Confessions of a Morphed Xweetok: Part Two

     "She screamed at me to mind my own business, and that if she wanted to abandon her pet, she could," a voice from behind said.

     "Lily?"

     A young earth faerie stood in the doorway. Petal stared at her daughter. "What about the shop?"

     "I put one of the employees in charge," Lily said. "Anyways, I was worried about Ayesha and figured that I could put someone in charge and tell my part of the story."

     Lily sat down and looked at me. "I'm surprised that I didn't report Tomoyo's owner to Taelia about that... The last I heard of her, Tomoyo had escaped from the Pound and lived as a wild pet. In fact, she worked for us for a while so she could afford food, reasonable training, a morph and a paint job. Once she managed to get them, she went back into the Pound, because she knew that the moment she stepped into her cell she'd be snatched out. I never knew that she'd changed her name, though..."

     I was stunned. All this time, the person that I'd hated was actually someone that I held close.

     I felt worse than before. I couldn't believe that I'd done all that...

     I put my hands on my head. "What can I do... I feel rotten."

     Beam actually frowned and gently put her hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, Ayesha. You know who she is now. You can make friends with her..."

     I looked up at her. "But... she already hated me when I got into a fight with her today. How am I supposed to get her to forgive me?"

     Petal smiled. "I'm sure you'll find a way," she said reassuringly.

     "In the mean time," Lily said. "We've got an extra room in the cafe. Perhaps you'd like to stay with us tonight?"

     I stood there in awe. I had performed such horrible actions, yet these people were offering me a second chance...

     I smiled and said, "Thanks."

      * * *

     The next morning, I gained the courage to step into school again. "I'm ready to go, Petal!" I called, after a breakfast of Enchanting Strawberry Cereal.

     Petal walked in and said, "Lily will have to drive you in the cloud racer. An emergency came up in the kitchen."

     "Oh, dang. She only just got her racer's license, didn't she...?" I asked reluctantly.

     "Hey! I have that license for a reason, you know," she said from behind.

     I turned around. "Lily, that's not what I meant! I just don't want to be late to school, and you can't help but worry about a brand new driver..."

     "Hmph. Well, you can get to school some other way!" she said angrily, then stomped away.

     "Oh man, I shouldn't have said that..." I muttered reluctantly.

     "Need a ride?" I heard someone else say. I turned around.

     "Star! I thought that you were mad!" I said in awe.

     "I was, but I found it in my heart to forgive you," my sister said, laughing. "I figured you'd feel guilty. The others did too, but they were too ashamed to come. Now, get on my back!"

     I smiled. "Thanks, Star."

      * * *

     I walked the halls confidently when Star and I got to school. As I passed by, students went back against the lockers to avoid me. I ignored it, though. I casually headed for my locker and got my books out.

     As I headed from class to class, students were afraid of me. I sat with Star, and only Star, at the lunch table. I wasn't trying to be anti-social, I was just waiting for the right moment to apologize to Tomoyo. I was about to bite into my sandwich when Principal Tarren, a brown Moehog, got up on stage with a female island Skeith.

     "Could I have your attention, students?" he asked. Several heads went to the stage.

     "This young Skeith is Shirley_725, and she has transferred here from the Haunted Woods."

     "Hello," Shirley said in a voice that, not surprisingly, as she was a Skeith, was deep and scratchy.

     Shirley then got off stage and headed for Tomoyo's table. She grabbed Tomoyo's lunch and said, "Well, what do we have here?"

     "Hey! Give that back!" Tomoyo shouted. Shirley, still holding Tomoyo's lunch, stood up and said, "Broccoli, apple, sandwich... Eh, nothing special," she said, and threw her lunch on the ground.

     Tomoyo's mouth dropped. "Why did you do that?!" she screamed.

     "Oh, and you want to mess with me, little pony?" Shirley said, and pushed Tomoyo to the ground.

     I looked to the stage to see if Principal Tarren was watching. He wasn't, so I guessed that he had gone back to his office.

     I sighed, and guessed that it was me who would have to take action.

     I got up and walked over to Tomoyo's table.

     "Hey!" I said to the bully. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

     Shirley looked at me with a smirk on her face. "Well, I don't see anybody that's my size. Maybe you'll be the next best thing!" she said, and pushed me down to the ground.

     "Fight! Fight!" the students chanted.

     I got up and glared at her. "You have no idea what you've gotten into," I said quietly, and jumped up on to her back.

     She screeched and tried to boot me off. I concentrated and grabbed on to her pigtails. She screeched, then grabbed me and threw me on to the table.

     And all that time, Tomoyo was just standing there, looking surprised. When I was thrown on the table, I was too hurt to get up. While I was sitting there, Tomoyo said to Shirley, "No one messes with Ayesha but me!" And then she gave her a buck from her hind legs.

     Shirley fell to the ground, groaning. By that time, Tomoyo had flown into the air and was flying down full speed towards Shirley.

     Shirley, however, saw it coming, and when Tomoyo was close enough, grabbed her front hooves and threw her onto the ground.

     I got up and headed towards Shirley. "Hey! Tomoyo is MY enemy!" I said, then punched Shirley in the face.

     Shirley whimpered, and stumbled back a few steps.

     When she regained her strength, she walked up to me, and said angrily, "You little..."

     She was about to throw me into the air when a familiar voice was heard throughout the cafeteria.

     "What is going on here?!" the voice boomed. Principal Tarren walked in and looked at us three, laying on the ground.

     "What happened?" he yelled.

     We all looked at each other. I got up, and told the whole story.

     Principal Tarren shook his head. "Well, I guess we'd better get you girls to the nurse, and after that, my office to get your punishment."

     Tomoyo and I sighed. Not Shirley. "So what, old man? Fighting was exactly the reason that I got banned from my old school. I don't care if I get expelled again."

     Principal Tarren smiled. "Good. Because you are getting expelled. And we're neomailing your owner."

      * * *

     "Well, I see that you feel better..." Wish said later, when visiting me, along with Star and Devie, in detention.

     I nodded. "Totally. I'm sorry that I did what I did before. I freaked out. I just lost control. Will you forgive me?"

     The three of them smiled. "Of course," Devie said.

     Tomoyo asked, "Why did you help me?"

     I giggled. "Because we're friends... Sakura."

     Her eyes grew wide. "But... how did you know..."

     I told her the story of what happened after the fight. About Beam, about Petal, about Lily...

     When I finished, I asked her, "So, is it alright if I call you Sakura?"

     She nodded. "Sure... Aya."

     I was surprised. She actually used my nickname, that I hadn't heard since I was adopted. I smiled.

     "So..." I started.

     "So..." she said.

     I extended my paw. "Friends?"

     She shook it. "Friends."

     I was amazed. I had beaten a bully, found out my enemy's past, and had made an unlikely friendship.

     Just then, the clock struck eight NST. I looked at it.

     "Well, it's time to go," I said. "Wanna sleep over?"

     Sakura grinned. "I'll have to neomail my owner, but I'd love to!"

     When we got to my neohome, Sakura wrote a mail to her owner, and her owner said yes. We told Katie what had happened.

     She smiled. "Well, it's late, so you girls should go to bed."

     We nodded. As we headed to my room, I heard Katie mutter, “What an unlikely friendship.”

      * * *

     A few months later, Katie called me in.

     "What is it?" I asked.

     Katie smiled. "You know how a few months ago, you got into that big fight with Sakura? And you got advice from Beam and Petal, and found out that you were previously friends with her?"

     "Yes, yes, I know..."

     "I submitted your story to the Neopian Times. And, look what I got back..."

     She held up a piece of paper. I took it from her hand, and read it.

     "'Dear Katie,

     Congratulations! Your Neopian Times submission (Confessions of a Morphed Xweetok) has been chosen to appear in a future edition of the Neopian Times! We have added a shiny new trophy to your cabinet..."

     I finished reading the letter and looked up at her. "Wow! That'll make your third story in the Neopian Times!"

     "It'll be counted as fourth, though."

     "Huh? Why?" I asked.

     Katie smiled. "It's a two-part series."

     I grinned. Star and Devie had gotten their own stories in the Times, and now I had my own, too!

     "Now, go and have fun," my owner said. "I gotta write Wish's story."

     I wrote a neomail to Sakura, and she happily responded, "Awesome! I was hated when Star's story was published, but now your owner's cleared things up! We'll be loved!"

     I smiled. I thought about the story's title. A bit long, but it fits. Because these really were the Confessions of a Morphed Xweetok.

The End