“Oh shit, oh shit!” I exclaimed as I bolt out of the bed for the morning. My alarm clock had gone off that’s for sure because the noise had stopped but after hitting the off button I had fallen back asleep. I woke again to see the clock next to my bed blinked 6:45 a.m. at me. Fuck I’m going to bed late if I don’t get my ass in gear. This is not how I wanted to start the school week.
Quickly I grab the furbrush off my dresser and attempt to take care of the matted parts of my fur from the night’s sleep. Gah, why does my fur have to tangle so damn much? Maybe I should look about getting it cut at some point. Just shorten the length. Damn it! I don’t have time to be thinking about this right now.
“I hate waking up late,” I say to myself reaching into the closet to grab my blue jeans.
I slip on the pants quickly and get them buttoned before grabbing a favorite black shirt. Sure it’s got a few holes here and there from many years of wear and tear but I love it none the less. Nothing says stay away like a green biohazard sign on the front of a shirt. Next to find my shoes and pack before I’m late to school.
The shoes decided at some point to hide under my bed but at least my pack was right by my bedroom door. Once both things are on my person I’m heading down the stairs and out the door before my mom can say good morning.
“Sorry mom, running late,” I say running out the front door.
I guess by now an introduction might be good. I’m Jackson, a border collie with an attitude and a sneaky streak a mile wide. I’m not much of an honor student in my high school. I prefer to just coast on by in my classes with a grade just good enough to get through and not worry about much else. It is senior year for me and the end of my high school life is so close that I can taste it.
I slow my running to a brisk walk when I feel that I won’t be running late to school anymore. The spring air feels great right now. Not too hot or too cold for my liking so the walk to school is more enjoyable than in winter when the temperature drops to ungodly cold. That’s the time I’m thankful for my thick fur unlike this morning with the tangles and such.
As I’m walking I see my friend ahead of me waiting like he always does. William, a small brown and white speckled mouse, waves to me as I walk up. He’s wearing his favorite short-alls which always tends to make him look younger than his actual age of eighteen.
“Hey!” He shouts when I get within ear shot. “You’re late again. Hurry up Two-Tone!”
Ugh, Two-Tone. William’s favorite name for me when he’s annoyed with something I did or didn’t do. I can only imagine that it’s because I’m running maybe one or two minute late. Like that’s going to kill our time on getting to school.
“Calm you tail, Sir William.” I shoot back using my pet name for him when he acts all high and mighty. “We’ll get to school in plenty of time. I’m like maybe one or two minutes behind. So there’s nothing to worry your cute little head about. Now let’s get a move on before we do run late. I’d rather avoid another detention so close to the end of school.”
We walked in silence for a couple of minutes before William’s eyes turned up to look at me. There was something going on in this boy’s head but I couldn’t figure it out. Usually I can when it comes to William. He’s been my friend since pre-school and he’s reads like an open book. Wearing your heart on his sleeve as they say, but something about the look in his eyes confused me.
“Something up?” I asked still walking ahead but focusing on William.
“You know we have that big test in Calc this week, right?” He asked raising his brow.
Fuck! I knew I had forgotten something about this week. Calculus was one of my worst subjects. I was barely skirting by with a C- in this class and if I tank or got a low grade on the test I’d be looking at failing the course. I needed this class to graduate without having to take a summer class and delay my graduation. Now my brain was running a mile a minute with the possibility of me failing the class and screwing up my life after high school.
“Shit!” I exclaimed once my brain slowed down. “I totally forgot. Please tell me you got notes or something I can look over and study with. I really need to pass this class or I can’t graduate on time.”
My mouse friend shook his head and shrugged. This was his dismissal and a way of telling me that he didn’t have notes or anything for the class. The little snot had all the knowledge in his head and didn’t need to write down notes in order to remember formulas and such. It annoyed me to no end that he could do that and I barely took enough to pass the class. Guess being lazy doesn’t pay off in the end sometimes.
“Well, there is something you might be able to do,” William said stopping and placing his paw on his chin. “I know Mr. Greek leaves a good deal of his paperwork at his desk in the classroom. What if you were to steal the answer sheet to the test and only get enough of the work right on the test to make it look like you studied but didn’t know the answers beforehand? It’s a long shot but if you can sneak into the school at night you might get lucky enough to grab the answer sheet and copy down the answers and formulas.”
This mouse is a genius in the making or a criminal mastermind biding his time. Either way I don’t care because this is something that I could possibly do. I mean I’m plenty sneak as is with some of the pranks I pull when I’m at school. I’ve never gotten caught. So maybe I could sneak in after hours and copy down the answer sheet to the test. Not like I couldn’t mess up on a few of the questions to throw him off my trail. This will be perfect. I just need to get a plan together and choose a night to do it before the test comes around on Friday.
“You are a freaking genius, William!” I snatch my friend off the ground and hug him tight. “You’ve just saved my ass so hard right now! I can just copy the answer sheet and call it good from there, haha.”
“Don’t get too cocky,” William said as I placed him back on his feet. “You’ve almost been caught before pulling pranks. If you blow this I don’t know what the school will do to you. Let alone what Mr. Greek might do.”
Mr. Greek is a sea otter and has the grouchy attitude of a badge. He knows how to teach a class and can keep everyone quite with just a stare. He’s been teaching for a long time from what I can tell and from what he says. No one in his class dares talk a cross word about the old geezer, at least in his presence.
Soon the walk to school ends. The big sprawling single level building looks inviting with the well-kept lawn and flower beds. The clock town just to the side of the building chimes twice with four tones each signaling 7:30 a.m. We arrived with ten minutes to spare before classes start. Now the day is about to begin.
