Usuki Singing Stars #14: The Vegetarian Plan

     Patricia gave her friend a worried look. "Wouldn't Sparkles be mad at you if she found out you threw away her lunch?" she wondered.

     "Oh, who cares," Scary sighed. "At least she would have had my lunch to eat! I can't believe that girl: she can buy herself lip gloss but she can't even pack her own lunch! To think I never knew how lazy that sister of mine really was until now."

     "Yeah..." Patricia said as she took a bite out of her cheese sandwich. As much as the faerie Shoyru didn't want to admit it; she didn't feel that sympathetic to Scary, especially since Scary hadn't mentioned that the only reason Sparkles wouldn't eat her lunch would be because she was a vegetarian. She especially felt bad for Sparkles when Scary continued her daily rant about how difficult it was to eat with Sparkles at home.

     "She's always requesting for Snaw to get the meat-free omelettes because she thinks eating meat is fattening and it apparently makes her gain weight," Scary snorted as she ate her sister's pear. "Sparkles also said that eating meat is cruel, especially if you want to eat a Snorkle's snout to obtain a flashy avatar. Can you believe how self-centered that girl is?"

     Patricia shook her head. She didn't feel like listening to Scary rant about her sister while she tried to eat her lunch. "Look, Scary," she said after finishing her lunch, "I think you should tone down what you're saying in case Sparkles-"

     "And don't even get me started about the Neoschool Barbeque protest she had wanted to organize!" Scary exclaimed all of a sudden. "Can you believe that beef-hating Bruce has actually requested our beloved Neoschool barbeque to replace all the hamburgers with disgusting veggie burgers? Oh, of all the things Sparkles would complain about. I mean what kind of nerve does that carrot-eating fraud-"

     "SCARY!!!!!" a pink Bruce shouted as she ran towards Patricia's lunch table. "Scary, how could you say such terrible things!" Sparkles sputtered with anger.

     "Pfft, like you could honestly use your super hearing abilities to hear everything that I've been saying," Scary scoffed with disbelieve.

     "Well, I could if you weren't shouting from across the cafeteria!" Sparkles exclaimed. She handed Scary her uneaten sandwich. "Did you eat my lunch again?"

     Scary laughed. "Why would I eat that ugly thing? Don't you know by now that I always throw away your lunches whenever they get mixed up?"

     "How could you!" Sparkles gasped.

     "What? I'm sure if you weren't afraid of bacon that you would have eaten mine up," said Scary, shrugging her shoulders. "Besides, don't you think you should stop your vegetarian phase? It's getting too old."

     Sparkles gave her sister a glare. "I bet you one of my lip glosses that you couldn't go one day without eating any meat, Scary."

     Scary rolled her eyes. "Oh please," she hissed. "Like I would ever need any of YOUR lip glosses for survival--however, if you are serious about your offer, then Patricia and I accept."

     "What!" Patricia exclaimed. "But Scary-"

     "Pat and I will spend the next seven days without eating any meat! And we will win, right, Patricia?" Scary gave her friend a nudge with her shoulder.

     Before Patricia could speak, Sparkles gave them a smile and said, "Okay, Scary, you have yourself a deal." As Sparkles walked away, Patricia felt her stomach clench while she realized what Scary had done.

     Still convinced she could beat her sister, Scary gave Patricia another nudge. "Don't worry, Pat. We'll beat that goodie veggie eater in no time!" she insisted. "And by the end of it, both of us will have brand new lip glosses."

     Hooray, Patricia thought, still concealing her boiling rage against Scary. As much as she hadn't wanted Scary to involve her with her bet, especially when the annual Neoschool barbeque was tomorrow--Suddenly Patricia gasped and shouted, "Oh no! We're going to miss tomorrow's barbeque!"

     "What?" Scary gasped. "I thought that was next Friday!"

     "No," Patricia wailed, shaking her head. "Don't you remember the flyers we were given on Monday? Oh Scare, I can't believe that we're going to miss the barbeque!!"

     "Well, don't blame me," Scary insisted. "Clearly the only person to blame here is Sparkles, for SHE was the one who made us be veggie--whatever they're called."

     Patricia glared at Scary and formed a fist. "Well if you would stop complaining about living with a vegetarian, then none of this would have happened!" she exclaimed angrily. "And what's worse is that you had gotten me involved for no reason!"

     "But I needed your support!" said Scary. "Besides, it's only just one tiny school barbeque. We can resist meat for one day, can't we?"

     ***

     When the day of the barbeque came, Patricia felt like she was going to pass out. To celebrate the event, all of the Neoschool teachers had set up their barbeque stations outside and were urging students to take hamburgers or chicken burgers from their stations. Pets of all sizes and species munched happily on their free lunches as Patricia, who was still feeling queasy, searched for her friends within the big crowd of happy students. Where is Scary? Patricia wondered as she walked past a group of Elephantes.

     As soon as she saw Scary huddled behind a garbage can, Patricia approached her and gasped at what she saw. "Scary! Are you eating a hamburger?" she exclaimed.

     Scary immediately got up and threw the half-eaten burger behind her. "What are you talking about?" she muffled, trying to swallow the evidence in her mouth.

     "I saw you cheating! You were cheating!" Patricia snarled. By now she could feel her stomach ache from hunger, and Scary had already finished whatever she had eaten.

     "Oh, who cares," Scary sighed. "I bet Sparkles didn't even come today; in fact, I'm sure she's at the cafeteria with all the other hippies."

     Patricia felt disgusted. "So you're saying I skipped my Mother's pork chops last night for nothing??"

     "You ACTUALLY listened to her outside of Neoschool?" Scary gasped.

     "Of course! It was part of the bet," Patricia insisted.

     Scary shook her head with disbelief. "Yeah right, like Sparkles could spy at you at your house while she was at our house eating her salad!"

     Patricia sighed and shook her head. But before she could say anything, a familiar pink Bruce was walking towards her and Scary, with a couple of burgers in her hands. Without thinking, Patricia grabbed a burger from her and began to gobble it up as if she hadn't eaten in days. "Food!" she muffled as she finished her burger.

     Sparkles smiled. "Gosh Pat, I didn't know you like veggie burgers that much!" She handed Scary her burger. "I got one for you too, Scare!"

     "Thanks," Scary mumbled, her cheeks growing pink.

     "So, how is your week without meat going so far, Patricia?" asked Sparkles.

     Patricia shrugged her shoulders. "Not bad," she said. "I ate a spinach and feta omelette today for breakfast. Then I made a cheese sandwich, but I forgot it on the kitchen counter, so all I had to eat was your veggie burger."

     "That's too bad," said Sparkles.

     "Hey Scary!" a green Elephante shouted from a blue barbeque. "Why don't you come back here and grab a second burger?"

     "A second burger?" gasped Sparkles. "Scary, did you-"

     Scary groaned. "Okay fine, I cheated! I ate a hamburger before you came here since I felt it was a great injustice that you'd set me up like this!"

     "What are you talking about?" Sparkles demanded. "I'd never set you up on purpose!"

     "Oh, yes, you would," Scary insisted. "Why else would you place this vegetarian diet bet this week and not next week? Obviously you had wanted to set me up and you wanted me to be excluded!"

     "But I asked Ms. Perris to make veggie burgers!" Sparkles explained. "Oh, Scary, if I knew it would be hard for you to stick to a simple diet-"

     While her friends fought, Patricia snuck back into the crowd and helped herself to a cheeseburger with extra pickles. By the time she had finished, she walked back towards Sparkles, who seemed to be upset. "Hey Sparkles," said Patricia. "Are you okay?"

     "Kind of," said Sparkles. "I never knew Scary would fail after just one day-well actually, I kind of felt like she would do something like this since she thinks being vegetarian is a 'bad lifestyle'."

     "Well, you don't have to listen to her," Patricia insisted. "Just because Scary complains doesn't mean she's right. If you want to be vegetarian, then you should and you should never feel like you need to prove to Scary that being vegetarian doesn't make you any less of a Neopian than she is."

     Sparkles sniffled. "Thanks, Pat. You are such a good friend." After wiping her eyes with a sleeve, she smiled and asked, "Hey, want to get another veggie burger from Ms. Perris?"

     "No thanks," said Patricia. She gave Sparkles a little hiccup and smiled embarrassingly, her eyes downcast to the ground.

     As if she knew what Patricia was wanting to ask her, Sparkles gave her a nod and said, "Yes, Pat, the bet is now over. And I'm so proud of you."

The End