Fiction Addiction

     ~~~

“So don’t forget about tonight’s homework, because it’s due tomorrow. As for tomorrow’s assignment...”

     Livvy sat at her desk, bored. There was only a minute until the bell would ring and she’d be home from school. The blue Cybunny would’ve normally been happy, but with the amount of homework she had stacked up for that night, she would be busy for the whole night. It was a shame for her, because she wanted to go out shopping to buy a new bow for her fur, but that would have to wait until the next available night.

     Finally, the bell for home rang. Livvy ran to her locker, slung her bag over her shoulder, and ran for the door. But before she could make it...

     “LIVVY! WAIT UP!!!”

     The Cybunny stopped abruptly and turned, annoyed. She knew exactly who was calling her.

     A purple Acara came racing down the hall. She was waving a book over her head. Walking along behind the Acara was a pink Usul, who shrugged at Livvy helplessly.

     “Hey Livvy!” the Acara called. “Are you busy tonight?”

     “Well, I-”

     “Oh, because I finished my book today, and I was going to go to the Book Shop tonight to get a new one, but I’ll have to fight to get to the best shelves because the shop’s always so crowded. So if I had someone with me, we’d...”

     She continued rambling. The Acara’s name was Bizzie, and ever since she learned to read, she’d been reading books. Never non-fiction; only fictional books.

     By now the Usul had caught up. She, Bizzie, and Livvy were all best friends. The Usul, named Grettelle, turned Bizzie to face her.

     “Bizzie! Some of actually want to go home tonight!” she hissed.

     Bizzie slipped the book she was holding into her backpack. “Well...” She turned back to Livvy. “You will come with me back to the Book Shop, won’t you?”

     Livvy sighed. “I’ll try my best,” she said. “If I’m not there by 16:00 NST, Neomail me.”

     “Okay. Can I tell you about the book I just finished? It’s about a Lupe that--”

     “NO, Bizzie!” Grettelle shouted, “Just go home, okay? We all have to go home!”

     Bizzie looked disappointed. With an, “Alrighty then,” she wandered off.

     “I think I’m too weak,” said Livvy to Grettelle. “I don’t have the nerve to confront someone like that. I’m too afraid to hurt their feelings.”

     “With Bizzie, you have to be stern,” said Grettelle. “You can’t let her ramble on like that and hold us up. She’s got a problem, no doubt about that.”

     “Yeah, I know. She reads all her books and ends up wasting all her Neopoints on buying new ones. She’s constantly battling for the books because she’s read all the ones that are more easily accessible. Except...”

     “I know, I know – she won’t read anything realistic. She claims it’s ‘boring’.”

     “Has she even ever read a non-fiction book before?”

     Grettelle thought before answering, “I doubt it. Ah well, let’s go home now. We can talk tonight, if you want.”

     “Sorry, Grettelle, I can’t. My teacher gave me a boatload of homework.” (Grettelle, Livvy, and Bizzie weren’t in the same class.)

     “Oh, okay. ...But what about Bizzie? You told her to Neomail you; I doubt you’re going to meet her at the Book Shop.”

     “I’ll think of something. See you later!”

     But Livvy wasn’t sure she knew what to do about her friend.

     ~~~

     Livvy sat at the desk in her room. She had just finished page two of her arithmetic assignment when she got a Neomail from Bizzie. It said:

     “Livvy, where ARE you?! It’s past 16:00 and you still aren’t here!”

     The Cybunny rolled her eyes. She had forgotten all about her friend. She wrote back:

     “I can’t come now. I still have three more pages of homework and I need to start my project on the History of Maraqua.”

     A few minutes later the Acara’s reply came:

     “What? HISTORY?! That’s boring! Hey, I read this book on Maraqua before. It turned out that the main character’s best friend was actually the villain!”

     When Livvy read this, she groaned in anger. She said:

     “Why’d you tell me, Bizzie? I’m halfway done with that book and you just spoiled it for me!”

     The Neomail conversation continued on for a long while after that, so long that Livvy lost track of time. She had just sent a new Neomail when her mother called from downstairs, “Livvy! Brush your teeth. It’s time for bed!”

     Livvy stared in horror at her unfinished arithmetic and history. She smacked herself in the forehead. Now I’m going to get detention, she thought to herself.

     Obviously Bizzie had walked home at some point during their conversation because she wrote back:

     “Sorry, Liv. My mom wants me to go to bed now. I’ll see you tomorrow at school.”

     Livvy didn’t reply. She was too annoyed.

     ~~~

     The next day, Livvy met up with Grettelle during lunch break at school.

     “You mean you didn’t get your homework done? You should’ve ignored Bizzie’s messages!” said Grettelle, taking a bite of her sandwich.

     “I told you, I’m weak.” The Cybunny sighed.

     “And you say she spoiled the book you were reading, as well?”

     “Yeah! Now I’m not happy.”

     “We need to cure Bizzie of her problem.”

     Livvy looked doubtfully at the Usul. “How?”

     A devious smile came over Grettelle’s face. “Oh, I know. You’ll see.”

     ~~~

     Grettelle found Bizzie at her locker later on.

     “I heard you needed a new book to read,” she said.

     Bizzie looked over. “Well, yeah,” she said, “That ditcher Livvy didn’t meet me at the book shop last night so I couldn’t get a new book.”

     “How about this one?” Grettelle handed her friend a book. “It’s fiction,” she added.

     “Alright fine, I’ll read your book,” said Bizzie, “But this one looks kind of short, so I might finish it tonight.”

     “Bring it back to me tomorrow, then!” called Grettelle down the hall.

     The Usul grinned. All was going according to plan.

     ~~~

     The next day, Bizzie did read the book. At lunch break, they all met up. Bizzie handed the book back to Grettelle. Livvy couldn’t sit still; she was dying to know what Grettelle had done.

     “I did finish it,” she said.

     “Did you like it?” asked Grettelle.

     “Are you kidding me? I LOVED it!!!”

     “Well, here’s a little surprise for you...”

     Grettelle turned the book so that Bizzie could see the back. She began to read it, but before she could finish, Grettelle pointed to some small print.

     “What does that say?” she asked.

     Bizzie’s eyes widened. “It says... it says that it’s based on a true story.”

     Now Livvy understood completely. Grettelle had tricked Bizzie into reading historical fiction – in other words, Bizzie had just read something informational.

     The Acara stammered, “But... but that b-book wasn’t b-b-boring!”

     Grettelle slipped the book into her bag. “No, of course not. You can’t always take things for granted.”

     Bizzie stood up and packed her things away. “I’m going to the library,” she announced, “to read some non-fiction!” And with that, she left.

     Livvy and Grettelle could’ve been certain they were successful. Bizzie was over her problem, and she didn’t have to waste Neopoints on super-rare fictional books. But it turned out that Bizzie still loved to ramble on about everything she read.

     But this way, at least Livvy learned something, and she was able to get all her homework done from that moment on.

The End