It was pounding down rain. Oh great, CoastalMonarch thought, and
of course I had to accidentally forget my raincoat at home. Oh well, here goes
nothing....
Mona sprinted as fast as she could to her home. When she reached it, she was
drenched from ear to tail and was not in a good mood. Moving quietly so as not
create a fuss over her state, Mona slowly walked in and closed the door softly.
She started to stealthly inch down the hallway. Ever so quietly, she grabbed
an apple to munch on later. She continued her tiptoeing.
Too bad she was still very cold and wet. She suddenly got the inexplicable
urge to sneeze. Uh oh, not now; I want to go over to Panda's for a sleepover,
if mom sees me like this she'll never let me go! Mona held her breath and
started to walk a little faster.
Almost there, she thought to herself as she neared her room. Too late.
She sneezed. And very loudly to. But she slipped into her doorway anyway.
Dumping her bag on her bed, Mona quietly went out into the hallway and got
a towel so she could dry off. When she came back in she met the eyes of her
very disgruntled petpet. A Krawk. Mona had not wanted to change it into a NeoPet
because 1. Her family was already a busy, rambunctious party of four.
2. She liked Ornate (The Krawks name was Ornate.) the way she was. And…
3. In Mona's personal opinion, the new Krawk NeoPets were ugly.
Ornate leaped off the bed huffily and stalked off.
"Oh, Ornate don't do that. Look I brought an apple," Mona offered.
Orna's attitude immediately changed. She scrambled back and peeled off some
of the juicy fruit. Smacking her lips with each bite.
Giggling and feeling a bit happier, Mona began to dry off.
***
It was school the next day and Mona hated it. It would be Valentines Day tomorrow
and she was the only person, perhaps in the whole school that didn't have a
date to the school dance. Even Panda and Chipsas had dates!
As if reading her mind, her friends bounded up to her that second.
"Hey, Mona, wait up."
Mona stopped.
"We were looking all over for you, what's the matter?"
"Nothing," Mona said sighing, "I guess I'm just thinking what I'll do tomorrow."
"Well, You're coming to the dance, remember?"
Mona shook her head, "You are. I don't see the point in going without a date."
"Oh, C'mon Mona, you have to go!" Panda whined.
"No Panda, I don't."
And with that, Mona ran to her first class.
***
At lunch, they still all sat together but didn't talk much. Mona had another
boring Sandwich again and she was getting quite sick of them.
***
Mona walked home with her sister; a spotted Kacheek named AmaliaButterfly.
She seemed happy. Too happy. Yes, she had a date but still, Amalia was
never this happy.
Amalia ran into the house before Mona. Mona just trudged up the walk silently.
When she got in she was amazed at everyone's attitude. All of them wore bright,
cheerful smiles on their faces and Mona felt absolutely awful. They can smile.
They're painted.
Needless to say, Mona was quite wrong about the reason they were happy.
"Mona, Could you come here please?"
It was Mona's owner, StellerWing. Mona sighed and walked up to her. She already
had her coat on and was pulling on her boots.
"Do you want to go for a walk with me?"
"Okay."
It was a crisp winter day and the air smelled of sweet pine trees. StellerWing
hummed as she walked but Mona kept quiet. Finally she spoke up,
"Where are we going?"
StellerWing smiled, "You'll see," was all she said.
After walking for a while, StellerWing paused and sat down on a bench. Patting
the seat beside her she said, "Sit down, let's have something to eat."
They both sat down and StellerWing opened her pack and pulled out two hot
dogs. Not Sandwiches. Mona noted. After their short, but yummy meal,
StellerWing turned to Mona.
"You know how you wanted to know why you were not painted and everyone else
was? Or how you were suspicious about me only serving Sandwiches? Well, this
should make up and answer those questions."
Mona's long ears pricked.
StellerWing pulled out from behind her back, a faerie paint brush.
Mona's heart skyrocketed. She threw herself at her mom and hugged her tightly.
"Now, Let's go get you painted."
***
The next day at school it was indeed Valentine's Day. Panda Chipsas didn't
wait for Mona to catch up. They were informed the night before (via Neomail.)
what to do.
In class, they took their seats. Waiting for the fun to begin. Just as planned,
Mona was fashionably late. When the bell rang, everyone filed in.
Panda and Chipsas held their breath. They had been told that Mona was painted.
Just not what color.
Mona finally came in. Everyone was curious about who this beautiful Gelert
was.
Her big, curvy violet wings arched over her rich, creamy fur. They fell down
to her slender paws. Her long ears pricked at everyone's gaze.
Then a very peculiar thing happened. The new Gelert sat down in Mona's seat.
The teacher, Mr. Jamason, a spotted Scorchio, began to take attendance.
Someone's hand shot up.
"Yes, Mysha?" Mr. Jamason looked over his spectacles at her.
Mysha, the popular, snooty Gelert who everyone knew all too well, dropped
her hand.
She hated it if someone was prettier than she was.
"Mr. Jamason, I don't believe the new student is supposed to sit in Mona's
seat."
She gave the "new" Gelert a look of pure venom.
Mr. Jamason looked over his glasses at Mona.
Mona looked up and smiled sweetly.
"Ah yes. Well, you see, the so called new Gelert is Mona."
He let the words sink in.
An eruption of questions exploded in the classroom. Mysha's jaw dropped. Mr.
Jamason quieted them all with a hand.
"It seems to me that Mona just got painted."
He looked Mona over long, hard, and carefully.
"Yes, she is the star student Gelert I know. And very pretty at that too."
Mona blushed twenty shades of red.
The whole class sat there in stunned silence.
Mona, Panda, and Chipsas just smiled.
***
It was the end of the day and the three friends were talking on their way
home.
"That was brilliant Mona, did you see Mysha's face?" Panda chirped.
"Yea!" Chipsas chimed in.
"Thank you, thank you I am brilliant aren't I?" Mona quipped.
All three of them laughed like old friends again. Soon all three fell silent
though, as they made their way along the road. Until…
"Uh oh, don't look now but here comes someone Mona might like to see."
Mona looked over her shoulder. There, galloping toward them was a cute Gold
Gelert named Xx_Nero_xX who Mona had thought was cute since she had been in
first grade.
Xx_Nero_xX finally caught up.
"Hey. Ummm…. Mona, I was kinda wondering, since the dance is tonight and you
don't have a date and I don't have a date anymore..."
Nero began to paw the ground.
"What I'm trying to say is... Mona do you want to go to the dance with me?"
There was a long silence. Then…
"Of course Nero! I'd loved to go with you!" Mona exclaimed. "But, one thing.
You said that you don't have a date anymore. Why? Did you not meet Myra's expectations?"
Mona tried to say this calmly but Myra almost always kept her boyfriends for
at least a month. Nero had only been "kept" for a week.
"Oh," Nero rolled his eyes, "She was so mad for who knows why, so she dumped
me this morning."
"In that case Nero, I'd love to go with you," Mona announced.
"Great!" Nero paused and then her nuzzled Mona and said, "Pick you up at six!"
Nero bounded away with a new spring in his step and Mona nearly fainted with
joy. She turned around to face her friends. They were both smiling from ear,
to ear.
"Looks like you got a date!" Panda said.
To be continued... | 
