Bassie's World - Chapter Fourteen

Instructions

[ Shelly, 11:43 AM, Sprout's Floor ] I woke up, my face hot and my mind confused. My eyes travelled over my surroundings. Where was I? Who am I, and who is this brown rectangle boy in front of me..? "Shelly! You're awake!" the boy exclaimed. Shelly. Right. That's my name. I don't want to seem blunt by asking what his name is, but that's really my only option. So, I asked. "Wh-who are you...?" My voice was gravelly and quiet, unfamiliar to me. That's not how I had sounded in my head. "Cosmo. I'm Cosmo. Remember?" "Y-yes..." I said. I don't remember much about him, but that name sounds right to me. "Why am I... here?" "You got hurt." he reminded me, gesturing towards my eye and around it. Then, thinking about it, I noticed how much my left eye hurt, and a little bit on my shoulder too. Unsure of how I didn't feel it before, I pursed my lips. I'd let him explain why I even was scathed so badly. "You, uh, remember Bassie, right?" I slowly nodded my head. My memories had become a bit clearer, and I did remember a Bassie. She was a good friend of mine. I think, at least. "Well, uh, Cocoa was accompanying you. She didn't really fully explain how you were injured, but I know Bassie did it." "Oh, okay." I straightened my back out a bit more and took off my flower crown. I wanted to feel my eye to see if it was rugged or hurt to touch, but there was a smooth cloth covering it. I began attempting to take it off when Cosmo yelled and pulled my hand away. "No! Don't." "...Sorry." He must have been wondering what I was thinking. I was a little out of it, frankly, and he looked weary and exhausted. He had bags under his eyes and everything. Has he been staying up to take care of me...? I had to get out of his way, so I stood up, put back on my flower crown and walked out of the room. I was purely being a nuisance to him and making him waste his time. "Hey!- Where are you going?" I didn't give him an answer. I was going to find Bassie. I barely remembered the way to the elevator in this room, and when I reached it, I recalled another part. To get to that room, there was a secret passcode. A secret passcode I didn't even know in the first place! Sprout had known it- God knows how. One thing I know, though, is that Bassie's favorite number is 11884. She told me it was because it was like a shorter version of her name in some number code that Delilah used sometimes when talking to Arthur and other employees? B-S-I-E, I believed it meant. I typed 1-1-8-8-4 into the numbered part of the floor selector, and it accepted my response. The elevator closed and I began to feel it go down. "Phew. Thank goodness I remembered that!" I said to myself. I stood in total silence for a minute or two. Time seemed to pass slower in these elevators. Of course, since Gardenview originally closed, they've slowed down quite a bit. That's expected from machinery that was used often and never fixed. I knew that eventually they'd stop working entirely, which was a day I dreaded. The elevator opened. I stepped out at the same time I heard Bassie call out "Pebble?" I then saw her running up to me. When she noticed me, though, she froze for a moment. "Shelly?" "Bassie." I waved. "Oh my God." [ Shelly, 12:03 PM, Bassie's Floor (Bassie's Room) ] I had gotten situated in a bean bag across from Bassie. She was covering her mouth with her hands and breathing heavily. "Bassie, I... I don't remember what happened." Her hands dropped to her sides. "Y- you don't?" "No. Please, tell me truthfully what happened. I beg you." I rested my forearms on the table between us and looked at her compassionately. I wanted to hear it from her, not anybody else. "Well, uh, it was... an accident." She stood up and walked over to her loft. She climbed up the ladder and then fell into her soft comforter. I didn't want to follow her up or try to force her to talk. I had to give her time to think of what to say. There was a chance she'd be thinking of a believable lie to make up, but would she do that to me? She took a deep breath. "I got a bit mad when Cocoa said something rude and insulting to me and kicked a sharp object. It ended up hitting you.. in the eye. I'm really sorry, Shelly. Please trust me that this is true. I would never lie to you." It appeared a bit sketchy that Cocoa would be quote-unquote rude and insulting, but Bassie seemed determined for my validation. If she really was lying, I could ask Cosmo about it later. After I apologized for running away, of course. "She said that I was being suspicious and I was unworthy of you, which made me really upset. I probably overreacted, but you ARE my best friend." Okay, maybe I had to be a little pushy. "Why should I trust you?" "If you don't believe me, then maybe we aren't meant to be friends. Go on and leave if you aren't willing to hear me out." she spat. Her tone had changed severely. +