“Heya BFF!” Your doze was broken as your next door neighbour, Diane, burst into your room. Your heart raced as you nearly fell off your bed, though she leaped onto the bed, grabbed you by the wrist and pulled you up.
“Pinkie! Don’t scare me like that!” You said. Pinkie was the nickname you and several other classmates at your school had for her. It was obvious why that was. Her hair was fluffy and pink, and she complimented this with wearing pink headphones (with cute cat ear decorations on top), pink sleeves and pink long socks that reached to a few meters above her skirt, showing about 10% of her legs uncovered.
“But were you surprised? Were you? Were you?” Pinkie said as she sat you on the bed. Your head rested on her warm lap.
“… Well, sort of. We do live next to each other, so the surprise value kind of lowered. My only question is what you were doing inside my hou-” You said.
“Your mom let me in. She tried to wake you up but you were too busy snoozing away, so she had me wake you. Guess I did the trick.” She stroked your hair. While it would be relaxing enough to the point where you could wipe out, Pinkie tugged on your hair a few times to make sure you don’t pass out. You didn’t mind it. It was actually really nice.
Ever since you could remember, you had a sleeping problem. You couldn’t sleep when you need to, and you end up sleeping when you shouldn’t. You just slept whenever your mind wants you to. Even when you’re awake, your body tends to just tire out after just an hour of activity. No amount of energy drinks or coffee could keep your body going, and eventually, you just sleep and sleep until you woke up several hours later.
Rinse and repeat.
Pinkie lightly slapped you on the cheek and gave you a little jolt of energy.
“Oh, I almost forgot. You wanna come over to our place for dinner?” She asked you.
“Sure.” You said. Dinner was what caused you to meet Pinkie for the first time.
You remembered being a kid on the first of May when you smelled delicious meats being cooked over the grill. You snuck over the white picket fence and tried to get some food, but Pinkie managed to stop you. However, she let you stay over once your parents came over and she realized you were her next door neighbour. You ate so much food that you went into a food coma. It was not helped by the fact that Pinkie wore you out afterwards by playing Super Bash Sisters for the Soujitendo 64.
You knew you weren’t coming out of this dinner awake, but you wanted to go anyways, if only to enjoy the food and hang out with who is practically your cool big sis at this point. So you agreed to go.
And just like you had imagined, you began to doze in and out of consciousness once you finished Pinkie’s mother’s lamb-pot pie. It was hard to keep focus. Especially since immediately after, you and Pinkie went to play her favorite game: Them’s Fightin’ Herds. According to Pinkie, it mixes the kid appeal of Bash Sisters with the complexity of Alley Puncher, allowing all ages to enter and play the game. While she was a very good TFH player, you were pretty much a noob. It was to the point where, even after Pinkie put in the secret code to unlock the secret, obligatory OP, character, The Devourer, you still couldn’t beat her.
“Wow, you suck.” She simply quipped as she sidestepped The Devourer’s Level 3 special and cherry tapped him with her main, Paprika. Your excuse would be that you were tired, but you and her both know that, even if you were fully rested, you would still lose to her. “Step up bro.” She nuzzled you. The muscles inside your neck began to automatically stretch as you let out a huge yawn.
“Good game, Pinkie…” You said. You turned your head to her comfy bed. You weren’t a stranger to it. When you went into a food coma, Pinkie offered you her bed for you to rest on. From then on, any time you were tired at Pinkie’s house, instead of going straight home, you’d just catch an hour’s nap on her bed. You stretched your arms and asked Pinkie if she mind letting you sleep on the bed. She nodded, like she did a dozen times before, and you hopped onto the bed.
In an instant, you fell asleep. While you were never good at the game, you were a fan of Them’s Fightin’ Herds as well. You were just into the lore more than the gameplay. The one character you liked the most was Paprika. Of course, you had Pinkie to thank, due to her being Pinkie’s main. You saw all of Paprika’s moves and each one of them was cuter than the last.
So, of course, you thought of Paprika in your dreams, hugging the ever loving crap out of you. Not that you minded. You loved the idea of being hugged. Well, not to the point where you were being crushed, but this is your dreams we’re talking about. You can’t really feel a lot in your dream.
Well, except for the warmth coming from Paprika, as well as her fuzzy fur. However, what tipped you off that something wasn’t quite right was two factors: one, she wasn’t exactly ‘hugging to the point of crushing’ you, and two, you definitely smell the sweet scent of vanilla frosting.
Your eyes slowly opened up as you saw, smiling right in front of you, Pinkie. She was dressed up in her fuzzy pajamas. Despite her being right in front of your face, you didn’t freak out, but rather moved closer to her as she tightened her hold around you. Just a little so that you could be snug in her arms. You only panicked slightly when you noticed the absence of light in the room. You tried to turn around, but you were restrained.
Instead, you opted to look at the clock past Pinkie’s shoulders. Sure enough, it was 9:30 PM.
“Hey there.” She said to you. There was a surprising lack of volume in her voice. Usually, when Pinkie talked, she would always burst with so much energy, but now? Now she’s just as quiet as that girl who volunteers at the animal shelter. She stroked your back, though to be frank, you were very welcome to this change. However, you still have a burning question.
“Hey… Why are you so quiet now?” You asked her.
“To tell you the truth… Sometimes I feel like I’m too hyper for my own good. I get easily stressed and overly anxious. It’s not good. But you… You’re different. You’re always calm, always relaxed, but you only can take up to an hour being with me before you tire out.” She said.
“… I’m sorry.” You try to wake up, but Pinkie snuggled closer to you.
“Don’t be!” Her voice slightly perked up. “Being with you helps me learn to be a little more calmer. It’s… actually nice to be with you like this.” With that, she gave you a peck on the nose. You blushed almost instantly. “That didn’t come from outta nowhere, y’know. I’ve felt this way for a very long time. I’ve dropped hints here and there, but you were too stupid to pick them up.” As she said that, your blush grew even more. Not because of this sudden revelation, no.
But because you have loved her for the longest time. Ever since you met her on that day in May, you have harboured an admiration to her. Well, if she confessed to you, you might as well confess as well.
“The truth is…” You held Pinkie so hard, she could almost feel the pain she inflicted upon her virtual, furry opponents as Paprika. “I love you too! I have always loved you! You’re so perky and always happy! There’s never a day when you’re tired! You wanted to be like me? I always wanted to be like you! Throwing parties everywhere, making people smile, I can never do those things. I always sleep in class and get tummy aches from eating too much food. I’m… I’m not your type. You don’t deserve me!” You bit your lip and whimpered. Pinkie simply nuzzled you and patted you on the back.
“But you deserve me. You didn’t last an hour before wiping out beforehand. You used to last half that. If you stick with me, it might improve your wakefulness. Think of me like your coffee, only I’m free, so you don’t need to get Starbucks!” She giggled. You giggled a bit too. “And trust me, you need me if you wanna get good at Fightin’ Herds.” She said. You smiled and loosened your hug.
“Thank you.” You said to her. The last thing you did was nuzzle into her chest and wipe out.
By morning, Pinkie was on top of you as she screamed out: “WAKE UP! TIME FOR SCHOOL!”. She frightened you for a bit before she hugged you and calmed you down. “See? I’ll be your Starbucks. Now come on! We gotta get going to your house and get you ready!” She got off the bed and grabbed you by the wrist. She dragged you out of her house and into yours. The two of you rushed to your room and got your clothes in the matter of minutes. Before you knew it, you didn’t need to have Pinkie hold your hand. You dressed up in your clothes in what took fifteen second and ran out the door even before Pinkie could get a chance to sprint.
Yes, eventually, your energy will be comparable to the school’s most energetic girl ever and best of all, you and her will be dating very soon.
But for now, you are a leaf on the wind. Watch as you soar.
