Po's Birthday by polayo |  |
It hasn't seemed like a year. Time really does
fly when you're having fun! But, you know, it was weird... Omni and Tika were
being secretive, Ev and Reggie were raving about how much I was going to love
my birthday presents, and everything was chaos: as usual.
But something was different about it. With October
27th being only a few days away, I was savouring my last few days as a pet that
was less than one year old...
The Friday before my birthday, Omni woke me up
after I'd slept through both my alarms and some gnawing on my ear by Tikano.
I jumped out of bed and dashed toward the school, trying to make it without
being late. As my last school day before my birthday, I didn't want it to start
horribly. Running along as fast as I could, I didn't see where I was going,
and smacked into a pole. Yes, a pole-well, actually it was a telephone pole,
but no worries. Falling, backward, I rubbed my head and looked around dizzily.
My books and papers were scattered around me,
muddied by last night's rain. I shut my eyes, still tired, and breathed in the
Neopian air, thinking, School...maybe I'll just skip it today...
My immediate reaction to that thought was very
negative. I barely ever missed school, let alone by playing hooky! But the more
I thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea--I deserved a day off
from school, and with my birthday coming up...I could count it as a birthday
present.
I stood up and gathered my papers and books into
my bag, and walked slowly toward the school, carefully running the thought over
and over in my head. By the time I'd reached the school, I'd made my decision.
Taking out my copies of Ev's and Reggie's schedule, I ran around the school
trying to find the windows to their classrooms. Then jumping up and down and
waving my arms, I caught their attention--luckily, they were both in the same
class at that time.
When the teacher went out of the window, they
whispered to me through the window, "What are you doing here?"
I grinned. "Come on! We're having a fun day off
of school. For my birthday."
They glanced at each other, weird looks passing
between them. "I dunno, Po," Reggie began, but I cut in.
"Aw, guys, don't be such poopers! It'll be fun!
And it's only one day..."
They knew, too, I wasn't being myself, but convinced
that it was a good idea, they managed to get out of the classroom and through
the door, meeting me around the back of the school.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Asked Ev,
glancing around almost nervously. "I mean, we could get in really big trouble..."
Rolling my eyes, I grabbed her hand. "A day of
Neopian fun," I said, "is something I wouldn't mind getting in trouble for."
It was fun. And a lot of fun, too. Since
we didn't have enough Neopoints between us to go to Faerieland or another world,
we stayed around Neopia Central-convinced the Alien Aishas to let us have a
free go at the Vending Machine, explored the market, and all in all just had
a great time. At the end of the day, we'd all eaten our fill, had spent all
our spending money, and were thoroughly exhausted.
But not exhausted enough not to laugh. As we
boarded the subway home, three of us squished into two seats, we could not help
but crack up loudly every few moments, attracting many stares from fellow Neopians.
Of course, knowing us, we can't take a hint and kept on laughing, despite the
fact the dislike for us was growing stronger every second.
When the subway pulled into the station, I bounced
off the train, still bubbling with giggles, only to find a stern Omni staring
down at me. Without a word, she turned and, knowing we had to, all three of
us followed her. I clenched my fists and ground my teeth, trying to not explode
about the fact that we'd be caught. Already, all the common sense of the real
me was coming back-I was such an idiot to go parading off and skipping school,
bringing my two best friends with me! How could I, Polayo, do such a stupid
thing?
But no matter how I thought of the bad parts
about it-I was probably grounded for days, whatever party that was planned to
be thrown for me was probably off-I'd had a great time that day. And then it
hit me-sure, it was stupid of me to skip school that day, and I never would
again, but I didn't care about the gifts I'd get on Sunday for my birthday-that
day had been a great one, and was enough of a present anyone could want.
Since it was my birthday, Omni was light on
the punishment-it was only going in early on Monday to school to catch up on
the homework. And I was going to go in with Ev and Reggie, so it didn't matter.
Ev, Reggie, Kas, Cali, Omni, and Tika threw
a huge party for me, and invited all my friends-it was one of the best days
of my life, and I'd remember it forever. It was a mixture of laughter, cake,
wrapping paper, and a lot of good memories. And you can't erase memories anymore
than you can choose who you are-they're with you always, and this is definitely
one of those memories I want to always have with me.
The End
A Note from Omni: I do not encourage skipping school, and Po, seeing the error
in her ways, doesn't either. To make a long story short... "Kids, don't try this
at home..." |
