Chapter 2
"Can you put down the picnic blanket already, Mari!" Kel nagged at Mari while he swung his arms shook Hector's leash. Hector definitely wasn't enjoying that. "You've been looking for a spot for like, 10 minutes already!"
"Hold on, I've almost found the perfect spot." Said Mari. Honestly, my legs were kind of tired. Hopefully she'll find it soon…
"C'mon Mari! Hector can't wait to prove how superior he is to all other pets! He'll completely sweep the 'Best Pet Competition'!"
It all started after Kel started bragging about Hector in class. Aubrey argued that Bun-Bun was better than Kel's dog, and they had another Kel and Aubrey fight. One word led to another, and neither would back down. Thus, Kel declared they'd have to have their two pets compete to see whose pet is superior.
Kel brought Hector on a leash. He had a bunch of dog toys stuff in his pockets and they kept falling out. Thankfully, Hector kept picking them up and bringing them back to him. It almost seemed like Hector was walking an over-enthusiastic Kel.
Aubrey held her pet bunny eloquently named Bun-Bun. Every once in a while she nuzzled her face in the pile of warm fluff in her arms.
I brought along Mewo. She had a real shot at winning the best pet contest. She was a good kitty. The best kitty. I stroked Mewo's head, and she made a cute purr in response.
Basil brought a plant.
It was in one of those red-brown pots I didn't know the name of. Everyone didn't know what to say when he left his house lugging a flower in a pot. He said it was a chrysanthemum, and he was bringing it for the "Best Pet Competition".
Kel was the first to point out the obvious; plants aren't pets.
Basil laughed weakly, but was surprisingly adamant about admitting his plant.
He explained why plants were basically pets as we walked along to the park. Things like how much attention you had to pay to them, making sure you use the right fertilizer, and keeping track of time so each plant gets the right amount of sun and water.
He was quite serious about it, so we might as well let the plant compete.
Mari was to be our judge. She was wearing a sash with a colorfully written "REFUREE" in crayon.
Kel made it.
As we continued our trek through the park, suddenly, Mari's face lit up and she jogged up to a patch of grass. She scanned the area with her hands shaped like a camera. After a full 360-degree turn, Mari opened her arms.
"Here! This is the best spot in the entire park during the fall!"
"So I can set this all down now, right?" said Hero. He was begging us all with his eyes to give him a break.
Mari nodded.
With a big oomph, Hero let go of everything he was carrying. He was carrying the blanket with his left hand, a picnic basket in his right, and everything else in a dark blue backpack on his back. He was pretty much carrying everything. They made a hearty thump onto the grass covered with yellowish leaves.
We offered to help, but Hero insisted, saying that it was his 'responsibility' as the oldest when we set off to the park. He immediately regretted his decision. Five minutes into our trip, he made some hilarious noises as he tried not to fall over.
"Is everyone ready?" Mari asked.
I nodded enthusiastically with everyone else.
"Then let the 'Best Pet Competition' begin!"
It turns out there's not a lot of things a dog, cat, bunny, and plant can compete in against each other.
Our first competition, the cutest, was a simple vote.
"I vote for Hector!" shouted Kel.
"I vote for Bun-Bun!" said Aubrey.
"Mewo." I raised Mewo into the sunlight and heightened his appeal.
"I, uh, vote for my plant." said Basil. "Oh, but I think everyone's pets are pretty cute too!"
Hero was the last vote. I turned to him and gave him my best puppy dog eyes. Everyone else was giving him a look too.
"Um, well, everyone's pets are equally great." Hero tried to brush over the issue.
"C'mon! Choose! And think about all the good times you've had with Hector!" said Kel.
"Well, haha…" As Hero began to stall, I lifted Mewo so that she'd make eye-to-eye contact with Hero. He would have to have a heart of steel if he could resist kitten eye-contact. Aubrey was doing the same with her bunny.
Hero's eyes darted around, no doubt unable to handle the pureness of the kitty stare. His eyes met with Mari and I could see him begging for a way out. An entire conversation played out through eye contact, and Hero was clearly desperate.
I have no idea what they said to each other, but I was pretty sure Hero had just agreed to something terrible.
The look in his eyes was empty. Mari had a no-good smile on her face.
Mari told me what Hero promised her when I asked her later. They were both going to visit a haunted house in the nearby city. Mari had wanted to go there ever since they opened, but no one in our group would go with her. Not until Hero, who had just volunteered.
I'll let Hero hold Mewo later. He'll need it.
"Well, as the all-honorable referee, I judge that Hero's vote counts as 1 vote for pet equality."
"B-but-" Kel tried to say something.
"No buts, the refurees judgement is absolute, and thus I declare, the first competition has ended in a tie!"
Our second competition was for which pet was the best at eating. Hero set out a bunch of snacks he had prepared in Tupperware containers all over the carpet. They were all prepared earlier that morning and were all catered to each pet. I didn't even know chefs could cook special dishes for pets! Hero just left Basil's plant in the sun.
"Here you go, everyone! It was honestly quite a novel experience cooking for animals. And don't worry, I did some research on the library and everything is safe for them all to eat."
There was an impressive assortment of scrambled eggs, chunks of chicken, veggies, and nuts for all our pets.
Kel was drooling at the assortment. Mari had to keep him away, so she slipped him some Orange Joe from the picnic basket.
While everyone's pets were scarfing down their meal, I noticed a squirrel on the edge of my vision. Then I saw a second one. And then three more.
Before we knew it, a bunch of furry bandits had surrounded the cornucopia of food. And they were hungry.
The squirrels diving like football players, aiming for bits of eggs and nuts as they dashed across the yard. Hector especially took offense to this as he barked with an extreme fervor.
And before anyone could do anything about it, Hector took off to chase the squirrels. Unfortunately, he overturned the bowls and snacks as he ran, and so, the food flew all across the picnic blanket. Which included anyone who was near the picnic blanket.
An egg slapped onto my cheek, and yolk dripped from my chin. I peeled it off. It smelled delicious, but I wasn't going to eat face food, so I tossed it into the trash bag Hero brought.
"Hector, noooooooo!" screamed Kel. He ran after Hector.
I rescued Mewo. Aubrey picked up Bun-Bun. They still ate their share, of course, but I didn't want them fighting the food bandits. Aubrey waved around her bat with one arm and held Bun-Bun in the other to try. She was trying to scare some of the squirrels off, but it wasn't working very well.
Basil hugged his flower away from the squirrels. Basil's flower was untouched.
The situation was getting out of hand, and I did not know what to do. But before anything dangerous could happen, Hero stepped in! He grabbed a bunch of the Tupperware containers, which drew the squirrels attention. The squirrels were measuring him up, to see if they could take him, but then, Hero threw everything away!
The food spread everywhere on the grass, and the squirrels mobbed the chunks in a frenzy. I could finally let out a sigh I didn't even know I was holding.
"Maybe this competition wasn't the best idea." said Mari as she laughed. She was picking some chunks of chicken off her hair and shrugged, "Let's just hang out."
We looked at the scene, Hector was still chasing the squirrels, and Kel was chasing Hector. Amazingly, none of them were tiring out. Hero was busy trying to clean up the food that spilled all over the ground so we wouldn't have littered. Mari was doing her best to clean the picnic blanket from the splotches of eggs and egg yolk that dripped all over it.
Hanging out was probably for the best.
We all took a break and started eating the lunch that Hero had prepared. He made some really good sandwiches today! I had no idea what was in them, but he said he made a special sauce he just learned the recipe for. It was delicious! It was kind of savory and kind of sweet and made everything in the sandwich all the more delicious.
In between bites, we all talked about the competition. There were a bunch of highlights from each of our pets, though there wasn't much to say about Basil's flower. And it was pretty obvious on Basil's mopey face that he felt bad about it.
"I shouldn't have brought a flower, I thought it was kinda dumb to bring it for a pet competition from the start." Basil mumbled.
He shouldn't feel bad, the competition wasn't really that big a deal. Maybe he'll feel better if I pat his back. Unfortunately, my friendly pats had little effect on his mood.
"Then why'd you bring it?" asked Aubrey.
"Um… well… uh…" Basil stalled, but Aubrey's inquisitive eyes drew the answer out of him, "I didn't want to be left out." He mumbled in a tiny voice.
I redoubled my patting.
"Don't worry, Basil, we'd never exclude you from anything! You're our friend!" she went and pet his head while my hands were still patting his back.
"Thanks, but can you guys stop? I kinda feel like a pet…"
"You can join the contest then! You have a real shot! It's going to be super hard to beat Bun-Bun though." said Aubrey.
"The competition might just be too fierce for me. Look at Bun-Bun's sharp, uh…" Basil stared at the rabbit, "teeth? I'd be destroyed!" Laughed Basil.
"And I probably won't be able to beat the squirrels…" He trailed off.
The squirrels had raided most of the bounty Hero had set out. They gave the nuts no quarter, as the bowls laid as empty as Kel's toy wallet. They had scampered off after there was no more treasure to plunder.
Yeah, there was definitely no beating the squirrels…
If I had to pick a favorite season, it would probably be summer. Summer had so much, it couldn't be beat, summer vacation with my friends, I was born in the summer so it's when I have my birthdays, and ice cream in the sweltering heat is something that could rival any meal in existence.
But fall wasn't too bad either. Fall leaves are always pretty and the weather lets me wear my favorite hoodie. Basil says fall makes reading a lot more fun, but I don't really get it. Books are the same no matter the season, except for the Captain Spaceboy Christmas Special. That was always more fun to read when Christmas was coming up.
I took a seat on the picnic blanket and watched the scenery. There was a beautiful mix of reds, oranges, yellows, and greens that covered the entire park. Every once in a while, a strong wind blew, creating a small tornado of leaves, and eventually a breeze reached the picnic blanket I was on.
The breeze felt great. I closed my eyes to feel it with all my senses, the smell, the cool chill, it's a wonderful sensation. It was the kind of breeze that refreshes the soul unique to the beginning of Fall. Mari really had set up her picnic blanket in the perfect spot. Despite Kel's nagging at how long it took for her to find it, it was completely worth it. Everything was perfect, and I had my bubble of space. No one nor no thing could disturb it.
"Uh, you okay, Sunny?"
I opened my eyes to see Kel leaning into me and disturbing my bubble; he was leaning way too close. There was only an inch before we would've butted our foreheads. I backed away gracefully. I did not lose my balance and fall on my back. Indeed, it was completely my own choice to lie on the ground and stare at the clouds.
"Whoops, sorry about that Sunny, heh heh. Does it hurt?"
I had to think about it a little. The pain was a weird pain; it teetered between the line of pain and mild discomfort, like the pain was doing a strange ballet recital between the two lines. It just left me with an awfully uncomfortable sensation.
After I got up, I shook my head. It wasn't a big deal, and the pain was pretty much gone. Kel made a sound that was probably relief, picked up some leaves, and ran off into the distance. Kel said he was trying to create the largest pile of leaves and create a leaf explosion.
I'm definitely not going to be around when he hops in.
Instead, I wanted to put myself into a prime position for the next breeze, so I looked for the perfect spot. A place with a bit of distance from the others, actually. No one would surprise me like Kel again.
Mari and Hero were sitting next to each other on the opposite side of the picnic blanket. They were both having some more sandwiches Hero cooked up. They were eating them peculiarly as well.
Mari held the sandwich in her hand in front of Hero.
Hero gingerly took a bite out of it. His face was red as he swallowed.
Mari giggled and nudged his arm. She signaled for Hero to feed her this time.
Hero did so, and as she chewed, she whispered something in Hero's ear.
"You… squirrels… pretty… cool… think… fell… love again." I couldn't really make out much of what they were saying, but it was probably something mushy, considering how much Hero was blushing.
They thought they were being so sneaky, feeding each other when no one was looking.
But I saw it all.
Y'know, Mari isn't as sharp as she usually is when she does when she does this stuff with Hero. I wonder why? She would catch me staring any other time. I would ask her, but she probably wouldn't give me a straight answer.
Do relationships do that to people? I'm going to have to test this hypothesis, but if it's true, after so many years, I finally found one of Mari's weaknesses! Of course, as her good little brother, I wouldn't do anything with it. I'd only slightly tease her with it!
Kel was off in the distance and his leaf pile was getting pretty big. How was he able to stack up all those leaves? And why isn't the wind blowing them away? Questions for later.
Basil was off to the side in the shade with his plant. He was reading a book but couldn't concentrate on the pages. Mainly due to the wind. It kept flipping the pages, making Basil lose his place, no matter what he did he concentrate. Oh, he noticed I was looking his way and waved to me.
I waved back.
I'm pretty sure that he read that book before. I remember it because Basil kept egging me on to read it as well. It was pretty interesting. The details were fuzzy to me, but it was a murder mystery novel where a detective was examining a suicide case. But there was a twist! It was actually a murder! Basil told me a sequel to the book was coming out, so he was building a theory about what'll happen in the next book. His book was chock-full of colorful post-it notes. Hopefully Basil will lend me the sequel when he's done with it.
Aubrey was in the field trying to be a Disney princess. Mewo, Hector, and Bun-Bun surrounded her as she twirled and sang a song I'm pretty sure was from one of their movies. It would've been better if she wasn't devastatingly off-key.
Aubrey's off-key singing did not cause the animals to break out into a chorus, and they instead did what animals do, and wander off. Hector searched for food, Mewo did what cats do, and Bun-Bun, for some reason, approached me.
I readied myself. Why was this rabbit approaching me? To be honest, I didn't like the fluffy creature.
It's not like he did anything to me, but I was frankly sick of hearing anything about Bun-Bun during our talks. We've been having secret talks in the park for a while now and we both spoke, I mostly listened, about whatever.
It was nice.
I could usually listen to Aubrey talk about almost anything for the whole day.
Except for Bun-Bun.
Something about all the stories that describe how his ears twitched or how he ate something in a cute way really annoyed me. If I had to listen to one more story about the habits of rabbits, I'd knock myself out. Even I had limits to my patience. The stories about Aubrey cuddling Bun-Bun were the worst.
A summer day flashed into my head. The rumbling of a car, the smell of sand, and an instance where I accidently nodded off to Aubrey's shoulder. Weird, why was I reminiscing about this? It wasn't even that relevant right now.
Thankfully, before the rabbit got close to me, Aubrey ran up and picked him up. Still rankled me a bit, though.
"Where are you going, Bun-Bun?" Where indeed. I glowered at it to make it turn the other way, but the rabbit was unfazed and tried its best to hop in my direction.
"Oh! You want to go to Sunny?"
Unfortunately, all my efforts were for naught as Aubrey was running towards me with the rabbit in her arms.
"Sunny, look! Bun-Bun wants to play with you! Isn't she so cute! She's so soft as well!" She held out her arms to show me. I saw none of the aforementioned qualities. "Try rubbing your face on her stomach!"
I would've said no, but Aubrey was looking at me with such excited eyes. I… I didn't want to disappoint her… But I feel like I'd lose something important if I cuddled the rabbit just because Aubrey wanted to see it…
"Sure." I picked up the rabbit and gave his stomach a few fluffs. I gave the best smile I could under the circumstances. Aubrey smiled back.
I chose her smile.
I felt a bit warmer afterwards.
"You two having fun?" Mari asked with Hero as she popped up behind us. I stumbled a bit but immediately caught myself. Is everyone going to sneak up on me today?
"Yeah!" said Aubrey, "Sunny just wanted to play with Bun-Bun a little, he's said so much about wanting to meet him!" Lies. Those words have never left my lips.
"I can see why. Bun-Bun is quite cute." Mari tried getting the bunny's attention, but the bunny instead sniffed Aubrey's hair.
"Isn't she?!" Aubrey lit up. "Want to fluff her stomach, Mari?!"
"Oh, I'd love to! Just give me a sec." Mari walked up to me, "Here Sunny, have another sandwich, you could always eat a bit more."
I took the sandwich as Mari petted the bunny. It was kind of annoying seeing Mari smother the rabbit, so I focused on my sandwich instead. I wasn't really hungry, but food is food. I closed my eyes and focused on the sandwich. Oh wow, the sandwich is good even when it's smushed and cold.
"So Sunny, you like rabbits more than cats? Mewo would be devastated." That was a weird question. She should know that Mewo is number 1. Obviously.
"No," I said as I swallowed, "I don't really…" A took a quick glance at Aubrey. She had the face of a kicked puppy. I had to change my answer, quick! "...like cats that much more than rabbits!"
Hero looked betrayed. Look, I know, I'm sorry Hero, but if you could just learn to disappoint people every once in a while, you wouldn't be stuck in those situations where you just can't please everyone. I'll apologize later.
"I see, I see." Said Mari. A grin broke out on her face. "So what about Aubrey? Do you like her more than Mewo and Bun-Bun? That reminds me, didn't the two of you snuggle up the other day?"
Some sandwich got lodged in my throat. I started choking and eventually I got the sandwich out. I could finally breathe again. Why did Mari have to bring that day up? I repressed the aftermath of that day from my memory. Mari gave me an insufferable and wry smile that whole week before she let it go. But what do I say?
The truth?
No way. That's too embarrassing.
"We didn't!" It came out with more force than I intended. My face felt hot. "That's not a fair question!"
"Fine, fine. But I'm curious, how's the relationship between you two?"
How much does Mari know? My poker face is pretty good, so I don't think she knows about my crush. Okay… okay… she definitely doesn't know about when we meet at the park. If I play my cards right, those meetings can hopefully be kept a secret.
"We mainly talk at school about anything with Basil and Kel." I really hoped Mari wouldn't see through me.
Aubrey was looking my way, and if she pointed out my lie, I'd explode on the spot. But her correction never came.
Wait, don't tell me… does she want to keep our meetings a secret? Our eyes met.
She gave me a nod.
We're on the same page! I don't know why Aubrey's helping me, but I can do this!
"Oh, I see them together on the swings at the park a lot. They stay there for hours." A leaf-covered Kel said as he popped out of nowhere.
I can't do this.
Dang it Kel, shut up...
"Dang it Kel, it's not like that!" shouted Aubrey more audibly. She approached Kel as she winded up a headbutt. Hero broke them up before any actual fighting started, but it meant the three of them were preoccupied, and that meant that it left me with Mari.
"Oh, really?" Mari's face lit up like it was her birthday. "A secret rendezvous, huh?" She poked my cheek, "You go lil' bro, you're growing up so fast!"
"It's not like that!" It may kinda sorta be like that, but I won't ever admit it to Mari.
"Huh? What's going on?" Basil appeared to the side of me as he noticed the commotion. He marked a page with a pressed-flower bookmark and finally closed his book.
"It turns out that Sunny and Aubrey have been meeting up in secret!" Mari laughed as she spoke.
Basil took a moment to process the information before turning to me. I nudged his arm, and hopefully he got the message. Save me, Basil!
Come on, Basil! I can count on you! Diffuse the situation, please!
He smirked instead.
"Wow, should I get Sunny some flowers to help him woo Aubrey?"
Basil, no! How could you betray me!
Basil just looked back with a small smile.
The two of them were tag-teaming to tease me. This is horrible. I have to distract myself to weather all the damage they were doing to me. Beyond twiddling my thumbs, I checked with Aubrey to see how she was doing. I think she was doing better than I was; she was explaining to Hero and Kel about us in a flurry and waving her arms frantically.
"So… you meet up with Sunny because the two of you trade stories about what will happen in the next Captain Spaceboy?" Asked Hero.
"No fair! Why didn't you invite me?! I love Captain Spaceboy as much as both of you two!" Complained Kel.
"Well, um, " Aubrey took a moment, "Your stories are kinda stupid."
"No, they're not! Think about it! The next story of Captain Spaceboy could have him fight giant alien cows as they shoot him with milk guns!" said Kel, his eyes closed and his mind no doubt envisioning a battle between bovine and boy. Yeah, I'm not really sure if that's a good idea, Kel.
Personally, I had my own ideas about Captain Spaceboy's next adventure. Captain Spaceboy in love sounded really fun.
"That's dumb." Said Aubrey, and that just started another argument.
Well, at least Aubrey somehow distracted the two of them.
"You don't have to be shy, Aubrey." Mari finally let up on me and joined in Aubrey's 'conversation'.
"S-shy? Shy about what?" Aubrey asked.
"Well…" Mari looked to the rest of us, "maybe this is best reserved for girl talk. Go on everybody else, shoo shoo." She fanned her arm at us, and that was the sign to leave the two of them for a private conversation. We all took the familiar cue and drifted away like leaves.
Off in the distance, Aubrey whispered something into Mari's ear. Mari said something back, and Aubrey covered her face. I had no idea what the two of them were saying. Oh shoot, Mari is turning my way. She'd give me the scolding of a lifetime, if she found out I was eavesdropping.
Kel, the nosy tattletale, was talking to Basil about his book. I hope a leaf gets stuck in his underwear. Let's talk to Hero instead.
"Hey Sunny. It's a great day today, isn't it?" I nodded. Small talk with anyone was always weird, but Hero makes it natural somehow. As expected of Hero.
"You've been practicing for the recital with Mari, right? The music bleeds out of your house when you two practice. I've heard the song you two play so much that it's stuck in my head, but I'm still looking forward to your performance. You both sound great!"
Only Mari sounded great. It's been weeks, but I still can't get the song down. Mari only took like a day or two to perfect the song, and I'm just stuck playing the same song over and over again, and making the same mistakes. She hasn't even messed up since the moment she learned it.
The recital. It was coming up in just a few weeks, but it just left me with a pit in my stomach. It's why today was so great. Today would be a break from all the practice, where I could hang out with my friends and have fun.
"Oh, don't worry Sunny, you'll do fine. I know how hard you've been working, and it'll pay off." Hero noticed my face scrunching up and did his best to reassure me.
"I'm fine." I turned away from Hero, and came to the sight of Mari hugging Aubrey, who was squirming in her arms. Ah yeah, sometimes Mari's hugs smother you too much and it gets hard to breathe. We should probably help.
"Well, she just said something great and super cute! I just had to hug her!" Mari started.
"Stphh fhat!" Aubrey could barely make a sound. Mari just giggled and ruffled Aubrey's hair with her chin.
"Let up on her Mari." Hero went to save Aubrey, and Aubrey could finally breathe once more.
"So what did Aubrey say?" Kel noticed the commotion and jumped in to find out more.
"Well, wouldn't it be super great if Aubrey was everyone's sister?" Mari gave the stupidest, largest grin I've seen all day.
Aubrey as a sister? That seemed weird. I'd prefer not to happen.
"Bleh, I don't want Aubrey as a sister, she'll give me cooties." Kel stuck his tongue out.
"Um, Aubrey doesn't have cooties." Basil corrected Kel.
"Well, she has something girly in her bones, and I don't want that anywhere near me!" Kel moved behind me and made me a human shield.
I turned around and exposed Kel towards the girly energy. I was very peeved at Mr. Tattletale, so perish and fall under the girly aura!
"Sunny! Nooooooo!" Kel fell to the ground. His unmoving body closed its eyes and stuck its tongue out. The very picture of a corpse.
"Is he okay?" Basil asked.
"It's Kel. He deserves it." Aubrey glared at the corpse.
"Don't say that, Aubrey." Scolded Hero. "Though the way the two of you fight are already kind of like a sibling relationship."
"What! There's no way we're like that!" Aubrey did her best to look disgusted. I tried my best not to laugh, but I couldn't stifle the giggles that came out. And unfortunately, Aubrey noticed my laughter. Her face reset, turned red, and she looked away. Sorry Aubrey…
Basil hadn't spoken up in a while, I should probably check up on him. He was off to the side, his eyes were darting around. I've noticed that he always does that when he's super unsure of himself. What's bothering him this time?
"Basil." His eyes snapped to me, and I gave him a nod. He got the message, but he took a second to gather up his courage. He took a deep breath and spoke.
"W-well, all this talk about siblings makes me kind of wish I had a sister or brother…"
"Don't say that! You're part of our family too, Basil!" Mari interjected.
I agreed. Basil always had a bad habit of excluding himself. We always had to remind him that there was no way we're leaving him alone.
"Thanks." Basil's face grew red, his mouth moved into a smile, and scratched his cheek.
Though Basil as family… I wouldn't mind Basil as a brother, though. Even though I'm pretty sure nothing between us would really change.
The sun began to set, and I could feel the energy in the air peter out. Everyone was sitting on the picnic blanket. Quietly watching the sunset. Well, except for Kel. He was lying on a pile of leaves which he was calling mi casa.
"I'm bored. Sunsets are boring." Kel bluntly stated as he rolled on the blanket of leaves. His mom is going to give him a huge scolding for getting his clothes and entire body all dirty like that. Kel didn't seem to care, and his dirt-covered fingers went into his mouth and he whistled.
"Hector! Here, boy!" The whistle echoed through the park along with Kel's voice.
I saw Hector over. In his race to run over to owner, Hector lost all grace and awareness of his surroundings. He became a Kel-seeking missile. Thus, he kicked up dirt; he jumped over the roots of a nearby tree, his leg got caught in a pot, and I winced.
Hector couldn't exactly run with his leg hindered like that, so he whipped his leg out. Unfortunately, that sent Basil's flower flying.
The flower flew through the air, and it hit the ground hard.
The pot shattered all over the grass. The flower's petals contrasted heavily with the leafy ground.
Everyone's heads turned over to the crashing sound.
"Hector!" Hero shouted. He went up to the plant and picked up the pieces. From what I could see, the flower hurt too bad, but it lost a noticeable amount of its petals.
Basil just stood there silently.
His eyes were getting watery. This is bad.
"I'm sorry, Basil!" Kel immediately apologized, "Don't cry! Um, I'll get you a new pot! Promise!"
"I-i-i-t's f-fine, K-kel…" said Basil, but his sniffling and watery eyes told a different story. His breath was quick, and he was only a push away from completely bawling.
Mari, Hero, and Aubrey went over to do their best to comfort him. Kel stood off awkwardly to the side. His guilt was apparent on his face.
This was strange.
I knew Basil. He had a big heart and would usually forgive anyone of us in almost an instant. He may have loved plants, but not to the extent of crying over them like this, since well… I sound so arrogant when I say this… he loves us more. So his tears were strange. There's something more going on.
"Basil, is everything okay?" I did my best to put some emotion in my voice. I don't know what's troubling him, but it'll be better if I can get him to talk about it. I looked him dead in the eye.
"Y-ye-" Basil was about to default to his typical response, but his eyes met mine.
"You should talk, I know it'll help." As the certified good listener in our group, my friends really liked using me to vent out their feelings. I'm proud that it always seemed to make them happier afterwards.
"U-um guys, I need you to hear me out." Basil caught his breath and steadied himself.
"Huh? What is it, Basil?" Hero was always the first to lend an ear to someone. Everyone else gave Basil their full attention.
"Well, it's… it's about, um, my grandma." Oh, Basil's grandma. I've met her a few times when we went to Basil's house. She reminded me a lot of Mari. She always had some chocolate chip cookies ready in the oven and was super strict about anything relating to her flowers. Kel was scolded many times when he came over. Basil really loved her.
"She recently got really sick, and she had to go to the hospital. The doctors say she's going to be okay, but… what if she doesn't? The flower I got was a chrysanthemum, and it's supposed to be a good luck charm in getting better, and I wanted to give it as a gift while she was in the hospital and… and…"
Aubrey went up and gave him a hug before Basil could say anything more.
"C'mon Basil, let it all out. It's okay to cry." She said. And Basil let it all out.
"Group hug!" Hero called out as soon as he saw the two hug. He added his arms to the hug that was already going on between Aubrey and Basil. Mari added herself soon after.
I would've gone over to hug Basil immediately, but uh, if I went in for a hug now, I'd be pretty much directly hugging Aubrey. It was like a 50/50 split between the hug coverage ratio between the two of them. Mari would totally tease me about this later, but after not a moment more, I went in for the hug.
Our friend was more important than that.
"Come on, Kel, join in." I said. Kel was probably feeling unsure if he should join in. Hugs first, guilt later. Great words to live by.
We kept hugging until the sun had fully set, and for a few more minutes after that. Basil fell asleep between the warmth of six people and the exhaustion from crying out so much. That signaled it was about time for us to all go home. Hero carried Basil back to his house, and thankfully Basil's home wasn't empty. His parents had hired a caretaker to make sure Basil was taken care of.
Kel tried to lift everything that Hero brought with him today. He was struggling under the weight, but he said it was his punishment for making Basil cry. But after he dropped the blanket and a few other things a bit too many times, Mari picked up after him and helped him along the rest of the way. Aubrey picked up Basil's plant and did her best to keep it whole.
Which meant it left me carrying both Mewo and Bun-Bun. The two warm fluff-balls in my arms were serviceable. I think I'd have to revise my opinion on the bunny; the fluff was okay, but I still didn't see what the big deal was. Even if the way she squirmed felt really soft.
Even Hector seemed to feel sort of guilty as well, and he carried back Mari's picnic basket back home. It was a really funny sight watching Mari's face scrunch up as dog slobber got on the handle of the picnic basket.
As we walked away from the park, I couldn't help but feel some sort of pride in all six of us. We truly were invincible as long as we all stuck together.