Adventures of Aiden
Chapter 3
Another recess, another adventure. This is exciting. Milo and I head over to the grassy clearing, hoping to find Alex at the Honors club, hoping he would be okay with changing the name. We pass by the playground, and out of the corner of my eye I notice something off, a confrontation, an argument. Trouble that I can’t ignore. I stop in my tracks and grab Milo, too. He looks dazed and confused as he looks back at me, but I point toward the argument with my head.
Milo squints his eyes and says, “Hey, isn’t that… Alex?”
Now I’m interested even more. I stare at the situation, too, and of course, I see the white cat getting yelled at by some much larger blue and white furred husky. The designs on his fur looked insane, like a tribal tattoo. “That is Alex. I wonder what’s up?” I head over to the argument with Milo, although he was a little more reluctant. As I walk over there, I glance around at all the furs just standing around doing nothing and just watching. Before I go in and make a fool of myself, I try to listen in and assess the situation before heading in guns blazing.
“Look, pal, you told me you’d get me a good grade on my assignment. This,” the husky shoves a paper in the cat’s face, “is shit. You hear me?”
“It’s a C. Average. If you had done it you would’ve gotten a big, fat, zero,” the cat replies.
“Whadju say?!” The husky grips the cat’s collar, almost raising him above the ground. Alex looks intrepid, giving the 8th grader a blank glare.
“You heard me, asshole. I did your assignment. That was the deal.”
“Grah!” The husky chucks the cat to the ground. “And get a good grade on it, dipshit! That was the deal, dammit!”
“That’s enough! Back off!” I say, unable to stand anymore of the torture, my paws trembling with anger.
“Heh. Back up, huh? Well, I’ll deal with you later, ya little shit.” The husky stomps off in the opposite direction, and I begin to help Alex up.
“Relax, I don’t need your pity.” The cat refuses my help and gets up on his own.
“Who was that?” Milo asks, poking his head in to check on Alex.
Brushing off his fur, Alex replies, “Bud. He’s known as the school bully around here. I’m surprised you guys haven’t heard of him.” He glances at the two of us.
I shrug. “We go on adventures every recess. I never see the guy around.”
He sighs a bit. “Regardless, the bitch is displeased with my work. Damn asshole.”
“You can quit swearing now, he’s gone, you know,” Milo says.
“I’m pissed off, can’t you tell, mouse?” the cat growls.
Milo sheepishly backs up a few steps. “The name’s Milo…”
I step in front of him. “Hey, hey, no need to take your anger out on us. Let’s go to the club, ‘kay? Catch a breather.”
He nods. “Alright. Oh, and by the way, fusky, I have your answer to the club name.”
I raise my brows as I begin to walk to the pathway with them. “Oh? And that answer is…?”
“Maybe.”
“Asshole,” I say with a chuckle. He might be kidding, at least I hope so. “That was a joke, right?”
“Maybe.”
I stop walking. “Dude, enough. Not funny anymore.”
“Fine. It’s a yes. Don’t get too excited, or you’ll look even more like a dumb-dumb than usual.”
I sigh. “Alright. Whoopee.” I throw my arms up in the air in a lazy, half-assed manner. “Excited enough for ya?”
Alex gives me an okay sign with his paw. “Perfect.” He resumes walking, and so do I.
“I’m hungry,” the mouse whines.
“Shut it. Lunch is in twenty-five minutes. I’m sure your stomach can hold out till then.”
Milo frowns. “You’re so mean, Alex.”
“You’ll get used to it,’ the cat replies. The three of us make it to the pathway and begin taking off our uniforms. “Anyway, after you two dumb-dumbs.”
We all crawl through the pathway and climb down the tree hole into the newly named Adventure club. It definitely needs some remodeling. Some torches or lanterns, a table in the middle instead of a dirt mound, and maybe some board games or something. You know, to keep it lively in this dank underground clearing. Alex, Milo, and I all sit down around the dirt mound.
“So… mister club organizer, when are we gonna ‘catch a breather’ like you said we would?” Alex begins.
I facepalm. “Dude, we got here, like, five seconds ago. Chill.”
“But that’s what you’re supposed to tell me how to do.”
I fake gasp. “Whaaaat? You dunno how to chill? Dude, what world do you live in?”
“A busy one, fusky. Busy all the time.”
My paw finds its way to my face once again, and I slide it downward with another more exaggerated sigh. “Alrighty then, I’ll ask more about that in a minute, but first, let’s get you calmed down.”
“Alright,” Alex replies.
“Wait, do I get to participate?” Milo asks, swaying his thin tail.
“If you want,” I shrug, “I mean, you do get excited a lot. Too much, probably.” I chuckle.
“Hmmmm. Can I get a reward for participation?”
“Really? C’mon…”
I shush Alex and motion for Milo to continue. “What did you have in mind?”
“Cheeeeese,” Milo breathes, drool dripping from his mouth.
I facepalm for the third time in five minutes. “Alright… if you come to my house after school, I can getchu your cheese, ‘kay?”
He hums and nods erratically in response.
“Grrr, I’m sick of being patient! Let’s go already! You’re pissing me off even further! ‘Catch a breather’ my ass!”
I put out my paws in defense. “Woah, woah, Alex, calm down. We’ll begin right now. So, we’ll do a technique that my therapist taught me a couple years ago. A breathing technique, to be exact.”
“Hold up. You needed therapy? What the hell for? You seem fine to me,” Alex furrows his brows, confusion written all over his face.
“My dad left my mom two years ago ‘cause she was going nuts. Trying to protect me and stuff to the extreme. My dad got sick of it and left without a word. I haven’t seen him since. I had therapy to help me deal with it, and it was also part of the court order my mom had to follow.”
“Holy shit… dude that’s insane. How did the court get involved?” The cat asks, his interest peaking so much that he’s leaning into me.
“The court was involved because my dad, out of options, called the cops before he left. And they assessed the situation and deemed my mom unfit to care for me. But she fought back. And they struck a deal in the middle. So now she’s much more relaxed, and I had therapy to help with the trauma of dealing with my dad leaving and my crazy mom in the past.”
“Yeesh, that’s fucking horrible man, how the hell did you turn out alright?”
I put my index finger up in front of him. “But I wasn’t fine, though. Therapy. I am doing better now, though, but it’s still hard to deal with sometimes.”
“I see… Milo, didya hear about this before?”
“Yup. I already know it. Aiden and me have been best buds since second grade,” the mouse replies with a toothy smile and a giggle.
“Okay, I guess hearing yer little sob story there calmed me down a bit.”
“Sweet. No technique then?”
“Yeah, I don’t do that hippy bullshit.” The cat bursts into laughter.
I laugh a little bit alongside him. “But it works though. Just sayin’.”
“Uh huh, sure. Anyway, since we’re here, whaddya got for us, boss man?”
I tilt my head and furrow my brows. I hope I look cute. “Huh?”
“Don’t get all cutesy with me, dude. I’m a straight cat, ya hear?!”
“Wasn’t my intention, but duly noted. I still don’t get what you mean, though.”
Alex sighs. “We’re here, in the Adventure club, so,” he throws his arms up in the air, “where’s the adventure?”
I scoff. “Oh. That. Riiiight. I just had us come here to calm down, that was it. It was a private place for my breathing technique, ‘cause I know it’s embarrassing to do in public.”
Milo frowns. “Awwww, no adventure today?”
I try to mentally figure out how much time has passed since we got here. Bully situation. The pathway. My little story. This whole conversation. “Uhhhh, yeah, we probably got like five minutes left of recess. We should head back.”
“Wastin’ our time, eh? Typical fusky.”
I huff and stifle a laugh. “Shut it,” I say as I stand up.
Milo stands up, too, but begins to whimper. “No adventure…”
I put my arm around him. “Next time, bud. Sorry.”
“Okay… I understand. You better double the size of that cheese you owe me, then.”
I chuckle. “Will do, buddy, will do.”
We make our way back out to the grassy clearing, rushing to beat the bell. Hastily pulling our uniforms on, I notice everyone starting to clump by the double doors. At this point we have about a minute.
With my uniform on, I begin to jog toward the mass of cubs. “Let’s go guys!”
“Coming!” Milo calls out as he races behind me.
Alex starts rushing in last, and pretty soon we’re all waiting for the bell to signal the end of recess in front of the school entrance. The bell rings right on time, and the huge crowd starts shuffling indoors. Before we head inside I glance behind me, noticing first some storm clouds rolling in from the west, and then I look down at the playground and see one last fur who hasn’t come back in yet. A husky. He’s staring at me with a grin on his muzzle.
My heart stops. “Oh shit…”
