Pondovadia: World I Love, Tears I Drop

Chapter Twelve: No Fire Brigade, just Pyromania

October 11, 302X

8:15 AM

"Hey Bell!"

Klarisse hollered from her bedroom as she was changing out of her nightgown and into her usual outfit-- a brown cardigan with darker stripes on the sleeves, a light green turtleneck sweater, a forest green pleated above-the-knee skirt with a white stripe, sheer tights, fluffy ankle socks, and calf-high beige buckled riding boots. Her dark brown hair was still messy and falling against her tail. After getting dressed she pulled her hair into a high messy bun.

"Bell! Wake up already, damnit!" She yelled loudly.

Her younger sister groaned in annoyance.

"I don't have school today!"

"I don't care! Just get up already!" Klarisse yelled back.

After getting dressed, she swung the door open and sat down to get a cup of coffee.

Bell dragged herself out of her bedroom and was still wearing her fuzzy kigurumi pajamas. She grabbed a matcha energy drink and took a seat nearby the kitchen table.

"What is it?!" she groaned in exhaustion.

"I just wanted to ask if you wanna pick out a new Blyned Jagwar hoodie with me" Klarisse shrugged as she set her laptop on the granite counter. "You still wanna go Friday, right?"

"Yeah, I do" Bell yawned before drinking her energy drink. "Can I have a blue one?"

"I don't know, did you do better on your geography test last week?" Klarisse asked her as she pulled up the official Blyned Jagwar merch store. She was looking at the hoodie section-- several of them had the band's logo on them while others had album covers or titles from their singles. Hm, let's go with a hoodie from their new album.

Bell pulled up her grades for the geography course she was in. "Yeah! I went from a 20 the first time to an 89 on the retake!"

"Well good job" the older girl flashed a rare smile and patted her head. "What size do you want then?"

"Medium"

-----

October 12

12:02 PM

Bell walked nearby the eighth grade lunch tables. It was a convenient shortcut for her to head past the gossipy seventh graders. She saw one of the eighth graders walking over to his seat. He was a dark grey ferret in beige pants and a red Blyned Jagwar hoodie-- hey, it's based off their fourth album Histrionic! The last album before their first lead singer died after a heroin overdose! Not every day you see a kid around your age into the same band, she thought to herself.

She yelled to him

"Hey! I like your hoodie!"

The ferret with short red hair turned around in confusion. Oh great, it's some sixth grader he never met before.

"You do?" he asked her.

Another animal at the table, a white lion with long pink and blue dreadlocks, whispered to him

"Just play along Malcolm, most sixth graders are dumbasses"

"Yeah" Bell asked him with a twinkle in her eyes. "Blyned Jagwar! So what's your favorite song by them? Mine is Cheating and Eating!"

Malcolm burst into laughter then resumed his deadpan behavior.

"Look, I don't know you, but I don't actually like Blyned Jagwar, this hoodie's meant to be ironic"