Somebody to love

Chapter 7

  For the next few days Teresa was grounded. She was not allowed to go play and did chores all day. She was sweeping when her dad came back from the Hub.

"Haven't you done that four times already?" He asked.

"This will make four, so almost." She told the shiny umbreon.

"Well I don't see any point in sweeping a clean floor, so you can stop."

"But mo-"

"Tell her I gave you a break. What did you do anyways?" Her dad interrupted.

She sighed. "She said I was acting like a wild animal. I was just trying to make friends and not be an outcast again." Daniel (her dad) raised an eyebrow.

"Well, we technically actually are wild, and there's nothing wrong with that. You know what, why don't we go to the park and see if your friends are there."

"But what about mom?" She asked.

"Let me worry about that honey."

With that, the two left the den and headed for the Hub.

***

  Tobias was the only one of the eevee friends at the park that day. Marco and Rachel were on a date and Jake and Cassie were stuck doing chores. As he skipped rocks on the lake to pass the time, he was beginning to worry about Teresa. Did we scare her? Did something happen to her? I haven't seen her in a few days.

"You look a little lonely." He jumped, startled by her sudden appearance.

"Oh hey Teresa. How have you been?"

"My mom grounded me. I've been doing meaningless tasks for the majority of the time."

"Yeesh, what did you do?" Tobias asked, curious as to what deserves such a punishment.

Teresa debated telling the truth. "Well, um... my mom doesn't like it when I play with others. She calls me a wild animal."

"But we are wild. Aren't we?"

"That's what my dad said! Anyway, he said I could go play now. So what do you want to do?"

Tobais thought about it. "I don't know. I usually just go along with what the others do. Do you have anything in mind?"

"Umm... how about hide and seek?"

"With two people?"

"Sure! We'll see who can find the other faster. We get thirty seconds to hide." She immediately started counting down, eyes closed. Tobias quickly ran to go find a spot. He settled on a tree with a hollow in the base of the trunk, climbing in and covering the hole with leaves.

"28...29...30! Ready or not, here I come!" Teresa looked around for signs of Tobias, and saw none. She started walking in what felt like the right direction. A few seconds later something caught her eye. There was a spot where the leaves were recently disturbed by a tree, leaving a patch of grass. She began poking around and discovered the opening in the tree.

"Found you!" Teresa exclaimed.

"You cheated! No way you found me that fast!" Tobias said, surprised.

"The leaves gave it away. There was a patch with leaves missing where you took these from." She said, pointing to the leaves camouflaging the hole. Tobias was slightly salty that his number one hiding spot was discovered so quickly. Teresa saw his expression and giggled.

"You're so salty. My turn to hide."

"I'm not salty, I'm competitive!" He said, covering his eyes, "One, two, three..." Teresa ran off to go find her own hiding spot.

"30! Ready or not here I come!" Tobias began searching for his shiny friend. He checked the spot he had just hid in himself. She wasn't there. He spent the next sixty seconds searching up trees, under the bridge that went over the stream, under bushes. Then, right in the middle of the park, he saw a big pile of leaves. Forgetting about the game, he ran towards it. As he neared the pile he took a flying leap.

"Cannon ball!" Tobias yelled, crashing into the pile and creating a plume of natural confetti. His stomach did a barrel roll as he felt himself landing on something soft. Someone soft. "Aah!" He cried, trying his best not to crush the person. He rolled to the side, and heard the person... laughing?

"Oh, Tobias! You scream like a girl!" Teresa said between giggles.

His face turned red "I do not! You scream like a girl."

His retort just made her laugh harder. "But it's funny... because I am a girl... and you're not!"

"Did you just assume my gender?" He asked. They looked at each other and burst out laughing. After half a minute of hysteria, the pair recovered. Teresa saw her dad watching.

"I gotta go, or my mom will have my hide." Teresa said.

"Thanks for playing with me, I look forward to next time!" Tobias called as she hopped over towards her dad. He turned and walked towards his own home, as it was starting to get dark. I think we're going to be great friends, he thought. 

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Ooookay here's chapter 7.  Longest one yet (800 words).