "Uhh, sure. Why not?" the field hamster shrugged.

"YAY!" Hamtaro squealed, snatching away the straws, microphone and even the anime bowtie, grinning like crazy. "YAAAAAH!" Boss yelled as Hamtaro sent him literally flying from his spot on stage. He landed on his head. "Boss?" Sandy, who was nearby, asked. The male hamster sat up.

"I-I don't wanna go to school today, Mommy," Boss mumbled, his eyes replaced by anime swirls. "I wanna stay home and bake cookies with you!" Boss let out a childish smile. Obviously that fall had left him pretty messed up. "Hey! Stan used to say that all the time when we were little...except he actually meant it.." Sandy said.

"Umm...hel-lo-o? Back to us, please? Thank you!" Hamtaro called. (And then, the camera quickly moves back to Hamtaro, Bijou and Pashmina.) "Now anyways, you know the rules." Hamtaro stated. "Whoever gets the short straw, gets the task."

"Got it!" Pashmina nodded. "Very well, zhen." Bijou agreed.

"Now shake on it!" Hamtaro ordered. The two girls shook paws. "Made zee best woman win--or een zhis case, lose!" Bijou said. "Let's just get this over with!" Pashmina seemed tense. "And no matter who gets this tiny task, you two will still be friends, right?" Hamtaro added.

Thaaat's when Pashmina clicked.

"TINY! ONE OF US HAS TO FLIRT WITH STAN FOR TWO FREAKIN' HOURS! TWO! GOSH-DAMNED! HOURS! YOU CALL THAT TINY? WHY DON'T YOU GRAB A LITTLE RIBBON BOW, TIE IT AROUND YOUR LITTLE HEAD, PUT ON SOME BLACK MASCARA, CORAL RED LIPSTCK AND YOU DISTRACT STAN WHILE SHARING A SUNFLOWER MILKSHAKE OVER AT FRIENDLY'S?" Pashmina exploded, taking in a few deep breaths.

Hamtaro held up a cross in front of him and backed off. Bijou and the others stepped away too. "Wow.." Howdy finally broke the endless silence. (A/N: We sure learned a lesson today: NEVER mess wih Pashmina!)

"You know what, Pashmina?" Hamtaro put down the cross and smiled. "I'd love to dress up like a girl to distract Stan and completely make a gay stupid idiotic bastard out of myself when he finds out just so you two girls won't get the job..." he said in a rather perky tone. "Really?" Pashmina's eyes grew. "Yeah...it's too bad I don't want to!" Then Hamtaro got a deadly anger look. "NOW PICK A DAMN STRAW!"

Hamtaro smiled innocently as he held out the ten straws again. The hamsters looked at each other. Then they shrugged. Whatever! Hamtaro was a wierdo anyways! Nobody could predict what he would do next. And that's why they loved him...most of the time!

§ Crystal... §

Ooh! That one looked like a shoe! And that one like a bun-bun, (AKA: bunny). And that one like a polar bear. And that one like a cloud. And that one like--wait! That is a cloud! I snorted. I could be so stupid sometimes!

Finally, I sat up from my spot on the grass. The clouds were very white and beautiful today. And the sky. So clear and bright! It was a perfect day! I'm glad the girls left me here. Besides, I needed to recap on things that happened so far in my life.

Well, for starters, I moved into the suburbs. I met the Ham-Ham Gang. And I'm hanging out with them today. Well...not all of them. I haven't seen Maxwell, Panda, Cappy or Pepper all day! And the ones I have seen have been acting so freaky too!

Do they always act this way?

Especially that Hamtaro dude! But Bijou told me that's how Hamtaro acts every day. They say he "fell out of his cage at age two. And a half. On his head. Hard." Oh well! Maybe they do behave like paranoid freakos sometimes! But that's okay. I still like them!

I picked a white daisy and plucked out the tiny petals. I watched them flutter down to the ground.

WHOOSH!

Suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I spotted a bolt of orange and brown fur bounding into the woods. I saw it for a millisecond and all was still.

"What the heck!" I gasped. That looked alot like...you don't think it could be...

NAAAH! That's impossible! I mean, if that bolt of fur was Stan, then I might as well be the Empero(ress?) of Hawaii! Ha!

After laughing off the thought, I stood up. I was bored. But was there a pond around here somewhere...?

§ Back to the Ham-Hams... §

"Psst! Hey Bijou!" Hamtaro whispered as she and Pashmina were preparing to pick their first straw.(A/N: Now if I'm correct, I'm thinking you all know what the Ultimate Chooser is. Yup! The drawing-out-the-short-straw thing! See, guys are so smart and observant! ) Apparently, he decided until now to catch the french girl's attention.

"Pssst! Bij, over here! Pssst! I have something important to tell you! Psssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssstt!" Hamtaro continued to hiss rather loudly in Bijou's face. Obviously, the naive rodent had no whispering experience whatsoever on account everyone was staring at his wierd behavior.

Bijou, on the other hand, was feeling rather flushed that her crush was centimeters away from her face. Her cheeks went a deep rose-red, thinking Hamtaro would've kissed her if it weren't for the faint distance betweeen them. Finally, an embarassed Bijou found her voice.

"W-What?" she hissed back, but in a quiet, hushed voice. Hamtaro moved closer, thinning their seperation. Bijou's blush deepened. She grew from warm to just plain steaming hot on the inside. Hamtaro pointed at a straw. "That's the short straw!" he whispered loudly.

"HEY! That's cheating!" Pashmina cried out angrily. She glared flames at Hamtaro. Hamtaro jumped at Pashmina's outburst. He scowled as well, but in a complaining sort of way.

"What? I'm not cheating!" he tried to defend himself. "Me and Bijou are just uhh...having a umm...a very important conversation!"

"Ugh!" Bijou slapped her forehead.

"We all heard you, you idiot!" the Ham-Hams chorused. Hamtaro made an "O.o" face. He started to poke at his own chest. "Am I being bugged or something? Do you have a microphone on me? Are you spying on moi!" Hamtaro demanded. "Of course not...but what you do have IS A BIG MOUTH!" Howdy snapped. "Don't enter my private life! I DEMAND RESPECT!" Hamtaro shouted.

"Gimme' those!" Sandy snatched the straws out of Hamtaro's paws.

"YAAAAAAAHHH!" HAmtaro screamed as Sandy kicked him out of his previous spot and flying through the air. Like Boss, he landed on his head.

"Hamtaro?" Oxnard stared down at him. "Hamtaro, how many fingers do you see?" Dexter kneeled to his level and held out two fingers.

"Ugh...when the sum of the squares of the lengths a and b equals the square of the length c of the hypotenuse for any triangle, it is called the Pythagorean Theorem.." Hamtaro stated dizzily. (A/N slash Spoiler: Ugh! I had to copy that straight out of my math textbook! DAMN THE HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM!)

The Ham-Hams just stood there with "O.O" looks on their faces. Hamtaro just said BIG words! Big, scientific, educational words! Sandy pulled out a notepad out of nowhere. "Tuesday, April 3rd: Hamtaro falls on his head--and says something smart...in complete sentences!" she says while writing it down.

"Whatever! Let's just get back to the choosing thing!" Boss snapped rather impatiently. "Right, the--hey!" Using her ribbon, Sandy snagged Pashmina's tail and grabbed Bijou's wrist with her free paw. "You know we're like, not done with you both!"

"AAAARRRGGGHH! But I don't wanna--" Pashmina started. "UPUPUP! Did I ask for your say in this?" Sandy interrupted. "No.." Pashmina pouted. "Nice try, Pinky!" Bijou muttered loud enough for Pashmina to purposely hear her. "That same goes for you too, Paris!" Sandy scolded. Bijou sulked. Pashmina stuck her tougue out at her. Bijou snapped her fingers in response.

"Guys! Think of it this way. One of you's doing this whole "fake-date" thing for Crystal, not exactly Stan!" Sandy tried to reassure them. "Yeah! I mean, sure it's his party too, but this is for Crystal's sake!" Maxwell agreed. "Come on, girls! Do this for Crystal? Pleeaase?" Hamtaro, who had eventually cured, coaxed. "Please, Bij? Please, Pashy?" Sandy pleaded.

Bijou and Pashmina looked at each other. "Oh, alright! Alright! Zhis eez for Crystal!" Bijou finally gave in. "Okay, you got me too! For Crystal!" Pashmina took in a deep breath. "I'm sorry about the Pink thing, Pashmina. Forgive moi?" Bijou turned to her friend. "I'm sorry too. And I forgive you." Pashmina smiled. "Me too. Merci!" Bijou hugged her. Pashmina returned the hug. The Ham-Hams smiled as well, glad this competition wouldn't be so ugly after all!"

"Okay, you girls ready?" Sandy's green eyes shifted from Bijou to Pashmina. Both were nervous as hell. "L-Let's do this!" Pashmina sputtered out. "O-O-Oui!" Bijou added quickly. Nodding, Sandy held out the straws--yet again!

It was on!

"Round 1...begin!" Sandy declared.

The hamsters watched in utter fascination as a tense Pashmina and a sweaty Bijou shakily placed their paws on their first straw. The tension built with each second silently ticking by in each hamster's mind. "1...2...3!" Pashmina and Bijou counted. On "three", they drew their straws.

No one must've dared breathe, for when both girls pulled out two long, normal straws, a chorus of deep relieving breaths shattered the lung-squeezing silence.

"Aww man! The suspension is killing me!" Hamtaro exclaimed, shoving popcorn that apperantly came out of nowhere, into his mouth. He chewed it slowly. (A/N: Wow! This chappie has ALOT of anime!) "Where'd you get that?" Boss pointed at the popcorn bag in Hamtaro's paws. "Oh, at--actually, I'm not sure where I got it!" Hamtaro scratched his head. "You got any more?" Oxnard couldn't help but ask. The golden hamster smirked. He reached behind him and pulled out enough popcorn bags for everyone! (A/N: O.o)

The gang helped themselves. They sat down next to each other and watched as Round 2 began like a movie.

"Round 2!" Sandy exclaimed.

§ Pashmina... §

I looked from straw to straw. Which one was the one Hamtaro pointed out to Bijou? UGH! Sandy sure shuffled the straws well this time! They were perfectly aligned, like they were all the exact same length.

Just then, I saw Bijou pick a straw. She looked anxious. Isn't that The Short Straw? I thought. Ha! Bijou's gonna lose! I smirked to myself as I chose a different straw.

§ Bijou... §

(A/N: By the way, I'm not adding any french accent for Bijou in her POV, otherwise it'll be too obvious who's it gonna be in the end. You'll see what I mean in the end of this chapter!)

Yes! I couldn't help but notice Pashmina smirk. But she has no right to smile when that straw she has is the Short Straw! I'm pretty sure that's the one Hamtaro tried to get me to draw so she would lose.

Oh, that Hamtaro! I'm not sure why he would do that for me, but it was rather sweet! But my crush on Hamtaro had to wait. I could see Sandy was ready to have us draw our straws. Au revior, Pashy! Hope you have fun with Stan! I thought evilly to myself.

I wanted to laugh, but the thought of humiliating myself by giggling for no apperant reason in front of everyone--including Hamtaro--held me back. No laughing, Bijou! I scolded myself.

§ Normal POV... §

The Ham-Hams watched in tension. Boss prayed to himself that Bijou wouldn't be picked. Howdy and Dexter constantly wished under their breaths that Pashmina would be safe from Maxwell's "evil" plan.

"1...2...3!" The straws were drawn.

Pashmina and Bijou were shocked to find the other one was holding a long straw. Both were certain the other would draw out The-Short-Straw-that-was-scaring-them-to-death and end this competition. But it wasn't happening.

"Huh! Two rounds--and no winner yet!" Panda flicked a piece of popcorn into his mouth. "Tell me about it!" Cappy nearby, nodded in agreement. "But now there's six straws left! One of them's bound to choose the Short Straw!" Maxwell pointed out. "So true!" Panda agreed.

"Round 3!" The two girls chose a third straw.

"1...2...3!" The straws were drawn.

Nothing.

The Ham-Hams sighed. "Any minute now.." Hamtaro sighed.

"Round 4!"

The straws were picked.

"1...2...3! Draw!"

Nada.(A/N: Spanish for nothing.)

The hamsters groaned. "Why did it have to be ten straws?" Boss slapped his forehead.

But that was when the tension piled up faster than a line of dominoes could fall.

There was only two straws left.

One of them would decide the girls' futures. One would go with Stan. The other with the rest of the hamsters. Bijou and Pashmina looked at each other. They knew that eventually the competition would come to this. "I'm scared...me too!" they both squealed. The two girl-hams hugged.

"Okay dudettes! Are you absolutely, positively, 100 percent, entirely, completely sure you're ready?" Sandy asked. "No! But we're going to do eet anyways!" Bijou replied. Sandy nodded.

The air became moist and thick. Anxiety made the hamsters practically inhale their popcorn. Pashmina and Bijou, holding paws, finally chose the straws they thought was the right one. They glanced at each other and smiled weakly as if to say "Good luck!"

"3..." Sandy started the countdown.

The Ham-Hams literally crushed their plastic popcorn bags with their bare paws. They stood up and surrounded the girls, gaping.

"..2..."

Howdy, Dexter and Boss made their final prayers for their crushes' sakes. Even Hamtaro felt a bit concern for Bijou! He wondered why. After all, Pashmina was his friend too!

"..1.."

Bijou and Pashmina shut their eyes, preparing for the worst. Sandy bit her lip.

"..Draw!"

Sandy let go of the last two straws. Bijou and Pashmina held up their choices out into the open. They opened their eyes, hearts pounding against their chests. The gang dared themselves to look. And they gasped. It was...!

§ Stan... §

Man! What a total ripoff! Hamtaro and the other ham-dudes lied! There was no supermodel convention at the mall! So much for those signed bikinis...

Oh, focus Stan! I mentally kicked myself. I sucked my teeth for the fifth time since the last nine minutes and kept running. Since they weren't at the fun park, I had a gut feeling they were at the Clubhouse. But what about those Chicky Chickies the guys warned me about? Damn! Whatever man! I'll just go in there and...okay I don't know what I'll do when I get there, but I'll think of something!

As I ran into the forest--or at least the place with the trees--I could've sworn I saw a hamster turn around to my direction. But I ignored him/her and kept going. Besides, I didn't have time for mingling. I had some business to attend to! Actually, that hamster looked more of a "she" instead of a "him/her." And didn't she look alot like Crystal?

I immedietaly stopped running at the thought of it. Crystal. My best friend at age four for three days. No, it couldn't be...could it?

Before I could stop myself, I turned my heel and ran back to the field where I saw her. But when I reached the spot, I saw nothing. I felt disappointed, but then again, I must be seeing things. Like Crystal would actually end up here! Pfft! But still, why would she come back to my mind after all these years? Did I miss her or something?

I shrugged it off. I wasn't sure what was going on with me, but whatever it was, I'd figure it out eventually! Besides, she probably forgot all about me anyways! I should too! As I turned around, I noticed a couple of flower petals on the ground. Didn't Crystal like daisies? Before I could answer myself, I left.

§ ?'s POV... §

I could not believe what was happening! (A/N: Remember. NO french accent! So, just TRY to guess who's who!) I was holding out The Short Straw! I lost! I had to you now..gulp..well, you know. Put up with Stan for two freaking hours! Damn! Did I just curse in my head?

As I turned pale, everyone gasped rather dramatic-like and stared straight at me. "Oh my gosh! You have the Short Straw!" my opponent opposite of me couldn't say anything else.

"Whoa!" Hamtaro blinked twice to see if he was seeing things.

"Dudette!" Sandy added.

"In the name of all that is holy!" Panda breathed.

"Wow...you're all pale!" Cappy pointed at me.

"Okyoo!" Even baby Penelope was shocked--and usually she had no idea what was going on at times!

"Looks like we've got ourselves a winner!" Maxwell announced, giving me a sympathetic look.

"B-But...but...I-I...it...I.." I tried to complain, but nothing came to me. "Sorry, but the Ultimate Chooser has chosen you, and not..." But I tuned out Hamtaro as my mind started to curse the Ultimate Chooser for choosing me. That's the last time I put my trust in straws! I'm switching to coins! I frowned.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Howdy and Dexter on the floor, out cold. Obviously from the shock of it all. "Well, it looks like you just won a date with my brother," Sandy sighed. She looked straight at me.

"Congrats, Pashmina!"

§
A/N: So, it was Pashmina! HA! I knew it! But then again, I'm the author! Told ya' you'd find out who it was! Review if you want chapter 7!

Please?

Crystalgurl101