Riley woke the next morning feeling weighed down. So much so that she was finding it hard to breathe… She looked across the bed to see Rudy stretched across her, right atop her ribcage. This pup certainly did just sleep where he liked, that was for sure. She wriggled out from under him, prompting him to roll over to a less unstable spot. She could hear someone moving around downstairs, which usually meant it was a reasonable time to get up, so time to get ready for school.
Oh. Yeah. School. Riley still wasn't sure what had happened yesterday, but she felt uneasy about it. Molly was supposed to be her friend, why had she just suddenly lost interest like that? Before, she had seemed so eager to come over! What had happened? Riley didn't understand.
She walked down the stairs with less spring in her step than usual. Snipe was still curled up in his bed at the foot of the stairs, but he was awake, and let out a gruff greeting as she passed on her way to the kitchen. She hummed back and nodded as she went. She wandered into the kitchen wearing her best reluctant expression, but no-one was there. She sighed and got herself breakfast. A moment later Coco came in, dressed and ready for work. Riley looked up with the most forlorn eyes she could muster.
"Do I have to go to school today? I'm not feeling too good," she said.
"But you're well enough to be eating," Coco pointed out as she sat down. Perry was following, and hopped up onto the third seat. The furret knew by now she would get scolded if she sat on Coco's lap when she was in her work clothes. "What's got you down?"
"Umm…" Riley tried to think of a quick excuse, but she had already foiled the faked illness, as Coco had noted. Nothing came to mind, though, so she soon gave up. "Fiiine, I'll go…"
"Not what I asked but hey, I won't complain about that," Coco said with a small smile. "Still worried about yesterday?"
"Mmm," Riley mumbled.
"If something's wrong then you can't fix it by avoiding things," Coco said, reaching over to ruffle Riley's hair. "Even if you're nervous, wouldn't it be better to be proper friends again?"
"Yeah," Riley said, but still sounded reluctant.
"You'll be fine," Coco said reassuringly. "I can come with you on your walk to school if that might help."
Riley paused, nodding after a while. She still didn't really want to go at all, but at least being around one of her mothers for a little longer would help her feel a little better about it while they were together.
By the time she'd finished eating, Rudy had wandered downstairs. He noticed she was looking unhappy, and came over, standing upright and putting his paws on the edge of her chair for balance.
"Hey, Rudy," she said, petting the puppy. "I gotta go soon. School." He blinked and nuzzled her hand, then got down and rested his chin on her knee. She was happy to sit and pet him until it was time to go.
A while passed, and the time came for them to leave. Riley was still nervous and was tempted to hold Coco's hand, but she didn't want to seem like a child. She was about to go on a journey, so it was time to be a bit more grown-up. Coco tried to make conversation as they walked, but Riley wasn't overly responsive so she gave up after a while. They arrived at the school ever so slightly early despite Riley's reluctant slow pace. Coco wrapped Riley in a warm hug.
"Don't worry too much. I'm sure you can make up, and even if worst comes to worst, you've always got all of us at home. Plus on your journey you'll make a bunch of new friends too, I'll bet."
Riley didn't reply, but squeezed her mother tightly in return. "See you later, Mum."
"Have a good day, kiddo."
Riley wandered into the classroom and looked around. Molly was there already, but looking elsewhere, chatting with Sam. Riley slunk into the classroom, trying to avoid being seen. She still wasn't sure why, though. She sat quietly, hoping nothing would happen. Miss Williams cleared her throat after what seemed like an age, and started the class. Nothing yet.
Lessons passed by and break time arrived. Riley took a book with her to the playground, ready to read away the time. Maybe if she looked busy reading, she would be left alone and not have to worry about it…
Her plan didn't quite work, though. A short while into the break, Sam came over. He was one of the smarter kids in the class – or at least, he always got slightly better grades than Riley in almost everything – and his family had moved to Carrus Town only a few years ago.
"Hey," he started simply.
"Hi," Riley said. He'd been talking to Molly earlier. Would she have said anything to him about… whatever had upset her?
"You're going travelling soon, right?"
"Yeah," she said.
"It's good to take care of your pokémon and learn how to protect them," he said, sitting on the wall next to her. "But don't be too overprotective."
"What?" Riley was confused. Where was this coming from?
"Well, I mean… You can take care of your pokémon and still let them do stuff and not be overbearing," he said carefully.
"Well, duh," she said. "That's obvious."
He seemed thoughtful for a moment, debating what to say. "It's just, Molly said you wouldn't let her pet your growlithe."
That's what this was about? Rudy wanted to be left alone so Molly got upset? Riley furrowed her brow. "He didn't want to be pet! That's stupid. I wouldn't not let her pet him just… for no reason!"
"I'm just saying what she said," he said defensively.
"That's just dumb, though! He's not, like… Just a thing I own! I don't decide that he doesn't want attention, he just doesn't!"
"Why wouldn't he?" Sam asked.
"I don't know!" Riley said exasperatedly. "Maybe he was tired! But she was petting him and he didn't like it so he backed away, and she just kept trying to."
"I see," Sam said quietly. He left it at that, walking away.
Riley looked back down at her book, but didn't read the words in front of her. She was busy thinking about what Sam had said – or rather, what he'd told her Molly had said. That was just… well, stupid! It was obvious Rudy didn't like what was going on, so why would she keep going in the first place? And then when she was told to leave him alone, it was Riley's fault somehow? That didn't make any sense! She sat there stewing until the break ended and it was lesson time again.
As she walked back to the classroom, she saw Molly, and their eyes met. Molly looked almost expectant of something. Riley simply looked away. As far as she was concerned, she hadn't done anything wrong, so there was nothing she needed to fix.
The day passed, and the two didn't speak a word to one another. Riley wasn't feeling anxious any longer, so stopped trying to avoid speaking to anyone, but instead she was irritated. Molly was just upset for no reason, as far as Riley could see. When the school day finished, she hurried home to seek counsel from her mothers. When she opened the door to the house, there was no-one in the hallway, but she heard Rose greet her from the living room.
"Welcome back!"
"Hi, Mum," Riley said, dropping her bag by the stairs and taking off her shoes. She went into the living room and saw Rose on the sofa with the TV on, so she plopped down next to her.
"How was your day?" Rose asked, looking over from the screen.
"Eh… It was okay," Riley said.
"Doesn't sound it," came Coco's voice from behind them as she entered the room. She ruffled Riley's hair and sat down with the two of them. "What happened with Molly?"
"She's being stupid!" Riley said angrily.
"Well then," Coco said, taken aback slightly at how quickly Riley's temper had risen.
"She thinks I wouldn't let her pet Rudy! And that's just, stupid! He just wanted to be left alone!"
Coco bit down a smile. I mean, she's not wrong. Rose caught her before she could conceal it and shot her an exasperated look, rolling her eyes.
"She just doesn't understand him as well as you," Rose said.
Riley let out an irritated huff. Why did adults always say that? Oh, they just don't know better, or they're just jealous of you, or don't get it like you. They were in the same classes, they learned all the same things, they were the same age, how different could it be? As she was thinking it, Rudy walked into the room, followed by Perry. She hopped up to the back of the sofa and stretched out across it, while he jumped up to sit by Riley. The small piece of furniture was getting rather crowded.
"Hi, Rudy," she said, scratching behind one ear as he got comfortable.
"Sofa party," Coco said with a smile. "We just need Snipe and the gang's all here."
The vaporeon was curled on an armchair nearby, and looked up at the mention of his name. He looked over at the group, judging how much space was left.
"C'mon, you can totally fit," Coco encouraged, patting her lap. "Let's get a big snuggle party going on. We can't just ignore it when Riles is upset now, can we?"
Rose smiled at that as Snipe shifted, swayed by Coco's words, and got up to join the rest of them. It wasn't exactly an easy fit but he squeezed himself between Coco and Riley, nuzzling the young girl. Riley couldn't stay mad for long with everyone paying attention to her – even Perry had let her tail drift down from the back of the sofa, her soft fur gently brushing against Riley's cheek. She put one arm each around Rudy and Snipe to hug the pokémon, wishing she had enough arms to hug everyone at once.
"You all are the best," Riley said. Coco smiled and ruffled her hair, and Rose put one arm around her in a half-hug. It was the best she could do with Rudy between the two of them.
"We try," she said gently, patting Riley's shoulder. "Hmm… It seems a shame no-one else is around, if only because all of us squished up together would make for a great family photo."
"Damn, you're right," Coco agreed. "Oh well. Not much we can do about that."
The group were happy to just sit there and cuddle for evening. Eventually they had to get up and have dinner, then it was time for bed for the young Riley. She felt much better going to sleep today than she did yesterday.
(A/N: featured on today's chapter, Kids Being Immature. anyhoo, people seem to be liking this (if gainin a few followers is anything to go by) so i'm glad! hopefully its up to standard. have a good day yo)