Hidden Depths

Sonic hadn't expected much when Amy had come into his life. At first, he had found her stalking behaviour irksome but lately, a change had come. Sonic still couldn't say that he was happy with her but all the same couldn't deny that he hadn't been as lonely. Amy had filled that void, gave him somebody to spend time with, to talk to and made him realize with a certain clarity that he hadn't thought about his parents or uncle for almost two days.

"Something wrong?" Amy asked, upon noticing the sudden change in her significant other. He shook his head, quills bristling as he did so.

"Nothing easy to fix," I said. "But yeah. Let's stop by Sal and I'll tell her we're having a sleepover."

He would tell her, he decided. None of this 'asking' nonsense. He was going to make it clear to Sally that he intended to stay elsewhere for the night, and if he was needed Sally would know where to find him. His mental assertion of independence would have felt a lot better if it were for something other than a sleepover with Amy and her roommate Cream.

Much to his surprise, Sally had given in to the whole sleepover idea with a lot less resistance than Sonic had expected. If he were being perfectly honest with himself it felt a lot like having a rug yanked out from under him when Sally smiled, nodded and told him to behave himself.

When Sonic had at last came to his admirer's bedroom, he found it almost plain. Sure, her bed had a few stuffed animals on it, but not much in the way of frills. A sensible bedroom for a young girl, as opposed to the plush and lacy nightmare he had expected her to live in.

Cream's in comparison looked like a cake factory had exploded inside of a fabric store moments after a collision with an out-of-control wagon full of plush animals: a plush cat, a pair of ducks made out of felt, and, lording over them all, a massive teddy bear.

Between them, the pair of girls shared a vanity table, complete with a well-polished oval mirror designed to show a face in magnified detail. The table also contained tubes, jars and containers of carefully arranged makeup on it. Though, as he had suspected, both girls were much too young for it and consequently, it stood unused and gathering dust.

"Amy!" Cream called, rushing inside "They're here!"

"Oh, goody!" Amy said, her basil green eyes sparkling.

"Wait, what?" Sonic gasped, decidedly on edge.

"Yeah, I invited some other friends. Is that a problem?"

"I thought it was just the two of you tonight."

Amy stared, incredulous as if her hero had claimed the moon was made of cheese. "What fun is a slumber party with only three people? I invited all of my friends to come around, too!"

"How many?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"Including you?" she tilted her head back "Well, with me, you and Cream, it's six total."

Five girls plus himself. All having a slumber party,

"Arrgh, look Amy I'm not sure if you know I'm not interested in hearing you girls talk about which guys you find cute, painting nails, brushing hair, or anything girly like that."

"Ick," Cream remarked, scrunching up her face and sticking out her tongue. "I don't wanna do that, either. I thought we were playing' the game with the boys?"

"Yeah, sheesh Sonic," Amy said, shaking her head. "We're gonna tell stories and talk and play games and stuff. Oh, and eat. Lots of really bad junk food. Stuff that Sally wouldn't let us eat in a million years."

Sonic stood there, confused. Maybe, his hazy recollections of his mother offered a skewed vision of what a girl's slumber party would be. Still, he left nothing to chance, eyeing all his escape options like the open window and even the soot-filled fireplace which he was sure he could fit given sufficient motivation.

"Wait a minute," he asked warily. "What game?"