The Good Girl

Authors Note: Feedback is nice... I can't improve without it, after all, so telling me what you think is kind of important to me since I'm writing these to improve my style. If you don't like it then tell me why, you don't even have to get detailed with it. "To many mistakes", "Don't like the plot", "Can't stand the OC", or whatever. I'd rather have something than nothing because right now I'm stumbling around blindly and that's just kind of wasting my time.


Two weeks later and Once-ler hadn't forgotten about the mystery girl with the light brown hair that had been kind enough to start a trend that was raking him in the dough; however he was having less and less time to do anything other than knit. He could hear his family outside, busily carting the Truffula tufts to and fro to be processed and turned into yarn that was slowly being piled up around his small tent. It wouldn't be too much longer that he just flat-out wouldn't be able to keep up with the growing demand that peaked higher and higher each passing day, "I need more help."

It was both an amusing and inspiring realization, one that had a large smile spreading across his cheeks a he shook his head disbelievingly. He had gone from a nobody to a somebody in what seemed like a single night and the Thneed's popularity was quickly turning him into a household name. He looked at his beat up old guitar and grinned at it, sitting back on his bed and crossing his legs before him as he continued to knit, "I think I finally did it." he told the guitar. "I'm changing the world just like you said I would and mom's never been proud."

The polished guitar sat silently on it's stand beside the wall and he jiggled his foot, allowing himself a moment to gloat silently, "Soon we won't have another worry, I'll take good care of them all, just like you told me to." setting the knitting aside he stood up and walked over to the inconspicuous instrument to kneel down before it, running a gentle hand up it's brand new strings. "I'm sure you're very proud of me, and once I have enough money I can get you completely restored and set you up in a nice case over a mantle or something so you can keep watching over us."

His door opened and he looked over his shoulder to see his mother walk into the tent with brisk businesslike steps and a happy little smile. He moved away from the guitar and his mother frowned, "You're not talking to that thing again, are you?"

He didn't answer and walked back to his bed, sitting on the mattress and reclaiming the needles as she walked over to the black and white guitar, "Why your father gave you such a thing..." she shook her head, but even as the snidely spoken words left her mouth her fingers slid over the long neck reverently. She suddenly stopped and turned away from it and crossing her arms, "It's highly unhealthy for a man your age to be sitting inside knitting and talking to inanimate objects for days on end."

He looked up at her, creasing his forehead in confusion before humming and nodding his head, "You still want me to build that factory." he said and she nodded. Shrugging his shoulders he crossed his legs under him and looked around his tent, there wasn't hardly enough space for him between the stacks of Truffula yarn and Thneeds stacked over every available surface. It hardly looked anything like a business and he hadn't been able to sit at his table for days, "I'm not sure if there's enough money to build a whole factory though, mom."

"Trust me, you've got enough to set up at least a small one and you'll quickly earn back what you spent when you have more hands helping you knit." Her logic was sound enough and he nodded again, heaving a sigh and leaning back against his headboard, "Your father would not want you this swamped even if it does mean you're a success, you need to have more time for your family and your family needs to have more time for you, too. None of us are able to keep up."

He nodded and looked down at the twin needles in his fingers before setting them aside and standing up, "You're right, I'll draw up some plans real quick-"

"You should also reconsider how you're harvesting the tufts, not that I don't love the forest," he nearly laughed at that, remembering her first reaction to seeing the tall thin trees, deep emerald-green grass, and fluffy little forest animals. "but we are losing valuable time carrying them picking and carrying them back to be spun."

"We can't cut the trees." He said that firmly with a shake of his head and squared his shoulders to show that he meant it, "I made a promise to the Lorax that I wouldn't cut down another tree and I never break my word."

"Well your promise is hurting your family." His mother stated, planting her hands on her hips to stare him down, "What about your poor brothers, have you seen them?" he darted a quick look outside his kitchen window to see them running back and forth between the trees and large carts where they collected the tufts. "Your poor aunt hasn't been able to leave her bed for days and Ubb..." she paused and frowned, "Well, Ubb is Ubb; but even my back is killing me. Oncie, if you're really intent on not cutting down the trees then just let your brothers do it, then you aren't cutting them down at all, are you?"

He shifted uncomfortably on his feet and frowned at the floor below them before chewing on his lip and giving a reluctant nod, "There now, you'll see that everything will be fine! That stuffy old Lorax is just being greedy is all, there's plenty of trees!"

Sari punched in her employee number on the register and signed out, untieing the orange string belt from around her waist and removing it from her aching shoulders. It was rare for her to have to work any more than six hours a day, however it seemed that their new higher didn't feel like showing up for work that day which left her with no one to relieve her for yet another six hours.

"Think they'll come back?" her co-worker asked, frowning darkly as she scooped up a vanilla dish for a waiting customer.

She shrugged, "I don't' know, but if she's smart she won't." the other girl laughed and Sari frowned, she wasn't playing. "Really, if I get my hands around her neck it'll take the jaws of life to get me to let go." huffing she reached for her small page-boy hat and jammed it on her head, "Even that might not be enough... Twelve fucking hours... Jesus."

"You'd better watch your language, Sari."

Sari gave a careless nod before waving and leaving the store with her hands deep within her pockets, breathing deeply and letting out a tired sigh; it was nearly seven and the only places she had to go to was either home or the gazebo. She looked over at the small round shelter and turned for home before she could think twice of it, she had another two weeks of avoiding her favorite place to make sure she didn't accidentally run into anybody who might take the opportunity to try to talk to her again.

Her feet dragged and her shoulders hunched slightly, shivering at the unusually chilly air and wishing she'd thought to bring her jacket. Recently the days had grown longer, though, and she hadn't known she was walking into an ice cream parlor for twelve consecutive hours. Her pocket started ringing and she fished out her phone and looked at the ID before answering, "Hi mom... Yeah, I'm on my way back-... Really? Can't you get dad... Ah, is he? He won't wake up?" she looked back over her shoulder and frowned.

"Well that's kind of a long way for me to walk, don't you think?" Her mother's voice sharpened and she heaved a sigh, "No, mom, I can do it; I don't want you walking that far, either... Yes... Yes, I'm turning around now." she turned and started heading for the city gates, frowning in annoyance. She hadn't been outside of the city walls since she was in middle school when they had taken them for a 'friendship walk' around the forest outside. "Yes, only one, right?... Yes, I have the money, but are you sure he doesn't sell them at the gazebo anymore?"

Her mother chided her for a moment before suddenly claiming to have another call and hanging up, leaving Sari to look over at her gazebo and sigh. She could have gone to her spot and not even worried about seeing Thneed-Man or not, how nice to find that out after being told to go buy a new Thneed so her mother could match it to her new red shoes... She frowned and went through her contacts, calling up Flop who answered eventually with a sleepy hello.

"Come with me to buy a Thneed." She ordered, then paused and widened her eyes, "No, I'm not going to buy one for you, it's for my mom." he chuckled sleepily and hung up, leaving her to glare at the useless phone in her hand. She could try calling Aaron, but he was probably half stoned out of his mind and wouldn't want to even move to answer the ring let alone walk all the way to the forest with her. She was going alone and she would have no one to send to the door for her.

Stuffing the phone back into her pocket she gritted her teeth and looked at the gate before heaving a sigh and walking through it. Why couldn't he just buy a shop in town? Why did it either have to be the gazebo or the forest? Why the hell was he running his business in a tent of all things? "Stupid man." she muttered to herself, shaking her head and shivering slightly.

Pulling out a small rolled joint from the bag hanging over her hip she gave a quick look around and stuck it between her lips... If she was walking in the cold to fetch a Thneed from a man she'd been useless working at avoiding for the last two weeks then she would do so as high as she could get. Thankfully she wouldn't have to explain why she'd been avoiding him since he didn't know it, and as she sucked in the first harsh hit she held it for a moment longer than she usually would.

She blinked and frowned down at the joint, quickly blowing the smoke out of her lungs and opening it to find odd pink hairs in it, "What the fuck?" she asked, shaking her head as she teetered slightly. She felt more tingly and light than she'd ever felt in a normal high after smoking an entire joint to herself; feeling like she did after only one was something that hadn't happened since she'd dropped out of high school.

She ripped her phone from her pocket and called Aaron, waiting until he finally answered his phone, "What the fuck did you do to my pot?" she snapped, "There's weird shit all up in it, what is it?" she frowned when he answered and shook her head, "You mixed Thneed fibers in it? Why?" he answered and she slowly nodded, re-rolling the joint and licking it closed, "Well you could have at least warned me, I held it in for ten seconds... You're such a pothead, just because it smells good enough to eat doesn't mean it's safe enough to smoke."

"I don't care if it makes your weed smell good!" she shook her head and pocketed the rest of the joint, "No, I'm keeping it, haven't felt this good in ages, but don't do this again... Because you don't know the effects, you stoner monkey!" hanging up the phone she laughed and shook her head. Only one of her friends would come up with the foolish idea to smoke a Thneed, though she had seen a few people actually putting it on their food as well.

Her body tingled nearly half way to the forest before she had to light up again, taking two deep puffs and putting it back out. The joint wasn't even a third of the way gone and she'd been walking for nearly two hours; maybe Aaron was onto something after all... She didn't seem to have any negative effects, after all, and the near two hour high it helped give was a full on blast. Her legs didn't hurt, her head was pleasantly foggy, and everything was twice as funny as usual; but she didn't feel hungry at all and the more it took effect the more energy she felt she had.

Maybe she'd buy herself a Thneed, too.


He was just finishing buttoning up his pajamas when his door knocked and he frowned at it, how did they figure it was alright to come whenever they wanted to buy a Thneed? Didn't they at least consider that he might have to wake up early in the morning so he could knit the darn things? He walked over and opened the door to glare at whoever it was that decided that ten in the evening was a good time to disturb anyone and blinked in surprise.

"Hi, Thneed-Man, is it to late to buy a couple more?" Not-Chee girl asked curiously, rocking from her heels to her toes in nothing but a bright yellow tank top and baggy blue jeans. Her eyes were red and glassy and he wondered if she'd been crying, but the huge smile on her face seemed to state otherwise and he wondered if this was a reoccurring thing for her. She laughed and a hand clamped over her mouth as she shook her head and bent over, "Oh, wow, I love those!"

At first he had no idea what she found so funny about what, then a long slender finger pointed to his pajamas and he realized that the yellow bunnies was probably not something she was used to seeing on a man. He cleared his throat and jerked his chin up defiantly at the near hysterically laughing girl, crossing his arms over his chest and widening his stance, "You sure it's okay to laugh at the man who you're trying to buy Thneeds from?"

"Sure I'm sure." She stated, laughing again before sucking in a quick breath of air, "I did say I liked them, didn't I? More men should wear bunnies, they're cute." The indirect compliment she'd unintentionally handed to him soothed his pride and he gave her an amused look that she had apparently found even funnier than his pajamas, "You look like you're waiting to be tucked into bed, that's just too adorable."

He rolled his eyes and stepped aside, "Want to come in so you can laugh at me without me having to hold he door open and letting the bugs in?" she nodded and walked inside as she tried to control her laughter and he shut the door and turned to look at her still grinning face. Dark green eyes continued to laugh, though, but he chose to ignore it and nodded towards on of the stacks of Thneeds, "For laughing at me you have to get your own."

"Fine, I will." she walked over to one of the stacks and shot him a grin, "Wouldn't it be funny if I knocked these over like some over grown monster attacking town?" she gave a funny little roar and flapped her arms, "Run fools, the mighty Cheeba has come to crush your fluffy buildings!"

He tried coughing over his laugh, but when she accidentally tripped over herself as she goofed off he chuckled and bent down to pull a pink Thneed from the top of her head, "Congratulations, Mighty Cheeba, you've created a mess of Thneedville."

"That's how we Mighty Cheeba's roll." She smoothed her hand over the air and grinned before picking herself and the knocked over Thneeds from the grounds, placing them in a teetering stack that only fell over again and frowned at it. "Your Thneeds are working against me." he watched with interest as she made smaller piles all over his floor before picking up two Thneeds and punching a fist into the air victoriously, "It's my win, Thneedville, your fuzzy buildings are mine!"

She sniffed at the Thneeds and made a happy noise in the back of her throat, "I can't even place what it smells like, but it must taste wonderful, don't you think?" she asked him seriously and he found himself nodding in agreement before realizing her thought had come out of nowhere and was heading the same direction.

She pressed money at him and he looked down, shaking his head, "They're only three ninety-eight." he told her, trying to hand her back the twenty.

She shook her head, held up a finger, and padded his shoulder, "For bothering you this late at night and trashing your tent, Thneed-Man." she tossed a bright yellow Thneed around her shoulders before winking at him and leaving his tent so suddenly that he blinked at the closed door and sat on his mattress before realizing he'd been forced to take an extra twelve dollars.

Shaking his head he put the twenty on his night stand, "There's something up with that girl." a voice said behind him, making him spin around and squeal at the Lorax laying in his bed. He was glaring at him darkly, "I'd be worried about her if it wasn't for the idiots hacking away at my forest despite certain promises that were given."

He shook his head, "Hey, I said that I wouldn't cut down your trees and I haven't, I never said that my family wouldn't so you can't sit there and say that I broke any of my promises." the Lorax looked at him like he couldn't have said anything more stupid if he'd tried. He cleared his throat and continued, pointing at the door firmly, "And just what is wrong with being happy and energetic? So what if she made a bit of a mess-"

"That girl was a mess and you gave permission to cut down my trees to your idiot family who've been running through all evening hacking through so many trees that I'm hard-pressed to even know the number!" The Lorax snapped, standing on the mattress so he could look him in the eyes squarely, "You broke your promise!"

"I didn't!" Once-ler snapped, standing from the bed so he could glare down at the angry guardian before jabbing a finger at the door, but the Lorax had already hopped down and walked over to it before he could kick him out. The tall man stormed over and held it open for him, "If you weren't so greedy over your trees this wouldn't even be an issue."

The Lorax spun around, but Once-ler quickly slammed the door in it's face before anything else could be said, locking it for good measure before walking over and laying on his mattress. Gone was the amusement of watching the girl nearly destroy his tent with her childish antics of monster play and he looked over at his guitar, "He's over reacting." he stated smoothly with a shake of his head.

Laying down he turned off his light and, after what seemed like hours and might very well had been as well, went to sleep; and when he woke up he felt sluggish and sick from fitful dreams of Not-Chee going on a playful rampage through the Truffula's, kicking into the trees with roars of laughter and shrieks of delight... It wasn't going to be a good day.


Sari woke up feeling tired, hung-over, and depressed far worse than she was used to and she heaved a heavy sigh and got out of bed, stumbling over to her closet to pull out a random set of clothes when she spotted the unfinished joint laying innocently on top her night stand and groaned again. If she remembered right she had not only laughed at the Thneed-Man, but had laughed at him in his own house as she destroyed his nice and neat stacks of Thneeds while pretending she was a monster attacking town.

Sighing she tossed her clothes onto the bed and took off her night-clothes, throwing them into her hamper and walking into her bathroom for a quick shower. The hot water helped sooth the dull ache of her shoulders but did nothing to help the growing pain in her head, so when she got out she looked suspiciously at the roach and picked it up.

A small tiny puff probably wouldn't do her any damage so long as she immediately blew it back out and didn't try holding it in. If worse came to worse she could always just lock herself in her room and let herself tweak as much as she pleased anyhow, and if that didn't work she could always harass Flop. Nodding her head decidedly she unrolled the large roach and broke out her pipe for a small hit before snuffing it and stashing it under her mattress.

It took a moment for the effects to come, but when they did the buzzing in her skull wasn't nearly as loud and she could only feel the slightest of tingling running through her legs and arms. "Sari, are you awake yet?" she heard her mother call from down the stairs and opened her door, "I need the trash taken out, your worthless bastard father won't get off the couch to do it!"

Sighing she walked down the stairs and looked to see that her father was busy glaring at the television and arched an questioning eyebrow at him before spotting the bottle of tequila and flinching. He was usually a happy guy with an easy-going personality; sure, he had a bit of a problem when it came to alcohol, but when he broke out the tequila it was like a complete personality reversal. He turned his head and glared at her, "What?"

She nodded her head to the kitchen, "You're going to upset her if you keep that up." she stated evenly, shoving a hand through her wet hair as his narrowed eyes slitted further into a disgusted look and she frowned, "I thought you weren't going to drink that shit anymore."

"It was a gift." He snapped, taking the bottle and lifting it to his lips, no longer even bothering to use the dirty shot glass on the floor between his feet.

She snorted derisively and turned to the kitchen to see her mom twitching about and felt her headache slam back behind her eyes with vengeance, "You didn't smoke your patch, did you?" her mother glared at her as well and she mentally cursed. When one of them was messed up it was a bad day, but when you broke out the patch and the tequila things usually turned dangerous. She tugged the trash bag out of the can and tied it before carrying it outside and tossing it into the garbage.

"Sari, you busy today?" She looked up and watched her neighbor, an old woman who'd suffered a stroke two years back, hobble over with a hopeful smile. "I was wondering if you wouldn't clean my gutters out? I hate to ask but recently every time it rains it leaks over the sides-"

"Don't worry about it, Miss. Judy, I'm happy to do it for you." Sari interrupted quickly, not wanting the woman to explain further and feel worse for it. "You know I don't mind doing these things for you, just make sure you add those extra sugar cookies in my present on my birthday." the woman smiled thankfully and Sari grinned back, "Just give me a minute to eat some toast and I'll be right over."

She didn't have to walk back inside to hear glass shattering and stiffened, "Is everything alright, dear?" she heard Miss. Judy ask

She quickly turned with an eye roll, "Sounds like she broke a glass." laughing she shook her head, "Give me another moment so I can help her clean it up." slipping inside and shutting the door as fast as she could she looked at the war that went from the kitchen counter to the living room couch, "So what'd I miss?"

"He won't do anything, he just sits there every day like the bastard that he is! What kind of man makes his daughter take the trash out all the time while he sits around getting drunk on the couch." Her mother hissed, picking up tall glass that still had suds from the dishwater on it to heave at the man holding a throw pillow. He batted the glass away and Sari flinched as it broke against the floor, joining the remains of the first missile. "You're worthless!"

Her father growled and stormed over and Sari, horrified, jumped between him and her mother, "Dad, no, go sit down!" she stated as the woman cowered behind her. He lifted a hand to slap her and she braced herself for the sharp impact, stars bursting behind her eyes and head jerking so sharply she felt her neck twinge. She stumbled, but otherwise didn't fall and straightened herself up in time to prevent the same thing from happening to her sobbing mother, "Knock it off! I'll call the cops, I swear I will!" she snapped.

"Why don't you call your bad ass friends to come beat me up again?" He snarled, pushing her so hard that she tripped over her mother and landed on the back of her head on the kitchen linoleum and groaned. "How did I get saddled with a bitch wife and a slut daughter?"

"Don't you call us names you bastard!" Her mother screamed, picking up the broom to hit him with, "How dare you, all you do is sit around all day getting drunk, you're ruining our lives!" he yelled something at her and jerked the broom out of her hand before swinging it down. Sari kicked her mothers ankles and rolled so the older woman would fall on her before wrapping her body around her t shield her the best she could.

"Stop it!"

The broom snapped in half across her back, she knew because she felt it bend before breaking sharply, pinching her skin painfully before splintering against the floor and cringed as pain seared across her back and she cried out from the attack on her nerves.

Her agonized shout seemed to shock her parents out of their rage and she picked herself off the floor, staggering to the counter to lean against it. "Go to bed and sleep this off." she whispered, rubbing the back of her head. Her parents looked at her and she glared at both of them, "Now, please." the nodded and helped each other through the war zone and up the stairs.

Sari stumbled over to the dining table and sat heavily on the chair, taking slow deep breaths to calm her racing heart as she let the stars fade from her vision. When her father sobered up she would find out who had given him the tequila and she would drag their ass to hell and lock them in their own misery. For now she needed to clear her head so she could clear out her neighbors gutters.


Once-ler looked down at his watch from his spot on the gazebo stairs as he waited for The Mighty Cheeba to make an appearance, which he was sure she would. She worked at the ice cream shop, after all, so even if she didn't he could catch up with her the next day... So why was it so important for him to see her as soon as he could? "Stupid Lorax." he mumbled to himself before blinking and remembering just days ago walking up to see the girl just a bit further up on the bench muttering basically the same thing about him.

He was tired and could feel himself getting cranky. Even Melvin was looking at him somewhat worriedly, but what could he do about it? Sleep?

Sleep sounded really good at that moment, actually, but he fought off his droopy eyes and the large yawn that threatened to escape. He needed another cup of coffee, or even a tall glass of iced tea would ave been nice, "Hey, Thneed-Man, I'm glad you're here!" he looked up and seen the girl walk up to him and breathed thankfully, he'd give her back the money and go home for a nap. "I really wanted to apologize for last night, I really didn't mean to trash your place or anything... It was just too much for me to resist at the time."

She was slouched oddly in front of him with hands deep in her pockets and a tired grin on her face that spoke of a sleepless night with large pink lenses covering her eyes. Somehow, despite the large smile she was giving him, she looked like she was in pain, "I'm also sorry I went out there so late, I had a long day yesterday since a coworker of mine didn't show up to take over and I had to pull a double shift..." she gave two deep nods and bit her lip awkwardly, "Really, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

He blinked at her, "Are you alright?" he asked curiously and she froze like he'd threatened her, which was an odd reaction to say the least, "Did you sleep weirdly or something?" he elaborated cautiously and she relaxed a bit and gave a noncommittal shrug before taking a step back and opening her mouth to give him a departing sentence and he vaulted to his feet, "Want to get some coffee with me?"

She stumbled back a bit, her head jerking back from his sudden movement before blinking at him, "Sorry-"

He held up a hand, "Let me rephrase that." he stated smoothly, giving her a grin and holding his arms behind his back before bending to her eye level, "Please have coffee with me."

She looked confused for a moment before he spotted a slight tug against the corner of her lip, "While I like how you did that I still don't think I should." she denied.

He frowned, then got down on a knee, "Will you do me the honor of having a cup of coffee with me?" she stared at him openly for several long seconds before bursting out laughing only to end on a groan as she rubbed her temples, "Should I have taken our hand? I should have, huh?"

She laughed more and pushed his hand away when he tried to take hers, "Stop, I'm not feeling well today." she told him, still grinning despite her words. "I feel like I bashed my head on something and snapped a broom over my back, you making me laugh doesn't help."

He flinched and stood up, grinning apologetically, "Well then at least take this back." he pulled the twenty from his pocket, but she refused to touch it even when he tried to shove it in her pocket.

"That's for damages to Thneedville." She told him, her face not leaking a bit of the amusement shinning in her green eyes and he chuckled, "I've got to go now-"

"You should promise to have coffee with me tomorrow if you're planning on leaving me alone after keeping me up late and trashing my Thneeds." He cut her off, smirking when she scrunched her nose at him, "Before you ask, yes, I'm playing the guilt card."

She blinked at him before smirking, "Sorry, but I don't have coffee with strange men I don't know and I never make plans."

He nodded, "Well, I'll see you here tomorrow at ten, then."

She shook her head and turned around, waving at him from over her shoulder, "Bye-bye, Thneed-Man." his smile dimmed and he had the sinking feeling that he'd be waiting far longer than a mere thirty minutes tomorrow when she turned, "Bring your guitar!"


Sari felt stupid as she stood outside Aaron's apartment as she waited for either him or his girlfriend to answer the door so she could go inside. She wanted to go to Flops, but he would recognize the pain she was in without having to even look directly at her and she didn't want him to go to jail again because of something he had no part of. Looking around she noticed a child walking up and down the hall, looking as sad and lonely as she felt, "What are you doing, kid?" she shouted at him.

He looked at her and gave a great sniff and she felt her spirits sinking, "Mommy won't come!" he screamed and she sighed, walking over and stopping a short distance away.

"Listen kid, your Mommy will come." she told him confidently, "You just have to knock hard enough, I can see why you're having trouble, though, so why don't you tell me which apartment you live in and I'll give it a try?" he tearfully pointed two doors down and she walked over and started banging on the door using her 'cop knock' she'd learned from Day-day years ago. She heard the sound of shuffling before the door opened and the kid ran inside.

Mission accomplished, she turned and headed back for Aaron's door and ignored the confused woman with the wrinkled imprints from sleeping on the rug on her face. She could lecture her all she wanted and get no where for it aside from, perhaps, a fight that she had no hope in hell of even being a challenge in. "Aaron, open up, your friend needs a pain reliever!"

She was just starting to get annoyed when the door jerked open suddenly and she seen the red glasses eyes of Megan, Aaron's girlfriend. "Hey Megs, mind letting me in?" the other woman nodded and stepped aside enough to let Sari squeeze through before shutting and locking the door behind her. "Why are you acting like such a tweaker?"

"Because I'm tweaking. Is there a spider in my hair?" Megan shoved her thick black hair in the brunettes face, "There is, isn't there? Aaron says there isn't but I know there is, can you check?"

Sari looked through the woman's hair carefully, making sure to move it about before shaking her head, "I don't see any spiders, Megs, why don't you brush your hair?" she nodded and ran off into the bathroom to do as Sari suggested and left her to escort herself to the living room where she found Aaron measuring baggies on his coffee table. "You let her smoke too much of that stuff."

"I didn't know she'd gotten into it until five minutes ago." He looked up and frowned, "You okay? I didn't mean to give you the wrong joint last night, but it sounded like you enjoyed it." she shrugged with a tired nod and gingerly sank into one of his chairs. "Kailie let her kid in yet?"

"I banged on her door and woke her up. You'll have to keep an eye open in case he gets out again, though. Not sure how I feel about leaving a five-year-old in that situation." she scrunched her nose.

"Brent will be back home in twenty minutes, if he gets out again I'll call him over." Aaron comforted as Megan came back into the room. "So you're needing something for a headache?"

"An everything ache, gimmie one of those TJ's." he frowned at her and she winked, "Truffula Joints." she explained.

He laughed, reaching under the couch and picking out a pretty blue joint, handing it to her. "That's five bucks for you, but if anyone else wants one it's ten. Only my friends get the discounts." he smiled at her and she returned it, she could always count on Aaron to be a sweetie and it was always refreshing to know that he had no secret agenda when it came down to it. "I talked to Day-day yesterday, he was off his rocker on this stuff so I'm not giving him anymore; he's pretty upset about it. Make sure you don't end up like him, I don't want two bald friends; people might think we're starting a cult or something."

"Apparently I just act like one of those old black and white horror movie monsters." She laughed, "When I went to buy a Thneed I ran around his tent trying to knock over Thneed buildings and the such."

"That's the kind of tweaker I love to be around." Aaron joked, handing her a plain joint, "That's a freebie for making my day." she smirked and sparked it up before passing it to Megan. "So what are your plans today? You've got the next two days off, right?"

"Three, actually, they're making it up to me over the twelve-hour shift"

"Dude, is your back bleeding?" Megan asked, twitching a little and Sari arched a tired eyebrow, "Seriously, no, I think it's bleeding. Is it bleeding? Move your Thneed so I can see it better."

"My back isn't bleeding."

"No, you're back's bleeding." Aaron confirmed, "Or it was; you fall down the stairs or something?" She sighed and gave a tired shrug before nodding and he shook his head, "It's 'cuz you keep running down them, you're gonna break your neck one day."

She scrunched her nose, an image of a broom snapping her neck in half popping into her head and shuddered; it was actually possible if she wasn't careful. As it was it had taken her an extra hour to clean out her neighbor's gutter as she'd promised, ignoring the woman's worried face and questioning eyes the best she could when she was served tea and cookies as thanks. "Yeah, you're probably right, I'll watch what I'm doing."

Megan came over and peeked under the shirt, "Wow, you're all bruised and stuff, no wonder you came over so early." Sari tried to pull her shirt down but Megan kept it firmly in her fist and turned around, "Come check this out, Aaron, it's huge!"

He stared at Sari and she felt her heart sink, "Really?"

"Just don't say anything." She muttered, reaching over to take the joint he passed to her and taking a deep hit, "I'm having a tough enough time already, I'd rather have you guys near where I can chill with you when I fall."

He shook his head, "Just watch yourself a bit better or I'm breaking your stairs banister." the words were bland but the hot look in his eyes wasn't and she nodded her head, passing the joint to Megan who continued to study the bruise until Sari managed to pull the shirt back down over her back and send her a glare.

"Why's it so big?"

"You're tweaking, Megs, come sit." Aaron told her, patting the spot beside him on the couch but Megan shook her head and went to the bathroom, coming out with bandages. "Or that. Lift your shirt again, Cheeba."


Once-ler cheerfully stepped off his cart and whistled as he unhooked Melvin from the wooden lead, "There you go, thanks pal!" he said, patting the mule's rump casually before turning around and nearly tripping over an angry-looking Lorax. He sighed, "Now what, Mustache?"

"Stop cutting down my trees!" He snapped and Once-ler rolled his eyes before walking around the furious guardian and entering his tent, "You're not even using the wood!"

"I don't need the wood, do I?" He asked inanely before the Lorax ran in front of him and held out a hand to make him stop and talk to him. Once-ler frowned and shoved him aside with his foot, "I'm not doing anything wrong, what's the big deal? So a few trees are getting cut down, you've got thousands more!" he walked over to his guitar and picked up the smooth neck, looping the strap over his shoulder and plucking a few strings.

The Lorax scoffed, "You're chopping dozens of my trees down every day and your factory isn't even built-"

"It's almost built." He smirked at the orange critter and arched a smug eyebrow, "You were wrong about my Thneed, Lorax, and you're wrong about the forest, too." leaning back a bit he played a rift, "So I'm chopping a few trees, what are you going to do?" he loved the blues, such an under-appreciated music genre.

"I can tell you what I'm not going to do. I'm not going to sit here and listen to you sing about how I can't do anything." Once-ler laughed at that and the Lorax shook his head, "You're turning out to be a real disappointment, Beanpole." he stormed out of the house without shutting the door and Once-ler rolled his eyes, walking over to his bed and sitting on the edge.

Pipsqueak bounded in and looked around before spotting him and sitting at his feet, "And what do you want? Do you want a marshmallow?" he asked the cute little bar-ba-loot who mawed and did a little dance, "You do, don't you!? Pipper's wants a mallow!" it mawed again and he laughed, standing up and retrieving a bag from the counter to bring back to the bed with him. Pipsqueak seemed to not understand the meaning of 'underfoot' and he had to walk slowly to make up for it, but once he handed down the fluffy white treat he was rewarded with the absolute cuteness of him eating it. "You still like me, don't ya Pip?"

The bar-ba-loot pawed at his pant leg and he chuckled, handing over another marshmallow that was happily consumed before pulling one out and stuffing it into his own mouth, "Here you go you little runt," he tossed the rest of the bag down to Pipsqueak's joy and laughed, "enjoy, little buddy." leaning back on his bed he rubbed his palms against the smooth surface of his dad's guitar and sighed.

"You've gotta help me get that girl's name." He told the guitar fondly, "Because I can't keep calling her The Mighty Cheeba or she'll get a big head and calling her Not-Chee... Sounds kind of Naughty." Laughing at the word play he picked lazily at the strings making the guitar sound like it laughed. "I knew you'd like that one."


Authors Note: Ah, I hate my spell check... It says I'm making up words that I'm not and is trying to auto-correct the words I'm making up! Grr and junk. However when I turn around and use FF's spell check... Ahh, if only I had one that worked, then all my problems would be solved!

Sometimes people just have to make up words, spell check, so stop screwing with me!