Garret Rydell
As soon as they had finished their meal, both children headed outside.
It was a beautiful day, not too warm, but perfect. The sun remained hidden behind a few cotton-candy clouds and the wind was relaxing and cool. They really couldn't have chosen a better time to walk around. Sasha's mom said she'd give them some ice pops when they got back and Garret inced closer to the door as he gave her a genuine thank you. Sasha's mom had been so nice and it helped chase the nervous feeling away. In fact, it was rare, feeling excited in someone else's home. He followed after the girl and tugged down on the flaps of his hat. Garret always wore it when he went outside. "Your mom is really nice, thank you for inviting me over, Sasha." He gave her a sheepish smile before she suggested they head to the park.
"That park sounds nice." He nodded his head, just sitting on one of the swings and chatting sounded like a nice idea. They could feed the ducks at the pond and go bird watching too. His ideas wouldn't have sounded fun to most of his schoolmates who would have rather played soccer of run around, but he felt like Sasha wouldn't mind his ideas. So far, the girl had liked everything he had an interest in. She was nice and fun and he didn't have to be someone he wasn't to enjoy hanging around with her.
Both children made their way to the park and it was peaceful. As they sat beneath the shade of an Oak tree Garret decided to lie on his back and stare at the clouds. They looked like fluffy, white sheep or maybe cotton candy. It was pretty, but he listened attentively to Sasha's questions and it made him laugh. "Oh, well, I'm not very fond of insects..." it felt like a girly thing to admit and he ended up tugging his hat over his eyes, but it felt silly so he did what he could and laughed at his own answer. "But, I think they're pretty neat too. Did you know that butterflies taste with their feet?" Garret had a lot of science and animal books. It was just something he loved. "I want to become a diver." He stated after a few moments of hesitation. "I want to study all kinds of fishes and corals. They're all so amazing." It felt weird, sharing his dreams, but not a bad kind of weird, but a happy, good kind.
The boy sat up, grass clinging to his shirt and the back of his hat. "Sasha, what do you want to become when you get older?" He was genuinely interested in getting to know his friend so he waited for an answer with a smile and curious eyes. It would be years before they were adults, but in a few months they'd be entering high school and that would be an entirely new chapter of their lives. It was all so exciting, but to be honest, the thought of growing up was a little be frightening. The children talked a bit more before a playful bark echoed across the park. Garret turned his head only to see a girl, probably a few years older than them, walking four energetic pups. They were golden retrievers and they made him stare in wide-eyed fascination.
"Sasha, let's go say hello." All traces of bashfulness were gone and soon he was scrambling towards the pups who were now off their leashes. The girl had a tennis ball in her hand and she stared at the pups with a broad grin and a twinkle in her eyes. "Who's gonna get the ball? Is it gonna be RJ? Or Crackers? Maybe Lynn? Or Fresco?" She held the ball high and threw it across the park. It soared through the air before hitting Sasha behind the head.
"Oh...my God." The girl stared in their direction, wide-eyed and apologetic.
Before Sasha knew it she was surrounded by four Golden Retrievers. The pups pressed their noses against her, sniffed, whined and romped about playfully before Lynn scooped the ball into her mouth. She immediately dashed for her owner while RJ, Crackers, and Fresco continued to run around Sasha on wobbly puppy legs. Garret was smiling at the puppies and he reached down to pet one of them before he looked at Sasha. "Are you okay?" The ball looked soft enough, but he wanted to make sure. He gave her a sympathetic smile before one of the puppies promptly tacked him to the ground. It licked at his arms and face before pulling his hat off his head and running back to its owner.
"I'm so, so, so, sorry!" She came running towards them, voice filled with concern. "Are you two okay? Can I help? Gosh, I'm sorry." She was a few years older than them. 15 or 16 perhaps, and dressed in sweatpants and a plain white shirt. The three puppies constantly bit at her pants as if trying to gain her attention but she focused on Sasha and Garret, waiting for them to respond.
Amity Averin
Their plan actually worked! As soon as Devon took down their targets she dashed for cover.
They made a good team and the game had been a fun one. She spent the remaining time being sneaky and shooting enemies from behind, and while she wasn't as speedy as some of them, she had good reflexes and managed to make it to the end. It had been a lot of fun and she thought about bringing her brother to arcade for a game or two. They used to be pretty close but after he met this girl named Lizzie he got really busy, that and trigonometry pretty much ate up most of her brother's free time though they still made room for video game Sundays and whatnot.
After the lights came on she returned the equipment she had borrowed and caught up to Devon. "We made a pretty good team, huh?" She gave him a grin, but before the girl could say anything else, he gave her an irritated glance. At first she thought it had to do with her performance which was silly but he eventually stated why he was so upset and Ami couldn't help but stifle a laugh. She didn't think it was such a big deal, she called her brother names that were far worse. His name was Jeremy but she liked to call him germy sometimes for he fun of it. "It's just a nickname, Devon." She nearly called him Devie, but stopped to correct herself. If he didn't like it, she would stop, but she thought the nickname sounded neat. Ami liked giving her friends nicknames. "Besides, there's Theo for Theodore and Kas for Kasandra so Devie for Devon just felt normal." She gave her friend a grin. "But hey, if you really don't like it then I'll just call you something else." She gave him a silly salute and bright smile. She meant no harm in giving him the nickname though it was funny watching him react to it back at the amusement park.
"We still have a lot of time to burn, ah! Anything specific you wanna do, Devon?" Sheesh, remembering was hard and once again she almost called him by his dreaded nickname, but she was succeeding for now. "We could try to earn tickets, win prizes or maybe do something new?" The possibilities were endless and she was just getting started. This day was far from over.
