Encyclopedia

Pedaia woke up early to go on her morning run, quietly as to not wake the others she got dressed in her running shorts and a t-shirt and the outfit was completed by her running shoes and earbuds. Encyclopedia always stretched and warmed up, at her old school, she had been a track and cross country star. She had just finished stretching when she saw Sequoia beside her trying not to just stare at her. "Morning Sequoia l, what's up?"

"Can I join you on your run? I do track at my school and normally my runs alone."

"Sure you can join me, just to warn you my usual distance is six miles both ways...twelve mile round trip."

"I'll do my best to keep up." The pair were just about to head out when Cherry Blossom and the others made an appearance and dressed for a run. Pedaia smirked as Phoenix looked unenthusiastic about running before the sun was up. As the group began to jog, Cherry Blossom couldn't help but laugh as the group of eight took off. Her brother was near the front front with Pedaia and Cedar was up by Phoenix, Gourdon was beside Sunflower and beside her she had a lad named Tungsten who's family were metal workers and had arrived around dinner time the night before.

"So Cherry Blossom, how does it feel to know that your brother's first crush happens to be a friend of yours?"

"Tungsten, I must say it feels a little odd, but at least I know that he has a taste for girls of quality and not just any random girl. He's always been particular when I've discussed it with him. As you probably know being a friend of his, Sequoia is athletic and stuff, but he wants a girl who's smart and doesn't, you know act like a complete ditzy chick just to get him to help her with stuff."

"So basically you bringing Pedaia into your friend mix inadvertently brought his type of girl into the mix."

"Basically, what's fun is that she's only a year older than he is." Tungsten laughed quietly.

"Ya know age sometimes doesn't matter to a boy at this stage. Look at my friends as examples." Cherry Blossom nodded and as the group topped a hill and paused Pedaia stopped and sat and with an eager look in her eyes looked toward the east. Everyone looked as well and as the sky went from black with small diamonds in it, fading away to hues of red and blue and a hint of violet. The sunrise was gorgeous and the smell of the dew coming off the grass made it more amazing.

The group all had seated themselves to watch. Cherry Blossom saw the purest joy in Pedaia's eyes and she had to contain her laughter as Sequoia either inadvertently or intentionally sat right next to Pedaia and half way had his arm around her. Everyone noticed and didn't say anything. "I never thought I'd watch a sunrise with friends like you, most of the 'friends' I had would say this was lame. I truly believe that the simple things bring the most joy. However, that one dark, and small cloud reminds me of Phoenix."

Phoenix wasn't glaring, " I'm not that bad! I'm better than my mother Gilda!" Pedaia laughed and wiped a tear from her eye.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself, it's the stark difference between you and Cherry Blossom, or even Sunflower. They're so cheerful, and you seem to be sulking and it's hard to tell when your enjoying yourself."

"You got me there, this was pretty, but wait till summer camp! The sunrise on the mountains will make your eyes gleam more than they did this morning." Everyone turned their heads as a meal gong could be heard over the quiet Saturday morning in the small neighborhood.

"Race you guys! No wings allowed!" Encyclopedia screamed as she tore down the hill. As the group ran toward the waiting breakfast Sequoia asked his sister a question.

"Hey sis, do you think she noticed? Do you think I over stepped a boundary?"

"We all noticed, I've got no idea if she noticed, you did keep your hands to yourself. I'm not going to say anything, your friends won't rat you out either. If Pedaia says anything to me about it later I'll handle it. You're only a year younger and it's not line you two were alone or anything. Pedaia won't think twice about it, I mean, it was a chilly morning and it kinda looked like you wanted to warm her up but stopped half way."

"Thanks sis, your truly are the best sister I have."

"Bruh! I'm the only sister you have. Well the only one allowed to walk free. We didn't want to tell you about the one we keep in the attic." Sequoia looked at his sister thinking that she finally lost her mind.

"I think that your mind is gone sister." The siblings caught up to everyone and they all began to realize that Pedaia was used to running much further than the two plus miles they just ran. Their clue about Pedaia's physical condition was that she wasn't even breathing that hard. As the family and friends ate, they all asked Pedaia questions about her hobbies in detail. Phoenix who was feeling a tad retaliatory about Pedaia's joke earlier asked a question in jest.

"So, do you have a boyfriend? Or did you just out run him?"

Pedaia looked at her plate and answered, "I once had a guy ask me to a school dance....then he went with another girl instead, since then I hadn't been to another school dance or anything. That's why nowadays, most everyone I've known has always seen me in the library or volunteering to hell grade papers or help with filing. I guess, in my own way I became my own version of Moondancer."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry like that."

"You're fine Phoenix, what you meant as jest, kinda helped me deal with a past issue. Up until now I haven't spoken to anyone about it, not really. I do hope as we become better friends I don't start dumping my emotional baggage on you."

"Eh, we can put it in the overhead bin until you're ready to access it." Phoenix quiped trying to lighten the mood.

"I think that the baggage will have to be checked for this flight." Cherry Blossom and Sunflower groaned.

"Please stop with the airline puns, they're terrible." Sequoia and his friends laughed at the girls and their poor sense of Humor. Sequoia's friends had to leave that morning to get home to help with the chores, so Sequoia went to the shed to work on restoring an old game console.

"Hey son, Sweetie Belle drove by here this morning and told us that you had your arm around Pedaia this morning."

"I....thought about it but stopped half way and didn't want to move because if I had she might have noticed. Cherry Blossom and I talked about this morning on the way back. Cherry Blossom said they if it got brought up that she'd handle it. I guess since it's been brought up now I'll handle it. I wasn't trying to be pervy or anything, it kinda just happened! Why did my sister have to bring home someone that adorable."

"Well, son, to be honest, your sister told me this morning while everyone was getting cleaned up from the run. You're at that age where girls are becoming attractive to you." Father and son had that talk that most parents should have and Sequoia understood that he needed to be more careful because rumors could fly and people could get the wrong message. Sequoia and his farther had 'The Talk' and Sequoia wished that he could remove what they had talked about.

Meanwhile

"Pedaia! Quit eating the currency!"

"Can't help it! I love Skittles! I can taste the rainbow!"

"Ask Rainbow Dash where the colors for the rainbow come from." Pedaia gave the scientific answer and the poker game for candy ended when Phoenix wiped the house with a royal flush and had everyone going all in and losing their candy. The girls shared the candy and Pedaia felt such joy in having friends that she didn't hear her mother coming in and snapping a few photos with her phone.