Chapter 24: Vacation

With Station Square practically submerged as a result of Chaos' attack, Sonny and his friends were forced to live in Central City which was a few miles north of the Mystic Ruins and attend school there. In the three months that followed, Biggs was forced to drop-out due to his extremely low grades though he and Amelia still kept in touch. But other than that, nothing major happened as Dr. Eggman seemed to be still recovering from his losses. Rouge Baxter was still around as well, and she used every opportunity to try acquainting herself with Sonny. But each time she tried, Amelia would be there to stop her.

"I wish you'd stop hassling me, pinkie," Rouge said to Amelia on the last day of school before Winter Break started. "It's getting tiresome."

"Well I would if you would leave Sonny alone," Amelia snapped. "What do you want from him?"

"Nothing, sweetie. I just want to be friends with him."

"Sure you do. I've seen what you do to men, and you're not going to do the same to Sonny!"

"You like him a lot, don't you?"

Amelia blushed. "Well, I…"

"I thought so."

Then as Rouge walked away, Amelia gritted her teeth. She quickly went to her locker, grabbed her things, and waited near the front entrance for Sonny and Miles. Outside, the front lawn was covered in snow and the sky was overcast in heavy gray clouds.

"Amelia!" Miles shouted as he walked toward the main entrance.

"Miles," Amelia responded. "Where's Sonny?"

"He went to talk to Rouge for a minute."

"He did what?" Amelia's fists were clenched.

Miles noticed and asked, "Is something wrong, Amelia?"

"Nothing, Miles," Amelia said, trying to relax her hands. "It's just that…I don't like Rouge and the fact that she constantly tries to talk to Sonny when I'm not looking bothers me."

"Because you're worried that she'll steal Sonny's heart and leave you all alone."

"Partially, yes, but I'm mainly concerned with Sonny. He's too naïve to understand that Rouge is a flirt. She toys with men's hearts for her own amusement and then breaks them when she's through."

"I don't think Sonny's that dense," Miles replied. "And just because Rouge wants to talk to Sonny doesn't mean she's interested in him romantically."

"Yeah, I guess so," Amelia sighed.

A few minutes later, Sonny showed up at the main entrance with Rouge following behind him.

"Hey, guys," Sonny said. "I asked Rouge if she would like to come with us to South Island for the holidays, and she said 'yes' since her father is going to be pretty busy. What you say?"

"I'm fine with it," Miles said.

"I, uh," Amelia hesitated, looking between Sonny and Rouge. Then she slumped her shoulders. "Sure."

"Then it's settled," Rouge said gleefully. "A vacation in the tropics sure beats staying up here where it's cold and miserable."

While the boys nodded, Amelia looked down at her pink snow boots.

Rouge noticed and sporadically embraced Amelia. "Oh, cheer up, pinkie. It's only going to be for two weeks. What could possibly happen in that amount of time?"

###

One plane ride later, Sonny and the others arrived on South Island after the sun had gone down. The airport was located on a high mesa near the town, and fairly small despite the large number of people that arrived. At the gate, Amelia and Miles' mothers greeted them with a shower of hugs and kisses. Chuck was there too, though he seemed sadder than before.

"Hey, man," Sonny said, patting Chuck on the back as he hugged him briefly. "It's good to see you. How have you been?"

"Fine," Chuck replied quietly.

"Are you still not over—

"I don't want to talk about it," Chuck snapped, and noticed Rouge bringing up the rear with her white and pink-colored luggage. "Who's this?"

"The name's Rouge," Rouge said as she held out her hand to Chuck. "Rouge Baxter, and you are?"

"Chuck Kidman," Chuck responded as he shook Rouge's hand reluctantly. "I've been friends with Sonny since middle school."

"I see," Rouge said as she lowered one of her bags next to her suitcase. "Now will you be a dear and help me carry my luggage?"

"Since when did I become your luggage carrier?"

"Humph! Some friend you are."

"All right, fine, I'll help you." Chuck then lifted Rouge's two bags onto his shoulders and picked up her suitcase.

"I wonder where my parents are," Sonny wondered out loud as he turned his phone on. A text message was waiting for him in the inbox, and so he opened it. After he read the message, Sonny groaned.

"What's wrong?" Miles asked.

"Something came up, and so my parents won't be able to come to South Island for the holidays," Sonny replied irritably. "This happens almost every year."

"Don't get upset, Sonny. Why don't you stay at my place for Christmas and New Year's?" Miles then noticed his mom was still standing next to him. "If that's okay with you, Mom."

"Of course," Miles' mom replied.

"Miles," Sonny said quietly.

"So where am I staying?" Rouge abruptly asked.

"You'll be staying with me," Amelia said as she locked arms with Rouge. "Mom wouldn't mind the extra company, right?"

"I'd be delighted," Amelia's mother said cheerfully. "I'm sure you must have some very interesting stories to tell, Rouge, being from the mainland and all."

Rouge hesitated. "Well, I—

"Then it's settled," Amelia stated, and dragged Rouge with her out into the parking-lot which was lit by a few lamps against a starry night sky.

While Sonny and Miles went to put their belongings in the trunk of Miles' mother's car, Chuck managed to drag Rouge's luggage all the way to where Amelia's mom's car was and dropped them all at the foot of the trunk.

"I appreciate that you carried my luggage for me," Rouge said folding her arms. "But I didn't say you could drop them like bricks in front of the trunk. Now I'll have to pick them all up."

"Then do that," Chuck said wearily. "I'm out of here."

"But Chuck," Amelia responded. "We were all going to get pizza downtown for dinner. Don't you want to join us?"

Chuck hesitated. "Maybe some other time, but I've got more important things to worry about."

As Chuck walked into the darkness, Amelia groaned irritably.

"Is he always like that?" Rouge asked.

"No, he's just upset because…" Amelia paused. "Why do you want to know?"

"Just curious," Rouge replied.

"There was a girl he liked, but she left before he could tell her his feelings."

"Can't he just call her?"

"He never got her number, and even if he did he wouldn't be able to reach her."

"I see," Rouge said as she picked up her luggage and put it into the trunk of the car. "So Chuck is…available, then?"

This comment surprised Amelia, but then she smirked as an idea came to her head. "Yeah, I guess he is."

The two then got into the backseat while Amelia's mom took the driver's seat. As the car drove out of the parking-lot and onto the road that led into town, Miles' mom's car followed behind them. Above the trees, Knuckles was gliding on the wind towards Angel Island to continue protecting the Master Emerald. When he looked down, he saw the two cars and there was a part of him that wanted to follow. But Knuckles shook his head and continued on out to sea.

To be continued…