FFFFFWWWWWOOOOOOPPPPP!!!
Zak was quickly shaken awake by the sound of his blinds shooting up. His eyes snapped shut as the natural sunlight shot in.
“So are you going to cooperate? Or do I have to drag you out again?” A female voice towered over him.
“I’m awake…” Zak grumbled, forcing his eyes to open as he gazed up at his twin sister standing over him.
“Y’know if you’d just get an alarm clock, we wouldn’t have to do this every morning,” said Kira.
“You’re a lot more pleasant than an alarm clock though,” Zak said, rolling over in his bed. Kira gave him a playful flick on his ear as she turned to leave.
Zak groaned as he forced himself to sit up in bed, rubbing his eyes. He was never a morning person, especially when he had to wake up for school.
A brief shower, a brushing of his teeth, and a change of clothes, and he was a bit more awake. A quick breakfast, and the two foxes were on their way to the bus stop.
“Let me guess, you’re staying after school again today for another club?” said Zak.
“I keep telling you that you don’t have to wait up for me,” said Kira.
“I know, but I don’t like you walking home by yourself,” said Zak.
“Trying to be my protector or something?” Kira said smirking at him. “I can look out for myself.”
Zak just rolled his eyes as the two arrived at the bus stop. There were several other furs around waiting as well. Only notable one was a certain bunny who had fallen asleep lying against a tree, dressed more like he was ready for a day at the beach than a day at school.
“What do you think? Wake him up or leave him here?” Zak asked.
“Either he sleeps here or he sleeps in class. I don’t see the difference,” said Kira.
Zak smirked, and then turned his attention back to the sleeping bunny. “Jake?” he gave him a slight nudge with his foot. No response. “Jake!” he shook him slightly. He snorted slightly in his sleep, but didn’t wake. “Wake up dumbass!” A slight kick to his side did the trick as the bunny shot awake.
“Ngh! What?” Jake mumbled as he rubbed his eyes.
“C’mon, you’re gonna miss the bus,” said Zak helping him up. “You can sleep in class.”
Jake moaned as he stood up, rubbing his eyes. “Whatever. It’s all bullshit anyways…”
“Do you ever worry about how you’re going to get into college if you sleep through all your classes?” said Kira.
“I dunno. Do you ever worry you spend too much time worrying about my business?” said Jake, sticking his tongue out at her.
“Clearly you spend too much time dreaming,” said Kira.
Eventually the bus pulled up to let them on. Zak took a seat next to another friend, Jesse. A deer who had his face buried in a video game. “Hey! You still with us there?” Zak said waving his hand in front of his face.
“Oh… hey Zak,” Jesse said, jumping a bit from the sudden surprise, but forcing a small smile.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to distract you,” said Zak. “What are you playing?”
“Alien Hunters, just got it last night,” said Jesse.
“What?! That came out months ago?” a voice came from behind them. They both looked up to see Jake peeking over the back of the seat.
“I can’t afford these things when they’re new!” Jesse said, his face starting to turn slightly red.
“Here, give me that, I can show you a secret,” said Jake, reaching for the game console.
“No! You’ll mess me up!” Jesse yelled, trying to pull away from Jake.
“Jake, sit down, will you?” said Zak.
“Oh what? Are you gonna kick me again?” Jake said sarcastically, right before a sudden bump in the road sent him tumbling to the floor.
“No, just figured you’d forgotten about the pothole again,” said Zak smirking as Jesse let out a small chuckle.
“I sat in gum!” Jake whined as he tried to pick himself up.
The rest of the ride was largely uneventful. Eventually they arrived in front of the school. Jesse quickly jumped off, rushing towards where kids who got dropped off were arriving. Zak sighed as he watched him rush up to a golden furred dog, almost like a little kid to his mother.
“Leave it alone Zak,” Kira said, walking up from behind.
“I know, he’s just such a jerk,” said Zak, referring to the dog Jesse was talking to.
“Well he must have something redeeming, otherwise someone like Jesse isn’t even going to talk to him,” said Kira.
“I think someone has a crush!” said Jake, nudging Zak in the side as the three started to walk inside.
“It’s not like that,” said Zak, “Jesse’s my friend. I just worry about him.”
“Wait, are they even actually dating?” said Kira.
“Ha! That’s only the worst kept secret in the school,” Jake chuckled a bit. “Little Mr. scaredy hooves actually thinks nobody knows he’s gay!”
“You want to say that a little louder you idiot?” Zak snapped at Jake.
“Or what? Am I actually gonna get beaten up by a-”
“A what?” came another voice from behind Jake. The three turned around to see another of their friends, Gloria, standing behind Jake with a stern look on her face.
Jake gulped nervously. “By a… a… uh, I was just-”
“Leaving? Good idea,” said Gloria, smirking a bit.
“Right! That!” Jake smiled nervously, quickly scurrying away.
“You know he wasn’t actually going to say something offensive, right?” said Zak with a slight chuckle.
“I know, he’s just an idiot,” said Gloria with a smile. “But one of these days I’ll probably have to knock some sense into him.”
“When you do, make sure we’re there,” said Kira as the two of them walked off giving Zak a quick wave goodbye, their lockers being at the other end of the entrance hall.
Zak smiled at them and headed of towards his own locker. Once he arrived, his next-door locker neighbor, Roscoe, was already there rummaging through his own locker, looking not too pleased. “What’s eating you today?”
“Same thing that bugs me every morning,” said Roscoe, pulling out his shoe box from his locker.
“Why is it such a big deal? Everyone else stopped complaining about this last year,” said Zak, pulling his own shoe box out of his locker.
“Because I haven’t worn shoes since I was 10 years old!” said Roscoe as he opened the box, pulling out his white canvas school shoes with blue soles and toe tips, “then suddenly I’m getting in trouble for showing up barefoot, and then they’re making everyone wear these stupid things? That doesn’t seem fair.” He groaned as he slid his feet into them. “Gah, I hate this…“
“It’s not that bad,” said Zak as he slid his sandals off, replacing them with his own green soled shoes, leaving his sandals in the box. “Besides, I think they look cute on you.”
“Well I’m glad you think I’m cute, because I feel uncomfortable in these things,” said Roscoe, slamming his locker shut. “Barefooting is common enough that we don’t need this rule.”
“It’s a liability thing,” said Zak, placing his shoe box back into his locker. “We’re underage. Someone hurts their foot. Parent’s sue the school.”
“Pfft, my parents aren’t going to sue anybody on my behalf,” said Roscoe.
“You don’t know that,” said Zak.
“Yeah, I do,” said Roscoe. “Besides, what do they expect to happen to me? Is there a hallway with spikes sticking out of the floor or something? I can do this year round.”
“You were miserable all winter!” said Zak.
“Everyone’s miserable all winter. I’ll see you later,” said Roscoe as he started to walk away, but stopped as he heard Zak pull out his phone and take a picture of him. “What was that for?”
“The elusive shoed raccoon!” said Zak. “A nature documentary might pay good money for this.”
“Very funny,” Roscoe rolled his eyes and walked off.
The day progressed much like normal. And normal for Zak was attempting to stay awake during these classes. At least during second period, he had Kira sitting next to him to poke him awake.
“You’ve got to stop falling asleep in class. That’s Jake’s job,” said Kira, the two of them meeting up in the hallway after class.
“I know, but it’s just so boring!” Zak whined. “I can’t stay interested in this stuff!”
“Well then you can go to summer school with Jake this year,” said Kira. “You two will have fun!”
“Ugh, don’t even joke about that,” said Zak, flashing back to Jake’s horror stories of the one time he had summer school.
“I’m just saying it’s enough motivation for me to pay attention,” said Kira. “You gonna be ok until lunch?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Zak groaned through a yawn.
“Great, I’ll see you then,” said Kira, running off to her next class.
Zak managed to survive his next two classes before heading off to the cafeteria for lunch. The rest of his friends were already seated together. He took a seat between Kira and Gloria, seated across from Roscoe, Jesse, and Jake. Everything seemed fine until something Zak had been afraid of happened. The same golden furred dog from this morning had approached their table, and it was clear he intended to sit with them.
“Hi Sammy…” Zak sighed, not exactly masking his displeasure.
Sammy merely gave Zak a half-hearted nod, before looking down and turning his attention to Roscoe. “Move.”
“You didn’t say the magic word,” said Roscoe, not even looking up.
Sammy knelt down so he was a bit closer to Roscoe’s face. “Move you goddamned pile of fleas before I move you.”
Roscoe looked at him like he wasn’t sure to laugh or be intimidated, but in the end just decided to move over so Sammy could sit down. “What wonderful manners you have.”
“Um, is there a reason masterpiece theatre here has invited himself to our table?” said Jake, having been pushed to the edge of the bench they were on, since it had only been built to seat three.
“Normally I wouldn’t associate with any of you,” said Sammy as he sat down. “But I was actually invited by this fine boy here.” He motioned towards Jesse sitting next to him.
“Sorry, we can go get our own table,” Jesse said, his face turning bright red.
“It’s fine,” said Gloria. “I think we’d all just appreciate it if your new friend didn’t act so rude.”
“I prefer to call it brutal honesty,” said Sammy. “It’s better to be made aware of your flaws I think.”
“So I guess that makes you Mr. Perfect then?” said Kira.
“Well I wouldn’t go that far,” said Sammy, a smug grin forming on his face.
“Uh… Sam, maybe you should ease up?” Jesse said nervously.
“Heh, my apologies,” said Sammy. “I forget how… sensitive people can get.”
“I think it’s more you’re a pompous jerk,” Roscoe muttered under his breath.
Sammy quickly turned his head to look at Roscoe, “I’m sorry, did you say something?”
“Huh? Oh, I said you’re a pompous jerk,” Roscoe said, this time directly at Sammy, loud enough for everyone around them to hear.
“Alright, both of you just pipe down, alright?” Said Gloria, knowing things were about to get heated.
“I’m not going to be talked to like that!” Sammy snapped, “Especially not from a filthy scavenger. When was the last time you even had a shower?”
“I dunno, probably around the last time someone told you they enjoyed your company,” Roscoe said mockingly.
“I don’t have to take this from you!” Sammy stood up angrily.
“Not a surprise, I figured you were the pitch- OW!!!” Jake started to say something offensive, but was stopped by a swift kick to the shin from Kira.
“Sammy, please, let’s just find another table,” Jesse whined.
“I’ll have you know I have plenty of friends!” Sammy’s voice was now loud enough to be heard by a couple surrounding tables.
“Oh yeah, regular little fascists club you’ve probably got,” said Roscoe. “What happened to them anyways? Did they ditch you for not wearing a tux?”
“Alright, both of you just calm down!” Kira said, starting to raise her own voice, “You’re both starting to make a scene!”
“I’m perfectly calm,” said Roscoe, “Mr. fancy pants here just needs to shut his damn mouth!”
“I’ll stop when I get an apology!” said Sammy.
“Stop…” Jesse muttered as he buried his head on the table, covering his ears with his hands.
“Alright, I’m sorry you’re a total dickbag,” said Roscoe with a smug smile.
Sammy clenched his fist, but then relaxed and sat back down. “Fine,” he said with a calm voice. “And I’m sorry your parents didn’t want to raise you properly.”
Roscoe’s eyes widened. “You…” he seemed at a loss for words as his face twisted into a snarl. Without warning, he grabbed Sammy by his collar and reared his other fist back like he was going to punch him, but was stopped ad Jesse’s food tray collided with his face with enough force to knock him to the floor. The entire room went silent as Roscoe sat up, his face and shirt covered in food.
Jesse sat there frozen for what felt like an eternity before finally grabbing his bag and running off. Sammy stormed off in another direction, obviously disgusted by the food that had splashed onto his shirt. Zak sighed as he stood up and chase after Jesse as Jake went to help Roscoe.
“Dude, you ok?” Jake said as he helped Roscoe back onto the bench.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Roscoe, wiping some of the food off his face, licking some of it off his finger. “Not bad.”
Zak caught up to Jesse outside the cafeteria. “You alright?”
Jesse only managed to gently nod at him.
“I’ll be honest, I’ve never seen you blow up like that,” said Zak.
“Roscoe’s gonna hate me!” Jesse started to whimper like he was going to cry.
“No he’s not,” said Zak. “I’m pretty sure there are worse stains on his shirt.”
“But everyone’s fighting because of me…” Jesse managed to stammer out.
“I have to ask, what is the deal with you and Sammy?” said Zak.
“…I like him,” Jesse managed to say.
“Him? He’s a jerk!” said Zak.
“No he isn’t!” Jesse snapped back at him. “I mean… not all the time. Not to me anyways…”
Zak sighed. “Well, he didn’t have to start pushing our buttons like that.”
“But he is nice!” said Jesse, “You just need to give him a chance.”
“I’ll try,” said Zak, “I can’t make promises for everyone else.”
“Please!” Jesse pleaded with him. “I just… want him around…”
“If you can get him to chill out, it’ll be easier,” said Zak.
“…I’ll try,” Jesse eventually managed to say.
“Good,” said Zak. Jesse didn’t say another word as he ran off. Zak let out a sigh as he turned and saw Gloria had been standing behind them the entire time. “Let me guess, we’re in trouble for the fight?”
“Nope,” said Gloria, “we managed to convince the teachers that Roscoe tripped. But I don’t think everyone’s going to be ok with Sammy hanging around us.”
“I know,” Zak sighed as he sat down on a nearby stairwell to get out of the way of students heading to their next class. “But first impressions aren’t everything. We can at least give it a bit of time.”
“Or do you just want to be around Jesse?” said Gloria taking a seat next to him.
“Oh don’t you start too,” Zak groaned. “I don’t have a crush on Jesse.”
“I know, it’s just fun to tease you about it,” said Gloria.
Zak groaned. “It’s not like I’m the only person in this school who’s single.”
“Yeah, but you get so defensive about it,” said Gloria.
“Well why does it have to be such a big deal?” said Zak. “I just haven’t found anyone I want to date.”
Gloria paused for a moment, “…what about me?”
“Wait… really?” Zak was taken aback by this.
“I don’t know, it’s just something I thought about,” said Gloria. “It’s not a species thing, is it?”
“Oh come on, you’ve met my dad, right?” said Zak. “I just wouldn’t want to make things weird between us.”
“So I’ve been friend-zoned?” said Gloria.
“No! I just…” Zak sighed as he hung his head. “I don’t know what I want…”
The bell rang signaling the next class would start soon, but the two just sat there as students rushed on around them.
“You look depressed,” said Gloria.
“I kinda feel like I offended you,” said Zak.
“No, I get it,” said Gloria. “We’re still in school, don’t really know how to be mature about this, and could end up hurting each other if it goes wrong.”
“No need to rush anything anyways,” said Zak. “It’s not like I- OW!” He was stopped suddenly by something smacking him in the head. “What the hell?” He rubbed the top of his head as he looked down to see what had hit him, finding someone’s school shoe. He picked it up and looked up to see a red fox girl leaning against the railing, looking down at him in shock, a matching blue soled shoe on one foot, with the other naked.. ”Um… is this-“ before he could finish, she ran off. Hey! Wait!” Zak tried chasing after her up the stairs, but she was already gone.
“Well that was weird,” said Gloria, following him up the steps. “Didn’t think you’d have groupies throwing clothes at you like that.”
“Why didn’t she want this back?” Zak stared at the shoe in his hand, dumbfounded. “If you lose these, its like a hundred bucks to replace them.”
“No idea,” said Gloria. “Maybe they don’t fit right?” Zak didn’t answer, as he just kept staring at the shoe. “Whatever, I’ll see you later.”
“Uh-huh,” Zak nodded as Gloria left, not taking his eyes off the shoe. Why would she take off without it? It didn’t look damaged; maybe well-worn, but perfectly fine. Zak was snapped back to his senses as the second bell rang, signaling he was late for class. He stuffed the shoe in his bag and rushed off.
Zak found himself unable to focus in his next class. He kept peeking into his bag, looking at the shoe, still puzzled by the owner who ran off without it. Maybe she didn’t want to be late for class? Or maybe she possibly wanted him to have it? His thoughts soon shifted to the vixen that had dropped it. If he could find her again, maybe she’d thank him somehow for returning it. Or maybe she would give him the other one too, or even let him play with-
“Mr. Aryil? Do you need to be excused?”
Zak jumped slightly as he was snapped back to reality, realizing he had probably been visibly daydreaming. “Um… no sir…”
As soon as the class was out, Zak rushed to the bathroom to splash some water on his face. The thoughts of the girl and her shoe were starting to drive him nuts. Looking back into his bag, he pulled out the shoe. Unable to help himself any more, he checked to make sure no one else was in the bathroom, and then took a big deep sniff from the shoe. He let out an audible groan at the scent, trying to restrain himself from taking this any further.
“Should I leave you two alone?” a familiar voice came from the doorway. Zak froze as he slowly turned and saw Sammy standing there staring at him. He tried to speak, but was frozen in utter embarrassment.
“Or would you like to give mine a sniff?” Sammy said giving a slight chuckle as he walked into one of the stalls. Zak’s embarrassment slightly changed to puzzlement for a moment before he just stuffed the shoe back in his bag and walked out of the bathroom.
The last class of the day felt like it dragged on forever. At last the final bell rang, Zak could finally leave for the day, finding Jake and Roscoe sitting on the steps outside waiting for him.
“Free at last!” Jake proclaimed excitedly.
“In more ways than one,” said Roscoe, extending his freshly bared feet in front of him, giving his toes a wiggle.
“Yep, you get to be a walking tetanus magnet again,” said Zak, giving Roscoe a playful jab to the ribs as the two stood up. “So what are we doing now?”
“We could head back to my place for gaming?” said Jake.
“We probably don’t have our fourth though,” said Roscoe, pointing over towards Jesse who was clearly going off with Sammy.
“Things aren’t going to be weird between you two now, is it?” said Zak.
“That’s up to him,” said Roscoe. “At least I got a free lunch out of it.”
“Damnit! I don’t want this breaking up our group!” said Zak angrily.
“And I don’t want some pompous douchebag commenting on my-“
“AHEM!!!”
The three froze for a second, turning to see Sammy standing behind them, with Jesse at his side.
“I, uh… just wanted to say…” Sammy seemed to be struggling to find the right words, looking over at Jesse who seemed to be looking at him with a look that said ‘Please?’ Eventually he turned to Roscoe, and simply said “…sorry.”
Roscoe paused for a moment, before shrugging and saying “Its fine.” Sammy nodded and turned to leave, but stopped, looking down puzzlingly at Roscoe’s bare feet. “What?”
Sammy started to say something, but turned to Jesse once again. “…nothing.” Sammy just turned and left. Jesse gave the three a quick nervous smile before running after him.
The three just stared dumbfounded for a moment before Jake eventually broke the ice. “Ha! Never thought Jesse would have someone on a leash!”
“Well if he can keep him on it, maybe we’ll be just fine,” said Roscoe.
“But we still need a fourth for gaming,” said Jake.
Zak thought for a moment, then out of the corner of his eye, he saw the solution to this. “Hey Gloria!” He called out seeing her across the crowd. ”You up for gaming at Jake’s house?”
“Sure, why not?” she said walking up to them.
“Seriously? A girl? I was hoping for a challenge,” said Jake.
“Well if you prefer, I can just kick your ass without a video game,” said Gloria, walking right up to Jake, being slightly taller than him was able to slightly intimidate him.
Zak laughed at this, but was stopped as he saw the vixen who had dropped her shoe on him. “Hey!” Zak called out to her, reaching into his bag to pull out her shoe. She turned and looked at him for a second, but instead of stopping, she seemed to move down the stairs faster, trying to hide herself behind a tall wolf she seemed to be walking with. “Hey! Wait a second!” Zak pulled out her shoe, trying to catch up to them, but the two reached the bottom of the stairs and jumped on a bus. Zak briefly considered jumping on after them, but he realized he would just end up causing a scene, so he just stood there and watched as the bus closed its door and drove off.
“Zak! What was that?” he could hear Jake calling after him as the three came up behind him.
“She didn’t want it back…” Zak said as he kept staring. “She ran away from me… She probably thinks I’m a pervert or something…”
“Wait, is that the girl that dropped the shoe on your head?” said Gloria.
“Yeah, I was just trying to give it back,” said Zak.
“Well if she doesn’t want it, just go turn it into the office and forget about it,” said Gloria.
“And to be fair, you are a pervert,” said Jake. “C’mon, let’s go before the bus leaves.”
“I don’t feel like it anymore,” said Zak.
“Well, if Zak’s out, I’m out too,” said Gloria.
“Oh… so we’re not doing anything then?” said Roscoe, sounding more than a little disappointed.
“Nonsense! You can still come over,” said Jake, placing an arm around Roscoe. “We’ll do one on one.”
“Great! Can I stay for dinner?” sad Roscoe, perking up.
“Again? Alright, but you owe me,” said Jake as the two walked off towards the bus.
“Well, I’m just going to go home,” said Gloria. “You going to be ok?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Zak.
“Alright, just try to cheer up, and I’ll see you tomorrow,” said Gloria as she patted him on the shoulder and walked away.
“Yeah, see ya,” said Zak as he sat down on the stairs and stared a bit at the shoe. He sat there for a while, just thinking to himself about why she had run away from him. Was it something about him that was repulsive?
Eventually all the students had cleared out, with Zak still sitting there. It would be quite a while before anyone would notice him.
“Zak?”
Zak’s ears perked up as he saw Kira behind him, looking down at him quizzically.
“I told you that you didn’t have to wait for me,” said Kira, sitting down next to him.
“I know, I just felt like being alone for a bit,” said Zak.
“What is this?” said Kira, reaching over and grabbing the shoe from him.
“Uh… well that’s complicated,” said Zak.
“Zak! You’re not supposed to take these out of school!” said Kira. “You need to put this back in your locker before a teacher catches you.”
“It’s not mine,” said Zak, “Some girl dropped it.”
“And you just kept it?” said Kira.
“I tried to give it back! Twice!” said Zak, “but… she didn’t seem to want it back.”
“Figures,” said Kira, handing it back to him as she stood up and started to walk off, “If I knew you had one of my shoes, I probably wouldn’t want it back.”
“What the-“ Zak said as he jumped up after her. “What do you mean by that?”
“Oh come on Zak, you’re a fiend when it comes to people’s feet!” said Kira.
“You act like I have no self-control!” said Zak.
“I don’t think you do!” said Kira. “I’ve caught you a few too many times ‘enjoying’ yourself, and it always has to do with someone’s feet.”
“So what?” said Zak, his face turning a deep shade of red. “We all have something we like! I’ve never done… ‘that’ to myself in public.”
“What did you do with that shoe?” said Kira.
“Huh, n-nothing!” said Zak, blushing slightly.
“Zak!”
“I sniffed it! That’s it!”
“Gross,” Kira rolled her eyes and started to walk away from him.
“And that’s all!” said Zak, following after her. “Besides, how would she even know I did that?”
“That’s not the point!” said Kira. “The point is you have a problem with this stuff!”
“Alright, fine! I have an issue!” said Zak. “I’m a hormonal teenager who has sex on the brain a lot, and maybe sometimes it gets a little out of hand! But I’ve never hurt anyone with this, and if you’re going to assume I’m a pervert, you can at least do me the decency of basing that off of experience instead of just assuming!” Zak stopped for a minute. “I don’t want to be someone with a reputation for being a creep…”
Kira paused a moment and sighed before walking up to Zak and giving him a hug. “You are a bit of a creep though,” she said. “But you’re also a wonderful person, and anyone who doesn’t see that, that’s their problem.”
“Thanks, I guess…” said Zak, giving her a hug in return.
“Just don't stress out over little things,” said Kira. “And stop sniffing girls shoes in the bathroom.”
“It was one time!” Zak pleaded.
“I'm gonna have to start locking mine up,” said Kira with a chuckle as she ran off.
“KIRA!!!” Zak yelled after her as he playfully started to chase after her.
