I sighed and put the phone away. "I'll be back in a minute."
"What's wrong?" Lindsey asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"There's a fire. I gotta take care of it." I answered and bolted out of the shop to Cream's house.
Outside, Rouge, Cream, Cheese, and Amy were on their knees coughing.
"What happened?" I grunted, looking at Amy. She usually told me everything.
But she just stared at me.
"Something happened and a piece of furniture caught on fire." Rouge told me.
I shook my head and ran inside, Rouge right behind me.
Inside, Ms. Bunny was trying to put the flames out with a fire blanket.
"Oh, thank goodness you're here, Sonic! Please help me!" she cried.
I ran to the kitchen and got the sprayer from the sink.
"This ought to do it!" I muttered, holding down the button while the water sprayed over the scene. Slowly the fire went out and all that was left was a pile of ashes and a puddle of water...
Cream's mother took out a bunch of towels from a hall closet and Rouge and I began mopping up the mess.
Later, Amy and Cream came in.
"We're going to have to buy a new chair. Thank you so much, Sonic!" she thanked.
"No problem. Hi, Cream! Hey, Amy!" I greeted.
"Hello, sonic!" Cream shot back.
Amy just stayed quiet.
"Amy?" I asked. I knew she was still depressed about what happened between Sally and I. did she know I forgot her birthday?
She turned her head the other way, obviously not wanting to speak to me.
I frowned and my ears drooped.
Hold on. Why would I care if she isn't talking to me? That's a GOOD thing! But . . . why does it feel the exact opposite?
"Um, I gotta . . . go." I sighed and trotted out the door.
I sadly strolled around the city, with nothing to do, wallowing in my emotions, until I remembered that I had to get back to Lindsey.
When I got back to the Black and White Boutique, the sign said, "Closed".
"Aw, come on!" I complained. I pounded on the door a few good times before giving up. So I sat outside next to the entryway and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited . . .
. - + * + - .
"Sonic? Son - ic? Wake up, dude!"
I slowly opened my eyes to Lindsey standing over me, smiling. I never noticed that she had the most white, straight teeth I've ever seen.
Today she was wearing light blue jean shorts and an orange tank top with a grey plaid cloth vest, brown sandals, no emerald necklace, and her golden blonde hair was in a high ponytail.
"Good morning, sleepy head!" she laughed, holding her hand out. I took it and she pulled me up.
"I can't believe I fell asleep!" I murmured to myself.
"I can't believe you waited outside the store all night!"
I rubbed my aching back "Yeah, Note to Self: Never sleep outside a store. It'll just give me back problems before it's my turn to grow less handsome."
She giggled.
"What time is it?"
"About 6 in the morning. I was wondering if you were ever gonna come back, so I put it on hold for you." she said, opening the door to the shop and leading the way in.
At the check - out counter, a really chubby horse girl, who wore the same clothing and emerald as Lindsey did yesterday, was reading a magazine, chewing gum.
"Hey, Chasie." Lindsey spoke softly.
The girl looked up from her mag and glared at her. "What are you doing here, Freak? I thought it was your day off."
Lindsey pursed her lips and leaned into the counter. "Well, since it's my mother's store, I figure I can come in any time I want, workday or not, Chubby."
Chasie went back to reading her mag.
Lindsey tapped her fingers on the glass. "You know, I think I saw a box of donuts in the locker room."
Chasie's eyes moved back to Linds. She blew a huge bubble before she asked, "You lying, Creepsey?"
"Nope."
A few more seconds and the fat steed zipped away.
"We gotta hurry before she comes back!" Lindsey chuckled, jogging behind the counter to the cash register.
"How'd you do that?" I snickered...
"Oh, old Chasie is so into junk food that you say something about it and she runs off, faster than a cheetah chasing an elk!" she began pressing buttons on the machine. "
Hey, you see that white purse lined with blue rhinestones? Hand that to me please."
I turned around to find exactly what she was looking for and gave it to her.
She opened it up and pulled out the ruby heart - shaped pendant.
"What the - ?"
"I'll tell you later." she interrupted." Let's see, I've got a note here that says 'Give Sonic T. Hedgehog 1 item of his choice for free, so all I have to do is rip the tag off."
Once she was done, she placed the purse onto a rack and we raced out of the boutique.
"So here's your birthday present." she handed me a read heart - shaped box.
"Cool, thanks!" I said, giving her a small punch in the arm.
"You're welcome!" she replied giving me a small punch too. "Um . . . so . . . do you wanna . . . hang out sometime?"
I abruptly stopped walking and she did too, "Look . . . Lindsey . . . "
"I'm not talking about dating! How could you think that? I meant as friends." she corrected.
I looked at her questioningly, "How did you know I was thinking that?"
Her expression turned to panic. "Um . . . I can . . . read people really . . . easily." she faltered. Then she turned away from me and muttered so low I could barely hear it, "I doubt you'd want to go out with me, anyway. No one ever does."
"Now, why wouldn't I want to date you?" I asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.
She crossed her arms over her stomach and hung her head, "For reasons you don't know yet, for reasons others treat me the way they do, including my own mother."
A moment or two of silence past before I spoke up, "What would those be?"
"I have certain . . . disability."
"Yeah, and?"
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Another period of quietness passed and then she stammered, "I . . . "