"I don't think this is what I promised you," Ash murmured, eyes glued to her phone.

I nodded eagerly, hanging on the senior. "You did! I swear." She didn't look up. I tugged on her sweatshirt sleeve and pointed at the glass tank. "Look at his sad, sad face. He needs a good home." She still wasn't paying attention. I pulled her sleeve harder. "You're not looking."

She finally took her eyes off her screen and bent down so she was eye level with the tank. "How do you know it's a he?"

"Many reasons," I dismissed. "Come on, Ash. Pretty, pretty please."

The senior watched the turtle chew on the last of his carrot. The nice pet store worker let me drop it in when we came in. Ashley looked up at me with an amused smirk. I didn't know what she found so funny because nothing about the situation was funny. "Why am I supposed to get you a turtle?"

"Because," I said, exasperated. "I scored more than once . . ." I held up two fingers. "In one game." I held up one finger on the other hand. She didn't say anything back. I whined, "You promised."

"Turtles don't like whiners," she stated.

Crossing my arms, I retorted, "Says who?"

She shook her head and laughed. "Watch yourself. You're getting kind of sassy," she said, definitely mocking my behavior. "I don't reward that."

"Ash." I pouted. "Please! I want him so bad. Almost as bad as I want to play," I said dead serious. I had a contusion to my ankle. Sierra and I looked it up, and I was pretty sure it was just a fancy word for bruise. I was not allowed to play until the swelling and pain went away because there was most likely blood and fluid around my bone. I think. I wasn't really listening to the doctor. His talk was kinda boring.

Anyways, the point was I couldn't play and I wanted to with all my heart. And I wanted a turtle at pretty much the same level of want.

"How could you say no to a poor defenseless turtle?" I mourned.

She rolled her eyes. "I never said no."

I perked up. "I can get him?"

"I didn't say that either."

I glared at her. "Now you're just messing with me."

She laughed and put an arm around me. "I'm not trying to mess with you, kiddo. I'm just thinking. Having a pet is a big responsibility."

I gripped her shirt again. "I know! I can be responsible."

She looked at me unbelievingly.

I quickly said, "This is different. It's living, and I'd never put a turtle in danger. I swore it by the Turtle Enthusiast code." I put my hand over my heart.

She shook her head and listed, "One, that doesn't exist. Two, you're a busy kid. You've got school and soccer and clubs. Sometimes, you'll be away at your dad's."

"Rarely," I coughed. Clearing my throat, I continued, "I can do it. Please, please, please, please, please." I clasped my hands together and bounced on my toes eagerly.

She put her hands on her thighs and crouched to look at the turtle again. "Please don't make me regret this . . ."

———

"I regret this."

I focused the camera and pressed the button. "Why?" I asked, looking at the picture I just took.

She motioned to my setup on the table. "You're turtle is wearing a top hat and a monocle, you've gone through three SD cards, and you've refused to talk to any of your friends."

I raised my eyebrows. "You're point is?"

She pulled the camera strap over my head. "Mr. Cuddles needs to go back to his tank," she said sternly.

"Ashley!" I scooped up Mr. Cuddles letting his hat and monocle fall off. "He likes being out."

The defender shook her head and pointed at the living room. "He needs to be under the lamp. You've had him out all day."

I held him closer to my chest. He dug his little claws into my shirt and hung onto me. "It hasn't been all day," I argued, stroking his shell gently.

"You better not be trying to argue with me," she said giving me a no nonsense look.

I made a sour face and didn't move.

"Stop that. Your turtle needs to be in his tank." She said, looking back down at her textbooks. "It has everything he needs to live."

I leaned over the table and pushed the turtle into her view. "He's perfectly healthy."

She kept writing. I waved Mr. Cuddles, so she couldn't see her paper. She sighed and dropped her pencil. "I'm going to count to three and if that turtle isn't in his tank, you can sit in timeout. One . . ."

If Ash starts counting, she means business. Any time she puts a time limit on something, testing her is something an idiot would do.

And I'm only an idiot sometimes.

I somberly put Mr. Cuddles back in his tank. I cleaned up my photoshoot. When I walked by Ash, she wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me into her. "Good girl. Thank you for listening." She pecked my cheek.

I smiled to myself. Even though I didn't like that she made me put Mr. Cuddles away, I liked it when she praised me. I leaned into her and rested my head on her shoulder. "Watcha doin?" I asked quietly.

She tapped her notebook with her pencil. "Taking some notes."

I looked over her outline. "Looks confusing," I murmured pulling my sweatshirt over my mouth.

She patted my thigh while she kept writing. "A little. You won't have to take it until you're my age, so don't worry. You'll be ready by then." She rubbed my shoulder. "Why don't you take a nap?"

I shook my head and shimmied closer to her. "M'not sleepy." She chuckled, and I didn't know why. I looked up at her. "What?"

She shook her head. "Nothing, nothing."

She kept writing and patting my thigh. I cuddled into her, and Ash continued writing her notes. She would occasionally turn a page or uncap her highlighter.

I didn't even know I was tired until I woke up. UThe sun was still up outside. The center back must have carried me to my room because I definitely didn't walk. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I slipped out of bed. Ash was still in the kitchen doing homework. I scrunched up my nose. I was in the mood for cuddling and watching a movie. "Ash," I whined. "Can we watch a movie?"

She sighed and looked at me apologetically. "I'm sorry, kiddo. I've got to finish this up."

I played with my too long sweatshirt sleeves with a pout. "I just wanna be with you," I mumbled.

"Come sit with me," she said and patted her lap.

I glared at her textbook. "No. I just want it to be me and you. No school."

She looked down at her notebook. To my surprise, she closed her books. She looked up at me with a smile. "It's been a while since we've had some 'us' time. Yeah?"

I smiled brightly and nodded eagerly. I ran to the living room and got the air mattress out of the closet. Ash busied herself in the kitchen. I grabbed some kitchen chairs and put our fort together. The senior came in with two thermos cups with hot chocolate and a plate of cookies. She winked at me. "Don't tell coach." She got under the fort beside me. We played the movie and in that moment, our small, two person family felt like the entire world.

A/N: Sorry it's shorter than it usually is but there wasn't really much more I wanted to add to this chapter. I have a plot line picked out for this story but if you guys have any suggestions or things you want to see, I do need stuff to fill in the timeline. Feel free to let me know what you want to see. As always, vote and comment❤️. Thanks for reading!