The Backyardigans Return

The Start of Something New

A single ray of sunlight slipped through the crack in the curtains, and bounced off Romy's head, immediately waking her up from the uncomfortable single spot of blinding hot on her fur, dragging a morning groan out of her. 

As she performed the usual morning routine, (bathroom, getting dressed, all that jazz), her mind went back to yesterday. That very nice kangaroo next door, Austin, and his offer of letting her join his friends. 

...In retrospect, it actually sounds kinda dodgy now. 

A complete stranger enticing her with an offer of going off to who knows where with a bunch of people she doesn't know to do who knows what. And considering how they're all presumably teenagers, (if not then she'd be in real trouble), then who knows what illegal stuff they'd get up to. There's no way that's not suspicious. 

But on the other hand, he was really nice, and he seemed very genuine in his offer. Should she take the risk? On one hand, she might make a bunch of new friends. On the other hand, she might find herself in the middle of a REALLY bad situation. 

Oh god, the thoughts were giving her a headache. She finished doing her makeup in the gorgeous vanity that she wished she had back in her old home, and headed downstairs to see if breakfast was up or something. Thankfully, the smells of bacon, pancakes, hash browns and maple syrup wafted past her nose, immediately making her stomach grumble in response. (goddamn that sounds so good)

She walked into the kitchen to see Cassidy happily digging into her own plate of the aforementioned delicacy, with Lycan preparing another plate just for Romy. 

"Hey mom, hey little sis." Romy greeted both of them before joining her sister at the kitchen island, her eyes lighting up when Lycan placed a plate of food in front of her, motherly-kissing her hair as she did. 

"Morning sweetie. So who was that boy you were talking to yesterday?" Lycan asked, completely catching Romy off guard. 

"Wait what?" 

Lycan sat at the island with her own plate, "I heard your howling yesterday and went to find you, but then I saw you in the backyard with a boy, and he seemed to make you happy." Lycan explained, beginning to eat a bit of her pancakes. 

"Oh, that... Everything hit me like a ton of bricks yesterday, and he came to comfort me. His name was Austin, and he was a new kid in the neighbourhood as well when he was a kid." Romy explained, and the mention of Austin also being new at some point intrigued Lycan. 

"Hmm, sounds like something you two would have in common." 

"Have you made a new friend?" Cassidy excitedly asked her sister, a maple syrup drizzle and half a hash brown away from finishing her breakfast. 

Romy couldn't help but smile at her little sister's optimism, "I suppose so. He actually invited me to come hang out with him and his friends who live on the other side of the fence next to his house." she then revealed, drawing shock out of both other wolves, shock of two different varieties. 

"*long gasp* You're gonna go out with your new friend?" Cassidy asked with tiny sparkles in her eyes like a cartoon, but there was no excitement on Lycan's face. 

Lycan took a deep breath before responding. "Romy, listen. I'm happy that you could be making a new friend, and possibly a few more, but you need to be careful. If you were your sister's age and this happened, I'd be less concerned. Even though kids seem malicious, they don't intend to do any real harm. However, you're not a child, but rather a 15 year old young woman, and teenagers can have very malicious intentions, and I don't want you to be on the receiving end of said malicious intentions." Lycan explained, before holding onto Romy's hand to finish. 

"You're my daughter, and I love you. I want you to enjoy your teenage years, not want to throw yourself off the roof because some other cruel teenager decided to ruin your life for a laugh." Lycan then moved closer to Romy, now whispering in her ear, "I divorced your father so that you could have a better life." 

"I know, mom. I know." Romy whispered back, before pulling away. "And I intend to make sure that doesn't happen with Austin. I want to go and hang out with him and his friends, but the moment anything happens that makes me uncomfortable, I'm outta there." she then told Lycan. 

"You promise to come straight back if anything bad happens?" Lycan asked her sternly. 

"I promise." 

Both Lycan and Cassidy smiled at that. "Yay! You could make some new friends!" Cassidy cheered optimistically, causing both Romy and Lycan to chuckle gleefully. 

Out the corner of her eye, Romy noticed a purple shape moving in the backyard. That had to be Austin. Romy quickly finished off her breakfast before giving her mother a kiss on the cheek and her sister a hair ruffle, "Okay, this is it. The start of something new." (roll credits) she then announced to them. 

"Good luck, sweetie." Lycan encouraged her, with Cassidy excitedly squealing to her something about having fun making new friends as she went out into the backyard. 

"Austin! Hey, Austin!" Romy called out to the purple kangaroo as she ran after him, her voice catching his attention. 

"Romy! I wasn't sure if you were gonna come, but I'm so glad you did." Austin greeted her, stopping to let her catch up to him. 

"Just needed a little... advice... from my family. I've never done this before." Romy assured him, unable to hide the nervousness in her voice and on her face. 

Austin simply chuckled, "Don't worry, what we have planned is gonna be nothing but fun, with a little bit of historical accuracy." 

That part caught her attention, "Historical accuracy? What are you guys up to?" 

Austin didn't answer. Instead, her took her hand and led her over to the fence, where he pushed on a part of it that slid open like a door. He then led Romy through to the other side, and Romy's stomach started doing the cha cha cha, but she swallowed her anxiety, letting Austin take her into a world of new possibilities, as he simply stated "Wait and see."