Meant to Be (Richard x Zee)

#5 Grounded

"Thinking? What are you talking about?" Zee asked, confused. "HAVE YOU NOT REALIZED THAT YOU DIDN'T EVEN TELL ME OR PONY THAT YOU LEFT TO GO SOMEWHERE?!" Zizzy shouted. "Wait, we haven't?" Zee asked. "Duh! Then why would I say so?!" Zizzy snapped.

The twins thought back for a moment and realization hit them. "Oh..." Zee said. "Oops..." Zuzy said. "We thought you two were kidnapped, or worse, dead!" Zizzy said, angrily. "If we were kidnapped, we could've shouted for help and you and Pony would hear us." Zee said. Zizzy was unsure what to say next for a moment. The she said, "Have you heard of kidnappers gagging you?!"

"If they tried, I would kick them." Zuzy piped up. "Enough about kidnapping. You two are grounded." Zizzy said. Then Pony emerged from behind Zizzy. "Oh, looks like you've found your sisters. Why are you three standing at the door for so long?" he asked. "Heh, no reason." Zizzy replied. Then she turned to her sisters. "Now let's come in and talk."

Once they got in, Pony and the Zebras sat around the dining table. "So, where did you two go?" Zizzy asked her sisters. "We went to the park with George," Zee said. "And met Richard there." "Aha, now I see why you two never told us where you went. The reason is so obvious." Pony said, mischief glinting in his pale apple green eyes. "You're secretly going on a date with Richard and don't want to tell any of us."

Zee blushed a bright shade of red until she looked like a red-faced zebra. "Pony! I-It's not l-like that! We just wanted to hang out together!" she exclaimed, completely flustered.  "But, why did Zuzy limp when walking earlier?" Zizzy asked. "I may have climbed a tree, fell down and then sprained my ankle..." Zuzy trailed off sheepishly.

"Ugh." Zizzy grumbled. "I'm pretty sure you climbed that tree for no reason, right?" Pony asked. "I did want to try it because of something I sarcastically said-" Zuzy said. "You two are grounded for a week. No contact with George or Richard after school. Not even via phones or video calls." Zizzy said. "WHAT?! No!" the twins said simultaneously. Then Zuzy and Zee looked at Pony, hoping he would bail them out. "You gotta listen to your older sister, you know." Pony said. "I'm sorry, I won't bail you two out of this one this time." The twins looked defeated.

"You girls go and shower now. After you're done, I'll treat Zuzy's leg." Zizzy said. Zuzy and Zee nodded and then took a shower.

*

(very big time skip alert)

The next day at school, Zee looked for Richard so she can make the most of her time with him, since she and Zuzy were grounded. Zuzy was most probably doing the same. However, she can't find him anywhere. So she decided to look for Zuzy and George.

She found them together in a hallway. "Hey, Zee, did you manage to find Richard?" Zuzy asked her. "No, I've looked everywhere and can't find him." Zee said. "Are you sure you've looked everywhere?" George asked. "I'm quite sure..." Zee said. "Well, since you can't find anything or anyone by yourself, we shall help you." Zuzy declared. "But, I never agreed to join a search party for Richard-" George said, but was cut off by Zuzy. "No buts!" 

"And whoever said that I couldn't look for anything by myself? That's just a stupid assumption." Zee said. "No one said it before, so I'm the first! You're useless when it comes to finding things, much less people." Zuzy said. Zee rolled her eyes and said, "Says the one that talks nonsense non-stop and haven't even started what we're supposed to do now. Seriously, are we gonna start searching now or are we gonna continue lollygagging here and argue about me not able to look for things myself?"

"Okay, fine, fine! We're going! Ugh, you didn't have to be so impatient!" exclaimed Zuzy and she stormed down the corridor, which was unusually fast for a person with a sprained ankle. George and Zee had to jog a little to catch up. When they caught up with her, Zee started to think that Richard was with someone...someone who had been constantly hanging out with him. The thought of it made her feel slightly jealous.

As they turned a corner, she slammed into the person she was just thinking about.