Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Oh great…it’s morning. The first year of high school starts today, and I already want it to be over. Let me enjoy the joys of slumber a little longer, God. 

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t listen to my pleas as my alarm clock kept ringing. I wish I had a gigantic hammer right now. For now, I pressed a button on it to stop it. Begrudgingly, I got up and got ready for the day. Putting on my school uniform, I noticed that my fur was a mess. I groomed the fur into a somewhat presentable look. 

Let me introduce myself. I am Catnap, and I consider myself a normal critter. It’s not like I have anything special about me. Unless you count the fact that I can talk to you guys, and that I can seemingly talk without actually saying anything. Let’s just call it telepathy.  I’m basically psychic, but I don’t have a lot of powers like a certain psychic from a certain show. I only have the ability to read minds, and other things that will probably pop up. I just want to live a peaceful life. No bizarre adventures. No wacky situations. Just a calm and peaceful life with no annoyances. Okay, now that we are done with that, I’ll continue with my life.

As I look into the mirror, I just shrug from how I look. It’s not like I want to stand out or anything. I picked up my school bag and went downstairs to eat whatever was in the cupboards. Oh yum. Cereal. A perfect breakfast item! Though sadly there was no milk. 

I ate it dry, which was not the best, but hey, breakfast is breakfast. Suddenly I hear a loud knock at my door. Oh I wonder who it can be. I went over to the door, and there stood my childhood best friend, Dogday. 

He’s a sweetheart and always brings energy to anyone wherever he goes. The sun pendant he always wears fits him. He always shines brightly in any room he enters. His smile always warms the hearts of anyone he meets, at least that’s how I felt when I met him. I’m just assuming he has that effect on everyone. We’ve been friends ever since preschool, so we’re pretty close to each other. Though he’s basically friends with everyone. He doesn’t know that I’m a psychic though. It’s reasonable since I hide that fact from everybody. I don’t really want to be known for being a psychic. I just want to blend in with the crowd.

One thing about this lovable furball is that he doesn’t keep secrets. Though since I can read minds, I know something he keeps only one secret from everybody. His crush. Just to say, it’s me. I’m not sure why he has a crush on me, considering there isn’t anything that remarkable about me if we ignore the psychic stuff, but I’m not really against the fact that he does. In fact, I wouldn’t mind dating him. It’s not like I have a crush on him, but if he does confess, I wouldn’t really reject him. For now, I’ll wait to see if he builds up the confidence to do it.

Anyways, it was the first time in a while since I saw him. The last time was when he was about to go on a family trip for vacation. He got more…buff to say the least. He has more muscle than before. Not that I’m complaining. He looks more charming. I know what you’re thinking. Stop that.

“ Oh dear! Catnap looks so pretty!! Is he staring at me? Stay calm Dogday, he’s probably just surprised by your new look! He’s not checking you out!”

What you just read was his thoughts. I’m making it so that you can read what I have to listen to on a daily basis. You’re welcome. 

Well, now you can see that he actually has a crush on me. I waved to him so I could bring him out of his thoughts. He’s brought back to reality and smiles. That warm feeling pops up in my heart. Like I said, he just has that effect.

“Oh sorry, Nap! Ready to walk to school?” 

I nod since I finished the bowl of dry cereal earlier. We began to walk together like we always do when we were in middle and elementary school. The school we went to wasn’t far from our street, only a five minute walk, so we just walked together. He brought me close with one arm. I could smell the vanilla from him. It was a nice smell to be honest. I never got sick of it. 

“ He’s so cute! I just want to cuddle him on the spot right now! I don’t want to overwhelm him though…”

He hugs me all the time, so at this point, I don’t think me being overwhelmed will matter. My face felt warm for some reason when he called me cute. I don’t know why. Probably still tired. 

As we walked down the sidewalk, we saw a huge puddle in front of us. It wasn’t like any puddle. It was actually pretty big. I think they need to improve the roads. We could just walk around it, but I suddenly was lifted off the floor. I didn’t even hear him think before he carried me bridal style. His eyes gleamed with confidence.

“Let’s go!”

“ I got stronger for this very moment! I will be there for him!”

For this very moment?? It’s only a puddle?? Is he actually going to run through this puddle?! Well he answered my question as he ran through the ocean sized puddle. I tried to avoid any drops of water. Yeah I know it’s cliche for a cat to hate water, but I still don’t like getting wet. When he made it near the end of the puddle, he tripped on something, causing him to fall face first into the water. I got dropped onto the dry surface.

“C-Catnap…Go on without me…I’ll catch up…”

“ At least he’s not hurt… live on for me, Catnap…”

You only tripped, you goofball. Judging from the fall, he scraped his knee. I could just do what he says and go into school, but I didn’t want to just leave him there. We’re already a little late. I carefully picked him up and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I did have the ability to levitate things, but like I said, I don’t want to stand out. 

“Catnap…”

“ He’s so warm…His lavender scent smells nice…I love it…”

I got wet in the process. Great, now I have to dry myself off somehow. We slowly walked toward the school as a teacher stood there with her arms crossed.

“You’re late you two! Where have you been?”

“Sorry Ms. Delight! There was this huge puddle in our way, and we had to go through it.”

“What? Whatever, just don’t be late again! You have an entrance ceremony to attend right now! Get going to the auditorium!”

She dragged the both of us toward the auditorium. Well, I guess that was an eventful start to the day. Though from here, I’m going to have a normal high school life. Hopefully. 

Chapter Text

The entrance ceremony wasn’t anything that remarkable, I have to say. It was all just the principal talking about his expectations for us freshmen and wishing us luck for this year. I fell asleep during it but that’s basically what happened. Dogday drags me along the hallway as we make our way to the class rosters. I never really cared about which class I was in. As long as I don’t stand out, any class is fine by me. 

“I hope we get the same class!”

Me too, Dogday. Me too. It’s not like I have to hope for it. We always got into the same class ever since middle school. Maybe God does like me sometimes. Who knows. 

We check the class roster, and surprise, surprise, me and Dogday are in the same home room.  Not that I’m complaining. It’s nice to be around him. Though we only share some classes now such as English, Social Studies and Math. 

“Hey! We’re in the same homeroom! We even have some classes together! I think this will be a good year for us!”

“ YES YES YES YES!!! I can still be with him! Though, how will he handle science by himself? He hates science!”

You know me well, big guy. I don’t exactly hate science, but if I had to choose between swimming in an ocean or attending any science class, I go with the former. I just can’t really gain enough interest in the subject. With psychic powers, science is basically nonsensical. You didn’t hear that from me. 

And, of course, it’s my first period class. 

“I have World Languages first! Well, guess I’ll see you next period!”

“ Hopefully he doesn’t fall asleep in class…”

We went our separate ways, and I arrived in my class. I swear I saw this teacher at the front entrance. She even has that huge smile that creeps anyone out. Well, not me. I’ve seen more creepier things. 

“Oh hello! You’re early!”

“ Isn’t this that one student that dragged their friend at the front entrance? I hope he isn’t the tardy type. He did come here early, so maybe he’s the responsible type.”

I already have a legacy? Well, being tardy is better than anything else. And don’t call me the responsible type. That’s Dogday’s thing. He’s way more responsible with things than me. 

I shrug, taking a look at the seating chart. I read through all the names, and I can recognize a lot of them. Not to toot my own horn, but I have a pretty good memory. I remember a lot of things from the past, even background information. You could say it’s like a flashback device or an information key. It’s pretty useful if you want to live a peaceful life. I’m pretty proud of it personally. 

When I got to my name, it felt like a bulldozer just ran over me. I’m sitting next to the most popular girl in the school, Bobby Bearhug. Oh God why….

Okay, let me explain some things about her. Like I said, she is the most popular girl in the school. She gained her own fan club, fandom and even fan songs. Though some of them aren’t that good. She only gives big hugs to her closest friends and not that scary a person, so that one song is kinda exaggerating her character. Anyways, she is known to be the most lovable girl around. She is the matchmaker, the leader and the queen bee of Critterville Memorial High School. Being in her presence is apparently a gift of god.

Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that I go to Critterville Memorial High School. I don’t like saying the name, so I’m just calling it high school for now. I mean, does it matter what the name of a place is? 

Sorry, getting off track. Anywho, I never really knew her. In fact, I kinda don’t want to be in her presence. It’s not that I have any hatred towards her. I think she’s a decent person. I just want to be away from anything that makes me stand out. Now, God apparently gifts me the opportunity to expose myself to the masses. I’m not his favorite.

As students flow into the classroom, the red bear in question walks in. Everyone moves out of the way to make room for her. She clearly seems uncomfortable, but she walks in.

“ Why does everyone treat me like this?? Did I do something wrong??”

Ah, I see. She doesn’t notice her popularity. Oh, how I wish for that kind of ignorance. She looks at the seating chart.

“ Catnap? Hm, he sounds like a nice person. Hopefully he doesn’t stare at me like the others do.”

Poor her. I would hate for eyes to be on me. Well, that exact situation is happening right now as many eyes are looking at me. Daggers are more accurate to describe these stares. Great, now all eyes are on me just for being assigned to sit with her. Seriously, what kind of world do I live in? 

She sits down next to me.

“Hey, you must be Catnap! I’m Bobby Bearhug! It’s nice to meet you!”

I shook her hand. I guess I was right. She’s nice for being a “queen bee”. Though judging from her thoughts, I guess she doesn’t even realize that she’s the queen bee. Maybe that’s why everyone finds her so charming. 

“ Oh god, was I too awkward? He looks like he doesn’t like me…”

I just look like this. I’m not offended though. I get that a lot. 

I simply ignore the thought as class begins. It’s only been a second, and I already feel sleepy. In fact, I think a little shut eye is good…

Bobby Bearhug’s POV

As the teacher spoke to the class, I’m trying my best to focus on our syllabus. I always feel like eyes are on me. I don’t know why everyone always keeps staring at me. It was always like that back in middle school. At first, I just thought everyone wanted to know about their love life. I am a matchmaker, after all. I always love romance, as a genre and as a hobby. It all comes to the psychology and behavior of people when it comes to love. It’s what makes me a good matchmaker. Though I wouldn’t really call myself the greatest one around. 

Anyways, now everytime I interact with people, they always seem to either get like super nervous, super jittery or super scared. It’s like somebody famous was behind me. If there was someone like that, I hope it’s Ado! I love her music!

Sorry, I’m losing track. I just don’t know the reason for the sudden change in behavior with everyone. Even my best friend, Hoppy, is acting weird! Geez, I wish I was psychic. That way, I can see why everyone is so anxious around me. And I can be a better matchmaker as well!

As I read through the syllabus, I hear some snoring next to me. Why would someone be taking a nap during such an important event?! I turned to my right, and I saw my deskmate sleeping while sitting up. I have to give him credit, it’s impressive how he can just sleep even with so many people glaring at him. I wonder if I can learn a thing or two about handling such a weird experience. Judging from his demeanor, he’s pretty used to the attention. I should be his friend! I might understand why everyone acts so shaky around me. 

Class already ends before I can even return to the syllabus. Catnap wakes up, rubbing his eyes, as he grabs the piece of paper and shoves it into his backpack. I guess he already read it before taking a nap. He’s really smart! I definitely want to be his friend! 

Back to Me

Sorry, I was sleeping. I guess something happened while I took my nap. It’s fine. I can just read the thoughts of others to gain context. I saw that a random piece of paper was in front of me. Do I need to keep this? Eh, I might as well put it into my backpack. I shove it in, and just when I am about to leave, a tap to my shoulder appears. 

When I turned around, there stood Bobby. Oh dear. 

“Hey, do you want to be friends?”

“I can learn from him!”

Learn from me? What is she talking about? What did I do that made me friend material? If I were to be her friend, a lot of attention would be on me, but if I reject, a lot of attention would be on me. There’s no escape to this…

I gave her a thumbs-up. I didn’t feel like being assassinated today. She seemed to squeal in excitement as she grabbed my paw.

“Let’s be good friends! I think I share Math with you as well! Wanna walk together?”

That’s probably not a good idea. I’ll be getting more attention to myself, and Bobby’s fan club will be hunting me down. If it were under normal circumstances, I would’ve been fine walking with her. 

“ I really don’t want to be alone with eyes staring at me…”

…

We walked down the hallway. I can just feel all eyes on me. Is this really how my life will be now? 

“How do you stay so calm? Everyone’s always staring at you!”

They just started staring at me. You probably can't see it, but I am panicking.  Oh how I wish I had the willpower to reject her, but she’s in a situation she doesn’t understand. Plus, we share similar feelings in terms of gaining attention. I don’t want any attention, and she doesn’t want this kind of attention.

“Just who does this cat think he is? Walking with the Queen of Hearts?”

“Is he her boyfriend? I’m so jealous!”

“Who the hell is that?”

“He shouldn’t be anywhere near the Queen!”

“I should challenge him!”

Great… Wait, she's called the “Queen of Hearts''?? I really need to end this rumor somehow. Not to be offensive or anything, but I don’t find any interest in dating her. Luckily, I have an ability that allows me to basically gaslight people. I simply input an idea into their heads, and it usually convinces them to think in a different way. 

For example, someone may think I have a hat. I can insert a thought into their head. “ Catnap is not wearing a hat, he’s wearing a scarf”. Even if it seems a little unbelievable, it convinces the person that I’m actually wearing a scarf. 

If I didn’t explain it enough, you’ll learn my ways sooner or later. Now, how do I convince the entire school population that I’m not dating her. I could tell them I’m only a friend, but I fear that makes things worse. So I guess I’ll have to go with the other option.

“ The cat is merely an escort for the Queen of Hearts. He isn’t anything special. Pay no attention to the cat.”

Hopefully it convinces them. 

“ Oh, he’s an escort. Thank God.”

“An escort? She really is the Queen of Hearts!”

“As expected of Bobby, she always has her priorities straight!”

Phew, crisis averted. Now, let’s head to Math. 

“ Wow, he still stays so calm, even with all these eyes on us! I want to know more about him!”

Thanks, I guess. We arrived at Math, and we found Dogday sitting at his desk. He gives us that warm smile. He notices Bobby behind me.

“Oh hey! You made a friend, Catnap! Who’s she?”

“ I feel like I know her from somewhere…”

“I’m Bobby Bearhug! I assume you’re one of his friends?”

“Yep! I’m his best friend forever, Dogday!”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you! Let’s be good friends!”

“Same here!”

That’s Dogday for you. He’s great at making people feel welcome. At least he doesn’t know about the “Queen of Hearts” status that Bobby has. I really wish I had their ignorance. He pats the seat next to him, and I sit down. Bobby sits beside me as well, causing more eyes to look at me. Was it a good idea to become friends with someone so popular? I’m not sure, but a friend is a friend.

Chapter Text

Home room period. Also known as the advisory period. The time to catch up on work, check in with others, and chat with other classmates of your age. For me, it’s just a time to munch on a snack. You would expect it to be my sleeping period, but that’s what science is for. Now I got my pepperoni stick to eat. Nothing can interrupt this wonderful period-

“Hey there dude!”

Good grief. Someone leans against my back as if we were partners in crime. Though, I’m sitting and they’re standing. I look up to see who this mysterious stranger is.

Oh, the skateboarder kid, Kickin. He’s pretty popular, but he’s not that popular to get his own fandom and fan club. His star attire on his uniform makes him stand out from the crowd. He’s the typical party rocker. Unlike me, he actually wants to be popular. We’re polar opposites.

Like I said, I don’t want to be in any popular person’s presence. I’m already associated with Bobby, so I’m all good in terms of exposure. So what does this guy want?

“You seem like a pretty cool dude. Everyone here seems way too boring, but the way you became buddy-buddy with the Queen of Hearts makes me interested in you. Not like that though, I don’t lean that way, but I support if you do.”

“If he’s friends with Bobby, he must be a very cool dude. I gotta know how he did it!”

Did my gaslighting not work on him? He seems to know that I’m actually a friend of Bobby, which would be troublesome if he told others. What does he want from me, exactly?

“Wanna come watch me skateboard outside? It’s pretty rad if I do say so myself.”

“ He’s totally not going to reject such an offer. I mean, who wouldn’t want to see my skills in action?”

I want to eat my pepperoni stick in peace…I don’t like skateboarding. In fact, I don’t really care for sports altogether. I’m just lazy like that. It seems he wants to be friends, but I think one popular friend is enough. I could ignore him, but I feel like he’s going to keep insisting on me seeing his skill.

So I politely reject him. I raise my hand and shake my head. The most common way to show rejection is to shake your head. I thought he would shrug me off and leave, but I guess my actions have consequences. It looks like an arrow pierced his chest just from how shocked he was.

“ What?! No way he declined! He’s probably nervous to be around such a cool dude!  I can relate. If I met someone like me, I’d totally panic as well.”

“W-Well, how about you just come out for like a second? It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity!”

A little egotistical, are we? Well, whatever. I’m still not going. Let me eat my snack in peace-

“I’ll get you more pepperoni sticks if you go.”

Well what are we waiting for? Let’s see your skills in action.

We head outside, and apparently the school has a skateboarding ramp. Some people were already out there. Well, at least I wasn’t the only one. I saw Dogday and Bobby within the crowd, and I stood next to them.

“Man, this is exciting! I get to see some cool skateboarding in action!”

His tail wags a lot. It usually does that whenever he is extremely happy or excited for something. I know it happens a lot whenever he hangs out with me. To be honest, it’s kinda cute to witness. I heard what you were thinking. Stop it.

“Oh hey Catnap! I didn’t expect you to come out!”

“ Well this just got even better! Me and Catnap can look at this experience together! This is a rare opportunity!”

Yeah, I wouldn’t usually be outside just to see a skateboarding show, but I’m expecting some pepperoni sticks by the end of this. Bobby heard Dogday’s comment and quickly turned to welcome me.

“Hi Catnap! Wanna watch with us? We got a pretty good spot near the tree!” 

Nice work, Queen B. We have plenty of space to enjoy this, and I get to sit under shade too. We head to the spot and watch Kickin prepare. Dogday wraps his muscular arm around me and brings me close. He leaned his head on top of mine as we watched the show. I kinda want some vanilla ice cream right now. 

“Catnap is so cute! I just wanna hold him like this forever! His fur is so soft…”

Bobby gave us this weird look when she saw how close we were. I feel like gears were cranking in her brain before she got a ridiculous idea.

“Are they gay for each other? Oh my~ Don’t you worry, Catnap. I’ll support you and your love life!”

Woah there Bobby. Let’s slow down for a second. Dogday has the crush, not me. Just what are you planning to do? 

Whatever. It’s not like she’s going to do anything too extreme. Anyways, now we watch as Kickin stood on top of his skateboard. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen! Kickin the All Star Skateboarder shall show you his epic moves!”

“ Okay, I’m kinda nervous. I have so many people watching me. I even have Bobby and Catnap in the crowd!”

Why was I included in that thought??? Don’t tell me I’m already standing out from the crowd! Does everyone think that I’m popular?? No, maybe it’s only Kickin that thinks that way. I should lay low though.

“Alright, let’s start!”

And so, Kickin begins to slide down the ramp. He did some cool moves here and there, but nothing that screams a “once in a lifetime” experience to see. Now he’s in the air. He jumped off his skateboard and began doing backflips.

“NO WAY!!! HE’S DOING THE INFAMOUS 76 BACKFLIPS IN THE AIR TECHNIQUE!!!!”

The what? That exists? How is he gonna do 76 backflips in the air? That’s absurd. 

Wait…

No way…

He’s actually doing it. 

From how many I counted, he just did 74 backflips. He’s starting to fall down toward his skateboard. He did 2 more backflips, completing whatever this weird technique was. I have to say, it’s impressive how he actually did it. Though I still think this technique is fake. 

Judging from his expression, he didn’t actually expect to acco-

“ I actually did it! Man, I'm awesome!”

Don’t cut me off, but I guess I didn’t need to say it then. Though, he seems terrified.

“ Wait. How do I actually get back onto my skateboard?! Shoot, I’m gonna die!!!”

You really didn’t think this through, huh? Well, guess I can help out. I previously said back in chapter 1 that I can levitate things. Back then, I thought someone would notice a cat lifting a dog up into the air, so I didn’t risk it. Now seems like a good time to use it. I can just levitate him so that he slowly goes down. It would seem weird looking, but no one would care. As long as it looks cool, no one would bother thinking about the weird fall.

I levitate him down slowly. This confused Kickin, but hey, he’s safe from becoming a chicken pancake. He lands safely onto his skateboard, and a round of applause roars throughout the school yard. I saw that some students were observing from the classrooms as well. I guess this wasn’t so bad.

Everyone leaves one by one, leaving only me, Dogday and Bobby as the last ones outside. Kickin walks over to us.

“Yo, dudes. Thanks for coming out to see me!”

“ What the hell just happened. I thought I was going to die. How did I fall down so slowly? Was it because of some witchcraft…?”

Oh no. He noticed. Well, it’s not like that weird incident will connect to me anyways.

“You did great out there, Kickin! It was so cool to see you do 76 backflips in a row! How did you do it?”

“Oh, um…. Physics and gravity and all that stuff, you know?”

“ I was just lucky.”

That was some luck! Someday, I wish to have that type of luck. Well, I guess I can take my pepperoni sticks and head off. 

“Yo, Naps! Let’s be friends! I think you’re the reason I got lucky!”

“ I never actually landed on my skateboard safely before! Maybe he’s my lucky charm!”

Are you kidding me?  

“You can be our friend, Kickin! We’d love to have you in our little group!”

“Oh Bobby! Uhhhh, of course! I’ll be the coolest friend around!”

“ Wow! I’m gonna be friends with the Queen of Hearts! Maybe Naps really is a lucky charm!”

Well…I guess I gained another friend. I never got my pepperoni sticks, sadly. When we head back to our home room, my desk has a letter on it. It read “letter of challenge”. I open the letter and it says,

“Meet me behind the building after school. I want to see how good you are to be able to escort Bobby. Sincerely, H.H”

“H.H? Oh hey! It’s Hoppy’s handwriting! What does she mean by ‘escort’ me? Did you do something that made her mad, Catnap?”

“She better not hurt my best friend!”

“ Best friend? I thought he was Naps’s boyfriend. If he’s just a best friend, why were they snuggling with each other during my performance?”

Why does this happen to me?

Chapter Text

School went by in a flash, and the school bell rang one last time for the day. I would be ecstatic to leave school already, but I have a fight to attend to. Dogday, Bobby and Kickin follow me behind the school. There stood the school’s best athlete, Hoppy Hopscotch. Maybe I should write my will if we are actually fighting. 

Another popular student that wants something to do with me. I don’t know why I attract so many popular people. God just dislikes me, I guess.

So about Hoppy Hopscotch. She is one of the best in terms of sports. She won multiple national games, and she was recognized by many famous sports magazines. Crazy how she still chose to stay in a high school like this. She’s the most energetic out of everyone in the school, which scares me personally. She can probably power up an entire office building with how much energy she has. She’s pretty good at things other than sports too. I don’t know her that well to know what they are, but I’m hoping to live long enough to at least figure it out on my own.

How do I get myself out of fighting? I’m no muscle man like Dogday, so I can’t just block an attack. I should probably see what she wants to do though. I don’t need to jump to conclusions.

“So, you must be Catnap. Pleasure to meet ya.”

“Really? This is the guy that’s escorting Bobby? Not to be rude or anything, but he seems way too normal.”

Finally, someone who thinks I’m normal. Doesn’t hide the fact that she knows about me. 

“Aight then. Let’s see what you got. GIVE ME 50 LAPS AROUND THE SCHOOL!”

…what? 

“YOU HEARD ME! IF YOU ARE REALLY AN ESCORT, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO IT!”

What does running have to do with being an escort? At least I’m not gonna get killed. Though I might die from exhaustion after running 10 laps. What’s with you guys and using big numbers?? 

“Now, slow down there! 50 is a little too much!”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Dogday, his best friend forever!”

“Well nice to meet you, Dogday!”

“Nice to meet you too!”

What an aggressive way to introduce yourselves. Anyways, yes! Dogday in for the save! 

“Dogday’s right! I think that’s too much for Catnap!

“O-Oh Bobby! I didn’t know you were here!”

“ Shoot, now I look stupid! Bobby is right here in front of you! If she’s saying it’s too much for her escort, then maybe he’s right…”

I guess it was a good idea to become friends with Bobby. It is convincing Hoppy, so I might live for another day.

“Yo, they know what they’re talking about, Hops. 50 is overkill.”

“ At least I think it is. Maybe Catnap is a supercritter.”

No I’m not. Stop that. 

“50 is the perfect number for laps! I do it, and I feel just fine!”

That’s because you have the energy to do it. 

“Anyways, didn’t know you became buds with this guy, Kicks. I thought you hang with cool people only.”

“He is very cool! You just don’t know it!”

We just met, and he’s already praising me. Trust me, buddy. I’m not as cool as you think I am.

Hoppy gave a glance at our little group and sighed.

“Hmph, I guess if you’re as cool as Kicks said, I can lower the amount of laps.”

Phew, thank the stars. Literally.  

“Then do 30 laps!”

Okay, dude. You’re pushing it here…

“That’s still a lot?!”

“Shut it Kicks! Like I said in the letter, I want to see if he fits the criteria to be an escort!”

“What are you talking about?? He’s just a friend of Bobby’s!”

“Nuh uh! Everyone knows he’s an escort!”

“Since when??”

“It’s a known fact!”

I wouldn’t say it’s a known fact. I literally just came up with a lie to gaslight people so that I don’t get any attention. Though I guess my efforts were in vain as now I have more attention from other popular people. 

“Okay, guys, let’s stop fighting! Catnap is my friend! Hoppy, can you lower the amount of laps just a little bit? Please?”

“Oh, uh….”

“ I can’t make Bobby disappointed in me! Plus, if Catnap really is just a friend, I guess I have to then…”

“Fine… I guess we can lower it to 10 laps…”

Finally, an achievable number. Bobby clasped Hoppy’s hands together, causing Hoppy to blush hard. 

“Thank you! I knew you’d understand!”

“ I always knew Hoppy is a kind person! She would never make anyone go through something if they weren’t willing to!”

“Oh, um, no problem! I guess 50 laps is only a me thing…”

“Oh my god, oh my god. Bobby’s touching me! I’m gonna faint!”

Ah, I see. A crush. Guess that explains her thoughts. Good for her. I can see them being together. 

“Well, whatever! Let’s start your laps, Catnap!”

Might as well. I took off my uniform jacket and began to jog around the school. At first, it wasn’t all that bad. We did 2-3 laps around the gym back in middle school, so I wasn’t feeling too bad.

“Nice form, dude! I can see you train well!”

No, actually. I only take naps and eat snacks inside my home. I’m just jogging like any normal person.

“Pick up the pace!”

Where did she get a megaphone from? I picked up the pace as she ran alongside me. She kept yelling stuff into the megaphone as sweat began to stain my clothes. Damn, now I feel sticky. This is why I hate doing these kinds of things.  After the 6th lap, I’m already starting to run out of breath. This is humiliating…

I hear more footsteps behind me. When I looked, I saw Dogday, Bobby and Kickin running with me.

“Don’t worry, Catnap! We’re here to support you!”

“Yeah, my man! You’re doing great! You just reek of sweat now!”

Thanks Kickin….way to be honest.

“I’ll run with you wherever you go, Catnap! We’ll be here to help!”

“He looks so handsome while running!”

I wouldn’t really say that I look “handsome”. In fact, I think my fur is completely drenched. And you guys make it sound like I’ll be running like this forever. Hopefully that isn’t the case.

“ Oh yeah, they’re definitely gay for each other”

Impressive that Kickin and Bobby thought the same thing in unison. I can’t bother correcting them right now though. I’m on my 7th lap. 

“ He’s actually doing it! Maybe he’s actually a pro!”

Way to have faith in me. I am no pro though. I feel like collapsing. Maybe I should stop eating so much pepperoni sticks. 

I finally got to my 9th lap. Just one more and the torture will end. My friends ran beside me as well. Kickin seemed to be behind. 

“W-Wait guys! Hold up! We’re going too fast!”

“I can’t keep up! How are they so fast?!”

“Just one more lap, Catnap! You got this!”

Dogday gave me a thumbs up as he winked. My heart skipped a beat for a second. I think the exhaustion is getting to me. I see the finish line propped up by Hoppy. She held a huge flag. Again, where did she get this stuff from? I passed the finish line, marking 10 laps. Dogday tackles me into the grass, hugging me tightly.

“You did it! You did it! I knew you could do it!”

His chest feels like soft pillows. I kinda like this hug. He quickly realizes what he’s doing and releases me from the tight hug. He was as red as Bobby right now.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to smother you like that!”

“ Dang it! Instincts kicked in!”

It’s fine Dogday, I forgive you. I should be the one to apologize since now your uniform is covered in my sweat. Bobby handed me a towel and some water.

“You guys are so sweet~”

“ They should definitely date!”

I wiped all the sweat off myself, and as I drank my water, a hand ruffled the top of my head. I look up to see Hoppy smiling proudly at me.

“Great job, man! You’re a cool guy in my book! Let’s be friends from now on, deal?”

She held her fist to signify a fist bump. I return the gesture by fist bumping her. Great, now I’m friends with someone that everyone practically knows. Let’s just hope that nothing comes up with being friends with a well-known athlete. 

“Wanna get some ice cream you guys? My treat.”

Hoppy held her wallet out. That had got to be one of the largest wallets ever. Again, crazy how she still chose to stay in a high school like this. Everyone agreed unanimously as we headed to an ice cream place nearby.

I got vanilla ice cream, Bobby got mint chocolate chip, Hoppy got strawberry, Kickin got chocolate and Dogday got chocolate as well. I heard that. I did not get vanilla just because of Dogday. I got it because I like the flavor. 

As we ate our ice cream, realization suddenly hit me. I should’ve just used my gaslighting ability to convince Hoppy not to make me do laps to begin with. I feel stupid. At least it’s all over, and I don’t have to do that ever again. I guess having a small friend group is nice. 

Chapter Text

Another day of going to high school. This time, more people seemed to join me and Dogday’s walk. Hoppy and Kickin were bickering about something I don’t care about, and Bobby chatted with Dogday about science, which obviously got me disinterested. Students stared at us as we entered the school. I hid among our group as I didn’t feel like being watched. Why did I decide to become friends with popular people? Well, whatever, friends are friends. 

We all went our separate ways. Bobby and I walked to science.

“By the way, Catnap. I heard we’re choosing class officers today!”

“ I feel like he’d be a good candidate for one of the roles! He has that charming aspect to him, and he’s smart!”

Class officers. Right, those existed. I never joined in any of those since I would rather be a civilian than be an officer. I never once changed that sentiment ever since class officers were a thing.

I remembered that Dogday became class president for our 8th grade class. He did a pretty good job, I would say, so if anyone was actually a good candidate for one of the roles, it’s Dogday. He has first hand experience. He would be an overall great president, in my humble opinion.

As for me, I don’t think any position fits me. Bobby can call me smart and charming all she wants, but I don’t see the vision. Plus, I rather not stand out like I said numerous times, so yeah. 

“Who in our group do you think will join?”

Well considering our possibilities, definitely not me or Hoppy since she’s busy with sports. Dogday might run since he’s the leader type. Kickin…I can see him running for class president. Bobby doesn’t seem to be the type to join these kinds of things, but I could be wrong.

“I honestly think Hoppy will run! She always wanted to be president.”

“ At least, I remember her telling me that back in 5th grade”

I don’t think that goal is really relevant anymore. We arrived at my sleep period, and after the second period, homeroom began. I ate my pepperoni stick as our group sat at a table. I didn’t expect all of my friends to share a homeroom, but I’m not complaining. It’s nice to have company. A teacher walks up toward the white board. I swear, every teacher here looks the same.

“Attention everyone! We are going to discuss class officers and what they do!”

We all turned to see what she wanted. Of course, we all already knew the basic information of class officers, so this isn’t anything new. She told us all the roles and stuff that, honestly, almost made me fall asleep. I quickly woke back up when she finished her explanation.

“Now, does anyone want to be class president?”

I have never heard a room so silent before. Well besides the thoughts of all the students.

“ President sounds too hard…”

“I’m way too busy.”

“President sounds stressful, I don’t really want to do that.”

“Let a smart kid do it.”

I looked at my group, and they seemed to have that uneasy look as everyone. 

“ I kinda don’t feel comfortable being president…”

“I was president last year, and that was way too stressful. Catnap told me to not overwork myself, so I shouldn’t do this…”

“I ain’t got no time to do all that junk. Sports already filled my schedule.”

Sorry Bobby. I guess Hoppy doesn’t want to be president anymore.

Kickin raised his hand.

“I guess I can be the president. I’ll be the greatest president around! You can count on me!”

“ Someone as cool as me should be the class president! I’ll bring everyone to stardom!”

I don’t think that’s a good idea… No offense to Kickin but he doesn’t seem to be the responsible type. 

“Ok, do we have any objections to Kickin being president?”

“ Obviously!”

I didn’t know an entire class could think the same thing in unison. Somebody raised their hand. It was Bubba Bubbaphant. Everyone flinched in fear. This confused the elephant.

I guess that makes sense. He’s one of the smartest students in the class. His grades are higher than anybody’s in this class because he’s known to study hard all the time, which impresses me since I don’t bother studying. I always have telepathy to tell me answers. 

He’s pretty reliable in terms of academics, but people are intimidated by him for some reason. From my best guess, it’s probably due to the Bubbaphant family being a very wealthy family. If you mess with him, you mess with a billion dollar company. I’m personally not that threatened by him. I just don’t see why. He’s an okay guy in my book, but I guess the idea of potentially losing lots of money to him scares people.

“I would like to object to this.”

Kickin instantly sat down in shame. 

“ I didn’t even say anything yet?”

I feel kinda bad for the guy. He didn’t even do anything that scary, and people flinch just from him raising his hand. It’s not like he went to prison or something.

“Oh! Mr. Bubbaphant! Would you like to volunteer?”

“I guess I will.”

“ Mr. Bubbaphant??? I’m a student! What’s with her tone?”

Maybe he’s in the same situation as Bobby where he doesn’t even realize his status. Only difference is that it’s more of fear than love.

Ms. Delight gulped and nervously erased Kickin’s name off the board. It was replaced with Bubba’s name in cursive. Damn, he has some reputation to have his name written in cursive.

“A-Any objections?”

Everyone profusely shook their heads. Dogday and Bobby seemed to be confused by the strange behavior. Bless their souls.

“Alright then! How about the class vice president?”

Now nobody dared to do it. They were all too scared to be near this poor guy. When I looked at the other two, they seemed to only be nervous by the tension in the room.

“ Why’s everybody so scared all of a sudden? What should I do?”

“Geez! This feels like something that me and Catnap go through! Does Bubba go through the same thing? What should I do…? I can’t really do vice president, but I want to help!”

I looked over to the elephant in question. He just sat there frowning.

“ Does nobody want to be vice president? Oh dear…”

I feel like I’m gonna regret this…

I raised my hand.

“Oh, Catnap! Are you volunteering?”

“ Wow, I never expected him of all the students to join! The world is an interesting place.”

Okay, rude, but yes, I’m volunteering. I nod my head to finalize my decision. Might as well help him out since no one else is willing to. Maybe it might convince the two of them to help him as well. This surprised everyone, including my friends and even Bubba himself.

“ What’s he doing??”

“Is he really serious?? He’s gonna be working with Bubba! The scariest guy here!”

“He has some courage, I’ll give him that!”

“Does he have a death wish??”

“He’s got guts!”

Maybe I should’ve kept my hand down…

Bubba smiled softly.

“ Huh…He’s a good person. I would’ve had no vice president otherwise judging from the atmosphere of the room.”

He’s the observant type, huh? That’s a pretty good skill to have. 

“Alright then… any objections?”

No one raised their hands. I was kinda hoping someone would object, just a little bit, but I might as well accept my fate. It’s not like being class vice president makes me anything special. It’s just a job.

“Alright, then that’s settled. Anyone for secretary?”

Dogday raised his hand.

“ If Catnap is gonna join, then so will I! Secretary shouldn’t be that hard, right?”

“I volunteer, Ms. Delight!”

“Great! Any objections? No? Then how about the treasurer?”

Bobby raised her hand next.

“ I might as well. I’m pretty good at math, so this should be a piece of cake!”

“Great! Any objections?”

Every student in the class gave the teacher a thumbs-up with enthusiastic smiles. Being popular gets you a lot of supporters. Our names were written on the board.

“Then here are your class officers for this year. They will be leading any events run by students for now.”

Everyone claps. I just love putting myself into these messes, huh? I should probably think things through from now on…

“Excuse me, Catnap was it?”

Bubba tapped my shoulder. I turn to see him holding his hoof out.

“I would like to thank you for putting yourself out there. Judging by your demeanor, you don’t seem to like standing out, but you joined regardless. I hope we can be good friends.”

“ He’s a nice guy, I would say. I wouldn’t mind being his friend.”

He read me like a book. Maybe that’s why he’s a little scary. I shook his hoof, earning me another friend. I’m starting to see a pattern. 

“And you two, let’s be good friends as well.”

“Of course! The name’s Dogday! I’m Catnap’s best friend forever!”

He’s such a goofball. He just loves to use his title whenever he introduces himself. I’ll never get tired of it. 

“Same to you, Bubba! I’m-”

“Bobby Bearhug. I heard about you quite a lot around here.”

“Oh really? That’s interesting!”

“ Maybe I’m popular! Nah, that’s a stretch. He probably heard about my matchmaking experience!”

You were right the first time.

“Regardless, it’s a pleasure to meet you both. I hope we can get along.”

“I’m sure we will, Bubba! You’d make a great addition to our friend group over there!”

Dogday pointed at Kickin and Hoppy as they arm wrestled. Seems like Hoppy was winning, which was inevitable. Bubba chuckled at the two.

“I’m happy to join. I’m sure you guys will make school a lot more interesting.”

“ They should be fun to be around. I’m glad that Catnap stepped up.”

No problem, Bubba. Though, now I have to go through so much more work than before. Guess being lazy is off the table now.

Chapter Text

Our school is pretty special. You know why? We have a home ec class. It’s basically a cooking class for us students. Only a few schools offer these types of classes, so that’s why it’s kinda cool for our school to have one. I’m taking it so that I don’t have to take gym. I would rather learn how to cook than get pummeled by dodgeballs. Plus, I like food.

“Alright, students! Today we’ll be learning how to cook spaghetti and meatballs. I have assigned groups for all of you, so behave yourselves.”

“ This has got to be the simplest meal to cook. They can’t mess this up!”

“Remember to follow the directions on the sheet of paper on the counter. It should tell you guys everything needed to prepare everything.”

“Now time to finish reading my book!”

Way to instruct us, teacher. I went over to the group list. Surprisingly, Hoppy was in this class. I thought she would be in gym, but I guess life has its surprises. We also have another student named Picky Piggy helping us. 

Perfect! She’s a good cook. Picky’s family owns a small farm around town. I remember buying a lot of their vegetables from the farmer’s market, and they were pretty tasty I have to say. She has been part of the cooking and baking club since middle school. A lot of people say her food is delicious. She can practically cook anything some would say.  I wonder why she’s taking home ec.

I made my way to our little kitchen. Hoppy looked a little annoyed as she put on her apron.

“ I can’t believe they ran out of room for students in gym. Sports are my life! Now I’m in a cooking class. Whatever, I’ll make it through. Cooking shouldn’t be that hard!”

Ah, that explains why. She noticed me and gave me an excited smile.

“Oh! Wassup Catnap? Didn’t know you were in this class! You like to cook or something?”

Sure. I’m also here for food, but I don’t need to mention that. Anyways, Picky came over to us holding the ingredients we needed. We haven’t even read the instructions, and she already grabbed all the right ingredients! She’s definitely an expert.

“Hey there! You guys must be my partners. I’m Picky Piggy. Let’s make a great meal together!”

“ Working with a well-known athlete and the class vice president shouldn’t be that difficult. I hope they at least know what to do.”

I hope so too. 

“Yeah! Let’s do this!”

At least Hoppy’s enthusiastic about it. Picky picked up the instructions. 

“Alright, first things first, let’s prepare the meatballs. I’ll make the sauce. Catnap can make the meatballs. Hoppy can cook them when he’s finished. Clear?”

We nod. Good for me. I got the easiest job for meatball duty. Though I have to get my hands dirty. I hate touching mushy stuff, so this would be a problem if I wasn’t a psychic. Luckily, I have telekinesis. I don’t think I need to explain the power, but just in case, I can interact with things without actually touching them. I use my mind to do whatever I want.

I checked to see if anyone was looking. No one batted an eye toward my direction. I used my telekinesis to mix the stuff together to create the mixture of meat and other stuff. Just for safety measures, I pretended to do the work by making weird hand movements in the bowl. I look stupid right now.

Cool I’m done. I just have to make them into balls. Telekinesis, go! I made them into golf-sized balls without anyone noticing. While I did that, the teacher left the room. That’s probably not important. I tapped Hoppy’s shoulder as she watched Picky mix the sauce.

“Woah you’re done already?!”

“ Dang he’s fast!”

“Alright! I’ll put it in the oven!”

“ Ten minutes right? Let’s see…what was the temperature?”

Oh dear. I looked at the instructions, and it said something around 400 degrees. I should probably show her.

“ Alright, 1000 degrees then!”

No, no, no, no, no! I stopped her before she could do something that could cause the school to burn down. 

“Oh? 400 degrees fahrenheit? Okay, good to know!”

Phew, day saved. She put the meatballs in.

“Alright, cool. Now Picky, what should I do next?”

“Well, we could prepare the spaghetti noodles next. I got the water boiling already. You can put the spaghetti in.”

“Okay!”

She poured out all the noodles into the pot. Some sticks spilled onto the floor, but I used telekinesis to put it back into the pot before anyone noticed. I looked at Picky, and she was squinting her eyes at me. That’s not good.

“ How did Catnap finish the meatballs that quickly? It’d take a lot of skill to make all of them into balls in a couple of minutes.”

Does it take a long time to prepare meatballs? Shoot, did I shoot my own foot? 

“ Eh, it could be some good skills. Maybe he’s good at cooking. Both of them have good teamwork, I would say. They can communicate without him speaking”

Thank you, I suppose? I guess I didn’t need to worry about her suspicions. Gotta love doubt. Well, might as well check the meatballs-

“Guys, I burned the spaghetti…”

What.

The spaghetti sticks were on fire as they sat in the water. 

“Wha- How did you burn the spaghetti???”

“I have no idea…”

“Oh shoot, what do we do?!”

“ Never have I ever once seen someone burn spaghetti before! What do we do??”

Good grief. Everyone is panicking right now. What should I do? I guess I can help out. Will it cause suspicion if I extinguish this quickly. When I looked up, I saw the sprinklers. 

I definitely need to do something. If smoke goes up, I get wet. That’s worse than catching on fire. I can just extinguish this quickly using wind. The classroom is filled with security cameras. I turned all the cameras into different directions facing away from our kitchen area. I quickly blew the fire away, and then I made it so that the spaghetti is fully cooked. It’s only a little burnt, but what’s a little crisp to some noodles?

The teacher rushed into the classroom.

“I heard screaming! What happened?”

Picky went over to the teacher and pointed at our pot.

“The spaghetti is on fire-”

There was, in fact, no fire anymore. I already plated the cooked spaghetti as I took out the meatballs. Hoppy butted in.

“We’re almost done! I was so excited, I screamed! Y’know, like when you’re in a concert!”

“ How did Catnap handle that so fast?!”

Maybe I did that a little too quickly. Hopefully that doesn’t cause any suspicion. Though Hoppy’s lie didn’t help with that. The teacher looked at the both of us.

“Oh, um, okay? Don’t do that again, you gave me a heart attack!”

“ Students these days…”

Thank you, Hoppy. Picky went over to look at the plate. 

“Wha- you- How did you-”

I shrug. Following the instructions, I made an attempt to cook the meatballs in the sauce. I poured the meatballs and sauce onto the slightly burned spaghetti.

“Oh, um, I’ll try it.”

“ Catnap handled that situation pretty easily. Guess that’s why he’s class vice president.”

No, that’s not the reason, but I’ll keep that to myself. Picky took the fork and picked up some spaghetti. She took a bite.

“Hm, not bad. We did a pretty good job on the meatballs and sauce. The noodles are pretty crispy, but I guess Catnap did all he could to remedy the incident.”

“Well, I’d say we did good.”

“Hell yeah! We should show the teacher!”

“Yeah, okay. Let’s let Catnap bring it over. I need to talk to you personally about kitchen precautions, Hoppy.”

“Oh come on…”

Glad I got to get out of that mess. I walked over to the teacher and turned in our meal. She tried it.

“Pretty good! You pass.”

“I wonder what Picky meant by the spaghetti being on ‘fire’. That’s impossible to achieve.”

Great job, Hoppy. You seem to accomplish the impossible. I took our spaghetti and headed back to our little kitchen as Picky finished lecturing Hoppy. I ate some of the spaghetti as that happened. Not bad, I guess. She turned to me. 

“Catnap, I don’t know how you did it, but thank you for putting the fire out.”

No problem. I didn’t feel like getting wet by the sprinklers on the ceiling. 

“It was great working with you guys. Wanna hang out sometime?”

“ He’s pretty reliable! Maybe I can teach him and Hoppy some cooking lessons.”

“Sure! Sorry about that whole fiasco. I didn’t know what I was doing.”

“It’s fine. I’ll help you understand the basics of cooking more!”

We ate the meal we made until there was nothing left. The bell rings. We bid farewell as we head off to our next classes.

“Man, that was eventful. Great work, Catnap! We got an A+, probably, and we got a new friend! You really know how to charm others, huh?”

“Charm” is a stretch, but thank you. I appreciate it.

“Oh, here's my class. Have fun with the class officer work!”

Oh right… I forgot I have more work to attend to…This is gonna be a headache…

Chapter Text

This is torture. Why is there so much paperwork when the year just started?? I would use telekinesis to handle all of it, but after home ec, I think I should probably keep my powers on the down low. I do not need any more attention.

Bubba was already working on several piles of paper like it's the end of the world. Heck, it might as well have been. So much of these papers are events that come up later in the year. School trips, Mini Olympics, Student Dances, Summer Festival, all that jazz. Most of these are proposals or questions for the events, but I have to say some of these proposals are insane. I don’t think an entire circus is necessary for a student dance. 

Anyways, Bobby typed away on the laptop as she calculated the budgets for all these events. Dogday had already finished all his work, and he went to his baseball practice. Lucky him…

“Catnap, how’s it going with the papers there?”

Not great. I think I lost track of how many papers I did. Might as well ease his mind though. I gave him a thumbs-up. 

“Well, that’s good. Bobby, how about you?”

“ He already seems tired. I guess he must’ve been working a lot in school. He’s a very hard-worker, I’d give him that”

People just love to assume stuff about me, huh? They’re not anything negative, so I’m not too bothered by it. 

“I’m doing fine! I just finishing up all the budget stuff for clubs and events!”

“ This is a lot harder than I thought. Catnap looks like he’s about to fall asleep.”

You got that right. This has got to be the most boring thing I have ever done. I’m legit about to-

Oh, I’m done with my work. Huh. Guess I didn’t need to be so dramatic.

“Oh, Catnap, are you done already? You can leave if you want. Me and Bobby can handle this.”

“ He’s fast like Dogday. I guess that’s why they’re a good pair. He looks like he’s about to fall asleep, so it should be good for him to leave for the day”

Finally, I can go home. I bid adieu to both of them and made my way out of the door. I kinda just want to rest somewhere. Walking home is too tiring, and I don’t want to pass out while I walk home. If only I had teleportation. 

Like I said back in chapter 1, I don’t have a lot of powers. The abilities you guys saw were about most of them. There are still some I haven’t shown, but yeah, that’s all there is. I know it’s lame, but I appreciate having less powers than that guy from that one show. Sounds like a drag having to hold so many powers, so God was good to me for once when giving me some of these powers. Still doesn’t change the fact that he made me a psychic.

I might as well rest on a bench. One of my personal skills is that I can sleep on anything. Even if it looks uncomfortable, I have no trouble falling asleep on it. I can even sleep on a bed of nails if I wanted to. I’m not gonna try it, but I’m just saying. 

I went over to a bench near the school. It’s close to the baseball field, so I might see my best friend in action. I laid down on the bench and closed my eyes. A short nap won’t hurt, right?

A Unicorn’s POV

I hate art block so much! Lately, landscapes and self portraits have been the only thing I’ve drawn so far, but I want to try something else. I just can’t get the right inspiration! I walk around the school yard for anything that might spark inspiration. The flower garden seems pretty, but I already did flowers before. I don’t like being repetitive. I was about to give up until I saw a purple blob on a bench. When I looked, there was a cat. 

He looks like a loaf of bread sleeping on the bench. It’s pretty cute! I think his name was…Catnap? Something like that. I heard he’s friends with a bunch of the popular kids. Even Bobby is his friend! I’m kinda curious as to how he did it. In home ec, I saw him make spaghetti pretty quickly. I swore the spaghetti was on fire before the teacher came in. He’s got good skills. Maybe that’s why he’s got a lot of friends. 

He looks so peaceful sleeping like that. I think it’d hurt my back if I slept like that. He wouldn’t mind if I drew him, right? I sat across from him on a small wall, and I quietly took out my canvas.

Alright, let’s do this! Hopefully he likes the drawing. I began sketching the background and Catnap onto the canvas. After that, I took out some paints. I poured some into a palette and began mixing some colors together. 

He’s pretty calming, to be honest. I should draw him more often. He could be a nice change of pace! I began painting as I saw the class president and treasurer head home. Sounds like they had a tough time. Well, I might as well keep painting.

Back to Me

I slowly wake up from slumber. I caught someone painting something on a canvas. She looks super focused on the painting. 

“ Just a little more and it’ll be complete. Hopefully he doesn’t wake up…”

Ah, I’m the one being painted. I should probably stay still. I don’t want to ruin her drawing. 

“ Alright, all done! I think he’s awake…”

She looked at me, and I yawned.

“Oh sorry if I woke you up! I was just painting something for you, if you don’t mind…”

I recognize her. Her name is Craftycorn. She’s a pretty good artist. Back in middle school, her art was everywhere whenever there was an art show happening. I’m surprised she agreed to show them off considering she’s a very shy person. She always does things by herself since she doesn’t really like talking to people. I can relate. 

“ He seems kinda bothered by my presence… Maybe this was a bad idea… He’s talking about me…”

I just look like this. Don’t worry. I’m not bothered by it. I get that a lot. Heck, Bobby thought that about me when we first met. Also how did she know I was talking about her?

“ Did he just read my mind? How did he know what I was thinking about?”

What? I didn’t catch what she thought. I was probably imagining it.

“Do you want to see my painting?”

I nod. I wonder how I would look in painted form. She showed me it, and it was kinda beautiful. She painted this really well. It almost looked like a photo. It’s impressive how she did that within a few minutes.

“Thank you! It actually took me a couple of hours to finish, but I hope you like it!”

Couple of hours?! How long was I out?? Time sure flies by fast. I gave her a thumbs-up, which made her smile.

Hold up. Did she read my mind? 

“No, I didn’t. You’re saying it out loud, at least I think you are.”

“ I can clearly hear his voice, but his mouth’s not moving. Maybe I’m seeing things.”

Does she not realize I’m using telepathy? Though I’m only using it to talk to you guys, so I’m not sure how she’s picking it up.

“Who are you talking to?”

“ Telepathy? What is he talking about?”

Crap. uh… I’m joking. I’m actually using ventriloquism to talk to you.

“Oh okay! That’s a cool skill!”

“ Wow, he’s a ventriloquist! I didn’t know that!”

Yep. 

“Well, it’s nice chatting with you. Thank you for letting me draw you! Let’s, uh, be friends. You don’t have to be if you don’t want to! I just think you’re a cool person…”

Might as well. She’s pretty nice, so I won’t mind being her friend. She can meet the rest of my friends later.

“Great! You can have the artwork! I’ll see you later then! I hope I get to meet all your friends!”

“ Again, who is he talking to?”

She waved goodbye and walked away. I should be more careful around her. She can actually pick up on my telepathy. That might be a problem. Oh well, she seems like she doesn’t know that it’s actually telepathy. I’ll just keep it cool. Now I have a cool painting.

I hear Dogday approaching. Seems like he just got out of baseball practice.

“Hey Catnap! What do you have there?”

I showed him the painting. He just stared at the painting in awe. I swear I can see stars shining in his eyes. His tail was wagging a lot. I can even see some blush coming onto his face.

“Wow, this is a great drawing! Who painted this?”

“ OH MY GOD THIS IS BEAUTIFUL!!! CATNAP LOOKS SO PRETTY!!! Though he’s pretty all the time… I NEED TO KNOW WHO DREW HIM SO BEAUTIFULLY!!!!”

His thoughts and demeanor are very different. It’s kinda funny. I pointed to the signature on the bottom.

“Oh Craftycorn! When did she paint a painting of you?”

“ I kinda want to get a painting of Catnap for myself… I’d stare at it all day!”

He’s such a goofball. I don’t want to mention that it took a couple of hours to do it, so I just shrugged.

“Wow, did you make another friend? Craftycorn seems like the shy type, so you guys would be great friends!”

I guess you’re right. Though she can pick up on my telepathy, so she’ll definitely know some things. 

“Wanna walk home together? I just got out of baseball practice! Man, that was a tough drill. You should’ve seen it!”

I sure would’ve loved to. I held the painting in my arms as we walked home. He talked to me about baseball and how fun it was. I didn’t mind the chat. It’s nice to hear him talk passionately about something he loves. I arrived at my house and bid farewell to my beloved bff. I hung the painting on a spot on the wall. 

Nice, I now have decoration. I made a whole lot of friends in such a short amount of time. Crazy how that happens. Though I believe that life will be peaceful now. Definitely. Hopefully. I just jinxed myself huh?

Chapter Text

“Hey Catnap! Wanna go shopping with me and some friends after school?”

I was about to doze off during my sleeping period before Bobby woke me up with an invitation. Shopping’s never been my thing, but I’ve been meaning to get new clothes. All of my clothes, besides my uniform, either are too small for me or too roughed up to wear. I could have bought more on my own, but I’m too lazy to do that. Also, I’m not good with fashion, so my uniform has been my main outfit for a while. 

I give her a head tilt. Even if I need new clothing, why invite me?

“Well, I want to know your sense of style! Since we became friends not too long ago, I want to know more about you!”

“ I never see him outside of school, so this is a good opportunity!”

Well that’s nice and all, but I feel eyes staring at us. Going shopping with the Queen Bee of high school will definitely have eyes on me for a while. She did say that others will be going. Just who?

“I was gonna go shopping with Dogday, Kickin and this girl I met in art class! Her name’s Craftycorn, I think. I heard you guys are already friends! I think you’ll have a good time!”

Oh Dogday’s coming? Hm. I guess that doesn’t sound so bad, but the problem is that Crafty can actually hear me using telepathy. I don’t even know if I should tell her about her supposed ability, or if I should stay silent and let her figure it out. I’m surprised that Kickin is gonna come. I thought he was gonna practice skateboarding. Sounds like a pretty good group. Though, what about the others?

“ I was gonna have all of us go shopping, but Hoppy is taking cooking lessons with someone named Picky. Bubba is also helping them out since Picky is apparently a close friend of his.” 

“ I was kinda hoping that Hoppy would come, but it’s good that she’s learning new things! I’m happy for her! Though, it would’ve been nice to hang out with her…”

Guess that explains that. I didn’t think Hoppy is actually interested in cooking, but I guess home ec changed her mindset. I honestly didn’t know that Bubba was friends with Picky, but I hope they’re having fun with that.

“Soooo…. Are you gonna come?”

Eh, might as well. Hanging out with some friends doesn’t sound so bad. Me and Dogday hang out all the time, so I don’t mind going shopping. Besides, if I reject her, I feel like I’m not going to be found the next day. 

I gave her a thumbs-up.

“Alright! Let’s meet up at the front after school!”

“ Hehe…my plan shall work~”

What do you mean by that? 

The bell rang before I could even comprehend what she thought. I guess I have plans.

School came and went, and I found myself at the front waiting for my friends. Hoppy, Picky and Bubba notice me, and they come over.

“Hey there Naps! You going shopping with the others?”

I nod. 

“Oh cool! Hope you guys have fun! Me and Picks here are gonna try and cook! Bubs will be the taste tester!”

“ I wonder if Bobby will like the food I make for her…”

Oh I see. She’s gonna make a treat for Bobby. How nice. Though why is Bubba the taste tester?

“I’m just hoping that she doesn’t poison me.”

“Hey! My cooking will be awesome! Right Picks?”

“Well, considering you somehow set spaghetti on fire, I’ll see what I can do.”

“Hopefully she doesn’t burn down my kitchen.”

Yeesh. Hoppy can’t be that disastrous. It was just that one incident. Well, guess I’ll see tomorrow if they actually succeed or not. 

“Guess we’ll head off now! See ya Naps!”

“Goodbye Catnap. Wish me luck.”

“ I’m starting to worry. What does Picky mean by Hoppy burning spaghetti??”

“Later, Catnap. I’ll be sure to let you try some of our food if it turns out good!”

Nice, I get to eat food made by Picky and Hoppy. I wave goodbye to them as they head off to their fate. I stood there at the front awaiting for the others to come. Kickin was the first to see me.

“Yo dude! Heard you were joining us for shopping! I’m trying to find me another skateboard. The last one broke since I was trying to do this cool flip. It sucked anyways.”

“ I wasted all my star stickers on that one…”

Buying another skateboard, huh? Good quality ones are pretty expensive, I've heard. Wonder if his wallet can survive. 

Craftycorn came next. Sorry guys, I’ll be talking to her now.

“Hey guys! Am I late?”

No, we’re still waiting for the others to come.

“Oh Catnap! Nice to see you here! Who are we waiting for?”

Dogday and Bobby. I’m not sure where they’re at.

“Oh okay. I saw them asking a few questions with a teacher, so I think they’ll be here soon!”

She turned to Kickin.

“Hey Kickin! I’m Craftycorn! It’s nice to meet you.”

“ Why did Catnap just narrate my movements??”

Should I tell her…?

“Hey! Nice to meet you, Craft! Heard you’re a painter! Pretty nice skill, I have to say.”

“ Who was she talking to?? Catnap wasn’t speaking, at least from what I heard. “

Shoot, Kickin’s catching on. Maybe I should tell her about my ability.

“Oh, um, thank you Kickin. I saw you skateboard. I thought you looked really cool when you did the 76 backflips!”

“ I can hear Catnap talking about something. Who’s he talking to?”

“Why, thank you Craft! I was pretty impressed with myself! Though it’s expected since I’m just that guy.”

“ I still wonder how I did that.”

“Hehe, okay then, All Star Skateboarder.”

Kickin blushed from the comment as Dogday comes out of the front entrance all excited with Bobby hurriedly coming after.

“H-Hey guys! Sorry, we just had a few questions about the homework assignment, but we’re here now!”

“ I almost fell down the stairs! I’ll put a mental note to never grab onto Dogday when rushing!”

Ah, she experienced the Dogday Rush. Guess that’s why she looks so tired. 

“Hey guys! I see we are all here! Are we ready to go!”

“ Phew, made it out faster than expected!”

His tail wagged as he went over to our small shopping group. He wrapped his arm around me as he smiled his bright smile. There’s that warm feeling in my heart.

“Yeah, we’re all ready! Right dude?”

Kickin nudged me. I nod in agreement.

“Yeah, me too.”

“ Catnap’s narrating again. Also, he’s just saying all this out loud. Why isn’t anyone noticing?”

Oh right. Crafty can hear my narration. I’ll have to explain my ability to her on the way to wherever we’re going.

“Then let’s go! I’m ready to go shopping!”

We all walked down to the bus station. I snuck away from Dogday’s hand as he talked to Kickin about baseball. I head over to Crafty. I just need to somehow communicate to Crafty about the truth.

“Tell me the truth?”

Shoot, right. Um, Crafty.

“Yeah?”

Think of something.

“Why?”

I’m gonna tell you something. Just do it.

“Oh, well alright, um…”

“ Thinking, thinking…Daisies and Dandelions…”

Alright, good. 

“ Wait what.”

I’ll just say it. I’m a psychic. The others don’t know, and you seem to be able to pick up on my telepathy. I can read your thoughts, so don’t say anything out loud.

“ WHAT!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE A PSYCHIC?!?!?”

I can do a lot of things. I can use telekinesis, gaslight people, manipulate stuff and all that. I don’t want anyone else to know, so you and the audience are the only ones that know now.

“ Audience?? Where??”

You can’t see them, but I’ve been talking to them for a while. That’s why I’ve been narrating everything since they can only read our experiences.

“ Read?? What does that mean??”

Nothing. Anyways, now you know why I now “talk” to someone invisible. 

“ Oh, that’s weird and freaky… Do they see me all the time?”

Not all the time. Just when you’re around me.

“ Oh, thank god… so, um, why are they here?”

I don’t know. They just like to follow me around. I’m the only one that can “see” them in a way.

“ Cool, cool. So they can read my thoughts as well?”

Yeah, basically.

“ Oh! Um, hi everybody! I’m, uh, Craftycorn! I like painting and other stuff, and, um, I hope we get along!”

They won’t respond, but I think they knew you already when you painted me.

“ Oh okay. Well, nice to meet you all, I guess?”

Cool, so do you mind if I narrate and talk to these guys?

“ Oh, no problem! It’s just strange now that I’m the only one that knows you’re a psychic! I looked like a weirdo now talking to you. Oh geez, they saw me talking to you like a normal person! I’m so embarrassed.”

It’s okay. I want to be seen as normal anyways. For now, if you want to talk to me personally, just think about it.

“ Ok, cool! So does that mean I’m a psychic since I can pick up on your telepathy?”

Yeah. I guess so.

“ Wow, this is…really strange to learn… It’s giving me new art ideas though! Now I want to draw a piece based on this!”

Great, crisis averted. Dogday was staring at us weirdly.

“ Why are they just staring at each other? Could it be?! No, no, they’re just friends, right? It looks like they were talking telepathically! No way!”

Oh right, I forgot I just look like I’m staring at her when talking to her. 

“ Dogday’s staring at us? I guess it’s because we were think-talking to each other. He looks a little annoyed though… Is he mad?”

Not sure. I think he’s jealous.

“ Jealous? ….Ooooohhh. I get it. I was wondering what you meant by ‘warm feeling’ when you mentioned he smiled. You guys are pretty close. You even name specific things like ‘Dogday Rush’. I should’ve known you guys were dating.”

It’s not like that. We’re not dating. 

“ What? Then what is it?”

I think you can guess.

“ ....OH. Does he have a crush on you? I didn’t know he had a crush! Why don’t you guys date? You seem to like him as well!”

He’s the one with the crush. I don’t have a crush on him. Though, it’s not like I’m against the idea of dating him. It sounds pretty nice. 

“ ...you sure you don’t have a crush?”

Yeah.

She gave me a knowing look.

“ Yeah, okay buddy. I think the audience suspects the same thing I am suspecting. I won’t say a word about the crush. It’s pretty sweet!”

Well, that’s good. I don’t want Dogday to feel embarrassed.

“ Oh, um, yeah, I was totally talking about Dogday. Definitely… ”

Stuttering while thinking, huh. What are you trying to hint?

Before she could answer me, I felt a warm presence wrap around me.

“Hey, BFF ! What are you guys doing?”

“ I don’t know what they’re doing, but no one will take my title! If they’re talking with their minds, I need to be ahead! No one takes my kitty!”

Well okay then. Jealous, are we? He really emphasized the “BFF” part. Also, “Kitty”... I don’t know why, but I feel my face become warm from that nickname. He never really used that kind of nickname before, but it’s a nice nickname if I’m being honest. 

“Oh, we were just, uh, playing a staring contest! I lost to him, hehe…”

“ Oh yeah, I think we know…”

Stop it. 

She chuckled, which made Dogday more confused. 

“Oh, a staring contest? Sounds fun!”

“ Phew, I guess it was a really intense staring contest! Guess she didn’t replace me after all!”

He’s so silly. Crafty gave me a knowing smile as we heard the bus arrive.

“Guys! Bus is here!”

Bobby waved us to come over as she got out her money. We paid our tickets and we sat down. Dogday sits next to me.

“Man, I can’t wait to go shopping! How about you Catnap?”

I nodded and gave him a smile. He smiled even brighter, and his tail wagged more. 

“ He’s so cute! I wonder if I can talk to him telepathically… Nah, that sounds impossible. Telepathy doesn’t exist! I was so silly for thinking they were actually using telepathy.”

Well, he was on point. 

“ I feel bad for feeling jealous… Catnap can be friends with anybody! Was I too aggressive when I asked? I should apologize to them…”

“Catnap… Sorry if I sounded a little mean back there… I was a little jealous that you were just hanging around with Crafty… I promise I won’t be jealous again! I’ll apologize to Crafty too!”

He turned to Crafty.

“Crafty…I’m sorry for sounding too mean… I just thought you were gonna become his best friend forever since it looked like you were talking to him telepathically… I promise I won’t act like that again!”

“It’s fine! Our staring contest was a little strange looking, hehe. We’re cool, don’t worry! I don’t even know how to talk to someone telepathically!”

“Okay, that’s good. Let’s be good friends, okay?”

“Sure! I won't steal the title of ‘Catnap's BFF’ from you, so don’t worry about it!”

I can sense that Dogday felt embarrassed about the whole thing. 

Well, I forgive you Dogday. Honestly, it’s kinda cute seeing you jealous. Crafty gave me that look again. Stop it.

“ Sorry! You guys are so nice with each other though. I’ll support you guys!”

Eh, whatever. I gave him a thumbs-up which made him feel content. The mall will take a couple of minutes to get there. I guess I can take a nap while we are on the bus. I rest my head on Dogday’s shoulder and closed my eyes. He makes a nice pillow. This shopping trip won’t be so bad. I’m just hoping my wallet can live another day.

Chapter Text

The bus arrives at the mall, and we get off. Man, I’ve never been to the mall here before. Usually I just get my clothing from this one thrift store close to our street, but they shut the business down a long while ago. So yeah, this is my first time at the mall. It’s a huge place. I wonder what kind of shops are in here…

Bobby seems like she shops here often judging by her demeanor. She leads us in.

“Alright, try not to get lost! It’s really easy to get lost in a mall, so we need to stay together, okay?”

“ Hoppy always got lost whenever we hung out at the mall. I just hope everyone here doesn’t have the same issue.”

No wonder she’d be worried about us getting lost. This place is gigantic. There’s like every store you can imagine here! There’s even a small ferris wheel here! I didn’t think a mall could have stuff like this.

We walked around for a little bit. I’m just here marveling at my surroundings. You can't blame me, this place is actually pretty impressive. I can feel Dogday staring at me as we walk together.

“ He’s so adorable! I only went here once with my mom, so this isn’t anything new. Guess this is Catnap’s first time! I’ll never get tired of his cute reactions!”

I suddenly feel my face getting warm. I still must be tired from my nap on the bus. Crafty gave me a side eye as she walked with Bobby in the front. 

“ I think there’s another reason for that, Catnap.”

What could that be exactly?

“ From my best guess, Dogday complimented you. You liked the compliment and thus blushed from it.”

Hm, blushing from a compliment… Could be a possibility.

“ I think that’s what’s actually going on here.”

Kickin noticed a shop with some graffiti logo on it. I saw stars gleam in his eyes when we saw that skateboards were on sale.

“Yo, dudes! Let’s go in here! I need to buy me a skateboard, so we should check it out! Heck, you guys can buy some skateboards, and maybe we can, like, skateboard together!”

“ I wouldn’t mind teaching them a thing or two about skateboarding! We’d be the coolest skateboarders around!”

Hm, I’m not that big a fan of learning skateboarding, but if everyone else wants to look around, then I might as well check it out. How about you Crafty?

“ I agree. Personally, I would like to see the artwork on the skateboards! They always have some nice graffiti on them.”

Well, me and Crafty are on the same side. Let’s see what everyone else says.

“Sure! Skateboarding sounds fun. I tried roller skating once and that was fun!”

Dogday is pretty good at roller skating, I have to admit. He tried to teach me once, but I kept falling on the floor. That was a fun time though.

“Hmmm…. Well I never thought about skateboarding before, but I can try something new!”

“ I just hope that I don’t break something if I do try it out…”

Bobby seems to be in. Kickin turned to us.

“How about you, Napster? You wanna try and learn a cool skill? Not saying you aren’t cool. You the man. You don’t gotta if you don’t want to!”

“ I’m kinda interested in seeing Catnap’s skateboarding style. Wonder what kind of board he’d use…”

Like I said, not really interested. Everyone seems to want to check it out, so might as well. I gave him a thumbs-up, which made him smile brightly.

“Alright! What about you, Craft? Wanna be the coolest skateboarder around?”

“The coolest? Aren’t you the coolest?”

Kickin blushed from that comment.

“W-Well I am, but with my teaching, you can become as cool as me!”

“ What is this feeling?? It was only a compliment! Whatever, maybe it’s an illness or something.”

Well that’s an assumption. 

“ What did he assume?”

Nothing.

“ Oh come on! You can’t just say that and not tell me!”

Nope. Sorry. Don’t want to leave Kickin hanging, Crafty. 

“ Fine, I’ll find out what you mean eventually!”

“Can I paint on my skateboard if I do try it out?”

“Well, I saw other people with custom designs, so yeah! I don’t know how to paint on a skateboard though. We’ll figure it out though!”

“I’ll probably just check around. Maybe I might try it out.”

“Well that’s fine! Not trying to force you guys to do anything! Let’s head in!” 

We all head into the shop, and oh my god, this place is literally a skateboarder’s dream come true. Boards are lined up everywhere on the walls. Cool looking clothing on hangers. Graffiti is decorated everywhere. Kickin is practically bouncing from excitement. Dogday looks around.

“Wow, this place looks pretty cool! Fits your aesthetic Kickin!”

“I know, right?! I gotta check out all the boards!”

He practically rushes over to the board wall. I just walk around the store. Crafty follows as everyone looks around.

“ So are you actually gonna buy a skateboard?”

Hmm… maybe. They’re pretty expensive though…

“ Yeah, I guess that’s fair. I was thinking about getting one!”

Did Kickin convince you?

“ I guess. He’s pretty cool, and I think learning skateboarding can get me out of my comfort zone!”

I understand. I don’t know if my wallet can handle me buying a board. 

“Yo, Catnap! I found you a good board!”

“ Oh, Kickin’s calling for you. I’ll go look at some of the boards myself.”

Have fun with that. She headed over to all the boards as I made my way to Kickin. He was pointing at this skateboard covered in moon and star patterns. It’s like a night sky.

“I know you like to sleep a lot, so I thought this board totally fits your vibes! You seem like the type to stargaze!”

I’ll take that as a compliment. Honestly, this board doesn’t look that bad. I like the patterns. I check my wallet. I have around like fifty bucks. I look at the price, and holy crap, it’s around one hundred and ten dollars. A moth should’ve flown out my wallet after I saw that price. Kickin seemed to notice my shock.

“You can’t afford it? Don’t worry dude, I can buy it for you if you want! I got loads of cash from my pops!”

He then took out a comically large wad of cash. Oh my goodness. How rich are Kickin’s family?? This is a Hoppy level type of rich.

“You want it?”

Well, I can’t just pass up an opportunity like this. I kinda like the skateboard, so I don’t mind having one. I nod.

“Cool! I’ll get you this one then! I’m gonna get this awesome looking star one, but I’m kinda thinking about getting me a display for all my other old skateboards as well. Want one?”

I do kinda want more decorations in my house. Crafty’s painting may feel lonely. I nod again. 

“And sold! Alright I’ll get you these! I’m not carrying it for you though.”

Wasn’t expecting you to. 

He went over to the cash register with my new board and case. Dogday was in line as well. He’s getting a sun pattern board. Guess we have matching boards. BFFs always know what to get to match their other BFF.  Bobby got herself a heart pattern board with a thunderbolt logo in the center, and Crafty got a colorful board. After the purchase, we all walked around the mall. The bag is kinda heavy, but I can handle it. 

Bobby stops us in front of a beach store. 

“ I shall prepare for Plan Hawaii.”

What.

“Oh hey! The store is still open. The school is planning for our grade to go to Hawaii later in the year! I need a new swimming suit! We should look around!”

Hm. Hawaii, huh? Why are we buying swimsuits now? I guess she likes to plan ahead. I do need a new swimming suit since I haven’t gone swimming in like…since elementary school. What can I say? I hate water. Though I should buy a bathing suit just in case I accidentally get wet. 

Kickin looked at the store and then at Bobby.

“Um, why are we getting beach day stuff in fall?”

“Because.”

“Fair enough.”

That was a quick interrogation. We all head in.

“ I think I know what Bobby’s planning for the future…”

What’s she planning?

“ I’m not gonna tell.”

Why? Is it because of my comment last time?

“ Yep. You didn’t tell me, and now I won’t tell you.”

Fair enough.

“ I should go pick out a bathing suit for myself. Good luck finding yourself one!”

Okay, see ya Crafty. Kickin gave Bobby a weird looking tube shaped like him somehow. Where did he even get that from? Might as well look at the swimming suits. Some of these are a little too daring. Definitely not getting those. I’ll just go with the classic red boxer swimming trunks. What size was I again? Let’s try medium. They have changing rooms, so I’ll try it on.

I headed into one of the rooms and changed into the boxers. Not bad. I think it’s fine for a beach day. Not like I’m going into the water anyways. I don’t really have a “beach bod” though. Whatever, I don’t really care how I look. Not like I can change it anyways. I can’t shapeshift. 

I’ll buy it. It’s a pretty normal looking swimsuit. I changed back and went out. I saw Dogday looking through some swimsuits as well. I didn’t think he needed a new swimsuit. I went over to him.

“Oh hey Catnap! Looks like you already got yourself a new swimsuit! I’m wondering which one I should get.”

“ Catnap would definitely get that kind of swimsuit! I can just imagine how handsome he’d look in it!”

“Wanna help me decide which one to get?”

Not that you guys can see it, but I saw his vision. He really made me look like the prettiest guy in his image. There were even rose petals flying around the fantasy me. It’s flattering, but I’m pretty okay looking in real life. It’s embarrassing to say, but I’m a little chubby if I’m being honest. I’m not the most attractive guy around, but I guess Dogday thinks I’m pretty. He even kept my body the same in his vision. It’s…nice.

Sorry, I got off track. Back to the present. He showed me two swimming shorts to choose from. A purple one or a blue one. I can’t really decide honestly. If I imagine it, he looks pretty charming in both colors. Stop it Crafty, I can sense you.

“ Sorry! You still know I can hear you, right? Not to tease but it does seem like you have feelings for him.”

I’m just complimenting my BFF. Plus, I just think he’s nice for thinking of me like that.

“ I think you need to talk to Bobby about feelings someday.”

“Um, Catnap? You okay?”

Oh right! Let me pick which one looks good on him. 

“ Okay, fine. I’m just saying~”

Sorry Dogday. Got distracted. Hm… I feel like blue would fit the beach vibe better. Purple would look nice, but I think blue would be a better look. I point to the blue one.

“Okay! Then blue it is! I wonder when we’ll go to Hawaii…”

Yeah, me too. Probably at the end of the year. 

We walk to go pay for the trunks. At least these are in my budget. I got the swimsuit, and we all returned to our little walk. Bobby actually got the Kickin tube. Why?

“Kickin, where did you get this??”

“Well, I just found it on display. Guess I’m just that cool.”

“ It was actually just a coincidence. Can’t believe they called it the ‘Cool Bird’ tube.”

Is your hairstyle really that common? The head even looks like a chicken. 

“Well, nice to see you have merchandise, I guess?”

“ I didn’t really want to get this, but he kinda insisted. I couldn’t say no!”

You could. I guess she has a hard time saying no to things. What can she even use the Kickin tube for? 

We went to the food court and ate some food. Nothing special. I got a bento box, Dogday got a burger, Kickin got a burger meal, Bobby got some thai noodles, and Crafty got some pizza. Bobby did suggest something.

“So Catnap, I know you need to get some new clothes! Do you have any particular style? I only see you in your uniform, so I’m a little curious!”

Let me think about that… I don’t think I have a consistent style. I just wear my uniform, and if I’m not, I just wear whatever’s in my closet. 

I shake my head.

“Hm. Dogday, since you’re his childhood best friend, how’d he dress?”

“I think he just wore anything comfortable. He likes anything normal looking, so he’s not the crazy fashion type.”

“Then I shall propose an idea!”

Everyone looks up to her. What is she planning?

“Let’s play a game! We will find Catnap a nice outfit within the price range of a hundred and fifty dollars! The one with the best outfit gets an award! We will judge each other's choices from 1-10. Highest score means the best outfit! Catnap will vote alongside us as well! I even have these score signs for judging!”

You were really prepared for this. I’m just wondering why you’re gonna make this into a game. I feel like I saw this kind of situation before. Eh, oh well. Let’s see what everyone else decides. Kickin raises his hand.

“Hm, well what’s the award? Surely it has to be good.”

“Great question! Hmmm….”

She looked at Dogday for a second before coming up with an idea. Oh dear.

“I’ll buy tickets for the winner to the ferris wheel with anyone of their choice!”

“That’s kinda lame, but okay.”

“Hey! It’s a free ride on the ferris wheel! Plus, you can be alone with someone and enjoy each other’s presence! Like a date~”

“ If all goes well, I just know that Dogday will choose Catnap if he wins!”

Oh I see. This is her plan to help me get with Dogday. I wonder what’ll happen if he doesn’t win. Kickin, Bobby and Crafty might just choose anyone in our group. Will they agree to this? Dogday looks at me.

“ Wait. If I win… I can bring Catnap to the ferris wheel! Oh, that sounds nice…”

“Okay, sounds fun! I’m in!”

Bobby smiled brightly. I guess she really needed Dogday to agree with the game.

“Great! How about everyone else?”

“I’m up for it! I’ll give Catnap one of the coolest outfits around!”

“ I think I’m picking up what Bobby’s putting down. I won’t hold back though! If I win, I’m not sure who to choose… If I think of it like a date, I think Bobby is way too out of my league! Not Dogday or Catnap, they got their own thing going on, which leads to Crafty. Going with her sounds nice… Why did I think that?”

Kickin’s in for the game. What about Crafty?

“ Judging from what you said, it seems like Bobby is gonna get you guys together if Dogday wins. I’ll help out! I won’t hold back however! Gotta make this game fair.”

“I’ll play. I’ll give Catnap a nice outfit!”

Bobby looks more excited than ever. 

“ This will definitely work! Let’s see if Catnap will agree.”

“How about you, Catnap? Are you fine with us choosing some outfits for you?”

It’s less work for me to do. I can’t pass up the opportunity to be lazy. Besides, I’m curious to see what everyone will give me. I give a thumbs-up.

“Alright! Then let the Catnap Fashion Game begin!”

That’s a title. 

Everyone says “yeah!” and we head off to the clothing stores in the mall. Even if Bobby intends Dogday to win, I wonder which outfit will actually succeed. I do get a say in it, so we’ll see. 

Chapter Text

I sat on a comfy couch as all my friends separated to get what outfit would be good for me. Apparently I don’t get to actually see them until I try them on. Now I’m sitting here waiting for them to finish picking out their choices. I’m not sure how long this will take. Now that I think about it, do they even know my size? Only Dogday would know my size since, well, we’ve been best friends since even before school. Do I need to check on them?

For your information, my size is usually adult medium, but I prefer to get an adult large since it’s more comfy. I could worry about what size the others might get for me, but I’m pretty sure they won’t assume I’m either a small or extra large. Otherwise I would need to find their reason for such an assumption. I’ll trust them on this. I also don’t feel like checking around. This couch is pretty comfy. 

Crafty seemed to be done. She’s carrying a big basket full of clothing. 

“ Hey Catnap! I just finished. Mind if I sit with you while we wait for the others?”

Sure. I’m just having the most comfiest time of my life.

“ I’m sure you are.”

Hey, can I ask a question?

“ What is it?”

What size did you get me?

“ Ummm… I think I got an adult large. Why?”

I forgot to tell everyone. Did Dogday tell everybody?

“ Yeah, he did. Bobby asked beforehand, and he told us that you prefer an adult large. So yeah, we trusted his word.”

He knows me very well. 

…

So who are you going to bring on the Ferris wheel if you win?

“ Hm? Oh, uh, I’m not really sure…”

You could take Kickin. He wanted to take you with him if he won.

“ ...Wait what?”

Whoops, didn’t mean to say that.

“ He wants to take me on the Ferris wheel?”

Um, yeah. 

“ Oh, well… I guess that doesn’t sound so bad…”

Oh really~? 

“ You can’t pull the teasing tone on me!”

So would you bring Kickin with you if you won?

“ ...maybe…”

Oh ho. I can finally give that stare now.

“ Well, it’s only if I win! we won’t know who wins till judgment time!”

Okay then. 

“ ...I’m gonna walk around. I think I’m forgetting one item for your outfit.”

I thought you said you were finished.

“ I realized I forgot a, um, hat for your outfit, and I think it would complete it! I’ll go find that right now! Bye!”

See ya Crafty.

She walked toward the hat section. I think she’s lying to me. With her ability to speak to me with her thoughts, now I won’t know if she’s lying or not. I sincerely apologize, Kickin. Now both of you guys are going through mixed feelings for each other. I’ll buy Kickin something cool as an apology later.  For now, I need to stay put. Can’t ruin the surprise for me. I’ll just take a nap on this couch. Not like it’ll take that long.

Picky Piggy’s POV

Okay, great. We got all the ingredients for the cooking lesson. Me, Hoppy and Bubba head back to my home. The mall is close to my house. Wish we could’ve gone, but Hoppy insisted on making Bobby a “treat”. Pretty sure it’s a gift, but who am I to judge?

“Alright! Let’s cook up some nice treats!” 

Hoppy is pretty excited to cook. I just hope it doesn’t end up like last time. Bubba seems pretty nervous. Can’t blame him. I’m nervous too.

“Alright Hoppy, now, let’s be careful in the kitchen. Remember my lecture?”

“Of course! I’ll be the most careful critter here! Don’t worry!”

I’ll trust that Hoppy did listen. I can’t exactly read minds, so I may as well trust her words. 

We head into my kitchen as I put down all the ingredients.

“Alright, we will bake cookies! Bubba will taste test them to see which type of cookie is good. To start off, we’ll make some oatmeal cookies! Okay, Hoppy, pour the oatmeal into a bowl to get started. I’ll prepare the ingredients!”

“Yes, ma’am!” 

That should be an easy task. I’ll just pour the sugar, flour and cinnamon into separate bowls.

Alright all done! Now time to get the butter-

“Um, Picky…”

Oh no. What happened now. I turn around and see that the oatmeal burst into flames. 

“I burned the oatmeal…”

“What- How- How did you burn the oatmeal?? We didn’t even start baking!?”

“It just kinda… happened?”

Hoppy gave me a nervous smile. I turned to Bubba as he stared at the impossible feat.

“Does-Does this happen often..?” 

“It shouldn’t! How did Hoppy burn the oatmeal??”

“I don’t know! I was reading a book when it happened!”

Is this really what happens every time between Hoppy and cooking? I quickly grab a fire extinguisher and put the fire out. How did Catnap put the fire out so quickly back then?? The fire is still going! I threw the oatmeal into the sink and turned the faucet on. It worked!

“Okay… I’m just gonna watch you do your thing, Hoppy…”

“Sorry… I really don’t know what happened! Honest!”

“Let’s just pour more oatmeal. Hoppy, do it again. I want to see what exactly happened.”

She obliged and poured the oatmeal. Nothing happened. I blinked and it burst into flames.

“WHAT??? Bubba what happened?? I just blinked and it already burned into flames?!”

“I- Uh- wha-”

Crap. Bubba’s brain is already bugging out. What did Hoppy even do?? She only poured it in! This is gonna take a while….

Back to Me

“Hey Nap! Wake up! We’re all done! We just need you to try them on so we can judge them now!”

Dogday woke me up from my nap. I yawned. I see that each of them is holding a basket full of clothing. Why do I see spikes protruding out of Kickin’s basket?

“Wait! Who should go first?”

Bobby looked at everyone. They all seem a little nervous. Guess they’re too shy to show what they chose first.

“Okay, then let’s draw straws!”

She then brought out four sticks. She was really prepared for this. They all grab a stick. Kickin got the marked one. 

“Alright! I knew I’d be the first! Here ya go, Napster! Get me a good score, okay?”

“ This outfit will definitely fit his style! It’s an awesome look.”

Well, alright. I head to the changing rooms. I take out the clothing. Hm. A leather jacket with small spikes on the shoulders. Dark sleeveless shirt. A… collar with a crescent moon symbol on it? Dark ripped jeans with…red spirals everywhere? Platform shoes. And to top it all off, circular sunglasses. He’s making me look like a punk. At least they’re all the right size. 

I try it on. Looks alright, I suppose. I could go without these platform shoes though. These are killing me. I’d give it a 6/10. I leave the changing room to show off Kickin’s outfit. 

“Wow! You look like a rockstar, Catnap! Though I don’t think it really fits you… 6/10!”

Bobby held up her sign. A rockstar, huh? That’s a pretty good description for this outfit.

“Hmmm… Could use some make-up. Otherwise, it looks great on you! 7/10!”

Crafty held up her sign. I don’t think I’ll ever use make-up.

“I think he looks quite snazzy! I like the jacket!”

“ He doesn’t look comfortable in it, though…”

“I’ll give it a 6/10 as well!”

Dogday holds his sign up. 

“What’s your score, Catnap?”

I hold my sign up. The total points round up to 25 points.

“Cool! I got myself into the twenties!”

“ Could’ve been higher. He looked so cool in that outfit!”

It’s fine for an outfit, but I don’t see myself wearing this. Plus, these shoes are hard to wear.

“So who’s next?”

Bobby grabbed three sticks. Dogday and Crafty each grab a stick. Bobby was the one with the marked one.

“Oh my! Guess I get to go next! Here you go, Catnap!”

Let’s hope her outfit doesn’t involve uncomfy shoes. I head back into the changing room. What did she choose for me? A striped, oversized sweater. A dark tank top. A necklace with a tiny… sun pendant dangling down? Why the sun? Is this her message for me to be with Dogday? Moving on. Headphones. Jean shorts. Thick socks. And finally, sneakers. Not too bad I’d say. Let’s try it on.

Pretty comfy. The sweater makes it look like I’m wearing a poofy dress. The sleeves do cover my hands. It’s kinda hard to move my tail as well. Still, a good outfit, I guess. 7/10.

I got out of the changing room. Bobby looked at the pendant with shock

“ Shoot, I chose the wrong necklace! Hopefully, it fits the outfit.”

Oh. The sun necklace was an accident. That makes more sense. Dogday is looking at me in awe. It’s just an oversized sweater. I don’t see what’s so great about the outfit.

“Wow dude. You look like you have no pants.”

Dogday glared at him for a second. 

“I mean, it’s an okay outfit. Uh, 6/10. Good choice, Bobby.”

“ It could be cooler.”

Kickin held up his sign. 

“He looks kinda cute in that outfit. I like the sun pendant! 8/10.”

Crafty held up her sign.

“ Bobby chose a sun necklace for you, huh?”

It was by accident.

“ It could also be by fate as well. You never know~”

“I like the outfit! You look so adorable! 9/10!”

He actually said it out loud! I can hear Bobby squeal. Why do I suddenly feel my face warming up? This is silly… Me and Dogday hold up our signs. That makes 30 points.

“ I shall leave the rest up to you, Dogday! Get your man!”

Dogday and Crafty do rock-paper-scissors, and Crafty wins even though she only has hooves. I know. Strange world we live in. 

“Here you go!”

“ I kinda hope I win this. Though I’ll still root for Dogday! We’ll see.”

Then I wish you luck, Crafty. Back to the changing room. A bucket hat, turtleneck sweater, denim jacket, cargo pants and boots. She also got a chain necklace. I think this looks actually pretty promising. 

I put it on, and if I’m being honest, I look pretty nice. Though the turtleneck is a little itchy. The denim jacket is also a little uncomfy to move around in. It’s a 7/10 for me. I wonder if Dogday can top this. Time for judgment.

“Wow, Crafty! This may be the best outfit so far! You really outdone yourself!”

“Oh, um, thank you Bobby! Choosing an outfit wasn’t that hard.”

“I’ll give it a 10/10!”

“You look sick, my man! 9/10 for me! You look chill. Like a wind blowing by~”

What does that even mean??

“You look nice, Catnap! Looks like the turtleneck is a little itchy for you, huh?”

I am kinda scratching at my neck. My fur is not liking the turtleneck for some reason.

“ If it doesn’t make him feel comfortable, I don’t think the outfit’s right for him…”

“I’ll give it a 8/10!”

I held up my sign. 34 points. Crafty’s in the lead. 

“I guess it’s my turn! Here you go, Catnap! I hope you like it! It’s a little plain…”

“ Hopefully everyone likes it. Catnap does like any comfy clothes, so I hope he likes it!”

I like plain stuff anyways. Last time in the changing room. A white collar shirt, a comfy looking light sweater, a moon necklace, pajama pants and soft slippers. It is very normal looking, but I honestly like it. Trying it on, it’s got to be the most comfy thing I wore. I can move freely, and the fabric doesn’t bother me at all. Plus, I kinda like how I look in this outfit. 10/10. Dogday really knows what I like.

I came out for the last time. Dogday smiled as his tail wagged. 

“ I think I chose a really good outfit for him. He looks so cute! Even if I don’t win, I’m glad that I get to see him try new styles!”

Well, at least he’s being positive about it. People love him for that trait. I’m one of them. He’s just a sweet guy. 

“Ooh! I like this! You look quite charming, I have to say! It fits you! 10/10!”

I think we already knew Bobby would give Dogday a high score. 

“Hmmm… A little plain, but you look chill with it dude. You go with the vibes and stuff. I dig it. 7/10.”

Again, what does that mean?

“Well, it does fit you! You do look comfy in that. It’s cute! 9/10!”

Wow, it seems like the outfit does look good on me. Everyone likes it. I hold up my sign, which totals up to 36 points. Guess Bobby’s plan worked. No wonder she’s known as a great matchmaker. 

“ YES! Plan Catnap Fashion Game is a success! I knew Dogday would get him a great outfit! One step closer to love!”

“Congratulations, Dogday! You got the highest score!”

“Congrats dude! Who’ll be the lucky person going with you on the Ferris wheel?”

“Great job, Day!”

Yeah, good job Dogday. I’m happy you won. 

“Thanks, you guys! I didn’t expect myself to win! You guys had a lot of good outfits for Catnap!”

“Soooo…. Who are you going to bring~?”

“ It’s Catnap”

They all thought in unison. 

“Well, I’ll bring my best friend forever of course! Wanna go with me Catnap?”

Why would I refuse such a nice offer? He reached his hand out to me. I take his hand as a response.

“Well let’s get to the Ferris wheel! I’ll buy the tickets now!”

We pay for the clothes Dogday chose for me and make our way to the Ferris wheel. I also got the sun necklace. Not sure why, but I kinda like it. It’s very shiny. I never expected myself to be holding so many bags, but I guess that’s the mall experience. Bobby got us the two tickets.

“Have fun!”

“ Go for it, Catnap!”

She winked at me. I won’t bother with fixing her mistake. 

“Have fun you two!”

“Don’t make out-”

Kickin was quickly silenced by the two girls. What was he going to say?

“ Don’t worry about it…”

Okay. Then I won’t.

“What are you guys going to do?”

“I might as well do some clothes shopping of my own! Not sure about Kickin and Crafty…”

She looked at them.

“Well, um…. Wanna go, uh, check out some art stores with me, Kickin?”

“R-Really? You mean it?”

“Yeah! I like being around you, so might as well!”

Kickin blushed from the comment. Crafty also-

“ No I didn’t! Don’t tell them!”

Apologies. Crafty did not blush when she realized what she said.

“ That’s basically telling them!”

It’s not like I’m saying it out loud.

“ ...That’s true.”

“S-Sure. You might as well hang around the coolest guy here! Lead the way, Craft!”

“Okay! See you guys later!”

They leave. Bobby had a smug face when she saw the two together. I guess she saw another “potential romance”.

“ Well, well, well. Kickin likes Crafty! I’ll help you out as well, Kickin!”

“I’ll see you guys now! I’ve been wanting to get a new sweater! Have fun, you two!”

"We will!"

Now Bobby’s gone, and then there were only two. Dogday seems very flustered by the whole situation. I might see steam come out of his head just by how much he was blushing.

“Well, what are we waiting here for? Let’s go!”

We go into the cart, and away we go. We sat with each other. As the cart slowly brought us up, he talked about a whole lot of stuff. I’m not sure what he was talking about. He looks so happy when talking though. His eyes were shining whenever I agreed with something he said. When we reached the highest point, we saw the mall below and around us. Dogday was mesmerized by the whole sight. He looks so… cute. It’s nice to be with him. 

I noticed he’s trying to hold my hand when we observe the mall. 

“ Should I hold his hand? Would that be too much for him? I don’t want to make him uncomfortable!”

Why would I feel uncomfy by hand holding? He’s very hesitant. I won’t mind holding his hand. Should I just do it for him? I might as well.

I held onto his hand and leaned onto his soft shoulder. This is nice. I wouldn’t mind being here like this forever. He’s warm.

“ OH MY GOD, HE’S HOLDING MY HAND! HE’S ALSO LEANING ON ME!! TAIL, PLEASE STOP WAGGING!! MY HEART’S BEATING SO FAST!!!”

“Feeling tired, huh? I guess that makes sense. We did do a lot of shopping!”

It’s funny how his thoughts and demeanor are so different. His tail is going light speed. I think light speed means fast. I don’t know. It’s a science thing. 

I nod. He looks so nice. It’s cute when he’s so flustered.

…Why am I saying that? It’s normal for friends to compliment each other, but I’m calling him cute and stuff. I feel my heart warm up when he’s leaning onto me as well. I’m not sure what’s going on. Crafty and Bobby would’ve been teasing me if they saw this. I don’t know why. I don’t have a crush, Dogday is the one with the crush. Unless…

….Do I have a crush on him?

Before I could contemplate the answer to that question, Dogday took out his phone. 

“Let’s take a selfie!”

Oh, a selfie. That’s not so bad. He brings it up high as he brings me closer with one arm wrapped around my shoulder. 

“Say cheese!”

Cheese. He snapped the photo. 

“Oooh! This is a nice picture! I’ll make it my new home screen! Do you want me to send you the photo, Catnap?”

Sure. It’s a nice photo. He sent me the photo, and I saved it to my photos. The cart arrived back at the bottom. We were let out. I’m still holding his hand. I don’t know why. I’m still not sure if I have an actual crush or not. It’s still a nice feeling. Bobby, Crafty and Kickin were waiting for us at the exit.

“Hey dudes! How was the ride?”

“ Did they kiss or something? Why are they both blushing?”

I’m not blushing. At least, I think I’m not. 

“You guys look like you had fun! Wanna head home?”

“ EEK! They’re both blushing! I knew it! I need to come up with other plans. Don’t worry Catnap, I’ll help you and your relationship with Dogday to become stronger!”

I think I need a long nap… I have so many confusing feelings… 

“ Well, now you know about how I feel.”

I sincerely apologize. 

“ It’s fine. I’m just glad you’re learning more about your feelings.”

Let’s just go. 

“We should go right now. The last bus will be coming soon. I need to test out these new art supplies!”

“Yeah! I think Catnap will collapse if we just keep standing around.”

“ I’ll cherish our time on the Ferris wheel forever!”

I’ll cherish it as well. It was nice sitting with you, Dogday. We went onto the bus and it headed off onto the road. 

We noticed that Hoppy, Picky and Bubba are walking around the street as the bus moves along. Why is Bubba in a wheelchair?? Hoppy is covered in cookie dough from what I could see. Picky is pushing the wheelchair. She’s covered in burn marks. What did Hoppy do?? The bus already passed them before we could question it further. I guess I’ll see what happened tomorrow.

This was a good experience.

Chapter Text

Next day of school, and I’m still confused about my feelings. Now that we walk together as an entire group, the chattering has increased. 

“Hoppy, what happened during the cooking session for this to happen??”

Bubba gave Hoppy some look before resuming the book he was reading.

“Uhhh… food poisoning….” 

How does food poisoning cause this?? 

“Dude. How does that cause Bubba to be in a wheelchair????”

“It was a really bad case of food poisoning.”

“ They don’t need to know about the Sugar Cookie Incident…”

What does that mean, Hoppy. Show me the incident. 

…

Holy crap. How did she even accomplish that?? I know you guys can’t see it. It’s for the best. I don’t think I can describe the amount of insanity that happened there. I’ll leave it up to your imaginations. Let’s just say food poisoning is a part of the reason.

I was so caught up watching the memory that I didn’t notice we were already here. 

“ What happened to Bubba? You saw the memory, right?”

I did. Like I said, I’ll leave it up to your imagination. You can interrogate Hoppy later if you want. 

“ I think I’m good. Judging by your tone, I think I can get the general gist of it.”

Okay, good.

We all head off to our classes. Nothing happened, just napping and working, so I don’t need to talk about it. Dogday kept popping up in my mind every once in a while. That never happened. Usually I’m fine whenever I’m not with him. This is so weird. Anyways, homeroom time! Finally, time to munch on some pepperoni sticks. 

“Yo, Naps.”

Oh, it's Hoppy. I don’t like where this is going.

“We did promise that you could have some of the food we made yesterday. Wanna come over to Bobby's table and try out the cookies I made?”

Considering she did cause Bubba to go into a wheelchair, I’m a little nervous about eating her cookies. Though I do like sweets. Might as well. I’ll just need to be careful.

I have a thumbs-up, and we head over to the table. Bobby was there. Picky sat behind them, quietly observing us as we sat down. Bubba had to go to the nurses office due to a bad stomach ache. Should I be worried for my well being? 

I sat down. Strangely, a lot of people were hesitant to look in our direction.

“ Isn’t that the girl that put Bubba of all people into a wheelchair?”

“Did Hoppy become Bobby’s bodyguard? I shouldn’t go anywhere near them!”

“It’s the queen, escort and bodyguard! We are in her reign, so we shall not interrupt.”

I honestly forgot Bobby was popular. At least people still think I’m some escort for her. And they won’t bother me! It’s a win in my book. Hoppy stood in front of us.

“Alright! I baked up a lot of cookies! I wanted to make ya a present, so I thought cookies would be a good option. Hope you like them!”

“Awww thank you Hoppy! You didn’t have to! What’s the special occasion?”

“There is none! I just wanted to give you a present. That’s all.”

“ I hope she likes them! Man, I'm so nervous. What if she hates them and then she’ll never accept any gift from me again?! Please let her enjoy these…”

In front of me and Bobby sat multiple bags of different cookies. I don’t think I want to touch the sugar cookies. Bobby seemed to grab a honey cookie, so I’ll try one as well.

We took a bite. Not bad, I have to say. Soft texture with a sweet taste. Guess these came out perfectly.

“These are really good, Hoppy! I didn’t know you were such a good baker! Since when did you get such a cool skill?” 

“Oh, uh, thank you Bobby! Picky taught me everything I know!”

“ Phew, she likes the honey cookies. Catnap likes it too, so I’m doing good so far!”

Let’s see… those oatmeal cookies look good. I take one out of the bag. Little rough to touch, but I’m assuming that’s how they’re supposed to feel. Bobby takes one as well. 

We take a bite. 

…

Ow. These are super crunchy. Bobby seems to be eating her’s just fine. I break off a little piece and munch on it. It tastes kinda burnt. It’s not bad, but it could be sweeter. 

“I like the crunchiness! Why does it taste a little burnt though?”

“I, uh, left it in the oven too long…”

“But it doesn’t look burnt?”

“I brushed the bits off.”

“Well alright then. They’re pretty good!”

“Thanks! They’re the first cookies I made!”

“ They don’t need to know about the burnt oatmeal.”

You burnt the oatmeal? How is that even possible?? Whatever. At this point, questioning it won’t help. I used telekinesis to break off all the pieces so that I didn’t have to do it by hand. It’s tiring. 

“You like it, Naps?”

I gave another thumbs-up. So far I’m doing pretty good. I think I don’t need to worry about dying. She probably did sort the cookies out. I can sense Dogday coming behind me. I turn around.

“Hey guys! What are you three up to?”

“Hey Dogday! We’re trying out Hoppy’s cookies!”

“Wanna try them? I made peanut butter cookies if you want.”

“Ooh! Don’t mind if I do!”

He sits himself next to me. We each take a peanut butter cookie. I’m not a huge peanut butter fan, but I know Dogday loves peanut butter. We take a bite. The texture’s good. Too much peanut butter for my own taste. Dogday seems to like it. He’s chewing it down like he never had food in a while. It’s kinda cute. 

…I gotta stop thinking that. It’s hard not to find him cute though. These cookies aren’t so bad. 

“Are you secretly a baker or something? These are great!”

“Thanks Day! I had help from Picky. Give her your compliments.”

“I will!”

He turned to Picky.

“These are really good! You’re a great chef!”

“Oh, uh, thank you. I can teach you how to cook if you want.”

“Really?! That’d be awesome!”

“ I can cook Catnap’s favorite as a treat for him! He’d love it!”

Well that’s something I can look forward to. He’d make a good cook in my opinion. 

“These have been amazing, Hoppy! Thank you for baking these for us!”

“No prob, Bob! Anything for my girl!”

“ I only baked it for you, but I guess I can’t blame her for it. I did invite Catnap to try them out.”

“Let’s try the sugar cookies!”

“Sure!”

I think I’ll pass. They grab a sugar cookie from the bag. 

“You don’t want one, Naps?”

I’m okay. I’ll try the snickerdoodles. We take a bite out of our respective cookies. These are pretty sweet. Dogday and Bobby seem to be okay. That’s good. It at least proves that Hoppy did sort them out. 

“Mmm! These are so sweet! Catnap, how about you try a bite!”

He took a small chunk out and held it out. He’s gonna feed me. I guess I can try it. He still looks pretty good. Plus, being fed by my BFF sounds pretty nice. I ate the small chunk from his fingers. He’s right! These are pretty sweet. 

“ Cute <3”

My face feels warm again.  Why do feelings have to be so confusing…?

I took a small chunk from my cookie and offered him a bite.

“You want me to try yours?”

I nod. 

“Of course!”

He instantly licked the cookie chunk out of my hand. Why do I feel so flustered?? He always does that whenever I offer him a bite of my food! Dogday’s also blushing.

“ Shoot, wait! I just licked it off of him! Force of habit!”

Bobby’s smirking at the site. She brought Hoppy closer as she watched us feed each other. This is embarrassing… I can hear them whispering.

“Look at them. They’re so cute! Your cookies do wonders!”

Hoppy’s flustered as well. 

“Y-Yeah, they’re pretty good together. I wish I had that kind of relationship.”

“I hope to have that kind of relationship as well.”

“ I can tell you have a crush, Hoppy! Judging by your behavior, it could be me… Nah, that’s too good to be true. Though, it would be nice to be with her. I’ll wait until then though.”

“R-Really? Guess we’re two peas in a pod then!”

“ Does this mean I have a chance?! Thank you, Picky!!!”

At least they have their moment together. Congrats, Hoppy. Bobby may have a crush on you.

“U-Uh, the snickerdoodle tastes good! Good job with the cookies, Hoppy!”

“No problem, dawg! I just wanted to try something new, so I appreciate the compliments!” 

Dawg? That’s new. 

“I was gonna bake Chocolate Chip, but don’t want anyone to get any allergic reactions, y’know. You guys can try the last batch!”

The last bag had lots of cookies covered in sprinkles. I like sprinkles. They’re a pretty good topping on anything. For some reason, though, the sprinkles are a little burnt. How many things did Hoppy burn? 

“Um, Hoppy?”

“Yeah, Bobs?”

“Why do the sprinkles look… burnt?”

“No idea! Just looks like it. Don’t think anything of it.”

“Okay? Let’s eat!”

I think we already knew what happened. 

We just take a cookie without question and take a bite. It’s soft but the sprinkles are really crunchy like tiny pebbles. I think I chipped a tooth. Hold on. Yeah I did. It’s fine. It wasn’t my favorite tooth.

“These are… unique? I never had a cookie like this before.”

“ I think a sprinkle just turned to dust in my mouth.”

“Thanks! These are my special recipes! Picky helped me out!”

“ Should I be happy about being credited or should I be nervous?”

“I think these are great! It could use some work on the, um, toppings though. It’s a little… tough to eat.”

“I tried adding powdered sugar as well, but I did it before baking it. So yeah.”

I spit out the chipped part of my tooth. At least it’s only a little bit-

“OH MY GOD, CATNAP!!! ARE YOU HURT?!?!”

Dogday starts to freak out. It’s fine, big guy. It’s only, like, a tiny bit.

“Oh crap! Naps, we’ll bring you to the nurses office!”

“ I didn’t think the sprinkles were that hard!”

Why are they freaking out? It’s only a chip. I don’t taste any blood. 

Dogday carried me like I just died, and he bolted down to the nurse’s room. Hoppy kept apologizing profusely. Bobby just followed, confused by the whole situation.

“ It’s only a speck. What’s going on?? 

Not sure myself. Dogday barged into the nurse’s office. The nurse looks the exact same as all the other teachers. Are all the staff just this lady, or am I going crazy?

“Nurse! Catnap broke something in his mouth!!!”

“What? Like he broke his jaw or…?”

“No! He broke his tooth! See?”

He showed off the tiny speck of a chip. The nurse looked at him dumbfoundedly.

“Um, sir. He only chipped his tooth. He doesn’t seem that bothered by it.”

“ I-Is he serious??”

He’s practically sobbing over my body. Is a chipped tooth really that severe??

“What are you guys doing here?”

Oh right. Bubba was still in the nurse’s office. 

“Oh! Mr. Bubbaphant! Everything is alright! Just, uh, mild concern.”

“ Again with ‘Mr. Bubbaphant’. Why does every staff member call me that?”

“Bubba! Will Catnap be okay?!”

Bubba took his medicine and wheeled over to inspect.

“Well, it’s a minor chip. It won’t cause any damage to the gums or tongue. I believe he’ll be alright.”

“ I could say Catnap would become self-conscious of his chipped tooth, but he doesn’t seem to care. He’s probably just confused about the whole situation. He probably won’t care about how his one chipped tooth would impact his appearance.”

Again, he’s very observant. I probably won’t even notice the chip.

“Oh thank God! I thought it hurt him badly or something! I’m so glad you’re okay, Catnap!”

He brings me close. I pat his head. Even if he’s a little dramatic, he cares a lot about his friends. Even a minor injury can cause him to go into full panic mode. It’s one of many traits that make him so likable. At least to me. He’s the best BFF I could ever ask for. 

He suddenly stopped hugging me. What made him stop? Also, why do I feel vibrations in my throat?

“ Did he just purr?! Oh my goodness! He’s so adorable!”

Purr? Did I just notice this now? I’m a cat, so I should’ve known about this. Do I just not do it often, or do I barely ever notice? Oh well, Dogday just has that effect on me I guess. 

“So are there any other problems? If not, you have to go to your next classes.”

“ I can tolerate teen romance, but I will not tolerate tardiness!” 

Teen romance is a stretch. We’re only hugging. I guess she’s right though. It’s almost time for homeroom to end. Hoppy and Bobby are waiting outside, so we should probably calm their nerves. We walked out of the nurse’s office.

“Naps! Are you good? Sorry that my baking chipped your tooth, dude. You look great, though!”

“I hope you’re okay! You should probably see a dentist about that.”

I think I do need to do that. Later.

“Well, thanks for the cookies, Hoppy! I really enjoyed them! Hope you can make more soon!”

“Oh, um, no prob, Bob! I’ll try and make something new!”

“Maybe some homemade chocolates would be good!” 

I hope they don’t burn. We all leave to our respective classes as the bell rings. I just hope Bubba will be okay. We do have to plan for an upcoming event soon. Not very excited for it though.

Chapter Text

Mini Olympics. A school event where students can participate in activities like dodgeball and running and all that. They go against other classes in the grade. The class officers run the event. The prize for winning is a free trip to a theme park. Bubba’s paying for the trip.

As you can tell, I’m very excited… The only good thing is that I don’t have to participate in it unless the whole class is required to do so. I get to watch all the action without actually participating. Still doesn’t help the fact that it’s one of the loudest events ever. Everyone’s gonna be cheering and yelling at everything that is happening. I know this because the seniors, juniors and sophomores already had their Mini Olympics. Now it’s the freshmen’s turn. I’m gonna have a headache after this…

We already planned all the games, and everyone in our homeroom already signed up for which events they’d be doing. Now the actual event starts today. Dogday gave me soundproof headphones. It’s a nice gesture, but I’d still hear the thoughts of around 100 students in a single room. Bubba and Bobby are the announcers of the entire thing. I’m the scorekeeper. Dogday’s the coach. Pretty solid lineup if you ask me. Bubba walked into the gym full of students. He has a mic in hoof.

“Hello everybody. I’m Bubba.”

“HELLO BUBBAPHANT SIR!”

“Okay? Anyways, and I’m here with my co-announcer, Bobby.”

We’re already at the loud cheering part when she came in. 

“ Wow! Everyone’s already cheering. Did something happen?”

“Hi everyone! We’re excited to host the Freshmen Mini Olympics today! We have a lot of games planned today, so I wanna hear your best cheers! Each class will be going against each other! We have four classes! First, give it up for Class 1!”

Everyone cheers. Just to say, I’m in Class 3 along with all my other friends. Bobby introduced all the classes, and cheers followed after every time. Seriously, it’s just introductions. No need for all the yelling.

“Okay! Now with that out of the way, Bubba! What’s the first activity?”

“ Guess everyone’s really enthusiastic about this! This is making me so happy!”

Would it break her heart if she realized everyone was only cheering for her?

“Well, okay. The first event of this evening will be dodgeball. Class 1 and Class 3 will go up against each other.”

Kickin, Hoppy and Picky along with some background characters come down from the bleachers. I do know their names. I just don’t feel like remembering them. Sorry Background Characters. 

“Alright! I bet I can beat everyone in that class!”

“I can do that, no problem!”

“Sure, Kicks. You can use your coolness to defeat everyone.”

“Hey! Being cool is my thing, but I’m also the best at dodgeball!”

“Since when?”

“Since gym class! You wouldn’t know since you’re in home ec!”

“Don’t diss home ec! Picky here is in it.”

“Guys, just get into positions. Bubba’s about to tell us the rules. And yeah, don’t diss cooking. It’s an important skill. Hoppy has more skills due to being part of the-“

“Whatever. Let’s see who our opponents are!”

Class 3 came down. From who I can recognize, it seems like our class will be having fun.

“Oh crap! We’re going up against Groddy the #1 Hater and his group!”

“Who the hell is Groddy??”

“You don’t know? I thought you were an athlete!”

“I am! I have a hard time remembering faces!”

“Well alright. He’s a strong jock in football who always wins the game! His reason for winning is always because he has a small grudge against any of the players of the opposing side! If you wronged him in some way, you are about to go through a rough time! He’s the #1 Hater! He likes no one and will tolerate nobody! Except his group mates, Icky and Unique! Floppy is also part of his group, but he’s not participating in this game. Icky is that angry-bird pig knockoff over there, and Unique is the party hat guy standing next to Groddy!”

“Okay, good to know.”

“ How can Kickin talk so fast?? From what I can understand, he’s the opposite of Bobby. Might as well beat him!”

I didn’t know Kickin had a good memory as well. I guess I don’t need to explain whoever Groddy is. Thank you Kickin. 

“Are we done with the talking?”

“Oh sorry, Bubs. Had to learn some things from Kicks here.”

“Okay then… The game of dodgeball is simple. You throw the ball and attempt to hit the opposing side. If you miss, they get to stay. If you land a hit, they are to stay outside of the arena until someone on their team catches a ball. Head shots are not allowed. You may only hold the ball for 6 seconds before you have to throw it at someone. No hitting anyone outside the arena. I don’t want a bloody trunk. The first team to have all their members out loses, and the winning team will move on to the Dodgeball finals. Is that clear?”

Both teams nod. It was pretty easy to understand. I’m supposed to keep track of who’s out and who’s in, so I’ll put in my best effort. 

 “Okay Dogday. When they’re ready, blow the whistle.”

Dogday goes up to the arena. He placed all the balls down in a single line. I’m just standing near our class bleacher. 

“Alrighty! We will start in three, two, one, go!”

Everyone starts to grab a ball and throw them at each other.

“ Hey Catnap!”

Oh, hey Crafty. Didn’t know you were sitting there. 

“ I just want to see a good view of the arena. I want to support our class, so it’s easier to be in the front seats, y’know?”

Yeah, I guess that’s true. Looks like you can easily see Kickin too.

“ Oh, really? I never knew that! What a coincidence! Guess I chose a good seat, hehe… stop looking at me like that…”

Hehe, sorry. It’s kinda obvious what your intentions are, even if you are talking to me through your mind.

“ What do you mean by that??”

Nothing. You can probably guess. 

“… shut up…”

You’re turning pink.

“ Sh! I don’t want to hear that coming from you! Fine, I may have a crush on Kickin, but it’s not like your crush on Dogday!”

Hold your horses, Crafty. Sorry, weird phrase to use. I don’t know if I actually do like Dogday that way. Sure, he’s a pretty nice guy with a heartwarming smile, cute eyes, beautiful fur, soft muscles, adorable laugh, lovable personality and charming traits that make him all the more cuter, but I’m still not sure if I actually have a crush on him or not. He’s the one with a bigger crush.

“… Are you serious? That was basically a confession. You even had sparkles in your eyes when describing him.”

That’s not true. Is it?

“ Yeah, you can’t see it, but I can. Your face is even becoming more red from talking about him.”

I just described his best traits. It’s embarrassing to admit them. Anyone would be when describing one’s best traits. Right?

“ Uh huh. Sure.”

I need to focus on the game. I haven’t seen who got out.

“ Hehe, okay. You do that.”

I bring my focus back onto the game. Crafty gave me more confusion than before. Dogday was staring in our direction. He’s jealous again.

“ I promised I wouldn’t get jealous, but they’re doing that staring thing again. I want to be with him right now! I know Crafty’s just friends with him, but I can’t help but be jealous…  she wouldn’t do that, right? I don’t want anyone to take my kitty!”

“Kitty”… I'm warming up to that nickname. No one needs to know though. I wave to him. He happily waves back. He goes over to me.

“Hey Catnap! I don’t think you can see the game from there. You wanna watch the game with me? You can keep track easier!”

That’s true. Going closer to the game would be easier. Plus, going with him will ease his jealousy. 

He brought me to where he was standing. Oh wow. Our team is already mostly gone. Hoppy and Picky are the only ones left standing. Kickin sat defeated in a seat like he died or something. How did he get so beat up from dodgeball??

“It appears that Class 3 is struggling against the brutes of Class 1! The bear over there took out most of the team! You think they’re gonna make a comeback, Bubba?”

“ You can do this Hoppy! I believe in you!”

“Well, unless they miraculously catch a ball from the fireballs he’s making, I doubt they can keep dodging.”

“ If I know Picky, she’d probably catch it by pure luck. She’s been a pretty lucky person ever since we were little, but we’ll see.”

I look over to the other team. Both teams have five members. Now Class 1 has four and Class 3 has two. We ain’t doing so hot.

“ Okay, Hoppy. You just gotta keep this going. I won’t lose to someone that looks similar to Bobby! This jock’s about to go down!”

“Yo, Hoppy!”

Groddy held a dodgeball in his hand. A devious smirk appeared on his face. I can see why some people fear him. 

“You stepped on my shoe yesterday, and I didn’t appreciate that. I ain’t showing no mercy.”

“I did?”

“Oh yeah you did.”

“Sorry then, bro. I didn’t notice.”

“Alright then. Still gonna throw this ball at you. It was my favorite shoe.”

“ I don’t have a reason to hate, but her energy is bugging me.”

Picky looked around. 

“ Is there a specific target I can hit? That horse with the party hat is open. I could hit them.”

Groddy threw the ball at Hoppy, but Picky quickly caught it. Wow. That was pure luck.

“ Woah, I caught the ball! Sweet! Now I gotta get that horse over there.”

Uniquecorn, huh? They’re a pretty average student. They’re the type of person I want to be. Just living a peaceful and average life. Though they are pretty down on themselves due to being so normal. They try to be, well, unique. I saw them join the art club, and Crafty did talk about them briefly during one of our lunch hangouts. They’re improving in their art, I heard. I’ll give them credit, it’s impressive.

Picky aimed the ball at Unique and threw it hard. It shot straight through the air. Who knew she was that strong. Surprisingly, Groddy jumped in front of the ball, causing it to hit him firmly in the stomach. Unique ran over to him.

“Oh my god! No… why’d you stop it?!”

“Because… I owed you five bucks for letting me borrow a pen… and also because you’re my bro. I tolerate ya man…”

“ I got bored. I need to sit down to get some energy rolling.”

“You never say that to anyone…”

“I’ll remember that…”

“ It was the truth. They don’t need to know that though. Gotta keep my hateful ass hating.”

“Goodbye Unique… win this for us… bleh.”

“Groddy!!!”

This is dodgeball, by the way. Dogday blew the whistle, making Groddy out. Class 1 just lost their mvp. We might have a chance. Kickin got back into the game.

“Wow! Now the teams are even. Picky got a good catch on that ball! And she even got Class 1’s best player out! Let’s keep on cheering!”

Bobby is really good at being an announcer. Everyone cheers.

“Alright! Three vs Three! We can totally win this!”

“Nice job, Picks! You got Kicks back in the game! And you got the #1 Hater out! We got this in the bag.”

“Well, no problem!”

“ My plan failed successfully I guess. I’ll just try again.”

Dogday blew the whistle again, and the game continued. Kickin landed a blow on Class 1 Background Character, making it two vs three. 

“Yes! We about to sweep them up!”

“Let’s not get too cocky, Kickin. We do need to get these two out.”

“Well, it’s only that pig and horse, so we’ll be alright, I think.”

Picky threw her ball at Unique. They dodged rather quickly. Icky threw a ball at Picky, hitting her in the process. Dogday blew the whistle, making Picky out. Oh right, I forgot to talk about Icky.

He’s a very picky student. Hehe “picky”. Sorry. Anyways, I always see him not eating anything during lunch due to the food being “downright disgusting”. His words, not mine. I wouldn’t say the food here is bad. It could be worked upon. We don’t need pickles or cucumbers in every single meal. It’s ridiculous. He is also in our home ec class, which is weird because he doesn’t like to eat anything. Guess he wanted to cook a meal of his own taste.

“Oh no! Seems like Class 3 lost another great player! Will Hoppy and Kickin be able to win this match?”

“Well Bobby, if by all accounts that Class 1 can take out Picky, Class 3 will definitely struggle. Of course, we are talking about Hoppy and Kickin, so we might see them win this game if they were to make a strategy.”

“Picks got out. Now it’s us two against them! Kicks, we gotta stay standing!”

“You’re right! I ain’t letting nobody take me down.”

He took a glance at Crafty. She smiled and waved at him. 

“ I suddenly feel a surge of energy! I’ll win this for her!”

Hoppy looked at Bobby. She whispered something. Probably “you can do it”.

“ I won’t let you down, Bobby! I’ll win this for her!”

At least they have the same kind of goal for winning this game. Dogday blew the whistle again, starting the game up again. Unique instantly threw a dodgeball at them, but they quickly dodged. Kickin grabbed a dodgeball and threw it at Icky, but he missed. This earned him a ball to the face. Since that is not allowed, Kickin got to stay. Icky got sat down, making only one student left in Class 1 standing. Seriously, I don’t get the appeal for these kinds of games.

“Seems like we are close to the end of the game! Class 3 is on the brink of winning the first game of the Mini Olympics! Will they succeed?”

“In my humble opinion, I believe they will. I am hoping to go on the trip. I may get my money's worth.”

“You said it Bubba!”

“Alright, Kicks. We need to get that horse down. We will win this…”

“ For Bobby ”

“Yes ma’am! We will get that theme park trip, no matter what…”

“For Crafty”

Crazy how we are still in the first game. I’m not sure how the second and third game will even happen considering this has been the main event so far. They get into position, and the game starts. Kickin and Hoppy just started rapidly throwing balls at them, but they somehow dodged all of them. At this point, Bubba should probably just end this and let Class 3 win. 

“Crap! We ran out of balls!”

“Dude, we are so toast.”

“It was a nice battle, Kicks.”

“Yeah, you were a good teammate, Hoppy.”

Unique picked up a ball.

“ Alright, you can do this Unique. Groddy is depending on you to win this!”

They closed their eyes and breathed in. They held it in the air. With confidence, they opened their eyes and threw the ball. It flew in a straight line until suddenly doing a curveball. Now it’s coming towards me. Before Kickin and Hoppy could process, Dogday jumped in front of me, getting hit by the curveball in the process. He collapsed onto the floor.

“C-Catnap…”

Again with the dramatics. I went over to him. 

“Blow the whistle for me… I don’t think I have much time…”

“ I managed to save him…”

You only got hit by a dodgeball, you goofball . He gives me his whistle. Do I just go along with this?

“I have something to tell you…”

Well what is it? 

“I…I love you, Catnap… You’re the best friend I could ever ask for…”

“ And the most beautiful critter I fell in love with…”

He then pretended to pass out in my arms. I love you too bud. Could’ve confessed but oh well. I can wait. I got up and blew the whistle. Unique goes out, and the crowd goes wild. 

“There you have it folks! Class 3 wins due to Class 1 accidentally hitting a class officer! They’ll make it to the finals!”

“ A bit anticlimactic for my taste, but Hoppy at least won!”

“Congratulations, Class 3. One step closer to getting a chance for a free trip.”

“ I didn’t expect that to happen, but I don’t know what else to expect. Thank god. I thought we would’ve been stuck here for a while.”

Then maybe you should’ve put a time limit. Crafty ran over to Kickin as the both of them returned, and she gave him a hug.

“Good job, Kickin! I knew you could do it!”

“ He didn’t really get any hits, but I’m still proud of him! Don’t tell him that, Catnap.”

Wasn’t gonna.

“O-Oh! Thanks, Crafts! I just did my thing, y’know.”

“ A hug from Crafty. Nice!”

That marks the end of the first round of dodgeball. I gave Dogday his whistle back as he got up. A strange feeling popped up in me. Again with these feelings. Why am I feeling so… flustered by using the whistle?

…Oh. I indirectly kissed him. He used the whistle several times before I used it. A strange thing to be so flustered about. A lot of people use things after someone else already uses them. It’s not like I actually kissed him. Though, it would be nice… 

Woah. Stop that Catnap. I need to calm down. I’m losing focus. Uh, back to the Mini Olympics.

I could talk about the game between Class 2 and Class 4, but I don’t feel like it. Class 2 won. Classes 2 and 3 went against each other for the finals. Hoppy, Kickin and Picky swept Class 2 off, earning Class 3 the lead. With dodgeball out of the way, now the second event will start. 

Chapter Text

A long rope was strung along the gym. A game of tug of war was next for the second event. Usually tug of war is supposed to be the last event for these kinds of things, but I guess they wanted to change it up. 

“Alright everyone! We have a game of Tug of War for our second event! Who’s excited?!”

Everyone cheers after Bobby.

“Well, we all know the rules of Tug of War, but I might as well explain it. Each side will have seven students pulling on both ends of the rope. Whoever can pull the opposite side past the mark will earn points and move on to finals. Class 1 and Class 3 will go up against each other once again.”

Picky, Hoppy, Kickin, Crafty and some background characters come down from the bleachers. From what I can see, Groddy will be coming back. He brought along some orange cat, Icky, a pink elephant and Unique.

“So wait, what are we doing again?”

“We are doing Tug of War, Dumba. Bubba just announced that.”

“Oh right! I just pull the rope right?”

“Uh, yeah, that’s basically the point.”

“Wow! You’re so smart, Unique!”

“Thanks…”

“ How is she even in high school??”

“Well guys! Let’s get our grind on! I drank around fifty cups of caffeine, so I’m all prepared!”

“Ew… Caffeine tastes so disgusting…”

“Weren’t you supposed to be on some diet, blabbermouth? You can’t have coffee.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about!”

Catfeine and Dumba. Right, those were their names. All I know about Catfeine is that she’s a coffee addict. She was banned from multiple coffee shops due to the addiction. That’s all I know. Dumba, however, is known to be, well, super dumb. She somehow is in high school. Don’t ask me how. I just remember her flunking every test due to always making some origami instead of actually doing the tests. She’s friends with some chicken named Wimpin. Catfeine is very close to a dog named Dogpressed. Both of them aren’t participating. 

I stood close to Dogday to observe the whole thing. So far, Class 3 is in the lead. Class 2 is second. Class 1 is third. Class 4 is fourth. Funny how that happened.

“Alright! Start when Dogday blows the whistle!”

Counting down to three, he blew the whistle, and both sides put all their efforts into pulling. 

Crafty was in front. Her hair was tied into a ponytail. Kickin was behind her. 

“ Thank you Lord for giving me this awesome position!”

Guess he feels lucky to have that spot. Hoppy was behind some background characters as Picky pulled at the end.

“ Dang! They’re really strong!”

“Yo, Picks! How are you doing at the end?”

When I looked over, she’s struggling. Her feet were grounded into the floor as she held the rope tightly. I still don’t get how hooves work. 

“I’m doing just f-fine! I’ll pull through!”

“ This is getting hard to pull! I’m about to slip any moment now!”

Should I help them out? I could use telekinesis to pull the rope with them, but it would look suspicious. I look at Dogday. He seems so adamant on watching the game.

“ Come on, come on! They can do this! I believe they can do it!”

I guess it can’t hurt to help them out. I use telekinesis to pull where Picky was pulling. Gotta make the strongest look like the strongest. Though I can’t pull too hard. Otherwise, the other team would fly up into the air.

“ Huh. It’s suddenly easier to pull. Maybe this is our chance!”

She pulled harder. Crafty was working up a sweat as she pulled on the rope. 

“ Why did I decide to do Tug of War… maybe dodgeball was the better option…”

“Yo Craft! You doing good? You look like you’re struggling!”

“Well, we are pulling rope against a very strong class. I would say that I’m doing fine, but I’d be lying. This is difficult. What about you, Kickin?”

“I’m obviously doing great! Tug of War has been a strong suit of mine if I do say so myself.”

She turned to look at him. He was sweating bullets.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Yep! It’s just hot in here.”

“It’s October?”

“Must be the heater then, hehe.”

“ I think I’m starting to get rope burns. Why is it so hard to keep pulling?! Just how strong are these guys?!”

I’m doing my best to help out. Pulling the rope with telekinesis is kinda hard considering I have to hold back. 

“ Kickin is kinda cute when he’s like this. Oh shoot wait. Catnap can read my thoughts. Just focus on the game Crafty.”

On the other side, Class 1 is putting their all into pulling. 

“You guys better not slack! I’ll punch you guys if you don’t pull!”

“Am I pulling the right way?”

“Well, yeah, you are”

“That's good! Thanks Unique!”

“Just doing what I know best.”

“ Is that a saying? I’m not sure.”

“I’m doing just grand here! The coffee is helping a lot!”

“Where the hell did you get a coffee cup??”

“That’s a secret!”

“ Gotta thank Dogpressed later! She’s the best at coffee making!”

This is so silly. I’ll just focus on pulling the rope-

Dogday suddenly brought me close with one arm around my shoulder. I think my heart skipped a beat. 

“Pst Catnap! Do you think they’ll win? Picky looks like a tomato right now! You think she’ll be able to pull through?”

“ This is so intense! It looks like we’re gonna lose! I won’t lose hope for them though!”

Why does my face feel so hot?? What’s going on?? Oh crap wait! The rope-

Class 1 flies up into the air. Oops.

Bubba and Bobby just stare up in shock as they slowly land back onto the floor. Dogday, also flabbergasted by the strange turn of events, blew the whistle. 

“Um, Class 3 wins?”

“How the hell did that happen?? Are you guys lucky or something?!”

Groddy pointed at our class in frustration. Unique just put their hoof on his shoulder.

“Let’s just accept our loss. Class 3 is just too good for us.”

“We’ll beat them next time…”

Groddy and his crew begrudgingly walk back to the bleachers. Hoppy and the others celebrated their win.

“We won! We won! Good job you guys!”

“We might actually have a chance at winning that trip! Man, we are so cool.”

“Yeah, I think my hooves need some resting though. Wouldn’t wanna make them sore.”

“I agree. I’m so tired! We do still have one last Tug of War game though…”

“ I can’t believe Catnap is that strong when using telekinesis! I should take that as a mental note.”

Crafty knew I did that. I should probably rest. 

“Wow! We actually won!”

Dogday turned to me. 

“Hey, are you okay? You’re all red and stuff. Are you sick?”

I wouldn’t call it sick. More like I’m embarrassed by the whole situation. He suddenly brought his forehead up to mine. 

“Hmmm… you seem fine. Well, I hope you feel better regardless!”

“ He’s warm, but not warm enough that makes him sick. I’m glad. Wait… I’m so close to him!”

Now Dogday is suddenly turning red. He quickly pulled away.

“Oh shoot! Sorry! I just wanted to check your temperature!”

“ Darn instincts again! I gotta stop!”

It’s alright. I would’ve been okay if we stayed like that. It was nice…

“Maybe you should sit down. Classes 2 and 4 are about to go against each other. Some rest should be good!”

“ I don’t want him feeling too sick! Maybe he’s tired. He always feels warmer whenever he’s tired.”

That sounds like a good idea. I did use a lot of energy. He sat me down next to Bobby and Bubba. He went back to his spot and blew the whistle.  

“ Hey Catnap! Heard you were pretty tired! Did you get enough sleep last night?”

“ Strange that he’s tired. He’s always sleeping during science. Maybe…”

Bobby went to my ear.

“Or did Dogday do something~?”

Stop it. This is so stupid. 

“ He’s hiding his face! Oh, I knew it! they’re so cute together!”

“Bobby, don’t tease him. He’s trying to keep score.”

Thank you Bubba. Wait, tease? Does he think I have a crush too??

“ From his behavior, it’s safe to assume he’s having complicated feelings for Dogday. We shouldn’t meddle though. I believe Catnap needs some time to think.”

Great. Bubba is one of them now. I can hear the whistle blow. Seems like Class 2 won again. I need to lay my head down onto the table. Maybe I can take a nap…

Hoppy Hopscotch’s POV

Alright! Let’s win this! We got Picks on the back, me in front of her, Kicks front of me, and Crafts at the very front. I’ll make sure to win this! Bobs is watching us after all!

“Let’s do this! We managed to make them fly, so we’ll do it again!”

“You bet! We just got that kind of power!”

“Yep! We can do this! Try not to sweat so much though, Kickin.”

“Like I said, the heater is making the gym hot!”

“But the heater isn’t on-“

“Sh! We gotta focus on the game!”

If you ask me, Kicks should totally get together with Crafts. Not like I’m a matchmaker though. It’s just that obvious. He’s a really bad liar. 

Days blew the whistle, and we already started pulling. We made Class 1 fly, so surely we can make Class 2 fly even higher! Though with that guy on their team, it will be rough. That dragon’s gonna fly without wings though! 

We pull and pull with all our might! Wait hold on. I feel my feet dragging forward! Oh crap! This ain’t looking good for us! I look over and see Naps is napping while Bobs and Bubs watches us in anticipation.

I. Will. Not. Lose!!!

“We need to pull harder!!”

I look over to Picks, and she’s strugglin’. She’s our strongest player! Oh this ain’t looking so hot.

My hands burn, but we will win!! 

Now all of our team is being dragged forward! Damn! The mark’s ‘bout to cross into their side! 

Back to Me

I hear the whistle again. How long was I out? Class 2 won this time. Huh. I slept through the entire final round. Sorry. 

“Seems like Class 2 has won! Congratulations!”

“ Aw man, I really thought we’d win this one. Oh well, gotta support everyone here!”

“Very surprising since Class 3 managed to sweep Class 1 off the floor. Literally. We will take a minute for a break. The final event will have every student participate.”

Bobby ran over to Hoppy.

“Oh wow! Your hands are swollen! We should put some ice packs on those!”

“I-I’m sorry for l-losing…”

“ Damn it… I failed…”

Hoppy teared up as she hugged Bobby. Must’ve been devastating.

“Oh Hoppy… it’s okay! You put all your effort into winning this! No need to apologize.”

Hoppy was incoherently sobbing something, but I couldn't quite understand what she was trying to say.

“Sh Sh Sh Sh…. It’s gonna be okay. It’s only one loss.”

“B-But-”

“Nuh uh. Don’t you dare try and shame yourself. You tried your best and that’s all that matters. Let’s take a rest over at the bleachers. Okay?”

“ I won’t let her devalue herself. She’s my best friend. I can’t allow that to happen.”

“O-Okay…”

She walked Hoppy over to the bleachers with a water bottle in hand. That’s nice for them. I guess I gotta go prepare for myself. The last event will be a drag to go through. Break will only last for a couple minutes. Might as well save some energy.

Chapter Text

“The third and final event of the Mini Olympics will be a race! The twist is that your class will have to balance an egg on a spoon while running. You must pass the egg to each other without cracking it or breaking it. Doing so will cause your team to be disqualified from the race. The class officers will participate in this one, so Ms. Delight will be the one to oversee this one.”

“Thank you, class president! Well then, I’ll just whistle at anyone if they are breaking the rules. I’ll be just a coach here, so no announcing here! Sorry.”

“ I could be grading papers, but this is a yearly event. Might as well help out!”

Ugh, I’m required to run again. I’m getting flashbacks to when I met Hoppy. At least I’ll only run for a short distance. Balancing an egg would be tough though. Don’t ask about the eggs here in this world. I don't really know myself.

I get into my position. I’m last to go, so I can just stand here and wait. I don’t know why class officers had to join in, but complaining won’t do anything now. We planned this entire thing, and the Egg Race was the only activity that seemed challenging yet “fun” to do for the final event. It would’ve been a triathlon, but the school, for some reason, didn’t have a swimming pool. I’m grateful for that, honestly. 

“Alright, runners! On the count of three, you run! One… Two… Three… Go!”

The background characters instantly ran down on the track. The eggs somehow are still on the spoons as they keep running. I mean, I know why our egg hasn’t fallen. I’m using telekinesis to keep it glued down onto the spoon until they pass it on to someone else. I wouldn’t count it as cheating. I’m just helping out my team, that’s all.

Hoppy received the egg from a background character and zoomed down the track. Her hands were already healed. We’re just fast at healing. Someone from Class 2 was tied with her as they ran. 

“ Damn this guy is fast! He’s practically flying!! Good thing our egg still hasn’t fallen. I won’t be beaten!!”

Maybe because he is flying. The guy’s a dragon, so he’ll obviously be a little fast. Hoppy almost dropped the egg, but I levitated it back onto the spoon before she noticed. She basically handed it over to Kickin.

“Nice job, bro. You were a good competitor. I’ll be the winner next time!”

“Oh, uh, thank you? I think your egg is on fire…”

“Hm?”

She turned to see Kickin frantically try to extinguish the lit egg without breaking it.

“Oh crap! How did that happen?!”

Good grief. I’ll just quietly extinguish it using the wind. The egg goes back to normal.

“ Oh wow! Blowing on it actually worked! I guess I’m just that great.”

Don’t let it get to your head.

“KICKS!!! GO!!!!”

“Oh crap! Sorry!”

He ran down the track, trying to catch up to the other racers. Hoppy ran alongside him to support. At least he isn’t last. I can see another chicken trying to catch up as well. She’s shaking like crazy. He passed the egg to a background character. Hoppy ran with the background character as Kickin caught his breath.

“Phew… at least the egg is alright. We’ll definitely win this!”

“W-We’ll see about that. Class 1 will win the trip…”

“Yeah, well, we did win against them in dodgeball and tug of war. Not gonna lie, I think we have the bigger advantage.”

“Y-You’re right… I’m sorry…”

“ I shouldn’t have said anything… what if he bullies me??”

“Nah you part of Class 1. We all have confidence in our own classes. Don’t worry about it!”

“ What is she so scared for? I just pointed out the obvious.”

Kickin followed Hoppy. The background characters gave each other the eggs, and Bubba was next to receive the egg. When he got it, he ran down the track. Everyone instinctively ran slower to let him through. 

“ I’m not gonna question it. At least I’m in the lead right now! Just gotta keep the egg from falling.”

Keeping the egg balanced with telekinesis is tiring. I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep it steady by the time it gets to me. Dogday received the egg next.

“Good job Bubba! I won’t let you down!”

“Yep… Don’t trip… Let me catch my breath…”

“ Been a while since I ran that fast…”

“You should take a water break! I’ll get going now!”

“Good luck…”

“ Sounds like a good idea. I need a drink.”

Looks like I’ll see the Dogday Rush again. Bubba went over to drink from his water bottle as Dogday bolted down the track, holding the spoon in his mouth, practically running on all fours. Hoppy, Kickin and, eventually, Bubba attempted to follow after him. The teacher is just looking at all this confused.

“ Do I blow the whistle or…?”

I should probably use my gaslight ability.

“ Running on all fours is allowed. Bubba and the rest of the group running are just supporting their class. You do not need to blow the whistle.”

Doing that while trying to keep the egg on the spoon is exhausting. 

“ Ah well. I’ll just keep watching.”

Phew. Good. That’s good.

“Go Dogday! You can do it man!”

“Yeah Day! Keep that dog run up!”

“I didn’t think that you could go that fast! Keep it going!”

He outran all the other students, even Catfeine, and handed the egg over to Bobby safely.

“Here you go! Good luck!”

“Thank you! I’ll give my all!”

“ Wow! It’s impressive how he can run that fast without dropping the egg!”

You’re welcome for that. She ran down the track as others also ran slower for her. This time it’s out of adoration rather than intimidation. Popularity gets you to the top. 

“ Hm, strange. Everyone’s going slowly. I guess Hoppy’s right! I can be fast!”

Good for you, Bobby. She confidently held the spoon delicately in front of her as she ran. The egg was somewhat balanced, so I guess I can save some energy.  

“GO BOBS!!! WOOOH!!!”

“Geez, Hoppy. You don’t gotta scream it out.”

“I’m supporting my girl, Kicks. You wouldn’t get it.”

“Oh I think he does.”

“Shut it, Bubba.”

“Guys! Bobby made it!”

She gave it to Picky.

“Here’s the egg! You can do this, Picky!”

“ Does she not realize her popularity? Maybe that’s for the best.”

“I’ll be on my way then! Can’t chat for long you know?”

“Oh of course!”

At this point, small chat feels unnecessary. Not my place to say though. I’m not the chatty type, as you can tell.

Picky ran down with perfect balance. Bobby joined the others in their support run. Class 4 dropped their egg as they ran, causing it to break in the process. Ms. Delight blew the whistle, making Class 4 out. Don’t think I did that. They accidentally did that on their own. Like I said, I’m only helping out my team only. I’m not gonna sabotage others. Class 4 did well considering we were almost done with the last event. Only me and Crafty are left to receive the egg.

Crafty received the egg. 

“ You did well, Picky. No small chat required.”

“ Agreed.”

You guys can just talk telepathically?? 

“ Picky actually responded to my thoughts??”

Nevermind. I guess Picky can just pick up on things easily. You should probably start running. Sorry, didn’t mean to sound ominous. 

“ That’s a good idea.”

She ran down the track while holding the spoon. Picky joined up with the others. She was doing pretty good until she suddenly tripped. I can’t make it look like our egg was glued onto the spoon, so I’ll make it look like the egg flew out of the spoon with telekinesis. The egg “flew” off the spoon and landed safely onto the ground. There’s no cracks on it. She should be fine. It was an accident anyways, I think. The others check up on her.

“Craft! You okay?!”

“Yeah… Is the egg fine..?”

“Well, yeah, but that’s not the problem! We need to see if you have any injuries!”

“Guys, I’m fine. I have knee pads and other protective gear just in case something like this happened!”

“Oh, phew. At least you’re good.”

Groddy arrived and gave his egg to Floppy.

“Get going! We gotta win!”

“ Now Class 3 is behind! Tripping her was the right call. We’ll surely get the win now.”

Oh. Well that changes a lot of things. It’s also a perfect opportunity to enact my revenge for that attempted curveball from Class 1. I know it was unintentional, but I like to be petty sometimes. 

I make the egg explode in the spoon. Yolk splattered onto Floppy’s face. He didn’t seem too bothered by it. The teacher was clearly confused, but she blew the whistle nonetheless.

“What the hell just happened?? The egg exploded??? I guess that makes them out?? What in physics just happened??”

Well I just made it explode. I’m not gonna bother explaining it, but it has to do with heat and stuff like that. Class 1 is officially out. 

“What happened over there?”

“I’m not sure…”

“Well we have no time! Get up! We need to win this!”

“Oh right!”

Crafty quickly scooped the egg up with the spoon and ran down the track. I just held my spoon out. What else can I do except hope that Crafty can make it in time? She gave the egg to me.

“ You can do this!”

Well thank you Crafty. I’ll just make my way to the finish line now. I ran down the track as fast as I could. Now all my friends were behind me. I’m still using telekinesis to keep the egg on the spoon.

“GO CATNAP GO!!!! I BELIEVE IN YOU!!!!”

“You can do it dude! Don’t even think about the other competitor!”

“Go Catnap! The finish line is just right there!”

“You can win this, Naps! Run with all your might!”

“Just look straight ahead, Catnap! All your hard work will pay off in the end!”

“You can do it, Catnap!”

“Yeah! Just keep your eye on the target!”

It’s nice to have such supportive friends. I can see the finish line. A Class 2 student is right beside me. We ran straight toward the line. I think I can make it-

Oh crap!

Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow.

I tripped and tumbled across the floor. The egg still sat on the spoon. At least it got me ahead. I gotta get up. Oh wait… I’m all washed up. My energy is all gone from using so much telekinesis and such. I’ll just crawl. The finish line is right there. Just gotta get there now.  My knees are a little scraped, but I’m alright. I’m a fast healer.

“CATNAP!! Oh my god are you okay?!”

“Wait Dogday. We can’t interfere with the race. We would break the rules otherwise.”

“B-But he’s hurt! I can’t just stand here helplessly and wait!”

“I think I can see Class 2 coming!”

Class 2 is coming up behind me.

“ Should I help? But if I do, we’ll lose. I can’t just win because he got injured! What should I do?”

At least you know he’s considering helping. I’m too tired to use my gaslighting ability, so I’ll let him decide.

“Do you think he might help Catnap?”

“Well if he does, he’ll basically throw away his chances at winning-”

“Hey, um, do you need help?”

The Class 2 student stopped in front of me. The others back off to try and not to interfere. He reached his hand out. 

“I can carry you to the finish line, and we can patch that up.”

“ I hope I’m making the right choice.”

I look at my egg. It’s still in one piece. I might as well. I grabbed his hand and got up. We just walked over to the finish line.

“I’m not sure who should go first. Rock paper scissors?”

That wouldn’t hurt. I can read his mind, so it’ll be an easy win.

“ Come on Catnap! You can win this!”

“He can read his mind, so he’ll win this!”

“Pick rock! That always got me the win!”

We played the game.

“ I’ll go with paper. Seems like that’s the smarter option.”

Sorry Class 2 student. I’m just helping my team win. I chose scissors, and, of course, he chose paper. 

“Ah, looks like I lost. You can go on ahead.”

“ I could just go, but he’s practically injured. I can’t take a win like that. Oh well, there’s always next year.”

Thank you, Class 2 student. I’ll always remember your kindness. I crossed the finish line, making Class 3 the winners of the Mini Olympics. Dogday ran over to me.

“Catnap! Are you okay? Do you need any bandages? Any medicine? Anything?”

“Dude, I think he’s alright. A band-aid will do.”

“ He’s worrying so much over a scraped knee. Guess that’s what having a crush is like.”

No, he’s just like that.

“Oh, that’s good.”

“We should wipe it with an alcohol wipe just in case. We don’t want the wound to get infected.”

“Then let’s get him somewhere to sit!”

He carried me bridal style over to the bleachers and sat me down. Bubba wiped the wound. It stinged a little. Dogday patted my head as that happened. I don’t really need it, but it’s nice regardless. Oh god. I feel that vibration again.

“Oh my god! Did Catnap just purr?! Awwww! That’s so cute!”

“Yep! He does it when he feels very comfortable.”

“ I think he does. He always does it whenever I’m hugging or petting him.”

“Well, it’s very adorable!”

“Yeah, it is…”

“ I wish I could hear him purr for an eternity.”

That’s an awfully long time. Bubba patched the wound up.

“Well, the purr is cute, but I would like to also congratulate all of us for winning the Mini Olympics!”

Everyone cheers for our victory. Class 1 just stared in dismay.

“Could’ve been us.”

“You did trip someone.”

“Shut it Unique, it was for the win.”

“W-We should not be tripping anyone to win!”

“You said something, Wimpin?”

“no.”

“We’ll win next year! Don’t you worry guys!”

“We better. Floppy, you have got to at least try next time! You barely did anything.”

“Whatever…”

While they were bickering, I’m being thrown up into the air and getting caught by all my friends.

‘Hip, Hip, Hooray! Hip, Hip, Hooray!”

Why am I being thrown up into the air? 

“ You were the one that led us to our victory.”

Fair enough. Bubba and Bobby go over to the microphones.

“Well, that’s all for the Mini Olympics! We thank you for joining us today for this wonderful event! Class 3 will have their theme park trip within a few weeks.”

“It was wonderful to have everyone here! Thank you for playing with us! We hope you have a fantastic day and night!”

As all the other classes leave, Class 3 discussed their plans for celebration. Do we really need more celebrations?

“We should hold a party!”

“How about karaoke?”

“We would need to find a good karaoke place…”

“How about this one?!”

“Ooh that’s good! Then we will go to karaoke!”

“Yeah!”

That was a fast decision. Karaoke huh? Probably gonna be another headache.

“Hey Catnap, do you want to come? I know you don’t like to sing, but you can just watch!”

Well, if Dogday is inviting me, why would I refuse? Plus, I can just watch them sing like he said. I guess I can come. If they don’t have anything sweet, then I’m leaving instantly.

Chapter Text

The karaoke place is not too far from school. Just take a bus and voila, you arrived at your destination. It’s across the street from the mall. Everyone from Class 3 went in. Bubba paid for all the expenses. Thank you Bubba. Somehow, everyone can fit inside the party room. I guess that’s not that surprising since we are a somewhat small group. 

“Should we order something first, or do we just start singing our hearts out?!”

“Slow down Kicks. I wanna get me a good pizza for our victory!”

“Try not to get too much though. I think two servings would be good for everyone.”

“You got it, Picks! I’ll just grab the menu right here. Excuse me, Bobs.”

“Oh! We should get some drinks too! I want to try the milkshakes!”

“Don’t get anything too expensive. My wallet won’t be able to afford so much.”

“Yes Bubbaphant sir!”

“Just call me Bubba.”

“Yes Bubba sir!”

“ At least it’s a change.”

I grab a menu. Let’s see… the Triple Decker Fruit Parfait sounds good. I’ll order that once everyone has already ordered their things. Dogday looked over my shoulder to see the menu as well. 

“Hmm… I think I’ll just get some watermelon juice. You wanna get that one, right?”

“ I’ll order it for him! He always likes sweet stuff!”

He pointed to the parfait. You know me well, my lovable friend. I nod.

“Okay! I’ll go tell them to order it for you. I know you don’t like loud noises, so I still have the soundless headphones just in case, okay?”

“ Maybe I should get a parfait as well. Sounds like a nice treat! And I can eat it with Catnap! It’ll be nice to see him eat it. He’s always so cute when eating sweets…”

He goes over to Hoppy and gives her our order.

What would I do without him? He understands me very well. If we were to become a thing, he’d probably be the best boyfriend anyone can ask for. It’d be awesome. I’ll wait until then though. I’m still confused about my feelings. Don’t blame me, I never had these sort of feelings before. Maybe I should focus on what’s going on right now.

“Okay! I’ll start first! I chose this awesome song from my favorite artist, Ado! Bear with me!”

“ Gotta add the pun! I hope my Japanese singing is good!”

“YEAH!!!”

Where did everyone get a glowstick? Why is Hoppy covered in them?? Whatever, let me see what song she chose. “Usseewa”? It’s Japanese, so I can’t understand it. Sounds like a loud song. Probably should grab those soundless headphones.

“Hm? Oh! Do you need headphones? Of course!”

Dogday rummaged through his school bag.

“Here you go! You can sit here!”

He pat the seat next to him. I sat down and took the headphones. At least it’ll block out any outside noise. The inside thoughts will still be heard though, so it’ll be just like any other day. Just more cheer.

“ Alright, here it goes!”

She started the song.

Yeah I can’t understand anything she’s singing. She’s a pretty good singer. It’s extremely loud though. I put on the soundless headphones. I can still hear a faint scream here. Hoppy is going at it with the glowsticks. It’s basically a live concert here, and I’ve never been to a concert before. Dogday had earplugs in due to the loud noise, which is understandable since he has sensitive ears.

After Bobby finished, everyone cheered. 

“Thank you! Who’s next?”

“ I didn’t think I actually did that well. Oh well! Everyone liked it!”

It was a good performance. A background character goes up as Hoppy’s staring at Bobby with awe.

“I think I’m in love…”

“Dude calm down, you already were.”

“Wha- How did you know?!”

“It’s pretty obvious. Us cool guys can see romance between anyone. It’s okay, I support you guys. I like girls too.”

“…okay? Well I know who your crush is! It’s-“

“Woah woah woah woah woah! Don’t say anything! I’ll stay quiet about your crush!”

“ Crafty’s right there! I can’t let her know I have a crush! Not yet at least…”

“What’s this about crushes?”

Bobby stood over them.

“EEK! Uh, it’s nothing! Just talking about, uh, gushers! You misheard!”

“ That doesn’t even remotely sound like ‘crush’…”

“Oh! That’s interesting.”

“ She was definitely talking about a crush! I wonder who…”

“I'm going to choose my song. You two get toge- I mean- sit together. Bobby, take my place.”

“ I wanna see what Crafty’s going to do for karaoke!”

“Okay! See you Kickin!”

Hoppy’s a blushing mess right now. I’ll let them be. She’ll be fine. I look over to Kickin and Crafty.

“Hey Craft! You going to sing?”

“Oh hi Kickin! Um, I’m not really sure. I’m not that good at singing.”

“ I don’t want to embarrass myself in front of everyone. It’s not like art where I can hide myself.”

“Nonsense! I’m sure you’d be a great singer! Take it from me. I’m pretty great at singing jazz songs, if you dig.”

“ I only sang a song once and it was pretty decent. I can probably impress her!”

I don’t think singing only once will improve your skills. Not that I can sing anyways. Maybe it might impress her.

“Oh, then…. I might sing this one.”

“ I’ll just ignore Catnap. A TV show theme song wouldn’t be bad, right?”

“Oh nice! I watched that show! Man, it was so good! I didn’t know you liked it.”

“I-It was just something I was interested in, and I just kinda… became a fan.”

“ Hm, if Crafty is a fan, then….”

“Yo, that’s cool! We should have a watch party! We can, like, watch all the episodes together!”

“Together? Like… you and me? Alone?”

“Uh, yeah? We’re both fans of the show, and we can talk about it!”

“So… you’re asking me out on a watch date?”

It took a couple of seconds, but Kickin finally blushed into a deep red color. Probably darker than Bobby’s fur. Speaking of which, everyone stopped and looked at the two. Bobby squealed in excitement as Hoppy stared in shock. Bubba and Picky both looked at the pair while enjoying a drink of iced tea. Dogday had a surprised look on his face. 

Cute <3. 

You didn’t see that.

“I- Uh- Well- Um- Yeah! A date! You and me!”

“ Did I actually just ask her out on a watch party date?!?! That is such a lame first date! Stupid!”

“Then sure! We can watch it at your house. When do you wanna hold this ‘date’?”

“Uh…. This weekend?”

“Then it’s a deal! I’ll be very excited to come!”

“ Wow! A date with Kickin! Maybe karaoke isn’t so bad!”

Oh wow. That’s a first. Never expected Kickin to ask her out so soon. Bobby held Hoppy close as she jumped in excitement.

“Oh my god, oh my god! He actually asked her out! Can you believe it?!”

“Y-Yeah. Kicks, of all people!”

“ How the hell did he pull someone?! And he got a date before me?! Ain’t no way!!”

Kickin quickly gained his composure, at least he tried to.

“T-Then let’s sing this as a duet! I know all the lyrics since, y’know, I’m quite the singer!”

“Sure! Makes singing easier to do.”

“Awesome! I need to go to the bathroom. Be right back.”

“ I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it!!!! I actually got a date! I won at life!”

He quickly ran out of the room. I look over to Crafty. She’s processing everything that just happened.

“ ...I’m actually going on a date with Kickin. Not like a formal date or anything, but it’s a date. Wow… I gotta thank Catnap for winning. Oh wait I can! THANK YOU CATNAP!”

No problem? I guess? He did just say it without thinking.

“ Well yeah, but he still asked me out! I’ll tell you all the details once it happens!”

No thank you. I’m just surprised that you guys might be the first couple in this story.

“ What?”

Nothing. Just talking about the audience.

“ Well, regardless, thank you for winning!”

No problem. Bobby came over to Crafty.

“Congratulations! You got yourself a wonderful date! I’m so happy for you!!”

“ I didn’t get to use any of my plans for them, but oh well! They got together! At least, I think so?”

She gave her one of the biggest bearhugs ever.

“T-Thank you, Bobby…”

“ My back…”

Hoppy looked at them in jealousy.

“ Wish that were me…”

Wouldn’t want that to be me. A bearhug sounds like it’ll put me in a hospital bed. The only hugs I accept are from Dogday. His hugs are the best. Sorry Bobby.

Bubba selects a song and goes up to the front of the room. 

“I’m not that good at singing, so I hope you guys enjoy my attempt. I’ll be doing, uh, Sweet Caroline.”

Everyone paid attention. I think I can take the headphones off. Bubba sings his song with grace. He’s a decent singer. I’m just jamming with the music using a tambourine. I don’t know if I’m actually following the rhythm or not, I’m just liking the music. 

He finished. Everyone claps like it’s a formal meeting.

“Well done Bubba sir.”

“Thank you. I’ll hand it over to Picky next.”

“ What’s with the formalities?”

I hear knocking on the door. A waiter comes in with a lot of food.

“Two servings of cheese pizza, milkshakes, mozzarella sticks and some fries.”

“Yo let’s go! I’m starving. Bobs, want some?”

Hoppy offered a slice of pizza to Bobby. 

“Sure!”

She takes it and bites into it. Cheese stretched as she pulled the pizza away. 

“Hm, this is very cheesy! Good choice, Hoppy! Let me grab my milkshake.”

“No worries! I’ll just give it to ya!”

Hoppy grabbed a milkshake and handed it to Bobby. Strangely, Bobby lighty blushed from the gesture, but she quickly went back to normal and grabbed the milkshake.

“Thank you!”

“ Hoppy’s so nice to me! I still wonder who her crush is… Oh well! I’m a matchmaker, so I’ll definitely find out.”

Blindness gets to the smartest critters, I suppose. She drank her milkshake as Hoppy stared lovingly at her. Picky went up to the stage.

“Alright guys, I’ll be singing Country Roads. I’ll just start.”

Everyone claps. That’s the most normal applause I’ve heard this evening. As she sang, she kept glancing at the screen to read the lyrics. 

“ I have no idea what I’m doing. Seems like everyone doesn’t mind.”

They all happily sang along with her. I’m still jamming with my tambourine. It’s a pretty catchy tune, I have to say. After she’s done, everyone cheers. She bows dramatically.

“Thanks! It’s my first time doing karaoke! Uh, seems like Kickin and Crafty are next for a duet.”

“ Nailed that first performance!”

I can hear a lot of “Ooh”s and “Teehee”s around. Crafty’s just a blushing mess, hiding in the tablet. She’s pretty embarrassed by the whole situation.

“ Don’t elaborate! Let me rethink my life decisions!”

Sorry. I’ll just let your duet happen.

“ I don’t know if I’m happy to sing with Kickin or scared.”

Just wing it.

“ Why don’t you sing? You should try it out!”

Nah, I’m good. I’ll be using this here tambourine to just vibe along. 

Kickin comes back in. He seems more confident. Why were his feathers so ruffled?

“ Alright let’s do this! Had to celebrate my new ‘date’.”

How does one celebrate to get their feathers all messed up? 

“Alright dudes! Me and Craft here will be singing The My Little Pony theme song! We love the show, so why not sing our love for it?! Right Craft?”

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Everyone just stared at them blankly. Hoppy’s just snickering.

“Can’t believe he just admitted that.”

“ Honestly, I’m not surprised that Kicks likes My Little Pony. I’m just more surprised that he actually achieved a date with that!”

“Well I think it’s sweet that they both like the same show! Even if it’s for kids.”

My Little Pony? I remember watching, like, one episode of it with Dogday when we were little. It was pretty entertaining back then, but that’s all I know. We thought it was too “girly” for our tastes. We were kids, so don’t blame us for thinking like that. 

“U-Um, yeah. I like the show… Let’s just start.”

“Alright!”

Everyone just shrugs and cheers for them. It’s a very cheery song. Kickin and Crafty were singing back and forth as the very colorful lyrics played on the screen. Crafty’s as red as a tomato. It’s understandable. I’d be pretty embarrassed if I was singing my favorite show’s theme song in front of everyone with my crush. Or is he her boyfriend now? Not sure. 

They finish up. Crafty’s just hiding behind Kickin as everyone clapped.

“Thank you, thank you! Looks like Hoppy’s next! See if you can top our performance!”

Hoppy’s giggling as she walked up.

“I-I sure will, Kicks! You better be ready to see the best singing ever!”

She grabbed the microphone. 

“I’m gonna sing one of my favs. You guys will love it! It’s Polka Face time, baby! Let’s do this!”

Everyone cheers yet again. Geez, at this point, I just want my triple decker fruit parfait already. I want to take a nice long nap as well. I guess leaning on the warmest thing here in this room isn’t bad. That being Dogday, of course. He’s already blushing from the contact but still tries to follow along.

“ Catnap looks so cute! I can't take my eyes away! Just focus on what’s happening now, Dogday! Can’t let the cute sight of Catnap distract you from watching one of your friend’s performances!”

There’s that warm feeling again. Calm down, Catnap. Geez. I use my tambourine yet again to jam with the song. She’s… okay at singing. A waiter comes in with the triple decker parfaits. Finally. 

“Two Triple Decker Fruit Parfaits here.”

“Thank you! I got one for myself! We can eat it together, if you don’t mind.”

I would love to. We ate our parfaits together. Quite delicious. Hoppy finished and everyone clapped. 

“Alright! Dogday, you’re up!”

“Oh, okay! I’ll be back to finish this up. Wish me luck, Catnap!”

I gave him a thumbs-up. He put his parfait down, and he went to the front of the room.

“Okay, um, I chose this one for someone I like! I hope they like it! It’s, uh, ‘I Will Always Love You’. Here we go.”

“ It’s Catnap.”

My friends thought in unison. He took a breath and sang. 

The lyrics were nice to listen to as he sang. I stared in amazement. He looked so… handsome when singing. He had his eyes on me the entire time as he sang. When he hit those high notes, I swear I saw stars shine behind him. His voice is so nice. I could listen to this forever. I don’t even think I’m following the rhythm anymore. I’m just randomly jingling the tambourine. I think… I actually have a crush. 

He finished after I realized that. He sat back down as everyone clapped. There should be more clapping. 

“So… How did I do?”

“ I really hope he liked it! It was a good song to sing.”

How do I go on like this?? I nod. He seemed so happy. I’m glad. I hear everyone talking about something.

“Is Catnap next? I wonder what he sounds like.”

“Yeah! He did win us this party! He should sing!”

“He’s always so quiet. I’m curious to hear his voice!”

Oh no. What do I do? I don’t want to sing, let alone speak. If my first ever spoken line is a song lyric, I might just cease to exist. 

“Guys, Catnap doesn’t want to sing. He’s way too tired after running! He even injured himself! We should just let him rest and enjoy his parfait!”

Thank goodness I have Dogday. Will that really convince them though?

“Well he is at a karaoke. He’s supposed to sing at a karaoke.”

Good point. Bubba stood up.

“Well actually, you don’t have to sing. Karaoke is a bonding experience with everyone. You’re allowed to just sit back and relax.”

All the background characters immediately shut up. Thank you Bubba. 

Everyone did their thing. Some sang again, others just enjoyed the food. I finished my parfait, and now I’m ready for a good sleep. 

“Alright, seems like we should go. It’s getting late, and we all have school tomorrow. We don’t want to get in trouble for staying up too late.”

“Yes Bubba sir!”

Everyone left the karaoke. We all went our separate ways, and now it’s me and Dogday. We walked home together. He yawned as he stretched his arms up. I look away quickly. Has he always looked so …what should I call him… hot?

“Man, I’m so tired! Pretty eventful day, huh Catnap?”

I nod. I don’t think I want to experience the Mini Olympics ever again. Then again, it did help me learn more about myself and others. 

“Oh here’s your stop! I’ll see you tomorrow!”

We both waved our goodbyes, and I headed into my home. I put the plastic trophy we received onto a shelf. I had a shelf installed just in case I got more special decorations. I already have that skateboard displayed on the wall, and Crafty’s painting is still thriving. Even if it’s not one of my favorite moments to experience, at least I had fun while doing it. Hm, guess the Mini Olympics weren’t so bad. After all, I got to see Dogday sing his heart out, which was one of the greatest moments in my life.

…I need to handle my crush on Dogday somehow…

Chapter Text

Hoppy woke me up during homeroom. She dragged me out of the classroom for some reason. What does she want?

“Yo, Naps. You wanna go and spy on Kicks and his date?”

No, not really. Isn’t that illegal or something? Why are you trying to spy on him? I tilt my head in confusion.

“Well, I want to see how it goes! As his friend, I’m worried that he’ll mess stuff up.”

“ I just wanna see how he’ll do it. Never seen him on dates, so I want to witness this major event myself!”

Oh, this is for entertainment purposes. Why do you want me to spy with you? What about everyone else? And why bring someone to spy with you??

“Days and Bobs are doing some private knitting lessons or whatever, Bubs is studying for a test he has, and you know Kicks and Crafts are the targets. I got Picks on board, so I want you to join me!”

“ I need some backup if I get caught.”

Wow okay. Wait, Dogday’s learning how to knit? Why would he want to knit? I wanna see him do that. 

“I know you want to go with Dogday and all, but he said that he didn’t want anyone to know what he wanted to make.”

“ It’s probably a gift for Naps, but whatever. I didn’t even know Bobs taught knitting! I knew she could knit but I never knew she could teach it! I would learn how to knit with her, but I also want to see Kicks with his date! Maybe another time.”

You could just join her right now. Not sure why witnessing Kickin’s first date is more important than being with your crush.

“Well anyways, you wanna join us? I’ll give you a lifetime supply of pepperoni sticks!”

I won’t be so easily swayed by such a promise like last time. I still never got my pepperoni sticks from Kickin. Sorry, but I don’t see why I would-

“And I’ll get you a date with Dogday!”

…

Afterschool, we hid in the bushes around Kickin’s house. His house is pretty big. Of course, it’s covered in stars and stuff to make it stand out. He even had a skating ramp in the backyard. Why did I decide to do this? Picky wore a hat and sunglasses. Not really hiding her appearance. Why did she even come?

“You’re probably wondering why I’m here, Nap. I don’t got anything else better to do. Plus, it sounded fun.”

“ Beats washing all the vegetables and dishes.”

Wow, she’s good. Can she read minds or something? Hoppy brought loads of spy stuff. Why does she even have this stuff? Does she do this often? I shouldn’t question it.

“Alright, I bought a telescope. If I know him, they’ll watch the show in his room. Crafts should be coming any moment now…”

She put a hat covered in leaves on, and she hid within the bush. Should I be worried about what she does for hobbies?

I see Crafty coming around the corner. Me and Picky hid along with Hoppy. I take a snack from Picky’s basket. Nice of her to bring snacks while we spy on our friends. She arrived at Kickin’s door and knocked. Hopefully she doesn’t hear my narrations and stuff.

“ God I’m really nervous. I’m not sure if this is the right place. What if it all goes wrong and he starts hating me? What if he just thinks of this as just a friendly hangout? What if I’m reading the situation wrong? What if-”

My goodness, you can overthink a situation.

“ Did I just hear Catnap?”

Shoot right, gotta whisper. *these will indicate me whispering*

“ Must be hearing things…”

*yes you are.*

*Kickin opens the door with a confident smile on his face. He’s wearing a leather jacket and some cool looking shirt. Guess he’s well prepared for this date.*

“Hey, Craft. Welcome to the House of the Chicken! You’re looking quite pretty this afternoon.”

“ I gotta act cool. I gotta act chill. If I mess up, she’ll definitely reject me!”

*Well, at least Kickin thinks the same thing as Crafty. Hoppy’s snickering as Picky looked at the pair with curiosity. I’m just playing with a piece of grass as we spied on them.*

“Hi Kickin! I just put on whatever I could for this, uh, date. You’re looking pretty handsome as well.”

*Kickin blushed from that comment. He’s gonna have a hard time acting cool.*

“I brought you a gift!”

*she held out a small bag.*

“Oh! Thanks, Craft! What did you get me?

*He took out a pair of sunglasses. He looked at them in amazement.*

“I got you a pair of sunglasses! The lenses are star shaped since I know you like stars and stuff. They’re orange too! I hope you like them…”

“I. Love. Them.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! These are awesome! Where did you get this?”

“Oh, um, somewhere.”

“ They kinda just appeared on my desk. Not sure where they came from. Probably Catnap’s doing.”

*She’s right about that. I knew she wanted to give him something and I had to buy something cool for Kickin as an apology for telling her about his feelings back in chapter 10. I did buy the glasses earlier before the Mini Olympics, but I was too lazy to actually give it to him. So I made it look like Crafty bought it. He won’t suspect a thing.*

“Cool! Let’s head in! I got everything prepared!”

“Okay, sure!”

*They both headed in.*

I think I can talk normally now. Hoppy dragged the both of us to the backyard. We hid behind a large skating ramp that he apparently just had. How can he afford all this?

“Alright, if I remember correctly, his room should be up there. We’ll use this trusty telescope here to observe. Both of you, keep an eye out for anybody as we spy on these two!”

Well alright then. Observation duty. Not like anyone will be walking around here anyways. 

“ Gotta see how this’ll play out! Wonder what Kicks will do for the first date?”

She looked through the telescope. We had binoculars, so we looked through them. So far, it just seems like they’re enjoying each other’s presence in his room as they watched the tv. They had popcorn too. Good thing Picky brought snacks because I’d be craving for some popcorn if it weren’t for her.

“Dang dude. He’s hesitating to hold her hoof! Just do it, man!”

“Hoppy, he’s clearly nervous. We need to be patient and let them do their own thing. We are the ones spying on their date.”

“I know that! He’s just usually so confident, so it’s weird for him to be so nervous!”

Picky sighed. It’s understandable why Hoppy’s so impatient. Kickin is usually good with these types of things. Though I would be nervous too if I was going on a date with my crush. 

As Hoppy watched intently, Picky scooted closer to me. 

“So… Catnap. I wanna talk to ya about something.”

Go ahead. Not like I can actually talk to her, but I can still use body language. 

“Heard you like Dogday.”

I was expecting that to be the topic. Still can’t help the fact that my face feels warm now.

“Oh ho! It’s true then! How long did you have it?”

“ Must’ve been a long time considering he’s always so close to Dogday.”

I shrug. I’m not sure myself. I only realized now I have a crush, but maybe I had it for a while.

“Hm, interesting. Have you ever had any other crush aside from Dogday?”

Definitely not. I never once found myself interested in dating anyone back then. I wasn’t really that attracted to girls, but I wasn’t that into the guys around us as well. Dogday was my only real friend up till now, so he probably made my standards high. Why are you asking these questions?

“I know I’m asking a lot of questions. I just want to have a chat, y’know? We only ever ‘talk’ to each other during home ec, so I thought it was a perfect time to. Even if you can’t talk, I can pick up from your body language and demeanor. Learned it from taking care of kids and stuff. Sorry if it was too personal.”

It’s fine. I don’t really care about it that much. 

“Well, Catnap. I’ll support ya. I’m pretty sure Dogday feels the same too.”

It is pretty obvious. You don’t even need to be a psychic to pick up on his behavior. At this point, I’m just accepting that they all think I was the one that fell first.

“Yo, guys. Enough with the chit chat. I think Kicks is making a move!”

We both went over to where she was looking. Kickin held Crafty closer with one arm as they swayed from side to side. What a move! 

“Alright, my man! Oh wait! He’s saying something to her!”

Just as Hoppy said, he whispered into her ear, and she blushed. I could let you read her thoughts, but it’s all incoherent screaming of joy.

“Well ain’t that something. He’s doing pretty good with the date. We can probably go then.”

“Nah, this is only the beginning. He hasn’t truly confessed his feelings…”

It’s getting dark. We should probably go. I want to sleep in my bed.

“Wait wait wait! He’s grasping her hooves together!”

“Wait what?”

Wait what? We both look through our binoculars. He’s saying something to her. I can’t hear it quite well. Maybe I should hear their thoughts.

“You can do it, Kickin! Just express your feelings toward her!”

“Is this really happening?! Never expected this moment to happen in front of My Little Pony!”

Oh wow, he’s really confessing his feelings. After he said some stuff, I can see that Crafty frantically nodded. She went in for a hug.

“Let’s go, Kicks!”

“ Shoot that was loud!”

“Was that Hoppy’s voice?”

We hid behind the ramp.

“Nice, Hoppy. We’re about to get caught.”

“Sorry! I was just happy that Kicks finally got himself a girlfriend.”

*I can hear him opening a window. He looked around before shrugging.* 

“ Eh, must’ve been my imagination.”

*Gotta love that trope. He returned to Crafty.*

We all got up from the hiding place. Hoppy used her telescope to see them cuddling together.

“How sweet. Oh Kicks, you make me proud.”

“You sound like a mother, Hoppy.”

“Ew stop it. Being Kicks’ mother sounds horrible.”

“What kind of friendship do you guys even have??”

“My dear Picks. You wouldn’t understand our complex relationship.”

We should probably head home. I point to my invisible watch.

“Nap’s right. It’s getting late. Don’t want my parents to send me to the dungeons when I get home.”

What??

“Ugh, fine. I’ll be seeing you guys at the amusement park next week! Don’t you worry Naps! I’ll fulfill the promise!”

“ What promise? Is that why he came? Eh, can’t dwell on it now. Too tired.”

We secretly leave, not being noticed by the couple, and head our ways back home. As I walked, I pondered about some things. I wonder if I’ll be spied on by my friends if I go on a date with Dogday someday… Hopefully not. I’d be able to hear them otherwise. 

Oh what am I thinking?! Right now, I need some sleep. We have a theme park trip coming up. I can’t let my crush on Dogday affect my sleep schedule. I’ll have to see how Hoppy will fulfill her end of the deal. For now, some slumber will be nice.

Chapter Text

It’s the day of the theme park trip. Bubba rented a private bus just for us. Thank you Bubba. He counted everybody and seems like we’re all here. We each go onto the bus one by one. Hoppy bumped me into a seat with Dogday.

“ Go for it, Naps!”

“Oh hey Catnap! Guess you really wanna sit next to me, huh? I don’t mind!”

He brought me close with one arm. Oh, that warm feeling is there again. I love him so much…

“ Cute <3”

Thanks for the help, Hoppy. How about I help you out as well. I use telekinesis to push her into a seat with Bobby.

“Oh hey Hoppy! Are you going to sit with me?”

“Oh, uh, yeah! I guess I will, hehe.”

“ Did I just get pushed by a ghost?? Whatever, thanks random ghost!”

You’re welcome. Hoppy’s as red as a tomato as Bobby talked about some stuff. Guess Hoppy and I like the talkative type. Kickin and Crafty sit together, obviously, and Picky sat with Bubba. The bus started up, and we headed off. 

Dogday talked about his last baseball game and their victory. I just listened to him talk. He’s so cute when he’s talking. Though he’s always cute. 

Stop with the gay thoughts, Catnap… geez. 

“Yo, Dogday! What ride you excited for?”

“Oh hi Kickin! I’m not sure. I’ve never been to this theme park before. Any good rides?”

Kickin and Crafty are behind us. They both leaned themselves on top of our seat. As Kickin and Dogday chatted with each other, Crafty loomed over me.

“ I heard you gushing about Dogday’s cuteness. You two need to get together, like, right now.”

I wish, but I’m waiting for his confession. I want him to build up the confidence to do it since I know he has a hard time expressing his feelings, so I’m waiting for that.

“ Oh. That’s sweet. Why can’t you just confess then?”

I can’t really express my feelings for him. Sure I can tell him telepathically, but I don’t think he’ll know that. Like I said, I’ll let him gain the courage to confess. I’m not the type to say things out loud, you know.

“ Okay, I understand. I wish you guys luck with that then!”

Yeah, well, I appreciate it. Moving on from that, congratulations on your relationship.

“ Oh, thank you! Kickin is so nice. He makes me feel so happy, I don’t know how to explain it. Our date was perfect! He did everything for us so that I can have a good time. He even prepared some sweet treats during our date. Who knew he could bake?”

Seems like you guys had a fun date. 

“ It was nice. I’m happy to be his girlfriend!”

Yeah, I saw.

“ Hm?”

Nothing.

The bus arrived before we even knew it. I guess time flies by quickly. We got off the bus as Bubba paid the bus driver. 

“Alright everyone. Stay together as pairs. We don’t want anyone getting lost. This place is pretty big. Do we have our partners?”

“Yes Bubba sir!”

“No need for the ‘sir’ part. We will meet back here within a few hours. Have some lunch here! If we’re all good, then let’s have some fun!”

“Yeah!”

They all yell in unison. We separated into pairs. Of course, I’m with Dogday. Kickin’s with Crafty. Hoppy’s with Bobby. Bubba’s with Picky and everyone else is with somebody. We walked around for a little bit. Bubba’s right. This place is huge. There’s a lot of roller coasters and rides around. There’s even a Ferris wheel. I’m already starting to get nostalgic, and the shopping trip wasn’t even that long ago. Hoppy stopped all of us.

“Let’s go on that first!”

She pointed at a large roller coaster. I don’t really care for roller coasters, but I do know that Dogday has bad motion sickness when it comes to them. Back when we were kids, he’d always throw up at a nearby trash can after riding any roller coaster. Yes, even the kid ones. It only happens with roller coasters though. Any other ride, he’s fine with. Not sure why, but whatever.

“Uh, I can’t really ride roller coasters… I get really bad motion sickness.”

“Really? Like how bad?”

“I puke after riding any roller coaster…”

“Ah, alright. I understand. So Days can’t go. How ‘bout the rest of y’all?”

I shrug. I guess that answered Hoppy’s question. 

“Alright, Naps can come! Kicks, you in?”

“Sure, I can totally handle a few loops and drops! Hey babe, you wanna come?”

“No thanks, I have a fear of heights. Thanks for asking though!”

“ Babe?!”

You guys are already on pet names? 

“ Y-Yeah? I guess so? This is the first time he called me a pet name, so I wouldn’t know. Is ‘babe’ even a pet name?”

I don’t know. Never dated anyone to know that.

“ Well, I thought you would know with Dogday apparently calling you ‘kitty’ and all that.”

… shut up.

“Cool, so we have Naps and Kicks coming. Anyone else?”

“I’m not a big fan of roller coasters, but I can take pictures for you guys!”

“Yeah, I ain’t good with fast rides. Gets me all scared and stuff. I’ll stay with Bobby and the others.”

“Might as well. I’ll go.”

“Cool! We got Bubs joining us! Let’s get in the line before it gets too long!”

She dragged the three of us into the line as Dogday, Bobby, Crafty and Picky wave us adieu. We waited in line for a couple of minutes. 

A couple more minutes. 

Too many minutes. I can just barely see where we will go into the carts.

“I miss my girlfriend….”

“Dude, it’s been only 45 minutes. Calm your feathers.”

“ God this line is moving too slow!”

“45 minutes is a pretty long time, Hoppy. I knew this would happen, so I brought a game for us to play.”

“What game?”

“Heads up. One of us holds a card above our head, and the rest of us try and help the person guess what the card says. We will have a 1 minute time limit. You cannot say a word related to the card. Like if the card says ‘American’, you can’t mention anything about America. Would anyone like to start?”

“Oh, oh, me! I’ll get it in an instant!”

“Sure Kicks. I’ll be the best helper ever!”

I don’t get the rules of the game, but it beats just standing around in line.

“Alright, here you go Kickin. Don’t look at the card. Just lift it up above your head.”

“Kay.”

He lifted the card up. The card said “Canadian”. That doesn’t seem too hard. I’ll let Bubba and Hoppy handle this.

“Okay, so, they speak this language up above us! They serve syrup and stuff.”

“ Language?”

Language? Isn’t Canadian a nationality?

“Uhhh…. French?”

“That’s too far from us! Bubs, help me here!”

“Oh, um, it’s the nationality of the country above the USA.”

“…Alaskan?”

“That’s part of the USA, Kickin. What’s next to Alaska?”

“Oh! Canada!”

“The nationality of that country is…?”

“Canadian!”

“Correct.”

Kickin put the card down.

“Really? Language?”

“Isn’t that what they speak in Canada?”

“No? Did you pay attention in social studies??”

“Not really.”

Bubba stared at her for a couple of minutes. From what I could read, it was basically computer calculations in his mind. He returned to reality.

“…okay, um, next card. They speak this language in an Asian country. They’re known for their food and culture.”

“Chinese?”

“No, but close.”

“Let me handle this one, Bubs. It’s not Chinese, it’s…?”

“Oh, Japanese!”

“Yes! Heh, guess I can give good clues.”

“ Saw that in a video once. Kicks and I watched that once. Funny as hell. Should’ve used that as a clue for the first one though. Damn.”

“Not sure how he got that, but 1 minute is almost up. Kickin got 2 cards.”

“Damn. Who’s next?”

“I’ll go!”

I’m just kinda watching this. What am I supposed to do? Give them the answers? I’m not good at making up clues. Hoppy grabbed a card. It said ‘Hawaii’. I guess all the cards are different.

“Oh, oh! It’s a state in the United States! It has, like, pineapples and stuff!”

“Hawaii!”

That was fast.

“Okay, wow, uh, next card I suppose.”

She pulled up another card. Did Bubba not organize these correctly? This card said “cat”. 

“ I really need to work on organizing the cards…”

Guess he didn’t. 

“This one’s easy! It’s an animal standing next to you!”

Hoppy looked at Bubba.

“An elephant?”

“Your other side.”

She looked at me.

“Cat!”

“Oh yeah! Next card-”

“How many people are in your party?”

“ Kids and their games.”

We somehow made it to the front of the line. Wow, I guess games do make time go by fast.

“Finally! Four of us!”

“Okay, two of you go to number one and two of you go to number two.”

I’ll head to number 2. My favorite number. Kickin joined me for some reason. I thought he’d go with Bubba or Hoppy, but it’s fine. 

“Yo, Nap. Just gonna hang with ya here. Not like I’m scared to go in front or anything! Just gonna be hanging around a fellow cool guy, y’know? Plus, I want to see Bubba and Hoppy scream like crazy!”

“ I can’t handle being at the front. Sounds like a heart attack! Thank God Nap went to second.”

I don’t see why going to the front is so scary. You’re just experiencing the drops and loops faster than everybody else. I just chose number 2 because I like the number. I’ll just let Kickin sit next to me. 

“Alright passengers! Remember to fasten your seatbelts, hold onto the safety bars and enjoy the ride of your life!”

“ Did we ever get that broken seat belt checked out?”

Wait what-

The coaster sped out into the outside world. As we began to climb up toward the drop, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Catnap, my safety bar went up…”

Oh come on. Thankfully I have telekinesis to keep him down. I’ll just place my arm across his body as we drop. 

“WOOOOH!!!! THIS IS AWESOME!!!!! BUBS YOU GOOD?!!!??”

“WHAT?!? I CAN’T HEAR YOU!! I CAN ONLY HEAR LOUD SCREAMING EVERYWHERE!!!!”

“ This is madness! Maybe I should’ve stayed with the others.”

I can see our friends from up here. They’re taking a lot of pictures. This is not that bad. I look over to Kickin and I think he passed out. We went upside down multiple times and he woke up after the last loop.

“HOLY CRAP I’M GONNA DIE!!! PLEASE HELP ME- oh. The ride’s over? Heh, that wasn’t so bad.”

What a change in behavior. We got off the ride and made our way to the exit. Kickin collapsed onto Crafty as we arrived at the group. 

“Kickin! Are you okay?!”

“We should do something less extreme…”

“Ain’t extreme your thing though?”

“There’s limits, Picky, there’s limits.”

“ What happened up there Catnap??”

I wouldn’t know. I was focused on not letting him fly out of the coaster.

“ WHAT????”

Anyways, we walked around the park. Kickin recovered from the initial shock and was now happily walking with Crafty. Bubba took a pill and drank some water before returning to our walk. Play a montage of us riding a couple of small rides. Teacups, drop towers, dark rides, you name it.

The haunted house was pretty fun though. When we went in, everyone was pretty scared. Hoppy tried fighting one of the “monsters”, which caused her to be escorted out with security. Bobby followed Hoppy as we continued down the hall. Dogday kept hugging me tightly as we walked around. 

“ You can’t be scared, Dogday! Catnap needs to be protected from the monsters! “

I’m not even that scared. These are just actors or animatronics jumping at us. I can easily predict when the animatronic will come, and I can read the minds of the actors. Even without them, the tricks they use are pretty lame if you actually notice them. Feathers tickling the ankles, water spray at the neck, puff of air behind your head, all that junk. It’s more annoying than scary. At least I can experience a very tight hug from Dogday for a long time. Loving this attraction. 

When we exited the house, everyone sighed in relief. Sadly, Dogday stopped hugging me. I slightly frowned from the missing contact, but I’ll survive.

We head to the food court. Picky bought us some lunch from all the food stands. 

“Here you go, guys! My family let me bring some money for us! Let’s eat up and fast! I wanna ride more rides!”

“Thank you, Picky! You didn’t have to buy all of us lunch!”

“I’m just making sure we all eat, Bobby. Don’t want nobody starving here. Especially you, Busy Bub!”

“Don’t call me that. I was gonna eat regardless.”

“Just saying. You always overwork yourself! You even forget to eat!”

“Not always.”

“Today doesn’t count.”

“…not always…”

“Uh huh. Quieter now huh? Just eat this corn dog.”

She shoved the corn dog into his mouth. Everyone giggled as we ate our lunch. Picky got me a pepperoni pizza. Not my favorite but lunch is lunch. I eat the slice. It’s pretty good. Pepperoni could be in stick form, but whatever. Dogday looked at me funny.

“Oh Catnap! You have some sauce near your mouth!”

Hm? Oh, didn’t notice. I’ll just wipe it-

He licked his thumb and wiped it off of me. He licked the sauce off of his thumb.

“There you go! I don’t see any more left!”

…I should eat pizza more. 

“Catnap?”

“ Is that steam coming out from his head? Oh no! What if he’s sick!?”

I quickly shake my head. Geez, how am I the one steaming from my head?? I can’t possibly be that heads over heels for him! Hoppy dragged Bobby far away from us. She’s planning something. They start whispering to each other.

“ That’s actually a really good plan! I should’ve thought of that! Oh, Hoppy’s good…”

“ This will definitely work, hehe…”

Oh how I wish I had super hearing. They quickly came back to the group with a wide smile on their faces. 

“Well let’s get going guys! I wanna go on more rides!”

“Sorry to interrupt, but we only have about 45 minutes before we need to head back to the bus.”

“Oh, then I know one ride we can go to! It has a long wait time, so we’ll be able to make it!”

“Which ride do you suggest, Hoppy~?”

“Bobs, we will need to surprise the others~”

What’s with the teasing looks at me and Dogday? They had a mischievous tone when they said that. They giggled.

“Let’s get going! Naps, Days, go in front! We just need to do something!”

“ They’ll never suspect the blindfolds!”

Blindfolds? What are they even planning? Before I knew it, I was blinded by a bandana Hoppy apparently just had. I heard a yelp next to me. Guess they blindfolded him as well. 

“Just grab our hands, and we’ll lead you to a surprise!”

I felt a hand touch my hand.

“ Hopefully I can guide him properly.”

Ah, Bobby. I can trust her. I grabbed her hand and we began walking. I can hear Dogday panic.

“ What’s going on? Why were we blindfolded? Where are we going?”

Not sure myself.

“ Aha there it is! Just gotta get them in.”

We’re somewhere now. Seems like we’re in line. A couple of minutes go by, and I’m gently pushed into what seems to be a boat. I can feel a warm presence next to me. Vanilla. Dogday.

“Take the blindfolds off!”

We did so. Oh wow. I should’ve expected this.

“The Tunnel of Love”

Dogday immediately blushed when he realized the situation. I’m feeling the same way as well. The boat already started moving before we could object. Hoppy and Bobby sat in the boat behind us. Crafty and Kickin had their own boat behind them. Bubba and Picky took the last boat.  

The scene around us was pretty romantic. Hearts were decorated everywhere, and a rose colored light shone down onto us. For a “Tunnel of Love”, this is pretty relaxing. I thought it would be more overwhelming, but I guess love tunnels are calmer than that.

Dogday’s a blushing mess. 

“S-So, Catnap! Why’d they blindfold us?”

“ This has to be a dream! I wanna kiss him so badly, but I don’t want to make this awkward!”

To surprise us only. Though I just shrug since I don’t know how to tell him that. Honestly, I want to kiss him as well. The Tunnel of Love really does have an effect on romance. I can see Hoppy and Bobby watching us intently from behind. I leaned on Dogday’s shoulder, causing some quiet cheering from behind.

“Heh, you’re pretty tired, huh? It has been a very long day. Today was pretty fun! Wouldn’t you agree?”

“ HE’S SO CUTE!!!!!! I JUST WANNA SMOOCH HIS FACE!!!!!”

I nod. I can feel the vibrations in my throat again. Must be purring. He’s so warm… It wouldn’t hurt to give him something, right?

…

“… huh? Did I just feel something on my cheek? It felt like lips… Did Catnap just kiss my cheek?!”

Shoot, why’d I do that? My body just moved on its own. I can hear even more cheering from behind us.  Not from just Hoppy and Bobby, everyone cheered. Just act like nothing happened. When he turned to me, I pretended to sleep.

“ Oh, he’s sleeping. I must’ve imagined it. He’s so adorable when he’s sleeping! It wouldn’t hurt to do it, right?”

Do what-

…

Oh. OH. He kissed my head. And he’s petting me. Now, I feel like a blushing mess. The ride’s over before we even knew it. We exited the ride.

“Man, what a ride! Probably the most fun I had! Well, besides the roller coaster!”

“ Good job, Naps! I knew you could do it!”

“Yeah, it was quite entertaining seeing you guys-”

Bobby brought a finger to Picky’s snout.

“Sh! Don’t say anything about… y’know. I’ll get confirmation later!”

“Okay?”

Confirmation about what?

“Yeah, me and Craft had a wonderful time!”

“ It was just cuddling but I loved it anyway!”

Glad to hear everyone liked the ride. I feel like a mess. And I’m holding Dogday’s hand again. 

Bobby scooted over to me and whispered into my ear.

“So, Catnap, are you two together now?”

“ They must be! That mutual kiss proved it!”

I shook my head. We did get closer, but I wouldn’t call it dating yet. It was just an impulse. She had a look of surprise before realizing.

“Oooh… I see. Well, one day it’ll happen!”

“ If I know romance, this means they’ll get together soon! Right now, it’s a sorta ‘did it by accident because I like him/her so much’ thing. Eventually, it’ll be the ‘I want to confess NOW’ feeling. Then love! I’ll support them however I can!”

What a theory. 

She went back to the group.

“Bubba! How much time do we have before we leave?”

“Hmmm… ten more minutes.”

“Let’s go buy souvenirs then! The gift shop is just over there!”

Might as well. I have some pocket money I can use. 

We head over to the gift shop. It’s jammed packed with stuff to buy. There were a lot of plushies too. We all walked around for a little bit. I went around the plushie area. My bed has been needing more soft things. I spot a dog plushie on the shelf. It looked exactly like Dogday. It even has his iconic orange patch on the left eye. Hm… I’ll buy it. It’s soft. It’s big. It’s comfy. Exactly like him. 

“Hey guys! Look at these keychains! They’re so cute!!”

Bobby showed off some keychains. A lightning bolt, a heart, an apple, a lightbulb, a star, a flower (?), a sun and a moon. These seem to be some kind of line of keychains. They all have a small smiley face somewhere within the designs.

“We should get these! Then we can have something that proves our friendship!”

“Oooh! I like the sound of that! I’ll take the apple one! I’m a cook, so why not get something food related?”

“Sounds a little plain, don’t you think?”

“Quiet, Bub. You choose one then.”

“Then I’ll get the lightbulb.”

“I’m the plain one?”

“It has a nice design! It fits my studious self, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Sure, sure. Not judging, unlike someone.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine. Just joking around.”

“If you guys got those, then I’ll get the star since, obviously, stars are my thing!”

“I’ll get the color wheel. It has some nice colors on them!”

“ Is it a color wheel, or is it a flower? I can’t tell…”

“I’ll take the lightning bolt! People will know not to mess with the lightning!”

“Hehe, okay Hoppy. I’ll take the heart! I am a matchmaker, after all!”

“Then I’ll take the sun! Matches with my necklace! Catnap, do you want the moon? We’ll be matching!”

“Of course you guys chose the matching pair.”

I’ll take the moon. Fits me, don’t you think? We all brought our souvenirs to the front desk and paid. Good thing no one noticed the dog plush.

“ You got a dog plush?”

Oh shoot, Crafty.

“ I expected that. I saw you kiss his cheek back there! Are you guys dating now?”

No. It was an accident.

“ How do you kiss someone’s cheek on accident? It looked like you did it intentionally.” 

Impulse. 

“… okay? Anyways, today was fun, huh? We went on so many rides! You even got closer to Dogday as a result!”

Yeah, it was nice. I’m glad we got to go on this trip.

“ Yeah, me too! Oh, we’re on the bus. I’ll leave you alone with Dogday.”

Oh, see you then. I sit down next to Dogday, holding the dog plush on my lap. He looked at it confused.

“You got a dog plush? That’s so cute! It looks just like me!”

“ I wish I was the plush. I want to snuggle with Catnap too!”

Getting jealous over a stuffed animal? That’s actually really adorable. I rested on his shoulder as the bus moved forward. No plush can be better than a Dogday when it comes to being warm. He also smells like vanilla unlike the plush. He’s perfect in every way. I felt the spot where he kissed me. I never expected it to happen.

“Need a nap? We still have a long way back home! Bubba paid the driver to drive us back to all our houses! Isn’t that sweet?”

Very considerate of him. I might as well. Today has been fun. I will never forget it. Though I guess Thanksgiving will be coming up soon. Wonder what I’ll do for that day. Maybe I’ll just lay around like I usually do. 

Chapter Text

Ah, yes. Thanksgiving break. Usually you wouldn’t see this type of stuff in stories like this, but I don’t care. It’s one of many breaks where I can just sit back and relax. I can enjoy some alone time. What else can I do? Actually have a dinner party? That’s too much work. Anyways, I’m not sure why you guys are watching me take a nap, but I’ll be snoozing right now-

I hear knocking on the door. Are you guys some kind of jinx or something? I went downstairs to see what the commotion was about. When I looked through the peephole, there stood all my friends with Dogday at the front.  Why are they here? Picky saw my shadow from beneath the door.

“Hey Catnap! We’re here to have a feast with you! We heard you never had a real Thanksgiving dinner before, so we came to surprise ya with one!”

“Yeah, dude. Let’s have a feast you’ll never forget! Take it from the Star Skateboarder himself!”

Who told you guys?? Oh wait, if I can guess correctly, it’s Dogday. He probably accidentally told them. 

“Can we come in? We have a lot of food we need to prepare!”

Free food? Sure. I opened the door, and they all had something to cook. 

“Wow, never been in Naps’ house before! Pretty nice for just him!”

“Well, I’ve been in here several times before, but there’s always something different each time. It’s like playing I Spy!”

“ I always love going here! Wish I could just relax here with Catnap!”

“Dude! You have the skateboard I got you! Look at it! So glorious on the wall!”

Are you guys just here to marvel at my house? 

“Where’s your kitchen? I need to cook some mashed potatoes right now! We can’t have a feast without some mashed potatoes!”

I lead all of them to the kitchen. I don’t really use the kitchen that much. Just using it to store food and stuff. I sometimes use the microwave, but that’s the amount of cooking I did before I joined home ec. Now I only sometimes use the stove and microwave. 

“Wow, your kitchen is small. Good thing your dining table is pretty big! We can put lots of food on it!”

“We’ll need to prepare right now then. I’m pretty sure Catnap wouldn’t want us to stay that long.”

“ Could be wrong, but Catnap seems to want some alone time.”

I’m fine with this. I’m getting free food and some company to enjoy it. 

“Then let’s get cooking!”

“Hold on there, Hop Hop. I’ll be giving you table duty. Not that I’m banning you from cooking, but I think we know why I’m giving you this duty.”

“ I ain’t letting her burn any of the food. Sorry Hoppy.”

Makes sense. I don’t want my kitchen to become ash. Hoppy had an offended look before sighing.

“I guess you’re right. Then I’ll set this table up as quickly and perfectly as I can!”

She grabbed a couple of forks, plates, and knives, and she began to place them carefully onto the table. 

“Bob, Bub, Crafty, help me prepare the food. Kick, help Hoppy prepare the table. Day, Nap, decorate the place for a Thanksgiving feast. The decorations are in the box over there. Let’s make this the best feast ever for Catnap!”

“YEAH!”

Picky being the head chef and leader of Thanksgiving makes sense. I’ll go ahead and begin decorating. I could use telekinesis to finish the job quickly, but there’s too many people around to do that. I’ll have to do it the hard way. Doing it by hand. Luckily I have Dogday to help me, so it won’t be so bad.

“Okay, buddy! Let’s set up some of these flag things. We should hang them above the windows! We need a step ladder first…”

I don’t have a stepladder. I use telekinesis, so I never found a need to get one.

“I can’t really reach up there… so I’ll just have to lift you up then! We're the same height, but I’m slightly taller! We just need to reach over the windows!”

Lift me up? I’m heavy, thank you very much. Though… It doesn't sound like such a bad idea. I went over to the windows, and he put his hands on my waist and lifted me up high. This feels embarrassing.

“ Squishy… That’s so cute!!! He’s like a stuffed animal! I wanna cuddle with him so badly!”

Oh wow. I need to focus on the flags. Just ignore the fact that Dogday’s lovingly staring at you right now, Catnap. Ignore his tail wagging. Ignore his cute smile. Ignore the warm feeling. I just need to stick the string of flags onto the wall. So I did. My paws kept trembling though as we stuck them with tape.

“Alright! That looks good! I’ll put you down now! We got the… fake leaves next!”

“ Too bad. I wanted to hold him more.”

I’m put down onto the floor. That… was something. I quickly shake the blush away. No time for that. I feel like the cook crew is starting to finish up. We just have fake leaves and that’s it. I turned to grab the box when me and Dogday looked at what’s going on at the dining table.

Hoppy and Kickin were stacking napkins into a tower in the middle of the table.

“Um… what are you two doing?”

“Oh, sup Day. Just finished setting up the table, so we’re just stacking napkins. Right now we have the Empire State Building on our hands!”

It’s impressive how my friends can break physics. 

“Wanna join us? We need a hand for the needle!”

Where did you guys even get this much napkins from??? I don’t even own that much. I think you guys have something else to worry about though…

“WHAT IN THE HECK ARE YOU GUYS DOING?????”

“Oh Picks! Uh, just stacking napkins! We already put all the stuff down, so we wanted to-“

“Now wait a moment, Hop Hop. I ain’t say you can just stack napkins like the leaning tower of Pisa! You could’ve sat down and waited! Day and Nap need to decorate the table too!”

“Isn’t the basket thing and table cloth good enough for decorations?”

“ Why need some fake leaves??”

“The ‘basket thing’ is called a cornucopia, and the feast will look beautiful with some leaves on the table.”

“Whatever.”

“ Huh, it’s called a cornucopia. Never knew that. Not gonna admit that though.”

“Well, since you guys are already done building it, I guess you can keep it there. We’ll be deconstructing it when we eat though.”

“Yes Ma’am! Thank you, Ma’am!”

“Don’t give me the Bubbaphant treatment.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Let’s keep cooking.”

Well alright. We place each individual leaf in a random pattern so it doesn’t look like morse code. To be honest, I’m not sure why we need these, but I’m not gonna question the tastes of my friend. We lit the candles. Alright, all done with decorations. Probably one of the easiest jobs I’ve ever done. 

“We got the food done! Hoppy, can you help me?”

“Sure thing, Bobs! Anything for you!”

“Thank you!”

“ She’s so nice! I’m so happy to have her as a friend!”

There’s a reason for her kindness. We all went over to grab the food to the table. The pumpkin pie looks good. 

“ Wow! You guys did this?”

“Yeah! Me and Hoppy here thought it would make an excellent addition to our feast!”

“You really know how to make everything cool, honey.”

“Thank you, babe!”

“Honey?! Ooh, I like that name. I definitely won at life.”

Since when did you begin to call him nicknames?

“Oh, uh, it just sorta happened. We slowly just kinda called each other stuff, but it’s always different. Honey just slipped out. Hehe.”

Geez, I can’t imagine calling Dogday some kind of nickname. 

“We’ll see.”

Hm?

We sat down around my dining table with food spread across the table. We just kinda ignore the tower in the center. I sat between Dogday and Crafty. Bobby got up and raised a cup.

“Okay, I’ll start us off! On Thanksgiving, we will give our thanks to anything. Family, friends, memories, anything you want! Just give your thanks to them. It’s a tradition!”

I mean, it is called “Thanksgiving” for a reason. I never had a Thanksgiving feast before, so this is all new to me. I just assumed you do that. 

“I want to thank all of you personally for making me feel happy! It makes me happy to be hanging out with all of you, and I learn so many things just being with you guys! It’s great to be with you guys! I will also like to thank Catnap since he was the one responsible for bringing us together! Without him, I wouldn’t be able to be here with all of you as friends!”

You’re welcome, I guess. All I did was accidentally charm you guys for some reason. Hoppy stood up next.

“Alright. I want to thank Bobs here for getting me into sports and stuff! She got me playing soccer when I was 5, so thank her for making me so energetic!”

“ I’d also thank Naps for letting me get closer to Bobs without getting too nervous, but I’d die right then and there if I say it.”

Huh. Didn’t know Bobby was the one to get her into sports. This crush thing must’ve been a long time thing. Kickin stood up.

“I’d like to thank my parents and friends for allowing me to pursue my dreams as a skateboarder. I’m now one of the best boarders around! I even have one of the best girlfriends ever! WHOO! Also, I want to thank Catnap for getting me here to begin with! I would’ve never met Craft without him, so yeah! Thanks for being the coolest guy around!”

Wow he was excited to say that. Everyone giggled. Bubba stood up after.

“I will thank the class officers here for helping me plan and prepare for all the events. You guys let me have more free time than ever since we all do our collective work. And I would like to thank Catnap as well for stepping up when no one else would during elections. He went out of his comfort zone just so I wouldn’t be alone in this.”

I’m getting a lot of thanks for some reason. I didn’t even do anything. Well, that one time was an exception, but that’s about it. Picky was next.

“Well, personally, Catnap helped me out when something happened during home ec. Still not sure how Hoppy burned spaghetti, but I’ve been able to help her learn how to cook even with the weird spontaneous combustion. Still can’t really trust her in the kitchen though, sorry!”

‘Wow, I see how it is. I won’t burn any more food! Just you wait!”

“I’ll gladly see your progress, Hop Hop. Anywho, I’ll give my thanks to him as well as my family for teaching me life lessons like cooking and cleaning.”

You’re welcome? I guess that’s also another exception where I did do something, but still. Crafty got up next.

“I, um, want to thank you all for being my friends. I never really interact with anyone outside of my class, so it’s nice to be going out of my comfort zone. Also, I want to give my thanks to Kickin for being a wonderful boyfriend! He’s a sweetheart!”

Kickin hid his face in embarrassment as Hoppy gave him a smirk. 

“ I know you have so many thanks, but I want to personally thank you Catnap. You helped me get to know more people! You can say that you didn’t do anything, but you still helped me make such great friends! I’m happy I met you.”

No problem. I just do what I do. I guess it’s my turn. 

…

Oh right, I can’t really say my thanks. I’ll just point it out.

I want to thank all of you for being my friends. I point at everyone. You guys have been such great friends even though we all only just met each other, with the exception of Dogday, within a few chapters, but after the first 7 chapters, you guys have made life more fun than ever. Though I feel like life will be more chaotic being around you guys. It’s a compliment. And I want to thank Dogday. I point to him. You have been my best friend ever since we were kids. You made life brighter than it should be. I hope I can spend the rest of my life with you.

I hope they got my message. Luckily, they did.

“Awww, Catnap! We love being your friends!”

“Yeah dude! We’ll make sure life ain’t ever going to be boring!”

“I just hope it doesn’t involve fires.”

“Woah, way to throw shade, Picks.”

Everyone seems happy. I look at Dogday. His smile was wider than ever. 

“Oh, Catnap! I hope to be your BFF forever and ever!”

He hugged me tightly. I’m glad he got the message.

“ You really need to explain what you mean by chapters.”

I don’t feel like it. 

“I guess it’s my turn now! I want to thank you guys for being here! You guys are so fun to be around. I know everyone said this, but I’m glad we all became friends! And to end off our thanks, I’ll give my special thanks to Catnap! He’s my first best friend, and he’ll always be my best friend! Here’s to the years ahead!”

Everyone cheered as they clinked their glasses. We can now eat. I just take what I can from every dish and begin to eat.

“Heh, guess you were hungry, huh? Can’t blame you! This food looks great! Picky and the others really outdid themselves!”

“ He’s so cute when he’s eating… I just want to pinch his cheeks!”

That’s a new way to show affection. I wouldn’t mind it though. 

I looked around as I ate the food. Hoppy and Kickin were having a mini food fight with each other. Bobby silently supported Hoppy as she ate. While they did that, Bubba took a napkin from the tower, which caused it to collapse. They stopped their food fight to share in shock, and then they yelled in grief. Crafty couldn’t stop laughing as Picky lectured them on table manners. Dogday chatted with Bubba across the table about something I can’t really understand. It’s nice to have so many friends…

After we finished eating, we all did our own things. Hoppy, Kickin, and Picky began a game of Uno. Bubba was the referee. Bobby and Crafty watched the parade show happening on TV. They chatted about the balloons they had flying around. I honestly want to take a nap. Dogday noticed this.

“Hey! Wanna go on the couch and take a nap? I’m feeling pretty tired, if I’m being honest.”

“ It’s been a while since me and Catnap took a nap together! It would be so nice to hold him…”

A nap with Dogday doesn’t sound too bad. We went over to the couch. Dogday laid down, leaning against the arm rest. I laid on top of him, resting my head onto his chest. He wrapped his arms around me as he pulled a blanket onto us. I usually have blankets everywhere in my house since if I have freetime, I just sleep wherever I want. 

“So… Catnap. We’ve been thinking of having a Christmas sleepover party at Bubba’s during winter break. We wanted to invite you, but we knew that you like to have your alone time. Do you want to join us?”

“ Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes….”

I wouldn’t mind. If you can’t tell, sleepovers are pretty much my thing. Though since it’s happening on Christmas, do I need to bring anything?

“Well, you just need to buy some presents! You don’t have to buy for all of us, but you just need a present! And some sleepover stuff like sleeping bags and such.”

Then yeah. I can come. Just gotta do some shopping and it’ll be all good. I nod. Dogday was ecstatic about that.

“Great! Can’t wait for that to happen!”

He started to blush. Wonder why.

“ Then it’ll work! I need to do this!”

What’ll work-

“ I’ll confess to him on Christmas! I have my gift prepared and everything! I just need to prepare myself to do it!”

…he’s gonna confess. Well, if he can gain the confidence to do it before Christmas. I… feel so happy. I wonder what he’ll give me. Regardless, it’ll be an amazing gift no matter what. I’ll be waiting until then. I believe he can do this. 

He started to pet me as I felt myself drifting off to sleep. My eyes feel heavy. I can hear him whisper something just as I’m about to fall asleep.

“Good night, kitty.”

Chapter Text

The week before winter break is when every student in our school goes into full panic. Midterms. Pretty sure it’s a little off than other schools when it comes to when it happens, but I’m not the principal. We had midterms back in middle school, so it’s not new. Whenever it happens, every student will study like crazy the week before midterms, and then get a C+. For me, I don’t need to study. I can just read the minds of others around me for the answers. I aim for Bs and Cs since they’re the most average grades in midterms.  I’m no cheater, just an average student. While everyone else studies, I’ll be napping-

“Hey Catnap! Wanna join our study session?”

Hello Bobby. All of my friends always interrupt me whenever I talk to you guys. To answer her question, not really. I tilt my head in confusion.

“Well, I’m just asking since you do just sleep during science, like, all the time. I’m not even sure how you can keep up. I don’t want you to fail the science midterms! I really think a study session will be helpful for all of us! Plus, there’s some snacks we can eat while studying! You’ll have loads of fun, trust me.”

I’ll pass. Like I said, I don’t need to study. It’s a waste of time anyways.

“ Heh, I’m gonna try to see if what Hoppy said was true~”

What do you mean by that-

“Dogday will be there! He’s so excited to study with you! He even has a gift.”

I’ll go. I gave her a thumbs-up.

“Great! We’ll meet at my house! I’ll write down the address.”

“ Hoppy was right! OMG they love each other so much! Can’t wait to see my advice play out”

“Your advice plays out”? What does that even mean? She wrote down her address and handed it over to me. The bell rang.

“I’ll see you later! Bye!!”

She waved as she headed off to wherever class she had. Why’d I accept it so easily?? Dogday knows I never study, so why does he want to study with me? Well, it could be because of the crush thing. I’ll see why later.

…

It’s later. For some reason, Bobby had me wait a little before I could venture out to her house. Apparently it’s to surprise him. I thought he knew I was coming. Whatever. I did as I was told. 30 minutes should be long enough, right? She never told me how long I should wait. I’ll just start walking.

Her house is average compared to every other house around it. It’s surprising to me, honestly, since it’s the most normal one I’ve visited. Yes, Dogday has a pretty big house. It has a lot of sun patterns on it, and he even has a huge backyard. His hammock was one of my favorite places to nap on whenever I came over. Which was often. 

Back to Bobby’s house, I went over and knocked on the door. I can hear chattering in there.

“Dogday, can you get the door?”

“ EEK! Can’t wait to see his reaction!”

“Oh, sure! Hold on!”

“ Is it who I think it is?”

I guess he actually didn’t expect me to come. He opened the door and was surprised to see me for a brief second before smiling happily. 

“Hi Catnap! Didn’t know you were coming! Wanna come in?”

Bobby somewhat lied to me. I head inside. Everyone was sitting around a small table in the living room. It had a lot of books and notebooks stacked on it with some pencils and note cards scattered about. There were also some snacks as well. Everyone noticed me.

“Hey Naps! Let’s get studying! Don’t wanna fail, y’know?”

“ No offense, but I didn’t think he’d actually study. Oh well, life is full of surprises.”

“I’m not sure if he wants to hear that from the person that apparently doesn’t pay attention in social studies. Also, good evening Catnap.”

“Shush it, Bubs! I’ll ace this! If I don’t get what's going on, I’ll do 15 push-ups!”

“Woah dude. Little bit cruel for yourself, don’t you think?”

“ Why 15??”

Should that even be the concern right now?

“Kicks, this will help me improve in anything! Just watch!”

“Now Hoppy, I really think that’s unnecessary.”

“Oh don’t worry Bobs! I’ll understand it anyway! I’m pretty smart if I do say so myself.”

“ It’d be mad embarrassing if I flunk this test. I wouldn’t be able to face Bobby ever again!”

“Hey Nap! I made some snacks for us to eat while studying!”

“Come sit with us! We’re currently working on science.”

“ I didn’t think you’d study for these things since you have telekinesis and all. No offense.”

None taken. I’m only here since I thought Dogday had something for me.

“ Oh, well, he does. He did ask Bobby if she could ask you to come, but I don’t think he actually thought you would. Can’t tell you the gift though, sorry!”

I understand. So he sorta wished for me to come. 

“ Well, since you are here, you could study with us! Or you can take a nap.”

I think I have to study. Otherwise I’ll get a lecture by Bubba or Bobby. Dogday dragged Bobby out of the room as I sat down. I was instantly dragged away from my seat by Hoppy. Why did I even bother sitting?

“Hoppy, come back here. We need to study.”

“Sh! I’m trying to eavesdrop here, Bubs. Naps want to hear too.”

“ Doesn’t seem like it.”

No, I do not want to eavesdrop on the conversation. Though… I wonder why Dogday dragged Bobby away. Maybe I’ll listen for a little bit. I put my finger toward my lips to indicate the same message to Bubba. He was surprised, but he shrugged and went back to writing down notes.

“Awesome, now let’s listen…”

We both peeked through the door as Dogday talked with Bobby.

“How’d you get him here?? He usually never studies! Did you bribe him??”

“What? I would never! I told him that you were excited for him to be there, and that convinced him. I also told him you have a gift!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! Why? do you not have the gift?”

“No, I do! I had it just in case he did come, but I didn’t actually think he’d come! And for me too?”

“Well, you guys are an inseparable pair! He likes you, Dogday. He wouldn’t have come otherwise.”

“He… likes me? Like how much?”

“That’s up to you. Remember my advice from our knitting sessions! I’m sure you’ll get it.”

“ Catnap likes me? As in…  romantically?! So I have a chance?!?! No, I need to see it for myself! I’ll give him the gift and see if he likes it or not. If he likes it, then that’ll answer my question!”

Not sure why a gift will prove my love to you, but I’ll see. He shook Bobby’s hand.

“Okay, I will. Thank you, Bobby, for helping me with this.”

“No problem! I love helping out people in need when it comes to love!”

“Yeah, you have been very helpful! Though, what about you?”

“What about me?”

“You always say you had a crush, but you never let me help you with that! I’m sure Hoppy likes you the same-”

“SHHHH!!!! Don’t say it! What if someone overhears?!”

“Oh, shoot! Sorry! But why are you so hesitant on dating her? She clearly likes you too!”

“No she doesn’t… that’s ridiculous!”

“No it isn’t! She always does things for you and treats you like the most important person in the world!”

“That’s what all friends do. She only thinks of us as friends anyways.”

“ Besides, why would she like me…”

Before we could listen to any more of the conversation, Bubba grabbed me and Hoppy.

“Enough eavesdropping. Time to study and prepare for the exam.”

He plopped us down onto the seat. I’m somewhat disappointed about the interruption, but I knew we had to go back to studying. I just opened a text book and wrote whatever information was inside into a notebook. I took a glance at Hoppy, and she’s just sitting there, stunned, which is fair enough since she did discover that Bobby likes her back. That moment is replaying in her head several times.

“ Bobby… likes me? Oh my god, this is amazing! Was I the one friendzoning her? Oh crap, I messed up big time then! What do I do?? How can I prove my love for her??”

“Yo, Hoppy. Come back to Earth. You’re spacing out.”

“Wha- Huh? Oh, sorry Kicks. I’ll get my head back into the game!”

“ Strange, never seen her act like that before. What did they hear?”

Hoppy took one look at the textbook in front of her.

“… alright time for push-ups. One… Two..”

She began doing push-ups as Bobby and Dogday came back in, causing Hoppy to collapse onto the floor in surprise. 

“Oh, sup Bobs! And Days. What were you guys talking about?”

Why are you laying down like that? Bobby just laughed.

“Oh nothing. Just knitting and other stuff. Right, Dogday?”

“Yeah definitely.”

Crafty scooted closer to me.

“ What did you guys hear? I’m curious. I won’t tell anyone, I swear.”

Just about my arrival and Bobby’s secret.

“ Secret? What secret?”

A crush.

“ Wanna tell me? I promise I won’t tell anyone about Bobby’s crush! I swear it.”

Well, if you insist. Hoppy. 

“ Right to the point. Also, Aww! They would make such an adorable couple! I’ll keep my mouth shut though! Promise!”

I wouldn’t really care anyways. 

Dogday sat himself next to me.

“Hey Catnap! Sorry for keeping you long. How’s studying going?”

He looked at my notebook.

“Hm, not much notes. Don’t worry, I can help! First, I wanna give you something.”

He took out a box.

“Open it! I know it’s not Christmas yet, but I wanted to give you a present!”

Well, let’s see. I open the box to find a huge scarf and a pair of mittens. They look cute if I have to say.

“I made them myself! It’s always getting cold around this time, and you never wear anything to warm yourself up! I thought you would need something at least, so I attempted to knit them! I hope you like them…”

“ Please like them, please like them…”

Well, there is a reason why I don’t need things like coats, scarves, or gloves. I make myself warmer using heat manipulation. You guys, plus Crafty, will only know that though. The scarf and mittens are pretty cute. I like them. I feel myself smiling. I looked at him, and he had a hopeful expression on his face. Man, he’s so cute. I just wanna…

…

Oh shoot. I did it again.

“ He kissed my cheek?! So does that mean he likes me?! I need to make more gifts!!!! Wait, if he likes me… Then I have to confess! I can do this! I just need to figure out how to…”

Seems like that helped him gain a step towards his confession. His confidence must be higher now. I can’t wait to see how he’ll do it. Picky gave us a smirk. 

“Guys, enough flirting and get to studying. Y’all can do that after midterms. Right now, we have to prepare for what’s coming up.”

“F-Flirting?! No, I, uh, was giving Catnap a present! He just happened to land his lips on my cheek! Right, Catnap?!”

I nod. He’s a blushing mess right now. So am I. She giggled and continued her notes. 

“ I’m so embarrassed right now…”

Let’s just continue with studying. Dogday showed me everything I needed to know as we all wrote down highly specific notes from each class. Hoppy kept doing push-ups.

“Um, Hoppy? I really don’t think this is necessary.”

“This is just a consequence for myself for not understanding the topics! They’ll stop, just you wait!”

“I think you can study without punishing yourself.”

“I need to regain focus!”

“ I really think this isn’t good for her. I don’t know what to do… I could make a deal! I don’t think it’ll work, but if what Dogday said was true, it’s worth a shot.”

“Okay, how about this. If you stop doing push-ups, study and get a good grade for midterms, I’ll, uh, take you out to anywhere you want! My treat!”

Hoppy’s ears instantly shot up as she stopped and looked at Bobby. 

“R-Really? You promise?”

“I promise! Now get up and study!”

“Yes ma’am!”

“ Woah, I can go on a date with Bobby if I get a good score? Challenge accepted!”

“I really hope she can get a good score… If she does, I can at least be with her as a friend…”

Geez, just get together already. Hoppy quickly went and looked intently at all the textbooks. She flipped through all the pages and wrote down the notes super quickly. Bobby stared in awe.

“ Wow, she’s going at it. Does this mean… she actually likes me? So… will I be able to date her? I’ll see afterwards. Maybe after Christmas, we can have the date…”

I’m glad you’re figuring it out, Bobby. Anyhow, back to studying. We all collectively studied each and every topic for our classes. Dogday quizzed me several times, which didn’t really help considering I can read his mind, but he doesn’t know that. I’ll just let him think I’m getting all the answers right because of studying. At least he’s happy. It’s starting to get dark out.

“Alright, it appears we should be good for midterms. Just study all the notes, and you guys will at least get decent grades.”

“Wow, some confidence you have for us, Bubs.”

“I’m thinking logically. I especially want you, Kickin and Catnap to study hard. You guys are always the ones either never paying attention or understand the topics the least. No offense.”

“Understandable. Don’t worry, dude, I’ll get the best grade! Just watch!”

“Yeah, we’ll prove you wrong, Bubs!”

Prove him wrong about what? 

We all leave Bobby’s house and head home. Dogday walked me home, which was nice.

“Hey, um, Catnap?”

Hm?

“I forgot my gloves at home, and my hands are kinda cold…”

Just put them in your pockets.

“Do you… wanna hold my hand? I think it might help make me warm.”

Not sure why he’s acting like holding hands is something couples do. We hold hands all the time. I’ll just do it. I am wearing the mittens he gave me. I grab onto his hand, and using heat manipulation, I make his hand warmer.

“ His hands so warm… Heh, guess that’s why he doesn’t really wear that many layers. I’ll make sure to make this confession worth it.”

I’ll be waiting. For now, midterms are coming up. Might as well prepare.

Chapter Text

It’s the day of Midterms. Everyone begrudgingly walked with their backs slumped into the school. It’s cloudy outside with some light wind. Everyone was either praying or studying all their notes last minute. Not me. I slept pretty well last night, and I’m getting all the information I need from reading minds. I can’t say the same thing for my friends. Kickin’s crawling on the floor instead of walking. Hoppy’s mumbling to all the notes she took. Picky’s stress eating some crackers. Bobby kept quizzing herself with some flashcards. Crafty just doodled on a blank piece of paper. I literally had to carry Dogday from his house to here. Bubba had a cup of coffee with him while looking like he just woke up after 1,000 years. Yeah, we’re all pretty excited for this. We all had to take our tests in our homerooms with the exception of home ec. I had to take that first before the important stuff, so I won’t mention it. All I will say is that Hoppy barely passed. Good job, Hoppy.

Now we were all sitting in assigned seats. The teacher came in with a stack of papers. She handed each packet to us and returned to her desk.

“Alright class. I’m assuming we are all prepared for the first test. Remember to take your time, and do not rush. You have until the next hour. Don’t stress out!”

That sounds stressful.

“Alright, start your test… now.”

And so it starts. 

“ I think the answer’s A…”

“Definitely A.”

“Is it A or C?”

“I want to die.”

“Must be A. It only makes sense.”

See how easy this test can go? I’ll go with A. 

“ Heh, the teacher will never suspect that I have a cheat sheet hidden within my sleeve…”