There was a knock on my door. I stared at the poster on the wall, questioning whether or not I should really do this.
"Amy! Amy Rose! Come on, it's almost time!" a soft voice called through the door. I looked in the mirror and adjusted my hair.
"Coming Cream," I sighed. I walked to the door and stepped outside. A small, adorable bunny stood waiting for me.
"Not getting cold feet are you?" she giggled. I gave her a weak smile.
"Of course not. I just didn't want to come out yet," I replied. She smiled.
"Amy Rose! There you are!" Calvin, our activities director, cried. I smiled weakly. Everyone was waiting. I looked over at my teammates. Knuckles was over with Tails, talking about cars or something. Robotnick was talking to Rouge, probably comparing villainous plots. Shadow stood against the wall, alone, watching everyone talk silently. Sonic was over by the snack machine flirting with a few backup girls. Silver and Blaze walked over.
"You ok Amy?" Blaze asked, her voice soft. I nodded. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Calvin yelled out.
"Alright everyone, we're out in five. Grab your stuff and get in places!" he called. I looked apologetically at Blaze and walked to the front. Sonic stood admiring himself in the reflective glass of the framed posters on the wall. Shadow stood in his place on Sonic's right, arms crossed, looking bored.
"Hi Shadow," I said. He looked at me steadily and nodded. He was so quiet it was hard to figure out what he was thinking. "Hi Sonic," I ventured.
"Hi Amy," Sonic yawned. He sounded like he didn't want to talk to me, which wasn't unusual. I took my place at Sonic's left. Tails came up behind me and took his place. He tapped me on the shoulder and I turned.
"Hello Amy," he smiled shyly. I returned his smile. "You look great today."
"Thanks Miles. I thought I'd try something a little different with my hair," I replied. Sonic turned.
"It looks stupid. You should have stuck with the program. It's called Sonic and Sega All-Stars for a reason. Not Amy and Sega All-Stars," Sonic scoffed. I crumpled a little. Shadow noticed and his eyes narrowed. I silently picked up my pico hammer and looked at the floor.
During the chaos that usually precedes an opening, Shadow leaned over to me.
"Don't listen to him. You look fine. Great even, just like Tails said. He's just got a spike up his tail because the race will be soon. He knows that when it starts, it won't be all about him anymore. Anyone can win. Just be you out there and don't worry about him. Just do your part and things will settle down later," Shadow said quietly. I looked at him in surprise. It was the most I had ever heard him say. His dark red eyes stared deeply into my own eyes. I nodded, shocked beyond words.
"Everyone, get ready. We're on in 1 minute. Smiles people, come on. Silver, try not to frown so much. Rouge, bring on the sexy... there you go. Be in love Amy!" Calvin called. I blushed at being called out and straightened. I plastered my signature smile on my face and tried to visualize a nicer Sonic. It didn't work. I needed to be in love. I just thought about our characters. That helped a little.
A few seconds later, the giant screen went up and we ran out onto the stage. Sonic gave his signature half-grin and waved at a few fans. I followed on his left and slung my hammer over my shoulder. I waved to the crowds like a princess and smiled widely. I glanced over at Shadow, who looked bored and powerful, not caring and staying in character without trying. I envied him for that.
We stopped near the front of the stage; mikes hung above us to catch everything. Shadow and I stopped a few feet behind Sonic to let him do his intro.
"Hey, how is everyone today? Yeah, I know you're all excited about this race, am I right?" he paused to let the crowd roar. "Awesome. I am so glad to be the one to introduce all of my buddies and say that, while I may be wishing you luck, be ready to get your tails kicked tomorrow. Haha," it was approaching my cue. When he said his last line I stepped up and girlishly pushed him playfully. I felt him stiffen, but it didn't show.
"Aww Sonic, we shouldn't bore them too much! After all, we all have our fans, right guys?" I looked at the crowd. They cheered and some guy yelled out: "I love you Amy Rose!" I laughed. "Awe, thanks guys." Sonic wrapped an arm around me and I tensed.
"Haha, you may love her, but she's still all mine. Sorry guys," he laughed. I forced a smile. I could feel Shadow's eyes on me, giving me strength to keep going. It then got worse.
"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" the crowd chanted. Every since our "hook-up" the crowd had loved public kisses from us, but not recently. Now, however, they were dying for it. I turned to look at Sonic. His eyes were pissed and disgusted, but he dipped me a little and kissed me passionately. At least it looked that way; there was no feeling there at all, except disgust and hate.
The crowd cheered. We broke apart and it took all of my will not to rub his kiss of me and throw up. We stepped aside and the others all said their parts. Finally, it was time to get on the train to go to the apartments. We stood on the back car and waved. There was only room for us mains: Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Knickles, Robotnick, and I. Sonic had his arm around my waist and he kissed me once more at the crowds bidding as we left. When we were out of sight I wrestled myself from him and pushed my way into the car. I didn't stop until I got to my cabin where my stuff comforted me a little. Except the stupid posters.
We were made to have our team posters on the walls of our rooms. There was one of Sonic and I, one if the main team, one of everyone and a couple others. I was in my room for five minutes when there was a knock on my door.
"Go away Cream. I'm not in the mood," I called.
"It's not Cream," a deep voice answered. I got up and opened the door.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, staring at Shadow. He shrugged and walked in.
"You left pretty quick. Had to make sure you were ok," he sat on a pink sofa, looking out of place. I closed the door.
"I'm fine. Just.... sick of all of this," I waved at the posters. Shadow looked and raised an eyebrow.
"It got you out of the orphanage didn't it?" he asked. I glared at him. His gaze didn't waver.
"Yes, but it sucks. Sonic hates me, this life is so chaotic, and I'm just some stupid 'fangirl'. Really. No one sees me for who I really am," I slumped down on the sofa across from him.
"I don't think you're a fangirl. I think your character is a fangirl, but you as the actual, real Amy Rose, is not," Shadow said. I looked up at him.
"Why are you here Shadow?" I asked. He opened his mouth to respond but I cut him off. "Not why are you here in my cabin, but why are you part of All-Stars?" I asked. He fell silent. He was quiet for a few minutes before answering.
"I needed something to do and be apart of after... my past. I had to get away," he replied quietly. I could tell he didn't want to talk about it, so I didn't press him.
The phone in my room rang and I went to answer it. It was Trixie, the chameleon in charge of our racers.
"Hey Amy, your ride is all ready for tomorrow. If you want to come down and check it out you can," she suggested.
"Thanks Trixie, I'll be down soon," I said and hung up. Shadow stood.
"Wait, Shadow!" he stopped. "I'm sorry your past wasn't the best," I said. He walked up to me until we were a breath apart.
"Yours wasn't any better, was it Rose?" he whispered and left. I stood there for a second, dumbfounded. He was acting strange today, but I couldn't do anything. I left to go see Trixie.
