| RubyRainbow333 the rainbow Uni lay with her back on a soft
carpet of grass, staring at the canopy of trees above her. The reds and oranges
and gold of leaves shone when the sunlight reflected off them. A chilly wind blew,
and some of the leaves fell, dancing gracefully on the breeze before coming to
an elegant landing on the frost-covered earth. They were like little ballerinas,
their tutus the color of autumn. They were so lovely, and so fragile. Even the
slightest touch could crinkle their thin fabric.
Ruby sighed. This was surely the most spectacular
Halloween Neopia had ever seen. Of course, it wasn't Halloween yet; we still
had two more weeks.
Again, Ruby sighed. She still had homework to
finish and lying around on her back wouldn't get any of it done. She stood up
and trotted to her NeoHome, leaves crunching under the weight of her hooves.
* * *
"So, has anyone asked you yet, Ruby?"
I snapped out of my daydream and back into the
halls of the Golden Jubjub Elementary School. "What?"
"Has anyone asked you to the dance? You know,
the Halloween Hoopla Festival?" Indigo Musician the blue Gelert repeated. Indi
has been my friend for as long as I can remember.
"Dance? Since when has the Golden Jubjub Elementary
School had dances?"
"It's a new thing Principal Droning the blue
Buzz has started. It's not open to everyone, of course. Just us mature kids.
Fifth grade and up." Indigo and Ruby were in the sixth grade. "But it's not
just a dance," Indigo continued. "It's an entire festival! There will be games
like bobbing for apples, Guess the Slimy, Creepy, Disgusting Item competitions,
and an informal contest that the fifth-grade boys started; the How Many Infested
Peaches Can you Stick in your Mouth Contest! There will also be prizes for the
best costumes."
I grinned. Certainly, my brother EmeraldFalme555
had helped invent the Infested Peaches Contest.
"So, has anyone asked you yet?" Indigo repeated
a third time.
"No. Why would anyone ask me?"
"You're more popular than you realize, Ruby.
You write a lot of articles for the Golden Jubjub Voice newspaper. You discovered
that grade scandal with Principal Sterns. You're famous!"
I snorted. "Not as famous as Indigo Musician,
editor and founder of her own newspaper."
"You'd be surprised at how few people know
my name," Indi said dryly. She paused, then, "I'm waiting for Josh Barker to
ask me out."
"The green Gelert from history class?" I shifted
the weight of my textbooks into my other arm. "I knew you liked him!"
"Yes, I hope he hasn't asked anyone else out
yet."
I groaned at my best friend. When it comes to
boys, she and I are totally different. She takes a more… traditional role in
a relationship, but when I go out, I pay for my own things and I don't see what's
so wrong about calling a boy on the phone.
"Don't go all medieval on me, Indi. Girls can
ask boys out."
Indi was silent.
* * *
Finally, three o' clock came around. The bell rang, and everyone scrambled
to get to his or her locker and get home on time. I was struggling to get my
math book into my backpack, when my crush Matt Bluehorn tapped me on the shoulder.
Matt is in a lot of my classes. I spun around and gazed into those eyes, those
bright, innocent, sky-blue eyes. In those eyes, I felt like my soul had wings.
Not a cloud disrupted the peaceful stillness. On and on, I could fly forever
in those eyes. Until Matt broke the spell.
"Hey. Do you want me to walk you home, or do
you have a newspaper club meeting?"
"No meetings today, Matt," I told him. "I'd
love to walk home with you."
We exited the building and entered the crisp,
cool world. "I love, autumn," Matt said. He caught a spiraling leaf delicately
in his hoof. Then, he put it in my mane. "Perfect."
I blushed.
"I love your mane. All the colors of fall,
the leaves, the grass, the sky…"
I blushed some more, and quickly tried to change
the subject. "Are you going to the Halloween Hoopla? Do you want to go with
me?"
"Sure."
I let out a little whoop of joy. I had a date
for the dance!
* * *
The next day at school, I was digging through a mess, no; a virtual avalanche
of crumpled papers in my locker. "Where's my science homework?" I muttered angrily.
"Don't disappear on me now!"
"It would be so much easier to find stuff if
your locker wasn't so messy, Ruby," Matt said.
I glared at him. "I'm in no mood for a lecture."
Then, the prissy, popular Cassandra Royalhoof
the Faerie Uni trotted by. "Hey, Matt." She batted her long eyelashes at my
date. I restrained the urge to throw my heavy science textbook at her makeup-covered
face.
"Hey, Cassandra," Matt replied, clueless.
"Could I have a word with you over here, please?"
She beckoned, and a group of girls behind her giggled.
"Okay."
I'm not the Golden JubJub's best detective for
nothing. I know when something is up, and something was definitely up. Casually,
I walked over to the corner where and Cassandra were talking, staying close
enough to listen in, but far enough away so as not to arouse suspicion.
"Are you going to the dance, Matt?" Cassandra
asked in that syrupy voice of hers. Sweet but fake, like artificial sugars.
"Yeah." Matt didn't seem to get Cassandra's
message.
"Do you want to go with me?" the Faerie Uni
flipped her long, silky mane into the air.
"I'm already going with Ruby."
Then, Cassandra turned an interesting variety
of hues. First, her face turned red, then purple, then blue. Her eyes flashed
dangerously and she reared onto her hind hooves. "So be it, Matt. But you'll
regret your decision. Imagine, going with that immature freak!" She stalked
off, green with envy.
Matt came back over to me. "You heard that,
didn't you Ruby."
"Yes."
"Well, I'm glad you're an immature freak. If
you weren't an immature freak, we wouldn't be going to the dance together."
To be continued...
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