Chapter 38: A New Friendship

The next day, and even in the evening, Diddy and Dixie returned again to the house of their new friends, very excited to see them again. In the day, they all had spent some time outside, in fact, they had returned to almost the same places as the previous day, although this time they no longer did extreme activities. Anyway, with quiet plans they also had a great time with their new friends. They even took them to other places where they both used to go for walks and have fun. Between times, they also played group games in the middle of their journeys around the island, with which they had a lot of fun.

During the night, although at first all six were gathered in a group, a while later they were divided into boys and girls. Dixie was reunited with Mandy and Jenny, while Diddy with Melvyn and Ricky.

Diddy, along with the other two boys, were in a clear area near the house, playing target shooting with bows made of branches and vines.

"It's your turn, Diddy," Ricky said defiantly. "Let's see if you can get it right."

"Well, check this out," Diddy replied, preparing his bow and pointing toward the center of a circle drawn on a tree.

Diddy stretched the arrow back and released it, then got it to dig right into the center of the circle. Then, he shot more arrows at other targets they had set, and he hit them all perfectly, unlike Ricky and Melvyn, who only came within a few centimeters of hitting the center circles. Diddy was jumping around in victory when his turn ended, while the other two boys were astonished.

"Wow, you're an expert at this!" Melvyn exclaimed in amazement. "It seems that now I do believe that you have been able to fight against a lizard king along with your uncle."

"You should teach us!" Ricky added in the same way.

"Will we play another round now or what?" Diddy suggested to them defiantly.

The three boys again began to compete for who did it best, where Diddy usually won in most rounds. But he also taught the other two kids to perfect their shooting and they did quite well. Truth be told, Diddy felt so good about being able to play with other kids. And while they played, they were talking.

"Hey, Diddy, and how has it been with Dixie?" Ricky asked in a mischievous tone.

"Well, the best," Diddy replied, smiling as he shot another arrow.

"And do you love her very much?" Melvyn added in the same tone.

"Too much. She's incredible," Diddy replied before giving a small sigh. "More than just my girlfriend, she's the best friend I've ever met."

"Wow, buddy, and how did you manage to win her heart, huh?" Ricky asked curiously and gave him little pushes.

"Well, I don't know, I could say it just happened," Diddy replied, shrugging and smiling. "We were very good friends for quite a while. I liked her a lot, and when I was finally going to tell her, she told me that she liked me too... And she also told me that she already knew."

"Really? And how did she find out?" Melvyn asked, showing surprise.

"Because those four fools from school told her," Diddy replied, rolling his eyes as he remembered them. "They had stolen a notebook where I had Dixie's name written on a heart and showed it to her."

"What?!" Melvyn exclaimed before crossing his arms. "Geez, how evil."

"Oh, those classmates you had were really bad," Ricky commented with disgust.

"Hey, Diddy, and what do you like most about Dixie?" Melvyn asked curiously afterwards. "Her face? Her eyes?"

"Or her hair?" Ricky continued, also showing curiosity.

"Well, of course, she's so cute," Diddy replied, smiling before pausing. "But what I like most about her is that she can achieve a lot of things, and no matter what happens, she's very strong. Don't tell her this, but... sometimes I think she's even braver than I am," he whispered in the last sentence. "And besides, I feel that I can count on her and she always listens and understands me... Really, she's so nice," he finished without stopping to smile.

Suddenly, Ricky and Melvyn just stared at him somewhat confused and silent for a while, which earned the same look from Diddy.

"What?" Diddy asked them with a little laughter when he saw them like that.

"It's that... I've never heard anyone say that's what he likes most about his girlfriend," Ricky replied.

"Neither do I," Melvyn added. "My ex-girlfriend was not how you described her."

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?" Diddy asked them curiously.

"Well, I had one but a few days later she came out saying she never felt anything for me," Ricky replied, rolling his eyes. "She told me that she only loved me because she thought I was handsome and because she wanted me to take her with us on our adventures... And by the way, I even found out later that she already had another boyfriend, and I was her second choice."

"I had a girlfriend a long time ago," Melvyn said in a tone of disappointment. "But the week after we were dating, she asked me to give her some time. And you know what, I found out she had three more boyfriends. That's why I don't trust girls again."

"Wow, that must have been so disappointing," Diddy said, looking at them with compassion as the two boys continued to show frustration after telling their love experiences. "I didn't know that either; it must have ended very badly for you."

"And it really ended badly, I was almost beaten up by that other boyfriend my ex-girlfriend had," Ricky added in the same tone of disappointment, before shrugging his shoulders. "But what can be done?"

"Hey, but don't worry," Diddy said, trying to cheer them up. "You may someday have another opportunity to love someone, although you may need to be patient."

"We'll see," Melvyn replied with a shrug as well. "Although at the moment I'm not thinking about love."

"By the way, Diddy, and there are more pretty girls at your school?" Ricky asked, mischievously.

"Well, I don't know what your tastes are," Diddy replied, looking at them strangely and with a little laughter. "But they are unfriendly... By the way, and by any chance haven't you liked Jenny or Mandy or something?"

"Oh, no, of course not," Ricky replied with a little laugh. "They are like our sisters; we have known them all our lives."

"We couldn't see them that way," Melvyn added before looking in one direction at the trees.

Diddy finished his arrow throws, winning almost all of them again.

"Hey, what if we shoot that tree farther away now?" Melvyn suggested.

Meanwhile, on the other hand, the girls were gathered: Dixie with Jenny and Mandy were under a tree near the house. They, on the other hand, were sharing girl activities. Dixie was styling the blonde hairs of the other two girls, and when she finished, put their hair ribbons back on each one.

"It's done," Dixie said, smiling at them.

"Wow... how did you do this in our hair, Dixie?" Jenny said, looking at her hair styled along with Mandy, looking amazed and smiling at the same time.

"I never learned to do hairstyles, my hair is very short," Mandy added, taking her own short shoulder length hair. "You have to teach us more, Dixie."

"Yeah, I want to learn too," Jenny said, before waving an arm at Dixie. "How about we now style your hair, Dixie?"

"Of course, girls," Dixie replied smiling. "Let's see how it turns out."

Then, the two kong girls began to brush Dixie's long hair while talking as well. In the same way, she also felt comfortable spending time with new friends.

"Wow, Dixie, you have beautiful hair," Jenny commented as she styled Dixie's hair. "I wish I had it like you."

"Oh, thank you," Dixie replied, smiling kindly. "You have pretty hair too, Jenny, it's so soft and defined. And I like its color."

"Oh, thank you. But yours is long, shiny, silky, smells good... and it can fly," Jenny added, admiring her hair with excitement.

"You also have cute eyes, Dixie," Mandy said, smiling and pointing at them.

"But yours are too," Dixie replied in kind.

"You're so cute, Dixie. Diddy must be very lucky to have you as his girlfriend," Jenny told her in a mischievous tone. "By the way, how has it been for you with him?"

"Oh, what can I say, we've done great," Dixie replied with a smile and blushing a little. "He's such a cute monkey. He's very nice with me, and I love him very much."

"How beautiful!" Mandy exclaimed sweetly. "And you both never fight?"

"Well, I could say that we only sometimes discuss who sleeps by the window," Dixie replied with a laugh.

"And how was your first kiss?" Mandy asked curiously.

"Oh, it was somewhat strange," Dixie replied, blushing and smiling. "I can tell you that it was the last thing that happened to us before the storm dragged us here. First, we were talking and then we were silent, and suddenly, we just looked at each other and... it happened. In that boat I had nowhere to run next; I didn't expect my first kiss to be at that time."

"Oh, how romantic!" Jenny said in a touching tone. "And how did he ask you to be his girlfriend?"

"Well, that's a long story. For starters, I already knew he liked me. The group of those four foolish kids from school told me; at first, I didn't want to believe them, but then I took a good look at how Diddy acted with me and I could confirm it."

"Oh, no," Mandy said, her hands at her sides. "Those bad kids ruined the surprise."

"I see that those four bad kids from your school have made your lives miserable," Jenny added with a frown.

"Too much, they were first-rate nosy kids," Dixie added, rolling her eyes. "And answering your question: so, after the zoo, we arrived on this island and began to have more closeness, until finally we told each other what we felt. And then, one night we went for a walk near a colorful lake and that's where we became a couple."

"Wow, your story is very tender and adventurous at the same time," Mandy said with a little laugh. "You both have been accidentally traveling from one place to another."

"Yeah. But at least... we made it after all," Dixie added, smiling and starting to blush again. "We're already in love as we both wanted... And besides, we saved a lot of animals," she added with a slight laugh.

"Oh, you're a nice couple!" Jenny commented with excitement. "You'll be our favorite couple."

"And what do you like most about him, Dixie?" Mandy asked curiously. "His eyes, his nose, his face?"

"Does he say a lot of cute things to you all the time?"

"Well, of course I like everything about him; he's a cute monkey," Dixie replied, smiling. "He's kind of shy to express himself in that loving way, but... he listens to me and makes me smile when I'm okay and when I'm not too. He has never pretended to be someone different; he shows himself as he is. And besides, he's very brave... He says no, but he really is," she whispered in the last sentence before pausing and sighing. "He's really so cute."

Suddenly, Jenny and Mandy stared at her with a look of strangeness for a while.

"Wow…" Jenny said with some confusion as she continued to comb Dixie's hair. "I had never heard anyone say that."

"Neither do I," Mandy added in the same way. "I didn't think there were boys like that; I thought they were all snooty fools who believe themselves the best when they want to win you over."

"No, Diddy hasn't been that way," Dixie replied with a few small laughs. "Hey, and you girls have or have had a boyfriend?... By any chance, don't you like Ricky or Melvyn?"

"Oh, of course not. They're like our brothers," Jenny replied with a laugh. "We've never thought that of them."

"I once had a boyfriend," Mandy said with some disgust. "But the idiot cheated on me with another silly girl who didn't even comb her hair... Ah, but that didn't stay that way, I went to her and left her more disheveled than she already was."

"I had a boyfriend too, but he was a stupid guy who only thought about himself," Jenny added with a shrug. "He was a snooty clown and coward after all."

"Wow, you've had some disappointments," Dixie said. "Maybe the next time you can do better if you coincide with someone."

"But that's the way they are; what can be done with them," Jenny replied with a shrug. "By the way, Dixie, and there are more cute boys in your school?" she asked mischievously, elbowing her softly.

"Well, it depends on how you like them, but most of them are unkind," Dixie replied with a shrug. "Not to mention those four thugs who are complete oafs."

"Wow, I see your classmates weren't nice at all," Mandy said as she played with Dixie's hair.

"Hey, girls, how about now we try to comb our hair by ourselves?" Jenny later suggested.

The girls continued with their hair tricks until later. Dixie taught them both several of those, while they also did, although to a lesser extent. It had been a while since Dixie had been able to get together with other girls to talk and share feminine things, and she was happy to have met them.

Both groups stayed up late meeting. Both Diddy and Dixie felt so comfortable having some company time with new friends. Later, the six of them got back together, where they played competitive games outside the house. Without a doubt, Diddy and Dixie were feeling pretty good now.

And so more days passed... Now Diddy and Dixie already had new friends their age to play, hang out and have fun. They had become very good friends with the four of them; they felt that they became like the schoolmates they didn't have and would have liked to have in school. Those children had behaved very well with both of them and became well closed with them.

Diddy and Dixie, apart from their dates between the two of them, now also went for frequent walks with their new friends; the places where they went were even more fun in their company. Even though these children were a little fearful of extreme activities, Diddy and Dixie tried to understand them and opt for other ways of fun. The only thing they could not do in a group was to get into the sea, rivers and lakes because of the allergies that those children claimed to have.

Among other things they used to do, was to perform group games that before Diddy and Dixie could not do on that island because they required more than two participants. Other times, they played at being explorers, pirates, heroes or any other story they invented. Diddy and Dixie hadn't played like this for a long time when they were on DK Island with Kiddy and Tiny, and sometimes with Chunky.

The four kong children were also very happy to have found good friends like Diddy and Dixie to accompany them and accept them as they are; that was something that also made the young kong couple very happy.

On the times when it rained, those kong children didn't like to go out, so Diddy and Dixie just stayed at home with them, where they just chatted and told stories. Diddy and Dixie told their new friends about their little journeys on DK Island, as well as many anecdotes from school or with their families and friends there. Likewise, the four kids told them stories of when they were little or of their journeys through different islands. Sometimes, they also had meetings of only boys and only girls, where they shared secrets and tastes in greater confidence and, of course, Diddy and Dixie used to talk about how well the two of them were doing as a couple.

Mr. Pinky, on the other hand, was also very happy for the two of them, because at least they had made new friends on that island so that they distracted their minds much more, while they waited for their return to DK Island. After all, with new friends, Diddy and Dixie's days on that island could be more and more entertaining.