Work Text:
School trips were usually boring for Sasha, especially the ones where there were always adults monitoring the group and preventing her from going places on her own. Wasn't everyone supposed to have their own pace for learning? What if she read fast and wanted to go to another room so she wouldn't get bored? These kinds of trips were too tedious for her.
Either way, any excuse to have a day off from classes was a good one.....
"Sash, are you taking notes on this?"
...except for the part where she had to take notes to make a report.
"Uh...yeah, sure, I'm on it," Sasha replied to her friend as she pulled out her phone (the same one they'd been asked to leave on the bus to avoid distractors) and quickly snapped a picture of the information plaque next to the fish tank.
"I saw that."
"No, Mar-mar. You didn't see anything," she said playfully.
"If you forgot to write things down, don't worry," Marcy replied, " I can pass you my notes later if you want."
Marcy knew her too well, she guessed it was because of how they had known each other since they were little, how they had built their friendship on honesty and trust with each other, how they could talk about anything and knew what they were capable of and what they weren't. They made a good team, both in group assignments and in times when they needed a piece of honest advice, a direct conversation, or just some company.
She saw herself and Marcy being friends for life, even if that phrase inexplicably made her feel heart ache every time she said it out loud.
It was probably nothing.
Passing through the last room of the aquarium and into the gift shop, Sasha was finally granted some freedom when the biology teacher gave them fifteen minutes to walk through the store before boarding the buses again. She wandered the aisles in boredom, looking at the toys and books on the shelves, all ocean-themed...she'd had enough of the ocean for one day, and she saw no reason to buy anything from there. I mean... she lived by the ocean, she could just go to the beach at any time.
"Sashi, look at this! Isn't it the cutest thing you've ever seen in your life?"
Sasha turned to find the only person who called her by that nickname holding a stuffed toy shark next to her smiling face. It was likely that was the cutest thing she'd ever seen in her life...
The shark, on the other hand, looked strange.
"It's...well...," Sasha tried to find some positive aspect to it so as not to hurt her feelings, "...I guess it looks like the one in the fish tank."
"I know, right? It's adorable, soft, and anatomically correct... It's perfect!", Marcy said excitedly, "And I just have to pay- Oh..."
"What's wrong?", Sasha asked noticing the sudden change in tone in her friend's voice.
"It costs 35 dollars...I guess I'll just have to leave it behind," Marcy sighed as she set the stuffed shark down on the shelf near her, "Maybe some other time, I guess..."
"All right, everyone! Start walking out of the store, the buses are waiting," one of the teachers yelled from the outside.
Watching Marcy walk defeated towards the exit made something inside Sasha feel upset. She didn't like seeing Marcy that way, she didn't like seeing her hurt or sad, and she wasn't about to let any overpriced, doe-eyed shark make her friend feel sad. This had to be fixed.
"Walker, Watson, Waybright... Wait a minute, where's Waybright?"
"Over here!"
"Sasha, we told you and your classmates to leave the store over ten minutes ago, you're late."
"Sorry, Mrs Virk, it won't happen again," Sasha said trying to put on her most convincing face.
"Alright... but don't be late again and get on the bus already, we don't want to leave anyone behind."
Sasha walked up towards the bus, rolling her eyes as soon as she realized no one was watching her. Of course the school wouldn't leave without one of the students, that kind of argument was ridiculous. Going to the back of the bus, she noticed that Marcy had saved her a seat next to her.
"Hey, what took you so long? What's in the bag?", Marcy asked her.
"Oh...it's nothing...," Sasha replied as she sat down next to her and pulled a stuffed shark out of the paper bag she was carrying, "Just a little souvenir."
Marcy changed her expression to one of surprise at the sight of the stuffed animal. "How did you...?"
"Turns out I had some extra cash in my purse, so I bought it," Sasha said as she remembered how in the morning her mother had given her the wrong bill for her allowance, and how she had 'forgotten' to tell her that she'd given her more money than she was supposed to. "You can keep it, it's for you."
"I'll pay you next week, without fail."
"What? You don't need to pay me anything, it's a gift."
"But..."
"Just take it, will you?", Sasha said, "It's not like I'm going to keep it, its eyes look weird."
"That's what real shark eyes look like," Marcy pointed out.
"Exactly."
Marcy finally picked up the stuffed animal in front of her, and turning to look at Sasha once again, reached over to hug her.
"Thanks, Sash."
"No problem," Sasha said as she returned the hug, somewhat flustered and inexplicably nervous by the proximity.
The whole ride back to school, Sasha couldn't help but turn to look at Marcy constantly, who was holding the stuffed animal as she told her various facts about sharks and their lives, while the afternoon sun's rays shined down on her face from outside the window.
That was truly the most adorable thing Sasha had ever seen in her life...