Hopesnare

in which ruby tries to help

You grin at the building in front of you. Your friend does not.

"Ruby, why are we here? I thought you were homeschooled?"

"Oh, I am, amigo," you tell him. "Schools are just the easiest place to find new friends."

"Won't people think we might be bad guys?" Maxi asks.

"Dude, we're thirteen. You're tiny, and I'm wearing a tutu. You really think if you saw us you'd think we were predators?"

Maxi considers this for a moment. "Surprisingly, you are right."

A few minutes passed. "Wait, why are we here again?" he wonders aloud.

"To get you some friends," you say brightly.

"WHAT?" Maxi demands, his hands flying as he makes various gestures that displayed just how alarmed at this he was. "That's it, I'm leaving. Goodbye. It was not nice knowing you."

You block his exit. "Hold it, pal."

Maxi crosses his arms and glares at you. You meet his eyes and smile again.

"Stop that," he says.

"If you promise to stay," you reply.

"Fine. I promise to stay."

"And hold my hand," you add.

"And hold your–? No. No, no, no, no, no–"

At that moment, the school bell rang. Maxi freezes, staring in horror as five seconds, then, ten, then thirty, and then a whole minute passes and then a huge crowd of chattering children appears at the doors, squeezing together then spilling out all over the place like water.

"I... I can't do this," Maxi manages as he stares, open-mouthed, at the mass of students. "How can there be so many people in the world?"

You give him a funny look. "That doesn't matter. But you can do it. It's not that hard." You peer at the kids, studying each one quickly but carefully. You see one that smiles a little when she sees you looking at her, and you grab Maxi's arm to pull him into the throng. He screeches and tries to pull away from your grasp, but he's clearly underestimated your strength. You make your way towards the girl.

When you arrive in front of her, you extend your free sweater paw. "I'm Ruby! Do you like space? Or knitting? Or animals?"

The girl gives you a nervous smile. "Um, my name's–"

"UNIMPORTANT!" Maxi interrupts. "This crazy woman's kidnapped me and is currently forcing me to be social!" He lowered his voice for that last part about being social, which makes you and the girl laugh. Maxi seems offended by this.

"That's Maxi," you add. "He doesn't like people."

"Hi, Maxi," she greets him.

Maxi promptly smacks you in the face, then makes a run for it when you reach up to inspect your damage. After a quick apology to the girl, you hurry after him.

"Maxi!" you call, again and again. He doesn't stop, however, until he reaches the woods near your cabin home. Then he falls over.

"Maxi!" you cry, and kneel down beside him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," he snaps. "Never do that again."

"Do what?" you ask innocently, tilting your head to the side.

"Do... that." He sat up and gestured vaguely. "I can make friends on my own."

You make a sympathetic noise, but stop when he glares at you. "It's getting cold out," you note. "Would you like some hot chocolate? Mom makes the best."

He sighs then nods slightly.

You smile, then help him up. "We can race."

He smiles broadly, then "No."

You pout.

"You'd win."

"Why? How?"

"Ruby..." he began. He then proceeded to list every reason why she'd win on the way back. And she listened to every single one. All three of them.