When you get a sudden burst of motivation-
Take this angsty kid thingy. It isn't canon for my daycare AU it is just a small side story ig. It is like a bunch of short ones but it will all make sense at the end. Trust me. I think...
Btw I don't think Lemon Boy is a real book. I made that up and just made it relate to the song a lot.
This is a long one so enjoy ig. :D
There once was a bittersweet man and they called him, "Lemon Boy"
He was growing in my garden and I pulled him out by his hair like a weed
California sat comfortably in his tent alone, reading a small book. There was a lot of noise coming from outside the state's hiding spot, due to a few new students coming. He always loved gossip and learned quite a lot from... overhearing the teacher's discussions with these new kids. One he heard was energetic and a trouble maker, always ready for a fight. Another was normally doing taxes with his dad... for some odd reason. And he enjoyed learning about anything. The final of the three brothers was a quiet kid, threatening and sour. Like a lemon.
This last kid he heard was kinda like him. He loved to read and watch movies. He kept to himself. So it wasn't too surprising that this one caught California's interest more than the others. The Golden State's eyes wandered to the entrance of his sanctuary. Someone was invading his tent...
A small boy in a red beanie stepped inside, quickly zipping close the tent. The stranger sighed in relief. He turned around and jumped back a little startled to see the other kid sitting there on the floor. Hesitantly, California waved at him and he waved back. "Who are you? Why are you in my tent?" Asked the western state.
"New York. And I didn't know this was yours... I ran in here because some maniac in a peach sweater tried to hug me with some other kid with a pig nose." Replied the boy. California giggled.
"You mean Georgia and Arkansas? Yeah, they always try to hug everyone. You can stay here. It's my safe space too." The Golden State smiled. New York faintly smiled back at him and took a seat across from him. He reached into his long black coat and grabbed a light blue book. It caught California's eye quickly and he read the title. "Lemon Boy?! I've always loved that book!" He squealed.
The Northeastern state's eyes lit up. "Wha-? Do you know this book? The only other person I know that has read this is my dad! What's your name?"
"California. I love books, who wouldn't know such a classic!" NY crawled over to him and the two started talking. They had almost everything in common! The boys loved books, hated too many people, didn't like FoxNews, loved pizza, danced and thought being in a daycare sucked.
"Do you wanna be friends?" California asked, he never really had many before. Only Oregon and Washington, but they didn't seem to like him that much. New York nodded.
He just made friends with a little lemon boy.
And like weeds do he only came and grew back again
So, I figured this time I might as well let him be
Lemon Boy and me started to get along together
Today was a special day for New York, California was coming to visit. It was a Saturday Everything had to be perfect. The small dutch boy rushed into his father's room and then leaped onto his back, earning a loud pained groan from him. "Dad! Dad! He's coming!" He yelled. Netherlands grabbed his son's shirt and placed him on the side of the bed.
"Aright. Alright, I'm up, apple." He sighed and stood up from his bed. New York grabbed his hand, dragging him out of his room in only a t-shirt and boxers so he could prepare snacks for their play date. NY excitedly jumped up and down as he watched his exhausted father take out a few Lunchables and sodas for them. The phone rang not too long afterward.
"Oh! I'll get it!" Yelled the northeastern boy, he grabbed his father's cellphone off the kitchen table and answered it.
"Hello? Neth you there?" Jamacia asked, his voice also sounded tired.
"No. This is New York, dad's getting snacks for my playdate!" NY giggled and it caused the other to chuckle.
"Oh really? Who is this playdate of yours?" Asked the Island country.
"His name is California. He's really nice and we read together! He knows about the greatest book of all time too! Lemon Boy!"
"Well ain't that nice. Is he-" The doorbell rang interrupting everyone. The Netherlands sighed and answered the door. Karok, Maidu and California were standing outside, the European let them all in. New York grinned, he returned the phone to his father (who politely asked for Jamacia to come over since he was nervous) and practically threw himself onto California. The two boys hugged each other tightly.
NY dragged him away from the adults and into his room to read. And the rest of their evening was spent cuddling and reading.
Just as they liked it.
I helped him plant his seeds
And we'd mow the lawn in bad weather
It's actually pretty easy being nice to a bitter boy like him
So, I got myself a citrus friend
California lay in his sleeping bag, staring at the ceiling. It was naptime at the daycare but he wasn't tired. He told Miss Estonia that but she didn't listen and insisted he at least tried to sleep. So he did since she's nice but he was still up. Practically because Nevada snores.
He slowly got up, hoping he didn't step on any hands or feet of his sleeping comrades and managed to move towards his cubby to grab a book to read. He paused when he heard some whimpering from one of the northeastern sleeping bags. And despite his better judgment he went to investigate it.
It was a good thing too. His new friend New York was crying in his sleep! He gently shook him until his eyes fluttered open. "Cali? What are you doing here?" California cringed at the nickname but didn't bother bringing that up right now.
"You were crying. So I woke you up from your nightmare. Are you ok?" He said, NY wrapped his arms around him and explained everything.
He had a horrid nightmare where that robot from Chuck E' Cheese was eating him and his family. He screamed for the Golden State's name but all he heard was his voice. But even then it didn't say any human words. Just gibberish.
Cali sighed and hugged him tightly. "I'll always be there for you dude. Ignore that silly dream anyway. We're friends after all!" He replied.
NY smiled. "Yeah. Best friends!" He said cheerfully before yawning.
"Are you still tired?" California asked, reluctantly, New York nodded.
"I don't wanna go back to sleep tho. What if I have another nightmare?" He mumbled. It took the westerner a minute or two to think of a solution.
"Why don't we just snuggle together? I cuddle my dad when I have nightmares and it helps." NY nodded and made room for the other boy in his sleeping bag.
An hour passed, and the teachers returned to wake up their sleeping students. "Hey, Germany. You see this?" Called Ethiopia, she pointed to the two states snuggling in New York's sleeping bag, both of which were sound to sleep.
"Leave them be," She replied. "We all know they need the rest."
But soon his bittersweet started to rub off on me
You'd think smelling like lemon zest would be pretty neat
I found out that my friends are more of the savory type
And they weren't too keen on compromising with a nice lemon pie
"California! We gotta talk." Washington said, he grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the cubbies and into a small toy house. "What is up with you man? You only spend time around that emo boy now." He said, his voice laced with sadness.
"New York is my friend! Of course, I wanna be around you and Oregon. But... He gets me ya know dude?" Cali replied, his nerves slowly kicking in. He fidgeted with his fingers a little.
"Yeah but you're always around him. We never get to play good guys and bad guys anymore-" The Golden State cut him off.
"I don't like that game. You guys always make me the bad guy." He mumbled. "What if I want to be the good guy?"
Washington sighed. "Not the time! I'm saying that you even act like him sometimes. You get grumpy and have been snuggling with him more often at nap time instead of sleeping beside us."
Cali rolled his eyes. "Because Nevada snores loudly. And he gets nightmares. I don't wanna have my best friend-"
"Best friend!? Best friend?! I thought we were your best friends!?" Washington yelled, his eyes filled with tears. California gulped and grabbed his hand.
"You two are! I love both you and Oregon. Can I not have more than two best friends?" He asked, the other snatched his hand away.
"No! You can just have the one since NY is the only one you care about!" Washington huffed and stormed off. Cali felt warm tears roll down his cheeks.
How could he lose such an old friend over something like this?
So Lemon Boy and me, we just gotta get along together
I helped him plant his seeds
And we'll mow the lawn in bad weather
It's actually pretty easy being nice to a bitter boy like him
So, I got myself a citrus friend
For the next few weeks, Oregon and Washington avoided him. Leaving Cali with only New York as a friend. It hurt, but at least he had someone.
Now they were sitting together in their little tent. Discussing the new Sonic movie. California wasn't really into games but NY sure was and told him they should watch both movies at his house.
"I dunno. What's so great about a little blue guy that runs fast?" New York glared at him.
"He's the best! He fights Eggman and saves the day with his friends. There's no reason to dislike him." NY exclaimed, he took out his tablet and pulled up the first movie trailer on YouTube. Now having electronics from home in the daycare without proper permission was against the rules. However, the Dutch boy never liked them anyway.
So he broke rules all the time.
California watched in amazement. Maybe he was a Sonic fan?
NY giggled. "So what do you say?"
"Ok, dude. I'll admit. That was awesome." Sighed the Californian, making the other giggle even more. "I'll watch it with you. On one condition. We promise to be friends forever and always help each other." He finished, California only said the last part out of fear of losing another friend. He didn't want to go through that again.
New York smiled at him and raised his pinky, interlocking it with Cali's.
"Promise!"
But what if I run out of fertilizer?
What if the clouds run out of rain?
What if Lemon Boy won't grow no longer?
What if beaches dry of sugar cane?
Oh well
New York seemed sad coming into the daycare today. Much like his two brothers. Connecticut was in tears tho, but no one could get them to say why.
But they knew. And they couldn't tell anyone. Not because their father told them to, no he never did. The three didn't want to upset anyone.
Cali hugged New York, greeting him happily. The other forced a smile and returned the hug from his best friend. His best and only friend... The first boy to cuddle him that wasn't family. And he never laughed at the way he liked to dress. He enjoyed his company just like he knew California loved his. He was the kindest bit he knew and now all this would be gone soon.
"Come on! Let's go read the Lemon Boy book again!" Cali said, dragging the other boy with him to the tent.
NY smiled. He needed to spend as much time as possible with California before he was gone for good.
The whales start to beach themselves
Tortoiseshells tear away from their spines
It happens all the time, it happens all the time
Lemon Boy and I, we're gonna live forever
NY and California were sitting by themselves at the lunch table. It was lunchtime after all. The two boys were chatting away and munching on their packed lunches.
"Hey, so I was wondering. What are your brothers like? I've never really talked to them." Asked the taller state. New York cringed and took another bite of his leftover pizza.
"They're... ok... Massachusets is really protective of us. Like, remember the first time you visited my house?" Cali nodded, he felt kinda like they were being watched that day but ignored it. Not like they did anything wrong then. They were just reading and talking. "Well, he hates you, after you left he started bombarding me with different questions on who you were and why we were so close." The Golden State turned around and noticed Mass glaring daggers into the back of his skull. Uncomfortably, he waved at him. The other didn't react, only kept staring.
California quickly turned back around. "Yeah... That's uh... concerning." He mumbled, the little empire state giggled.
"Nutmeg is ok tho. Connecticut loves math and taxes. He's probably the second smartest person I know when it comes to that stuff. And I think he has a thing for that Colorado kid. Which is shocking when you consider how he always says he wants a smart boy to love. But nope. Look at him." The New Yorker pointed to a table beside them. Coco and his friends were seated there, beside the state NY's brother holding his hand. Nutmeg had this love-struck look on his face, his face was bright red and his eyes never left Colorado's eyes while he rambled.
"Pffft- He looks like the way Florida, Louisiana and Ontario stare at DC." California replies, chuckling to himself. "They all got really big crushes on him."
"Well, that's weird. What about you? Got anyone you're interested in? I heard Texas thinks you're cute." NY whispered, the Golden State's face flushed.
"No, he doesn't!" He laughed, Cali took another bite of his salad. "We hardly get along anyway."
"Whatever, you probably like him too." Replied New york.
"Shut up-"
Like Snufkin and little my, we'll get around wherever
Lemon Boy and I, we're gonna live forever
Like Snufkin and little my, we'll get around wherever
It's actually pretty easy being nice to a bitter boy like him
California wondered around the Daycare room. "Yorkie where are you?" He mumbled. His best friend and his brother's seemed to have just vanished, just like that. Coco seemed really down about it. And so did many others, but he had no clue what was going on.
That was until he checked NY's cubby for clues...
There was a tiny note, with pretty ok handwriting. He picked it up and read it, his heart seeming to crack with every word he read.
"Dear California,
Hey Cali! Sorry for not being at daycare to day. It's not really my fault. I know I promosed never to leave you but my dad said we had to move. He found a better job closer to a papa Jamacia a few cities away. I don't wanna go but it isn't my choice. I'm really sorry Cali.
Please forgive me. I left you something to remember me with, it's a lemon neckloce. I made two with nutmeg's help. One for me and one for you. That way if we meet again I know who you are. Also, could you look in nutmeg's cubby and hand Coco the note there too? It's a little crush thing my brother wanted to do before he left but chikened out last minote. Thanks and thank you so much for everything.
I mis you.
- Sincerly New York
PS: I don't think I spelled that right."
California choked out a sob and hugged the letter tightly. Slowly he reached back into the cubby and takes the necklace. The chain was white and there was a tiny sparkily lemon at the end. He hugged it too, his sobs getting louder. Mr. Sweden rushed over to him.
"What's wrong California?" He asked, pulling the boy into his arms. The western state didn't answer. He just kept weeping.
His only friend.
Gone.
'Cause we're the bitterest boys in town
Yeah, we're the bitterest guys around
And I got myself a citrus friend
This is probably my longest chapter written-
Damn. Anyway, if you finished, here's a cookie. 🍪
Bai bai.