Terrence and Zoe

Authors Notes:
For like the tenth time ever writing prose in my life, I feel I did passably. There's some personal issues I have with the flow of writing, but thats because I still write from a greentext frame of mind, a habit I hope to break but still keep as a part of my toolkit. It's also what led to the crutch of the three "insulting" the reader sections.
I feel that maybe if I set the story up longer, then the resolution would feel a bit better, since near the end I was just wrapping things up as they go because while a good exercise, this story ate up a lot of my desire to do other things, and I just wanted to close it and move on.
Enjoy, or don't.



Terrence's breath came out in short, ragged gasps as he sat huddled in the broom closet.  This was the first time in his life he had moved so quickly, and it took a lot out of him. But as he heard a flapping noise approach his place of sanctuary, he mashed his hands against his mouth, hoping to muffle his breathing. Through the gap between the door and the floor, the faint streaks of sunlight were broken by a small shadow. Terrence held his breath, praying that she would pass him by. But instead, the wood creaked slightly as pressure was placed on it from the outside, as if she was trying to hear him inside.

"Biscuits.", thought Terrence.  Dejectedly, he reached for the doorknob, ready to open it and resign his fate to the embarassment she had ready for him outside. But just as he reached the handle; the door creaked again, and the shadow moved on from the door.

Terrence sighed, thankful for the opportunity to escape, pretend to be sick, and be sent home.

The door ripped open, and Terrence screamed.
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Oh hi, I didn't see you there.
This is the story of one Terrence the Grotle, a yo-
Well of course it's Pokemon.
What, did YOU not go to school when YOU were a kid?
Well, your hands are technically paws, and you don't call them PAWS now do you?
Okay buddy, how about we start back at the beginning of this story, huh? Would that be easy enough for you?
I regret making the Azure Flute.

----------------------
-The Previous Day-
"...And then you carry the three."
"Carry the-UGH! THIS IS SO BORING." Zoe yelled, exasperated. The Zorua threw herself on the table, scattering pencils onto the floor of the school library.
A piercing "SHH!" came from the Audino Librarian, Miss Tibbon, as Terrence grabbed their pencils from the floor with his vines.
"Maybe, but you are the one who asked me to tutor you, Zuzu. So come on."

Terrence is a hard-working, studious young Grotle, who had recently evolved over the short respite from school.  He was the school valedictorian, willing to cut swathes of time from his schedule to help his peers in their weaker subjects, yet somehow find the time to maintain his own high grades.  Combined with his generally friendly demeanor, Terrence could be considered popular by certain measures, though he just appreciates helping out those who need it.

By contrast was Zoe, a rambunctious social wildflower of a Zorua, who had been friends with Terrence for about as far back as either could remember.  Similarly well-known by her peers,  Zoe could more often be found on her skateboard in the faculty parking lot than she could be in the classroom, assuming that she was even at school that day.  As willing to mediate disputes with words as she was with tooth and claw, Zoe had made something of a name for herself in the school district.  Indeed, long after she graduated, hushed whispers would still float around the campus about the time a young Zorua took down a Varsity linebacker with nothing more than a kickflip and a pack of chewing gum.

At the moment, both were sitting in the library of PokéTown Municipal High School, for just like every other day for the past year, Zoe was Terrence's last tutoring session of the day.  But no tutoring was occurring at that moment, as Terrence was busy mussing at his friend's hair with her pencil.

Zoe lifted her head just high enough to glare at her friend.
"What have I told you about messing with my do?", Zoe glowered.
"What have I told you about studying so I wouldn't need to tutor you?"
"You make a good point, Terry. But then again, HYA!"

Quick as a flash, Zoe's tail darted from under her chair, and with it she ruthlessly tickled her friend.
Having been friends with Terrence since elementary school, Zoe was aware of his most ticklish spots and focused her attack on them.
"HAHA C-CUT IT OUT JERK, HAHAHA!", Terrence cried out between bouts of laughter, turning red and squirming all the while. But if anything, his pleas made Zoe increase the intensity of her assault.
"Only if you apologize for messing with my hair!"
"N-NEVER!"

"AHEM!", a soft voice grunted from behind them.
The two youths froze in place as Miss Tibbon stood behind them, quietly fuming.
Terrence looked over his shoulder, hoping that by acknowledging the librarian's presence, she'd allow him to continue attempting to tutor Zoe.
They soon found themselves outside, however, with Miss Tibbon locking the door to keep them out.

The duo rose to their feet and slowly made their way towards the front of the school.
"Thanks for the tutoring sesh, Terry."
"We spent five minutes on long division, and then you got us kicked out."
"Sounds like a stellar day in my book!" Zoe beamed and nudged her friend, who rolled his eyes in response as he tried to hold back a smile. Though he wouldn't admit it to her, Terrence enjoyed his tutoring sessions with Zoe.
"Isn't that how basically all of our sessions go, Zuzu?"
Zoe smiled and shook her head.  "Terry my boy, I don't know why you put up with me."

As they walked, a light breeze went gently by and ruffled the leaves on Terrence's back, the sound causing Zoe to turn and stare.
"So," she said, dragging out the vowel as long as she could, "any girls you got your eye on?"
Terrence's mind froze but his body kept moving, propelling him forward through a few seconds of awkward silence.
"Why do you ask?"
"Oh, no reason. I just figured girls would be swarming you know that you're all big and strong."
"I'm barely a foot taller than you."
"And you used to be a foot shorter like two weeks ago. So come on, tell meeeee." Zoe continued to prod at her friend.
"Nooooo."
"Tell me. Tell me! Tell! Me!" She punctuated each exclamation with a playful hip bump, trying to knock her tortoise friend off balance.  But, being heavier than Zoe by a considerable margin, they did little more than slightly nudge Terrence off center.
"Are you going to keep this up until we get to the bus stop", Terrence inquired.
Zoe nodded furiously. "Yup. And the whole bus ride home too."
"Bus ride?" Terrence looked his friend up and down. He knew something seemed off about her today, but now he knew what it was for certain. "What happened to Tommy?" A defining feature of Zoe's look, her skateboard was one as valuable to her as a sturdy pencil case was to Terrence.  It had a great deal of monetary value as well, as underneath the grip tape was the hidden autograph of Tom O'Hawk, the Hawlucha pro-skater after whom the board was named.
"Took you long enough. Yeah, I had to sel-snap, I snapped him. On the uhhh...nine stair by the courthouse. Yeah." Zoe began to pant, a nervous tic she had since she was young, but Terrence was unsure what she was nervous about.  He assumed that she still felt bad about snapping her board.
"Oh. Bummer."

The duo reached the bus stop by the school entrance and sat down. They rested in silence for a moment, Zoe still doing her nervous pant, and Terrence quietly wondering if he should bring up a new conversation topic.  After a few minutes of silence, the bus arrived, and the pair rode home in an extended, tense quietude.

After parting ways with his friend at the bus stop near their homes, Terrence made the short walk to his home and headed up the stairs to his room.  Settling down into his chair, he pulled up towards his desk, ready to get some homework out of the way before having to go downstairs for dinner. But as he opened his backpack, he paused.  On top of his binders sat a jewelry box, around which a piece of used notebook paper was attached with a rubber band.  Carefully unwrapping it as best he could, he smoothed the paper out and read it aloud.

"Thanks for telling me you evolved, jerk.  I had to scrape together a ton of pocket change for this, so you better fucking enjoy it."

Though it lacked a name, the handwriting and word choice clued him into who the sender was. As for the box itself, it was a plain white number of the kind used to hold necklaces. Figuring it to be another Tommy Hawk seashell necklace, he unceremoniously yanked the gift out from its box.

"Holy cow..."
A Quick Claw. Terrence froze, snapping back to consciousness as the chain attached to the claw began to slip from his vines. It was a genuine Quick Claw, complete with a certificate of authenticity.
"How did she even afford this?" Terrence wondered aloud, trying to visualize just how much "pocket change" it would've taken to even think of buying such an item. "I had to sel-snapped it..." Thinking about the cost caused Zoe's odd slip from earlier to echo in his mind. Did she really sell her skateboard, her most prized possession, just to buy him a gift?
He pushed the thought aside, set the gift atop his dresser, and started on his homework for the night. He'd have to ask her tomorrow.

"Kill"-WHEEZE-"Me"
The next morning, Terrence was dragging his tired body across the school's running track, the cold air stinging his face and stabbing in his lungs. While he had definitely felt faster since he had evolved, his newfound bulk had now made his morning runs somewhat more taxing.  The Quick Claw Zoe gave him, which was safely tucked into his right shrub, didn't seem to be helping his time either. Perhaps it was defective, Terrence thought. Checking his watch, he saw that there was about an hour before school started, which meant he needed to start cleaning up before class.  Gingerly moving his legs, he slowly made his way to the locker room.

The room echoed with Terrence's footsteps as he made his way towards his locker.

Mike, a Machoke who was on the school wrestling team was sitting quietly on one of the benches.
"Morning, Mike!", Terrence said cheerfully. "Good day for a run, huh?"
"Hey, buddy" Mike replied with derision in his voice, "I think you got the wrong door. The chess club is two doors down."
Terrence was confused.
"Are you okay, Mike?"
"Fuck you, turtle-man." Mike stretched up to his full height and adjusted his Power Belt. In the blink of an eye, he had trapped Terrence between himself and the wall of lockers, his thigh resting uncomfortably close to Terrence's face. "I'll show you who's boss of this gym."

Terrence's mind raced as Mike began rhythmically flexing his muscles. Sure, he thought Mike was handsome, but Terrence didn't swing that way at all. But what if he turned Mike down? Would Zoe get mad at him?  It's like like she would be disappointed in Terrence if he wasn't gay, right? He began to hyperventilate as his overthinking kicked into high gear. And as his breath raced in through his nose and out his mouth, in his nose and out of his mouth, he caught wind of an odd scent:  sweat. But not ball sweat, rather, it was normal sweat, but mixed together with the faintest touches of Old Spice, weed, and blueberry body wash.
"Zoe?"
Mike snapped his fingers. "Dammnit." And in a puff of smoke, the hulking Machoke was gone, replaced by a small Zorua. "Guess you win this round, Terrence."
"What round?" Terrence was confused.
"Yesterday?" Zoe stamped her foot to emphasize her point. "You never told me which girl you had your eye o-are you listening?" As Zoe was talking, Terrence turned towards his locker and grabbed his books from inside. "Yeah, I'm listening. So, what? You're gonna transform into different girls to see who tickles my fancy?" As he closed the locker and made his way to the hall, a sly grin spread across Zoe's face. With a speed that belied her small legs, she darted in front of her friend and caused the hallway to fill with smoke as she transformed. "I was going to break into your room later and read your diary, but your idea is much better, Terry!"

Terrence coughed and rubbed his eyes as the smoke started to dissipate. As the smoke fully cleared, he noticed Zoe was gone.
"Maybe you like 'em really brainy", came a voice from his side, which made Terrence jump.  Floating next to him was Alicia, the Junior Year Abra he co-captained the chess club with. "After all, love often blooms from proximity, right?"

Terrence shook his head. "Cut it out Zoe. Allie is a good friend and chess partner, and that's it." As he turned to walk away, tendrils of smoke wafted into his line of sight.
"Or maybe, you like your women a little more...mature?" The new voice spoke slowly, draping itself across the hall.  Terrence froze. The voice was one he recognized, a Noivern who had often babysat him and Zoe when they were younger. As he heard slow footsteps come towards him, he refused to turn around and humor his friend in her game.  "Come on, Terry," Zoe cooed as she approached, her disguised voice falling on his ears like lush silk, "you know that all you have to do"
Terrence stared straight ahead as he felt Zoe press against his side, sliding along his shell as she sauntered forward. "Is just say a few simple words." She spoke confidently, seductively, letting the words roll from her mouth like honey.
His heart began to race he felt Zoe drape her wing across his back, dragging it up his back and over his head, cloaking him in her scent. "You can whisper it to me if you like," Zoe slowly turned around to face him, pulling her wing back and caressing his chin with her tail. Terrence felt a heat wash over his face as Zoe stood in front of him, smugly watching his blush set in.  His throat began to tighten up as he tried to put the words in his mouth, and he felt a strange tingling sensation in his legs; like his legs were threatening to give out under him.
"What's the matter, big boy?" This was too much.  Terrence tried to drop to the floor, hoping that by withdrawing into his shell, he wouldn't have to answer Zoe.  But the tingling he felt in his legs had magnified and washed over his body as his Quick Claw activated instead, sending him ricocheting down the hall in his shell as Zoe chased after him.
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Here we are, finally back at the beginning of the story, you troglodyte.
Happy now?
---------------------
Terrence shrieked and flailed as the door opened, washing him over with light. Standing in the doorway was a Dunsparce wearing a newsboy cap. He was Tonio, the school's head janitor, and he eyed Terrence's fit with bemusement.
"You okay there, kid?" Terrence stopped his flailing for a moment and grabbed the cap. It was solid, and didn't disappear in a puff of smoke. He was real, and this gave Terrence some small comfort.
"Sorry sir, I was just uhh...huffing chemicals?"  Tonio cocked an eyebrow at Terrence. "Bully troubles, huh?"
"Kind of, yes." Terrence pulled himself from the floor, and the janitor stepped to one side to give Terrence room to walk out. "You know that they'll keep bullying you if you do this, right kid?"
"I know, just, if you see Zoe, do me a favor and don't tell her you saw me." Terrence rushed off as fast as his legs could carry him, hooking a left and jogging out of sight. The janitor shrugged his small wings and sighed, grabbing a mop and bucket. "I don't-I don't know who that is. There's like a hundred kids at this school."

Terrence continued to move, looking for a room he thought Zoe wouldn't go into. Picking a door, he ducked inside of the photography classroom. He shut the door as slow as he could, to muffle the noise of the latch as it clicked to hold the door in place. With his sanctuary secure, Terrence darted to the back of the room and took cover behind a stack of photos and yearbooks. He checked his watch; half an hour. "Biscuits." Why did time never move this slowly when working on homework?  Grabbing one of the yearbooks, he leisurely flipped through the pages to pass the time till school started.

Pictures of classmates flip by on the papers, pages of people with awkward smiles and even worse quotes. Terrence got to his photo, looking at it with a half-frown.  The picture was good enough, but the quote he put in was what soured his expression. It seemed like a good idea when he submitted it, but the events of the morning had him worried it may not have been so good.  But he couldn't change it now, so he turned a few more pages until he hit the section for awards and honors.

"Valedictorian: Terrence Smith." It still felt weird for him to say out loud.  Yes, he knew he worked hard to achieve it, but something abou-
"What?"
A name and a photo caught his eye in the section for students graduating Summa Cum Laude, disrupting his train of thought.  He read the name, scratched at it on the page, and even shook the book out to make sure it was real.
"How in the heck-" The door to the classroom clicked shut, and Terrence peered out from behind his book wall. It was Tonio, the janitor he ran into earlier, carrying a large dust mop into the room. Sighing with relief, he set the yearbook down and revealed himself. He kept his head down as he walked out of the room, hoping he wouldn't get an extended talk about avoiding bullies.  As Terrence tried to go out the door, he accidentally bumped into the janitor, knocking him down to the floor.
"Oh biscuits, I'm sorry! Here, let me help you up." Terrence let out two vines, one to steady the janitor as he righted himself, and the other to grab his hat. The first vine wrapped around Tonio's wing with ease, but the second vine hit the floor. Terrence looked over to see his vine had gone through the hat, which disappeared in a puff of smoke. He felt a small paw tighten around his other vine.
"Found you, Terry."

Terrence froze in shock, creating a slack in his vines that Zoe quickly took advantage of, using them to trip her friend to the floor.
"Now," she huffed, "I'm a bit worn out from transforming and chasing you up and down the halls, so why don't you make this easy on both of us, and just tell me who you like already." Zoe wheezed out the last word, doubling over to catch her breath but still keeping a tight grip on the vine.
"Why do you even care, Zoe?"
"I have my reasons, Terrence, now tell me."  Terrence was silent, and Zoe swished her tail menacingly at his reply.
"Wrong answer." Her tail darted forward like a whip, and Terrence began to laugh uncontrollably as the plush fur tickled at him mercilessly.  Zoe kept up her attack as Terrence turned red in the face, squirming on the floor as his laughter began to turn into wheezing. "Had enou-"
"IT'S YOU!"
"-Excuse me?" Zoe pulled her tail back, stopping her assault.
Terrence, still laugh-wheezing, struggled to compose himself and catch his breath.  "I-it's you, Zoe."  Breathing deeper to force the laughter away, he sat up on the floor and looked Zoe in the eyes.  "You're funny, and exciting, and cute, and you've been my best friend for longer than I can remember and I want to be more than that but-"  Terrence let out a sigh and his shoulders drooped forward.  "I was afraid of telling you because I thought you'd laugh at me or something."
Zoe let go of the vine, and moved forward to wrap her arms around her friend in a hug. "I wouldn't laugh at you for something like that." Terrence returned her embrace, and they held each other in the quiet room for a few moments. "But, I don't know if it would work out."
"Oh."
Breaking the hug, Zoe sat beside her friend, keeping an arm draped around his shoulders. Terrence turned to look at her and she offered him a small smile, hugging him a little tighter in a reassurance of their friendship.
"Besides, I'm sure you could do better than a dumb knucklehead like me. Now c'mon, we should probably make our way to homeroom."  Zoe walked over to the door, holding it open for her friend.  But Terrence sat on the floor, stuck in thought; "dumb knucklehead, huh?"
"You co-"
"Summa Cum Laude."
"Uh-"
"In our graduating class, there are four students with the rank of Summa Cum Laude. Dougie, Sarah, Angela...and you, Zoe."
"S-so?"
"So that means that, in spite of barely coming to class and barely paying attention when you do, you've got one of the highest GPA's in our school."
"M-maybe I just stole the test answers."
"There's more to a GPA than just test scores."
"Then it's your tu-"
"I've only tutored you in math, and only in the past year."
"So? Just because I have a few A's, it doesn't mean tha-" Terrence took a step forward, ready to use some methods of his own to get his friend to speak the truth.  But as he put his foot down the surging sensation took hold in his legs once again and propelled him forward, his plans being altered for him by his Quick Claw.  Where he meant to grab Zoe's shoulders by the door, he instead found himself pressing her against the wall across the hallway. And where he planned to get face-to-face with her to make her flustered, the result was traded for a strong kiss.
"Th-that..." Zoe erupted in a bright light, and Terrence felt his friend's body start to morph and twist underneath his hands.  Her body stretched up taller, forcing Terrence to stand up on his toes. Two tufts of fur exploded around his hands, and a mass of hair washed over the lockers behind Zoe. Then the light faded away.
The duo stared at each other, with Terrence nervously chuckling as Zoe, now a Zoroark, stared a hole through him.
"Th-this doesn't mean anything." Zoe stammered as she took Terrence's hands and moved them off her shoulders.  She turned around and smacked the locker behind her and popped it open, looking at the mirror inside and sighing.
"I thought I told you not to mess with my do", she complained as she gave Terrence a sidelong glare.
"Sorry. I think it looks kinda nice, though. Wild, but nice. Kinda like you."
She focused back onto the mirror, and the corners of her mouth turned into a small smile. "You make it really hard to hate you sometimes, Terr." She shut the locker and turned around, holding out her hand towards her best friend.
"Now, walk me to class before I change my mind."
Terrence hesitated for a moment, but when he saw her start to turn and walk down the hall, he shot out a vine and wrapped it tightly around Zoe's hand.

They walked down the hall in silence, the only sound being the school bell ringing to let them know class would start in ten minutes. "So," Terrence inquired, his grip slackening ever so slightly, "did you really sell Tommy to buy me that Quick Claw?"
Zoe giggled. "You could say that", she replied as she  drew her boyfriend closer to her side. "But I prefer to think of it as a trade-in."
"You know I don't have wheels, right?"
"Are you saying I should go get Tommy back?"
"Not at all."
"Good, because you and I have a date in the library after school, and I'll be damned if I spend it making out with a skateboard."
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And there we go, one tale of cool Zoroarks and young lo-
What do you mean the ending feels incomplete? Of course it feels incomplete you nonce, their life as a couple has just barely begun!
No, that doesn't mean I'm going to write more of it.
You know what? Shut up. Get out of my story. Go home. Go outside. Go do something not connected to a computer. I'm going to go to sleep.