How Bad Could You Really Be?

You'll make me pancakes?!

That night I couldn't sleep. It had been awhile since I had something that resembled a friend. As a kid I tended to keep to myself. It didn't help that I was always reading a book. Apparently eight year olds didn't think that was the coolest. I shouldn't have cared, but I stopped hanging around the other kids after that. My dad was probably excited to hear that I made a friend. He always said someone my age should be with friends. Apparently hanging out alone in a forest is considered creepy. I hoped my writing would land me a job, but the market hadn't needed a writer so badly. Maybe with Once's invention I could make some money by working for him. My eyes shifted to the clock it was only 2:47 in the morning. I had tossed around all night lost in a variety of thoughts that kept me from sleeping. At some point I had managed to fall asleep.

Onceler had settled in bed some time after Skye left. He stared at the ceiling and cursed himself for his awkwardness. It was hard to fall alseep. An excitement he didn't quite understand stirred inside him. He didn't have any ties here except Melvin. It wasn't exactly like they had the best conversations. Even though the Lorax annoyed him, it was nice to see him being around made Skye happy. Her smile, he thought, it is rather nice. A lot of her is nice to look at, actually. A smile formed on his face without him noticing.

"Hey!" the Lorax said, "what's got you so happy?"

"Ugh! Why are you here?" Onceler asked, clearly upset.

"Just making sure you aren't causing any trouble."

"I'm not. Go away!"

"A smile like that can only mean one thing."

"Oh? What's that?"

"You got a thing for that girl, don'tcha?"

"N-no! I don't even know her. And she's keeping me from making my Thneeds."

"Mhm," the Lorax was unconvinced, "see ya in the morning, kid."

Onceler grumbled something under his breath. The Lorax made himself comfortable on the bed and fell asleep. Moonlight shone through the window as Onceler could see the ever so faint outline of the small city. He smiled softly before closing his eyes.

The next morning my alarm went off startling me awake. My body hesitated to get out of bed. I looked around the room groggily. If it wasn't for seeing those two again I definitely wouldn't be up so early. My hand slammed onto the alarm as I stood up. My body stretched as I let out a yawn. Outside the soft morning sun was lighting up the town. For a moment I wondered if I was heading back too early. If It was I could just get some writing done. I stuffed my notebook into my bag before standing at my closet.

"What the hell am I going to wear?"

I decided on a pair of loose fitting, tan capri pants. In case we ended up trying to climb the trees they would be comfortable enough. I grabbed a clean black tank top from the drawer. My hair was a mess. And for the first time I actually cared what it looked like. It took quite a few attempts, but I finally got it pulled into a cute ponytail. I added just a touch of makeup before grabbing my things. After packing some fresh snacks I was ready to go. The sun warmed my face as soon as I stepped outside. I hurried toward the forest hoping I had enough food for everyone.

The forest was quiet that early. It had been a long time since I came here at this time of the day. A lot of the animals were still sleeping. There was some commotion and faint yelling when I got closer to the tent. With a huff I saw Onceler storm outside the front. He was talking to himself as I got closer. His outfit was blue with yellow bunnies on it. The poor guy was still in his pajamas.

"That's a nice look," I laughed.

He froze with his back to me. Slowly he turned his head to see me. In an instant he flew back inside. A rush of animals flew out of the tent. I jumped back to let them by. The Lorax was the last to walk out. He bumped into my foot without looking where he was going. The smile on his face vanished when he saw me. My arms were crossed as I arched an eyebrow at him. He started walk past me. I reached down and picked him up.