(with some help from S_Dasher)
Dear Diary,
Well, tomorrow’s Monday. School will start (sigh…) and I am really NOT looking
forward to it. I’m still the only Gelert in class who hasn’t been painted. Butter,
Daine and Kai won’t care, I know, but even they can’t take away the feeling
I get when I see a bunch of painted Gelert girls looking at me and whispering
and giggling behind me. I feel like I stick out like a sore paw. At this rate,
I’ll be the only female Gelert in school who doesn’t have a boyfriend. Oh well,
better get to sleep. Goodnight, Diary.
Dash
“Dasher! Time to get up, sweetie, you’ll be late for school.”
S_Dasher, normally known as just plain Dasher or Dash to close friends and
family, rolled over, blinking the sleep from her eyes. The young Gelert stood
up and shook herself. She blinked at the walls of her room, still trying to
focus.
“Da-asher!”
“Coming, Shell!”
Dasher trotted down the stairs, her yellow tail swinging. Her family was sitting
at the table. There was WEN145, the red Grarrl, more commonly known as Wen to
the family and the second oldest; Florepa the blue Zafara the second youngest
and the baby of the family, S_Tsunami the green Peophin, nicknamed Su. Then
of course there was her owner Shelley, a fifteen-year-old girl.
“What kept you?” Wen grumbled. “We all wanna eat!”
“You mean YOU wanna eat,” muttered Florepa.
“Keep it down guys, and have your cereal,” Shelley said, passing the milk.
“I don’t know what to do with you boys sometimes.”
After breakfast they all set off to their separate schools. Dasher went to
an all-Gelert one, and she always met up with her three best friends on the
way. There was Buttersplotch, a gold Gelert, sunny in both coat and personality.
Then there were Kailaila and _Veralidaine_, better known as Kai and Daine, the
two sisters. Kailaila was painted faerie and Daine cloud. Dasher secretly wanted
to be painted gold like Buttersplotch; she loved the way the sun shafts glanced
dazzlingly off her friend’s glittering coat. So did the male Gelerts at school,
come to that. But Daine’s pale blue fur with its snowy splashes and Kai’s shimmery,
jacaranda wings against a backdrop of pale gold also attracted a fair bit of
attention. Dasher felt out of place sometimes, looking at her own plain yellow
fur, the colour of sunlight on Sakhmet sand. It was tough not being painted;
it was all the rage now. But her friends, thankfully, had never judged her on
that fact. They had stuck up for her whenever she got teased and stuck by her
all the way and she had never forgotten each time.
“Hiya, Dash!” called Buttersplotch cheerily, dancing jauntily up to her friend
and slapping her on the back with a friendly paw. Daine and Kai nodded hello
at the same time.
“Hi,” said Dasher reservedly.
“Sheesh, someone’s quiet today,” said Kai jokingly. “What’s with you?”
Daine smiled sympathetically at her friend. “You want to be painted, don’t
you Dash?”
Dasher grinned at the cloud Gelert. “I’m over that, thanks.”
“Then what do you want? A friend?”
“Daine, just because you’re the only one with a boyfriend does not give you
the excuse to gloat at the rest of us poor lonely souls,” Kai exclaimed in mock
anger.
“Some of us don’t need ’em,” Buttersplotch added.
Daine giggled. “Dash probably thinks no-one’s gonna want her because she’s
not painted. Don’t be an idiot,” she added, throwing a paw around Dash’s shoulders.
“Yeah, you’re too sweet and pretty to pass by.”
“Don’t be dumb!” Dash swatted at the pair of them.
As they neared the school, entered the gate and walked into the courtyard,
Dasher couldn’t help thinking -hoping, really- that maybe, just maybe, Kai was
right. She eyed all the female Gelerts she could see. They were almost all of
them painted, a myriad of colours, gold, shadowed, strawberry, spotted. She
immediately dispelled the thought from her head. What male Gelert, or Lupe even,
could want her when there was that lot to choose from?
“Hi, girls. Hi, Daine.” A handsome checkered Gelert walked smoothly up and
brushed noses with Daine. Daine giggled happily and Dash felt a tiny pang. She
did wish she had a boyfriend. Someone who would understand her, trust her, love
her for who she was. Daine had found that someone in _Jazzypup, the checkered
Gelert, more commonly known as Jazz. He was friendly, and kind, and nice. He
liked all of Daine’s friends and they liked him.
But where, oh where, would Dasher find her one?
Later that day, Dasher went on a trip to the marketplace with her owner. They
were walking around, window-shopping, when Shell bumped into a slightly younger
girl.
“I’m so sorry!”
“Oh, no, really, it’s OK!”
The two girls spent the next minute apologising along those lines when suddenly
they stopped, stared at each other and burst out laughing.
“That’s so weird!”
“Yeah. Hey, my name’s Shelley. People call me Shell though.”
“Shelley? Hey, are you the one who wrote that story in the Times?”
“What, you mean Uptown
Gelert? Stupid, wasn’t it?”
“Stupid or not, I kind of liked it. My name’s aera_eaglewings, you can call
me Aera…”
Dasher, however, was looking at the Gelert standing behind the girl.
He was tall, not overly muscular, but nonetheless with an air about him that
warned people that he was really very strong. He was painted faerie, and the
lavender, gleaming wings made a soft contrast against the creamy gold of his
fur. His brown eyes were gentle, kindly. Dasher felt a slight jolt in the direction
of her stomach. All of a sudden she felt awkward. What would she say?
He turned his head and looked at the two owners, grinning.
“Gosh, they’re being weird.” Dasher laughed.
That remark had broken the ice. “My owner’s pretty weird already.”
He laughed back at her and Dasher felt that jolt come back again.
“Anyway, my name’s Paremour. You can call me Par.”
“Um…I’m named S_Dasher, you can call me Dash.” Inwardly, she kicked herself.
Why was she being so insecure? He was only another Gelert after all.
“So what school do you go to?”
“Er…Gelert Wings High.”
“Really? Me too. I might have seen you around.” He probably had, too, Dasher
thought. She had thought her fur stood out, now she was sure.
Par!” Aera was calling. “We have to go.” Par turned to Dasher. “Nice talking
to you. Maybe one day we could meet up. I’ll see you in school, OK, Dash?”
Dasher smiled shyly. “Sure, Par.”
Aera walked off with Par. Dasher watched them go rather forlornly.
“Dasher? Hello? I said we have to go.”
“What? Oh, right. Coming.”
Dasher gave a last look in the direction of Par’s retreating back and trotted
quickly after Shell. For some reason or other there was a warm, tingly feeling
in her stomach and she couldn’t stop smiling.
Dear Diary,
I cannot believe what happened today. My owner and I went out shopping and
we bump into this girl and her Gelert, Par, who incidentally goes to Gelert
Wings. He was really nice and all, but now I can’t stop thinking about him for
some reason or other. What is happening to me? I’ve bumped into other Gelerts
before and I’ve had crushes before, but this is different. It certainly feels
different. I simply don’t have a clue what’s going on, but the one thing I do
know is that for once I cannot wait to go to school tomorrow.
Dash
To be continued... |