Wings of Fire: Jade High School

Moon, meet Bandit

Winter's POV

Winter watched Icicle cross the street to head toward their stately home while he turned left to go volunteer at the shelter. It helped him clear his head of all his problems. After walking a few blocks he saw the small building come into view. There was a small flower garden wrapping around the front filled with different kinds of perennials. The door had a "We're Open!" sign hanging crookedly to the left.

Winter stepped into the cool reception room to check in."Hello, Winter. What brings you here today?" said the receptionist.

"Just wanted to clear my head," Winter responded as he filled out the form she had passed to him.

"We have someone we need you to show around. She just moved here, and she used to volunteer at the shelter in her hometown," she said.

"That's fine." She led toward the back room and unlocked the door. You could hear the sounds of the dogs and cats coming from inside. Standing in the center of the room was a Moon. She froze when she saw him, and so did Winter.

"Hello Moon," Winter said with no expression in his voice. The receptionist grinned.

"So you know each other?" she asked.

Winter shrugged. "From school."

"That's great. You can give her something to do, maybe show her around. I'll be in the lobby if you need anything." She walked off leaving the two of them in awkward silence, which was then interrupted by a bark from one of the kennels on the far left. Moon turned her gaze over to the inhabitant, a mutt with a black patch of fur around one eye.

Moon unlatched the door and the dog came barreling out, knocking Moon to the floor.

"You're not supposed to..." Winter started but trailed off when he saw the dog licking Moon as she laughed. "That's Bandit. He's one of my favorites, but don't tell the others," he said instead. Moon sat up and started stroking Bandit's back.

"I like that name. I think it suits him," she said. Winter crouched down beside her and started to pet Bandit alongside Moon. Bandit rolled over onto his back so they could scratch his belly, receiving a giggle from Moon. Winter and Moon continued to play with Bandit, but Winter knew they couldn't do this forever. They had work to do.

"Um, Moon? Maybe we should do some work around here. I mean, that's what we're here for," he said. Moon paused mid-scratch and looked up at him.

"Yeah, your right. OK, so show me what to do," she said, gesturing to the whole room. "Show me around."

"Sure, OK." he walked to the door on the opposite wall from the one that led to the lobby and Moon followed closely behind. "This is the storage closet, so anything you need will be in here," he said while pointing to the contents of the closet. Moon nodded and continued to let him show her around. Winter led her to the cats, where she showed no emotion.

"I was never the biggest fan of cats," she said.

"Me too." After about an hour of touring the facility and Winter showing Moon the different jobs, they checked out at the lobby and walked out the door.

"Bye Winter. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow?" Moon asked as she started to walk back to her house.

Winter waved as he watched her go. "Maybe. I volunteer often." He walked home feeling like a million bucks. I can never let Icicle find out about Moon. She'll tell everyone that I like her. Wait, do I like her? No, I don't. What am I thinking? He thought, but even though he didn't want them to, his thoughts kept wandering back to her smiling face. 

Author's Note

Once again, another short chapter. I have no excuses and I'm sorry I can't make this more interesting. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be! Does anyone have any tips on how to make it longer? Comment below on things that you'd like to see in future chapters!