When Metal Met Gold Chapter 2

 Overview Reens attend her mother's gravesite. She buys food for her smaller family and meets Tobias for the first time. Reens and her father mourn her mother's death briefly, and Reens gets a job at the market. Reens is bullied by the A-Team, and Blaze saves her. Sonic and Amy are only mentioned.

Included Characters
Reens Maricina

Bartholomew Maricina

Tobias the Hedgehog

Blaze the Cat

The A- Team

Sonic the Hedgehog (mentioned)

Amy Rose the Hedgehog (mentioned)

Death, Dreams and Drama
Reens stood next to her mother's grave, wearing a knee-length black dress with long sleeves and black pumps, her necklace being tightly clutched. Her father was not present at the funeral because he had been out with his drinking buddies again and was trying to get over a hangover. However, her Aunt Mallory had come, along with her cousins Max and Loraine, and a few other older relatives. They sat directly behind her in the family section. The reverend stood in front of the small crowd of mourners and started to do what he did best. "Friends, family, mourners, we are gathered here to remember the life of Ariana Maricina, beloved wife -" - Reens scoffed at this - "- and mother. She perished in an unfortunate accident with a drunk driver. We will all remember her and keep her in our hearts." He walked over to Reens and leaned down to her level as if she was a small child. "Would you like to put in the first shovelful of dirt?" She nodded, tears coming to the brim of her eyes. As she rose, she could feel the eyes of her extended family on her back. She bent down to clutch the shovel and lifted up a mound of dirt, tossing it onto her mother's casket. As if something had snapped, she kept lifting and shoveling until Mallory tried to restrain her. Reens turned to her aunt with grief in her eyes and was lifted into a warm hug. The whole family joined in, and Reens was being hugged from all sides. Her body ached from the pain, but she was too heartbroken to care. When Reens returned home, the first thing she saw was her father splayed across the couch in the living room. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was normal. Seems like he's still sleeping it off, Reens thought as she pulled a blanket over him. He was an alcoholic, smoker, and abuser, but he was also her father. When he heard the blanket rustle, he turned over but kept snoring softly. Reens quietly snuck out of the room and went to her own, changing into a more comfortable outfit. She reentered the living room wearing a light blue tank top with a darker blue t-shirt over it and blue jeans. Usually going barefoot in the house was her favorite, except for the occasional splinter. She went into the kitchen and surveyed the cupboards, frowning as they were almost bare. Moving towards the fridge, another frown crossed her face as there were only a few sandwiches, neither of which were edible, and a bottle of - expired, she found by the smell - milk. After throwing out the rotten food, Reens pulled on her trusty converse and left the house, clutching a few dollar bills in her left hand. The money came from a black box in her parents' room. That was their cigarette and alcohol money, but Reens knew she needed it to provide food with. The market was bustling as Reens found her way to the fresh food section. Her shirt slid down a little bit, and she hurriedly pulled it up before anyone could see anything. She picked out some healthy and cheap options, then headed towards the checkout aisle. When she reached the aisle, the magazines, candy, and cheap toys were on either side; she tried to ignore them as the cashier rang up her purchases. The cashier frowned at the total amount. "That'll be $7.32 with tax, hon," she said with a touch of sympathy. Reens counted out the money she had, but it only came to about $5.56. She was $1.76 short. Reens sighed sadly and turned around to go back and put some items back, but then she heard a voice behind her. "Hey, I'll pay for those." She turned back around to see an orange hedgehog with purple wings, metal tentacles, and light green eyes looking back at her. She yelped and almost dropped the groceries, but the hedgehog picked them up before they could hit the ground with his tentacles. "Sorry I scared you," he said as he placed the items back on the counter. "Oh, you really don't have to do this," Reens tried to dissuade him. He looked at her with a thin smile, then turned to the cashier. "How much for the lady's groceries?" The flustered cashier told him the amount, and he took out his wallet and pulled out a $20 bill. After he paid and bagged the groceries, he turned to Reens and handed her the change. "Oh, please don't. This is too much," she stammered. He said nothing, then lifted the bags with his tentacles. "Where do you live?" Reens led the way back to her house. She could tell which one it was because it had the broken glass in the front window and a white porch swing. She turned to the orange hedgehog to thank him, but he held up his hand. "No thanks necessary. I was just doing a favor." He set the grocery bags down and gave Reens another smile. "Take care, alright?" As he was about to leave, she called out to him. "What's your name?" He turned back and gave a slight head nod, and he answered simply. "It's Tobias." "Tobias," she repeated. He nodded and flew away, so she turned to enter her house. Reens put the groceries away in the fridge and cupboard, surprised at the friendly gesture that the hedgehog - Tobias, she remembered - had done for her. She was not used to such kindness and generosity before, and as a result felt that it would be a one-time thing. As she turned to go to the restroom, a growl was heard from the couch; her father was awake and very grumpy. "Where've you been, squirt? You should've woken me up an hour ago." Reens slightly smiled at being called 'squirt'; her father hadn't done that in ages. "At the market," she said matter-of-factly. "We needed food again because no one bothered to go and get groceries." This statement came out a bit too edgy for Reens' taste, but it was too late to take it back. She then turned and went to the bathroom, flipping her braid. Her father (who was now sober) rubbed his head and looked around at their apartment. "Ariana? Ariana? That darn lady… Ariana? Where are you sweetheart?" Reens exited the bathroom after hearing her father call out and tried not to bawl, but tears slipped out very subtly. "Mom's gone, Daddy." "When will she get back? I need to talk to her." "She's not coming back, Daddy. She's… she's dead." Bartholomew held back a breath and clamped his jaw shut. Reens knew he only did this when he was thinking really hard or was really angry. "How'd she die?" "A c-car accident. I think she was on her way home when she ran into a semi. The doctor said she died instantly." He rubbed his hair and then patted Reens' hair slightly harder. "There's nothing we can do about it now, squirt. Guess I may have to get a job…" Bartholomew was hired, fired, hired again and fired again in a matter of days, not even weeks. Reens herself was able to earn some cash at the market she had bought her groceries from, and as a result was able to get a store discount. As a result of his failed job attempts, Bart would take money from Reens' paycheck and spend it on alcohol, sometimes not coming home until 3:00 in the morning. Whenever this happened, Reens took care of herself rather well, eating from the supplies sparingly and only buying new food when the old was spoiled rotten. The abuse she had suffered hadn't stopped completely; in fact, it had only slowed down a little. Reens knew the grace period wouldn't last long. School was going well - in a relative sense, that is. She was getting good grades in every class, had two best friends in Matt and Nate, and was content with not being popular. Unfortunately, there were some popular kids, like that couple Amy and Sonic. Reens slightly envied them, but it wasn't because they were rich and she wasn't. She envied their freedom of expression. She envied the way they would make friends with anyone, even if those friendships were more for usage than for relationships. There were also a group of girls she called the A-Team because their names all started with 'A': Alexa, the rabbit who had tripped Reens by the bus; Annalissa, a brown hawk that was friends with her and was just as mean; and Arin, an echidna and the self-proclaimed leader/planner of the group. They were popular too but didn't usually hang out with Sonic and his friends. They instead decided to make Reens' life a living nightmare: pulling her braid, spilling cafeteria food on her for no reason, and calling her names like 'rat' and other names she wasn't about to mention out loud. The other students didn't bother to help her; whether it was because they didn't care or just never noticed Reens couldn't figure out. However, one day at lunch, someone actually stood up for her. Reens had just sat down at her usual empty table and was nibbling on her sandwich when the three girls sauntered over to her. "Alone again, aren't we?" Annalissa smirked. Reens ignored her and kept eating. Alexa looked Reens over, then went and grabbed the end of her tray. "Don't worry, we'll keep you company," she snickered. Arin went to Reens' other side and grinned sneakily. She then grabbed the other end of her tray and tipped it over, spilling food all over her once again. There wasn't a collective gasp, as the student body had gotten used to it by now, but there was laughter. Lots of laughter. Reens tried not to cry as she got up from her seat, but the three girls held her back. "Where you going, ratface? We aren't done with you yet." They threw her down and started to kick her, their feet connecting with many of Reens' already bruised places. As Arin's fist almost connected with Reens' jaw, a blast of heat came from the other direction, singeing her glove. She jumped back in pain as a lilac cat with golden eyes appeared out of nowhere. "Leave her alone, or I'll have to make you." The three bullies knew who the cat girl was, and ran out as suddenly as they had come in. Reens looked up to see the cat standing over her, eyes blazing with protective fury. "I-I think they're gone now," she said with a small whimper. The cat smiled and helped Reens up from the ground. "Don't be afraid of me. I'm Blaze, and I think I can help you get cleaned off."