The Adventures of Lucy: Part Two

     Marcie was the one who taught me to swim, over two years ago. It was during my very first visit at the hotel. I was very glad she did, because now swimming is one of my very favorite things to do, and Mister even got a pool at our house.

     I couldn’t spy any other baby pets in the water or out of it, so I just kept swimming. There were some rowdy Kyrii dive-bombing off the side of the deep end, so I stayed in the shallows. Being splashed or jumped on did not appeal to me at all.

     I waited, watched, and waited some more. I spent two hours at the pool, lounging around, hoping for another baby pet to show up. But none did! I couldn’t be the only one in the entire hotel, could I?

     After floating around on my back for another fifteen minutes or so, I sighed and climbed out. My pale yellow fur was sopping wet, and my paws were wrinkled from being in water so long. I shivered and wrapped myself up in one of the AstroVilla Hotel towels. It was white with light blue stripes, and very soft.

     I grabbed my heart shaped sunglasses, my flowered hat, and my room key off the lounge chair and walked into the hotel. Nobody cared to see me walking around a fancy hotel in my bathing suit because I’m just a baby.

     I walked up to the front desk, where Marcie was typing away on her computer. I glanced around to make sure Hannah wasn’t anywhere in sight.

     “Hi, Marcie!” I said cheerfully.

     “Hi, Luce,” she responded, looking up at me only briefly. “What can I do for ya?”

     “You know how Hannah’s moving to Mystery Island and all?” I asked.

     This time Marcie looked at me fully, with a sad face. “Yes,” she answered. “I didn’t realize she had already told you. We’re definitely going to miss her.”

     I nodded. “She told me when we were up in my room. I’m going to miss her a lot, too. She was one of my best friends in this whole entire hotel!”

     Marcie nodded.

     “Anyway,” I went on, “I was thinking. She said that Sunday is her last day here. Do you think we could throw her a surprise going-away party? We could get her presents and decorate the banquet room and stuff, like a big birthday party.”

     The Kougra looked at me thoughtfully. “That’s a really good idea, Lucy,” she said. “I like that. I’ll talk with the owner of the hotel, and we’ll see if we can get permission.”

     I beamed. “Cool! Thanks!”

     Marcie smiled. “I better get back to work. Don’t say anything to Hannah – or anyone else, for that matter. We’ll tell the rest of the staff if we get permission.”

     I nodded. “Okay. Thanks, Marcie!” I skipped off, very happy with myself. Maybe the party would work out, after all! What a great surprise this would be!

     I pressed the elevator and had to wait for a bit. The digital sign glowed “9” very brightly, letting me know which floor it was currently at. I watch the number decrease. 7... 6... 5...

     When the door opened, I found myself face-to-face with a baby Lupe. At first, I just stared at her, because I was so surprised to see another baby pet, when I was positive there were no others checked into the hotel. She seemed somewhat surprised, too, but got over it real fast.

     “Hi,” she said, kind of shyly, shifting from one foot to the other. “My name is Mikki. What’s yours?”

     “Lucy,” I answered, finding my voice and getting over the surprise. Then I blurted out, “I didn’t know there were any other baby pets in the hotel!”

     Mikki shrugged. “My owner just checked us in a little while ago. Me and my sister, I mean. Her name’s Kailey.”

     I smiled at this pleasant news. “Is Kailey a baby too?” I asked hopefully.

     “Yep.” Apparently, my smile was contagious, because Mikki smiled too. “She’s a baby Chomby.”

     “Really?” I’d never seen a baby Chomby before, but I didn’t say that, because it didn’t seem like such a compliment. That’s when I remembered I was still in my wet purple bathing suit. My face turned red with embarrassment. “I better go up and change,” I said. “I’m on floor twelve. What floor are you on?”

     “Nine.” Mikki glanced behind her at the elevator. “Kailey’s supposed to come downstairs soon, after she finishes unpacking her stuff.”

     “I’m in room 126,” I told Mikki. “Do you guys want to do something with me later?”

     “Sure,” Mikki answered, brightening up and losing her nervousness. “Like what? We live in Happy Valley on Terror Mountain, and this is our first time here, so we don’t really know much about Neopia Central.”

     “I can show you around,” I promised. “I’ve lived in Neopia Central my whole entire life. Just come to my room whenever you want to go do something.”

     Mikki said they would, and I hopped into the elevator just before the doors closed. As I stood in the elevator, I smiled to myself, extremely pleased for already making a new friend – practically two new friends.

     * * *

     Mikki and Kailey showed up in my hotel room around an hour later. Kailey was super shy and pretty short, but really nice once she warmed up to me. She even had a Christmas Gruslen, whose name was Charlie. Mikki had brought her petpet, too – a Christmas Warf named Fluff.

     “Do you have a petpet?” Kailey asked me as I started to play with Charlie and Fluff.

     “No,” I said sadly, sighing. “My owner, Mister, doesn’t want me to get a petpet yet. He says wait till we’re settled down more, because he travels a lot.”

     “Your owner’s name is Mister?” Mikki asked with a giggle. “Our owner’s name is Megan.”

     “Well, his real name isn’t Mister,” I said, baffled. No one had ever asked me that before. “It’s James, but everyone calls him Mr. James, since he’s important. I just call him Mister.”

     “Oh,” Mikki answered simply, bending down and patting the petpets. We all kind of stood there, nobody saying anything. It was awkward.

     “Sooo,” I said, trying to think of conversation. Mister was very good at conversation, so I tried to think of what he would say. “How long are you guys staying here?”

     “A week and a half,” Kailey said. “Our owner is busy with a whole bunch of stuff, so she thought we might like to stay here instead of at home by ourselves. Besides, we’re not even old enough to stay home alone, and I don’t like babysitters.”

     “Yeah,” Mikki chipped in, “she and one of her friends are starting a brand new guild, so they’re awfully busy getting everything set up.”

     “Oh.” I snuggled Fluff, who had curled up into my lap. “So, what do you guys want to do? It’s already six o’ clock. We could find something to eat.”

     “Sounds good to me!” Mikki exclaimed, patting her stomach. “I’m starving.”

     We all laughed, and Kailey said, “You’re always hungry, Mik!”

     “I am not.” Mikki rolled her eyes. “So, what kinds of places do you have around here? In Happy Valley we don’t get many choices.”

     Over the next two hours, I showed Mikki and Kailey all around Neopia Central. It was a blast! The first place I took them to was Hubert’s Hot Dogs. Mister never lets me go to Hubert’s, but I love it. I treated Mikki and Kailey each to a hot dog of their choice, and bought a bacon deluxe for myself.

     Then we got smoothies. I got a small lemon blitz (my favorite!), Mikki got an original kiwi, and Kailey got a tropical fruit one. We walked through the grooming parlor, but none of us are allowed to wear makeup, so we all just got matching moon combs. I also bought a bottle of shampoo because I had left mine at home.

     While we were browsing the book shop, we talked about our lives. “I live just outside of Neopia Central,” I said, “in a giant house. The only people who live in it are Mister an’ me, though. One day, I’ll have a brother or a sister. Mister said so himself. We just haven’t decided yet.”

     “That’s cool,” Mikki said. “In our family, it’s me, Kailey, and our owner Megan. We also have a sister named Hope, but she wanted to stay at her friend’s house, not at the hotel. She’s a baby Kau. She’s going to come during the last three days we’re here.”

     “Wow,” I said, truly impressed. “You have three babies in your family? That’s so cool!”

     Mikki and Kailey both beamed. Then Mikki spotted a book she wanted and snatched it off the shelf. “I’ve been looking everywhere for this book!” she cried. “I can’t believe they actually have it!” Then she rushed off towards the counter.

     I looked at Kailey for an explanation. “Mikki and I both like reading a lot,” she told me. “Mik’s been looking all over the place for that one book. It’s sort of rare, so it’s taken her a long time to find it.”

     “Oh,” I said, wondering what book it was. “Does your other sister, Hope, like to read, too?” I knew I loved to read. When you’re an only pet and your owner’s away on business, it’s pretty much the only thing you can do.

     “She reads a little,” Kailey answered. “But only some books.” I wasn’t exactly sure what she meant, but Mikki walked back up right then.

     “I’m ready!” Mikki said gleefully, coming back with a shopping bag. “Are you guys? The shopkeeper said it’s close to eight.”

     Kailey yawned. “I am getting kind of tired,” she admitted. “Maybe we could go out again and do something tomorrow?” she asked hopefully as we started to walk back to the hotel.

     “Oh, definitely,” I answered, nodding my head vigorously. “We could all meet in the lobby tomorrow morning, after we eat breakfast, and go to the pool?” I suggested.

     “Oh, there’s a pool here?” Mikki asked. “Neat!”

     Inside the elevator, Mikki and Kailey started squabbling over who would push the “9” button, so I did it for them, also pressing my floor number. When they got off at their floor, we all said goodbye with waves. I had to stand there, in the elevator, by myself for three more levels.

To be continued...