Chapter 8 ~ Sincerely, Your Number 1 Fan (Part 2)
~Scene 6 (cont.)~
“LEMMY KOOPA???”
Rep, Seth, and Batman all stared at each other, making ‘umu’ faces.
“You called?” Lemmy said as she walked in on the royal meeting room.
“LEMMY!” Rep shouted. “...WE FOUND YOU.”
“What are you talking about? I’ve only been gone for a few days. I’m back now to deliver the mail.” Lemmy responded.
“YOU. DID YOU WRITE THIS LETTER?” Batman said, holding up the love letter to Lemmy’s face.
“Er...gotta deliver the mail! King just called for me. Bye!” Lemmy said, running off.
“Not so fast.” King said, grabbing Lemmy at the door of the royal meeting room.
“Ack! Let me go!” Lemmy cried, trying to break loose of King’s strong grip.
“Not until you tell us why you’ve been writing these letters for Ari. Are you in love with her?” King asked.
“No, no that’s not it at all! Really!” Lemmy shouted. “Let me go and I’ll explain everything.”
King noticed her sincere expression, so he let her down.
“Thank you.” Lemmy said with a cough. “Now, let me tell you what the real story is behind these letters.”
Everyone listened, attentively.
“I’ve been writing these letters, yes, but,” Lemmy went on. “They are someone else’s feelings.”
“Whose?” Rep asked.
“He doesn’t want me to tell you,” Lemmy said, when suddenly the King grabbed her by her Koopa shell.
“Tell us. NOW!” he demanded.
“Okay, fine,” Lemmy sighed. “The one who loves Ari is...”
~Scene 7~
“Man, I’m so tired, I need something to pump me up!” Leaf Leaf said as him and Squirrel walked to the village market.
“I know what will pump you up,” Squirrel chuckled with a wink.
“Yeah, if only...” Leaf Leaf said, suddenly bumping into a nicely dressed boy with sunglasses. He accidently knocked the grocery bag out of the boy’s arms.
“Sorry, man. Are you alright?” Leaf Leaf said to the boy.
“Yeah, don’t worry about it!” the boy said nicely.
“Whoa! You’re Pendio from the royal band, right? Can I get your autograph please???” Leaf Leaf shouted at the boy.
Pendio laughed. “Sure.”
“And I was wondering...” Leaf Leaf began as Pendio finished signing the back of his grocery list. “Can you get me Ari’s autograph as well? You know...I’ve just been too embarrassed to ask...heh.”
“Yeah, sure.” Pendio agreed, as the three began to part ways.
“Thanks man!” Leaf Leaf shouted and waved. Pendio waved and went on his way to Snow’s castle.
~Scene 8~
“I can’t believe it’s Leaf!” Batman chuckled.
“Well...it is.” Lemmy said.
“Who’s gonna tell Ari?” King asked everyone.
“Not me, no way, too weird,” Rep sighed.
“We should get someone who knows Ari well to tell her,” King said, noticing Pendio passing by the window. King ran outside to catch him.
“Pendio!” he shouted. Pendio was wearing headphones and listening to The Beatles, so he was unable to hear King’s call. He shrugged and went back inside.
“Lemmy, I command you to go there and tell her.” King said.
“What, why me?” Lemmy complained.
“Just do it!” King yelled, pointing at the exit door.
“Fine, jeesh, why do I always gotta tell people ****...” Lemmy mumbled as she went out the door.
~Scene 9~
“That’s it! I have to tell her! I need to tell her how I really feel!” Leaf Leaf suddenly exclaimed in the market.
“Then do it, bro,” Squirrel said, nodding. “You better get there before Pendio, though. Or that would be really awkward...”
“Okay, I’m outta here!” Leaf shouted, pulling out his hover scooter and heading off.
Leaf Leaf flew through the village, all the way up the steep hill leading to Snow Queen and Ari’s castle.
“Alright, made it!” Leaf Leaf cheered, getting off of his hover board. He cleared his throat and banged on the tall door.
“Hey Leaf, what brings you here?” I said after opening the door.
“I need to...tell you something!” Leaf Leaf exclaimed.
“Well, you seem excited. Come in and sit down.” I told him, leading him to the parlor.
“Snow, go upstairs!” I yelled at her as she was laying lethargically on the couch.
“Make me!” she replied, making the ‘uwu’ face. I violently pushed her off the couch.
“Hot,” she said, getting up and going back upstairs.
“So what’s on your mind bro?” I asked.
“I’m...” he began.
“Yes?” I said.
“I’M YOUR NUMBER ONE FAN! <3” Leaf Leaf shouted, jumping to hug me.
“...You wrote the letters?” I replied, pushing him away.
“Yes...well....Lemmy did. I was too scared to write them myself. So I just talked and Lemmy wrote it down.” he explained.
“They were very nice, Leaf, but I only think of you as a good buddy,” I said.
Leaf sighed. “Aww....well, that’s okay. I like being your buddy too.” He tried to make a smile.
“DID YOU WANNA PLAY SPIN THE BOTTLE NOW???” he shouted, when suddenly someone came into the castle.
“Who’s there?” I asked. No answer.
Suddenly, a familiar boy walked up.
“Hey, Ari, I was wondering...oh hey!” Pendio said, noticing Leaf Leaf. “You beat me to it.”
“Beat him to what?” I asked.
There was a long, long silence. So long I could feel the waves of tension going through my body.
“Really, Pendio...? You...I...” I said, feeling my cheeks growing hot and my heart beating faster.
“Can I get your autograph, Ari?” Leaf Leaf interrupted.
“Yeah, sure,” I said as he handed me a pen and some paper.
“Well, looks like my work here is done. See you later, girl!” Leaf Leaf said, leaving the castle.
“That was weird...I wonder why he asked me to do it when he did it himself,” Pendio laughed.
“He just wanted my autograph? I thought...letters...feels...things.” I trailed off.
Pendio laughed. “Letters?”
“Nevermind! Just something me and Leaf were talking about before you got here. It was nothing!” I rambled. Pendio smiled and laughed.
“See you at rehearsal tomorrow?” he said, with a look of excitement in his eyes.
“Of course.” I replied, giving him a high five. He began to leave the castle, when he turned around to speak.
“Wait...” he started. “Can I have your autograph?”
I chuckled and looked at my feet.
“Duh!”
I signed the pick guard on his electric guitar slung over his shoulder.
“See ya!” he said with a beaming smile as he left the castle. His smile was as bright as the sun.
Suddenly, a red Koopa flew through the castle doors, almost breaking one of Snow’s ice statues.
“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!?!?!” Snow yelled, coming down the stairs.
“Ari! Ari, I have something to tell you!” Lemmy said, popping out of her shell.
“Lemmy! You’re back! What is it?” I said.
“LEMMY DID YOU BREAK MY WALUIGI STATUE?!?!?!” Snow screeched, running up to Lemmy.
“I might have...damaged his hat a little...” Lemmy said, trailing off.
“AWAY WITH YOU!” Snow went off.
“Wait! First I need to tell Ari something. This is King’s orders!” Lemmy explained.
“...Fine. Go ahead.” Snow responded.
“Leaf Leaf has been writing letters to you!” Lemmy exclaimed.
“I know!” I laughed.
“Then why the hell am I here, I’m out.” Lemmy sighed, getting back into her shell and rolling off.
“So...what happens now?” Snow asked me.
“I don’t know,” I said with a smile. I stared at the castle door, spacing out a bit.
“Ari?” she asked.
“Yeah?” I replied.
“..............UWU.”
“Good night, Snow,” I laughed, brushing her off.
“Ninight.” she responded, walking upstairs to her bedroom.
I yawned and stretched across my warm bed.
“Maybe I’m not totally hopeless.” I said to myself, turning out the light.
I couldn’t sleep for the whole night because I couldn’t get it off my mind.