9Author's Note: Okay, I decided that I didn't want to wait anymore to give you this story. I've had this concept in my head for a while now. This might get a little weird, I apologize in advance. I hope that you enjoy this, and I'll still be updating "Through Her Eyes" while I work on this.
Chapter 1 Blind Date
"Up and at em, Wendy. It's time for breakfast."
Wendy sat up in bed at the sound of Larry's voice. She removed the cool cucumber slices from her face very carefully, as if she was trying to remove duct tape from her skin. She looked and saw that sunbeams were streaming down through the window.
Wendy let out a soft yawn and walked over to the mirror. Mask had been applied to her face the night before when she had put on the cucumbers, and her normally decorated face was lacking in makeup. If Wendy had more confidence in her appearance, she would have giggled at her reflection.
Wendy removed the mask from her face and started her morning routine. First came the lipstick, which was the easiest to put on. Wendy had been given five different colors of lipstick for Christmas, but she hadn't used any of them yet. Instead, by default, she applied her iconic pink color. It was the same hue as her shell, and she felt it really made her eyes pop.
Next came the eye shadow. Wendy hadn't been allowed to wear eye shadow until she became a teenager. She put on a nice cerulean, a color that also went with her eyes. Next was the eyeliner, blush, and her jewelry. Finally, to top it all off, she put on her pink bow with white polka dots.
Now that Wendy was all set, she found the confidence to smile. She was just about to head down for breakfast when she heard her phone chime on her nightstand, indicating that she had gotten a message.
Hey Roy, I am in town this weekend and I was wondering if you wanted to meet up.
Wendy felt her heart skip a beat. Her fingers trembled as she typed into the textbox.
Meet up? As in...in real life?
There was a few seconds before the person responded.
Yeah. In fact, I was thinking you could join me for lunch at Minnie T's say…at 12:30 tomorrow?
Now Wendy felt scared. A date? They wanted to go out on a date? Wendy scrolled back up and saw that the person had put Roy's name into the first message. Normally, she would have thought this to be a mistake, but considering the circumstances…
I'll think about it.
With that, Wendy put down the phone and let out a sigh to calm her nerves. It looked like she needed to have a chat with Roy.
…
As Wendy walked into the dining room, she could detect the sound of Lemmy. He appeared to be conversing with Ludwig and Iggy.
"I'm telling you guys, I think it's a good idea," Lemmy stated.
Iggy gave him a weird look, and Ludwig gave him a look of disgust.
"Sleeping in the bathroom?" Iggy asked.
"You do realize that's gross, right?" asked Ludwig.
Lemmy smiled.
"I don't think so," he said. "You have access to the sink, the toilet, the tub...all you need to do is put a refrigerator in there and you never have to leave!"
Wendy took a deep breath and went into view of her brothers.
"Good morning, guys," she greeted them.
"Good morning, Wendy," greeted the other Koopalings with varying levels of enthusiasm. Wendy took a seat at the end of the table, her expression consumed by nervousness.
"Uh, I think I did something a little crazy," she said. Larry chuckled.
"Uh oh," he said with a smile. "What did you do?"
Wendy opened her mouth to answer, but before she could say anything, Lemmy spoke up.
"Wait, don't tell us; I want to try and guess," he said. He put his hand to his chin. "Umm...did you forget to put dish detergent in the washer?"
Wendy gave a little smile and shook her head.
"No," she said.
"Did you order something expensive online without consideration for your financial situation?" Iggy asked.
"Guess again," Wendy said
The other Koopalings thought about this some more. Then Roy jumped up.
"I got it!" he cried. "You used mustard as a sauce for ice cream!"
The others stared at him.
"Eww, no," Wendy replied. Roy's face fell.
"Okay," he said as he slowly took a seat. He refused to make eye contact with anyone. "I was just...checking."
Wendy stared at her brother for a minute before talking.
"Alright," she said. "Ever since Iggy has given us the phones, I have taken to going on social media. And while I was there, I met a girl who called herself Selene."
"Yeah, 'she called herself,'" Morton said quietly without looking up from his book. Larry chuckled.
"Hey Lemmy, how much do you want to bet that 'Selene' is really a guy?"
Lemmy giggled. Wendy shook her head before continuing on.
"Anyway, she called herself Selene. Now, I wasn't entirely comfortable with revealing my real name to her so...I told her that I was Roy."
Roy, who had been sipping a glass of orange juice, instantly spit it out, causing the crisp clean tablecloth to turn the color of the citrus fruit.
"WHAT!" he cried. Ludwig chuckled.
"This is interesting," he said as he leaned back in his chair. Wendy took another deep breath.
"Selene and I really hit it off," she continued. "We message each other all the time, and she even sent me pictures of what she looks like." Wendy looked down in her lap, where her thumbs were aggressively being twiddled. "Now, the reason I bring her up now is because I just got a message from her asking me out on a date. Of course, she thinks I'm Roy, so…"
Roy's grew wide with shock. The other Koopalings started giggling.
"Wait a second," Roy said. "You don't mean to say…"
Wendy nodded.
"Yep," said Wendy. "You are officially going on a blind date tonight."
Now Lemmy, Ludwig, Larry, and Iggy burst into laughter. Even Morton joined in. Roy looked shocked and infuriated as everyone chortled.
"Hey! It's not funny!" he cried.
"You're right," said Ludwig in between breaths. "It's hilarious!"
Suddenly, Larry held up his hands.
"Wait, wait wait," he said. "Wendy, before Roy goes out with Selene, there is something that I need to know."
Larry slid across the table on his belly and stopped when he was right in front of his sister. He was smiling and his eyes were twinkling.
"Is she hot?"
"Oh, she's gorgeous," Wendy replied.
Larry turned back to his siblings with an enthusiastic look. Lemmy mirrored the expression perfectly as he turned to Roy.
"Nice!" Lemmy exclaimed. "You've got a pretty girl running after you without having to do anything. That's awesome!"
"No it's not!" Roy exclaimed. "This is awful!"
"Why do you assume that?" Iggy asked.
"Because," Roy said. "I…"
Roy stopped talking and stared down at the ground. The other Koopalings looked at him with interest.
"You what?" asked Morton.
Roy took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"I don't want to go out with her," he said, "because I'm in love with Celia."
There was a moment of silence.
"Celia?" asked Iggy. "As in Celia Patch?"
Roy's head bobbed up and down. Celia Patch was a human koopa hybrid that Roy had gone on a journey with. Everyone stared at him incredulously.
"But...you aren't even a couple," Ludwig said.
"I know!" Roy responded. "But I don't want to go out with anyone else. It would feel like...like I would be cheating on her."
Ludwig scoffed.
"Once again, I feel I must reiterate; you aren't even a couple!"
Roy gave Ludwig a look. Wendy, not wanting a fight to ensue, spoke up.
"Look, Roy, I'm sorry," she said. "I had no idea that you still liked Celia. But hear me out for a second."
Roy leaned toward Wendy, and the others gave her interested looks.
"I know that you aren't interested in other girls, specifically a girl you've never met. But Selene is really nice! She is a big fan of sports, and has even trained for a marathon. On top of that…" Wendy let out a breath…"she's also my friend. Even though she doesn't know it's me, she is still my friend. And I don't want to let her down. So, could you please do this? For me?"
Roy seemed to consider this. That statement, of Selene being Wendy's friend, actually carried a lot of weight. Because, as the other Koopalings knew so well, Wendy was horrible at making friends. For her to actually come right out and say she had one, even if she had never interacted with Selene face to face, meant a lot to all seven of them.
"Alright. I'll do it." Roy paused. "For you, Wendy."
Wendy beamed.
"Thank you, Roy!" she said excitedly. She ran over to the other side of the table and gave her brother a hug. Roy initially seemed baffled by this display, but eventually returned it. Wendy gave him one last smile before she ran upstairs to her pink walled room. She checked her phone to see that there was a message from Selene:
So, I've given you time to think about it. What is your answer?
Wendy had a triumphant grin plastered to her face as she typed into the textbox.
Sure thing. See you tomorrow.
