A/N: Hi buddies! Thanks for the reviews. They're so supportive and sweet! And Stanlover: Yes. You're the first person to ask me that, so it's not S+P. But Crystal and Stan's relationship doesn't "go to a new level" until later. Much later. Here's chapter 7, cuz I got nothing else to say!
Also, some of you guys read the first chapter to my newest story, "She's Not My Girlfriend!" Thanks for the reviews!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Hamtaro!(I wish I could though...) I keep forgetting to put that in! I only own Crystal.
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Chapter 7: And As For Crystal
Pashmina's face was drained of all color when she found herself holding up the dreaded straw. Bijou was speechless as well even though she was safe.
"E-Excuser moi for just a moment, pleez," Bijou spoke up timidly. She whirled around and walked behind a nearby tree. "What's up with her?" Hamtaro wondered. The others shrugged and hummed an "I dunno!"
"YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES! I'M SAVED! PASHY GOT STA-AN! I-I DIDN'T!" Bijou suddenly sing-sang out. She started to dance around, celebrating. "HA-HA! IN YOUR FACE! WOO-HOO! GO BIJOU! GO BIJOU! GO ME! EET'S MY BIRTHDAY! EET'S MY BIRTHDAY!"
Pashmina's mouth hit the floor. (A/N: Oh.. O.o )
When Bijou came back, she was calm again. "I'm sorry Pashmina. I wish you zee best of luck with your fake-date." Bijou told her sweetly. "Riiight...best of luck my ASS YOU LITTLE TRAITOR, YOU--!" Pashmina lunged at Bijou, but Sandy's red ribbon held back the steaming ball of golden and white fur. Bijou squealed and hid behind Hamtaro. "EEEEK! What did I do!" she asked.
"I dunno. Maybe something like this: WOO-HOO! GO BIJOU! GO ME! IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY! PASHY GOT STA-AN! I-I DIDN'T!" Hamtaro replied, dancing around, doing his best Bijou's high-pitched, frenchie imitation. Bijou looked taken aback. "I do not talk like zhat!" she snapped at him(in her high-pitched, frenchie voice).
"Yes you do. You just did it right now!" Hamtaro pointed at her. "I did no such zhing!" Bijou glared hard at him. "Yes you did!" Hamtaro said. " I do not talk like zhat!" Bijou shot back.
"Do too!" Hamtaro exclaimed.
"Do not!" Bijou yelled.
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Do TOO!"
"Do NOT!"
"Do TOO!"
"Do NOT!"
"DO TOO!"
"DO NOT!"
"DO TOO!"
"DO NOT!"
"DO TOO! DO TOO!"
"DO NOTNOTNOT, INFINITY!"
"ACK! Aww man! She always gets me with the Infinity thing!" Hamtaro wailed. Bijou smirked, triumphant.
"Can we get back to the mission here? On task! ON TASK!" Sandy screamed. "Sorry." Hamtaro and Bijou frowned. Sandy breathed in and out as if calming her nerves for ten good seconds. "Now, where were we? Oh yes! Maxy, now that we like, have our 'Bachelorette of the Day', now what?"
Pashmina, behind Sandy, blushed at the "Bachelorette" comment and wished she could bury herself underneath her pink scarf from the embarrassment.
"Well, since choosing the girl was the hard part, now comes the easy part. We simply find Stan and--"
"YO, HAM-DUDES!"
Pashmina almost fainted at the sound of the familiar male voice. Instead of losing consciousness, she whirled around--her back facing the Ham-Hams.
Four milliseconds later, Stan popped out of the bushes and first laid his blue eyes on Pashmina. Instantly, he let out a flirtatious smirk. "Pashy-babe! 'Sup?" he greeted, tossing her a wink.
Pashmina rarely felt the anxiety on account the hamsters were right there. "Oh, just hanging out with the--hello!" Pashmina turned around to see that the Ham-Hams were gone! They ditched her!
Pashmina's heart rate skyrocketed. An anime chorus of crickets hung in the air. After five long seconds, Pashmina glared. "WILL YOU CUT THAT OUT!" she screamed at a group of crickets. They shuddered at the thought of feeling the angry woman's wrath and left ASAP.(A/N: Anime..)
"Hangin' with the crickets, huh Pash?" Stan snickered. Since he and the fair maiden were alone--which was rare in cases--he found it the perfect opportunity to woo her. Hopefully, he could start something after learning those new flirt comments last week.
Meanwhile, Pashmina's only reply was a nervous laugh. What the heck was she supposed to do? Then it hit her:
This is for Crystal!
With that quote in her head, she knew this was for the party's sake. And for sweet, innocent Crystal as well. For Crystal, for Crystal, for Crystal! Pashmina repeated to herself.
"Sooo! Since you and I are standing here alone, how 'bout we crank it up a bit? Whaddaya say? You and me? Out in the streets?" Stan cooed, wrapping an arm around Pashmina's shoulder. Pashmina blushed. She had never gotten used to Stan always getting so close to her.
"U-Umm..well...I-I...uhhh...i-it's just...e-errr..." Pashmina stuttered. And Maxwell called this easy!
"Just do it!" Pashmina saw and heard Sandy hiss at her from behind a tree. Luckily, Stan didn't hear his sister. "I'm trying, damnit!" Pashmina hissed back between clenched teeth.
"Huh?" Stan asked cluelessly, turning to Pashmina. "Nothing!" Pashmina squeaked. "Nothing at all! Umm..."
Meanwhile, Howdy and Dexter were returning to consciousness after their little shock. "...um, I think a d-date sounds nice! Th-that way, we can get to know each other better!" they heard Pashmina request. "Are you saying that you and--" Stan began. "I'm not promising anything! Just a friendly date!" Pashmina interrupted in a firm voice. Howdy and Dexter passed out--yet again. Nobody seemed to notice.
"Well, alright! I knew you'd come around, Pashy-babe!" Stan smiled. "What! W-Wait a second! I never said I li-liked you-liked you!" Pashmina choked out. But Stan didn't seem to listen. Instead, he grabbed Pashmina's paw and began to leave. "C'mon Sweet Thang! How 'bout a romantic boat ride, on me!"
Hamtaro, Bijou, Sandy and Maxwell daringly crept out of their hiding spots, while the rest stayed hidden. Pashmina turned her head to look at them.
"YOU OWE ME BIG TIME FOR THIS!" she silently mouthed out to them, a deadly look in her usually innocent eyes. The gang simply smiled and waved "Bye-bye!" at their bold little friend.
"There goes a very brave woman!" Sandy sighed. "Oui...well, lucky eet eez not me, no?" Bijou smiled happily. Sandy glowered silently at her. "What? Eet eez zee facts!" Bijou shrugged.
"Never mind that! Now that Stan is busy with Pashmina, we can focus more on what we hafta' do now!" Hamtaro jumped into the conversation.
"He's right! With Stan out of the picture, it'll be easier to keep Crystal and finish for the party!" Maxwell added. The others agreed. "So! What's the plan?" Boss asked, punching his fist into his paw. "Okay, Ham-Hams. Gather 'round." Sandy told them. "Okay. Bij? Like, you and Hamtaro take..."
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PLOP! PLOP! PLOP! SPLASH!
"Yes!" Crystal held up a fist. She was skipping rocks in a nearby pond she found.
The young hamster picked up another pebble. After an examination and a nod of approval, she tilted her arm back. As she threw it forward, she flicked her wrist to the side and gave the rock a toss. It skipped a good four times before sinking to the bottom of the water. Crystal smiled.
I'm glad I'm getting better... Crystal thought.
"Nice toss!" a voice complimented her. Crystal turned around. It was Hamtaro. He was being followed by Bijou, Oxnard, Howdy and Dexter(who were feeling much better...well, almost better if your all-time crush is with someone else). They sat around the girl-ham. "How did you learn to do that?" Dexter asked.
"Stan taught me! He said it's very important to keep steady and to kinda toss your wrist. Like this." Crystal picked up a flat pebble and threw it. It skipped the water three times.
Hamtaro and Bijou glanced at each other. Stan was indeed very skilled with skipping rocks and Crystal seemed to have had some of his techniques. Crystal looked down at her paw and sighed. For a moment, the five hamsters wondered if she was thinking about her friend due to her silence. Crystal noticed their sympathetic looks.
"So...where were you guys?" Crystal quickly changed the subject and lifted her head quickly. "Uhhh...nowhere?" Howdy replied stupidly. The others glared at him. Well, that was stupid! Howdy shrugged innocently.
"Riiight...say Bijou?" Crystal turned to Bijou. "Yes, Crystal?" Bijou smiled. "Where are the girls? They were here with you last time I saw them!" Crystal said.
The hamsters looked at one another nervously. They didn't think about that! "Th-that's an easy one, Crystal!" Hamtaro piped up. The others sighed, glad he had something to say besides the truth!
"Yes, what is it, Hamtaro?" Crystal cocked her head. "Well, it's that...uhhh..." Hamtaro paused. I forget... he thought to himself. (A/N: Anything new?)
"...U-Umm...i-i-it's errr...B-B-Bijou'lltellyou! Right Bij?" Hamtaro nudged the french girl. She shot him a glare. Crystal looked at Bijou. She sweatdropped.
"What happened?" Crystal wondered. "U-Uh, well...S-Sandy...she umm...Sandy and Pashmina h-had..zhis really...big...fight!" Bijou lied. "Heke? Why? What happened?" Crystal fell for it.
"U-Umm...e-eet wasn't very pretty! Pashmina was accused...accused of...flirting with Maxwell!" Bijou continued. (A/N: Wow! Like Pashy would EVER do that!)
"Sandy, umm..got very angry with zhis rumor. When she confronted Pashmina, she claimed zee rumor was false, but Sandy wanted proof. Zhen, zee talk turned into zhis huge argument. But by zee time we got there, they had stormed off in different directions!"
"Damn! That's harsh!" Crystal bit her lip. "And the others?" she added. "Um, they're at the clubhouse!" Dexter chimed into Bijou's fib. "We were...send to find one of them!" Oxnard said.
"Lemme help. Maybe I can set things straight and talk some sense into them!" Crystal suggested, standing up. "We were actually going to ask you if you could help!" Bijou exclaimed.
Of course, this was all fake. There was no Pashmina-and-Maxwell flirting, no accusings, and no blood-boiling arguments. Simply a competition between Pashmina and Bijou. But the scene was acted so well, it was like there no lie behind it at all!
"Let's try looking around town. There'll be a better chance of finding Sandy or Pashmina!" Hamtaro suggested. "Good idea, Hamtaro! But remember I'm new here, so you guys'll also hafta' show me around!" Crystal told them. "No problem!" Oxnard smiled.
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"The train has left the station..."
"..Huh?"
"You know. The bird has flown out of the cage? The rabbit's out of the hole? Elvis has left the building? Do you know any of that!"
"Uhhh...not necessarily, Sandy."
"It means Crystal left with Bijou and the others, Maxwell! Geez, and to think I wanted to talk Spy Language!" Sandy sighed, slapping her forehead.
"Why does Hamtaro get to go with Bijou?" Boss whined, envy spilling out of his voice. "Because we like, need you here with the clubhouse!" Sandy explained. And cause they make a great pair! she added in her mind.
"Perfect! With Crystal and Stan out of the way, we're all alone! Panda. I need you and Boss to get the supplies you need. We'll stay here and get everything else done!" Maxwell said.
"Right! Let's go, Bossman!" Panda motioned Boss to follow him. "I wanted to go with Bijou.." Boss pouted and followed with a huff.
"Let's go inside," Maxwell turned to Sandy, Penelope and Cappy. "Good! Cause, we've got a few more things to do before this party's perfect!" Sandy smirked.
As the couple walked ahead, Penelope turned to Cappy. "Okwee, okwee?" she asked worriedly. "Relax, Penny! I mean, Crystal's gone. Stan's gone. The party secret is safe!" Cappy reassured her.
"I mean, what could possibly go wrong?"
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A/N: Is that what you think, Cappy? That was chapter 7! In chapter 8, we go back in time with a little something called Deja Vu! ;) Wanna know what I mean? Hint: Check chapter 8 of "Childhood Friends". That's all I'll let you know! Please review!
Cya!
Crystalgurl101