Adventures of Aiden
Chapter 2
Milo stumbles into the school building, completely exhausted. I may have not waited for the mouse to catch up to me before I entered from recess, but I was still patient enough to chill next to the door for him to arrive.
“Dude… I think I’m dying. Am I… dying?” the mouse says between breaths.
I stifle a chuckle. “No, silly, you just gotta run more often.” I smile at him and look at his uniform, which looks exactly like mine: torn up and battered.
“Does… cheese have healing properties?” Milo asks between breaths.
“If you count the protein and calcium, then yeah, but for what you’re looking for, nope. Sucks to be you.” I give him a playful teasing face, sticking out my tongue.
“Heh. I won’t… share any of my cheese... with you at lunch, then.”
I fake gasp. “What?! Nooooo! Not the cheese!” We both chuckle for a bit, but then I realized. Our uniforms. “Uh, Milo, I hate to be a downer but I think we have to go to the Principal’s office.”
The mouse finally has somewhat reclaimed his breath and stands up straight. “What? But why?”
I pick at my polo with both paws and wiggle my eyebrows up and down. “Look at your uniform and my own. See anything wrong with this picture?” I laugh a bit, but it was more of a nervous chuckle than anything.
The realization hit him as if a huge piano fell over his head. “Oh no, Aiden! Are we going to get in trouble again?”
I sigh. “Probably. But since this happens, like, every time during recess, the Principal should go easy on us just like the last few times. He must just send my parents and yours a bill for each uniform we wreck now.” I laugh a little bit again, and Milo shares my laughter.
“Yeah, you’re right. I dunno what I was worried about. Unfortunately, my cheese will be delayed because of this! It’s your fault every time, Aiden!”
I back up a bit, raising my hands up in defense. “Heheh, we had fun though, riiiight?”
Milo mock huffs and jerks his head to the side, pretending to be offended. “I certainly didn’t. Definitely not worth it at all.” Afterward, the mouse gives me a playful wink with a smile.
“Hehe, alright, that’s enough fun. Let’s head on down there before the Principal eats our tails for lunch!”
“Yeah,” Milo replies with a half-moon grin and a giggle.
Since we are both middle schoolers, our classes are on the lower level, whereas the younger furs are located on the ground level, and so we head off to the staircase leading to the upper level where the Principal’s office--and our fate--lies.
Now walking down the dimly lit, grey hallways of the ground floor, the two of us make our way to our assumed doom. I eye the bulletin boards on the walls stacked with art projects of younger students, the tiled floors, and the wooden classroom doors all labeled with numbers as we pass through the slightly quiet halls. The only sounds I hear are the voices of young furs and teachers talking in each classroom.
At last, we arrive, but before we enter the intimidating door of the Principal’s office, I glance at Milo, who has his thin tail flickering about, and is shifting about uncomfortably.
I put my paw on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, it’ll be okay, who’s to say it won’t be any different than last time?”
Milo raises his hand in a sheepish manner. “M-me.”
“What’s there to worry about? I’m sure Principal Morganheim is just used to it by now. At least he stopped giving us detentions after a while.” I make an attempt to make him laugh, hopefully easing his nervousness, but he hardly laughs alongside me.
The green mouse purses his lips, avoids my gaze. “What if this is the last straw? It’s happened so many times that maybe this time, he’s finally sick of it.”
“You’re such a worry-wart. Relax, I’m sure it’ll all end up okay. Let’s head inside already.”
He shakes his head. “I… I don’t want to.”
I sigh. “Come on, you know that it’ll be alright, you’re just letting your nervousness get to you.”
“Maybe.” He closes his eyes and exhales. “Fine, I’ll give it a go, but if it goes sour, you’re doing the talking.”
I scoff. “Alright, but knowing you and your uncensored mouth, you’d be doing the talking.” I chuckle and put my paw on the handle. I swing the door open, and we both waltz in. Well, it was me who did the waltzing, Milo just kinda cowered behind me and shuffled in, avoiding eye contact and looking guilty as hell.
“Boys… what a surprise. Have a seat.” The Principal gestures toward the two leather chairs in front of his wooden desk. We both sit and glance around the small, square room. Cheap green carpet, pale yellow walls, tiled ceiling, and large windows with blinds in the back. You would think a Principal’s office would be fancier than this, but I guess not.
Principal Morganheim inspects our uniforms from his seat, humming to himself and squinting his eyes behind those thin-framed glasses of his. On a side note, they definitely don’t make him look any younger. The man’s a sheepdog, grey and white, and with a white handlebar moustache.
He takes off his glasses, sighs, and then slides his paws down his face. “Again?”
We both nod.
“How many times will I have to issue you boys new uniforms? How many times will I have to reprimand you for going into the woods? My god, you boys are a heap of trouble.”
Milo glances at me, then back at the Principal. “S-sorry, Mr. Morganheim, I just kinda go along with whatever Aiden wants to do during recess.”
The mouse looks back at me like I’m about to whack him upside the head, but I just shrug and mouth, It is true, back to him.
A thought occurs to me right then and there. “Mr. Morganheim, has anybody else been reprimanded for going into the woods?”
“Don’t change the subject, boy.”
“I’m just asking a question, sir.”
“Not that I know of, you’re the only two boys in your grade level that comes back from recess with tattered uniforms, so I have no reason to suspect other students who don’t have them.”
“I see… well, should we grab our new uniforms and be on our way?”
The Principal sighs again. “They are hanging on the handles of my closet to your left. And, boys, if I am unable to prevent you from venturing into the woods, then please, by all means, take care of your uniforms. These are the absolute last pair I will be giving to you two. Understood? Any more incidents after this will result in harsher consequences.”
Milo turns to me again, but this time it looks like he’s a deer about to get hit by a zooming car. “Aiden…”
“We’ll be fine. Thank you, Principal Morganheim, we will definitely take your warnings into consideration.”
“Thank you for being so kind to us, sir.” Milo, being a suck-up and a nervous gentleman, bows down to the Principal before making his way toward the exit. I stand up shortly after him, and I precariously give the Principal a mock-salute with my back turned as I make my exit. I’m so cool. I’ve been through these kind of interactions so often now ever since I started middle school that I can safely deem myself a professional now. Milo, on the other hand, is still a nervous wreck and often will say whatever he can to aim the blame off of his own fur. I can’t be mad at him, though, it’s just how he deals with it. I still don’t like it, though.
After we exit the office, Milo exhales deeply, as if he had been holding in his breath during the whole interaction, and keels over with his paws on his knees. “Holy crap, I thought we were done for in there.”
“But we ended up okay in the end, right? See? I told you it’d be fine.” I place a reassuring paw on his back. “Oh, that reminds me, quit blaming me for your actions and take some damn responsibility for yourself every now and then, would ya?” I slap his back in a playful manner as punishment.
The mouse recoils and straightens up. “Ow! Okay! I get it, geez. A little harder next time, ‘kay?”
I smirk. “With pleasure~”
He blushes as he processes how what he said could’ve been interpreted the wrong way. “Ah-I-I didn’t mean it that way and you know it!”
I wrap my arm around his shoulder. “Heheh, I know buddy. I’m just jokin’ with ya.”
He sighs. “Riiiight. Anyway, we should get back to classes, we’ve already missed most of fifth period!”
“The more, the merrier, but I get it. Let’s head on over there, then.” I begin walking toward the stairwell closest to my class, and then I do a quick turn and call out, “See you in Computer Science~” before swiveling back forward and racing toward my next class.
I go through the rest of my periods for the day. Social Studies, Art, Computer Science, and Physical Education. Luckily, I have P.E at the end of the day, so I’m not sweaty for most of the day. During Computer Science, they had us doing a typing lesson, which I absolutely hated, because today was the one day where they made you practice with an orange rubber cover over the keyboard. Needless to say, I failed. Afterward, though, we got to play a computer game, and that was fun, because Milo and I, sitting next to each other of course, were trying to find ways where we could just screw our guys over in Oregon Trail. After P.E I was exhausted and definitely wanted to go home, so we went on the bus and headed home.
And now, the bus finally made it in front of my house in my suburban neighborhood. It’s a small abode, complete with a basement and upper level, and it’s relatively modern, too. I clamber off the bus, backpack in tow, and run up my driveway toward the garage door. We can fit two cars in there. The mechanism slides the door upward slowly, and after waiting until it reaches the top, per Mom’s orders, I head through the garage door to get inside my home.
Taking off my shoes on the welcome matt on the white tiled floor, I put them on the shelf behind the shutter closet to my left. I hate wearing shoes at anytime, and it sucks that they force us to wear them at school. Afterward, I walk under the open doorway leading to a small tight corridor heading toward the kitchen. The walls are a pale yellow like my school’s and the cabinetry and other furnishings are white wood. Except the island in the middle, oh, and the fridge, too. The island countertop is made of marble, and the fridge is stainless steel. As I glance around, I figure my mom isn’t home yet from work. It’s funny, because a short two years ago my dad used to do the same thing. Work late. And now my mom does it since he left. I don’t blame him. My life and their marriage was falling apart. With no one home, I decide to just head to the living room, climb upstairs, and head into my room to do homework till she gets home.
I hear the garage door opening, a key indicator of someone coming home. “Hey Mom!” I greet her as she walks in through the inner-garage door, carrying lots of bags of groceries. I tilt my head and furrow my brows. “Need some help?”
“That’d be great honey,” she replies in a grunt, due to the struggle of lifting all the bags.
As she sets them down on the island, I glance back at her yellow fox tail waving back and forth, and I wonder, how is she enjoying this? Maybe she’s just happy to see me safe and sound? I shrug and exit to the garage to unload more groceries. There weren’t many left, so I take the rest and plop them down next to the others.
My mom gives me a cheeky grin. “So, how was school? Did you eat the lunch I made for you?”
I nod ecstatically.
She raises one brow, and one of her ears; her lie detector is ready.
“Yup,” I say with a smile.
After some quick silence and studying of my facial reactions and body movements, she hums and proceeds to put some food into the fridge.
I take this as my chance to escape to my room for a bit. “Hey Momma, I’m going to go do homework up in my room.”
She turns away from the open fridge. “Oh, okay. Leave the door open so I can check in on you, alright?”
“Got it!” I run upstairs. My homework is almost done, and I want to finish it as fast as possible so I have time to relax. Normally I’d procrastinate and do it in the morning or something, but tomorrow is an important day. I have to do this. For adventure!
“Today’s the day!” I yell to Milo as the recess bell rings.
The green mouse springs out of his seat. “Yup! Can’t wait to find me some chee-- I mean, whatever’s in there, yeah!”
After I facepalm at his comment, we head on out to the clearing and toward the pathway we entered last time. Milo and I both glance at each other before we begin taking our uniforms off. In fact, we basically strip off everything so that we’re naked. This way we won’t have to deal with the principal again. We both duck in so nobody has time to see us naked, and we take our bundle of clothes with us so it doesn’t look suspicious. Despite a few scratches on our fur, we make it to the circular clearing with the large tree in no time, since we can rush through this time around with no uniforms to hold us back. Not to mention, just being able to feel the light breeze brush against my fur, and actually feel the dirt beneath me beats wearing clothing anyday.
We both poke our heads into the hole to see if we can find anything before diving in.
“See anything, Milo?”
“Do you?”
“Dude, I just asked you.” I lightly chuckle.
“Nope. I don’t see anything.”
“Okay. Neither do I.” I take my head out of the hole and get behind Milo. “I’ll meetcha down there, buddy,” I say with a smirk, and then I shove the mouse through the hole. I hear his protests for a bit before he falls in, but then I just hear his fading scream as he plummets downward. The yelps only last about a couple seconds before I hear a loud thud and more moans and groans from Milo. After I deem that it’s safe, I jump down, too.
I’m surprised someone was able to carve out this spacious area. It looks a lot like the clearing, but heading in the opposite direction and covered in dirt. Roots were sprouting out every which way, and the air smells damp and feels humid. I can barely see anything, too, but I can see a beam of light being directed at a dirt mound up ahead. Milo and I prepare to take a step forward, but the beam of light jerks up and shines in our eyes.
“Who’s there? This is my club!”
The mouse and I glance at each other, quizzical expressions on our faces.
“Uh… I’m Milo, and the fusky next to me is Aiden.”
“Oh, you’re a mouse, then?”
I hear some rustling, and the beam shifts around erratically. My ears twitch. Pawsteps on the dirt.
“Aiden… whoever’s talking right now is coming closer…” Milo whispers in my ear. He grabs hold of my arm and clings on tight; I can feel him trembling. My heart’s racing too, so I don’t blame him.
“How’d you find this place? It’s off limits to anyone but me.” The mysterious voice heads down the pathway. The sounds of his pawsteps stop, and the voice shines the light beam downward, creating a circle of light illuminating all of us. Now that the light has lit up the voice’s figure, I notice it’s a male white furred cat, and he’s pretty short. He’s got these bright red eyes. I don’t like him already.
“So that’s what you look like.”
He crosses his arms and glares at me. “Whaddya mean by that, fusky?”
Milo steps in front of me. “H-he didn’t mean anything by it, sorry, we’ll be going now.” The mouse turns around to leave and spots divots in the dirt to form a makeshift ladder.
I grab Milo by the back of his neck and drag him back by me. “We’re going nowhere. First off, why’s this place here?”
“Aiden… don’t!” Milo whispers in my ear, still frightened by the cat’s presence.
The cat grins. “Heh. Glad you asked. This place here is my own club, The Honors club.”
I tilt my head and furrow my brows. “The Honors club? You mean like an Honor Student club?”
The cat nods his head in a slow, rhythmic manner, keeping a flat expression while doing so. “Mhm. You got it. What about it?”
I tap my foot paw and put my finger under my chin. “Hmmm. Why keep it in such a hidden place? And shouldn’t there be more members?”
“I’m the only member, because I’m the only Honor student.”
“Huh. Okay… so have you been officially recognized by the school?”
“Not yet. I don’t know why they are taking so damn long.” The cat huffs.
Milo finally has the courage to speak up. “So what are your grades?”
His eyes widen for a split second but then return to normal. “Better than all of yours.”
I turn my head away and shake it side-to-side, stifling chuckles. “Riiight. Like I’ll believe that.”
Milo nudges my shoulder and leans in close to my ear. “Aiden… your grades really aren’t that hot, though, either…”
I grit my teeth and whisper back, “Oh yeah… heheh. Forgot.” I turn my attention back to the snobby cat. “So your grades are better than the rest of us, but the school hasn’t recognized you yet as an Honor student, so you decided to create your own club ‘cause you couldn’t wait?”
The cat nods again. “Yup. So if you dumb-dumbs wanna leave now, that’d be fantastic.” He begins to shoo us toward the ladder.
“Woah, woah, woah, can’t ya give us a tour first?”
Milo jumps up and down. “Yeah! Yeah! This place looks so cool!”
The cat eyes Milo with a suspicious glare. “What’s your deal? Got ADHD or somethin’, mouse?”
Milo stops acting all excited immediately, reverting to his shy nature. “N-no…”
The cat smirks. “Heh, thought so. Anyway, since you idiots won’t take no for an answer, I’ll give ya a tour, but one condition.”
“Yeah, yeah, we leave after it’s over. We get it already, smart stuff.”
“I’d prefer you call me Alex.”
“Call me Milo!” The mouse is grinning from ear-to-ear again.
“Aiden.” I give Alex a half-assed wave of my paw.
“Alright,” Alex claps his paws together, “introductions aside, let’s begin the tour, shall we?”
Oh, so now you act formal? I think to myself as the cat leads us further in. We reach the circular clearing with the dirt mound in the middle, Alex using the flashlight to lead the way, and now that I think about it, why aren’t there any other forms of light in here? Torches would be a nice touch.
“So, this is the meeting area,” the cat points to the dirt mound in the center, “and that concludes the tour. Any questions? No? We’re good? Alright. Get out, dumb-dumbs.”
That was fast, I think to myself with a scowl. I look over to Milo, who is clearly disappointed, his posture is slumped over, and a frown is visible on his muzzle.
“Awww, it’s over already?” Milo protests.
“Come on,” I put my paw on the mouse’s shoulder and nudge it backward, “let’s go back to class. Recess is almost over.”
Alex crouches down slightly, putting his paws over his ears. “Oh shit! That’s right! I gotta get back, too!” As Milo and I begin our ascent up the dirt ladder, I hear footpaws running after us. I can only assume that it’s the cat desperately trying to get back to class, too.
We make it out of the tree, out of the clearing, and out of the forest. The bell rings as we spring out of the pathway. The three of us book it toward the double doors back into the school building. Before we get too far, though, I realize that Milo and I are still naked, and I glance back at the cat who’s rushing to get his uniform back on. We both head back to pick up our clothes and do the same. With barely any time left, 99% of the students already back in the school, we dash back to the double doors as fast as we can.
Turns out this cat is in a few of my and Milo’s classes. He’s in my Math and Art class, and Milo’s P.E and Science class. We try to get through the rest of our classes as best we can. Luckily, Milo and I don’t share any classes together with Alex, but we have to deal with him separately, which is almost worse, because Milo doesn’t have me to back him up. At least we both have Computer Science in the same period.
As we make our way toward the school buses in the parking lot, I step on and Milo follows shortly thereafter, but as we sit down almost in the way way back--the back of the bus is reserved by the 8th graders--I notice a certain white cat climbing aboard. Immediately a frown forms on my muzzle, and I lean in closer to him since I’m on the aisle seat with Milo getting the window today. We switch off since we both like the window. I can’t let him see us. It’s not that I hate the guy, it’s just that… well, he has certain qualities that I dislike. Milo and I eye him walking past the rows, not even looking at their owners. Except, when he arrives at our seat, he gives us a slight smirk with a huff.
“Scooch,” he says matter-of-factly, already trying to squeeze into our bus seat.
“Uh, okay,” Milo says as he moves over, and I shift over to give Alex some room.
The bus begins to move again, and we sit in silence for a bit until the cat randomly starts talking.
“So, how’d you guys do on the typing lesson today? I got a perfect score.”
“Great. So did I, but I kinda did it my own way…” I say, a nervous chuckle escaping from my muzzle.
“You cheated?” The cat asks, looking oddly surprised.
I wave my paws out in front of him. “No, no, I just didn’t follow the lesson as intended. I used a couple fingers instead of all ten.”
“Ah.” Alex forces a couple coughs then mouths, “dumb-dumb.”
“Hey!” I punch him in the arm. “I heard that!”
“At least your ears work better than your brain.” The cat sticks out htis tongue with a goofy expression.
“Grrrr, why you-!” I pretend to get furious at him; I mimic a strangle hold just inches away from his neck.
We all laugh a little, and then, out of the blue, I get an amazing idea. “Hey, Alex, you know your Honors club?”
“Yeah? What about it?”
“How about renaming it the Adventure club?”
The cat huffs. “Stupid.”
Milo chimes in, “but Alex! It’ll be super fun! It must be lonely in that club all by yourself. And like you said, you’re the only smart kid here in this school, right?”
He sighs. “Well… that is true. But I don’t know. How else can I show off my superiority?”
“Here’s a hint,” I add, “don’t.”
“But…”
“Just. Don’t. The last thing anybody needs is the smartest kid in school gloating about how smart he is. Besides, don’t people already know that you’re smart?”
“Well, yeah, of course. I help other students with their assignments all the time.”
Milo and I glance at each other with open jaws, and then we turn back toward the cat.
“You do? Are they happy with their results?”
Alex looks away from us for a moment. “They just aren’t appreciative of somebody else doing their assignments for them.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Uh huh. Is that really the reason?”
“Yes, I just told you it, dumb-dumb.”
I sigh and facepalm. “Alrighty, then. Just think about it, okay? We can go on adventures together.”
“Sounds monotonous.”
I scoff. “Heh, big word for a little cat.”
Alex frowns and punches me in the arm, hard. “Don’t make fun of my height or I’ll scratch that smug look off your face, got that?”
“Ow! Got it. Yeesh. Take a joke, will ya?”
“No.”
“Alex, be nice, or I won’t give you any of my cheese for lunch,” Milo says, trying to calm the situation.
The cat chuckles then scoffs. “Bribing me cheese, are we? That’s low.”
“Buuuut~” Milo sings, motioning with his paw for Alex to continue.
“Buuuut~” Alex mocks, “I’ll take you up on your deal. You’d better have a shit ton, or I’m not buying.”
“No worries. I have plenty.” Milo hands Alex his signature cheesy grin.
“Your optimism annoys me.”
I nudge him a couple times. “You get used to it,” I whisper to the cat in his ear.
Milo giggles. “Sorry, not sorry!”
Alex lets out a long sigh. “Somebody kill me please.”
The cat’s stop was first, and he gets off the bus without another word. I crack a joke about it to Milo, and then we wait for his stop next. Finally, I was alone on the bus with a sea of other cubs as usual. When I get home I greet my mom and tell her about my day and did my homework, played some Nintendo games, ate dinner, and then went to bed. Although, I could hardly sleep, because Alex’s answer to my question weighed heavily on my mind. Adventure club, huh. It has a nice ring to it. Please, if there is a god out there, make him say yes. If not, I’m sure he will, anyway.
