I don't own Loonatics Unleashed
Enjoy!
Over the next couple of days, Lexi Bunny had been busy practicing for the cheerleading tryouts. Why was it so hard to make up a one-minute routine? All the other cheerleaders made it seem so easy.
Thus far, she had incorporated the basics in her routine that being balance, coordination, and flexibility. Trying to remember the steps of her routine, she had mapped out a diagram on what she was going to start off with and how she was going to end it.
A handstand seemed liked the proper introduction to her routine followed by two backflips, moonwalk, three-sixty twirl, and then one last backflip followed that ended with a split. In her head, it sounded like a great execution but she didn't know how it would look in the cheerleaders' eyes.
I need to stop psyching myself out about this she thought to herself as she looked at the routine one last time. The worst that they could say was 'no' and it wouldn't be the end of the world…would it?
After she had spent a good number of hours practicing and ensuring that she was able to do it from memory, she decided to head for a walk around town before the sun set. The twilight hours were always beautiful in Acmetropolis. She knew she some homework that she needed to catch up on after all of that practicing but a walk wouldn't hurt. In a way, it was therapeutic.
The streets of Acmetropolis were busy as usual, with people going about their business. There was a local cinema where it was featuring a great movie from the past. A film that she had been familiar with when she watched it with her brother a long time ago. It was amazing how a seven hundred seventy-six-year-old film was still popular to this day. However, she wasn't in the mood to watch any films and headed away from the cinema.
At that moment, she heard laughter coming out of the theater as she looked up and saw Stacy and her group of friends. Oh boy she thought as she quickly hid behind one of the pillars. It wasn't as if they were going to do anything to her but she didn't want to talk with any of them.
"Do you know who's trying out next week?" one of the cheerleaders asked.
Stacy let out a sigh. Thinking about tryouts and the fact that she was going to have sit through for hours to see some immature routine was going to be the death of her. "There's not a great turnout," Stacy was quick on judge on the girls that had signed up for tryouts. "I might as well just cancel it and go with what we have."
"But Stacy," another cheerleader said, "that's not fair!"
"Life is not fair," Stacy quickly argued, "I don't want to have to sit through some boring routines." She could do it if the cheer coach wasn't around, but Stacy knew that she would look bad in the coach's eyes if she did it. "Anyway, there's one name in particular that stood out…Lexi Bunny."
Here was where Lexi would have been hearing many gasps and nasty comments about her, but her ears didn't pick up on anything.
"Oh, I know her," one of the cheerleaders said with a smile upon her lips, "I have her in my Anthropology class. She's very sweet."
"She's quiet in my class," another cheerleader spoke up, "unlike her other friend who won't shut her mouth."
A laughter was exchanged between then group. Lexi took a deep breath when she eavesdropped on their comments. She didn't know what to make of it. At least there was one cheerleader from the group who liked her for who she was, but she wasn't the one to host the tryouts.
"Hiding from someone?"
She almost jumped out of her fur when she heard a voice behind her. Lexi quickly whipped around as she came face to face with a gray rabbit who had his hands out in front of him.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed when he saw her fist about to make contact with his face. "Take it easy there!"
She was glad that she caught herself in time, otherwise she would have made a great fool out of herself in front of Ace…let alone hurt him. "Sorry," she said as she lowered her hand and let it fall to the side. "Can't be too careful these days."
"I meant no harm," Ace said to her with a smile that she had been introduced to many days ago, "I just came out from a movie and saw you here. Just wanted to come and say 'hi.' So…hi."
He was awkward just as he was handsome. Lexi couldn't believe that she just thought that but was glad that he couldn't read her thoughts. Perhaps her friend was right. This guy could definitely charm the dew right out of the honeysuckle! "Hi," she responded back to him in return, instinctively running her finger across a blonde strand of hair. "What movie did you see?" she asked him. At least that was a good conversation starter.
"Some movie about basketball and aliens," Ace said to her, making her eyes brighten at the familiarity of the plot of the film. "Great to see my ancestor bein' featured on a popular flick."
"Ah," Lexi said with a nod of her head, "so you're following in his footsteps."
"Tryin' to," Ace grinned when she asked that, "just gotta have the director get it through his head to get me a featured role."
"He's still not convinced huh?" Lexi asked him. What a tough person to work with!
"He's not the most open-minded person to work with," Ace said as he leaned against the pillar and looked at her. "But I need the job. I'm hoping for it to be my big break but," he shrugged a shoulder at that, "it ain't happening with the way this film is going."
It also depended on who the critics were. If he remembered, movie critics were sometimes biased in their opinions and he knew that his chances of being praised by them were a long shot. Hopefully there was one who could see his potential. "At least I had the pleasure of meetin' a celebrity a couple of days ago."
"Yeah?" Lexi asked as she leaned against the other side of the pillar and looked at him. "It wasn't Tony Grebe was it?" She still couldn't believe Andrea exposed that secret to him.
Ace scoffed at that name. "I have a feelin' that guy doesn't exist," he said good-naturedly. "Nah, not him. I met the Twisted Spinner."
Lexi perked up when he mentioned that name. "Twisted Spinner from B.B.L?" The acronyms of the show that she used to watch two years ago were Battle, Brawl, and Lunacy and she had enjoyed every single episode that she had seen. "Me and my brother loved that guy! Man, you're lucky to have met him! What was he like?"
Ace hadn't expected this rabbit to be one to watch those types of shows, but it was a nice surprise. Concerning Slam, he had a pleasant conversation with him that day, but he could tell that the big guy wasn't too happy. "He was alright," he answered her, "not much of a talker but our conversation didn't last too long. He had to head back and train."
"Yeah," Lexi agreed, "I can't imagine all the training those wrestlers have to go through to be their best. I was hoping for him to come out as a champion already. He deserves the title after beating all those other guys."
"How many episodes have you watched?" Ace asked her.
"Almost all of them," Lexi answered, "but with school starting, I cut back on it." And due to other circumstances she thought to herself.
"I'm sure he'll be glad to know that he has a fan," Ace grinned at her and moved away from the pillar. "So, you're gonna tell me who you were hiding from?"
Lexi had completely forgotten about Stacy and her cheerleading crew. She looked over her shoulder and saw that they were finally gone and she was glad that they hadn't focused their attention on them. "It's nothing," she replied, trying to play it coolly. "Just some girls I go to school with."
"Hopefully nothin' too serious," Ace said to her, "those types can be brutal."
"Seems like you're speaking from experience," Lexi pointed out to him.
"We all went through high school, doll," Ace said to her.
Lexi felt a blush rising to her cheeks when he called her that. She didn't know whether she ought to be flattered by a 'compliment' or be offended by such a 'derogatory' term. She felt her eyebrows furrow as she gave him a slight glare. "Don't ever call me doll," she said to him with a shake of her head.
He hadn't meant to offend her but he couldn't believe that she didn't take a compliment. So, she's one of those he thought, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. However, he hoped that he hadn't ruined his chances. Sometimes, ladies could be difficult to figure out but it was the journey of finding the right one that counted and for some reason, his intuition told him that he had potentially found the right one. He just had to be patient. "Word of advice that was passed down to me," he said as he looked at her, "don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out of it alive."
He noticed her features beginning to soften when he said those words and wondered why he hadn't taken heed to those words as well. Ace had been working nonstop with that director and those small scenes that even he was taking that role too seriously and sometimes he felt exhausted by the end of the day.
As for Lexi, she was doing all she could for the past two years to bring herself back to where she was. She had succeeded, but there moments where she felt herself slipping back. Maybe he was right. She shouldn't take everything so seriously, even if he was complimenting her…if it even was a compliment. "Aren't you quite the philosopher," Lexi said, "where did you hear that from? Plato?"
"Bugs Bunny," Ace simply answered her, "and if ya ask me, the guy was right." He could feel that she wasn't up to continuing a conversation with him, but he wasn't going to apologize for trying to be nice and compliment a girl who was obviously stunning. "Hope to see ya around…Lexi," he said before sending her a smile over his shoulder.
Lexi didn't say anything as she watched him walk down the sidewalk in a nonchalant manner. The nerve of that guy! she thought to herself. Come on, it wasn't like he insulted you! Another part of her argued. Whatever her mind was telling her, deep down she knew that she wanted to see him again.
