Hailey sat on her friend, Cali’s bed fuming.  Her cheek no longer stung where she had been slapped by a classmate some hours ago.  While it hadn’t really hurt too bad. It was her pride that had taken the severest blow.

Her mind kept going back to that moment.  How DARE that… that BITCH hit me!  Like it’s MY fault she’s a tramp! Her lip curls with disgust and venom.  SOMEHOW, SOMEWAY, she HAD to get back at her.

Suddenly she is shaken from her dark thoughts by the click of a camera.  She whirls around, angry that someone was taking pictures of her without her permission!  *SNAP!* Another picture. The little Calico had been waiting for Hailey to do anything than sulk.  Deciding to go an unconventional route she had started snapping pictures.

“Oh, so you ARE alive!  Here I thought I was taking a picture of the morgue.” Cali, says teasingly.

“Cali, what the heck!?”  

“Did you know you don’t look as pretty when you’re angry?”

“WHA~!?”  She’s cut off by another snap of the phone’s camera.  Now in a towering rage she stands up, her neatly combed tail now puffed up.  Just as she’s about to let Cali have it her phone suddenly buzzes alerting her to texts.  

Glaring back at the Calico who is now serenely rocking a little on her back with her phone held aloft.  Hailey sit’s down to see who had contacted her. Cali…? Confused she opens up and is greeted so several pictures of herself.  Looking down-right nasty… 

She thumbs through the pictures feeling a little sick.  Her face clearly showed how upset she was. One thing Hailey could never do was hide her emotions.  No matter how hard she tried, she ended showing it all on her face. The last one though really makes her feel awful.  Her normally pretty face was a contorted and twisted shadow of its former self. She really was ugly when she was angry…

Suddenly another message blips from Cali.  “Why so serious?” with a little frowny emogi.  She sighs and sets her phone down and falls onto her back in defeat.  She never could stay angry with Cali around. Nobody, not even her parents seemed to know how to put her back in her place.

“Sorry Cali I’m just…”

“Upset that you got what you asked for?”

Another wave of anger hits her.  This time from indignation. “Hey!  Whose side are you on!?”

“Can you call it anything else?”  Came the simple response as the Calico rolls back upright by holding onto her feet to look and tilt her head at Hailey.

“That wasn’t the question!”  She hisses, still feeling mutinous.

Cali only rolls her eyes at this and answers in a calm voice.  “Hailey… I might not go to school anymore but I still heard what happened.  You can keep telling yourself the bullshit you fed me if you want. But you can’t avoid the fact that you pretty much deserved what you got…”

Her mouth opens and closes her mouth a couple of times trying to retort.  But no matter how hard she tried. Her voice just wouldn’t come. Letting out a loud huff she rolls back over turning her back to her friend.  Of course, she knew Cali was right. But she just didn’t want to hear any of it.

Sulking on her bed she hears Cali sigh.  The bed ever so slightly dips as the Calico climbs onto the bed.  Her hair is gently pet in that infuriatingly pleasant way that, again, only she knew how to do. 

“Why can’t you be a good friend and just agree with me like everyone else.”  She mutters which is rewarded with a bob.

“Because my spoiled princess.  True friends DON’T just agree with each other.  Especially when they are wrong.” She responds in a matter of fact tone.  

“I really wish you’d stop calling me that…” Hailey sighs.

“Not my fault that it fits you so well.” Cali responds cheerfully.  She gently strokes Hailey’s hair. “But you really do need to stop sulking about what Kacy did to you.  Really I’m more shocked that she didn’t do more…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”  Hailey asks feeling slightly worried.

“Well… I’ve heard that after she cleaned up her act that the guys have been pretty awful to her.  They keep trying to get her into sexual situations or just grope her when they have a chance.”

Hailey felt slightly uncomfortable hear this.  She had never really been friends with her. Given the reputation she had.  Plus stealing that real cute boy from her… But hearing that she had only fanned the flames started by others made her feel pretty bad.

“Well.  She DID spread her legs for anyone before.  This is what you get for suddenly becoming a virgin again.”  The words tumble out of her mouth before she even thinks about it.  The withering look from Cali makes her avert her eyes.

“You’re lucky I know you’re better than that Hailey…  I’ve known since we were in diapers. You’re not that cold hearted.  Please don’t try to act like you are.”

“Sorry…”  Hailey says quietly.

“Just… leave her alone you know?  Kind of what you have with Zoe? You don’t bother her and she won’t bother you?   Kacy really doesn’t need the added attention right now.”

“Yeah, I know.  I’ll stop.”

“Good girl.”  The Calico says and pats her head like a pet.  “Now that we have gotten past your sulking stage, what do you want to do for the weekend!  We never really discussed that haha.”

Perking up considerably she sits up and thinks out loud.  “Hmm, well. We could go to the beach. The water is nice and warm now.  The local pool would be fun too.”

Now it was Cali’s turn to get all mopey.  “Ugggh! No! We do that sort of thing ALLLL the time!  Beach, pools or the mall. God you’re such a popufur!”

Feeling a little annoyed she looks at Cali and retorts,  “Well excuse me for knowing what I like! If you don’t like my ideas so much then why do you never have any suggestions!?”

Sitting up again she glares at Hailey.  “I DO give you suggestions though! But you miss prissy bottoms never like any of my ideas!”

Again, she opens her mouth only to find she didn’t have a retort.  This happened way to often with Cali around… As much as she hated to admit it Cali was right.  “W-well…”

“Well what?” Cali demands knowing she had already won.

“UGH!  FINE! Since I normally don’t do what you want to do I’ll let you choose anything you want and Ill go along with it.”

“Aaaaanything??”  Cali’s eyes light up as she leans in to Hailey’s face.  

Personal bubbles never seemed to be a worry of the Calico’s.  It always made her belly feel funny when she got into her face like that.  And odd, butterfly feeling. Not quite like when Paisley was around. But damn close to it!  So, with her close enough to kiss. Hailey could only nod “yes” despite the back of her mind screaming that it was a trap.

“Ok!  The arcade it is then!  AND! You have to wear that outfit I bought you for your birthday that you rudely have never worn!”

Yep.  It was a trap.  Hailey could have sworn she saw a glint of satisfaction in Cali’s eyes seconds before she makes her proclamation.  But, Hailey was trapped. With no way out, she sighs and nods in defeat. Great, an arcade…


***


Some months ago, for her birthday Cali had bought her a pair of jeans and some graphic t-shirts.  A couple had some pictures of her favorite bands and some others had a punk rock look to it. Most were pink and lighter colors.  Very much like the Harley Quinn outfit she had worn for Halloween. But the bands ones were black and bleh. The jeans at least were stylish though.  Nice and light in color.

But, despite owning them Hailey had never once wore them.  Preferring to instead wear a cute stylish outfit, girly skirts, pretty bows and such.  Jeans just didn’t factor into those kinds of things well. Plus, she had always found them a little uncomfortable!  The pants rubbed and pulled her fur sometimes, and it was all just too tight. Skirts on the other hand did none of things and were nice and breezy!

But despite this.  There she was. In a rather run down out doors mall area with Cali wearing jeans and one of those “pink goth” shirts.  As she cast her eyes around she walks a bit closer to her friend. It was much different than the places she normally went.  She was shocked that her parents had no problems dropping them off. 

Their ok with letting her go here by herself!?  But, she’s so tiny! …then again here I am walking right beside her like she’s gunna be able to protect me.  Good thing Cali’s parents to dropped us off… Daddy would have never let us out of the car if he saw this place!

Trying to sound casual she asks, “So um… You come here often?”

“Oh yes!  I found it online last month!” she replies excitedly.  Its REALLY hard finding places like this these days!”

She was finding it hard to share her excitement.  Half the stores were closed down and looked as if they had closed a decade ago.  What shops were left were depressingly empty. And the surrounding façade of the building looked as if the owners saw the writing on the wall and just stopped caring.

But worse was the kinds of people there.  What she took to be homeless furs seemed to dominate the area. Some sat together in front of the stores. others rested on benches.  On the whole Hailey was starting to feel very glad she wasn’t wearing her normal clothes. If they had saw her in her normal attire they’d have tried to kidnap her for a ransom!

“Uh, I don’t mean to complain but… are you sure this place is safe?” she voices her concerns to Cali.

“Oh come on Hailey.  These are all normal furs like you and me!  Your silver spoon is showing!” Cali scoffs.

Trying to trust Cali she continues to walk until they come to the front of a particular store with a single neon sign that reads “Open”.  Hailey stops short looking at the sketchy store front. The windows were black or frosted out. Little characters have been spray painted on and the brinks looked like they had once been painted bright colors.  Cali however walks right in leaving Hailey alone. Deciding being inside this ancient establishment was much better than outside alone she rushes inside.

The only word that Hailey could think to use to describe the inside was “old”.  VERY old. The building was packed with old arcade machines. The 8bit characters rushing around willy nilly on the many screens as each machine blared its music as if to drown out the other.  Hailey’s ears flatten at the din but hurries on to catch up with Cali who is picking her way deeper into the sea of dusty arcade machines. 

In the back of the room several long tables.  Several other furs about their age are sitting there eating, chatting, or playing some card games.  Hailey look over at one boy going to down on a large greasy slice of pizza. Sticking her tongue out in disgust she hurries to the counter where Cali is exchanging her bills for quarters.

“Oh there you are!  What do you think? Isn’t this place the best?”

“Er, yeah, its um… great…”

“Oh come on.  Give it a chance!  Want something to eat?”

She was feeling a little hungry and looked up to see what they had.  The wall behind the cute canine boy at the register was lined with all sorts of snacks.  From chips to candy, Hailey had to admit they had it ALL. Not wishing to spoil her dinner (hopefully they were not eating HERE) she gets a bag of chips and a bottle of water.

Leaving the counter with their purchase Hailey asks, “So… what now?”

“Now, we play!” Cali responds with a little bounce.

For the next hour Hailey is dragged from machine to machine by Cali.  As difficult as some of the games where Hailey had to (grudgingly) admit she was having fun.  Not something she could do as often as Cali apparently did. But something she could get behind doing.

“Wow!  Hehe! We spent a whole hour already!  Dad should be by in another 90 minutes to pick us up.  So, time to eat then round 2!” Cali says excitedly.

“Eat?  Here? We aren’t going to eat afterwards?” Hailey’s mind goes back to the greasy pizza she had seen the boy eating earlier.

“Well DUH we are eating here.  C’mon Princess. Time to eat like us “commoners”!”  She grabs Hailey by the arm and drags her back to the tables.  “Here. Sit there. I’ll get our food.”

“A-are you sure Cali?  B-because I can pay for my own and I want to see the choices!”  Desperation crept into her voice dreading what Cali was going to choose for them.  However, was having none of it.

“Nope!  You’re going to back out and order something like a chicken sandwich.  This is my night and I’m determined to have you go OUTSIDE your comfort zone!”

Hailey could swear there was a vindictive edge to the Calicos voice.  But she could tell Cali’s mind was made up and she sat there awaiting her sentence.  She didn’t have to wait too long for Cali to come back. And she was carrying exactly what she had dreaded.  Two large slices of greasy pizza.

Hailey smiled nervously as Cali sat the tray down and sat across from her.  “Tada! Two jumbo slices a pizza!” She flourishes two large cups and says, “and two pizzas for the two lovely ladies!  Bon appetite!”

“Y-you shouldn’t have…” Hailey said meaning it from the bottom of her heart.

“I know!” came the chipper response.  I’ll be back in a second! You DO like Cola right?”

Hailey simply nodded.  That much was true. But she wasn’t sure that even that would help her eat down what she felt was a months’ worth of grease.  The Cheese were practically molten pools with their own pools of grease in the middle. In her mind she could only wonder if she could possibly eat this without staining the fur around her mouth permanently.  Or if she could possibly work out enough to burn all the calories that were surly in the single slice.

Soon though Cali is back with the two drinks and sits down happily.  “Now. These are pretty messy I know. But TRUST me. You’ll like it.  Just give it a moment to cool off though. That cheese is like lava right now!  So, how have you liked our little excursion so far?”

“Well, its uh been fun so far.  Still not a huge fan of video games but, I think I could get behind coming here every so often.”

“SEE?!  You need to let me choose more often girl!  I could show you the world!” Cali replies happily, casting her arm across as she makes her last statement.

Hailey giggles a little at this.  “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Good, I’m going to hold you to that!” Cali says seriously.  “But for now, let’s dig in!” And with that she picks up the slice and takes a ginger bite to test the temp before taking another larger bite.

Hailey looked down at her own slice and felt like it didn’t look much more appetizing that it had before.  The molten cheese had solidified a bit by now but the grease sadly was still there. Knowing there was no way out of if she picks up the slice.

The slice was still very warm but not too hot.  To her surprise the grease hadn’t soaked through even the dough.  Sticking her tongue out one final time to show her reluctance she opens her mouth and takes the tinyest of bites.  The flavor was surprisingly good and not nearly as greasy as she had expected. Her second bite was bigger and along with those bites, her bad feelings were gone.  

At least one thing had been right.  It was messy. The cheese didn’t seem to want to separate as she bit down and came off in large sticky globs leaving only the crust and sauce alone in areas.  She had to stop and take what the boys at school would call a “swig” of soda before eating again. But for all the mess Hailey could safely say it was worth it.  

She was wiping her mouth off with a napkin before she caught Cali’s wide grin.  Stopping she looks at her and asks, “WHAT?”

“Soooo, was it as gross and nasty as you thought it was?” Cali asks cheekily.

She sighs and replies, “Noooo.  It was actually really good.”

“Hehe!  Told yah!”

“Ugh, no you didn’t.  You’re really enjoying this aren’t you…?”

“Well duh, YUP.  I am. Nothing wrong with being happy that I broadened your horizons.”

“Well don’t make it a habit ok?  My mom would never let me hang out with you if she knew the kinds of foods you were introcding me to.”

Cali scoffs as she takes a sip from her soda.  “Well your mom needs to loosen up herself. Those meals she cooks!  Ugh! Way to heathy! I’m surprised she’s not a vegan! Why do you think I never eat at your place anymore!”

Hailey giggles at her friends words.  It was true that her mom was a health freak.  Her meals were meticulously made with HEALTH in mind.  Soda was something she could only get outside the house.  Her mom would never buy any or let her drink it. She grinned evilly at the thought of bringing a slice of that pizza home and just leave it in the fridge to see how her mom would take it.

“Well you should!  You can’t keep eating like this.  You’ll get fat!”

Cali looked up with from her drink with a derisive look.  “Hailey… Hails… Princess. LOOK AT ME!” She stands up on the table’s bench for emphasis.  “If anything, I need to eat like this MORE! I’m 4 foot nothing and skin and bones! I’m still underweight when I’m soaked!  No Hailey, if I don’t eat like this I’d shrivel up into nothing.”

Hailey really laughed now.  Cali was still standing on the bench ignoring the looks and whispers from the few others in the area.  All for the benefit of Hailey to see just how right she was. She had always been a shorty. And indeed, no matter how much she ate she never seemed to gain a pound.  (some girls have all the luck…)

“Ok, ok!  Sit down Cali!  You’re making a scene!”

She looks around as if for the first time noticing she was in public.  Without missing a beat though she grins and curtseys before sitting back down.  “Anyways. Yeah. Not happening Hailey.”

“*giggle* alright!  Fine! But one of these days it’ll catch up to you.”

“Psh!  Please!  I’m this small because my metabolism is so fast my body couldn’t get enough nutrients TO grow!  I’ll be able to eat like this forever just like my Gram!”

“Maybe”

“Anyways, its time to get back at it!  I need to get my revenge on you for all the games you managed to get beginners luck on.”

For the rest of the time Hailey and Cali revisited their favorite games.  Even Hailey was getting into it, dragging Cali over to games she liked. (Mainly ones she was good at).  Eventually though their time was up and both girls reluctantly to leave.

Hailey looked back at the store with regret.  She HAD had a lot of fun. Even the rest of the area looked nicer than when they had walked though earlier.  She realized guiltily that the fur she had assumed were homeless were not actually.

Cali’s dad’s car was parked where he had parked earlier and both girls climbed in.  Turning around the older Feline asks, “Welcome back girls. You enjoy yourselves?”

“Yup!  We had a blast!  Even Miss prissy britches did.” Cali says snickering at Hailey.

“Wonderful!  Glad you enjoyed yourself Hailey!” her dad simply replied.

Wish you’d tell you daughter to stop calling me things like that.  Way to show me what you think of me… Well, its better than her calling me a snob…

Hailey sighed and brushed the testy thoughts away.  Cali wasn’t trying to be mean. And on the whole. If she hadn’t been so pushy and straight forward she never would have discovered how much fun games really could be!  Maybe the next weekend she’d let Cali pick again…
