Snapping at Crocs

Chapter 10

I step out of my room, already dressed for the day, and am met with an incredibly excited Robert, jogging down the hall from the bathroom with soaking wet hair. He flips his hair up as he runs by, flinging warm water drops away which land on my face.

"Morning," Robert calls as he zooms by. I smile at his excitement and wipe the water off of my forehead with the palm of my hand.

I don't understand how somebody who usually wakes up at six thirty, tired and grumpy, can have this much energy at three fifteen in the morning. It's an interesting change to see, though one I am grateful for. Dealing with a cranky Robert this early wouldn't have been fun.

Once I reach the bottom of the stairs I pop two pieces of bread into the toaster. Billy offered to come pick us up in place of Ms. Irwin dropping us off since he would be up anyway. She was grateful for the chance to sleep in, but I know Robert's going to be at a loss for what to eat without her.

I watch him shuffle around the room searching for anything he doesn't have to cook until he stumbles upon some cereal. Once he's away from the cabinets I search around the kitchen as well until I find something suitable to put on my toast.

We sit down at the table and eat quickly, as Billy's supposed to arrive at any minute. Once Robert drinks the milk out of his bowl of cereal, I whisk it away to quickly wash our dishes.

"I don't think we have time," he chuckles, following me. I glance over at him and watch how he bounces on the balls of his feet. "It's a nice gesture though."

"No need to worry, Robert." I rinse off his bowl and start to clean my butter knife. "I'll be done in just a second."

As I place the last dish into the strainer, a small series of honks sound from outside. Robert and I share a quick glance at each other before mad dashing towards the door.

He reaches it first, reaching for the nob. As he flings the door I open, I manage to slip past him and make it out of the doorway. We run neck and neck to the car, but Robert touches the door handle a split second before me. Billy chuckles as we yank open the doors and plop down into our seats. Robert is sat up front in the passenger's seat, and I've parked myself directly behind him.

"You two are in awful good moods today, aren't you?" he teases. I watch as he lifts a large travel mug up to his mouth, no doubt full of coffee, and takes a large swig. "I haven't needed to wake up this early in a long time. Let the record state that I don't wish to do it again."

I hear a faint chuckle from Robert. We flick on the radio, and Billy is off. A cloud of dirt puffs up behind us as we drive towards the zoo. After a few minutes of content silence, a thought occurs to me.

"Hey, Billy," I project over the music. "Why couldn't we have just taken the supply truck? Then we could head straight out to the site."

Billy turns down the music, and flicks his eyes between the road and the rearview mirror to talk to me.

"Well, Y/N, that sure would save time." he chuckles warmly, but I can tell there's a bit of annoyance thrown in there too. "The people at the zoo tend to worry about me taking stuff. They prefer to keep everything at the zoo to 'protect' it. Besides, we need to pick up Wes anyway. He had some last minute preparations to do. Mostly double checking stuff."

I nod, turning back to look out the window. I know firsthand how frustrating it can be when people don't entirely trust you. He must be pretty exasperated.

Billy turns the radio back up and "be alright" by Dean Lewis starts to play. I smile at the now familiar song. It's one Robert and I listen to often when working. A small grin creeps up on me and I listen closely to hear Robert humming along with the song. I smile even wider and begin to sing along, letting go of everything else.