Analise Arnette and David Powers
Anna gave Alexandros and Harmonia an awkward grin, rubbing her rubbing her neck as she declined both their offers. Her dog was calling for her, nothing she could do about it. Analise checked her watch, making sure she still had enough time to go back home to get ready for Domi's beach party. Finding she had plenty to spare before having to pick up little Winston, Anna decided to go home and hope to find something appropriate to wear for the party. And that she did. After reaching home, the girl immediately returned to her room to flick through her closet, eventually settling on a bright
green bikini, and a thin
cover-up. After making sure she looked good enough, Analise slipped on some sandals and grabbed her purse before leaving home again, to the pet-sitter.
How long had Davy been sitting in the back of pet sitter’s shop? He wasn’t sure; he’d left the assembly early, giving his brother instructions to take the bus home, and had headed to the shop to retrieve his beloved pet: Sprinkles, the young duckling. Once he’d arrived, he had greeted Geo as went back to retrieve Sprinkles, but upon arriving to the area where the pets were, Davy found himself
very suddenly too lazy to leave. After a quick explanation to Geo that Davy was just… not willing to drive away quite yet, she’d said he could stay as long as he wanted.
And so he’d sat down on the floor and pulled off his shoes, letting his duck climb on top of them. Sprinkles
loved shoes, he liked to chew on the laces, climb inside of them, and try to balance on top of them. He wasn’t very
good at standing on top of the shoes yet, though Davy assumed that he would get much better at it over time. Geo’s place wasn’t
necessary for Sprinkles; Davy’s parents were home all the time and would be able to take care of the duck whenever Davy wasn’t there, but Davy had done extensive research on ducks before deciding to get one as a pet.
Arriving at Geo's little store, Analise slipped out of her car, pressing the lock before entering. The little bell chimed as the door closed behind the blonde. Standing behind the counter was a tall girl with short, shoulder length brown hair with blue tips, the shade matching the brightness of the girl's eyes. Anna's smile widened, familiarity filling her as she called out with a wave,
"Geo! It's so good to see you! How's Dory doing?""Still swimming." Geo responded, heading towards the little gate between the wall and counter, ushering Analise inside before locking it behind her.
"Winnie's right at the back. He's just come from a bath so excuse the shaking."Anna laughed, nodding in thanks before heading towards her tiny dog.
Davy was early today, Sprinkles usually stayed at the pet-sitter’s for a few more hours, but he was ready to go home and relax and plot out his next adventure. And that meant picking the tiny, yellow duckling up from his home-away-from-home and heading back to his own house. Deep in thought as he watched Sprinkles chew on his shoe laces, Davy didn’t hear Anna’s approach, and didn’t even look up until Sprinkles began to quack.
“
...uh, hi? Am I in the way?” Davy asked as he stared dumbly at the blonde girl, placing a gentle finger on top of Sprinkles’s head, calming his quacking.
"Bark!"Anna stared down at her dog, who was watching a duck play in a shoe. Wait, what? Following her dog's eyes towards the duck and it's owner, Anna's grin widened until she could barely stop herself from squealing at the
cuteness. Of the duck, of course.
"Oh my god, is that your duck!?" Anna knelt down carefully as Winston sauntered up towards her, setting his tiny paws onto her lap. Anna gently rubbed her puppy's head with her thumb as she cooed at the little duckling still partially hidden inside the boy's shoe.
"I know I'm intruding, but the duckling is soooo cute."Her dog yipped, almost in agreement, as Winston climbed up Anna's lap and nuzzled into her stomach.
David was not in the right sort of mind to be talking someone, especially not a woman. Even moreso than a woman,
one that was complimenting his duck.. “
Uh, yeah. His name is, uh Sprinkles. That’s Winston, right?” He asked, gesturing toward the puppy. Sprinkles
liked that dog, according to Geo, Sprinkles and Winston were friends, or something like that. Davy had never actually seen them playing together, he was too quick to
duck in and out when he was picking up Sprinkles. Today was just different.
Davy cleared his throat and gently removed Sprinkles from his shoe, placing him down on the ground as he pulled the tennis shoes back on, carefully tying the laces and looping them before he moved onto the second shoe. “
Well, me and Sprinkles are gonna get going, cuz I had… stuff I needed to do at home. Yeah, stuff.” He said affirmatively, nodding absently to himself. “
I just need to give Geo some money, and then I can get on my way… my way… home. What’s your name? Mine’s… David. Davy. Davy’s better. You know Troy? He’s my…” David paused, thinking to himself. In his mind’s purple haze, the term for how he and Troy were connected was lost and he stared at Anna blankly. “
...my relative. Family. ...Cousin! That’s what it is.”
Anna pouted as David started getting ready to leave.
"Aw, please don't go! I didn't mean to scare you!" Analise held onto Winston, pulling the puppy up towards her chest as she scrambled up to her feet.
"Winnie and Sprinkles like each other so much-!"As if to confirm what Analise just said, Winston jumped out of her arms, landing on the floor before wobbling towards the duckling. Anna pointed down, a large grin plasted on her face,
"See!""I'm Analise Arnette, by the way. Aren't you in my elective class?" She asked after a moment, trying to tone down her excitement as she returned to her knees to gently stroke the duckling's head.
Was she in his elective class? Probably, but Davy couldn’t
remember. He sighed and looked at Sprinkles as he quacked in Winston’s direction. Davy looked at Anna, nodding slowly. Okay, so she was certainly right that their pets liked each other, and maybe he didn’t have to go
yet. “
Okay, I guess I can stay a while longer…” He said, watching as Sprinkles nuzzled against Anna’s hand, giving an appreciative quack. “
But I do have stuff I need to do, so we can’t stay very long. I need to go home, eat ice cream, and, well, go to sleep. Then get ready for the next day. School’s starting or something, I dunno. I was pretty zoned out during that assembly. Who really pays attention to half that crap, anyway? It’s like, paper this, parents sign this… I dunno.”
Anna gently picked up the little duckling, peering down with barely contained excitement. Seriously, it was as if she had never seen a duck before.
"Well you didn't miss much, it was the same old speech we've been hearing for the last four years in school." Winston yipped, nudging his head against her knee to get her to place the duck back down to the ground again.
Immediately, Winston followed behind Sprinkles, as if Anna didn't even exist any more. Okay, it hurt, but it was so
cute.
David sighed, looking down at Sprinkles and shaking his head. He simply had no choice, now. If Sprinkles
liked the puppy, then they
had to stay, even if caused him to be late practising on his skateboard. “
Don’t you have something popular to do, or something? There were like eighty seven thousand different people talking to you at the assembly. I saw.” Davy questioned, sitting back down and starting to unlace his shoes.
"Popular? N- Oh god! Domi's party!" Almost jolting up again, the girl looked at Davy.
"Are you going to the party? Please tell me you are, Winston could use a friend!"Party? What party? Davy didn’t know about any parties, and honestly he
wasn’t interested in attending one, they were so damn
boring. What happened at a high school party that he couldn’t do at home? Not a lot. That was the answer. He watched Sprinkles lead Winston around the floor of the pet sitter as Davy shook his head to her question. “
No, I’m not going to to the party. What party are you even talking about? I don’t go to parties, usually. I don’t even know when there is a party. Domi’s that one girl at school, right? The other popular one? The number one popular one, I think.” David frowned, thinking to himself. Domi… Dominique? Saunders? Had a brother? Right. Now he was remembering, he just had to fight through the hazy state of his mind.
"Don't go to parties...?" She tilted her head in thought, standing up so she could stand beside him and talk properly, instead of squatting in the middle of the room and awkwardly waiting for her dog's attention again.
"But everyone is usually invited to them. Who do you hang out with?" Anna asked, eyebrows furrowing as she tried remembering anything about the boy in front of her. She knew she was acting a bit dense, as if she'd never heard about the people who avoided parties, but to a popular prep like her, it was still an odd thing to hear.
David stared at her, considering her question for a minute, wondering why she was insisting on stopping his exit for so long. He watched Sprinkles quack around in circles, weaving in between the two of them with Winston in tow before he looked up at Anna and offered an answer to her question. “
Well, I usually just hang out with Sprinkles… Sometimes I talk to Geo, but mostly I just chill with Sprinkles and do whatever. It’s pretty nice.”
It wasn't right, Anna decided. No one should have to spend their time alone in high school - not with her around. She had made it her life goal to try and befriend everybody, no matter how hard or annoying that goal may be, she
wanted to do it. Analise smiled mischievously,
"well, if that's the case, from now on we should be friends." She decided for them, with a confident nod.
"Plus, there's no way I'm letting Sprinkles go now, especially since Winnie has finally found a playmate.""As a friend, I'm saying that you're coming to the party. Bring Sprinkles along, and maybe we can even help you find a girlfriend!" Analise nudged David, grinning.
What. David stared at Analise dumbly as she spoke, insisting that they be friends, and then that he go to the party. Even worse than
that, she suggested they get him a girlfriend.
What. “
Whoa, what? I don’t want a girlfriend, and I don’t really want to go to the party, either! I just want to go home and watch cartoons with my duck. Why don’t you just let me take Winston with me, if it’s that big of a deal? I don’t go to parties,” He complained looking down at Sprinkles, who gave an apologetic quack, but seemed to be siding with Analise on the matter.
Anna smiled down at Sprinkles, bending down to gently let him rest in her hands before showcasing the duck to his owner:
"See! Even cutesy Sprinkles agrees with me!" Winston yipped from the ground beside her, strolling towards Davy and nudging his foot with his head, as if to try and convince the boy to agree with the crazy blonde, as if saying:
'Trust me, its best to just follow her.'Taking Winston's bark as confirmation, Analise headed towards the gate.
"C'mon, David, its time for you to come out of your shell. I'll be damned if I don't find you someone that you like at the party." She said, taking Sprinkles with her. If he wasn't planning on coming with her willingly, she'd give him a reason to follow her.
“
Hey! Don’t just take Sprinkles like that, god. I’ll go to your party, I guess.” Davy sighed and looked at his duck sadly. He did not want to go to the party and be forced to
socialize with people his age. Davy liked to socialize, sure, but only with his duck and his skateboard, Geo, and a couple workers at a few of his favorite places to eat, but not
his peers. They were as alien to him as he was to they, and he preferred it that way.
Anna was basically a shining example of why.
“
Give me my duck, and let me go get a little higher and then we can go,” he said firmly, holding out his hand for the duck. “
If I’m going to this stupid party, I’m gonna be stoned…”
"High? You're a druggie?" Analise eyed David, eyes narrowed. She didn't expect her question to be answered, it was more of an observation than anything.. She didn't realise her new friend took drugs, but it wasn't like she could judge. She contemplated his deal: she was
forcing him to go to a party, so it was best to let him socialise in his... ideal state.
"Fine, but I'm driving you to the party and home. There's no way in hell I'm letting you drive while high."Gently, Analise handed the little duck over to his owner before picking Winston up.
"Come on, Domi will kill me if I take too long."Davy stared at Anna, biting back comments. He'd driven here high, so what did it matter? He frowned when she mentioned that Domi would get mad if they took any longer and shook his head, going over to his own car. He unlocked it and leaned inside for a moment. There was a bubbling sound for a second, then that of a lighter. Then a random quack. The bubbling ceased and Davy pulled out of his car and shut it. Smoke billowed out of his lips (some of it going toward his duck, who just quacked in return) and then he started coughing for a few seconds before he locked the car and turned to Anna.
"
'Kay. Let's go."
Well, that's one habit I need to try and help him break... Anna thought as she secured Winston in the back seat in a portable cage. It wasn't long before David joined her and she pointed over at the passenger side, as she sat down on the drivers seat and readied for the thankfully short journey.
She just hoped that Dominique wouldn't kill her for being late.
Twenty minutes passed, before Analise pulled over at the parking lot. She hurriedly unlocked the cage and let Winston jump out, yipping excitedly before she gestured David to follow her to her friends. Analise smiled, waving - just as excitedly as her dog, funnily enough - towards Audrey and Dominique.
"I'm sorry I'm late!" She called, just as Winston nudged his head against Dominique's leg. Too preoccupied with her friends, Analise never noticed a foreign face in the middle of the familiar crowd.
