“You’re sure you don’t want me to wait?” said Zak.
“It’s fine, really,” said Kira. “I’m gonna be here a few hours, and I know you like to wait around.”
“Alright, fine, I’ll go home,” said Zak. “Don’t have to tell me twice.”
“Thank you,” said Kira. “I just don’t want you sitting around for hours.”
“Whatever,” Zak said “See you tonight.” He waved as he headed for the exit.
“Bye!” Kira waved back, letting out a small sigh as she turned towards the library. This night was going to be hell. Zak might not take studying seriously, but she certainly did, and now she had to play catch-up. She plopped herself down at a table tucked away in a quiet corner and pulled out her books. What followed was a mind-numbing hour of boring and repetitive reading. Pretty much everyone else had gone home by now, as very few people were left in the library.
Kira let out a small sigh as she slammed the book shut, rubbing her eyes. She was getting nowhere like this. She stood up and stretched out a bit, trying to clear her head. She had hit a dead end, so she decided to go looking for another book.
Almost nobody was left in the library by now. The only sound Kira could hear was the ventilation overhead. As she moved back through the aisles, she thought she could hear something else. It almost sounded like moaning. Curiosity got the best of her as she peeked around a corner, finding two students making out with each other. She had to stop herself from bursting out laughing when she realized it was Jesse and Sammy.
This was too cute. She pulled out her phone, snapping a picture of the two of them. It was at that point that Jesse opened his eyes enough to see her. His eyes went wide as he suddenly shoved Sammy off him with enough force to slam him into the opposite bookshelf, as he quickly grabbed his bag and ran towards the exit, bulldozing another student over as he did.
“Wow! Overreact much?” said Kira, turning her attention to Sammy, who was in a heap on the floor. “You alright?”
“Thanks a lot!” Sammy yelled loud enough for the entire room to hear him as he got to his feet. “Give me your phone!”
“What? No!” Kira quickly put her phone back in her pocket.
“I want that photo deleted!” Sammy growled at her.
“Keep your voice down!” Kira growled back.
Sammy started to shout back at her, but quickly stopped, remembering where he was, only able to glare at her like his face was going to explode before storming off. Kira rolled her eyes and shrugged him off before going back to picking through the books on the shelf. She quickly managed to find the one she was looking for, pulling it off the shelf. She placed it down for a moment to open her bag, but almost immediately, someone snatched the book away from her off the shelf. Kira spun around to see Sammy walking off with it under his arm.
She almost felt her head explode as she watched him sit down at a table and open it, clearly only pretending to read it. If they were anywhere else, she would’ve just walked up to him and given him a well-deserved kick in the balls. Instead, she just sat at a table opposite him and started staring him down. She might be able to overpower him and just take it, since she really didn’t have time for this, but that would just cause an even bigger scene.
The two sat opposite each other for well over an hour, Sammy keeping his face buried in the book, occasionally peeking up over the top to see if Kira was still staring daggers at him. He was blatantly not actually reading the book, having not turned one page since opening it. The sound of Kira’s foot angrily tapping against the ground echoed through the library, her fingers digging into her forearms, and tail twitching every so often.
“…Fine! Fuck it!” Sammy yelled, throwing the book to the ground, picking up his bag, and storming off.
“Finally…” Kira let out a relieved sigh. She stood up herself with her own bag, and went over to pick up the book. She caught a glimpse of a clock on the wall. It was after 6 PM. Usually the library was only open until 5. It was a wonder nobody had kicked them out. She quickly ran to the front desk so she could check the book out, the receptionist was probably furious they were still there.
“Sorry, I…” she rounded the corner to the desk, but stopped as she saw there was nobody there. The receptionist had already left. Kira glanced around the room, seeing that the place was empty, save for Sammy, who was now hammering at the front door, seemingly unable to open it.
“Gah! For fucks sake- WHY IS THIS LOCKED?!?!” Sammy shouted, pounding his fists on the door.
“What the hell is your problem now?” said Kira, approaching him to see why he was freaking out.
“YOU! This is your fault!” Sammy yelled at her. “The door is locked!”
“What? How is it locked from the inside?” Kira pushed him out of the way, trying the handle herself. Sure enough, the door held firm against her trying to open it. “Oh come on…”
“See? I told you!” Sammy shouted.
“Keep your voice down!” Kira whispered angrily at him as she continued to fiddle with the door handle.
“Screw you! You’re the one who got us locked in here in the first place!” Sammy shouted as he pushed her out of the way, frantically pushing against the door, pounding on it with his fist.
“Me? You were the one being a petty jerk taking my book!” Kira shouted, spinning around and getting right in Sammy’s face.
“You could’ve left!” Sammy growled at her.
“So could you!” Kira finally lost it, shoving Sammy backwards, sending him falling right on his tail. He was momentarily stunned, but quickly started to get to his feet, looking like he’d retaliate, but stopped himself, just staring daggers at Kira. The two sat in silence for a moment before Sammy finally got to his feet, and just walked right past Kira as if he didn’t even see her, and went back to fiddling with the door. Kira didn’t say anything, and just took a seat across the room.
The two didn’t acknowledge each other for the longest time. Sammy kept fiddling with the door while Kira started flipping through her phone, trying to think of someone she could call for help. She didn’t have any teachers or faculty phone numbers though. She did try calling Zak, but he wasn’t answering.
“Well, I’m out of ideas…” Sammy had given up trying to open the door, and seemed like he was willing to talk to Kira again. “You have anything?”
“Windows are locked, we can’t get the door open…” Kira glanced around the room for anything else they had over looked. “Hmm, can you fit in that?” She pointed up at a small vent on the wall near the ceiling.
“…Absolutely not!” Sammy shot her a dirty look and crossed his arms.
“What’s wrong pretty boy?” said Kira teasingly as she stood up. “Afraid of getting a little dirty?”
“Pfft…” Sammy turned his head, obviously not wanting to admit he was, “Your smaller than I am, you should do it!”
“You’re gonna send a girl alone into a small dark confined place?” Kira said, giving him a puppy eyed look.
“That doesn’t work on me,” said Sammy with a smug smile.
“Alright, fine, there’s an easy way to figure this out,” Kira groaned, pulling a coin out of her pocket, “Heads, you go. Tails, I go.”
Sammy thought for a moment, before nodding his head. Kira tossed it into the air, letting it fall to the ground. The two looked down at it, seeing it with its tail side up.
“FUCK!!!” Sammy threw his hands up in the air and stormed off to the back of the room.
“Alright, come on, I’ll give you a boost,” said Kira, moving back towards the wall.
“Nope, not doing it,” said Sammy, sitting down at another table and staring at the wall.
“Hey! You agreed to this,” said Kira.
“Don’t care. I refuse. You can’t make me,” Sammy said, still staring at the wall.
“Alright, fine,” said Kira, taking a seat at the table across from him. “I guess we’ll just sit here all night. That ok with you?”
Sammy just gave her another dirty look before letting out a deep sigh and standing up. Kira gave off a gleeful smile as she followed him back to the wall. He stared up at the vent nervously. “Fine, let’s get this over with.”
Kira knelt down, letting Sammy climb up onto her cupped hands, almost buckling under his weight. Maybe making him do this was a bad idea, but she was at least able to get him up to the vent. Fortunately, it wasn’t screwed in on anything, so Sammy was able to pry it off using his claws.
“Um… can we go two out of three?” said Sammy as he stared into the open vent shaft.
“Sorry, no dice,” Kira said, still trying not to lose her balance.
“Alright, just… hang on a second,” Sammy stepped down off her hands to drop the grate on the floor. He took of his glasses and sweater vest, tossing them aside, along with slipping off his shoes. “Okay… I’m ready.”
Kira gave him another boost, having a slightly easier time getting him up. Sammy finally pulled himself up, sticking his arms and face incide. “Augh! Geez… I can barely move in here!”
“That’s ok, I’ll help,” said Kira, pushing him up to get him further into the vent.
“Woah! Ngh… ow!” She could hear Sammy inside the vent bumping around and groaning. He had managed to get his waist inside, and was inching further and further along. “It’s all dark!”
“It has to come out somewhere!” Kira yelled up at him.
“Yeah, like a furnace…” Sammy was barely audible as his feet slid into the vent. “Ok, I can’t move!”
“Just scrunch up!” Kira yelled at him. “Make yourself small!”
“No! No! Get me out!” Sammy yelled back, clearly starting to panic.
“You’ve barely made any progress though,” said Kira.
“OUT! I WANT OUT! GET ME OUT! HELP! HELP ME!” Sammy was now in full on panic mode. Kira groaned as she grabbed a chair so she could reach him. His feet were still visible, so she reached in and grabbed his leg, nearly getting a kick in the face from his panic struggle. He was jammed in there good, but she was able to pull him out eventually. The two crashed to the ground, Sammy’s clothes and fur now covered in dust and dirt and who knows what else.
“Ugh… why didn’t you tell me you were claustrophobic?” said Kira, sitting back up.
Sammy just stared at her for a second, still hyperventilating. “…I wasn’t until five minutes ago!” He screamed at her before curling into a ball on the floor.
The next hour or so passed in complete silence. Kira was starting to feel really bad about what had happened. Sammy had calmed down a bit, but he wasn’t talking to her. She had just been sitting in a corner by herself staring out the window. It was getting dark outside. She wondered if anyone was worried about them. Maybe she should call home and tell her parents about what happened, but that would probably make things worse.
The silence between them was starting to become uncomfortable. Kira decided she was going to try and break it. She stood up and made her way over to Sammy, who had stuffed himself off behind a bookshelf on the other side of the room. His was completely silent, gaze fixed on the floor. Kira sat down next to him, struggling to think of what to say to him. He was either still so dazed that he was unaware of her, or was refusing to acknowledge her.
“…Why did you take your shoes off?” Kira finally broke the silence.
“…What?” Sammy finally looked up at her, obviously confused.
“You took your shoes off when I gave you that boost,” said Kira. “Why?”
“I don’t know…” said Sammy. “I didn’t want to get them dirty.”
“Really? Cause it felt more like you wanted to make it easier for me to boost you up,” said Kira.
Sammy ignored her and just stood up and walked away, saying nothing.
“You’re a real asshole, y’know?” said Kira.
Sammy stopped for a second, but quickly went back to walking away.
“My brother says he thinks there’s more to you,” Kira said, getting up and following him. “Honestly, I don’t see it.”
“I’m not interested in the approval of you and your idiot brother,” said Sammy.
“You seem to want Jesse’s,” said Kira.
Sammy went silent as he slowly turned around, shooting daggers out of his eyes at her. “Excuse me?”
“Well, you and Jesse are… I don’t know what you want to call it,” she said. “But Jesse is a close friend of mine. And your ‘I don’t give a shit’ attitude makes me think you’re going to end up hurting him.”
Sammy let out a short grunt. “It’s none of your business.” He turned away from her, staring blankly out the window.
“Fuck you!” Kira shouted. “I have actual concern for my friends! I guess that’s a concept that’s above you!”
Sammy still refused to turn around. His fist was clenched and shaking.
“Jesse is the most sensitive guy I know,” said Kira. “He’s terrified of people knowing he’s gay. He doesn’t even like his friends talking about it. If you’re just using him… you’ll wind up destroying him…”
“I know that…” Sammy finally said, looking over his shoulder at her. Kira could see a couple tears running down his muzzle. “It would probably destroy me too…”
Kira paused for a moment. “You don’t actually expect me to feel sorry for you, do you?”
“I don’t want your pity,” Sammy gave a slight laugh. “I’d just prefer if you weren’t such a massive hypocrite.”
“What do you mean hypocrite?” said Kira.
“You keep going on about Jesse’s feelings,” said Sammy, taking a seat at the table nearby. “But you’re just trying to pry into his life. You assume I’m a bad person, so tell me all about who I am.”
Kira rolled her eyes as she sat down across from him. “I’ve seen enough from you to get an idea who you are. You show up here every day wearing fancy clothes, getting dropped off in a sports car instead of taking the bus. You treat everyone like dirt, acting like you’re superior to everyone. In fact, I’m guessing that’s why you’re here instead of some fancy private school, because you like feeling like you’re better than everyone. And now you’re taking advantage of Jesse because you think he’s hot, and eventually you’ll get bored.”
Sammy gave her a sarcastic smile. “Nice deductions. Now let me give you a little information. Yes, it’s true my parents have a lot of money, and I could be at a private school if I wanted. As for Jesse, I’m hardly dating him because of his looks… well, not completely. He is such a hunk, and he doesn’t even know it.” The smile on his face shifted from sarcastic to dreamy.
“I don’t need details,” said Kira.
“But part of it is… he and I are so much alike…” said Sammy.”
“I really think you’re mistaken there,” said Kira.
“Jesse is fueled by his insecurities,” said Sammy. “He’s terrified of everything, and he thinks everyone is out to get him. As for me… my insecurities have more or less ruled my entire life.”
Kira just stared at him curiously, not sure where he was going was this.
“My father is a military man. 15 year career. He is incredibly strict, and has high expectations. I’m an only child, so all my parents expectations fell on me. I got shipped off to a boarding school for the first two years of high school. It was awful. I was so bored. So I convinced my parents to let me come to a public one instead. They weren’t happy about it, but eventually they caved and agreed. But everyone here is so vain and self-obsessed. It’s infuriating.”
“So you just act like a dick to everyone?” said Kira.
“I’d like to think maybe I can better them somehow,” said Sammy. “I don’t believe in sugarcoating things. Just be blunt.”
“How charming,” said Kira sarcastically.
“But then I met Jesse,” said Sammy. “He was so scared and timid of everything, but just like me, he lived in a world where he was scared of part of who he was. And I’m hoping he finds a way to overcome it someday. He has the luxury of having a bunch of siblings, but with all the pressure on me from my parents…” Sammy paused for a moment, seemingly choked up by his own thoughts, “I don’t know how I could ever tell them.”
Kira just stared at him for a moment, not sure how she could respond to that. “I, uh… I’m sorry.”
Sammy just snorted at her, looking away. “But my original point about you being a hypocrite… why did you take our picture?”
“What? The picture?” Kira had forgotten all about that.
“You said it yourself,” said Sammy. “Jesse is terrified of people knowing he’s gay, yet you took a picture of us together.”
“But… but he knows that I know he’s gay!” said Kira.
“Maybe, but he doesn’t like acknowledging it!” Sammy snapped back at her. “And who knows who you’re going to share that with!”
“I… I wasn’t going to do that…” Kira shifted her gaze down to her feet.
“Yeah, sure…” Sammy folded his arms and turned away from her.
Kira scowled at him, finally pulling out her phone, sliding it across the table to him. “Fine, do what you want with it. I didn’t send it to anyone. I promise”
Sammy just stared at her for a second before picking up the phone. It took him a moment before he found the photo. “Hmm… I have a nice butt.”
“Now who’s being vain?” Kira chuckled.
“It’s only vanity if it’s not worth pointing out,” said Sammy, eventually sliding the phone back to her, the photo no longer on it.”
“…I am sorry,” said Kira, putting her phone back in her pocket.
“Yeah, yeah, I know…” said Sammy.
“But you’re still kind of an asshole,” said Kira.
Sammy just rolled his eyes. “Well, we’re probably not getting out of here. Hope you like sleeping in a library.”
Kira sighed and leaned back in her chair when she heard a tapping on the window. Her ears perked up as she spun around, seeing Zak at the window with his muzzle pressed up against it, knocking his fist against the window.
“Are you done yet? I’m hungry!” Zak yelled at her, his voice carrying through the window.
“Zak? I thought you went home!” Kira jumped up out of her seat and ran to the window.
“Well I was going to go home, but I thought I’d wait for you…” said Zak, giving her an innocent smile.
“You are never going to stop doing that, are you?” Kira sighed.
“We can’t leave!” Sammy yelled at him. “The doors locked, and the windows don’t open!”
“They lock the door at night?” said Zak.
“Apparently,” Sammy growled through his teeth.
“So just use the emergency exit,” said Zak.
Sammy and Kira fell silent, exchanging a dazed look at each other. “There’s an emergency exit?” Kira finally said.
“It’s in the back behind the reference desk,” said Zak. “Did you not know it was there?”
The two kept staring at him in disbelief until they finally broke eye contact and grabbed their stuff, bolting for the reference desk. Sure enough, tucked away in the corner was an emergency exit.
“Ugh! Finally!” Sammy breathed a sigh of relief. “I never want to see this fucking library again!” He went for the handle, pushing it inward, and as the door swung open, an alarm started blaring throughout the whole school.
“RUN!” Kira screamed as the two of them ran at full speed across the parking lot where Zak was waiting for them. The three hid in a bush a block away as several fire trucks and police cars whizzed past them. Once the coast was clear, the three poked their heads out, gazing back at the parking lot, which had become flooded with siren lights.
“Did you two forget that emergency exits are hooked up to alarms?” Zak laughed at them.
“You did that on purpose!” Kira gave him a stiff punch in the arm.
“Well, this has been… awful, so I’m going home,” said Sammy, stepping out of the bush. “If I see you tomorrow, well… just leave me alone. Later!” He turned and waved over his shoulder as he walked away.
“Geez, that guy’s a jerk,” said Zak.
“Yeah… but he can be ok I guess,” said Kira as the two stepped out of the bush, heading off towards their own home. “Ok, so you’re buying dinner.”
“What? Come on, it was a joke!” said Zak. “We can just eat at home!”
“I’m not waiting that long,” said Kira, taking her phone out. “Let me just call home so mom and dad won’t worry.” She clicked it on, but paused for a moment. “Huh… that’s odd.”
“What?” Zak looked over her shoulder at her phone.
“Apparently I sent a message to a number I don’t have in my contacts,” said Kira, opening the message out of pure curiosity, only to find the photo she had taken.
“Woah! When did you get a picture of Jesse going wild like that?” Zak exclaimed.
“That little bitch…” Kira smiled, letting out a surprised laugh. Meanwhile a few blocks away, Sammy was admiring his new phone wallpaper he’d acquired that night.
