Two beady blue eyes stare back at me. How do I manage to get myself into situations like this? Honestly. I have no idea. Let’s recap about 2 hours ago.
“Okay so if I win you’ll fix the hole in my wall?” I asked with skepticism. Scott gave me a cocky smile and nodded. “Yup but if I win you have to take my patrols for a week” he said smirking at me, his buddies laughing and wheezing behind him.
I shrugged and nodded in understanding. He held out his palm, indicating to shake on it. I begrudgingly accepted, shaking his hand. I sighed, lifting my rifle up to point it at the target, first to get 5 targets wins. Should be easy.
Scott is someone you would say is all bark and no bite. I knew what I was going up against and the chances I had of winning. “So uh when should I expect you?” I said with a triumphant smile, I had won, like I said easy.
Scott scoffed, giving me a glare. “It was just luck, I’ll be there by some time tomorrow afternoon” he said blowing past me, all signs of that cocky attitude gone. Behind him his buddies followed, each giving me a nasty glance. I shrugged, can’t help the fact I had a good aim.
“You didn’t have to bruise his ego like that you know” I smiled, shaking my head with a chuckle. “He’ll be fine, he needs a little bit of a reality check” I said, cleaning up the bullet shells.
Maria hummed, leaning against the pillar watching me move around. “Tommy’s been asking about you” she said after a bit of silence, moving to help me pick up a knocked over target.
“Really how come?” I asked moving the target back to its original placement. She shrugged and shook her head. “I have no idea, you’ll have to talk to him to find out” she said walking towards the door, stopping to wait for me.
I groaned following her, I rolled my eyes in annoyance. “Great, now I have to go on a man hunt to find Tommy, hurray” I grumbled with fake enthusiasm.
Maria laughed, nudging me toward with her hand. “Just go find him and talk to him.” She said walking in the other direction, presumably to go check up on the townsfolk. I sighed, walking around aimlessly to find Tommy, wherever he may be.
“Hey runt over here” a voice yelled out, I looked over to see Tommy with Joel walking towards me. I walked towards them and was immediately grabbed by Tommy, him ruffling up my hair. “What you've been hiding from me, huh kiddo” He said with a laugh, letting go over me finally.
I laughed, fixing up my hair. “Apparently not good enough” I said glancing over to Joel giving him a curt nod, he’s always intimidated me. He shook his head pulling me into a tight embrace. “Don’ act like a stranger now kid” he said gruffly, I nodded hugging him back. He let go stepping back to Tommy’s side.
“So what’s up Maria said you’ve been asking about me?” I asked curiously, putting my hands in my pockets. He shared a glance with Joel, which kinda made me uneasy for some reason. Tommy chuckled seeing the look on my face and Joel snorting which further confused me.
“Don’t worry kid, it's nothin bad” Tommy finally said, holding back another chuckle, I put a hand over my pounding heart. He shook his head at my antics, nudging his head to a cafe. I followed behind him and Joel, choosing a table while they ordered.
Drumming my fingers on the table in anticipation. What is it he needs to talk about? I wonder if it has to do with that whole fiasco at Greg’s the other day. I shuddered at the memory, it was not a great day for francine.
Tommy put down a tray in front of me, sitting down in the chair. “Eat. I know you haven’t already” he said, beginning to scarf down his burger and fries. I nodded, dragging the tray towards me to munch on the fries. “Where’s Joel?” I asked, looking around, he wasn’t anywhere in the cafe.
“He had to handle some business,” Tommy said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. I nodded, turning back to my fries. “So what have you been up to lately?” He asked after a beat of silence, sitting back in his chair.
“Uh you know the usual, patrol. Drowning out my neighbors. Collecting coins for my book.” I answered by listing off some things. He nodded looking around, drumming his hands on his thighs. “I heard you got paired with a certain person on patrol the other day” he said with a smirk coming on his face.
I choked on my fries, coughing a bit. “How do you know about that?” I asked, patting my chest, still coughing. “Well Ellie told me of course” he said, chuckling at me.
I groaned. “Of course she did” I mumbled, letting my head drop to the table. I could feel my face warming up out of embarrassment. “What exactly did she say?” I asked, picking up my head from the table.
“She said she’s never seen you show so many emotions on your face in one minute” he said grinning at me. I groaned again, dragging my palm down my face. He laughed, shaking his head. “So how’d it go?” He asked putting his elbows on the table to hold his head in his hands.
“It was fine.” I said hesitantly, I glanced around. Tommy raised his brow at me. “That’s it? It was fine? C'mon you got to give me more than that” he said scoffing at my vague response.
I shrugged, my face slightly sad. “There was nothing else to say, we talked a bit and then continued on with our patrol.” I said with a frown, entwining my hands together under the table.
He stared at me for a moment. He groaned out after a minute, covering his face with his hands and leaning back in his chair. “If you want to bag the girl you have to be more confident” he said sternly, uncovering his face. “Do you think I bagged Maria by just staring at her?” He continued on, giving me a questioning look.
I shrugged, looking down at my hands. He shook his head, clicking his tongue. We stood in silence for a moment, I was lost in thought staring at my hands. A static sound sounded out before Maria’s voice came through. I glanced up seeing Tommy pull out his walkie talkie.
“Tommy you there? Over” Maria asked, waiting for a response. “Yeah I’m here, what's up? Over” he answered back. “We have a situation down at the shacks, get down here as fast as you can please. Over” she said in her background yelling and screaming could be heard.
“Shit, I’m sorry gotta head out, Sounds bad.” Tommy said, standing up quickly. I stood up, nodding. “Yeah no, don't apologize. Better get down there.” I said walking with him towards the door.
He opened the door, glancing at me. “Don’t be a stranger, come by for dinner some time” he said softly, I nodded. He smiled, turning to head towards the shacks. I watched him go for a minute, letting out a sigh and walking in the opposite direction towards my apartment.
I rubbed my arms, feeling the cold breeze seep into my jacket. It was getting colder as the day progressed, unfortunately the heating in my apartment is down due to the breaker being frozen.
As I walked I noticed a woman standing outside her house, staring at the giant hole under her porch. She glanced up at me, her face lighting up as she saw me coming. “Hey could you help me out here please” she asked sheepishly.
I nodded, walking up to her. I noticed she had a baby bump, she held a hand on her lower back. “There’s a puppy under my porch, I have no idea where he came from but he must be freezing from all this snow.” She said looking back at her porch.
I got down on my knees, the cold snow seeped into my pants instantly making my legs wet and cold. I peaked through the hole, seeing a curled up ball of fur. Glancing up at her then back down, I called the puppy. Its head popped up and it crawled towards me, his tail wagging slightly.
Picking it up when it got close enough, I could feel it shivering in my arms. The lady sighed in relief, staring at the puppy with concern. “Oh poor baby, who knows how long he was done there.” She said sadly, petting the top of his head.
I went to hand him to her but she pulled backwards, I gave her a confused glance. “Oh I can’t take him, you should though” she said, giving me a sheepish smile and walking away before I could answer back. I opened my mouth to protest but she had already disappeared back inside of her house.
The puppy let out tiny whimpers in my arms, the cold bothering him. I opened my jacket, putting him inside and closing it back up. I sighed, beginning my walk back to my cold apartment.
Arriving at my apartment door, I struggled to put the keys in the lock and hold the puppy. Finally getting it I walked inside and closed the door behind me, opening my jacket to set the puppy down on the floor. I took it off and hung it up on the hook on the wall.
I ran my fingers through my hair, glancing around my living room. I walked towards the bathroom, turning on the bathtub to run a warm bath for the puppy. The puppy wandered around sniffing stuff and wagging his tail.
When the bathtub reached a good level, I turned it off. I grabbed the puppy, putting him in the water and grabbing a cup pouring the water on him. He licked the water that dripped on his face, I chuckled softly at the cute scene. Grabbing soap and lathering it on his body and beginning to rub it in.
I rinsed it off and after making sure he was all clean I grabbed a towel. Draining the tub, I rubbed his fur with the towel to dry him. After he was as dry as he could be I set him back down on the floor, he ran out of the bathroom.
I walked out of the bathroom to my living room. Taking a seat on my couch I finally let everything sink in. I groaned, leaning my elbows on my knees putting my face into my hands. When I uncovered my face Two beady blue eyes stared back at me. Which leads me to my current situation.
“What am I gonna do with you?” I asked the puppy who stared back at me, tilting his head as if he could understand me. “Not like anyone wants a dog, so I guess I’ll have to keep you” I said with a sigh, making a mental list in my head to get dog food when I go grocery shopping.
The puppy, uninterested in me anymore, laid down on my floor chewing on his tail. I stared at him, thinking of names for him, he had long fur which by the looks of it would get longer as he got older. Come to think of it, he doesn't look older than 5 months. He’s a border collie though, that much is obvious based on his appearance.
“I think I’ll call you river” I said finally coming up with a name. The puppy glanced up at me, his tail thumping behind him. I smiled watching him get up and walk towards me, laying his head on my leg. “River it is then” I chuckled, petting him behind his ears.
I lifted him up and laid back on my couch, laying him on my chest and petting him more. My upstairs neighbors began to yell and argue, their loud stomping resonates throughout my living room. River lifted his head off my chance glancing up at the ceiling, his ears lifted in alertness.
I chuckled. “Those are our neighbors, and they are very noisy” I said softly, watching River lay back down after a minute. Another minute and I would’ve fallen asleep if it weren’t for the knock on my door. I sighed, putting River on the floor and getting up to answer it.
I glanced at River making his way over and opened the door at the same time, not paying attention to who was on the other side. When I looked back to the entrance, I gripped the door knob tighter.
“Hey, is this a bad time?” She asked sheepishly, her hands interlaced together in front of her as she nervously rocked back and forth. “I uh no not at all” I said opening the door wider to let her in, she walked in glancing around before laying her eyes on River who tilted his head at her curiously.
“Aw who’s this little guy?” she said, crouching to pet him, he leaned into her touch, licking her palm. “Uh his name is River I just got him today actually” I said still in shock that she was in my apartment, my living room.
“He's so cute and soft,” she said, giggling before standing up. I held out my hand towards the couch. “Uh you can take a seat if you’d like” I said nervously, awkwardly standing next to my tv stand. She nodded, taking a seat on my couch, glancing around the room.
I walked over to the other side of the couch and took a seat on the arm rest. “So what brings you here Dina?” I asked, putting my hands in my lap and nervously picking at my nails.
“Well I had mentioned to Ellie that I hadn’t seen you after patrol the other day and she mentioned you lived somewhere around her and gave me your apartment number, so I thought I’d stop by” she said smiling nervously before her face turned concerned. “Although I’m sorry if I intruded on your alone time” she said quickly.
“Oh no not at all, I was just, you know, um relaxing. But it's fine you didn’t intrude on anything” I said awkwardly, stammering over my words a bit. She smiled nodded, content with my answer.
I cleared my throat. “Would you like something to drink? Hot cocoa or tea perhaps?” I asked to get up to walk to the kitchen. “Tea would be nice, thank you” she said, playing with River as he hopped around by her legs.
I nodded, filling up the kettle and putting it on the stove, turning it on. I leaned against the counter, running a hand through my hair. ‘Okay, Dina is in my apartment. Sitting on my couch at this very moment.’ I thought to myself, ‘do not mess this up runt’.
When the kettle began to whistle, I grabbed two mugs from the cupboard. Placing them onto the counter I poured the hot water into them and then the tea leaves. Stirring it with a spoon before picking them up and walking back into the living room to find Dina looking at the pictures on my wall and shelf.
I set the mugs down on the coffee table next to the couch. Walking up beside her I noticed she was looking at a particular picture, so I grabbed it. She glanced at me, hesitant to ask but I spoke up before she could.
“That picture was taken a month after Maria and Tommy took me in. Tommy had found a Polaroid camera and Maria said she wanted to take a family picture.” I said fondly, staring at my younger self with a big grin in between Tommy and Maria who both had an arm wrapped around me.
“Took you in..?” She asked hesitantly, staring at me. I glanced at her before looking back at the picture, putting it back on the shelf. “It’s a long story.” I said, grabbing my mug and sitting on the armrest of the couch again. She sat back down, grabbing her mug and softly blowing on it.
We stood in silence for a minute before she spoke up again. “Did you see the pairs for tomorrow's patrol?” She asked, sipping on her tea softly. I shook my head no, holding my cup in my hands for warmth. “Oh well we’re paired up again” she said putting the cup down on the table.
“Oh well that’s cool” I said with a small smile, glancing down at the dark liquid swishing around in my cup. She nodded, smiling. A knock sounded at my door, I got up to answer it. Opening the door I was greeted by Ellie, great.
“Hey Ru whatcha up too?” She asked, leaning against my door frame. “Uh nothing much, you?” I asked suspiciously, giving her a weirded out look. She nodded looking around. Dina walked up next to me and patted my shoulder, I looked at her. “Hey um I have to go, see you tomorrow?” She said awkwardly looking between me and Ellie.
“Uh yeah see you tomorrow” I answered back watching Ellie move out of the way for her, she waved at us before walking away towards presumably her house. I watched her until I couldn’t see anymore.
When I turned my attention back to Ellie she had a cheeky grin on face. I glared at her before trying to slam the door on her, she put her hand between the frame and the door letting out a yelp from the pain.
“Oww ow, jeez Ru what was that for” she said coming in and shutting the door behind her. She dodged the incoming pillow I threw at her. “I’m literally going to murder you” I said glaring at her, picking up the mugs I took them to the kitchen, placing them in the sink. Of course Ellie followed.
“What, why, what'd I do?” She asked in a whiny tone, leaning against the doorway. I leaned against the counter crossing my arms over my chest. “Let’s see, you told Tommy I got paired up with her, and told her where I live so she could come here. I don’t know what type of match maker you’re tryna play here but stop it” I said, listing off things and giving her a stern face.
She groaned, dragging her hands down her face. “It’s not my fault you weren’t gonna do it yourself. I’m just tryna help you out a bit here” she said, wiggling her brows at me playful. I shook my head at her antics, laughing a bit.
She glanced down feeling a tug on her pant leg. “Hey when’d you get a dog?” She asked, looking at River tug at her pants. “Earlier today actually, I found him outside under a lady’s porch” I answered while picking up River. I gently turned Ellie towards the door, pushing her towards it as she tried to protest.
“Well so lovely for you to stop by but I’m afraid I have a very early patrol tomorrow and I’d love to get some sleep before then so goodbye” I said, opening the door and shoving her out. She just flipped me off as I closed it. I sighed, putting River down. ‘’man what is going on today’ I thought to myself as I walked to my bedroom, River following behind me.
I did my usual bedtime routine before getting into bed. River got comfortable and fell asleep quickly, his body relaxing and stretching out. I got comfortable under the covers before reaching over and turning off the lamp on the side of my bed.
In the dark I stared at the ceiling for a minute. Before turning over on to my side and finally closing my eyes to fall asleep.
A/N: I’m so sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out, I’ve been so busy lol and I’m trying to make the chapters a lot longer.
