16I Guess We Never Grow Up…Not Really
Chapter 2
Summary: What if Woody couldn't get out of the box on time to write down Bonnie's address? Would the gang still be together, or would they be separated?
"Sarah? Sarah, come on we gotta get this project finished," Andy said, shaking the sleeping girl awake. She jumped up and blinked a few times.
"I'm sorry. I didn't sleep very well last night," she explained.
"What happened?" he asked. He looked bitterly at their poster. "Stay up talking all night to Mohammad?" he asked sourly. Andy hated Mohammad. He was rude, stupid, only got into college because he could throw a football and a real grade A asshole to Sarah. She deserved a lot better. Like him, for example. Just an example.
"No," she said sharply. "We broke up." Andy looked up, worry apparent in his eyes.
"Oh. I didn't know. I'm sorry," he said hastily.
"Don't say you're sorry. You are not the one who has been nothing but a jerk to me the past six months. He was. You, however, are the one who warned me about him and you were right," she said quietly. "So, I'm sorry for yelling at you all the time about it."
"You have nothing to be sorry for," Andy said quickly. Sarah smiled at him and Andy's heart fluttered a bit.
"So anyway…um…we should probably get back to the project," Sarah said a little breathlessly.
"Right the project. Uh…" Andy stared at the poster board. "I hate projects. I can't draw at all," he said. Sarah laughed.
"Me neither. Maybe the two of us pairing up wasn't such a good idea," Sarah said, smiling again. Andy nodded. "Well, we've got all the writing done. We should take a break for a few minutes and then try and master and the artsy portion of the project," Sarah suggested. Andy nodded, scooting his chair back a bit. Sarah got up and went to the fridge. "Coke?"
"Yes please." She got two Cokes and came back to the table. Andy looked around the room, noticing the very obvious difference between Sarah's space and her roommate Brooklynn's space. For one, Sarah's was a whole lot neater. Brooklynn had random pictures of guys littering her dresser but Brooklynn had pictures of what Andy assumed was her family. He got up and looked at a picture of a cute little girl with no front teeth being hugged by three older boys. "Your brothers?" he asked, pointing to the boys.
"Yeah. That's Harry, Francis, and that one is Shane," she said, pointing to each boy. "I look like a freak in that picture," she noted.
"Oh no, you look cute," Andy blurted out. Sarah cocked an eyebrow at him. Andy scrambled to cover his mess up. "You know, in a, you uh…" he stuttered.
"Thanks," she laughed. Andy moved on quickly to the next picture. This one was of a handsome looking man in a suit staring at a woman in a wedding dress. "That's when Shane got married. Her name is Lisa," Sarah said. Andy looked at the shelf above the picture and gasped quietly. "What is it?" Sarah asked.
There, on the top shelf sat a pale, porcelain girl with a pink bonnet, a red polka dotted white dress, holding a blue staff with three little gray sheep next to her.
"That's Bo Peep!" Andy yelped in surprise.
"Yeah. I love porcelain dolls. I had a huge collection of them when I was a kid but when I was in the 8th grade our house caught on fire. Bo was always my favorite so when I smelled the smoke I grabbed her and ran," Sarah explained. Andy just stared at the rosy-cheeked girl. Sarah went on. "I actually got her at a yard sale. We were driving through this little town and saw one. My mom was hoping to find some nice stuff so we stopped there. I saw her and I couldn't believe that someone would throw her away," Sarah went on. Andy finally found his voice.
"Does she have a name written on the bottom of her?" Andy managed to choke out. Sarah looked at him in surprise.
"Yeah, actually she does. I don't remember what it was though. I think it started with an 'A' or something," Sarah said, reaching to take the doll down. She slipped her over and sure enough, there in black lettering was the name "Andy." Andy's jaw dropped.
"BO!" he exclaimed.
"Wait a second. Bo Peep is your old doll?" Sarah asked incredulously.
"YES!" Andy yelled happily. "I…I...I had this huge thing for nursery rhymes when I was about seven. My mom thought it was kind of weird but she bought Bo for me!"
"Why did you give her away? She's beautiful!"
"I didn't want to but…well, when I was in the 7th grade, I invited this kid over and he saw Bo. He kept teasing me about it and I got so fed up that I gave her to my mom to sell at the yard sale. I wanted her back like two seconds later though but when I ran out to get her, she was already gone. I was so upset!" Andy explained in a rush.
"And she's been with me the whole time!" Sarah exclaimed. "That's hilarious!"
"It is…" Andy said. Sarah handed the doll to Andy and Andy held Bo close.
"Aw…that's adorable," Sarah said.
"Shut up."
"SARAH!" a shrill voice called. Andy groaned.
"Be nice," Sarah whispered.
"I hate her," Andy whispered back.
"Yeah, well so do I, but she's my roommate and can make my life a living hell if I piss her off so please be nice?" Sarah begged. Andy made a face but nodded. "Yeah Brooklynn?"
"You…" she stopped and giggled loudly. "You have to go somewhere else," Brooklynn answered.
"Why?" Sarah called, turning around. Andy looked as well. In walked a rather tipsy Brooklynn with a guy.
"I think you know why," Brooklynn stage-whispered, gesturing to the guy.
"Hey, I know you. You're Sarah Chang right? Mohammad's girl?" the guy said, slurring his words.
"I'm nobody's girl thank you very much," Sarah shot at the guy.
"Hey, don't get upset! Just making a comment," the guy said. He fell into a chair and patted his lap. Brooklynn all but pounced on him.
"We should get out of here," Sarah said. "They won't stop and wait for us to leave." Andy nodded and quickly packed up their project and the two of them ran out the door. "Where do we go to now?"
"We could work at my room. I've got a single room so no need to worry about annoying roommates," Andy said, shooting a pointed glare in the direction of Sarah's door. Sarah smiled and nodded and they walked back to Andy's. When they got there, Sarah cried out.
"Oh my goodness Andy!" Andy cringed, realizing that he had left all his toys out on the shelves.
"Yeah?" he asked timidly, setting what he was holding down on the bed.
"You have TOYS?" she asked gleefully, going over to his shelves.
"Um…"
"Oh my Goddess! You have almost the entire Rootin' Tootin' Round Up Gang! All you're missing is Stinky Pete!" she said. "Can I touch them?"
"I guess…" Sarah pulled the string on Woody's back.
"There's a snake in my boot!" Woody said. Sarah giggled and put him back. She picked up Bullseye and put Jessie on his back.
"Jessie was my favorite character. She was so cool! I hated it when other shows made the girl all 'Save me my love!' all the time. Jessie saved Woody's ass half of the time," Sarah remarked. She galloped Jessie and Bullseye around to look at Andy. Andy chuckled. Sarah turned back around and put the doll back. "OH MY GOODNESS! You have the first edition Buzz Lightyear! No way!" she yelped. She picked up Buzz and pretended to fly him around. "This is Buzz Lightyear to Star Command!" she said for Buzz. Andy laughed a little louder, enjoying how much of a kick she was getting out of his toys. He sat down on his bed. She put Buzz down and continued. "Slinky? I always wanted a Slinky toy, but my mom said they weren't practical or whatever."
"My mom said that too at first, but I bugged her enough that she finally got it for me," Andy remarked. Sarah smiled widely at him and continued her cataloging of Andy's toys.
"Oh look, there's Rex. I love dinosaurs so much. And…you have a piggy bank?" Sarah asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That's Mr. Hamm Porkchop to you and I'll have you know that he's actually an evil genius in disguise," Andy informed her. Sarah let out a short laugh and turned back around.
"Mr. Potato Head? And Mrs. Potato Head! And…what's with the Little Green Men?" Sarah asked, holding up one of the aliens.
"They're the children of the Mr. and Mrs." Andy explained. Sarah giggled and put it back.
"Who knew that Andy had a soft spot for childhood toys?" Sarah asked, waking slowly closer to Andy. Andy smiled.
"I almost gave them away," he admitted.
"What stopped you?"
"I don't know. I just…couldn't," he said, not knowing how to explain but Sarah nodded her head and walked still closer.
"I get it. While everyone tells you to grow up, there's still that part of you that's a little kid just waiting to go upstairs and play with is toys again. You couldn't let them go because of that little boy," Sarah answered. Andy nodded. "That's why I didn't give Bo Peep away. I was still that little girl who used to play with her when I was kid. I guess we never grow up…not really," she said. She looked at the bed. "And I see you brought her with."
"Oh! Sorry, that was an accident."
"It's fine. Here, I'll make you a deal: You get her for the first two weeks of the month and I get her the last two. Deal?" Sarah asked.
"Deal," Andy agreed. Sarah took Bo and put her next to Woody, then walked back over to Andy. Andy suddenly froze, realizing how close to him Sarah was. Sarah seemed to realize this at the exact same moment, because she backed away quickly, but Andy caught her hand.
"Andy…I can't. I mean, I just broke up with Mohammad and –"
"And what? It was a disaster waiting to happen and everyone knew it. You're too good for him. You deserved better," Andy said, pulling her closer.
"I deserve better? Like you perhaps?" Sarah said, but she smiled when she said it.
"It's an option," he said, pulling her even still closer. She was so close; he could feel her breath on his cheek.
"I don't know Andy…" Andy took her hands and put them on his shoulders. Sarah gave up and kissed him. Andy's heart jumped out of his chest and soared out the window and into the sky. Sarah pulled back.
"I should really go," she said. She kissed him one more time and picked up her bag. "We'll work on the project tomorrow morning. Is 9:30 okay?" she asked, smiling.
"It's great," Andy said, smiling back. Sarah blushed a tiny bit and left. Andy lay back on his bed and sighed. Today had been a great day.
Woody and Bo Peep caught his eye. Andy walked over to the two. He had always paired the two of them up when he played with them because he had had the suspicion that Woody and Bo Peep loved each other. Andy noticed that Woody's arm was linked through Bo's.
"That's weird," Andy thought aloud. "I didn't see Sarah link their arms. She couldn't have known that I paired them up." He smiled. There it was again, that weird feeling that his toys were alive.
Who knew? Maybe they were alive…
YAY! Bo and Andy are back together. I always thought they were the cutest cartoon couple EVER! I was soooooooo upset when Andy gave her up! Next chapter will be Bo/Woody fluff with minor Jessie/Buzz fluff. Can't wait to write it...