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Rain was falling gently in a small neighborhood, where you've likely never been before. Faraway town's children were playing in the puddles, as the rain pitter-pattered around them.
Kel grinned as he stuck his tongue out to catch the droplets, umbrella seemingly forgotten, but most of them admittedly hit his face. He noticed Sunny walking out of his house, in his raincoat. Basil had run over to see him, and so did Aubrey. They were talking, or something. Kel wasn't paying attention to the sounds, only Sunny's smile. His cheeks were flushed, but it was probably just the cold. He finally noticed that Sunny's gaze was on Aubrey. She was smiling and bragging about-
"Don't you like it, Sunny? It's my favorite color, pink!"
Her loud words finally interrupted his thoughts. Something about this felt.. yucky. Kel didn't like this feeling of disappointment. Because nobody was paying attention to him, or for some childish reason, he felt the need to interrupt.
"Ew.. Pink is a gross color!!"
Sunny was now looking at him, and Kel suddenly felt smaller under the other's piercing gaze. It wasn't annoyance, it was more like curiosity. But regardless, that gaze made him uneasy, stomach-churning and heart fluttering. So much so that he didn't notice Aubrey's pout, until she gave her rebuttal.
"Shut up Kel!! You're a gross color!!"
"That doesn't even make any sense!"
She made a "hmph!" noise before turning away and rambling about hair dye or something, and he felt the nervousness fade as Sunny looked back at Aubrey.
"So, anyways, Mari said that she wants to dye her hair purple. Do you know what color I chose?"
"Don't tell me.. You're going to dye your hair pink?!"
The same angry, yucky feeling filled those words with mock disgust. Aubrey glared at Kel again, clearly not appreciating his comments. He continued, against his better judgment.
"Eww.. that's weird.. why would you ever do that?"
"I just thought it would be cute!! Mari thinks so too!"
"I'll never understand you two and your crazy ideas.."
As soon as Kel finished muttering the hurtful words, Basil cut in, probably wanting to prevent further bickering.
"I think pink would look good on you, Aubrey!"
Aubrey gave Basil a quick smile. She turned to Sunny.
"What about you, Sunny?"
Kel was suddenly paying acute attention to the conversation. He saw Sunny whisper something quietly to Basil. Basil nodded and grinned in response.
"Sunny says that he thinks pink is a great color!"
Aubrey turned around and stuck out her tongue at him.
"See? Even Basil and Sunny agree. You're the one who's weird, Kel!"
Blush crept up his cheeks, and he looked away, embarrassed. He watched Basil and Sunny for a moment, as they walked out of earshot. His heart sank as he saw Basil tease Sunny, barely making out the words "Aubrey" and "A little crush?", and it only sank further when he saw Sunny's reaction to the accusation. Sunny's ears turned red, and Kel suddenly wanted to cry, and yell at Aubrey, even though it wasn't her fault. She was splashing away and mentioned something about Hobbeez. But Kel wasn't listening.
The pitter patter of the rain was now the only sound ringing in his ears.
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