Kinkajou

"Bandit, buddy, think about what you're about to do," Kinkajou said, her voice low as she crept slowly towards the canine, her phone held gingerly in his mouth. His tail wagged profusely as he continued to back away from Kinkajou, a glint of mischief in his warm brown eyes. "Winter, get this dog under control!" she whispered to her right. 

"I'm working on it!" he whispered back. Winter crept forward, letting out a quiet whistle to get Bandit's attention, which only seemed to excite him further. He spun excitedly in a circle, his claws clicking against the tile floor of the shelter.

Kinkajou kept her gaze glued to his mouth with wide eyes. The pink sparkly phone case glistened with dog drool, and she worried it would be broken before she could get it away from him. "Winter!"

"I'm working on it!" He turned back to Bandit, advancing further. "Come here, Bandit! Here, boy!" Too soon, Winter lunged forward to try and grab it from him, but Bandit had already taken off down the hall. 

"Come back!" Kinkajou called, running after him with Winter close behind. When she agreed to help Winter plan out how he was going to ask Moon to the dance, she didn't think it entailed chasing loose pets holding sparkly phones. By the time they'd caught up to him, he was lying placidly behind the front desk at Ms. Dalton's feet. The receptionist was holding Kinkajou's phone at arm's length, her mouth twisted with disgust as it dripped with dog slobber. 

"I'm assuming this is yours, young lady?" she said, hardly glancing at them as they walked into the small lobby. 

"Yes," Kinkajou admitted sheepishly, taking it from Ms. Dalton's hands, careful to only grip the very corner to avoid as much drool as she could.

"Sorry, he jumped up on the counter and grabbed it," Winter said, and as soon as the woman's eyes were directed away from him he quickly stuck his tongue out at Bandit, who sat panting on the floor. 

Kinkajou sniggered before saying, "Well, we should probably get back to what we were doing... It's for a girl," she added at Ms. Dalton's raised eyebrow, who then smiled wide. 

"Is it that sweet Moon girl? Finally, I've been watching the two of you flirt all year."

Winter scowled, which only made Kinkajou laugh. They made their way back to the back room, the walls lined with a few kennels, all of which were vacant. Winter whistled to Bandit, who happily trotted over to him. Pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket, he tied it to the tag around Bandit's neck, who did his best to try and sniff at it, but only succeeded in spinning around in a circle. 

"Do you know what you're going to say yet?" she asked, crouching down beside him and giving Bandit a scratch behind the ears. She was flattered that Winter had asked for her help, but she was definitely confused as to why. She wouldn't exactly classify them as friends... at least by her standards. Winter didn't hang out with much of anyone. 

"I think so," he said, but he didn't sound sure. 

Kinkajou gave him a small smile and said, "Just speak from the heart." Winter stared back at her, completely unamused. "Hey, I'm sorry I read too many romance novels!"

Winter checked his watch. "It's almost 4, so you should probably get going."

Kinkajou nodded, slow to stand, but she stopped dead in her tracks when she heard the charming jingle of the front doors to the shelter, followed by a sweet and innocent voice. "Hi, Ms. Dalton!"

Cursing under his breath, Winter frantically looked around the room. "In here!" he said, gesturing to a small storage closet. Kinkajou glared at him, but he shoved her in and shut the door behind her, and just in time. The woosh of a door swinging open told her that someone else had joined them. 

"Hi, Winter!" She heard Moon say, ever oblivious. 

"Oh, hey, Moon," he said, and Kinkajou could hear the nerves in his voice, but she thought it was safe to assume Moon hadn't noticed a thing. She pressed against the door of the closet, trying to peer through the crack, but a few too many mops fell on her. The soaking wet yarn of the mop fell into her eyes and the strong scent of floor cleaner burned her nose. She was shoved against the door, and maybe a little too hard.

Kinkajou tumbled out of the closet, and her "ow" was coupled with Moon's yelp and Winter's high-pitched shriek. She would have laughed at the latter if she didn't feel a pulsing pain in her shoulder.

Winter

"Kinkajou?" Moon asked, peering out from behind Winter's shoulder. "Why... what are you doing here?" 

Kinkajou laughed sheepishly from the floor as she looked up at them, but Winter could only think about how quick Moon had been to jump behind him, pressed up against his back. He quickly shook that feeling away and looked down at her on the floor, narrowing his eyes as she scrambled to stand.

"Um, sorry, my bad," Kinkajou said, looking at her toes. "I'm sure Winter will tell you later, but... I'll just go." She quickly shuffled past them and through the door, pushing it open and leaving them be. An awkward silence filled the room.

"Am I missing something? Is something going on between you too, or...?" she trailed off. She looked up at him at his much taller stature. Hurt swam in her eyes and a small crease formed between her eyebrows, and Winter had to resist the urge to reach out and smooth it with his thumb.

"No, Moon, it's not like that. At all. She drives me absolutely mad." He could practically see her shoulders fall with relief, and her usual smile returned.

"So why was she-" Moon started to say, but was interrupted when Bandit started to circle around their legs. She giggled, and her eyes quickly trained on the small slip of paper tied to the thin collar draped around his neck. 

She reached down to grab it, rubbing the paper between her fingers before unfolding it. Winter watched, nerves tangling in his stomach while he waited. Her eyes were trained on the paper, reading it again and again as if she couldn't believe what she was reading. 

What if she says no? Winter thought, his thoughts chasing their tails as they tried to fill what felt like an eternity. What if she just sees us as friends? I could have been misinterpreting this whole thing-

"Yes!" She said, maybe a little too loudly. "Of course I'll be your date," she said, a little softer this time.

Winter felt like he was floating, and he stood there smiling like an idiot until his daze was interrupted by a bark from Bandit, who pushed into Moon's legs and pushed her towards him. She stumbled forward and Winter caught her in his arms, and she looked up at him and laughed, which he quickly joined in on. 

Movement behind her quickly caught his attention. The door to the back room had a small viewing window, and peering through the glass were two pale blue eyes, squinting from smiling so wide. Winter groaned, instantly regretting bringing her along. "KINKAJOU!"

Author's Note

Heyyyyy yall! I'm back! Sorry for such a long delay. I got a sudden spark of motivation to write this after reading my new FAVORITE story on Wattpad: The Stowaway! I'm not usually one of historical fiction but I'm utterly in love with this book <3

Hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter, I had a ton of fun writing it!