When Opposites Attract

A paroxysm is on par with spontaneous combustion. So basically she was internally spazzing out. ^.^
And from now on, I'll try to update once a week. ._.

 

>.> Jesus. I need to update this again.

 

I. AM. SO. SORRY.

Freshman year is so HECTIC! I can't believe how busy I was in the first two weeks! My apologies...

So, here's an update so you guys won't think I died or anything. I finally found some free time... I'm sorry if this seems rushed or if there's any mistakes or something.
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When Opposites Attract - Chapter 13

"Hurry up, Flakes!"

"S-s-sorry"- I stammered, hurriedly following the two girls down the crowded hall, clutching my purse close to my side. The mall was extremely crowded; it seemed as if more people were there than the actual population of Happy Tree. Giggles had convinced me to go shopping with Petunia and herself, at least so I could know my way around the stores. It took days more of her pestering for me to comply; after lunch the previous week, Petunia seemed... different to me. And it made me uneasy.

Well, more than everything else did.

"We won't get anything at the rate we're walking. The mall's about to close." Petunia said, shooting me a look. I sped up, inwardly grumbling about my shorter legs. It wasn't fair that everyone else was taller than me- or that I was cursed with a petite height.

"Calm down Petunia, we're right here."

I looked up to see a store filled with girls around our age- all of them occupying one of the displays scattered around the floor. Each and every customer there was wearing some form of pink in an array of shades, spoke at 100 miles an hour, and at least squeaked once. It was then I realized that the store obviously wasn't for us- it was for Giggles. Why in the world would Petunia be in such a hurry to get here? She was far too serious for something so... girlish.

Giggles immediately skipped to the counter, speaking with the cashier for a moment, before she was brought back to the storeroom. I bit my lip, fiddling with the strap of my purse, feeling suddenly self conscious being left alone with Petunia. She was peering down at an assortment of eye makeup kits; most of them were Halloween themed.

"What're you going as, Flaky?" she asked suddenly, pulling me from my thoughts.

"A-ah, w-what?"-

She sighed exasperatedly, glancing over at me.

"For Giggles' party?"

"O-oh... I-I d-don't k-know..." I mumbled, my face turning red in embarrassment.

"Well, see anything you like?"

I studied the arrangement of makeup kits they had- every kit corresponded to a list of certain costume ideas. They were all organized by color; strangely I remembered them not being so neat and in order when we first entered the store. Petunia must have fixed them in under a minute or so. She coughed, indicating that I hurry up with my decision. Flustered, I pointed to the first and only red kit I saw, and she picked it up.

"Somehow, I'm not surprised, Flakes. But whatever, red's your thing." she said, holding up a blue kit. "How much money do you have left?"

"N-n-not enough t-to g-get that." I said, arching an eyebrow at the price. Fifteen dollars each for a stupid eye kit. It was obviously a rip off.

"I'll get it for you."

"W-what? Y-you d-don't have to"-

"I insist, Flaky." she smiled, and I instantly stopped talking. She barely smiled at me anymore. Maybe she was feeling bad about... well, she didn't do anything. But she definitely was acting differently- at least towards me.

"A-alright... but it's w-way too e-expensive"-

"That isn't a problem either."

And before I could ask why, she simply dropped both of the eye kits into her oversized purse, without even blinking. I gaped at her, feeling my heart almost jump from my chest. Nobody in the store noticed what had happened. Nobody except for me. Immediately, I felt my stomach drop, sensing that feeling of guilt begin to brew deep in my core. I hadn't stolen anything in my entire life, and even though Petunia was the one with the sticky fingers, I was responsible. I had to say something. I had to-

"Hey guys!"

I squeaked, snapping my attention to Giggles, who was holding a bag from the store. Her usually happy expression turned confused as she arched an eyebrow at me, before looking to Petunia.

"What's up with her?"

"What's up with me? Why don't you ask the thief what her deal is?" I thought, desperate to scrounge up the courage to at least speak up; but it never came. Instead, I remained silent, keeping a steady gaze on the carpeted floor, focusing on calming myself down.

"I dunno. But she's usually nervous anyway." She responded.

"Eh... whatever. Are you two ready to go?" she asked, smiling again.

"Yeah." Petunia said simply, shrugging.

I only nodded in agreement, and watched my legs carry me to the front of the store, my pulse sounding in my ears as we neared the entrance. Petunia easily crossed the threshold of the door, and I automatically flinched, expecting loads of alarms to sound, metal bars barricade the doors, an army of mall security to bear down on all of us, interrogating relentlessly until somebody (most likely me) broke down under the pressure. Instead, absolutely nothing happened; the mall wasn't put under a lockdown like I imagined. She had gotten away with it.

Exhaling, I shuffled anxiously behind Giggles, desperate to keep my distance from Petunia. I never would have imagined her as a thief. She was the oldest out of the three of us- the most mature when it came to anything, so calm and collected, intelligent... what would possess her to steal anything? To even commit a crime, petty or not, seemed way below her. Apparently it wasn't. I twiddled my thumbs, glancing over at the blue haired girl. What if I got in trouble for it? She stole the red makeup kit for me... in fact; the whole thing could get pinned on me. I could already see my sparkly clean record being ravaged by a misdemeanor.

"Oooh! The ice cream place is still open! I'll be back, you two!" Giggles squeaked, skipping off to the nearby ice cream kiosk in a blur of pink and ribbon.

And just like that; I was alone with her again. My legs stopped moving, and I stood in the middle of the walkway, some distance from Petunia. I couldn't bring myself to move, although I desperately wanted to run away. My breath hitched up as I felt her approach, and I squeezed my eyes shut, my knees starting to tremble as I struggled to stay upright.

"Flaky...?" she asked, all innocence.

"W-w-what?"- I stammered, my voice barely audible.

"Open your eyes."

"S-sorry, I c-can't"-

"I said open your eyes!" she hissed, the pleasant tone to her voice instantly melting away. My eyes snapped open, and I held back a scream as the scene around us morphed into another. All the shoppers had fallen to the ground, blank and immobile as the walls toppled over like they were made of cardboard. There was nothing but darkness behind each wall, a simple empty void that led into nothingness.

"You should've said something..." Petunia snickered, her grin growing unnaturally wide as she tossed something into the air. It glinted a silvery metal, before clattering to the floor and skidding to my feet; a pair of handcuffs.

I bolted away from her, running in the opposite direction towards another one of the mall exits. The hallway stretched on forever, the door appearing farther away the faster I ran. The sound of my sneakers pounding against the floor echoed all around, even after I finally reached the door. I frantically grabbed the handle, pulling it with all my might, until the doors swung open, knocking me to the ground.

The hall was flooded with a searing bright light, causing me to squint involuntarily; I had to glance away from the door to keep from being blinded temporarily. A silhouette slowly stepped out of the light, until it was a yard away from me. I scrambled to my feet, rubbing my eyes and examining the figure again. It wasn't a person... more like a 3 dimensional shadow that only existed to frighten me.

"P-Please... l-l-leave me a-alone"-

Instead of doing as I asked, the shadow took one step towards me, causing some of the floor tiles around us to fall into an abyss. I instinctively took a few more steps backwards, feeling my blood run cold as the figure drew near, more tiles falling apart. I should have run the other way, but my fear cornered me- literally. I was trapped; if I tried to retreat any further, I would fall... and who knew what would be waiting for me at the bottom? If there even was one in existence.

Suddenly, I bumped into a cool, hard surface. Reaching behind myself, I discovered a metal table with files scattered across the top. Each file was filled to the bursting point with various documents and pictures... of me. My eyes widened as I looked over each one; every photograph was of me in the store- taking the kits.

"Why'd you do it, Flaky?" a voice behind me sounded.

I whirled around, and the figure reached up, pulling on a light switch that appeared from thin air. Everything was shrouded in darkness, until a bright floodlight flickered to light directly above us. The figure wasn't a shadow at all... it was a person. Flippy.

His head was lowered, and all I could see under his tousled green hair was that smirk of his... although it held more of a menacing undertone to it. I trembled, attempting to reach out to him, only to be suddenly restrained. My eyes trailed down to the table leg, where the pair of handcuffs kept my left hand in place. No matter how much I struggled, the chain wouldn't break; I was too-

"Weak." he murmured, tilting his head up slightly, revealing the acid green eyes that I had grown to fear. I paled as he flashed a particularly heart stopping grin; his canines a bit sharper than normal. "You're so weak, Flaky."

"W-what d-d-do y-you"-

"You know what I mean." he interrupted, holding up a photograph. I glanced away, and he smirked, grabbing my chin and forcefully turning it to face the picture. "Too weak to say no, far too weak to tell somebody the truth..."

"I-I-I"- I mumbled, unable to form a coherent sentence; I was way too scared.

"Too weak to speak up..." he said, a dark smile playing at the corners of his mouth. He leaned close, positioning his lips right in front of my ear. "Speak up, Flakes..." he whispered, sending chills down my spine. How could he still affect me like this, even when he terrified me?

"B-But"-

"I couldn't quite hear you!" he shouted, his voice impossibly loud, and I jumped in shock, attempting to regain my balance, careful to avoid the edges of the tile I stood on. Most of them had fallen out of existence, and I was left with little space. Flippy laughed, his voice dripping with menace, tapping a button on the handcuffs, gravity sending them down below into the void.

"Ladies and gentleman of the jury, have we reached a verdict?" Another voice shrilled. It was Petunia's, although she was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, another floodlight snapped on, revealing a long maple bench, everyone I knew perched on the edge with hardened expressions on their faces. They all looked at me as if I disgusted them, and Giggles stood up, the evil grin on her mouth looking extremely out of place.

"It was unanimous. We find Flaky Porcupine guilty on all charges." she sneered. They all stood from their seats, sticking out their thumbs and pointing them down towards the abyss with a turn of the hand. My pulse quickened threefold, and my vision blurred as I frantically turned back to Flippy, my eyes flooding with tears.

"P-p-please! D-don't!"

"And she speaks now... how unfortunate. You're far too late." he said, his voice laced with amusement. He uncrossed his arms, revealing a freshly sharpened knife, the blade glinting under the floodlight. "But, since I like you so much," he said sarcastically, making my heart clench bitterly, "You get to choose how it ends. Take the fall, or take the knife?"

"The k-knife"- I answered a bit too quickly. He blinked, arching an eyebrow at me.

"Why? The other way would be less painful." he said, confusion and curiosity glinting in his bizarre eyes.

I shook my head, keeping my mouth shut. This obviously irritated him, and he grabbed my arm, tugging me closer. I stumbled onto the last tile, the one I stood on a moment before shattering into pieces, and I bit my lip to keep from speaking. I couldn't possibly respond now; but it was shocking to me that I'd actually be worried about embarrassment at that moment.

"Answer me." he growled.

When I didn't, his grip tightened on my wrist immensely, and I yelped in pain, certain my arm was already beginning to bruise.

"You're only making this worse for yourself. Answer me." he repeated, his voice somehow growing colder.

"N-no..." I muttered, before I froze in shock; I had never defied him so bluntly before. His eyes flashed, and immediately he had the blade pressed to my neck.

"Wrong answer, Flakes."

With one swift motion, the knife was dragged across my throat, followed by the most searing pain I had ever experienced in my life. I couldn't bring myself to scream, I was in so much agony. Warm blood ran down my neck, and I felt myself tilting back, towards the emptiness below. Meanwhile, the chanting of the others filled my ears; all of their accusations and insults circulating in my head. My descent increased in speed, the air whipping around me as I fell to my fate. All because I was so-

"Weak."

I burst upright from my bed, screaming at the top of my lungs. I was in my dark room, my skin covered in a sheen of cold sweat, my unruly hair sticking to my forehead, all of my pillows and blankets sprawled out onto the floor. My heart was beating a mile a minute, and air didn't come easily to me as I inhaled as deeply as I could. Quickly standing up, I bumped into my desk, knocking over the makeup kit that was sitting there. Petunia had bought it for me a few days before... she wouldn't steal anything. I staggered out into the hall, fumbling over the wall for the light switch.

I finally managed to flick it on; stepping into my bathroom and flinging open the medicine cabinet, popping open the bottle of pills, attempting to shake two out into my palm. My trembling hand didn't make the task any easier for me, and the bottle fell from my hands, landing on the counter of the sink, pills scattering everywhere. Tears springing to my eyes, I quickly salvaged the small capsules that didn't land on the ground, popping two into my mouth and swallowing them without water. The pills were dry and took forever to travel down my throat as I leaned against the wall, sliding down to sit onto the cold tile floor.

Night Terrors. This is what happened to me sometimes if I forgot to take my medication before bed. The nightmares I had as a result were vivid and extremely terrifying. But the thing was, I was more scared of the answer I almost gave before I awoke, instead of the dream itself. Pressing my face into my hands, I began to cry, my sobs quivering slightly every time I trembled involuntarily. I chose the knife because he would be the last one I saw before my death.

Even if he was the one who caused it.
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Bam. An update.

[Explanation: Flaky was scared over her answer because she wasn't expecting her feelings for Flippy to be so strong]

c: Don't hate me for being so late-: