A/N: Heyyy! So here's the next chapter…sorry if OOC, again, and please review if you like it!
"I'm so stressed out," Shelley sighed. "I don't like this move. The lemur keeps calling me 'his queen' and trying to flirt with me. I thought it was flattering, but now it's just irritating."
Hunter rolled her eyes, patting her reassuringly on the back. "Marlene?"
"Yeah, let's go see Marlene! It's nice to see another girl. Sandy?"
"Can't talk," she growled, staring into a telescope. "Keeping watch."
"Sandy, how about you go try contact with other living things and Nina will hold down the fort?"
"I'll be good!" Nina nodded.
Sandy looked at her sideways. "Okay, fine, but don't let me down. Let's roll, ladies."
Nina waited until the other three had left and poked out of the very hastily constructed room the girls made. She looked into the guys' space and saw Private looking out the window. She waved her flippers quickly and he caught her eye.
"What's the penguin girl doing?" An onlooker questioned.
He noticed her and she waved, smiling.
"Hey, boys," Private announced, "the girls have left their area. Something suspicious may be going on."
"What?!" Skipper looked away from the board of conspiracy theories involving the girls he was making. "Men, roll out!" The other two reluctantly followed him out.
Private gave her the all-clear and she walked down.
"Hi, Private!" She smiled.
"Hi, Nina! What did you want to talk about?"
"Huh?" She blinked. "I just wanted to talk to you! I was really looking forward to making a new friend, but Sandy might not be happy."
"Skipper won't be too pleased either. I don't see why we can't be secret friends though!"
"Okay!" Nina agreed brightly. "So tell me about yourself!"
"Well," he began, "I like snow cones, sunsets, Lunacorns-"
"I love Lunacorns!"
"Really?! No one else at this zoo does!"
"Now you know someone else does!" She hugged him. "I really wish we didn't have to be secret friends, but if that's all I can get, I'll take it!"
"If only we could all be friends like the Lunacorns, and learn to share and love each other."
"That's it! We just have to get everyone to be friends!"
"Right! But how?"
"Hmm…I don't know. Want to watch Lunacorns to give us some ideas?"
"Sure!"
XX
"How can you be friends with him?" Sandy shook her head, pacing around Marlene's room. "He thinks he's so great and smart and tough and superior!"
"Well," Marlene began, "he does think he's all of those things, but he can be very sweet when you get to know him."
"Sweet? I doubt it!"
"Well, I didn't think you were so nice when you came here, but after meeting you, I think you are. You're just trying to look out for your closest friends and you have dreams of being a great leader someday."
"You make it sound so mushy-gushy."
"That's because it is. You're sweet."
"Stop!" Sandy covered her ears.
Marlene just laughed. "Honestly, I think it would be better to be on his side than against him. Plus, two heads are better than one."
"A person with two heads is something you'd find in Hoboken."
Marlene rolled her eyes. "It's like I'm talking to him," she muttered under her breath.
"Talking to who?" They turned to find Skipper standing there, with the other boys in tow…and Nina.
"What have you done with Nina?!" Sandy cried.
"Depends! What have you done with Private?!"
"What about Private?!"
"We came back from an…investigation, and saw his rendezvous with the little one. Don't think you can use your feminine wiles against us-"
"Feminine wiles?! For all we know, he called her to go in there!"
"Private wouldn't double-cross the team like that!"
"Neither would Nina!"
"Witchcraft?" Hunter piped up.
"Maybe…" Sandy set her jaw. "But for now, I'm going back to the fort. I'm tired." With that, she stormed off.
"Something tells me we should follow her." Shelley shook her head. "Bye, guys. Bye, Marlene."
The other girls walked away, but not before Hunter paused in front of Rico and took a hair clip out of her mouth.
Rico looked at her in amazement, then puzzlement.
Hunter shrugged. "Was cool." She walked away, trailing behind them.