Shelly's World
Chapter 8
"Okay, Cliff, have you ever kissed anybody?"
The gang was playing a game of Truth or Dare. It was now Cliff's turn, and he had asked for truth.
"Well I, um..." he said nervously.
"C'mon, Cliff, it's not that bad. It's not like anyone's going to laugh at you."
Cliff just sat there. He wanted to tell what had happened up in the bedroom, but he couldn't.
"N-no, never had a first kiss before," he lied. Shelly looked up at him.
"Cliff, tell the truth," she said with her teeth clenched, nudging him in the ribs. Ann overheard and grinned.
"Are you lying to me, Cliff?" She said suspiciously.
"Um... um..." he stuttered, blushing.
Ann began to laugh. "You are lying! I can so totally tell!" She replied in a girly voice. Cliff blushed harder.
"O-okay," Cliff confessed. "I have had a first kiss before." He bowed his head.
"What was her name?" Ann asked, eyeing Shelly.
"Marjorie... Marjorie Wilson," Cliff said almost immediately as Ann frowned with disappointment. Everyone else looked as if they were all urging him to continue. "She was so pretty too. She had short red hair and bluish green eyes, and she wore lots of blue and green to show them off. Marjorie also wore lots of mild scented perfume, so when I kissed her for the very first time, I smelled the perfume and it felt so good to be in her arms..." He zoned off into another world and sighed quietly.
"How romantic," Ann said, swooning.
"Yeah," said Mary softly, drifting off into silence. The room was motionless and completely quiet. Shelly then broke the silence.
"So, Cliff, it's your turn now," Shelly said softly. Cliff turned to Ann.
"Truth or Dare?" He asked her.
"Dare," she said bravely.
"I dare you to open up Karen and Rick's present," he said, grinning. Ann smirked back.
"What kind of a dare is that?" Ann remarked as she walked over to the pile of presents.
"You'll see," Cliff said, winking at Karen and Rick, who were blushing furiously. Ann searched through the presents until she came across a small box with a large letter.
"Bring it over here," Cliff said. Ann walked over to the gang and sat down. She opened the card. Nothing was inside.
"It's brilliant, isn't it?" Rick said, grinning like an idiot. Karen pinched him.
"You dweeb," Karen said, punching him slightly. "Here, take this," Karen said, pulling out a mini flashlight from her jean pocket. She then handed it to Ann, while Rick whined that Karen had to do that.
"You're... invited... to... Karen and Rick's... wedding!" Ann read slowly. When she came to the last word, a huge smile had been plastered onto her face.
"Yes! Aren't you so excited?" Karen shouted happily. Rick was blushing deeply.
"Didn't you see the rings on our fingers?" He said, waving his and Karen's fingers into the air. The diamond on Karen's ring glistened in the sunlight.
"I'm so happy for you," Popuri said, giggling with delight. Everyone else agreed with her as Ann stood up.
"You two have to kiss," she declared. "In front of everybody."
Rick blushed again. "Do we have to...?"
"Oh, c'mon, you chicken," Ann said. "It's just kissing, it's not like you two are stripping for us."
"Okay, fine," he said, edging closer to Karen. As soon as both of their lips met, everyone managed to get out an, "Ooh" and a little bit of applauding.
"Aren't they such a cute couple?" Ann commented to Shelly. Shelly nodded, biting her lower lip. When the couple had stopped kissing, finally, Ann searched around for another present in the present pile.
"Whatever happened to Truth or Dare?" Asked a confused Gray.
"That's over, I want to open presents!" Ann squealed. She tore off the wrapping paper and gasped when she found the surprise inside.
"It's a blue necklace!" Ann screamed excitedly. She held it up in the air for all to see. "Thanks so much, Gray and Mary!"
"No problem... we make jewelry all the time so I get tired of seeing them." Gray replied shyly.
"I was going to give you a book, but I thought that would be a crummy present, because, well, it's a book," Mary said blushing. "So then Gray decided we could share this present."
"I really love it, you guys, thanks!" Ann beamed. She took it out from the box and put it around her neck.
"Open mine next," Kai said, grinning hugely. Ann gave him a weird look and looked for his. When she came across it, she tore off the wrapping paper. When she saw what was inside, her face wrinkled up with disgust.
"What...is this?" She asked, grossed out.
"It's a... you know, something to use in your spare time when you're bored," Kai said, not wanting to get too detailed in front of everyone.
"Gross... I mean, thanks, Kai, let me go put this upstairs," Ann said nervously as she ran up the stairs. Popuri gave Kai a look.
"What exactly did you give her?" She asked.
"A...a..." Kai started. He then got closer to her ear and whispered. Popuri pulled away in disgust.
"Ew! No wonder why she put it upstairs! She was so humiliated that she didn't want to show us her tears! You bastard!" Popuri screeched, slapping him across the face. Kai then rubbed the spot where he got slapped.
"Oh, c'mon, it was a little joke, it wasn't supposed to be harmful," he remarked sharply.
"Well, it was harmful," Popuri commented as Ann walked down the stairs.
"What was harmful?" Ann asked. She sat down with everyone.
"The present that Kai got you," Popuri replied.
"What was so bad about it?" Kai said. "It's just something she can play with on a regular basis. It's nothing bad."
"It's nothing bad? Oh, that's where you're wrong," Popuri said sternly. Kai's face grew red from anger.
"What the hell is wrong with Silly Putty?" He shouted. "You play with it on your spare time when you're bored. I don't see what you find offensive about it, but it's nothing to be ashamed of!" Shelly giggled thinking that Kai had been talking about something else.
"Well, it feels gross," Popuri remarked. "Besides, isn't that such a crummy present?"
Ann pushed the two away from each other. "Okay, new topic. It's called, opening presents," she said firmly. As the room grew silent, she walked over to the pile of presents and pulled out another present. Shelly grinned when she noticed that the present was from her. As Ann unwrapped the wrapping paper on the gift, Shelly kept looking at her, hoping that she would be happy with what she got. A huge smile had been spread across Ann's face. Shelly grinned to herself, knowing she would like it.
"Oh my gosh, Shelly," Ann said excitedly, "you rock!" She held up the present, which turned out to be a cookbook. "Now I can make more recipes!"
"I thought you would like it," Shelly said with a weak smile. Ann smiled then looked at Cliff.
"And I suppose that you got that present with her?" She said, giggling. Cliff rolled his eyes.
"No, we hated each other, remember?" Cliff stated. Ann giggled even more.
"You hated each other... but now you're in love, right?" She exclaimed. Cliff's face turned a dark shade of scarlet.
"Well, we-" he started.
"You kissed?" Ann squealed and clapped her hands.
"Well, not entirely," Shelly managed to get out. Karen grinned slyly.
"That means you have to kiss now," she said, looking at the two of them.
"But this isn't the way I wanted to use my first kiss," Shelly whined.
"Too bad," Karen said. "This is the way we play Truth or Dare here. Live with it or leave."
The room became silent as everyone laid eyes on Shelly and Cliff. Shelly started to sweat. This wasn't going to be easy, especially since they were going to be kissing in front of everyone.
"Oh, all right," Shelly muttered. She looked into Cliff's eyes. She slowly got closer to him, afraid to lay her lips on his in front of all these people. When they got within a foot of each other, the front door opened and there stood Doug. Shelly sighed a sigh of relief as she sat up straight again.
"Saved by the door," Shelly thought. "I can't believe I'm thinking this, but... thank you, Doug."
"You children aren't doing anything dangerous, now, are you?" Doug asked suspiciously. Ann shook her head in response.
"No, Daddy, we're fine. It's just a game of Truth or Dare," she replied, then smiled. Doug then gave her a weird look and walked into the kitchen's back door.
"Anyway, where were we? Oh yes! You two were about to kiss!" Karen said. Shelly and Cliff continued to stare at each other.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Get to it!" Karen exclaimed. Shelly and Cliff leaned closer to each other and their lips soon met. Shelly could hear the whole room roar with applause. The door to the kitchen opened, though, and the kiss had to be cut short.
"What's going on in here?" Doug asked sternly. Everyone stopped cheering.
"A-Ann said a bad word," Elli thought up quickly, knowing Doug didn't care if his daughter swore or not.
"And you're cheering because?" Doug said suspiciously.
"Because she made up a great comeback with the word in it," Elli replied. She smiled weakly. Doug gave her a weird look.
"Right," he said facetiously. He walked back into the kitchen's back door again. Shelly and Cliff knew what they had to do and tried to kiss again, but were interrupted by Karen.
"Enough of that! We've tried too many times and failed; let's just open presents now!" she shouted. She then took a present from the pile and handed it gruffly to Ann. Ann gave her the watch-your-attitude look.
"Whenever we try to kiss," Shelly thought, "we always end up getting interrupted. It's like, a curse or something." She scowled. Ann tore open her next present, and when she saw it, tears came to her eyes, because she was so happy.
"Oh, Elli and Tim, you shouldn't have! I love your hand embroidered handkerchiefs!" Ann squealed, stomping her feet excitedly. Elli smiled nervously while Tim said nothing.
"I'm glad you like it," Elli replied. "It took me a while to make, and Tim helped me out a little, too, by telling me what colors to make everything." She giggled. "I did most of the work, though."
"Obviously," Ann replied, giggling too. "I've never met a guy who could sew here." She got up to get the last three presents from the pile. All of them were from Doug; the first one was a pair of blue jeans, the second was a notebook and colored pencils, and the last was a book that Basil, the plant lover and writer, had written. Ann laughed out loud when she saw her last present. Everyone cracked up with her.
"What in the world...?" She started, and began to crack up again. "No offense to my dad and Basil, but I am definitely not interested in some stupid book about plants."
"I wouldn't be either," Shelly remarked. "I mean, who wants to read a book about nature?" She tried to stifle her laughter, but didn't succeed.
"I know, really!" Ann chortled, waving the book idiotically as the book flew out of her hands and onto the ground, opened. A small piece of paper came flying out of the book, to Shelly's surprise. She eyed it, as the whole room remained mum.
"A birthday card for you?" Shelly asked Ann. Ann picked up the letter and read it carefully.
"Nope. It says it's for you," she replied lamely. She handed the letter to Shelly, who rudely declined by pushing it away.
"It can't be mine," she said, "it's not my birthday. Besides, who in their right mind would give a birthday card to a guest at a party?"
"Your dad," Ann read. She impatiently handed the letter to Shelly, who grabbed it out of her hands this time. She carefully tore the top of the envelope open, and pulled out a blue piece of paper. Shelly then read aloud:
Dear Shelly,
It is I, your father. I am back here in California with your mom and brother. I hope you don't mind that you are there by yourself. Besides, I hated that place from the very start, and when I talked to the Mayor, he said some very mean things. I don't know quite exactly what he said, but I know it was mean. I screamed at him and ran back to the airport and here I am now. That is all. Take care.
~ Your Father
Everyone in the room cracked up, including Ann. Shelly started to whine, but also laughed a little, due to her father's horrible stupidity and short term of vocabulary.
"Great, I guess that means I'm staying here for the rest of my life," Shelly said while sulking. "I mean, I can't afford to go on an airport. I'm not even old enough to go on one by myself!"
"Don't you like it here?" Mary said, trying to comfort Shelly as she rubbed her back.
"Yes, I love it here," she commented, "but I want my family here with me too. I can't believe how idiotic my father was... leaving me here like that."
"Ha, he'll be back soon, quit worrying. C'mon, everyone, let's go watch a movie now!" Karen said as she grabbed a movie from her jacket. Shelly and Ann gave her a look as the whole entire group walked to the big screen television hidden behind the staircase. Shelly awed in amazement.
"Whoa," she said to Ann, "you never told me about this!"
"Yeah, I know... sorry," she said sheepishly. Shelly smiled then sat down next to Ann while Karen put the videocassette in.
"We're going to watch 'The Ring'," Karen said, trying to creep everyone out. She didn't succeed.
"Oh, that movie isn't scary," Shelly replied.
"Yeah, and by the way you said it, it doesn't sound like a very scary movie at all," Gray said. Shelly guessed that he had never seen it before.
"Well, it is," Karen said. "I'd be very afraid if I were you."
The room remained silent.
"Oh yeah, and.... Get a shield so you babies don't have to see the gruesome parts," she said, smirking evilly. Shelly glared at her, then rolled her eyes.
"What's the matter, Shelly? You don't believe me?" Karen said in an over friendly voice.
"No, because I've seen this movie, and since other people don't seem to agree with you, I suggest you keep your mouth shut, unless you want it to be socked with my fist." Shelly then replied. Ann laughed with her hand over her mouth. Karen laughed sarcastically.
"Oh, you like that?" She said, smirking at Ann. Ann stopped laughing and gave her a look. Karen then clicked the power button on the remote control, and the video began to play. Popuri hid behind Kai.
"Aw, don't be such a wimp," Kai mocked, and pushed her out of the way.
"But it's scary," Popuri whined while clinging onto his arm. Kai grunted slightly, but decided he liked Popuri's comfort, being the person he was.
~*~*~
The movie had finished. Popuri and Mary had been scared out of their wits. Karen cackled at the two.
"You two are so pathetic! Just look at you, crying like little children!" She remarked. Popuri began to cry more.
"W-well, it's n-n-not our fault we're a-afraid of scary movies," Mary said, whimpering.
"What cowards," Karen said selfishly. Shelly, not liking what was going on, intruded the conversation.
"Oh, and you're not afraid of anything?" She said bravely.
"Yeah, I am, I'm just not afraid of movies... it's called acting, people," she replied. Shelly gave a frustrated sigh.
"Look, not everyone is like you, nor does everyone want to be like you-"
"You know, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all."
"Then why were you talking shit about Mary and Popuri?"
The room grew silent again. Just then, Shelly heard a laugh from the audience, then everyone started laughing. Shelly beamed with pride, while Karen sat down feeling like an idiot.
"What a coward," Shelly remarked, feeling proud that she could help her friends. The laughter soon stopped and then turned into complete and utter silence until the men got into a group and started their own social circle. The girls did the same. Ann started first.
"Hey, girls," she whispered so the boys couldn't hear her, "the guys have to leave because we have to go to bed soon, and my dad doesn't like it when guys are over here... well, except for Cliff, because he basically lives here... but, what should I do?"
"Tell them in a nice, polite, way," Mary stated calmly. "You should say it to them so they won't feel left out and-"
"Hey, boys! Party's over!" Karen shouted as she stood up from the girls' social circle. "Pack your things and leave!" She pointed toward the front door. The boys just stared at her.
"Leave?" Gray shouted, whining.
"Did I stutter? Yes! Leave, you fool!" Karen said impatiently. She grinned as she looked down to the girls, who were now glaring at her.
"I said politely, not impolitely," Mary said indignantly.
"Who cares what you said? It's what I said that matters now!" she boasted as she then turned to the boys. "What's taking you so long? Chop, chop!" She clapped her hands lethargically as the guys began standing up and walking out the door. Karen then ran to the door, opened it and watched as the group of boys walked out.
"That's it, keep moving," she coaxed in a bored tone of voice. When the last guy went out, Karen slammed the door, not realizing that he had just flipped her off. She sat down with the group.
"That was rather rude," Popuri pointed out.
"Well, they're gone, aren't they?" Karen bragged. Shelly decided to keep her mouth shut, because she didn't want to cause anymore trouble than she already had. Ann looked at Karen with deep blue eyes, then sighed.
"Come on, guys. Let's get ready for bed," she said pathetically. She dragged her feet upstairs. A scream then came from Karen.
"What are you still doing here?" she yelped at Cliff.
"I live here," he remarked sharply. "Did that alcohol get to your head again? You should really lay off that stuff, you know."
"Don't tell me you don't drink any," she said sarcastically. "The guys look up to you for those little drinking contests you hold every night."
"For your information, you hold drinking contests too. You haven't lost a single one!"
"Neither have you!"
Cliff remained speechless. He had run out of comebacks. Shelly's anger grew within her as she saw Cliff coming close to tears while Karen snickered maniacally. Shelly then got up and pushed Karen to the ground.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Is there an off button for your attitude?" Shelly raged.
"Aw... sticking up for your boyfriend, how sweet!" She remarked in a mockingly sweet voice. Shelly's face grew red.
"He is not my boyfriend!" She screamed. She then turned to Cliff and winked at him repeatedly so he would understand.
"Of course not! How silly of me to think that! You're just friends who make out! I get it," Karen said facetiously.
"We never made out in the first place!"
"Then how come I found you two up in your bedroom with your lips attached? Did you somehow trip and your lips just accidentally found his?"
"Give me some proof that you actually did see us making out," Shelly hollered.
"How about this? We were playing Truth or dare while Cliff went up to apologize. It was my turn and I asked Ann to go see what you two were really doing up there. So... she went. I followed along to see if she was going to look and not get caught, and that's when I saw you two through the window, kissing away."
Shelly was now speechless too. She had millions of things to say to her in her mind, but nothing seemed to fit just how she felt. Suddenly, out of nowhere, she felt her fist slam against Karen's flesh. A scream of pain came from her mouth.
"You little bitch! You are so going to pay for that!" Karen yelped as she put her fists up. She then kicked Shelly right in the stomach as she clutched onto it and fell to the floor. While Karen's leg was still in the air, Shelly grabbed a hold of it from where she was to make Karen fall to the ground, pleading for help. Ann came running down the stairs with her sleeping bag as she saw Karen moaning prayers to the Goddess and Shelly grasping onto Karen's leg.
"What the hell is going on here?" Ann raged.
"She's trying to strangle me!" Karen complained in that usual help-me voice. "I was just talking to Cliff when out of nowhere, she punched me in the face," She continued to moan while Ann turned to Shelly, with a look of pain.
"Shelly... I am sorely disappointed in you. I can't believe you, my best friend, would do something so cruel to Karen. I totally misjudged you," Ann said softly with a hint of anger.
"Ann, you can't believe her!" Shelly complained. "She's lying! Don't trust her!"
"I can't trust you anymore to believe that," Ann replied. "I thought you were the loyal type of friend, but I guess I was wrong; I don't even think of you as a friend anymore." She then bowed her head.
"Ann, listen..."
"No, I can't, Shelly. I already told, you... I can't trust you anymore. Can we please just leave it at that?"
Shelly said nothing. She dared not to cry because she knew Karen would taunt her about it and everyone in the room would think she was a crybaby.
"I-I... I guess you want me to leave now?" Shelly said, trying to hold the tears back.
"Please do, Shelly. It would do us all a big favor." Karen said rudely.
"Well, fine. If that's the way you all want it, I guess this is the way it's going to be. I hope you all have fun sleeping together," Shelly replied, putting one foot onto a step. She then ran all the way up to her room and cried to herself while everyone downstairs chatted away. Not even Cliff went upstairs to be by her side.
"What great friends I have," Shelly said facetiously, her voice muffled by the pillow. "What great friends."
A/N: Hey, guys! ^__^ Sorry it's taken me this long to update this chapter. I'd been sick for quite a while and stuff... yeah. (For you people that know me on AIM, Yahoo, or MSN, you now know the reason why I hadn't been on the computer since, well, forever.) Please forgive me, I have the whole entire story plotted out from here, so I'll hopefully be updating pretty quickly from now on. Just remember, though, that I want at least 7 to 10 reviews from each chapter. :) TTFN, peeps!
~*~*Fairy Friend*~*~
