The Inner Circle by Pent Ghelsburg
Disclaimer: The characters depicted in this work are purely fictional. Any resemblance to persons alive or dead is purely coincidental. They are the original and rightful intellectual property of their creators. I use them with permission and respect. This work involves underaged characters. You have been warned.
There comes a time in every young person's life when change is necessary. That the course of things cannot continue else there would be much trial and tribulation at one's peril. Yet youth divulges itself in the bastion of naivety. For what one does not know….one does not understand…is often something that cannot harm except for ignorance of the fact as they simply do not know any better.
Xavier Noyer was one of those kids who had it all…or at least he thought he did. At 12 years of age, the chipmunk boy was one of the most popular boys at school. He was a star athlete who was second to none on his school's Lacrosse team. He had a girlfriend…he had a best friend who he had known since he was very young. To him, it didn't seem like anything was missing.
The chipmunk boy lived with his two parents, Doug and Sophie. He was their youngest child and one who enjoyed their unhindered love and support. Xavier was no academic, he barely got by at school with the bare minimum grades there were required by the school to participate in sports. It was something that annoyed his parents to no end but so far they hadn't come up with any other way to incentivize him to do better as he hadn't dipped into failing.
The cub went to the local secondary school. It was his second year there and so far things were going well for him. He was still skimming by in his classes and had continued his behavior despite several pep talks from his parents. But to him, there was no reason to change. He had everything he wanted, or so he thought. He was a happy cub who was completely estranged from conflict and had yet to see the darker side of school life.
One morning…that would all change. Xavier got up like every other morning. His mother constantly had to remind him despite the alarm doing so only minutes earlier. The boy groaned as he eased himself out of bed. The brazen sunlight blasted through the blinds covering his window. He squinted his eyes and eased himself out of bed. The cub had no desire to school today but knew his parents wouldn't just let him stay home.
Xavier lurched himself slowly out of his room. Despite having everything in life, there just seemed to be something missing. It was almost as if he was living an empty shell of existence. The chipmunk made his way to the kitchen. His father and mother were already there and had made breakfast for him. He said nothing to them as he was still groggy from sleep. They had made him pastries and he began to munch on them.
His father turned around and noticed he had arrived. "Ready for your test today, champ?"
"I guess." Xavier hadn't bothered to study as he didn't see a need to.
The man stared at his son intently. "You don't need to give me attitude, mister."
"I wasn't giving you attitude…jeez. I'm just tired, okay?" The boy rolled his eyes and hoped the older male wouldn't see it.
The father touched his back. "It's Monday…you had the entire weekend to rest and relax. You practiced instead and that's great but it's about time you took your school responsibilities more seriously. Things don't get easier when you're older."
"Yeah, yeah…whatever. I'll try." The cub figured this was what his father wanted to hear.
The older male started walking out of the kitchen behind his son. "I hope you're serious for once. I've heard this song and dance before."
Xavier went quiet after that. His mother still had said nothing to him. She was just as upset at him as his father but was tired of repeating herself. The mother kissed him on the head as she approached him.
"Honey, we just think you're better than this. You're so much better than just getting by. Please give what we said some thought. I promise you won't regret it." The woman headed out of the kitchen as she needed to go to work as well.
The chipmunk boy huffed at them. This wasn't the first time he'd gotten this lecture. Far from it. In one ear…out the other, it went just as every conversation in the past. His mind was still focused on the task at hand. He had lacrosse practice today and there was supposed to be a big kickball event held during gym class. Xavier wanted to show off and be the star player, just as he imagined himself countless times in the past.
Xavier finished off the rest of the meal slowly. He wasn't looking forward to school today., even despite the big kickball event The test was in his least favorite subject, math. It was the only subject that he had to try and even still had only got by. It was part of the reason he didn't try anything else. The chipmunk boy picked up his plate and left it in the sink for later, telling himself that he'd clean it when he got home.
He went back to his room and got changed into his school uniform. The boy hated nothing more than his school uniform. It was stiff and stuffy. No matter how much he wore it and broke it in, it just remained tight and uncomfortable. Xavier grumbled as he put on the clothing. Once he was changed, he grabbed his bag from the hook on the wall and made his way out the hall. The chipmunk put his shoes on and headed out the door.
The chipmunk cub locked the door and sighed. Normally his parents would take him to school but they had become less willing with their schedule changes. As such he'd been walking because he didn't want to take the bus. The boy put his hands into his pockets and began heading down the street towards the school. It took him a little over half an hour to walk to school, but he didn't care as the alternative was not to his liking.
Once he arrived at school, he looked at the door with disdain. The front of the building was already open for students to go inside but many of them were still outside to avoid just that. He began walking around in search of some of his friends. Just about all of the cubs and teens waved to him as he passed. Xavier was a member of the popular crowd, granted this status by his place on the school Lacrosse team.
Xavier pushed his way passed them when they tried to greet him. He simply wasn't in the mood for his many fans today. He wanted to see his girlfriend…and whichever of his friends were around that day. He made his way to the back of the school at the rear of the cafeteria. A large oak tree overlooked the area and made some of it shady. Some of the cubs he knew usually hung around there and he hoped they would be there today.
Sure enough, he found his supposed girlfriend Gina there with Cody. The fox girl was hanging all over Cody again. Seeing this from afar made Xavier grumble a bit. He believed that he had a chance with the girl but she was interested instead in the forward of the hockey team. The moment she saw him approach, she stopped hanging on the bigger boy. Quickly she waved over the chipmunk cub in hopes he hadn't seen anything.
"How goes it, Xavier?" She asked the moment he was in a personal space with them.
The rodent forced a smile. "Fine. How about you?"
"Another day…I can't believe we have another lame test today…why can't they just stop giving them to us?" The fox whined in a high-pitched voice.
The bigger boy shrugged. "I dunno. I'm tired of all these tests though. It's like they give us one every day…"
In actuality, the school limited the amount of tests they got, unless the students were in advanced classes.
"I know right….bleh." She stuck out her tongue to show her obvious disgust.
Xavier put himself between Cody and Gina. "So…Gina…Are you coming to practice today?"
"Sorry, Xavier. I have plans already. I can't come today." The vulpine girl had already promised to go to the hockey practice to watch Cody.
The brown-furred cub frowned. "But you promised last time…"
"I know but my plans changed sorry…Look let's try again next time. I need to get going…Come on Cody." She broke away from Xavier and took the other boy with her.
Gina was something of a fictional relationship for young Xavier. He had fashioned it in his mind that she was his girlfriend. He liked her…or at least he thought he did. He had gone through several "girlfriends" in the past and none of them had worked out. The chipmunk hoped she would be different and had convinced himself of that. Yet despite all the signs…he continued to go through the motions of another failed so-called relationship.
Xavier watched the two walk away. They didn't hold hands but he was still jealous of Cody. He had the girl of his dreams. All he wanted was at least one who worked out. He was tired of going through girls like water. He wanted at least one to last longer than a month, figuring it would solve the innate emptiness he experienced. He sighed as he picked himself up from the tree and made his way inside the building.
The rodent entered the building and immediately his sense of smell was assaulted by the smell of waxed linoleum. He knew the administration of the building scheduled cleaning on the weekend but there was no escaping the insufferable odor of was. He pinched his nose but figured he'd eventually have to give in to putting up with it just as he had every week in the past since he'd started there. He began shuffling his way down the hall, not sure what he wanted to do before classes.
He was making his way towards his first class since he hadn't passed by any of his friends through the hallway. As he was passing by the corner that passed to the hall of his first class, he overheard a ruckus. The sound of the loud metallic thump of a locker being hit resonated in his ear. Xavier stopped and looked down the hall opposite the one he was in. A large cow teen
was holding up what appeared to be a white fox boy in his hands.
Until this point, Xavier had never seen bullying in person. He'd been completely naïve that it was happening. Sure, he heard about it but he never experienced it. The chipmunk boy couldn't help but look down the hall toward what was happening. He watched with interest as the small fox wiggled out of the other's grip and tripped the bigger teen with ease. The fox ran right past him without a word.
Xavier couldn't help but feel bad for the boy. He felt guilty that the other cub had to put up with it. A thought occurred to him….maybe he could help but as soon as he wanted to the fox kit was nowhere to be seen. The chipmunk figured it had to be a one-off. It surely wouldn't happen again, or so he told himself so that his concern was laid to rest. He returned the way he came to go about his day like normal.
The rodent made his way to his first class. Today it was Science so he didn't have to worry about the test for at least the first hour. Though Science was no easier for him than math was. Another combination of mysteries and concepts that he wholly didn't understand. He was glad that one of his best friends, Mike, was in this class. The otter boy was a member of the journalism club and the two had a symbiotic friendship where Xavier gave his best friend all of the inside gossip he knew about the Lacrosse team.
Mike was always one of the last ones in the class. He was more interested in socializing than anything academic. His friends knew him as something of someone who spread rumors but Xavier felt like he could tell him most things without it getting out of hand. The otter walked into class, carrying the usual notebook in which he wrote down his news notes. The notebook was littered with stories that he'd published in the past and had seen better days.
"Hey, Mike. How are you?" Xavier welcomed him to sit next to him since no one else had.
The otter cub sat down at the same table. "I'm alright. Slow weekend but whatever. You?"
"Fine. My parents are angry at me again so dealing with them pestering me…" The smaller cub sighed deeply.
Mike touched his shoulder. "Same problem I guess? Why do they care so much? I mean…it's not like your failing or whatever."
"No…I'm not. You think they'd be proud of me for that but all they want is more. I don't want to study. I just want to play Lacrosse." The rodent frowned a bit.
The bigger boy hesitated before answering. "I'm sure it will be fine…just relax. You have more important things to worry about like Gina…and Lacrosse."
"I know…right? Just leave me be for crying out loud." Xavier forced a laugh.
The class started before long with them being given an assignment about ionic charges. A rather simple concept but one that neither of them understood well enough to grasp. Still, they worked together on the assignment together and made progress on it by guessing most of the answers. Of course, when they turned it in…they were given a failing grade. It wasn't the first time Xavier had gotten such a poor grade on something but each time he did so made him even more distraught with his situation.
The teacher dismissed the class before long. The chipmunk took the paper and threw it away, figuring his parents would never see it. Little did he know, the teacher had already emailed them and he was in for a surprise when he got home. The rodent continued to his next class which was math. The much-reviled test that he'd been abhorring the entire day awaited for him. He went as slow as possible and came up with a plan to delay the inevitable.
Xavier decided to play it sick and report to the clinic in hopes it would get him out of class long enough to avoid the test. He made his way down the hall and to the administrative part of the building. The clinic was right next to the front office and a full-time nurse was staffed there for when the students got sick or hurt. The chipmunk hurried his pace so that he wasn't seen by the teacher who was in charge of his math class.
The rodent made his way to the clinic and was greeted by the fur at the front desk. The person who catered to the front desk was a younger Bengal tiger. The woman was an intern from a local hospital. She had hopes of being a nurse or a doctor but didn't yet have the credentials to practice or assist in medicine just yet. The young woman looked over the counter as the chipmunk boy entered the office.
"How can I help you?" She looked at him closely as if to determine if something was wrong with him.
Xavier held his stomach tightly. "I'm not feeling well. I was wondering if I could see the school nurse."
"Of course, go right on in." The woman pointed over to an empty examination room.
The chipmunk cub made his way inside. The room smelled of disinfectant of rubbing alcohol. He sat down on one of the hard seats on the side of the room and folded his hands patiently. It was a few minutes before one of the school nurses showed up. The older male gopher entered the room, loudly chewing on a piece of bubble gum. The rodent looked over at him as he entered into the room.
"Cate says you're not feeling well? Care to explain the symptoms?" The grey-furred man approached the boy.
The brown-furred cub gripped his chest again. "I feel like I'm going to hurl."
"I see…so upset stomach? Anything else?" He tapped his clipboard with a pen he was carrying.
The younger male shook his head. "No."
"Take this…this should settle you down." The gopher headed over to a medicine cabinet and handed over two pink pills to the boy.
Xavier murmured a bit. "Thanks?"
"Here is your pass…now back to class with you." The older male handed him a hall pass before leaving the room.
The Bengal tiger soon returned to retrieve him from the waiting room. Xavier knew his façade was over with and began the journey back to the classroom. He tossed the pills since he wasn't feeling badly. Once he was back at the door to his math class, he sighed. He fingered the hall pass in his hand before pushing his way in. The teacher asked for it and proceeded to wave him on.
Of course, he hadn't been gone long enough to get him out of the test. The teacher gave him the same test, telling him he could stay longer if he needed it. But Xavier knew he wouldn't need long to finish it. He sighed and took the paper, looking at it once over. Math was one of those things he didn't understand. The numbers on the paper may as well have been Greek. He began to go through the motions of taking the test.
He worked through the ones that he understood. The first few were simple enough that he could manage. After all the first questions on the test were always review. However, after the first five, he began to struggle. He tried a few times over to figure it out. He remembered none of the equations for them and even the notes they were given as a "cheat sheet" were not enough to help him. So…he did what he could and tried his best to guess everything he didn't understand.
It didn't take him very long to finish the test. Having nearly half the class left when he was done. Of course, he waited until the end to turn it in. He was ashamed that he hadn't done better, waiting until the very end to turn it in. When he finally did he couldn't help but say "Sorry" to the teacher, knowing full well he probably wouldn't do well. Xavier was about to walk out of the class until he was stopped by the teacher.
"Hang on…" He said before crumpling the paper into a nearby garbage.
The chipmunk looped at him in disbelief. "Why did you do that?"
"Because I can. You will retake this next week. Don't make me regret it." The man sat back in his chair seeming rather relaxed and easygoing.
"Thank you! You won't regret this." Xavier bowed to him before making his way out of the room.
He felt much better now. As if there had been a shift in his day. His mood much improved compared to the last hour or so. Yet part of him believed that there was no way to fix what was broken. In his mind he was no student…he wasn't smart. It just wasn't meant to be. He decided it was an issue that could be dealt with later. The chipmunk boy sighed in relief as he continued his day like nothing had even happened.
Lunch had arrived before he knew it. Xavier was greatly looking forward to it as the day had seemed like it was moving along at a snail's pace. The chipmunk headed out of his literacy class with great anticipation. The usual crush of students made it difficult to move through the hallways. He followed along with the crowd as he didn't have the choice to do otherwise. His mind was focused on what the cafeteria might be offering for food and nothing else.
He made his way through the hallways and into the cafeteria. Already the place was buzzing with activity. The first-year students were already sitting down as the lunch schedule was staggered so that each group of students didn't have to wait as long as they might have otherwise. The chipmunk looked around the cafeteria, panning his head around to see if there was anyone he knew around.
Many of the lunch tables were quickly emptying. There were no assigned seats for lunch so the students could sit wherever they liked. Xavier didn't see anyone he knew sitting down yet and figured that he would have to find his friends once he grabbed his food. He waited in line as it filtered down the queue. The rodent paid no attention to anyone around him, despite a few girls trying to come chat him up as they often did.
The chipmunk grabbed a tray and made it down the serving line. The same elderly husky woman was behind the counter and she was trying to manage the constant depletion of food. He could see she was hurried but said nothing to her as it was a problem he didn't fully understand. Xavier grabbed his food and a small carton of juice at the end of the serving station. By the time he
exited the line, he saw that the tables had re-filed with a good amount of students.
Xavier stopped to look around again. He saw some of his friends who played on the Lacrosse team with him at one of the tables. The brown-furred cub made his way over towards them. On his way over he happened to pass by a half-empty table with cubs filling one half of it and a single cub sitting by themselves at the end of it. The rodent couldn't help but look over at them. It appeared to be the white fox boy from earlier and it made Xavier stop in his tracks.
Thoughts began to fill his mind; he began to wonder who the boy was. Did he have friends? Why was he sitting alone? All of these questions began to float around in his head. He wondered if it would be okay to join him. Soon one of his friends from the Lacrosse team called him over. Xavier turned his attention to the other table and began to walk to it. Telling himself that certainly, someone would join the fox cub at his table.
The rodent made his way over to the table where some of the Lacrosse team was sitting. The deer boy named Buck patted him on the shoulder as Xavier joined them. The rest of the crew smiled at him as he sat down amongst the squad.
"You ready for practice after school today, Xae?" The deer chomped on the salad in front of him.
The chipmunk nodded. "Yeah, of course. Next game is against the Mandrakes isn't it?"
"Yeah. The valley squad that beat our pants off last year when they played us." Buck shrugged as the loss didn't bother him as much as it had in the past.
Xavier shook his head. "Don't worry….I don't think they'll beat us this year. I've been practicing extra hard to get better."
"I mean…you're the best player on the team so I don't think you have anything to worry about." The deer swallowed his food before speaking.
The rodent shrugged. "It's a team game though. Everyone needs to participate. Besides…Carter isn't bad either."
The brown-furred cub soon turned his attention to his food. The cafeteria food was by no means great but he knew it was better warm than cold. He began eating it and occasionally tilted his head back to look over his head. Xavier noticed that the fox boy was still alone. The kit's face was stuffed in a book, seeming unconcerned with the people around him. The noise did not seem to bother him that much.
Xavier's attention was soon turned in front of him to Carter, who had thrown a small morsel of food at him to get his attention. Carter was the biggest kid on the squad and was the best player on the defensive side of the squad. He was the only one who could defend Xavier when they had scrimmages, though the rodent still had the upper hand on him in terms of speed. The black bear smirked at him as the chipmunk wiped the small bit of smashed pea from his face.
"You seem distracted today. What's up?" The bigger boy couldn't help but notice his teammate had been turned around for a bit.
Xavier shrugged. "Nothing…I just noticed that the white fox boy was sitting alone. Who is he?"
"Oh…the nerd? Yeah, no one hangs out with him. He has no friends from what I hear." The bear bellowed with pride as if he was happy about it.
The rodent frowned a bit. "That sucks. No one deserves to have no friends."
"Why? He's a nerd. He doesn't deserve friends. They are all the same…they think they are better than everyone else just because they are smart." Carter scowled at the other boy.
The chipmunk looked back behind him again. "Oh come on…he can't be that bad."
"Psah…that's what you think. Hanging out with nerds is not cool…" The black bear seemed disgusted that the other boy was even talking about it.
Xavier turned back around. "I guess"
The rodent had wanted to end the conversation without any conflict. Carer was one of those kids who was quick to anger. He was known for being overly assertive and at some points even aggressive. The bear had gotten them more than their fair share of penalties because of it. Xavier decided to not bring it up again that day to diffuse the situation. Occasionally his mind drifted to the fox cub as he felt bad for him.
The rest of lunch went by normally for him. The conversation among the Lacrosse team members was mostly about practice and the upcoming game. Xavier soon fell back into old habits of joining them in trash-talking whatever they brought up. But when Carter tried to trash-talk the "nerd", Xavier remained silent. He was not as willing to accept this as the other boys were and just put up with it without a word.
When the final bell for lunch rang, the members of the Lacrosse team began to disperse. Xavier purposely stayed behind in hopes of catching the white fox cub. After his friends were gone, he panned around the room to see if the fox had remained. Yet there were no signs of him. He wished he had followed him instead but that didn't matter now. The rodent told himself that next time he would try and befriend the fox kit.
Xavier made his way out of the lunch room and back into the halls. The small corridors were crushed with students going the same way he was. The chipmunk had to pick up his pace as he had left a bit later than usual. Gym was the last class of the day and the only one he ever looked forward to. He weaved his way through the traffic and made his way towards the school's gymnasium where the class was held.
The rodent made his way through the large metal doors and into the basketball court that led to the school locker room. Entering into it, he could hear the muffled chatter of students socializing. Most of the conversations he couldn't hear out. Inside he passed by an Eskimo dog who was hanging out with a group of his friends. The four of them were already dressed and talking in a hushed tone.
The rodent was not interested in whatever they were talking about so he made his way past them without a second thought. Xavier found his way to the back of the locker room as he assumed most of the front lockers had already been taken. The cub found an open locker and took off his bag in preparation to change. He was minding his own business until he overheard a ruckus nearby.
He saw the familiar frame of Carter in the distance. His black-furred and imposing figure stood over another figure he didn't quite recognize. He watched as the black bear picked up the smaller silhouette and held them up against the wall. Xavier had never seen the other boy bully anyone before so this was a new behavior for him. The chipmunk watched for a moment as the bigger boy raised one of his fists, seemingly to hit the other boy.
Xavier sprinted, telling himself he wasn't about to let whoever it was get hurt. He knew he couldn't simply overpower Carter but figured he'd have enough leverage on the team to get him to stop. The chipmunk ran as fast as he could, getting there just in time to reach from behind to grab the larger boy's arm and hold it back. Carter looked back, seeming surprised to find Xavier standing up for the boy in his arms.
"Put him down." Xavier stared into the bear's eyes seeming quite serious in defense of the smaller cub.
The bigger cub stared at him back. "Or what? Is this kid a friend of yours?"
"No. But that's beside the point. You don't need to act like a jerk to people. Now put him down or I will get you kicked off the team." The chipmunk wasn't sure he could do that but it sounded like a good enough threat to him.
Carter thought about it a second before putting the captive boy on the ground. "You're lucky I like you, Xae…"
The bear gave the rodent a stare before walking away. He simply didn't understand the problem but he knew Xavier was important enough to the coach that he'd likely get his way. Besides…this wasn't the first time Carter had been getting into it with random cubs, it was just the first time he'd been caught by the chipmunk.
"You alright?" Xavier asked the kitten boy who looked at him with uncertainty in his eyes.
The cat straightened up his shirt. "Uh…huh."
Xavier got a good look at the boy. By the looks of it, he was younger but the chipmunk couldn't be certain.
"Don't worry…he won't bother you again." The rodent felt confident that Carter wouldn't cause any more problems as he didn't think his friend was a bad person despite what he just witnessed only moments ago.
The younger boy smiled meekly. "Thanks."
The brown-furred cub watched as the other boy, not worried about him as much anymore. Once he was away, Xavier walked back toward his locker. Most of the other students were finishing up changing into their gym clothes and some of them were starting to head out. Xavier picked up the pace as he didn't want to be left out. As he was making his way back into the rear portion of the locker room, he passed by someone who looked somewhat familiar to him.
The white fox boy stood in front of him. Still completely isolated from anyone else and seems unconcerned about it. Xavier contemplated talking to him but just as he had decided to do so, the arctic fox kit headed out in the opposite direction. The thought occurred to Xavier that perhaps he just wanted to be left alone. Still…he told himself that he would talk to this cub no matter the cost by the day's end.
Xavier went ahead and changed his school uniform into his gym clothes. Immediately he felt better as he wasn't a fan of the stuffy and often stiff clothing that the school had assigned the students as uniforms. Yet, he put up with it as all his classmates did. Once he was changed, he made his way out to back to the basketball court. There it was announced that the cubs would be playing kickball by the two coaches.
An uproarious loud cheer was shared amongst the small crowd of cubs. Kickball was one of those activities that was immensely popular compared to some of the other things they were asked to do. Xavier was indifferent to it as it was far from one of his favorite sports,
though he knew it was better than just running laps or doing simple exercises. The cubs were sent outside and told to gather near the soccer field.
The chipmunk followed with the crush of students. They all had no patience to get outside which made the whole process take longer than it should have otherwise. Xavier waited until most of them were outside before bothering to get in the line. He knew it didn't matter and wasn't nearly as rushed about it. Once the cubs were all outside in the field, they were split off into groups of two with Xavier going on defense for the first round of kicks.
The brown-furred boy made his way into the middle part of the soccer field. One of the coaches set up make-shift bases since the baseball field was being used by the younger students for their activity. Xavier took the outfield since none of the other cubs had taken it and he figured he could make up for any mistakes that might be had. The chipmunk knew he was more athletic than most cubs his age but he didn't make a big deal about it.
The offensive team soon came up to kick. Xavier readied himself for whoever might come to the plate to take the mound. The first cub was Carter, who he was more than eager to get out. Already in his mind, the chipmunk was planning a grand scheme to catch the ball. The pitcher soon let out the ball with the bear kicking it as hard as he could. The rodent watched it as it sailed over him, hoping it would come to him.
Yet the ball soared right over him and further into the outfield. The two cubs who were out there weren't prepared and had to scramble for it. By the time they got the ball, Carter had already hit second base. They sent the ball back in and the bear had safely gotten to third. Xavier huffed as he wanted to teach him a lesson, even if it wasn't the best time to do it. He decided that he would have to make it happen some other way.
The next two kickers didn't go nearly as well with of them striking out and the other being caught by Xavier himself. The final out was at hand with Carter still at third base and now leading heavily off the base. The pitcher realized this and quickly reeled the ball over towards third base. Carter raced forward and tried to steal home. Xavier ran forward and grabbed the ball, taking it upon himself to get the other cub out.
The chipmunk rushed forward before releasing the ball from his hand. The ball hit Carter square on the shoulder just as he hit home plate. The coach declared him out with a loud cheer from the defensive side of the players. The coach blew the whistle before announcing the switch of sides. Carter complained to her but she dismissed him and ignored him as he continued to whine about it. Xavier smirked at him before making his way to the benches to wait his turn to kick.
The rodent didn't get to kick until three other cubs went. One of them got out through fouls and another struck out with the third scoring a single base. Xavier was tapped on the shoulder by one of the other coaches who was managing the benches. He nodded to her and made his way to the plate. He stood right at the plate waiting for the ball to be thrown. The moment it came his way, he kicked it as far as he could.
The ball soared high and far, going a bit beyond what had been designated as a home run. Xavier smiled at it but did not attempt to gloat. The other team watched as he and the other cub made their rounds around each of the bases. Their team was now on top with one out to go. Unfortunately, the next kicker wasn't so fortunate and they were returned to the outfield before long. But for Xavier…he was still riding high and it didn't matter as he was having fun.
The opposing team soon returned to the benches. Xavier watched as the first ball was hit just short of a home run with the kicker getting to third place before being stopped. The white fox boy from earlier…soon approached the plate. The chipmunk hoped he would do something, even telling himself that he wouldn't try to defend him. After all the arctic fox had a rough day and needed something to cheer about.
Xavier looked on with interest as the fox kit missed the first ball entirely. He figured the boy couldn't have been that athletic…since he'd been pinned as a nerd. He hoped that at least he'd get lucky and get at least one base. The next ball soon was released and the fox kit managed to kick it but this time he managed a foul. He had at least one more try and the chipmunk continued to hope it would work out.
The pitcher let the ball go again. The fox hit the ball square in the center of it. The chipmunk watched as it soared into the outfield and fell just short of the members of his team getting it. Xavier smiled a bit and cheered him on in his mind. He watched as the ball was thrown forward with the fox kit rounding first base. The rodent saw that the Eskimo dog he walked past earlier had caught the ball.
The dog soon let the ball go as fast as hard as he could muster. The thing soared through the air streaming right toward the white fox, and hitting him right in the head. The arctic fox immediately hit the floor. A few gasps were heard as one of the coaches came running out to the outfield. The little fox boy was lying motionless, a bit of blood pouring from his nose. The coach came to check on him, touching the small fox boy on the side and pointing at the other coach to help him with the boy who had thrown the ball.
The other coach soon assailed the Eskimo Dog, taking him by his hand seemingly to the office. Some of the cubs looked on in fear, others looked on in awe, and others chuckled in a hushed tone. The whole atmosphere of the game had changed in that instance. Xavier immediately felt a sense of guilt as he watched the fox boy as he was picked up in the coach's arm. His body was still motionless and some red stain on the bottom of his chin.
The coach blew her whistle, handing off the small fox cub to school security who had already been alerted to take him to the clinic. She soon returned to the game at hand. Her face was one of disbelief. The woman wasn't certain if the whole thing was intentional or not but it was out of her hand now. She tried to manage the game like nothing had ever happened and the cubs soon responded in kind, but Xavier wanted no part of it and asked to no longer participate to see if he could go check on the fox boy.
Of course, she allowed him. She assumed he was a friend of the fox and wasn't about to deny him whatever he was feeling. Xavier returned to the locker room to grab his things as he was told the class was almost over anyway. He walked as quickly as he could, unconcerned about changing or anything else of the sort. He figured he was probably sweaty and smelt bad, as he often did when he played hard but none of it mattered now.
Xavier had been to the clinic before and knew where it was. He treaded his way down the hall to where it was. The entire time his mind was on what had happened, and how he could have prevented it from happening. He felt a small amount of guilt for it all. After all, he had seen the Eskimo Dog talking about something with his friends. The chipmunk was all but certain the whole thing was planned.
The rodent decided he would confront the Eskimo dog later, but for now, he just wanted to check on the fox boy. He continued into the clinic. The smell of rubbing alcohol was immediately obvious the moment he entered it. Xavier asked where the fox boy was since he didn't yet know his name. Fortunately for him, the boy in question was one of the only ones who had been brought there that afternoon.
The brown-furred boy took a deep breath and made his way inside. Xavier saw one cub standing next to the table holding the white fox cub's hand in his own. Looking at him the other cub also appeared to be a younger fox and he assumed that he had to be the other's brother. The chipmunk approached him and the smaller boy immediately turned his head to take notice of the wayward visitor. Suddenly Xavier felt very awkward about being there…but he needed to be certain the boy was alright.
The chipmunk stepped to the side of the table and introduced himself and his purpose to the other boys. And so…it came to be. Xavier met the crestfallen cub who would later become much more than he ever anticipated. A coincidence originating from the loneliness of one boy…and the thoughtfulness of another. A chance meeting…all stemmed from unfortunate circumstances. An incident that would change the course of their lives as they knew it.
