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The Kacheek Club: Valentine Detectives Edition - Part Two


by jenlin_25

--------

Bridgette nervously rolled up the sleeves of her Queen of Hearts Dress and watched as her friends dug into their lunches. "How can you guys even eat at a time like this?" she asked.

     "Look, Bridgette, I get that you're nervous about your Valentines box and all, but you should really eat something for lunch," encouraged Xana. "Do you want some of my Strawberry Krawkade?"

     Bridgette glared at Xana. "No, thanks. Anything strawberry-related reminds me of the color pink, and the color pink reminds me of the fact that I should have received Valentines from a lot more people than just Earl."

     "Don't worry, okay? We're gonna check your box after school to see if the card is still there," Gwen said soothingly, twisting the cap off of her Stramberry Juice.

     "How can I not worry? Any one of these pets could be the culprit who snatched my Valentines!" wailed Bridgette. "It could be that Chia standing in the lunch line, or the Zafara by the Neocola machines. For Fyora's sake, it could even be the lunch lady." The Kacheek covered her face with her paws.

     "Wow, Bridgette, you sound kind of paranoid," said Sarina, peeling the crust off of her Scrambled Egg Sandwich. "I was the same mess as you are when I lost my favorite pair of Easter Negg Glasses."

     "So what happened?" Bridgette asked, her voice muffled from behind her paws.

     "It turns out that my glasses were just sitting on top of my head the whole time." Sarina chuckled, causing pieces of scrambled egg to fly out of her mouth. She suddenly gasped. "Bridgette, did you check to see if your cards-"

     Bridgette raised a paw to stop Sarina from talking. "If you're about to say that I should check to see if my cards are on top of my head, then this conversation is over."

     Sarina closed her mouth and innocently sipped her Cherry Neocola.

      *~*~*

     "The card is gone!" Bridgette exclaimed, staring down into her empty Valentines goodie box. "The thief strikes again."

     "Well, that stinks for you. I think my box has even more Valentines in it today than yesterday," said Sarina, happily sifting through the treats inside her box.

     "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you're the thief that's been stealing my cards," muttered Bridgette, examining the cards in Sarina's box through narrowed eyes.

     "Bridgette, stay logical. There's no way that Sarina could be that cunning," replied Xana. "No offense, Sarina, but you'd probably just eat the chocolates and leave behind the cards."

     "Unless, of course, the cards were somehow edible..." Sarina's voice drifted off as she stared into space.

     Gwen rolled her eyes. "Anyway, do you think the thief left behind any clues, Bridgette?"

     Bridgette carefully inspected her box. "We-ell, there is some kind of green paint smeared on the inside of my box that wasn't there yesterday."

     Xana snapped her fingers. "I've got it! Let's look around and see if any of our classmates used green paint in their paintings today in art class."

     Gwen, Bridgette, Xana, and Sarina separated and each took a corner of the room to search for paintings.

     "Found one!" Sarina proudly held up a painting of a Kookith.

     Gwen looked up. "Sarina, that's yellow, not green."

     "Oh, right." Sarina placed the Kookith painting back onto its easel upside-down and continued searching.

     "Ah-ha! I knew there was something fishy about Kalandria!" Bridgette stepped aside and revealed Kalandria's painting of a sparkly Green Gem Negg.

     "Kalandria? Are you sure?" Xana looked doubtful.

     "Positive! The painting says it all," insisted Bridgette. "How much more proof could you want?"

     "Maybe we should check inside her Valentines goodie box to see if Bridgette's cards are inside," suggested Gwen.

     "Let's check everybody's box," said Xana. "In case Kalandria decided to frame someone by putting Bridgette's cards in a box besides her own."

     Bridgette grinned, pleased that Xana finally believed that Kalandria was the culprit. "Let's go!" She started pulling the lids off of random boxes on the table in front of her.

     Gwen opened Kalandria's box and peered inside. "Nope, the cards aren't in her box."

     "Poor Earl." Sarina was on the opposite side of the room, holding the lid of Earl's Valentines box. "He didn't get any cards at all. Do you think the thief also stole his Valentines?"

     "Yeah, right." Bridgette scoffed. "Sarina, it's Earl. He never gets any cards on Valentine's Day."

     "That doesn't seem right." Sarina looked thoughtfully at Earl's empty box. "Everyone deserves cards, no matter how popular they are or not."

     "Sarina, can we please get back to the mission?" begged Bridgette. "I feel so sorry for my empty Valentines goodie box. What did it ever do to deserve this?" The Faerie Kacheek sniffed and pitifully patted the lid of her Valentines box.

     "Tune down the drama radar, Bridgette," said Xana, rolling her eyes. "We're gonna find your missing cards, one way or the other."

     Gwen opened the lid of the last Valentines box and looked inside. "Well, that's the last of them. Apparently, the thief didn't decide to stash Bridgette's cards in someone else's box."

     "I say that we just go and confront Kalandria about my cards right now," said Bridgette.

     "We can't. It's after school now, remember?" replied Sarina matter-of-factly. "She's probably gone home."

     "Not quite. If I remember correctly, Kalandria is part of the school orchestra." Xana adjusted her green Disco Kacheek Glasses before continuing. "They always have practice after school every day."

     Gwen gasped. "You're right, Xana! Let's go." She gestured for her friends to follow her, and the four Kacheeks quickly made their way to the school's auditorium for a chat with Kalandria.

      *~*~*

     The Kacheek Club arrived at the auditorium just in time to see Kalandria walk out of the doors holding a clarinet case.

     "What are you guys-" began Kalandria, but Bridgette interrupted her.

     "Admit it! You stole my Valentine cards!" Bridgette accused, pointing her paw a mere two inches away from Kalandria's face.

     Kalandria glared at Bridgette coldly. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

     Before Bridgette could make another Defenders of Neopia-style accusation, Gwen stepped forward. "What Bridgette is trying to say is, all of the cards in her Valentines box went missing yesterday. And..."

     "She thinks it was me who stole them?" Kalandria guessed.

     "Yep, pretty much." Xana nodded, ignoring Bridgette's sour glare.

     Kalandria rolled her eyes. "Do you even have the slightest bit of proof that it was me?"

     "Oh, we have more than just the 'slightest'." Bridgette stepped forward next to Gwen and crossed her arms over her chest. "As clever as you tried to be, you left behind a clue at the scene of the crime. There was green paint smudged all over the inside of my box, and last time I checked, you used green paint for your Green Gem Negg painting."

     The Royalgirl Kyrii looked unfazed. "How's that supposed to prove anything? If I remember correctly, your dear friend Sarina used green paint on her Frosted Chocolate Doughnut painting."

     Bridgette looked over at Sarina in disbelief.

     "I needed orange paint for the frosting, but all Mr. Lupid had left was green paint," clarified Sarina.

     "So, where have you hidden my Valentine cards?" asked Bridgette, turning back to Kalandria and squinting her eyes. "In your clarinet case?"

     "Look, the only thing I know about your missing cards is that I wasn't the one who stole them. 'Kay?" Kalandria gave the Kacheek Club one last glare before stalking angrily down the hallway.

     Once the Kyrii disappeared around the corner, Bridgette muttered, "She is so lying."

     "I don't know, Bridgette. She seemed pretty upset when you accused her of stealing the cards," said Gwen doubtfully. "Maybe we were wrong to say that she was the thief."

     The four friends continued discussing the matter as they slowly made their way to the art room.

     "If it wasn't Kalandria, then who else would steal Bridgette's cards?" asked Xana thoughtfully as they approached the art room.

     "Wait, guys, I have an idea about who the thief could be!" exclaimed Sarina, her eyes wide.

     Gwen, Bridgette, and Xana looked at Sarina... then turned away and continued talking.

     "No, I'm serious this time!" squeaked Sarina. "I know who the culprit is!"

     "Sarina, you were the one who said that I should check on top of my head for my Valentine cards, remember?" Bridgette pushed open the door of the art room. She stifled a gasp as her eyes focused on a shady-looking figure standing over her Valentines box.

     The mysterious pet wore a black shirt with matching pants, and a Spooky Skull Mask concealed their identity.

     At the sound of the door opening, the pet spun around and saw the Kacheek Club. The thief tried to make a run for the door, but Gwen, Xana, and Sarina blocked the entrance.

     "Let me go, or you shall be cursed forever!" exclaimed the pet.

     "Yeah, right." Bridgette rolled her eyes and fearlessly ripped the mask off of the pet. She wrinkled her nose and asked, "Who are you?"

     Xana laughed. "It's Earl from our class, Bridgette."

     "Hm, doesn't ring a bell." Bridgette looked confused as Earl blushed, looking even more uncomfortable than usual.

     "Earl, you're the thief who's been stealing Bridgette's Valentine cards?" asked Gwen in disbelief.

     The Grundo, unable to speak, simply nodded.

     "See? I tried to tell you guys that I knew who the culprit was." Sarina walked over to Bridgette's box and lifted off the lid. She pulled out the card that Earl gave Bridgette and showed it to everyone. "See the snot on this card? It's the exact same shade of green as the stuff that's smeared all over the inside of Bridgette's box."

     "Sarina, I have to admit that I'm impressed." Xana looked shocked. "That's a lot of logic for someone who scored below average on their reasoning test."

     Sarina smiled and shrugged. "Yeah, I do better when I'm not being graded."

     "Wait a minute!" Bridgette held up her paw. "So, do you mean to say that the green goo that was all over my box wasn't paint, but it was actually... snot?"

     Sarina nodded.

     "Ew!" Gwen and Bridgette shrieked in unison.

     Xana cleared her throat. "Um, guys, we should probably hurry up and get this over with before Earl explodes ketchup." She nodded her head towards the Grundo, whose entire face resembled an over-ripe tomato from blushing.

     "Oh, right." Bridgette looked over at Earl. "Why did you steal my cards?"

     Earl sighed and replied, "I only stole them because I was jealous. I-I never get any Valentine cards on Valentine's Day, and I just didn't feel like being disappointed this year. I decided to steal Bridgette's cards because I knew that every single year she always got the most. But after I stole them, I started feeling guilty and I didn't even feel better about myself because I knew that the cards didn't belong to me." He slid the Green Backpack off of his shoulder and unzipped it. He pulled out a giant plastic bag filled to the brim with pink-and-red cards, bright candies, and heart-shaped cookies. "These are all of the cards and stuff that I stole from you."

     "Yay!" Bridgette hugged the plastic bag against her cheek. "Now that I have my Valentines back, I don't feel so worthless."

     "Bridgette, I think you just experienced how Earl must feel every single year on Valentine's Day," said Gwen.

     Bridgette opened the bag and pulled out a Sunflower Sugar Cookie. "Here you go, Earl. Technically I'm re-gifting, but I don't think you'll mind."

     Earl's eyes widened as he accepted the cookie. "Wow, thanks, Bridgette! Does this mean that you forgive me?"

     Bridgette nodded. "Yep. All is forgiven."

     "Thanks." Earl smiled and started heading for the door.

     "Wait, Earl!"

     "Yeah?"

     Bridgette smiled. "Happy Valentine's Day."

     "Right back at you, Gwen, Xana, and Sarina." Earl waved good-bye and disappeared out the door.

     "Well, I think I've learned a valuable lesson this year, guys," announced Bridgette as she and her friends headed for the door.

     "Is it: 'Everyone deserves Valentine cards on Valentine's Day'?" Gwen guessed.

     "Nope."

     "'Don't accuse people of crimes until you have absolute proof'?" tried Xana.

     "Not quite."

     "'Don't eat too many sweets on Valentine's Day'?" asked Sarina.

     Gwen, Bridgette, and Xana glanced over at Sarina, whose cheeks were turning a sickly shade of green reminiscent to Dr. Sloth Hair Pomade. A half-eaten Sniddberry Butter Cookie was in her paw.

     "Um, no." The Faerie Kacheek pulled a pink combination lock out of her backpack. "The lesson I learned was that I should always lock up my Valentines box." Bridgette winked before sharing a laugh with Gwen, Xana, and Sarina.

The End

 
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