Chapter 1: Stacey and her Secret
In, out, pull. In, out, pull. Why does sewing have to be so boring? Unfortunately for me, Mom happens to think sewing is an important part of my curriculum. Downside of homeschool.
"How's your blanket going?" Mom asked me, green eyes shifting from her own project to me.
"Fine I guess," I answered, sticking my needle into a pincushion so I wouldn't lose it.
I couldn't stand sewing fancy dresses, so Mom had finally given up and handed me a blanket that needed its edges finished.
"Five more minutes," Mom sighed, turning back to repairing the hole Dad had worn into one of his socks.
Not wanting to return to the repetitive motion of stabbing a needle in and out of fabric, my mind wandered.
"Do I have to be at the summer party?" I asked suddenly.
"Stacey, we talked about this," Mom snapped, mood dropping at the subject. "We're hosting the party, so it would be weird if you weren't there."
"Maybe I'm over at a friend's house?" I suggested.
"Sweetie, just how many friends do you have?" Mom asked, giving me a hard look.
"They don't have to know that," I argued. "And there's Nebula."
"Last I knew, your uncle was coming with his daughter," Mom retorted.
With that, she set her sewing aside and walked out into the kitchen.
Score one for Stacey! I called inside my head. Congratulations, Stacey, you have managed to get your hot-tempered mom to stop sewing time two minutes before the scheduled finish time without having her blow up on you.
Why, thank you, I thanked myself. I wasn't sure if it would work at first, but it seems as if my mom's busy making dinner now, if that clanking is anything to go by.
I knew I probably wouldn't be bugged unless Mom wanted help with the cooking. Dad was a hard individual to feed, even I was on some occasions, but that didn't make us love each other any less.
"Stacey!" Mom screeched.
"What?" I asked as I walked into the kitchen, suddenly afraid I had done something wrong.
"Get. Your. Father," Mom growled from beside the fridge. "Now."
"Yes Ma'am!" I yelled over my shoulder as I ran into the garage.
There I pressed a button on an old, home-radio looking thing sitting on a table. Not ten seconds later, my dad skidded into the garage, slowing from two hundred miles per hour to a more reasonable pace for indoors.
With a dad as fast as mine, you can see why we need the radio thingy, which was a gift from Uncle Tails. Uncle Tails made it connect to a high tech watch that my dad always wears so we can get him home whenever we need him, which would be pretty hard since he could be halfway across the globe for all we know.
"You called?" Dad asked.
"Mom wants you," I answered, not bothering to specify location because he could easily search the whole house in three seconds. He didn't have to move at all, however, as Mom stomped right up to him and started yelling her head off.
"Sonic Hedgehog, of all the guys in the universe I had to marry you!"
OK, so maybe our last name is hedgehog, that's not too odd right? And I told you my mom had a temper.
"Just because you're Hero of Mobius several times over doesn't mean you can raid the chilidogs whenever you want!" Mom continued, holding up a mysteriously empty bag of prepackaged chilidogs.
And I guess my dad is kinda famous… and also really fast, as seen when he first came in.
"Of course this could all be avoided if you didn't constantly insist on eating us out of house and home!"
I rolled my eyes. At this point, it was clear Mom was exaggerating because there was no way we'd run out of money any time soon. Dad was starting to look real uncomfortable, though, and he ran out of the room at probably sixty miles per hour.
"Now don't you try to run away from me!" Mom yelled, running after him at a much slower pace.
I smiled even though Mom was chasing Dad and screaming like crazy, because although it seemed like we all hated each other, it was really our way of saying I love you. Then I frowned. I still didn't want to be at the summer party.
Trying to find a way to distract myself from my sorry fate, my eyes glanced over at my extreme gear.
I remembered how I had wanted to be like my dad when I was younger and ride extreme gear as well as him. Mom strictly forbade it, which made me want it even more. Dad must've seen, because one day while Mom was out grocery shopping the two of us snuck out and Dad let me try his out. I fell off the first several times, but I eventually started getting better.
Of course, this is when Mom found out. She said she didn't want me getting hurt on the extreme gear, but her efforts proved futile when I got my own extreme gear for my birthday. Dad's knowing wink was all it took for me to know exactly where that present was from.
That was years ago, of course, and by now I'm a pretty good rider, if I do say so myself.
Grabbing my blue and red striped air board and helmet, I raced outside where we had a small obstacle course set up. I wasn't nearly as fast as Dad, but I was pretty athletic, as was Mom.
I was about to run through the course for the billionth time when a voice stopped me.
"Hey!" it called.
I looked down at Dad, who had his blue air board with him. He didn't wear a helmet, no matter how many times Mom tried to get him to. I waved to him and he walked up to stand next to me.
It was really fun to shoot through the obstacle course, to feel the air through my quills, and to laugh with Dad as we tried to get new records.
OK, who am I kidding, I'm totally a hedgehog. Well, I'm actually a Mobian Hedgehog, which is like an anthropomorphic hedgehog for all the Humans out there.
Dad is Sonic the Hedgehog, world renowned hero for stopping the nefarious Doctor Eggman once and for all. He's blue with peach arms, chest, and muzzle, and he has emerald green eyes. He wears white gloves and red shoes with a white stripe on each of them.
Mom is Amy Rose, famous for being Dad's greatest fangirl in her younger years. It took a while, but Dad finally gave her a chance, and, well, where do you think I came from? But anyway, Mom is a pink Mobian Hedgehog with green eyes and peach arms and muzzle like Dad. She wears a red dress, red shoes, and white gloves.
And me? I'm Stacey, and I'm mainly blue with pink streaks all over my quills. My quills are messy because I've given up trying to make them lay flat, and my eyes are green like Mom's, or so they say. I usually, or always for practical purposes, wear a long-sleeved brown turtleneck and a long dark green skirt. I also wear white gloves, but Mom sewed them in such a way that the fingers can be longer if I ever randomly have my claws get longer for… reasons. My shoes are boots which are brown, and have white tips which can also slide out, also for reasons.
Anyway, we sped through the course until the sun started to set and Mom called us in for dinner.
"Maybe I would have made chilidogs if you hadn't eaten them already," Mom scowled as she set a pot of rice on the table.
My dad rolled his eyes and grabbed a bowl.
"So how was your day?" Mom sighed in an attempt to make conversation.
"I did school," I answered, sticking my tongue out while simultaneously trying to stuff my face with the rice Mom made.
"Ran around the world a couple times," Dad replied, rice getting spat all over the table in the process.
"Sonic!" Mom complained.
I probably would've laughed, but an itch was quickly spreading throughout my entire body. Claws suddenly spout out of my fingers, and although it caused no damage to my gloves because of the complex way Mom made them, it launched my spoon out of my hand. It bounced off the table and fell to the floor with a clatter.
Mom and Dad immediately turned their attention to me as my fur and quills grew long and shaggy while claws grew out of my toes, pushing the tips of my boots outwards.
I sighed drearily. Every single night I went through this stupid transformation. It was even worse on full moons, and when I touched moonlight, but there was no escape from my inner werehog.
My dad, Sonic, was a werehog at one point of time. I can't give you the full details because he's told this story about sixteen billion times, each time different from the last, but the gist of it is that some monster named Dark Gaia blasted Dad with dark energy and made him turn into a werehog. He met a little chihuahua fairy guy named Light Gaia, or, more commonly, Chip, and had a couple strange adventures.
Dad was eventually changed back, like pretty much completely so that he wouldn't transform at night anymore.
But not all of the Dark Gaia energy had been removed. He still had some remaining. Not enough to make him transform, but enough to pass on to me.
It was Uncle Tails who figured it out when Mom and Dad brought their transformed baby who was one moon old on a full moon to his workshop. Since then he has been keeping an eye on me, and sometimes I get annoyed by how protective he along with my parents are.
His constant check-ups mean my cousin Nebula knows something's up. Thankfully, she doesn't know what it is and is too sweet and trusting to ask many questions.
Nebula is a Seedrian, basically a plant person. She has beautiful blue eyes like sparkling ponds and her green hair is braided into two braids framing her face. Dark pink flowers mark the end of the braids.
Nebula wears a dress like giant white flower petals and silver metal boots. If you look carefully on the heel of her boot, you can see a red gem embedded in the metal.
Her mom was the Seedrian, Cosmo. Keyword: was. She passed away saving the world, like most heroes do.
She had short green hair with flowers on the sides. Her eyes were blue. At least, that's what I've seen in pictures.
All that was left of her was a single white seed. Uncle Tails loved the seed as he had loved Cosmo before and planted it. Over the years of careful care, the seed grew into a majestic tree, which I've seen on visits to Uncle Tails' house.
One day, when I was only one year old, the tree… well… got pregnant? Not a normal thing for the tree to do. Uncle Tails was crazy with worry, Dad says. A while of Uncle Tails getting practically no sleep later, Nebula was 'born'. Uncle Tails adopted her immediately.
Of course, I was only two when it happened so I only know what Mom, Dad, and he himself have told me.
Anyway, where were we? Oh yeah, I'm a werehog and transform every night. It ain't fun, but I got to deal with it.
The truth is… I hate being a monster. Nobody knows about my… condition except Mom, Dad, and Uncle Tails and I don't want anyone to know the monster I am. It worries me all the time that Nebula knows at least something's going on. I love how trusting my ten-year-old cousin is sometimes.
"Are you alright?" Mom asked me as she bent down and picked up my spoon.
"Yes, Mom," I answered automatically. "Just like last night. And the night before that. And the night before that. And all the nights for the past fifty years."
"But you're only, like, three!" Mom protested. "What happened to my little baby?"
"She grew into the killer extreme gear rider I had to go up against today," Dad grinned.
"He's jealous because I don't have a lame creaky backbone like he does," I explained to Mom.
"Hey!" Dad exclaimed. "I'm not that old!"
"Eat your dinner," Mom ordered, "and this time don't throw it all over the table."
"I wasn't me, I'm innocent!" I shouted quickly.
"I know that," Mom said matter-of-factly. "Now you eat your dinner too."
I thought about using a spoon, but decided it would be slightly more difficult with my lengthened claws. Instead, I picked up my entire bowl and stuffed my face in it.
"Stacey!" Mom shouted. "Get your face out of that bowl and eat like a normal person!"
I slammed my bowl down and said, "I'm not much of a normal person, am I?"
"And wipe that rice off your face," Mom continued, ignoring me.
Fortunately, I have one parent that does listen to me.
"Yes you aren't normal," Dad agreed, "but you gotta deal with it. Stacey, is something up, because you've been off all day."
"I'm fine," I growled. "Perfectly fine. Definitely has nothing to do with the party."
"What party?" Dad asked, confused.
"Stacey, this again?" Mom asked. "You have to go!"
"But I'm a werehog!" I cried. "They'll find out if I'm there!"
"Well maybe they should find out!" Mom countered.
"Whoa, calm down, Amy," Dad interrupted.
Meanwhile with me, all the stress I had been feeling, which was a stupid amount, thundered in my head. Trying to hold back tears, I fled out the door, slamming it behind me.
I ran through the dark wood bordering our house. The moon shone overhead and I could almost feel my pupils shifting to cat-like slits. My night-vision grew superb, and I dodged several trees in quick, decisive maneuvers. I gripped a fallen tree with my claws and flipped over it, all within 0.5 seconds.
Tears streaked down my face; I couldn't hold them back. Finally I collapsed in a secluded clearing. I howled to the moon about my insecurities with showing my true self and how I wished I could just be normal.
In the end, I settled on wailing in a messy heap, which is how Dad found me.
"Aw, com'n, Stace, don't cry," Dad soothed, sitting down beside me.
I uncurled myself from my wild ball and asked, "how can you say that when you don't know what it's like?"
"You're right," Dad sighed, which surprised me since I didn't expect him to agree so quickly. "But I have gone through something similar. When I was younger, I didn't hide my superspeed, and people made fun of me because of that. You would thank that someone as fast as me could always run out of danger, but that wasn't always the case."
"You got bullied?" I asked, surprised.
He gave me a sad smile and continued. "You don't have to deal with that. You have kept your secret a secret. But I can see it eating at you. You worry if, when, and why someone will find out. You long for friends, but distance yourself in fear."
I looked down in shame, not able to meet his eyes. All he had said was true.
"And I can see you worry if at the summer party it will all come crashing down," Dad finished.
"Mom says I have to go," I complained.
"Don't you worry, Stace," Dad comforted. "I'm sure Uncle Tails, your mom, and I will cover for you after you meet everyone."
"Thanks," I said, already feeling better.
"Why don't we head back now?" Dad asked, standing up.
I smiled and leapt to my feet.
"Race ya!" I called over my shoulder, already speeding away.
Sure my Dad was way faster than me on a flat plain, but in the woods I'm the Queen. Werehog instinct guided me over logs and 'round boulders. Plus I knew the woods from my almost nightly visits.
Dad beat me by a few seconds, but it was a close chase. Laughing, we reentered the house. Mom smiled at me from the kitchen sink as she wiped clean a bowl.
"I apologize for making you upset," Mom apologized.
"S'okay," I muttered, collapsing on the couch.
Dad walked into the kitchen and started whispering with Mom. I sighed. They seemed to think I couldn't hear them, but my werehog ears seemed to disagree.
"Amy."
"Sonic."
"How about we let her greet everyone, then let her hide out and cover for her."
"But she has to let them know eventually, Sonic."
"Amy, don't you think it's her decision?"
"Secrets will cause trouble down the line."
"I'm sure she knows what she's doing."
"I don't know," Mom said.
I squeezed my eyes shut and buried my head in a pillow. I did know that secrets are bad, and I did know that I have to come clean. But I didn't want everyone to know I'm a monster.
On that note, I didn't actually know many people. Mostly Mom and Dad, though they don't really count, and Uncle Tails and Nebula. I think I've seen some of my parents' friends' kids before, but that was a while ago.
"Sweetie, are you OK?" Mom asked, as she had walked into the room and sat on the couch next to my feet.
"Mmph," I answered, sitting up.
"I think I'm going to bed now," Mom said. "I'm tired."
"Good for you," I muttered, "because I'm wide awake."
"Movie Night!" Dad shouted, jumping on the coffee table holding the remote.
"Bed time," Mom said sternly.
Dad and I gave her the look.
"Why do you two have to be so cute!" Mom complained. "OK fine, we can have Movie Night."
We snuggled on the couch together.
Later that night, my eyes slowly dropped as I felt sleep start to claim me.
So, I realized that this story is a slice-of-life story. I don't really like reading slice-of-life, but, it turns out, I can write it just fine. I'm hoping the story will pick up in chapter 4.
If you see any mistakes, be sure to point them out so that I can fix them. See ya!