The Pup's Mate

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Arielle's POV

I skipped down the hallways and entered Tracy's bedroom just in time to see her flattening down her pink sundress. When she noticed me standing by the door, her smile widened. "Hey, Arielle. Shall we hit the malls today?"

"You mean shopping?" I asked, unsure. How could a six year old kid like her ask me to go shopping? Shouldn't it be the other way round?

Her eyebrows were creased as she adorned her kitten slippers. "Yeah, why?"

I shook my head at her response and grinned foolishly. "Then, off we go." I said, racing her to see who will reach the kitchen first.

After breakfast, we had gotten our parents' permission to go to the malls, as long as two of the pack's warriors tagged along with us. They were granted special permission to look out for us while we head to the stores to get some stuffs.

"Hey, this stuffed bear looks like you." I teased, laughing at Tracy's expression. "Seriously, Arielle? This stuffed bear looks so fat and fluffy. I don't look fat and fluffy at all." She said, creasing her eyebrows as it formed a cute little frown.

"Okay, Tracy. I think this elephant looks more like you."

"Hey!" She exclaimed, grabbing the elephant from me.

"Oh please, Arielle. This elephant is no match for this pig that looks like you."

"Says the one who has a trunk." She pouted at my words and folded her arms as she huffed. Seems like someone was angry. "Okay, Tracy. Peace-treaty." I lifted my hand for her to shake.

She stared at it for a while before sighing as she took it. "Fine, peace-treaty."

Before long, we were running around the mall as we got some new dresses and stuffed bears. Since this little kid wanted to add stuffed bears into her collection, I let her pick while I leaned against the wall.

Two familiar figures were headed to our direction as I took in what I saw. Teagan was holding onto Tristan's arm as he carried the pink and purple shopping bags. Those must have belonged to Teagan.

He seemed to have noticed me as he stopped in his tracks, forgetting all about the conversation that he was sharing with Teagan. While on the other hand, Teagan's eyes found mine as she frowned deeply.

She tried to pull Tristan away as he blocked in the middle of the path. I looked back into his eyes yet, found myself looking away as I approached Tracy who was in the middle of finding a stuffed bear.

When I turned around, they were already gone. I released my breath which I didn't know I had been holding as I stared at Tracy.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I was snapped out of my trance as I looked at her walking to the cashier to pay for the stuffed bears. I walked towards her, carrying the shopping bags for her as I shook my head quickly.

"Nothing is wrong." I smiled. "Shall we go for lunch at McDonalds?

xxxx

When we reached the McDonalds, I offered to get our orders while she went to reserve seats for us. When I had gotten our orders, I began my search for the little figure, only to see her sitting opposite Teagan and Tristan.

Oh great.

I walked towards them, maintaining the frown on my face as I sat down beside a delighted Tracy. "Did you get my happy meal toy?" She asked, browsing through the tray.

"You didn't?" She pouted.

I grinned like a fool as I took out the toy from behind, making her smile widen. She stop smiling and stared at me. "Wait, did you just hide it?" She asked while I shrugged, grinning cheekily.

She shook her head and completely ignored me as she pulled the package open. I went back to my food and eat my burger, ignoring Tristan's constant stare on me as I felt my heart sank.

I, for the first time, actually felt jealous when Teagan clung onto him like a sticky gum. Maybe I deserved this. I had been mean to my past boyfriends.

One of them had invited to me his party and when he fell into the river, his trunk somehow slipped off and floated off to god knows where. He had became a laughing stock in front of everybody and I had broken up with him because of that.

Another one liked to converse with me by shouting. I grew tired of shouting at him, just to strike a conversation with him and broke up with him after a few days.

The next one loved to crack jokes and sprayed me with flour when I walked to school, one day. I broke up with him on the spot.

But, looking at Tristan was different. He was so different from my past boyfriends that I actually wanted to be in a serious relationship with him, for the first time.

I released a sigh as I gulped down the fizzy drink. Oh my god, it almost froze me to death. What was I thinking? "What were you thinking, Arielle?" Tracy looked at me with her mouth wide open.

My neutral expression turned into a slight frown as I stuffed the French fries into her mouth. "Eat your food, girl. We need to go back soon." She nodded and chewed on the French fries as she licked her lips at the saltiness.

When we were done eating, we got up and left first. Though Tristan had offered to send us back, but the nudge from Teagan made me think otherwise.

Teagan had already disliked me from the start. Why would she be so kind to allow Tristan to send us back when she could spend more quality time with him?

I watched Tracy's little figure skipped down the road as her upbeat mood lifted my spirits. Her cheerful and energetic self never failed to lift up my spirits.

"Hey, Arielle. You have been acting like a switch, on and off since just now. Is something wrong? You know that if you are feeling troubled, you can tell me right?" I looked at her and smiled, nodding at her words.

Maybe she was right. I could talk to her about how to get rid of the feelings for Tristan. I shouldn't like him. After the two weeks was over, he would be out of my life.

I watched as Tracy blanked out for a moment before she gave me a cheeky grin. What was she up to this time?

"Meet me at the porch tonight, Arielle."

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