Hello! I am Nikki. Nice to meet you! *shakes hand* Anywho, I saw The Lorax for the first about, oh, say three weeks ago? Since then, I have seen it two other times and am happy to say I am seeing it again this coming Monday. Why, you may ask? I can hear it now..."Oh, yes, tell us, Nikki!" I shall spare you the suspense. I am in love with the Once-Ler. So, I came home and thought, "Hmm. He should have some lovings." So I gave him some lovings! I only own the people you won't recognize and plot. Please enjoy, and review! I beg of thee, review! I accept constructive criticism, no flames!...oh, and I accept compliments! Love me some compliments! I'mma shut up now...

It began in the beginning. And I mean the beginning. Well, okay, not the beginning the beginning. My beginning. The beginning of me. Sally Floogenderp. My beginning began in a small hospital basically in the middle of nowhere. Our neighbors were there and that was it. They had recently had a baby as well. A small boy named the Once-Ler. Funny name, huh? Anyway, he was only a week old when I was born.

But that was sixteen years ago.

Now, I'm sixteen, and Oncie has been my best friend since that day. We haven't spent one day without seeing each other. And I won't have it any other way. He's fun. My crazy little beanpole is what I call him. And the name fit, even if it's one of the only things that does. He's very tall and very thin, so it's kind of hard to find stuff that fit him perfectly. But I still love him anyways.

No, literally, I love him.

It happened when we were about twelve. We used to lean out our windows at night, as we live side-by-side and our windows were directly across from each other, and talk to each other all night. It was during one of those nights, listening to the dark haired boy talk, that I fell, and hard. Ever since that night, I loved him, and I knew I always would. But he didn't know that, of course, and he probably never will.

But I'm getting off track. The beginning of my story is today, on a clear blue morning.

"Sally!" the Once-Ler yells. "You coming or what?" I poke my head out of the window and grin.

"Coming! Keep your pants on!" I run out of my bedroom and past my mother, who holds a muffin up as I pass. I grab it and stuff it in my mouth just as I open the door.

"Oh, always the charmer, Sally," the Once-Ler laughs, nodding at the muffin. I roll my eyes.

"Like you're better yourself," I shoot back, gulping down a big bite of muffin.

"Oh, I am," he teases. I roll my eyes again as he takes part of my muffin, as usual. "Ready to get going?"

"Yep," I say, swallowing the rest of it. Every day, we did the same thing, and it always started off with a walk to the nearby town. We had this bench we'd sit on, and we'd watch the people walk by. You saw some pretty crazy stuff there.

"Oh!" I gasp, pointing. "Look at that man's mustache!" The Once-Ler follows my point to a tall, fat man with a huge mustache.

"That isn't that impressive," he scoffs.

"You're just saying that because you'll never grow a mustache in your entire life," I say, rolling my eyes.

"Whatever you say, Sal," he says, messing up my hair. I smack his hand away and flatten it down with my hand. We continued to watch people, and yes, we made up nicknames for them, for a while. Then we're on to the next part of our day.

"Ow...ow...ow!..ow!"

"Sally, why aren't you wearing shoes?" the Once-Ler exasperatedly asks. I yelp as I step on another rock.

"Because you rushed-ow!- me this morning!" I jump again. He rolls his eyes.

"Here." He steps in front of me and gets down on his knees. "Hop on." I blink.

"You mean like a piggy-back ride?" I ask blankly. He rolls his eyes again.

"Obviously, Sal." He glances over his shoulder at me. "Now hop on. I don't want my best friend to be in pain." I'm glad he's turned around. My blush is extremely heavy.

"Okay." I wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, still blushing insanely. He stands up, me still clinging to his back.

"Where to?" he asks over his shoulder.

"Wherever," I reply. He shrugs and starts walking.

"Wanna get ice cream or something?" he asks.

"But we just had breakfast," I say reasonably.

"When has that stopped us before?" he laughs.

"Never," I say back, tilting my head to the right over his shoulder so I could look at him.

"Exactly," he replies, looking at me. We look at each other for a second before he falls. We both roll down the hill, half laughing half screaming, until we get to the bottom. Then we look at each other.

"Smooth," I compliment. "Real smooth."

"Maybe this is where I wanted to be," he says.

"Is it?"

"No." We both laugh and I roll onto my stomach, leaning on my elbows and looking up at the mountain about half a mile or so away.

"We should climb that." I look at him. "It would be fun."

"Today?" he asks, rolling onto his side and propping himself up on his elbow and looking at me.

"Why not? Nothing better to do, really. And school starts up again tomorrow, so when else would we?" We were starting school again after a fun and long summer.

"Well...alright." He stands and holds his hand out to help me up. "We should pack a picnic, too." I take his hand.

"Okay," I say, pulling myself up. "You should bring your guitar." Oncie's a self-taught expert at guitar, and his voice is amazing. When he sings, the whole world seems to stop and listen. Well, I do, anyway. It's soft and calming, and washes over me like silk.

"Alright. For you, anything."

~!~!~!~

"Sing me something," I say, setting the picnic basket down and laying back in the grass.

"Like what?" the Once-Ler asks, sitting on a rock about a foot away.

"Anything."

"Okay..." He strums a few notes. "Hey, hey, you, you, I don't like your girlfriend!"

"Oncie!" I laugh. "Not that!" He smiles down at me before strumming again on his old acoustic guitar. And he strums again. And again.

"Is that annoying?" he asks, then strums again. "Is that annoying?" Then again. "Is this annoying?" Strum. "Why you laughing?" True, I'm covering my face with my hands, laughing.

"O-Oncie," I breath, "you never fail to brighten my day." He smiles that smile, his blue eyes flashing.

"I only return the favor you give to me, my dear Sally." He smiles again and strums his guitar more, not picking any actual song, just playing. He does that a lot. Just makes stuff up as he goes. And it's good stuff. It's really good stuff.

"Da-do-da-dee-dee-do-dah..." He sings pointless words with the music he makes up. I love it. Always have.

"Pretty song," I say jokingly.

"Thank ya," he replies. "I thought it was pretty nice myself." I smile at him. He smiles back.

"Hey, Once?" I ask.

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever thought about...the future?"

"By "future" do you mean dinner?"

I laugh. "No, I mean the future. Like, after we graduate?"

"Not really." He leans on his guitar. "I just always guessed I'd stay here." I roll over and face him, frowning.

"Once-Ler, you can't stay here. You're talented."

"I can sing and play guitar. Not much talent." He strums a little. "Besides, you're the only one who has heard me sing."

"And you're the only one, besides my family, that uses my inventions. But I still think I should do big things." I'm an inventor. My inventions hurt me a lot of the time, but on I press. And the Once-Ler is always supportive. Even if my inventions hurt him, he still says they're great.

"Because you should." Strum, strum."I'm gonna eat something. I'm starving." He opens the basket and pulls out one of the sandwiches. Then he notices my staring. "What?"

"Just, you." I sit up and pull the basket over to me. "Lays or Doritos?"

~!~!~!~

"Once?" I glance over my shoulder at my best friend, who looks over his shoulder back at me. We're sitting back-to-back on a park bench, his guitar in his hands.

"Yeah, Sally?" He strums a few more notes.

"Have you ever thought really hard about boredom?"

He blinked. "Can't say I have." Strum, strum. "Have you?"

"Am now," I reply. He nods and strums a bit more. "Can you teach me how to play guitar, Once-Ler?" He looks back at me again.

"Really want me to?" he asks. I nod.

"Yeah, I do. It seems fun. And you're good at it."

He shrugs and turns so he's facing forward, looking down at his guitar. "Alright. This is A." He strums a little, but then my friend, Yo-Yo, sits in between us, plopping down right in the middle.

"Hi!" she exclaimed, smiling broadly at me.

"Hey," the Once-Ler and I say at the same time.

"Excited for school?" I ask.

"No," she scoffs. "You?"

"Nope," the Once-Ler and I say together.

"Why? Not excited for friends or anything?" She picks a leaf up from the ground and crushes it in her hand.

"The only friend I have is Sally," he reminds her.

"Not me?" asks Yo-Yo.

"You call me Perv for no reason!" he exclaims.

"You are a Perv!" she says.

"Why?" I ask. "What did he do?"

"Nothing," Yo-Yo says

"Then why do you call him Perv?" I ask.

"Because he's the Once-Ler."

"Don't take it bad, Oncie," I say. "She calls me Pinwheel."

"Why?" He raises his eyebrows at Yo-Yo. She shrugs.

~!~!~!~

"Nervous much?" the Once-Ler asks jokingly, nodding at my shaking hands. I whack him once on the arm and he laughs. "You'll be fine, Sal." He grabs my hand and squeezes it once. Even though it's a simple, reassuring touch from him, it sends warmth throughout my entire body.

"Thanks, Oncie," I say, smiling slightly. He smiles back and pulls me by the hand inside. The school is crowded, of course. Tons of familiar faces, some new ones, same thing as every year.

"Hey, twerp," my sister, Allulah, says, coming over and ruffling my hair. Allulah is nine months older than me, and in the same grade as the Once-Ler and I. She showed up before I did because my wake-up call (aka Oncie) decided to wait until the last minute to come get me.

"Hey, Al," I say, smoothing my carefully brushed hair back down. The Once-Ler waves at her, and she punches his shoulder playfully. While not as close as we are, Allulah and the Once-Ler had always been friends. Even though she called him twerp. Even though he was a good six inches taller than her.

"You nervous, Sal?" Allulah asks, hoisting her bag onto her shoulder more. "I know you are. Don't bother lying."

"A little, yeah." I nod and Allulah looks down to my hand, which is still being held held in Oncie's. Her eyebrows raise. My sister is the only one that knows how I feel about my best friend, since she's like a best friend too. But I had never told her. She had just known.

"Alright. I'll leave you two to get to your classes. I have gym first." She groans. "Good way to start off the day." She waves and walks off to the big gymnasium.

"What do you have first?" I anxiously ask the Once-Ler. He looks at his schedule.

"Drama...drama?" He looks again. "I didn't sign up for drama."

"I did."

"But that doesn't explain why...ohhh..." He looks at me. "You signed me up for drama class?"

"Yep," I reply happily.

"Why?"

"So I'd have a friend with me," I explain. "Come on, Oncie, I have it first too!" I pull him down the hall to where the class is. I take in a deep breath and pull him inside. No one's in but the teacher.

"Oh, hello," he says, turning and looking at us.

"Hi," I say, dropping my bag. "I'm Sally and this is the Once-Ler."

"Hello," the teacher repeats. "I'm Mr. Pop. But you both can call me Lolly." Oncie and I glance at each other.

"Your name is Lolly Pop?" the Once-Ler asks slowly. Lolly nods.

"Yeah." He raises an eyebrow. "Problem with my name, beanpole? Think it's funny for a grown man to be called Lolly Pop?" The Once-Ler shrinks slightly.

"No, sir, I don't." I smirk up at Oncie. He makes a face at me.

"Let's find seats before you start insulting his mother or something," I say. But there aren't seats. Around the room, there are only beanbags in bright colors.

"We just pick one?" I ask Lolly. He nods.

"Of course. Why would I tell you where to sit?"

The Once-Ler and I both shrug and slowly sink into chairs. Mine is bright yellow, and his green. The rest of the class files in and a guy sits next to me in a read beanbag.

"Hi," he says, "I'm Mike Rowfoune." I blink.

"Microphone?" I ask.

"Mike Rowfoune," he repeats.

"Oh." I glance at Oncie, who shrugs in return. "I'm Sally Floogenderp," I say, shaking Mike's hand.

"Sally. Hi." He looks across me. "And you?"

"I'm the Once-Ler," he says.

"Cool." Even though he says it, I know he doesn't mean it. No one ever does. They all think his name is weird.

~!~the Once-Ler's POV~!~

"Guys!" Sally runs up to the table I'm sitting at with Yo-Yo and Allulah. "I have a fuzzy peach!"

"God, I hope you mean in your lunch." The words are out of my mouth before I think about saying them. Allulah and Yo-Yo crack up. Sally rolls her eyes.

"Gee, Oncie, you always make me laugh. Can't you tell?" She sits beside me and plops her lunch bag on the table. She reaches across me to grab a napkin, and her hand bumps mine on the way back. Chills shoot throughout my body. I mentally sigh.

I had fallen for my best friend about a year and a half ago. It made it hard to carry on a normal conversation when I kept thinking about how beautiful she was, or how pretty her laugh sounded, or how soft her lips looked. Oh, darn, I'm doing it again.

"What do you have?" she asks me, pulling out aforementioned fuzzy peach.

"Not brains," Yo-Yo chimes in, peeling a banana. I roll my eyes.

"Aside from that, I mean," Sally laughs. "Trade?" She holds up the peach. I look in my bag.

"Chocolate bar?" I hold out a bar of chocolate. Her big green eyes widen.

"Deal!" She drops the peach into my lap and grabs the bar. I smile. I hate peaches, but she loves chocolate. I'd trade anything just to see her happy.

"So," she says, swallowing a bite of chocolate and looking at Yo-Yo and Allulah, "how was you guys' day?"

"Fine," Allulah says. "I switched from Gym first to your Drama class, so save me a seat tomorrow."

"Sure thing," she says, swiping her bangs from her eyes. She breaks off a part of the chocolate bar and hands it to me. I eat it while watching her talk to Yo-Yo and Allulah.

She's so pretty, I think. Her brown hair touches her waist, and her big green eyes are always lit up in happiness. Her freckled face almost always has a smile stretched across it in perfect, pink lips. Her hands flourish as she speaks. A loud laugh pulls me from my dreamy state of thought.

"Good one, Yo-Yo," says Sally, laughing again. She grabs my juice and takes a sip of it, grinning at me. I grin back.

"What do you have next?" I ask her. "I have English." She looks at her schedule.

"Pre-AP English," she replies.

"Hey!" Mike Rowfoune stops by our table. "Me too!" He smiles at Sally. "I'll see you then, Sal!" He smiles again at her before leaving. She smiles for a second before he's gone. Then she looks at me.

"Why couldn't you be in Pre-Ap English too?"

"Because my English is as bad as your Math," I reply. She blushes slightly at mention of her math. She's terrible at math. I'm not. I'm in Pre-AP, but I stink at English. We even each other out.

"Good point..." She takes another drink of my juice. "I hate math."

"And it hates you."

Okay, well, that's the first chapter! I promise, more funnies and sillies along the way. (I almost said "wall" there...) I imagine Oncie was eighteen when he left home and twenty-five when everyone left him alone. So, lotsa chappies, I hope! PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW OR TWO I BEG OF YOU!...holy poop I rhymed there! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHokay, I'll go now. Again, please review!