Chapter 15: A Spark (The next day: 6:00 AM in the hallway) MILD LANGUAGE WARNING!

The sun began to rise as the sound of birds chirping could be heard from outside. There, Leo and the kitten remained asleep until the sound of angry footsteps could be heard from the background.

"Look, I know he's going through a rough time, but trust me! We're trying to get everything settled down for him to-" A man in a black uniform explained to his phone before suddenly tripping over Leo. "Whoa!"

"Ow!" Leo flinched before gasping as he heard the sound of the screen cracking. "Oh shoot..!"

"My phone! Are you kidding me!?" He fumed as the kitten woke up.

Meow?

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I-"

"You two! What the hell are you doing outside of your cages!?"

"Ummm, I can explain!"

"My gosh…! Hello? Hello!?" The man tried talking on his phone, but the speaker had also been damaged by the fall. "Great, that's just great! This is the second time this week! Who's in charge of the kennel!? Someone is about to get fired!"

"No no no! Please, you don't understand! I-"

"Wait, Mr. Poland, it was me! A familiar voice was heard in the hallway.

"Amelia, is that you? Get over here right this instant!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" She fretted while making her way into the hallway.

"Care to explain yourself?"

"Umm... I let them out in the middle of the night so he could help me with something over in my area." She lied as Leo took a step back.

"You let him into the cat section!? You know the rule!"

"I know, but I-!"

"I don't want to hear it! The next time you do this, you're fired! Do you understand!?"

"Yes sir."

"Now get them out of here! I don't want to see them anywhere near each other!" Mr. Poland grumbled before grabbing his phone. "And this phone is coming out of your paycheck!"

"That's fine. I suggest picking out something that won't break so easily."

"What was that!?"

"I said I'll help you pick out a new one!" Amelia stammered before picking up Leo and the kitten.

"Hmph…." I need to return this call…" He mumbled to himself as Amelia left the hallway.

"Phew, that was close." She sighed as Leo started breathing heavily.

"M-Ms Amelia, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-!

"Shhh! It's okay! It's okay! I know! You were just trying to check up on him."

Meow!

"B-But I…! Your job!"

"Oh, don't worry! He usually gets like this whenever he's angry. Just give him some time and he'll be back to his regular self, I promise! I was actually thinking of coming to get you anyways. This guy wouldn't take it easy after you left yesterday."

Meow!

"Oh gosh…" Leo whimpered as Amelia hugged him. "Hey hey hey, don't cry! I promise this won't be the last time you guys see each other! I'll try talking to him after he calms down, so don't worry. You should probably start heading back now.."

Meow…?

"O-Okay…" He whispered before turning to the kitten. "Stay strong for now, little guy. I promise I'll see you again soon."

Meow! Meow! Meow!

"I know. I'm sorry!"

"We'll see you around, Leo." Amelia finished before leaving the hallway with the cat.

Meow!

"Why..." He cried to himself while making his way back to the kennel.

1 hour later in the kennel…

"Ugh… morning already?" Chase yawned as Skye turned to him.

"Morning, Chase! Did you sleep well?"

"I've had better nights." He chuckled before staring at the kennel. "Hey, where is Rocky?"

"Oh, he's somewhere on the far right," Skye answered before standing up. "Do you think they'll ever make room for us sometime?"

"Who knows, but I don't have a problem sleeping out here, do you?"

"No, just curious."

"Well, it's like those two are awake." Mira thought to herself before turning over to Leo. "Whoa, he looks even worse than last night! I wonder what happened. Did he have a nightmare or something?"

"Good morning, pups! Breakfast is almost ready, so if you didn't take a bath last night, now would be a good time!" Mr. Jordan announced as the others woke up.

"Yeah, I'm definitely skipping out on the baths this time," Rocky mumbled to himself.

"Hey, I don't know if you can hear me, but just hang in there, alright? Things are going to be better, I promise." Mira whispered to Leo.

"Well, we've got a busy day ahead of us, so Rocky, are you ready to fix that hourglass?" Skye asked.

"You bet! Then later on, maybe we can try creating something else!"

"Oooh, Skye said you mentioned something about a manual dispenser earlier, so do you think we can try making that?" Chase whispered.

"Sure! My current design is a little off, so just give me some time to do a little rethinking, okay? In the meantime, I was wondering if you guys would like to play foosball again sometime. I still find it hard to believe you were able to beat me two times already, Chase."

"Heh, you're on! We can start right after breakfast."

"Yeah, let's do this!"

In the Kitchen A few minutes after breakfast (7:46 AM)

"You know, I really needed that bath by the way!" Mira chirped.

"Wait, didn't you take one last night?" Chase asked.

"Yeah, I know, but it feels quite relaxing, don't you think?"

"I really beg to differ…" Rocky sighed.

'I swear, it's like you guys are polar opposites or something." Chase chuckled.

"Nah, I bet they have a lot in common, right Mira?" Skye giggled.

'Uhhhh, I'm not sure about that last part. I mean, we barely know a thing about each other." Mira said.

"Y-Yeah, she's right! I wouldn't exactly put it that way..." Rocky stammered before the three of them laughed.

"Heh heh! Well at least you're making progress, am I right?" Chase acknowledged.

"Umm…yeah…" Rocky blushed while rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, I'm going to check up on my friends real quick. It was nice talking with you guys!" Mira said.

"Yeah, you too! We'll see you around!" Skye waved as Mira left the building. "So, are you guys ready to play some foosball?"

"You bet! I'll race you guys there!" Chase howled before running off.

"Come on, Rocky! Let's go!" Skye cheered.

"Hey, wait! You guys know I can't run that fast-!" Rocky shouted before accidentally bumping into Peter. "Owww!"

"Hey, watch where you're going, dude!" He growled as Rocky backed up.

"Oh, sorry about that, Peter! Here, let me help you up!"

"No, go away! I'm fine."

"Really...? Are you sure-"

"I said I'm fine!"

"Okay! Okay… I'll leave you to it I guess." Rocky hesitated before leaving the building. "Progress! Yeah… Right…"

"Yeah, that's what I thought." He mumbled with his tail down before making his way to an empty table. "I know I said I was better off without them, but he was only trying to… No, I'm fine…" Meanwhile, Joey could be seen nodding his head to Sarah before making his way up to him.

"Hey, Peter!" He began but didn't get a response. "We were wondering if you would like to watch a-"

"Pass…"

"But I didn't even get to-"

"Bye…"

"Well, okay I guess." Joey sighed before turning around. "Just let me know if you need anything, alright?"

"I wouldn't count on it…" Peter whispered as a tear fell from his eye.

"Any luck?" Sarah asked before Joey shook his head.

"No, he still doesn't want to talk to us. I guess we just have to give him a little more time."

"Oh…"

"Don't worry. I'm sure he'll come around eventually!"

"I hope you're right. This is actually starting to become harder than I thought." Sarah whimpered.

"Trust me, we're doing the right thing. Come on, let's go get it all set up." Joey assured before leaving the building.

"Are we…?" Sarah thought to herself as she stared at Peter for a moment, then walked off.

(8:43 AM In the Kennel With Colten and Leo)

"Okay, so here is what I was thinking we should do before we get back to working on our pizza. I've actually been planning this out for a while now, and I was thinking that maybe we should try doing yoga some time! I've heard that it's a great way to release stress, you know?" Colten suggested as Leo remained motionless on the floor.

"Yeah... sure…" He replied.

"And who knows? Maybe Mira can join us as well."

"Uhhh… I don't think that'll be necessary."

"Huh? Why not? I mean, I know there's a little risk, but isn't she our friend?"

"I don't know, is she?"

"Umm… what do you mean…?"

"Exactly what I said…"

" Uhh… are you sure you're feeling alright, dude? You've been acting kind of strange ever since we woke up…"

"I'm fine, just a little tired is all."

"Really? What were you doing last night?"

"I... don't want to talk about it."

"Are you sure…? You don't really sound reassure-"

"Must you have to ask a question every time!?"

"Whoa, I just wanted to make sure you were-"

"I'm fine, I'm fine! There's just way too much on my mind right now, and I can't-" Leo tried to explain before Mira entered the room.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" She greeted as Leo looked away.

"Great! Just great…"

"Oh, hey Mira! We were just talking about you! Do you need anything?"

"Nothing much! I just wanted to check up on you guys since I didn't see you around during breakfast. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine! We're just having a little conversation, right Leo?"

"Yeah, right…" He mumbled as Mira tilted her head.

"Uhhh, are you sure…?" She asked.

"Yes, we're positive. Now anyways, I think you should probably start heading out now." Leo mumbled as he gently pushed Mira through the door.

"Wait, but I just got here-"

"Yeah, I know! We wouldn't want to keep Mr. Lamebrain and your new friends waiting, now would we?"

"I…! Hey, cut it out already! What's gotten into you?"

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know?" He scoffed as Mira raised an eyebrow.

"Uh… more than you think apparently. What's this about? I already told you I was sorry about

what happened yesterday. Even though it wasn't my fault…" Mira huffed.

"Oh, is that so? Then why don't you just go back to them already?"

"Leo, please I'm trying to... Wait, what did you just call him?"

"Now now, let's not get angry at each other-" Colten attempted to appeal but was interrupted by Mira.

"Oh no, I think we're a little past that." She growled as she pushed him over to the side. "Leo, what did you mean by that?"

"Exactly what I said." Leo scoffed before turning around.

"But I thought you were against the whole name-calling! Unless…. You were the one who started it, weren't you…?"

"And so? Why does that matter?" Leo answered as Mira backed up.

"What do you mean, 'Why does that matter!?' I spent two years trying to avoid him because of you! Hell, I even told them you would never say such a thing!

What is wrong with you!?"

"Oh, I'm sorry! Even though it wasn't my fault..."

"I… How could you…?"

"Guys, can we please just calm down?" Colten warned before turning to Leo. "Dude, knock it off already!"

"What? She started it!"

"Oh, now I started it? You're the one who's been acting like a jerk for no reason, so what's your problem, huh?"

"It's none of your business, just leave me alone..."

"Oh come on! I know you know better than this, so why can't you just-"

"No, you don't! You don't know the first thing about me, and you never will, so why don't you just leave me alone already you stupid bitch!" Leo growled before Colten and Mira took a step back.

"Leo…!" Colten gasped as tears began to form in Mira's eyes.

"I… You're right… I guess I don't know anything about you..." She whispered before running away from the kennel."

"Mira, wait!" Colten yelped as Leo shook his head.

"Hmph..."

"Dude, what the heck was that!? I thought you-"

"I already told you, I don't want to talk about it."

"Leo, please! You have to tell me what's going on! I can't help you if you're being like this-!"

"Then don't! I already said that I didn't want your help and yet, you chose to stick around, so if you're saying that it can't be done, then just leave!

"That's not what I-"

"GO ALREADY!" Leo shouted as Colten remained silent for a moment. Eventually, he sighed and sat down, indicating that he wasn't going anywhere. "Fine, if you're not leaving, then I'm out of here."

"But where are you-"

"Doesn't matter!" Leo said before slamming the door.

"Geez…" Colten whispered while rubbing the back of his head.