"Dari Dari Da Da Da~"
I woke up on saturday, to the sound of my phone. I thought it was unusual since my mom usually wakes me up. I sat up groggily, looked at the clock, and blinked a few times.
WHAT. 4:00??? PM??? How is that possible, is my clock wrong?
I threw my covers off, and ran to the other side of the room to my phone. AISHH it's not just my clock, my phone says 4:00, too!! I checked my text messages. 

Message from: Hanna Aegi♥!
"Hey, where were you today? I saw your mom, but I didn't see you at all!"

I ran downstairs in search of my mom. I found her in the kitchen, putting groceries away. 

"MOMMMM. Did you go to the store without me today??"

"Yes I did. But before you yell at me, I was thinking of your health! You needed to rest today. So I just made a quick trip to get the things I needed."

I sighed. She was right. I did feel a LOT better today. But I was still disappointed. I slumped down at the kitchen table, and laid my head down. 

"But you know... I did run into Niel!"

I quickly raised my head and looked at her expectantly.

"He was very concerned about you. He was asking all kinds of questions~~ I told him you were at home resting, and he agreed that it was a good idea."

She was smiling a big mischievous grin.

"Thank you for this information." I said with a straight face, as I headed for the stairs. As soon as she couldn't see me anymore, I ran upstairs, jumped on my bed, and spazzed out.

Since I had missed going on Saturday, my mom and I both agreed that we could go to the store again on Wednesday. I really wanted to apologize to Ricky. I needed to do SOMETHING to show him how sorry I was. Plus, I did want to see Niel~ How would I get through these few days sanely? Facebook stalking. Facebook is a beautiful thing, especially when you're friends with a gorgeous guy.
 

So then Wednesday got here. The cookies that I had baked were finished cooling, so I scooped them into a cute little baggie. This was my peace offering to Ricky. Although I knew cookies obviously couldn't replace a ferret, I was going to try. They were coconut chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. MY personal favorite, so I hoped he would like them. I also saved out a few to give to Niel~ Was it weird to give cookies to Niel? Wasn't that too obvious? Hum. I don't know...

So we left for the store, and I prepared my mind. I was thinking of what I would say to Ricky that didn't sound totally idiotic. I headed in, tightly clutching the gift bag that I had brought. I walked around the store in search of either Niel or Ricky. I had no idea which section of the store Ricky worked in, though.

But I did find Niel! He looked amazing as usual. He was putting something on a shelf, so I decided to surprise him. I snuck up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around, and I grinned right up close to his face. He definitely WAS surprised. He backed up into the shelf he was stocking and almost caused a bunch of stuff to fall over. A loud giggle escaped my mouth. Ew. Hoped he didn't notice.

"Alice! I didn't expect you today! You should have texted me!"

I shrugged. "I wanted to surprise you!"

He smiled. I died. "The thing is, we're actually really busy today. I don't really have much time. I need to go do things in the back for a while."

"That's okay. I just came by to say hi! I have stuff to do, too."

"Stuff? What kind of stuff?" he asked with a puzzled face.

"Oh just stuff. You know. I do have other friends here besides you, Daniel Ahn."

He blushed. "Oh. Right right I know that. Not like you come here just to see me."

I smiled. He was too cute. 

"Ah! I have something for you!" I said as I pulled out the cookies. "I was baking cookies today, and I thought you might like to try some! They're my favorite kind, so... I hope you like coconut!"

His eyes lit up. "Yes! Yes, I love coconut! Wow, thank you! I'll eat them well."

He was smiling so wide. WOULD YOU STOP KILLING ME? PLEASE, I CAN'T TAKE IT.

Then he had to get back to work, and we said goodbye for now. 

"See you friday, right??" he asked excitedly.

"I wouldn't miss it!" I replied with a grin.

Then it was time to find Ricky. I went to ask Hanna where he would be.

"Ricky? ... Hm, let's see.... I think he works in the.. pet section?"

Pet section? I sighed. it figures... 

So I set out on my mission toward the pet section. I had passed by it a bunch of times before, but I never actually went in. I was interested to see what it was like.

I walked to the other side of the store, and stopped right outside the doorway. I took a deep breath and peaked my head in. There were squeaks and loud chirping noises coming from inside. Beneath all of the animal sounds, I heard a whispering voice coming from the corner. I listened carefully.

"Come here, little baby. That's right, it's okay. We're just switching you to a different home. You'll be alright, I won't hurt you."

It was Ricky, alright. I knew that small voice.

"Thank you for coming! Please take good care of her!" I heard him say, then a little girl and her mom walked past me, holding a box with a small rodent in it.

I stepped inside and quietly looked around. Maybe this is a bad idea. What if he gets more mad... Perhaps I should just leav-

"ANNYEONGHASEYO." yelled a loud voice behind me. It made me jump, and my heart stop. I whipped around to see a large bird. "ANNYEONGHASEYO. WELCOME. BRAAAACK." it yelled again. It was a parrot. Shoot, I've been detected! Too late to leave now...

"Hello there, what can I do for-" Ricky came around the corner and saw me. "Oh, it's you. What do you want now?" he said coldly.

"I wanted to talk. Plus, you DID say that I should come see you some time..."

"Yeah, but that was before- ugh. Never mind. Just leave me alone." He said, and started to walk away.

"Wait! I brought you cookies! I just came because I wanted to apologize! For everything! They're chocolate chip coconut oatmeal cookies! I baked them just for you..." I said with a pout.

He seemed surprised. "Chocolate chip coconut?" he smiled.

YES! I'VE DONE IT! I'VE MADE PEACE!

But his smile disappeared. "I'm allergic to chocolate AND coconut. Thanks for trying to kill me."

Oh my gosh. I would, wouldn't I. Well that failed, but it doesn't mean I can't apologize. 

"Well still, can I just talk to you for a second?"

He walked over to the parrot cage and grabbed a bag of parrot feed.

"Hmmmm nope. I'm busy. Sorry." He said as he opened the cage and scooped some feed into the parrot's bowl.

"SORRY, BRAAAACK."

I was beginning to dislike that parrot very much.... I stuck my tongue out hoping that I had offended it.

I rolled my eyes at how stubborn Ricky was being. I basically just wanted to kick him. It would have been so easy- him just kneeling down, cleaning out the parrot's cage… But I always told myself that violence wasn't the answer. Finally, the anger inside me just came out.

"You know what? You're just being mean. I came here just to apologize, and you won't even hear it. I even baked you cookies! But you're just too snobby and RUDE to hear what I have to say. Do you know how much I went through because of YOU? I do have bruises from when I passed out at the house."

He shot up and was fuming. "Why don't you just take your cookies and GO away." 

Then he walked away from me, carrying a bucket of parrot poo. But I wasn't done, so I followed. 

"Do you know how much courage it took to come here and say this to you? Gosh, you really are just a jerk. But still..." I took a deep breath. "You don't know how sorry I am. I can tell that you loved Perry a lot, and it would hurt me so much to lose anything- errr anyone that important to me. I don't know why I expected you to forgive me, I thought I would try to apologize anyway."

This time he didn't say anything. He just silently sprinkled fish food into a tank in the corner. I wish he would have said something though, because now there was just an awkward silence...

"So... Now that I've said what I wanted to say, I guess I'll go."

I started to turn to walk away, but nearly toppled over when Ricky shouted out.

"THE PARROT. THE PARROT IS GONE!!!!"

I whipped around to see an empty birdcage that held a vibrant parrot 3 minutes ago.

"This isn't good! OH this really isn't good!!!" he said as he ran over to the empty cage. "I was cleaning the cage and then I got up to take the- OH MAN. I didn't close the door!!" he stopped and turned to me with wide eyes. "THIS IS YOUR FAULT! You were distracting me! If you hadn't come here to say your stupid little apology, this would not have happened. I could lose my job because of this!!"

I scoffed. "Isn't it just a parrot? What is the big deal?"

His face fell into his hands. "It wasn't just a parrot. That was Samson! This parrot was 112 years old. This parrot... was worth 3,000 dollars."

My jaw dropped, and a wave of sickness came over me... 

"3,000?? Oh my gosh. WELL- I mean it's probably still in the store, right? We could still find it, right?"

He choked. "WE? Oh no. You are a walking time bomb that has gone off way too many times. If you stick around something is bound to go wrong. Why don't you just do what I asked you to and GO. AWAY."

I whinced as he yelled in my face.

"You know what? You're going to lead a lonely and miserable life if you keep this up. HAVE FUN finding the parrot by yourself in this huge store, if it hasn't FLOWN OUT THE DOOR already, and GOOD LUCK with your job."

Then I stormed off. I could have sworn there was steam coming out of my ears. How could someone be so stubborn?

My fuming was interrupted by a scream coming from across the store. "Could this have something to do with Samson? ... Just ignore it, Alice..." But then another scream rang through the store, followed by more yelling. I couldn't help my curiosity, so I ran in that direction...