It had been about a week since Charlotte moved in and things were going well. ....Actually, no, that's a lie. After that brief scuffle with Ayo, she had made her true colours show. Now she was known as the school's resident delinquent along with Grapefruit. The excitement of a new student had worn off and it was almost like she was always here. Back to the usual daily grind!
It was lunch time when Purry let out a troubled sigh. We all stopped what we were doing and looked at her, as it was rather sudden.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Oh, it's nothing..." she said and sighed once more. Her striped tail was moving absentmindedly and Amelia had a frown on her face. She shuffled closer to the cat.
"If there's something bothering you, you should tell us. We won't make fun of you," Amelia told her. Purry's yellow eyes scanned over us before she nodded.
"Okay, fine... I'm just thinking about the boy I like..."
"Ah... Ayo, is it?" Aqua said. A small smile appeared on her face and she started telling us how amazing she thought he was. I bet she would change her mind if she saw what Charlotte did to him... That aside, she was clearly madly in love with him. Amelia smiled and brought her pink paws to her chest.
"If you feel that strongly about him, why don't you ask him out?"
Purry shook her head. "I can't do that! I'm so out of his league..."
"That's not true!" I exclaimed. "You're a pretty girl, Ayo should feel special to have a girl like you!"
"I don't know..." I don't know what she's so worried about. In my opinion, Ayo's the one out of her league! Though beside seeing his ass get handed to him, I don't actually know that much about him. If they do start dating, maybe we could get to know about each other a little better? Amelia and Aqua were trying to convince her to give it a shot.
"You'll never know unless you try!" Amelia squeaked. "I mean, you saw what happened with me and Ricky, yeah?"
"Yeah, yeah! If Amelia hadn't made that move, Ricky would still be pining over her!" Aqua shouted and I punched him in the arm. He gave me a cheeky look as he rubbed where I hit. Purry tilted her head to the side as she thought it over.
"Hmm... Okay!" she smiled. "I'll ask him out after school!"
"Good luck!"
The rest of the school day went by fairly quickly. At the end of the day, my friends and I gathered at the school gates as we waited for everybody. Purry skipped over, but she wasn't going to walk home with us. She gave a determined nod, we gave her some thumbs up and then she left. Only tomorrow we will find out how it went.

The very next day, Purry wasn't waiting for us where we usually meet. The three of us waited a bit but decided to walk to school without her. Good thing we did, because she was sitting in front of the school's gate. She had a very self-satisfied smile on her face.
"Good morning!" Amelia greeted. "Did it go well?"
"Hm hm! Guess who has a boyfriend now!" she replied.
"Aw, congrats Purry!" We all cheered and clapped for her.
"So, where is he?" I asked. With a swish of her striped tail, she led us away. We went past our lockers and Amelia was worried we would be late for class. Eventually we stopped in front of the sports shed. It's pretty hidden away from the rest of the school. From what I do know about him, it's no wonder Ayo hangs out around here... Speaking of which, he stood right in front of us but he didn't acknowledged our presence much. Purry gleefully skipped forward.
"Friends, this is Ayo! Ayo, friends!"
"Hey, we're not total strangers!" Aqua squeaked.
"It's nice to meet you," Amelia smiled. Ayo said nothing but he did wave in our general direction. The school bell rung and like good boys and girls, we were about to make a move. Since we're already here, I suggested we go to class together. I figured it would be a pretty good plan to get some conversation out of Ayo. Instead, Purry shook her head.
"Uh, actually... We were going to stay behind for just a little bit..."
We took the hint and ran out of there as soon as the words left her mouth.  Well, I hope they had fun... We decided not to talk about it when they waltzed back into class.

For the rest of the day, Ayo tagged along with us. Something tells me he didn't want to because he disappeared at every chance he got. Purry always found him quickly though. How did she pick up on all his hiding places so fast? After about the fifth time, Amelia had enough and took matters into her own hands (or paws?)
"We're all here so let's have a chat. Ayo, what do you do for fun?" she said.
"Well," he said, and that's the first I've heard him speak all day, "You wouldn't be interested."
"So? I don't care about Ricky's music half the time but I still listen to him," Aqua said. Note to self: stop talking about music to Aqua. Meanwhile, Purry was smiling at us as she held on to her boyfriend. He swished his hair out of his (might I add) gorgeous blue eyes.
"I guess I do like picking fights with people..."
The air turned heavy and Amelia and Aqua stood stiffly. Purry didn't react and I already knew anyway. "O-oh... Sounds... fun..." Ayo stared blankly.
"Uhm... What about some more normal hobbies? N-not that it's weird or anything..." Aqua asked and nervously twiddled his thumbs. He stopped to think and it looked like he was actually giving it some thought. Just like before, he swished his hair out of his eyes and stared blankly.
"I watch anime sometimes I guess..."
Amelia's face lit up and she hopped to her feet. "R-really!? Me too! Do you like Mahou Shoujo Koneko-chan!?" Mahou Shoujo Koneko-chan is the hottest new magical girl anime taking the world by storm. School girl by day, magical girl by night, Koneko-chan saves the day! ...I've actually never seen it. I know Amelia seems to like it though. She even has a stuffed toy of the mascot character from it. A light blush had started to form on her cheeks.
"Now that I've said it out loud, it's probably too girly for you, huh..." she said. Ayo, master of words, didn't reply.
"I'm so glad we're becoming  good friends!" Purry squeaked. We hang our heads. It felt almost insulting to hear her say that. This felt more like an one-sided conversation to me! How does she do it? Surely they must talk about something! The bell for the end of lunch echoed through out the school courtyards. We packed up our stuff and left the two love birds alone.

At the end of day, we were exhausted. Purry had ditched our usual seating arrangements and sat next to Ayo instead. That's fine, nothing wrong with it. Us remaining three also moved seats to be closer to them. We wanted to make some more conversation with Ayo. It was like talking to a brick wall. Not that he's stubborn, but because he doesn't say much and isn't all that expressive.
Now that it's home time, we were glad it was over. Purry looked at our tired faces and gave a warm smile. "Bye bye! I'm going to be with Ayo so I'll see you all tomorrow!"
"See you..." I replied. She turned tail and bounded away. When she was out of ear shot, Aqua groaned. Loud.
"Well, that was pointless..."
"Ehehe... Purry seems to like him though. Maybe he's just shy," Amelia said.
"You think so?" I asked while pondering the possibility of it. "Well, it is just the first day. Hopefully Ayo feels like talking more tomorrow. He might've been in a bad mood or something." Aqua stared to laugh.
"I too would be in a bad mood the day after Purry became my girlfriend!" he chuckled and wiped the happy tears from his eyes. "I'm just kidding. Don't tell her I said that." We laughed back and walked home together.

Now that I'm home, I was cooped up in my room doing homework. Okay, that's a lie, I'm sorry. What I'm actually doing is researching conversation starters. Which, now that I've said it, sounds dumb. Obviously I know how to talk to people. There's nothing much to it, right? All I want to do is get Ayo out of his shell somehow. So by researching a little about it, hopefully I can achieve that! I only hope he doesn't mind telling me what his favourite colour or food is...

~~~~~~~~

It had been about a month now and whatever progress we have made, it's very small. Ayo's attitude towards us hadn't changed in the slightest. I also think he might've gotten annoyed at the boring mundane things we kept asking him... Purry, however, is the happiest she's ever been and I'm also happy for her. It's great that she's found someone she loves! As for the rest of us, we have kept hopeful and looking forward to blossoming our friendship together. ...Don't look at me! I got those words from Amelia!
Anyway, here we are again at recess. Both Purry and Ayo leave class early and make out behind the library. A teacher caught them once but that's not important. Then they meet us under the tree we usually hang out at. Amelia always greets them with a smile and after a few minutes, we start encouraging Ayo to talk. More like bothering him, really...
"So", Amelia cleared her throat, "we've established you like anime. What kind of anime do you like?" He stared at us blankly for a while and then slowly opened his mouth.
"Uhhh... A-anything..." Ahaha... I think we made him embarrassed... At least that's a different emotion than absolutely nothing! Amelia urged him to tell us more but he gave some very vague answers in responses. I don't think I want to know what 'anything' actually entails. Next, was Aqua's turn.
"Do you play video games too?"
"Sometimes..."
"I have an idea!" he shouted. "We should play together sometime! What do you play?" He bounced up and down in his seat and Ayo was now avoiding our eyes. Purry made a snort sound and swished her striped tail.
"Um... Let's talk about something more interesting. Actually, why don't you all leave? I want to us to be alone," she said, her cheeks blushing red. Her paws were wrapped around her boyfriend and if I'm being honest, he didn't look all that thrilled. Her face was leaned in close and their lips were almost touching.
Amelia got to her feet. "Yes, I think we should. Ricky, Aqua, let's go."
"Coming!" We rushed to our feet and walked off.
"I have some words I would like to say to Ayo..." Amelia whispered as we walked off.

Class was a drag but what else is new? It would be better if Mr. Smith didn't sound so droning. Also he's like super old, I bet he's as old as the school itself! After what felt like a million years, it was now lunch time. Everybody rushed out the classroom as soon as they could. I put my books away, got my food then met up with my friends. It looked like it was just me, Amelia and Aqua. We didn't mind much, and started to make conversation.
We heard a high pitched giggle and Purry and her boyfriend came into view. They seemed to be in a good mood. And when I say 'they', I mean Purry. Ayo's face is hard to read... They plopped their butts down in front of us. They brought lunch too but my feline friend was too busy giving affections to eat it.
"There is something I would like to discuss," Amelia said suddenly. Purry's giggling stopped and we all turned towards her.
"Okay... What is it?"
She stood up and gently brushed the dirt from her skirt. "Ayo," she said, pointing a finger towards him, "I don't mind that you hang out with us. In fact, I think it's quite nice! But it wouldn't hurt you to talk to us and get to know us."
"Um, excuse me!" Purry snorted. "If I recall, you're always talking and it's never anything interesting!"
"To be fair, we start those conversations," Aqua laughed. Purry snapped and made him shut up. I'll just see where this goes... I don't want to make them mad. Ayo hadn't said a word, even though we're all talking about him.
"I just think he should make more of an effort. I don't want to seem strict, but that's the least he can do if he wants to be with us," Amelia continued to explain.
"Oh? Maybe he doesn't want to," Purry said, a sly smile on her lips. "You're just jealous because my boyfriend's hotter than yours."
"Excuse me... I'm right here..." If you're talking about me you should at least acknowledge my presence if I'm there! And don't get me started on the insult!
"I don't care if my boyfriend is attractive or not!" Amelia yelled. "At least he actually talks to me and looks at me when he kisses me!" It fell silent and no one moved a muscle. A growl left Purry's mouth and she narrowed her eyes. Ayo stood up and Amelia's face contorted into sudden horror.
"Wait, Ayo... I-I didn't mean-" And as silent as he came, he ran away. Purry gave a glare towards us, stuck her tongue out then ran off after him, shouting at him to come back. It became quiet again as we watched them leave. Amelia was staring at her feet, looking very crestfallen.
"That went well," Aqua said, breaking the silence. I punched him in the arm, this time much harder. He squeaked in pain and Amelia started to sniff as a small tear rolled down her cheeks. I went over to her and gently put my arms over her.
"It's okay, it's okay! It's just a little argument, it'll be fine!"
"It won't be fine... I said something that I shouldn't... I'm awful..."
"No, don't worry! Let's forget it ever happened and it will be fine tomorrow!" She stared at me blankly with big sad eyes. Okay well, it won't be fine just like that... But we can take steps to make it fine!
"Why don't you apologise to them the next time we see them both? Then it will be a-okay!" I said.
"You think it would be that easy?" she asked.
"I don't know about Ayo, but Purry should take it fine. We're her friends after all," I smiled warmly. She still didn't look sure and shuffled her feet around. Aqua bounced up from beside me, also with a big smile.
"She's not one to hold a grudge anyway. She'll forgive you and I'm sure Ayo would too!" he squeaked. The brightness from Amelia's face returned and her lips formed into a cute little smile. She enthusiastically nodded, her pigtails bobbing with her head.
"Hm! You're right! Let's go do that!"
Now in high spirits, we packed up our things and ran to class (the bell had rang, anyway). Maybe a little fight is what we need to all become closer friends together? I have high hopes about this!

The two love birds had apparently skipped the rest of school because we didn't see them for what was left of the day. This made Amelia a little sad but she cheered up when I told her there's always tomorrow. Maybe sleeping on it would help actually. We agreed to all come to school early and hopefully meet them before we need to go to class. I better get all my homework done as soon as I come home or I'll be up all night!

~~~~~~~

The next day, I met Amelia and Aqua at the school gates. Well, if I'm telling the truth, I met Amelia there and Aqua came, like, ten minutes after. We lost a little bit of time but that's okay. While waiting, we hadn't see either Ayo or Purry arrive so we decided to look for them around school.
First we checked the lockers, and while we were at it we put our bags away. Only a handful of people were waiting around there, but none that we wanted. Aqua suggested to look behind the library since that's where they usually are. So, we did just that. I just hope we don't see something we don't want to see! I don't want to look at other people while they kiss (...What? Did you think I meant something else?).
It turns out, no one was there. A little disappointing but it's alright! We were about to look else where, when Amelia suddenly started to sprint in the opposite direction.
"Ayo! Ayo, please wait!" Just like fate, he suddenly showed up! Aqua and I ran after her to catch up to her. Ayo had stopped and he seemed to be somewhat surprised that we were all after him. Aqua and I were panting trying to catch our breath but Amelia looked like she didn't break a sweat!
"Ayo," she said, paws clamped tightly on her chest. "I want to apologise. What I said was hurtful and I wasn't thinking about your feelings. I hope you can forgive me." I stood up straight and smiled. He slowly titled his head to the side.
"...Apologise for what?"
"...Eh?" Amelia squeaked. I fell back to the floor. The clueless-ness was like a wave pushing me over. "F-from yesterday..." she continued. "About you and Purry and..."
"Oh!" he shouted. That's the loudest I've ever heard him! It took me by surprise at first. "Oh, uh, that's alright..."
"Okay, I'm glad... That's all I needed," she replied, looking a little weirded out. He shrugged, turned around and walked off. We silently watched him leave. This quietness lasted for a while until Amelia sighed, both out of relief and frustration.
"I feel a little silly for worrying so much about it now..."
"Don't worry about it," I said, now standing beside her. "Honestly, he's kinda weird."  She gave me an awkward smile.
"Speaking of which," Aqua started. "What kind of name is 'Ayo' anyway? I've never heard it before in my life!"
"Now now, lets not make fun of people's names..." she said. He insisted that he was right and Amelia interrupted him by saying we should find Purry. If she's not with Ayo, then I wonder she is? We looked all over the school, mostly in places we hadn't been to yet. Class will start soon so hopefully we find her before then. And just like that, she showed up! She seemed to be making her way over to class and wasn't too pleased to see us. She almost turned into the other direction until we called out to her.
"What is it?" she snapped when we caught up to her. At first, Amelia looked nervous until we encouraged her to go for it. She gently stepped forward.
"Um... I'm here to apologise for yesterday. I'm really sorry about what I said, I wasn't being myself. We are best friends and I don't want something like this to become between us. I'm truly sorry and I hope you'll forgive me." She ended her statement with a nice bow. Purry blinked in surprise and looked taken aback. With a slight pout, she swished her head to the side and mumbled.
"Apology accepted..."
"You mean it?" she asked.
Purry swished her tail over her white paws. "Yes. And besides you're kinda right, I just didn't want to admit it..." Everyone smiled and brought her into a tight hug. She was flustered over the sudden attention but like the good friends we are, she hugged us back. Happy and together again, we walked to class as a group.

The school day had gone by faster than what I was expecting. Purry's good mood had returned and she was friendly with us once again. She sat with Ayo during class but she had been doing for a while now, so we weren't surprised. They joined us for recess and for once he actually tried to speak with us. Everybody felt satisfied now and we were looking forward to our new friendships together.
Then lunch came around... The love birds left early as usual so we weren't bothered by it. I was waiting by the lockers as Amelia and Aqua got their food. I felt someone poke my shoulder and turned around.
"Oh, hello." It was Charlotte and Grapefruit!
"Hi there! Have you seen Ayo? We have a score to settle," the guinea pig girl said. Upon closer examination, she had a band-aid on her cheek. She must have gotten into a fight, with Ayo no less! Grapefruit sat beside her with a cheeky grin. They also had a similar looking band-aid on them.
"He should be with Purry. I don't know where they've gone though," I replied. That's kinda a lie because they are most likely behind the library...
"Hiding with his girlfriend, huh? He's just a coward too scared to face us!" Grapefruit laughed. At this point Amelia and Aqua had joined me. Amelia asked what was going on and once they explained, said that they shouldn't interfere.
"He's not being a coward. He can be with his girlfriend if he wants to," she said. The two delinquents mumbled and grumbled amongst themselves. They looked to be itching for a fight. That's no good! You shouldn't do that at school!
The small pitter patter of paws came from beside me. It was followed by a sniff, like someone was crying.
"Oh, Purry's here!" Aqua squeaked. Sure enough it was. But why is she crying? We asked what was wrong and she started to cry harder.
"Ayo... H-he broke up with me!"
Oh, you've got to be kidding me.
"Oh no! Purry, I'm so sorry!" Amelia wailed and held her tight. While gently patting her head, she sobbed into her shoulder.
"Just when things were looking up too..." Aqua sighed. Funnily enough, I was thinking the same thing. Sure, there was that one argument of sorts but we all seemed to have worked that out. That and we had spent weeks, months even trying to understand and befriend him. Now that was all down the drain.
"I somehow feel like I'm responsible..." Amelia said while Purry continued to sob.
"Nooo..." she wailed. "It's got nothing to do with you..." Amelia gave a weak smile and brushed the tears away. I wonder where Ayo is though... When I find him, he has some explaining to do! While we comforted Purry, Charlotte and Grapefruit stood there watching us awkwardly.
"I have an idea," Charlotte suddenly announced. We turned to look at them, waiting for her to speak. "Since we're going to anyway, we can beat Ayo up for you! As revenge!"
"You don't need to do tha-" Amelia said before a soft white paw pressed itself into her face. Purry sniffed and with a small smile, wiped a single tear away.
"I would like that." Shadows fell over mine, Aqua's and Amelia's face and our mouths opened in shock. I can't believe she agreed to that.
"Alright!" Grapefruit shouted. "The next time you see Ayo, he'll be in a wheelchair!" Before we could object any further, the two of them ran off. Amelia sighed and stood up, brushing her skirt off.
"Are you okay, Purry?"
"Yes, I'll be fine," she said. She still looked a little sad but she had stopped crying at least, so it's okay. With friendly smiles, we left to have lunch as a group, happy and together.
As for Ayo... Since breaking up with her, he had gone back to the way he was - pretending we don't exist. I guess he was also like that from the start, but he doesn't talk to us at all now. Oh well! Maybe one day we can break down his walls and open up his shell.
For now, I'm glad we're back to being good friends. But there is just one little thing... For the most part, Purry is her usual self and is all smiles. But occasionally she laments over him and still watches him with love in her eyes. I guess it will also take some time for her to get over her crush, too!