A/N
Cackled echo heard from somewhere: Lol, only one person I know of has thus far figured out the full meaning of the last chapters title. Lololol Oh that's almost as good as my coffee. *smirks*
…
Disclaimer: Divers surface. "Sir! I think we found something!" waves a glass frappuccino bottle with seaweed stuffed in the stem.
Commander grabs the bottle examining it carefully. "Yes yes… this looks like part of what the sailor hooked with his line… now why would anyone put rocks in a bottle message? Isn't it supposed to float?"
"No telling what that crazy bastard will do sir, look what happened when you let the grinch navigate… sir."
Commander nods, "Diver was there anything else down there?! This looks like just another partial piece of that seaweed, was there more?"
"Well, sir… maybe, we ah… found this stuck under the remnants of a life boat… the same life boat you reported missing from your ship right after the umm… shark episode…"
Commander blinks then swears. "- who would have thought that green little bastard had some possum in him! Play dead and go AWOL will he?! We'll just see about that the little-" more colorful cursing.
Diver interrupts commander. "Um, sir you sure we're even allowed to be searching this area? I mean isn't this stretch owned by Disney?"
Commander coughs "well *cough* it's not like anyone out there doesn't already know that or who originally designed this naval ship class, and were pretty sure they don't care if we do a little salvage here for the good of the world and wildehopps-"
Crew: "Wildehopps! WildeHopps! WildeHopps!"
"and *commander whispers* I'm pretty sure they're the ones secretly supplying and supporting the WildeHopps navy anyway… *cough* but that's off point, was there any signs of moar? We need to find the rest! … and that green bastard, but mainly the rest!"
Diver nods "Well sir the boat wreckage was on the edge of this chasm down there. Looks like its been there for about a year now, but anyway we think there's more deeper down. All sorts of stuff spread along the chasm walls down to the point where it was too black to see; more seaweed, some briefcase with a big old CLASSIFIED sticker on it, even what looked like a derailed train. Who knows how that got down there? Accidently BOOPED the other divers helmet trying to get a good look, but our gear can't get us any deeper."
"Well Hot Damn! Radio back to base get them to send out that submersible! I know they said they could have it to us before the end of next month but I want it here faster!" turns back to frappuccino bottle and starts teasing out the written on seaweed, "Now what do we have here…" seaweed comes free… and a piece of paper falls out with it…
…
Typo Disclaimer: There seems to be barnacles of species Mala Inveterata Orthographiam stubbornly stuck to the seaweed
Chapter 23 – 1 Step Forward, 2 Steps Back
Judy slumped forward on her desk, paws on her head, kneading her ears in exasperation.
How… How by Serendipity had she developed a crush?!
She didn't have time for stupid highschool crushes! She didn't want to have some stupid highschool crush! Judy thought almost grinding her teeth in frustration before letting her head thump on her desk for a second and bemoaned how the entire world seemed set against her.
Judy didn't particularly care to spend all that much time wallowing in self-pity, but she let herself mope for a bit, slumped on her desk before her mind, never one to just accept things as they were and settle, started knawing at this latest problem life had thrown her way.
The fact that she was developing an infatuation with Nick, like some infection that had taken root in her heart was not a pleasant thought for Judy. On the other paw though, now that she'd grudgingly accepted what had happened she thought she might be better able to handle it. Before she'd thought that all the problems from yesterday and today were because of the whole absurd situation they found themselves in, that that had been the driving force behind her unsettled state, and that was still true… mostly. That whatever normal attraction between her and Nick had turned into a light crush… well maybe not a 'light' crush, she'd had those before and been able to deal with them easily enough, but this obnoxiously persist… 'little' crush of hers just complicated an already complicated situation.
But now that she knew the extant of her problem she was a bit more confident that she could deal with it. Pretty sure that she could…
Small triangle ears turning pink… two green eyes going wide in surprise and that russet fur on his cheeks not quite hiding his blush…
Thud-Thump
Judy hardened her resolve.
She was sure.
She had her dream! … Judy's mind wandered off on some fairytale tangent for a moment before she sternly shook it again.
No, not those fanciful daydreams from her storybooks, her actual dream!
Judy redoubled her resolve.
She'd had her dream of becoming a police officer since she'd been a child, still had it and it hadn't grown any less important to her over the years; Not even some stupid clingy heartcrush would be able to affect that Judy thought. Then in a panicked moment, Judy had to do a gut check, but no… Judy sighed in relief… She was right, her dream of being a police officer was still as strong as ever.
That out of everything seemed to finally calm her riled thoughts and emotions. Judy leaned back in her chair, letting her paw holding her ears down slip off and back to her side. Even amid her schoolgirl-crush-crises she was having, she still had her life goal to focus on and that helped to steady herself.
She flipped open her notebook, and slowly, ever so slowly at first, started to focus back on her class rather than her stupidly confused childish feelings about her new friend.
…
RRRRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGG
The bell announcing the end of the final period came too soon, as far as Judy was concerned. She'd just managed to slip back into her normal routine in class when the bell broke her focus, and everyone started packing up and chatting excitedly now that the school day was over.
It only occurred to her that she was delaying after she'd triple checked that everything was put away properly in her bag and the noise in the room had died down with most of the other students having already left.
Judy looked up at the doorway to the hallway outside, and her heart gave a soft muted thump, her paw hesitating on her backpack.
"Oh Carrot blast it all…" Judy muttered to herself and snatched up her backpack in annoyance, marching for the door. "Of all the things that could possibly happen, I'm am not, NOT going to let some stupid feelings-" Judy nearly spat the word out, still talking to herself as she left the room and headed for her locker, "Make me afraid!"
Judy continued muttering quietly to herself about stupid feelings, about foxes that shouldn't be cute, and definitely about how stupid it was to listen to feelings based entirely off of cute, stoking her irritation at it all as she did so. She let her annoyance bolster her courage until she'd finished up at her locker and slammed the door shut. She turned, now feeling ready to handle the situation and headed for the school's front entrance.
Or started to when she stopped dead.
Thud-Thump
He had his backpack slung over one shoulder, held by one paw in a haphazard manner and looked somewhere between trying to look nonchalant and wanting to bolt.
All her carefully stoke irritation and anger abandoned her like rats fleeing a holed inflate-o-chair at the pool.
"Um… hey Judy." Nick said giving a halfhearted wave of his free paw in greeting. He didn't quiet meet her eyes before looking away, his free paw going up to scratch behind one of his flattened ears in a nervous manner.
"Oh… hey…" Judy replied, suddenly feeling horribly, unbelievably awkward, holding her bookbag just like she had before she'd ran at the end of home-ec class. She fidgeted uncomfortably at the memory, embarrassed… then embarrassed even more for feeling that urge to bolt all over again.
"Quite the day, huh?" Nick muttered still not looking at her, and something about how he said it, about the whole stupid carrot picking situation struck some sort of chord in her.
Judy let out a sudden short laugh.
"Well, that's one way to put it." Judy muttered, her short laugh seeming to lessen the awkwardness to bearable levels.
"Still think it could get any worse?" she asked, almost as an afterthought, just feeling thankful now that she wasn't acting like a ditz all over again too.
Nick's muzzle twitched in a near smile before he replied.
"Normally I'd say yes, just on principle, but I'm not sure if that's actually possible. Not sure if I could survive it if it is possible."
Judy gave a soft snort, the smallest of smiles breaking onto her own face before she looked away from Nick as he rubbed at one ear looking to the side ruefully.
Gathering up her courage, Judy put her best face things on before slinging her backpack on and walking past Nick.
"Well, why don't we make our escape before anything else does happen." Judy said, bumping his arm with hers as she pasted.
Her heart seemed to thump hard in her chest at the contact, and Judy looked down flustered… then a second later was annoyed at herself for being embarrassed by such a little thing and tried hard to ignore the feelings.
"Right. That sounds like an awesome plan." Nick replied, his voice a little strained, as if he was afraid that her mentioning it might make it real. He turned quickly and caught up to her, walking down the hall beside her.
Judy glanced over at him, her heartbeat a little too fast, and then glanced down again, all her emotions, the overwhelming still lingering embarrassment from everything that had happened today, the easing comfort of just walking next to a friend, the uncomfortable twinges of her heart as she walked next to that same (certainly not cute!) friend, and only her friend she adamantly reminded herself, all seeming to barely stay in check and keep from spinning out of control.
Nick's paw, the one not holding his backpack slung over his shoulder, brushed lightly against the back of hers as they walked and Judy glanced at it, almost imagining it twitched like he wanted to take hold of hers. For a moment, just a brief moment she almost reached out and grabbed it. Then her face flushed, and she looked forward determinedly, trying not think stupid thoughts as the awkwardness between them seemed to reassert itself, making her feel an urge to flee… yet again.
She'd already been stupid enough today for ten lifetimes, Judy berated herself. She needed to stop letting fanciful hormonal based feelings from influencing her and wrecking her friendship!
Judy fought back the urge to run (and the one to grab nick's paw, or alternatively to do both…) even as the silent awkwardness between them mounted. Nick's paw seemed to accidently brush hers again as he fidgeted uncomfortably next to her while they walked. He glanced momentarily at her as if trying to say something then quickly looked away, and Judy felt a slight twinge in her chest as the awkwardness seemed to become unbearable.
Too Unbearable.
She couldn't take it anymore, she needed to do something to clear the air between them, that or run and get enough distance from him so that she could breath-
Judy pulled Nick to a stop just before they reached the main entrance. He turned looking at her in confusion.
"Nick…" she started, then realized she'd grabbed his paw to stop him and was still holding it.
For a good long moment Judy just stared at her hand in his- then let go as if his paw was on fire. She pulled her paw back and held it with her other one nervously looking down at them because she simply couldn't look at Nick right then.
"I… I know that today and yesterday… well, that things haven't been going very well since you moved out here…" There was a sort of half amused chuckle from Nick at that, and Judy flushed slightly before hurrying on, "Okay, so it's been more like a complete disaster," she rephrased, throwing her paws up in frustration, feeling a bit flustered now too, "I just don't want you to think that it's always like this, that this is normal for Bunnyburrow. I- I don't want you to get the wrong impression and hate being out here…" Judy started to peter out. She ran a paw over her ears and down her neck looking away from Nick. "Ughhh… I'm messing this up." Judy said almost more to herself than Nick, closing her eyes, her forehead wrinkling as she tried to straighten out her thoughts.
She needed for him to understand, needed to clear up this mess of a situation, clear away this stupid awkwardness her Stupid feelings were causing. She wanted things to go back to normal, normal town gossip and normal uncomplicated friend feelings, wanted things between them to be like they were yesterday after she'd found him alone away from all the chaos under the tree where the world for just a moment had seemed right and normal again as she sat there next to her new friend and watched the day end.
"Nick… look, I'm sorry for how things have turned out, and I'm sorry that I haven't been handling it well either. That I've-" Judy glanced up, and there was a hitch in her half rambling apology before she immediately looked down and away from the focused way Nick was watching her,
"-I've j-just been making it… harder… for you…" Judy finished her throat feeling tight.
There was a moment of seeming silence between them amid the background noise of school hallway, and then Judy felt a light touch on her paw.
"Hey," Nick said, his hand not occupied holding his backpack slung over his shoulder, reaching up to gently pull her paws off her ears that she'd been tugging on unconsciously.
"Out of everything that's happened, why do you think you're the one making things difficult?" Nick's paw guided hers away from her ears one after the other, and Judy looked up to find Nick now standing right in front of her, and this time she couldn't seem to look away.
His comforting musky scent seemed heavy in the air, and the constriction in her throat started spreading, making her chest feel tight as well even as she gave another short laugh, this one clearly disbelieving (and maybe ever so slightly panicked) as she tried to answer.
"What? Besides dragging you off to that janitors closet yesterday?" Judy asked her voice a little high and strained, the words hard to push out past the tight feeling that still seemed to be spreading, "Or how about when I fell apart like an emotional wreck this morning?" Her eyes were starting to prickle with the precursor to tears, those tumultuous feelings from earlier coming back even as she tried to ignore them. Nick was too close and her carefully balanced mess of emotions was starting to topple apart again. She didn't want Nick to see her like this. Not again. Judy grabbed for her ears, intent on pulling them over her eyes before any tears could show, but her paw only jerked, stuck, and she realized it was still held in Nick's larger russet furred one.
"Hey, everyone is allowed to be emotional now and then," Nick said his voice soft, before it took on a teasing note and he gave her a sly annoyingly foxish grin, "Especially since you're a bunny," he smirked, "I've heard you bunnies can be so emotional." He dramatically rolled his eyes.
Judy almost, almost, smacked him on the shoulder for that even as a hiccupping half laugh slipped out, but she saw his attempt to divert the topic for what it was and shook her head.
"Well, this dumb emotional bunny's really carrot mashed things up for you, hasn't she?"
"No. No she hasn't-" Nick started to say, but before he could finish, Judy raised her paw not trapped in that soft russet furred one, and hesitating slightly… touched his ruff. The action cutting him off more effectively than if she'd sucker punched him.
Nick froze, his face going rigid with a small sharp inhale like he really had been hit.
"and what, what about… this?" Judy asked with a small pain filed hiccup this time, her ears limp against her back.
"that…" Nick trailed off his voice sounding jagged and raw. His paw slipped from around hers like it was dead, and the prickling sensation in her eyes got worse.
"That-" Nick's breathing seemed slightly erratic and his paw flinched with his short in draw of air, then moved seemingly without his command, to come up and clutch at his ruff where she'd touched it… were she'd marked it. His shirt wrinkled, one claw catching it as the others dug into the fur around the spot as if it pained him and Judy let out a startled, though almost silent, squeak. She hadn't been prepared for his paw to move like that, hadn't expected it, hadn't had time to pull back her own…
But Nick didn't seem to notice, his eyes looking unfocused as he stared somewhere past her,
"That's not your fault…" Nick finally managed to get out, his gaze refocusing before looking away from her, away from the spot between her ears she realized he'd been blankly staring at, even as his paw tightened around the spot she'd marked on his ruff.
His voice lowering even as she could feel his unsteady heartbeat as she stood there trapped in place, trapped just effectively as her paw was by those claws against that soft ruff of fur
"Not your fault… No more so than I-" his gaze glanced once more toward her head then away, as his claws twitched with a erratic thump of his heart, "It was an honest mistake…" he mumbled instead of whatever he had been a moment ago, his paw tightening with the erratic quick beats of his heart like he wanted to grab it, stop it-
"an unintentional mistake…" Nick swallowing hard, silent for the space of a long painful heartbeat, though Judy wasn't sure if it was hers or his…
"look, Nick," Judy started, not able to take that silence for another one of those heartbeats and glancing up toward him, "I-I just wanted to apol-"
"No." Nick said over her, his voice suddenly harder, almost angry. His head whipping back to face her, "It's not-"
He stopped dead, the sharp movement of his muzzle and their relative positions brining his nose right over to hers, booping against it ever so slightly as she looked up wide eyed at his sudden forceful tone.
Time froze as his heart Thumped under her paw.
As his paw clenched with the beat over hers.
As her heart Thumped in syce with his.
Determined intent green eyes looking right at her… suddenly widening with surprise and panic and… and…
and…
Thump
His heart seemed to jump under her paw, pressing the soft puff of his ruff against her palm even as his nose stayed pressed against hers, not moving even in the slightest while the end of his broken angry rebuke came out silent; the sound stolen from it even as the cut off breath tickled against her lips like a nonexistent kiss and her mind went blank.
THUMP
Blank, but for two green eyes that she couldn't look away from, blank but for a nose touching hers, blank but for the warmth under her paw. Warmth that seemed to fill the air and make it heavy, that wrapped around her legs, feather soft and soothing, before spreading though her as the frozen moment stretched and stretched…
THUMP
Her nose twitched involuntarily against Nick's.
The motion caused a small inaudible intake of breath from the fox that seemed just as caught by that frozen moment as she was; The fox that was staring at her, his scent surrounding her like the warmth that seemed to fill her. The fox whose nose twitched in turn against hers before a light tremble working its way down the line of his jaw like he was about to say something even as his nose stayed pressed against hers… a tremble like the precursor to the slightest shift that would move his lips… or bring them to hers…
TH-THUMP
Judy's heart beat in time with the mammal across from her; Her paw under his, holding his, holding onto that ruff of fur while her whole attention was focused on those two green eyes looking back across at her over where her short muzzle touched his, the beat of their hearts seeming to demand an end to that frozen second or two or three…
The pressure felt like it was going to make her heart burst even as the next inevitable beat came and Nick's nose started to shift against hers, his chest leaning into her paw, her eyes going shut as his lips-
"FWEeeeEET-WEEE"
TTHH-TTHHUUMMPP
The whistled catcall from the school entrance gave Judy a near literal heartattack, her whole body jerked in short hop even as her ears shot bolt upright with a painful snap and Nick's mouth glanced off her chin as every hackle and hair on the fox's body puffed in sudden alarm.
Some of the other students passing them on their way toward the doors snickered, shooting glances their way. A small klick of does on the other side had stopped and was quietly hurriedly whispering to each other while watching. Even that freshman buck who'd run into Nick earlier in the day was standing there, halfway out the door but just starring dumbfoundedly right at them with wide wide eyes like seeing something that couldn't possibly be happening, something that just didn't compute in his vast (or very limited Bunnyburrow) view of the world.
The sudden snap awareness of her surroundings caused a moment of pure existential dread in Judy, freezing her in place while her mind tried to catch up to her out of control heart. While she froze though, Nick on the other hand acted.
It seemed to take only a second, but Judy watched, noticing everything even as her mind rebooted. There was the moment of pure unfiltered startlement, Nick looking like someone had zapped him with a tazer given how his hackles rose and his fur puffed. His head snapped around and Judy could see his green eyes taking in everything. There was a moment of hesitation, an almost look like he might bolt as his heart gave an unsteady terrified beat below her paw that now seemed entangled with his deep in his ruff. For that brief moment she thought he might actually run, run and leave her there amid all those watching eyes as she felt his paw jerk. It clenched over hers with the next beat of his heart, before Nick flinched as a near imperceptible flash of surprise ran over his face and his fingers closed fully around hers, holding her paw instead of his own fur… and everything seemed to change.
From one moment to the next Nick seemed to shift from looking for an exit to assessing the crowd around them. His hackles dropped, and he smoothly moved from in front of her, to leaning causally up against the wall next to her like that had been what he'd been doing all along.
"It's not your fault Carrots." Nick continued as if nothing had happened, as if he had just been shifting positions because he was too lazy to stand and just so happened to brush close by her while moving over to the wall; as if he certainly hadn't just been close enough to hold her… or possibly kiss her.
"Sometimes life just deals you a bad set of cards, and we've just been having a hell of a bad streak, Nothing else." He smoothly guided her paw held in his down to her side as he moved before letting go and making a cutting motion to emphasis his words, "And you're certainly not at fault for how others treat me, okay?"
"Um…" It was taking Judy a moment to catch back up to the present, part of her mind still stuck on the feeling of his warm scent filled breath tracing across her lips, but then she noticed how the apparently causal fox next to her gave an ever so quick glance toward the crowd moving around them, some of which still seemed happily occupied with watching them. A muscle at the corner of his jaw twitched and tightened slightly but she could see no other signs of agitation or embarrassment in him… until his eyes glanced at her before glancing away again.
"It's not, okay?" Nick said again, more forcefully this time.
"Okay." Judy nodded before looking down, wishing she could keep herself that composed. Her ears and face were already flushing from how close she'd been to him, about almost kissing him and she started to curse herself and her idiotic crush that was making this even worse than it already was-
She blinked for a second surprised, her eyes still looking down toward her feet, except she couldn't see her feet. Her flush already painfully hot, spiked hard as she stared at the fluffy black tip of a red furred tail where it wrapped around the back of her legs and rested on her toes.
There was another snicker from somewhere in the crowd that did Judy's burning ears no favors and then Nick shifted slightly next to her, his soft tail sliding off her feet and flicking behind him to come to rest on the far side from her, close in to his body in an almost defensive way.
She looked back up, but even Nick's neat little trick of controlling his expression didn't seem to be fully working as she saw the telltail signs of a flush under the fur of his muzzle. It certainly didn't work at all as her eyes met his.
"sorry." He muttered quietly, before looking away again.
Judy tried to say something. To tell him that it was fine, that she really hadn't minded, except she wasn't sure if that was her speaking or that stupid part of her that was was… infatuated… yes that was the right word, just temporarily infatuated with her friend. But that would pass and anyways she really didn't care if his tail touched her or his paw bumped hers. Casual contact was normal between her and her friends and family, she was a bunny after all, so it wasn't like his tail touching her meant anything Judy convinced herself.
But by the time it had taken her to work through those thoughts the moment to say something back to Nick seemed to have passed and she ended up just standing there next to him as other mammals passed, meeting up with friends or heading out the front doors of the building.
That though, seemed fine to Judy as she needed a minute to finish recollecting herself and Nick didn't seem to be moving any time soon as he leaned against the wall, bookbag slung over his shoulder and arms crossed as he simply watched the mammals around them.
Then after accomplishing that, it took her another minute or two to realize that Nick might not be going anywhere because he didn't have any place to go to.
Judy facepalmed herself as she remembered that Nick was completely new to town. Carrot sticks, he probably didn't even know how to get back to the farm. In fact, the only place he probably knew how to get to in town was the school and the Grey's house and she didn't blame him in the least for wanting to avoid that place at all cost.
Nick, still watching the crowd with a sort of guarded expression, gave her a curious glance as she muttered to herself for being so dumb.
"What?" he asked, an ear quirking; a movement that actually seemed almost natural and not controlled or forced.
"You don't know were anything in town is, do you?" she asked still feeling stupid.
Nick shrugged.
"I've picked up a few things." He replied and Judy gave him a doubtful look.
Nick shrugged again,
"Center of town is where the bigger cluster of buildings are," he said nonchalantly, smirking at her incredulous look and waved a paw off toward one side, "and your home is over there where the big cluster of buildings aren't."
Judy just stared at him for a moment.
"You're lost, aren't you?" she asked deadpan and he just smirked again.
"Hey, I managed to find you, didn't I?"
For some reason that made her flush, but she beat back the feeling before it could build too far.
"You know my home is that way, not that way" Judy gestured with her paw in almost the opposite direction he had.
"Well I do now. See I totally know where I am."
Something about his smirk got under her fur ever so slightly. Like he'd turned this into a game, a game he was winning. Well, if he wanted to play a game she was fine with that, but he certainly wouldn't be the one to win it!
She poked his side.
"Lost!"
"Not in the least." His smirk widened as if to congratulate her for finally waking up and realizing he'd stolen a head start.
"I bet you don't know which side of town we're even on!" Judy said incredulously. Head starts were Cheating!
"Sure I do, between the center of town and the Big field that edge's it."
"There's Big Fields all around town, Nick!"
"Sooo… your saying I'm right?" Now he just looked smug.
"I- what? No!" Judy replied slightly flustered and glared at him.
That was a dirty trick!
He snickered, as if reading her thoughts and she flushed again.
"You're completely lost here in town right now! Admit It!" she poked him again. Like she'd let him get away with cheats and tricks like that!
"Nope." He grinned and she poked him again.
"Yes, you are! You're lost!"
"Nope." He looked like he was working hard to suppress a laugh. He dropped his elbow slightly to try and cover the spot she'd been poking while still keeping his arms crossed over his chest, but she just aimed for a slightly lower point on his side. He was bigger than her by at least a head, he made for an easy target.
"Lost, Lost, Lost! You are Lost!" poke, poke, poke… poke
Nick was slouching sideways now, backpack in danger of sliding off his shoulder and his paw now trying to guard the spot under his elbow. But she just poked above or below it each time he shifted to try and block her.
"Nop-"
she poked him again and his denial turned into a snerking snicker, his backpack falling to the ground.
"LooooOOOooooost!" Judy said, now the one smirking as she could feel her victory.
"totally." Nick snickered edging out of easy poke range, his tail making a happy sort of swish behind him as he picked up his bag again.
"Come on then, let's go outside and I can point out a few places around town to you." Judy bumped him once he got his bag back on his shoulder, feeling mighty please with herself for her little victory. She didn't even feel self-conscious about her stupid emotions anymore, which she took as proof of how fleeting such silly things as crush's were.
Problem already solved! She thought proudly to herself, smile on her face and bumped Nick again just to prove it to herself. The contact gave her a slight moment of thrill and her heart thumped but no more so than usual, well… usual for being happy and around friends, she was a bunny after all so that meant it was normal for her heart rate to be a little high, right? And… there was the fact that he still was sort of cute with the way his tail swayed happily, she blushed ever so slightly… then shook her head banishing the thought.
"Slowpoke!" she said moving ahead of Nick towards the door, reassuring herself that all was normal and just like anything she put her mind to, she had any little crushy feelings for her friend well under control. Yes she did, she thought proudly looking back at Nick for just a second and not quite noticing the slight blush in her ears or cheeks, and just wait till she could tell Sharla so! Like she'd fall so easily for some 'cute' boy!
And speaking of Sharla… Judy thought, still not noticing the deeper pink color in her ears over her normal-ishly quick heartbeat, and turned to speak over her shoulder.
"Hey, maybe we can convince Sharla and the others to go into town with us! I can show you were I had my internship over the summer, and they can point out where their houses are on the way, what do you think?" she smiled, liking the thought. Nick already seemed to fit right in with her group of friends.
"Sure… but, aren't we supposed to meet up with your mom?" Nick asked as he followed behind her and she winced, some of the pep in her step leaving her.
"Ugh… don't remind me." Judy said glumly as Nick caught back up to her side, "If we are any sort of lucky my mom will be held up by one of a hundred different things needed her attention on the farm and we can just meet up with her later… or maybe tomorrow." Or the next day, Judy thought to herself not particularly excited for the reason why she was supposed to meet up with her mother this afternoon. She'd had one too many embarrassments today already and she didn't particularly look forward to talking to Doctor Rivers, nice as the Doc was.
Then almost as an afterthought she remembered why Nick was supposed to meet up with her parents and kicked herself for being so self-centered.
"Geeze I almost forgot." Judy said wincing, "You need to get cloths and such…" she did some quick mental thinking, then smiled, her good mood returning, "I'd bet Sharla and Garth and probably Bobby too would like to come if we swung south first and went up main street from the bottom. The cloths shops are down at that end including one sportsware store and there's the music store next to the café that I bet Bobby would love to drag you into to see if he can't convince you to tryout for the band one more time."
"Ya, that… would be pretty cool. I, I think I'd like that. The tour I mean, I'm still no musician." Nick said sounding just a touch hesitant at first, but then honestly happy about her suggestion by the end considering his smile. His tail behind them sure seemed to sway back and forth with a bit more enthusiasm.
"Think your mom really won't be waiting for us?" Nick asked, a slight grin on his muzzle as he put his paw on the door but didn't open it.
"Trust me on this one," Judy said, though she crossed her fingers for luck, "With the size of my family, for once, the odds are in our favor." And then, still hoping hard, she ducked under his paw and pushed open the door before Nick could and headed through, her new friend following behind her.
A/N
End of this piece of seaweed is ripped. The words 'Chapter 24 – The Urge to Protect' can just be made out at the tear.
Paper from bottle once unfolded: Navigation markers, dotted line, big old X. smudged script that is believe to read the following 'I shall sunder this perfectly complete little fluffy gem into fifths and bury them scattered far across the world, lest it ever be found by others! No, it is My PRECIOUS! MINE! SO SWEARS ZooawhnaersrOoeko! None shall ever find my secret little precious… my precious…'