That Summer: Part Three

     "Uh-oh..." Roxxi said a little too loudly.

     Bliss's heart pounded like an Imiya eraser on Paint's spelling errors. Paint being a C-and-D student, that is.

     "Paint..." Bliss said through clenched teeth "...what are they doing here?"

     With the exception of Maybelle, Bliss was less than thrilled to see all of these people. These were the people who made her life at school a living nightmare on a regular basis.

     "It's not a party without these guys, right?" Paint said.

     "YEAH!!!" they all shouted.

     Even Maybelle, who was supposed to be Bliss's friend, was acting like one of THEM. Bliss hadn't kept in touch with Maybelle since the last day of school, but she had no idea the popular pets were staking their claim while they had a chance.

     "Bliss," Vesta began, "who are all these people?"

     "Well, the Koi is Kiley, the Maraquan Uni is Stripe, the Wocky is Peach, you already know Paint, Maris, and Paris, the Lupe is Ray, the only guy, and the blue Uni is Maybelle, the only one with common sense," Bliss listed.

     "HAILEY!" Roxxi shouted, knowing their owner wouldn't approve of the infestation.

     Their flustered owner ran in.

     "Look, I said as long as they brought Bliss another friend, they could bring these guys," Hailey explained, "so...where's the friend you brought for Bliss?"

     "Here." Maybelle raised her hoof as if Hailey were taking attendance.

     She was wearing a stylish purple tunic over a pair of ripped light wash jeans. On her feet were plain white flats without socks.

     "Great," Hailey said before going back to the family room, completely ignoring the problem.

     "Well..." Roxxi said, trying to think of a solution.

     "We'd like to go swimming," said Peach, "and we don't want you guys cramping our pool style."

     "Great, so just wait another hour, and you can have your turn," Bliss said.

     "Hey, you guys have been in the pool forever," Maris said.

     "And you guys have been underwater forever," Bliss said. "I see no difference. We've got a party room with a dance floor, an ice rink, a gym, a library, a gameroom, a playground-like garden, and your guest cabin for you to set your belongings down in."

     "That's nice," Maris said, "but we want to go swimming."

     "Well, with the exception of Maybelle who lives in Terror Mountain, Paint, and the Twins, you guys have all been underwater for EVER," Bliss said, "so therefore you need to get used to life on land."

     None of them listened, they just stripped down to their swimsuits and jumped into the pool.

     "HELP MEEEEE!" Roxxi called, sandwiched between Stripe and Peach.

     Kiley picked her up and tossed her through the hoop on the end of the pool.

     "Score for our team!" Paint called.

     "CANONBALL!" Ray called as he jumped off of the diving board making a big splash.

     "Vesta?" Bliss called. "VESTAAAA! MYNCIIIII!" Bliss called.

     "POOOGLE!" Vesta called.

     Bliss pushed through the pets until she had found Vesta, then she climbed out of the water and helped her friend out.

     "Maybelle?" Bliss asked as Roxxi climbed out. "Are you coming?"

     Maybelle didn't respond.

     "MAYBELLE!" Bliss called again.

     "SCOOOORE!" Maybelle called as she tossed the beach ball into the hoop.

     "Never mind, guys, let's go," Bliss rolled her eyes.

     Bliss, Vesta, and Roxxi made their way to the changing rooms.

     "What are we gonna do?" asked Roxxi, pulling on a battle for Meridell t-shirt.

     "We're going to go sightseeing," Bliss said, "and then we're going to think of what to do."

     "Works for me," Vesta said. "I haven't seen half of this island."

     They locked the front door behind them, leaving a note in case Hailey needed to know where they were.

     *

     "I'm BOOOOORED!" Kiley groaned.

     "Hey, she said there's a gameroom, right?" Stripe asked.

     "Yeah, so what are we waiting for?" asked Peach.

     The gang burst out of the pool and into the game room, not even bothering to shower or dry off.

     "Techo says, I love that game!" Maybelle squealed.

     "Let's play," said Paint.

     "Ow!" Stripe screamed.

     "Your water bubble just hit the right pet, though," Paint laughed.

     "Ha-ha," Stripe said sarcastically, "I wish I could take it off."

     "Did you know there's a room here that's filled with water?" Paint asked.

     "Where?" Stripe and Kiley asked.

     *

     "NO!" Puddles shouted for the millionth time. "I'm not opening this door no matter... did you say ten thousand?"

     "Ten thousand Neopoints," Kiley said, "Paid in full."

     "It's not worth it," Puddles decided, sitting down on the orange coral bed.

     "Let us in!" Peach cried, even though she didn't need a water bubble.

     "Do I need to spell it for you?" Puddles asked. "N. O. NO!"

     "Pssst... maybe it's not locked," Maris whispered.

     Stripe turned the knob to see, and not a second after she did, water began spilling out into the Neohome.

     "AAAAHH!" they all screamed as the water pushed them into the library and flung them into a bookcase.

     The bookcase knocked over and they were all floating through the house.

     "The trapdoor!" Puddles exclaimed softly.

     She opened the door and put on her water helmet, then swam through the tunnel.

     "HELP!" Paint called.

     "This is so not how I planned on spending my summer vacation." Maris rolled her eyes. "Your owner has some serious issues. What kind of person leaves the door to a room full of water un – "

     "Complain later, panic now!" Stripe shouted.

     Meanwhile, Bliss, Vesta, and Roxxi walked up to the front door.

     "All we have to do is tell them it's our turn now." Bliss smiled. "Hailey will explain to them if they don't listen; they've had hours by now. They're probably even bored."

     However, when she opened the door, a big gust of water sent everyone except Puddles, who was on her way to Maraqua, and Hailey, who was in her room with the door closed, tumbling down to the beach.

     "I don't even want to know," Bliss said once they were in the sand, standing up and squeezing the water out of her shirt.

     "Hey, Bliss..." Paint began. "Can we sleep in your room tonight since it was the only one that had the door closed?"

     "Well, you've already ruined the rest of the house, so why don't you all try to squeeze into my room and end up breaking everything?" Bliss asked.

     "Thanks!" Paint grinned.

     "I WAS BEING SARCASTIC!" the Uni yelled, unable to contain her anger anymore.

     "What is going on here?" Hailey ran out to the beach looking both concerned and furious. "What happened to the house?"

     "Well, Stripe and Kiley needed to be in water, so I tried to get them into Puddles's room," Paint explained, "but Puddles wouldn't open the door, so we realized that it was unlocked and opened it ourselves."

     "The rest is pretty self explanatory," Maris said to the sand.

     "Where's Puddles?" Hailey asked, more concerned.

     "Puddles is probably on her way to Maraqua via the trapdoor," Roxxi said.

     Paint nodded, remembering her saying something about the trapdoor.

     "Girls, you have to get in through that hole in her roof," Hailey explained. "I told you that at dinner the first night."

     "Oh, was that addressed to all of us?" Paint asked. "I thought you were talking to the losers."

     "Wait a second," said Stripe. "Why didn't she just tell us that when we told her to open the door?"

     "Because she probably didn't want a group of party pets in her room," Bliss rolled her eyes.

     "Well, since pretty much our entire house was destroyed, I'm afraid we're going to have to go back to Maraqua a little earlier than planned," Hailey sighed. "I don't think your belongings were damaged too badly, so get those and go back to whichever house or land you came from."

     "Well, I guess I'll see you much, much later, Bliss," Vesta sighed.

     "I knew a whole summer together was too good to be true," Bliss replied.

     "I'm sorry, girls, but we have no place to stay," Hailey replied.

     "Unless..." Vesta began, a huge grin forming on her face.

     "Unless what?" they all asked.

     However, Bliss knew exactly what Vesta was thinking.

     *

     "MYNCIIIII!" Bliss called.

     "POOOOGLE!" Vesta replied.

     "Vesta, your pool is so much nicer than ours," Roxxi said.

     "Thanks again for letting us stay here." Bliss smiled.

     "Don't mention it," Vesta replied.

     "It's a shame that Hailey, Paint, and the rest of the gang couldn't stay, though," Roxxi said.

     "No, not really." Bliss smiled. "Although it would've been nice if Maybelle was still sane and able to stay with us. But I guess those popular pets really have a hold on people."

     "That they do." Vesta smiled. "At least you don't have to worry about me. I didn't see a single one of them eat a piece of candy."

     "So, Vesta, how's your diet going?" Bliss asked.

     "Actually, I think a little candy reduction never hurt anyone." Vesta smiled. "All the exercise is too tiring."

     "Good." Bliss smiled. "So you're still eating candy, just less of it."

     "Slightly less – I practically live off this stuff," Vesta laughed.

     "You know, I could introduce you to normal food – a middle point is always good to have," Roxxi suggested.

     "Don't start, Roxxi," Bliss said. "Next thing you know she'll be raiding the food shop every eight minutes trying to get something to eat before they're sold out."

     And they all cracked up, feeling truly happy for the first time that entire summer.

The End