Friends Before U-Bends

     Sarah had been my best friend, ever since we met two weeks after she had came from Shenkuu. That had been four months ago. Ever since then, I've seen changes in me.

     I really didn't have any good friends before Sarah came; I probably will never get the reason why. Maybe because I was a bit reserved, and most pets think I'm snobbish, being a faerie Koi. That my owner must have millions.

     Truth is, I became faerie as my owner, Brian, had to work a lot for that; we are almost broke because of that.

     Even though there was a class going on, I turned around. Sarah never seemed to be able to do something: wait. If an idea came to her head, she usually had to spit it out immediately.

     Mr. Vame was currently looking out the window. He had seen some pets loitering when they should have been in class, and was giving them a good talking to.

     "What is it?" I whispered.

     "I'll have to show you after school," she said. "Come to my house." I turned around again. Couldn't she have told me that after school then? Still, that was just how Sarah worked, so I patiently waited out the rest of the day.

      * * * *

     I entered Sarah's home. It was mostly plain, but Sarah's owner was saving up to buy furniture. It was one reason Sarah couldn't be painted Royal. She had told me that it was her dream to be painted royal, but she never seemed overly upset about it. That's one thing I like about her.

     While on the way up, I noticed that Sarah's petpet, a buzzer, was behaving a bit oddly.

     Sarah picked up her buzzer, and then shook it.

     I looked at Sarah, shocked.

     She put it down, and it began behaving normally. Sarah noticed the look I was giving her.

     "What? Petpets are like juice, you have to shake them well before use." I started giggling; I usually don't do that. Sarah's one of the few people that can really make me smile.

     So, we climbed up to Sarah's room. It was a bit plain in comparison to mine, but was still okay.

     I sat down on the rug; it was a bit more comfortable than the other chairs around the place. There were two glasses of juice and a plate of cookies. Probably Sarah's owner had put them there before.

     A bit too much, considering that she must have been saving up a lot for the paint brush.

     I was going to point this out, when Sarah handed me a glass of juice.

     "C'mon, drink it. I have something special to show you," she said. Then she went over to her cabinet and pulled out something.

     At first, I didn't think it was too great. It looked like it was made out of plastic, and had a few bands on it. Apparently, Sarah noticed my confusion and said, "It's a U-Bend of Great Justice!"

     "Isn't that a Battledome item?" I asked. I think I had seen it once before, while browsing the Hidden Tower.

     "Yup."

     "But, I thought you didn't like fighting," I pointed out.

     "Yes, but it's worth a million and a half neopoints. I found one in a random event, and combining this and what my owner has saved, I can buy a Royal Paint Brush." She said all of this very fast, and it took a few seconds to realize what she had said.

     "Oh, yeah, that makes much more sense," I replied.

     "It's great! I can finally be painted!" Sarah nearly screamed with joy.

     I wanted to join her. To be happy, to smile and pretend that I was also ecstatic. However, part of me wasn't. What if Sarah changed, what if being painted Royal would, well, make her not one of my friends?

     Unfortunately, I let such thoughts linger in my head for so long, that Sarah must have noticed by my changed expression on my face.

     "What's wrong?" she asked.

     "Well, it's just, you know, generally after being painted..." I wasn't really sure how to tell her. However, she seemed to have realised it.

     "Oh, no, Lora," Sarah said, while I started drinking some juice. "No matter what colour I am, we'll always be friends. Yup, friends before U-Bends."

     Hearing this, the orange juice that I was drinking changed paths and came out of my nose. Sarah could be really funny sometimes.

     Anyway, after a few more sentences exchanged on other stuff, I decided to go home.

     On the way home, even though Sarah had said she'd always be my friend, I couldn't help but feel suspicious.

     Thinking I needed to take my mind off it, I decided to pursue a copy of the Neopian Times. I opened it. A story caught my eye, and I couldn't help but continue reading it.

     It was a story about two friends, both who were basic colours. Then, one of them got painted, and became friends with these other popular pets, and then they broke up.

     I decided to stop reading it, but then I realised that I had just finished. I put it down, and decided to do my homework. I finished with that quick, and before I knew it, it was nightfall and I had to go to bed.

     I really couldn't sleep for a while. Thoughts kept reeling in my head.

     Sure, Sarah was nice enough, but what would happen if she was painted? Almost no one could predict what would happen them.

     Then, I remembered something I had read somewhere. Friends don't care what you look like; they're always there to you. If Sarah was going to get painted, this would be a test. The biggest test our friendship has faced. I dearly hoped that Sarah would pass.

     The next morning, I waited at the same road for Sarah. Not surprisingly, I saw a Royal Usul running up the road.

     "Hi Lora!" Sarah said. Well, at least now she was normal. But that didn't prove anything.

     I barely said anything along the way, but Sarah hardly noticed. She was still skipping along, happy as ever.

     Just then, there was a strong gust of wind. I heard some weird noise behind me, and then I looked around. I had forgotten to close my backpack! And now, the contents were flying everywhere.

     Sarah saw this, and ran back a few steps. We started collecting the books, and I thought we had gotten everything, when I noticed that my file was missing.

     "Sarah, there was this blue plastic file I had. It had that project that we had to give today." I seemed to be saying this more to myself than to Sarah.

     "I think I see it," Sarah said. I looked up, and saw with horror it had landed in a big mud hole. It was covered, so it wasn't dirty yet, but we had to get it out quickly. I looked around, but there wasn't anything to use.

     Before I realised it, Sarah wasn't there. Dismayed, I thought she had just left me and gone on.

     Then I turned around and saw her. There was mud all over her dress, but she seemed to have gotten my file out perfectly.

     "Here," she said, handing over my project to me. We hurried to school after that. Sarah managed to clean herself using some of Kauvara's Magic Stain Remover before class.

     We entered, and obviously everyone was awed at Sarah. Still, she refused the other pets' offers and still decided to sit next to me.

     I smiled. Of course, friends before U-bends.

The End