48

After a long pause, Tobias finally exhales.

"Wow. Um…thanks," he tells you, giving you an uneasy look. He takes a moment to pull himself together, before turning to you expectantly.

"So…what now?" he asks. "Do you wanna help clean up—or should we go check out that thing I was telling you about?

Tobias nods understandingly. You get the feeling he was actually kind of hoping for this.

"All right. Let's go find them."

You lead Tobias over to the little group that's milling behind the stage. When Rana spots you both, her face lights up.

"Oh, hi! Are you volunteering to clean up?"

You both nod, and she happily passes you each a trash bag.

"Okay everyone, make sure you spread out," Rana is saying, pointing people towards different sections of the park. You can tell leadership comes pretty naturally to her. "If you find anything recyclable, just bring it back here." She kicks a big plastic tub at her feet. "Hopefully we have enough people that we can finish before it gets dark. Thanks again, guys!"

She claps her hands, and people start to scatter over the grass. You and Tobias stick together as you make your way towards the corner of the park where Maxie held their dog show, and you and a few others spend half an hour collecting all the trash you can find. It's surprisingly hard work, especially with the day's warmth still hanging around, but you feel pretty satisfied as the park is slowly transformed before your eyes.

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