________________________________________ You remember when I told you about Paul telling me that I liked her? I guess he was partially right. Up until now, nothing close to Her had walked into my life. I've gotta say that she gave me a small sample of freedom from boredom. But that was only after I got past the introductions and shit. ________________________________________ Kilmore High wasn't exactly one of the best places to nurture growing teens. It did feature an outer decorum of friendliness and society within its walls but what many failed to notice was what happened on the sidelines. I would be able to drive by and spot kids snuffing out smokes. I had actually seen some kids go behind a bush for a little bit of bang-bang, as they called it these days, which usually meant that someone poor girl was going to be a mother in the next few months whether she liked it or not. And it wasn't unusual if I spotted a crowd of students dispersing right after a gruesome fight; shit, I had been in plenty during my life. But there was a unspoken rule that everybody followed at school, including teachers: what happens here, stays here. I was beginning to wonder if Paul had intentionally lied to my face. There was no way that She could be attending this school. But then again, she was being terrorized by those idiots in their Lincoln that day. Anything was a possibility at Kilmore High. I crossed the intersection just before the bus lane, pulled my truck through the front driveway, and parked in the visitor's lane. I sat there and fiddled with my radio for about a half hour before I began to see the black-striped, white hover buses zip through their lane. Another half hour later, I heard a dim ringing. It was followed by raucous groups of students all more than prepared to leave their educational institution. I could clearly distinguish between the different high school social cliques. There were the gorillas and bears all dressed in their oversized leather numbered jackets, the felines in their extra small shirts and skirts, the foxes with all of their books in tow and arrogance showing, and a couple others that I was not familiar with. After most of the major cliques lingered about and left, the outcasts began to show up. All the labeled freaks, retards, and nobodies whose mentality and sanity were probably tested every day. Among the widely scattered outcast I expected to see a familiar blue hue. Upon finding nothing close, with the exception of a dyed tail, I started my car and slowly drove off. I could've called it quits and headed straight to home but at the red light at the intersection I decided to take a right and circle the school. As I patrolled the side of the school I rolled down my window and let the air in. The weather was nice and it was quiet around here so I decided to head toward the back of the school. That's when I saw a blue tail disappear past a wooden fence. I drove up to the stop sign and squinted my eyes. "Dope St." Dope Street was just as bad, if not worse, than what happened off school grounds. For one, the houses looked like they'd been abandoned for centuries. Other than that, the folks down here weren't too friendly. Cheap buildings usually housed shady people. I quickly went down the street and caught sight of her. Her tail, bobbing lower than usual, curved downward while the tip pointed to the sky. Her tail kept creating waves. Her tail gently floated toward the ground and she stopped in her tracks. Her right ear twitched and her paw shot into her pocket. I slowly pulled up to her and gave a friendly hello. Her face blank, she frowned. She turned her gaze from me and began to continue walking, ignoring me. "Hey, hey. Don't do this to me. I'm sorry about your note, okay?" She kept walking. "Look...I'm not sure what else to say. I shouldn't have treated you like that. I had no idea that you were a...you know: mute." That stopped her and even grabbed her attention. She turned my way and studied me for a second. I couldn't stop now that I had her attention. I managed to say, "You...I...I could buy you ice cream as an apology." Cocking her head to the side, she kept staring. I mumbled, "You know something like that." What the hell was the matter with me? I couldn't speak straight to a mute? It was as if her innocent stare was drawing all of my guilt out. I was getting ready to tell her to make a decision when she hopped into the passenger seat. She tried to pull her seatbelt on, but, as usual, my truck refused to comply. She began tugging on it. I shook my head and reached over. I began to pull on it and it slowly came out. I tried not to stare at her as I pulled the belt through her personal space. She, on the other hand, giggled silently at my straining and struggling. Seeing her elated face almost lit my soul up with joy. Almost. I checked myself and made sure not to get too emotional. This was, after all, just an apologetic ice cream treat. I asked her if she was all set before driving away. I noticed something peculiar though. As I drove away I noticed a white Lincoln in my rearview mirror. I didn't give it much thought and trained my eyes on the road. I took her to Lester's, which was as crowded and loud as the last time I went there twenty years ago. But as I drove towards it, I felt a something sink deep in my stomach: regret. The court was milling about with crowds of raunchy students. Most of them taking a seat on a bench or stone hedge. What was an old guy doing in an area like this? The blue vixen fidgeted in her seat and sunk lower as a bunch of people stared our way. My truck was next to nothing compared to most of these sleek and flashy hover cars. Since there were no parking spaces readily available, I decided to park off to the side. I unfastened both seat belts and stepped out. She was glued to my passenger seat. I tried to coax her out but she refused. She almost seemed terrified of all the students that were beginning to take interest in us. Well, I suppose it was an awkward sight - old wolf with a young fox. I snapped at a passing bulldog who had his phone out; he scurried away. I felt my face flush as more people began to take interest in my outburst. I faced the blue vixen. "Come on, I feel silly out here. Do you want your mint ice cream or not?" She seemed surprised that I knew her favorite flavor, eyes wide and ears on guard. She soon got over this and hesitantly left the den of my truck. Instead of the passenger seat, she was now stuck to my side. As we walked down toward the ice cream building, students stopped what they were doing and trained their eyes on us for a moment. They stayed silent though as I glared at every single one of them. We finally made it to the window. Luckily, there was no line. "I'll have a vanilla and she'll be having mint." The black vixen standing inside the air-conditioned building pulled out the lollipop she was sucking on and leaned out the window. She frowned before asking, "Is she your daughter or something?" I froze. "I...uh. No, she's just a...relative." She shook her head and stuck her lollipop back into her muzzle. "I feel sorry for her. Don' you? Jus look at that fur...make any momma ashamed." "Hey! You stay out of my family's business, alright? Hurry up and get me that ice cream. That's your job now get to it." She scrunched up her muzzle and spat out her candy before rushing off toward the back. She tried to drop the ice cream into my paw but I snatched it away from her, avoiding a possible accident. We took some seats by a table with a sun patio umbrella. We sat down and she happily began to spoon down her mint delight. I took my time with my vanilla and examined her. It was me and her sitting across from each other on a white sun patio table. She finally noticed me and licked some mint off of her muzzle before she returned her gaze to mine. It was very calming for some strange reason: sitting across from her and just staring. "So...since you can't really talk. I suppose I'm going to have to ask you Yes or no questions, right?" She nodded. I scooped up some vanilla before asking. "So, have you had that problem since birth? Being a mute?" After a second she nodded. "I see. What about your fur discoloration? Was that on birth too?" She shook her head. "Was it gradual?" I received a nod. I'm not sure why I want to know about her personal life. Maybe, I was bored. But I learned quite a few things from just asking yes or no questions...such as: she was the only mute in her school, she got picked on a lot for having two disabilities, or so they call them disabilities, and she's never been in a relationship before. She does have a family though she shook her head violently when asked if she liked them. She had two other siblings. Both of them were considered normal; she was the only ugly duckling out of her family. Before I knew it, I was beginning to ask her questions that were impossible to answer with a shake or a nod and the parking lot was almost empty. I looked at the time. "Holy shit, I mean, holy cow...we've been here for almost forty minutes. Let's go home. Where do you live?" She shook her head and pointed at me. "What? Let's go to my home?" She smiled and nodded. "Oh, no, no, no. My house is a real mess and it stinks." She continued to shake her head and continuously pointed at me. I felt as if she was accusing me of something. After arguing back and forth on the way to my truck, I finally relented and decided to let her tag along. She couldn't possibly be a disturbance in my usual quiet style of life. As I drove her back to my place I popped a CD into my built in player. I chuckled, "Ya, I know. This pile of junk is so old that it still uses a CD." I skipped some songs and got to my favorite part. A wild mesh of guitar solos, drum licks, and bass chords. She apparently enjoyed the music just as much as I did. I smiled. "You wondering who they are?" She cocked her head to the side and looked to me immediately. "Boston. That's their name. A pretty old band but a pretty damn good one. Better than all this shit they play on the radio nowadays." I drove slow enough that we got through a couple more songs. But the party had to end sometime and before she knew it, I was turning off the ignition and cutting off our musical release. She almost whined but I promised to play it when it was time to leave. I showed her in through the door and told her to make herself at home. Contrary to my first impression, I thought she would be the quiet, polite type who would sit at the edge of my chair. Instead, she took everything in like a kid on Christmas. I didn't expect for anyone to be amazed at my rather humble interior but she was staring from one picture to another, pouncing on my sofa and testing it, and even going through my fridge. She bounded up stairs and I had to take after her. "Now wait just a minute! Don't go in there! Don't, dammit." She barreled into my room and jumped onto my bed. Then she began to roll around it and play with my pillows. "What's the matter with you? You never tried this at home?" She stopped for just a second to shake her head. Then a pillow hit me square in the muzzle. I shook it off and grumbled, "Alright, now that's enou- A second pillow found its way half lodged in my mouth. As I coughed up my own fur, I saw a blue blur rush past me. "Hey watch it! Don't hurt yourself going...down the stairs?" I was baffled to see that she had cleared the stairs in the time I took turning around. I began to regret bringing her into my house. She was more trouble than she seemed. She was in the kitchen holding her ripped halves of the thank you note. I froze and scratched the back of my head. "Yea...I uh. I kept it because it was...pretty, you know?" I walked over to her and snatched up both pieces from her paws. "I was going to tape them together anyways so you don't need to worry about anything." She snatched them back just as quickly. My eyes couldn't even follow her. She shook her head and threw them in the trashcan. I blinked a couple times and then shrugged. "Oh well...I guess it wasn't that important to you after all. Want something to drink?" She shook her head and opened the fridge. A clear bottle of whiskey, a couple cans of beer, and milk. "Oh...I see why. Well, there's nothing interesting to see...but you want a tour of my house?" She stood up and nodded. I led her through the living room where I usually spent my day lounging around to my bedroom where she had made a mess, not that the bed sheets weren't already crumpled up. I took her to my porch and complimented her painting skills, though a fresh scribble of graffiti had been placed on the side. And I ended the tour at the door of my basement. "And this is my basement...I keep dead bodies of kids in there. You know, the stuff old guys usually do in their spare time." She smiled and then punched me. "Hey. You're a violent little vixen aren't you? Didn't your parents teach you any manners?" She shook her head and her tail followed. "Well, I think it's about time we got you home." I had to drag/push her to my truck before she got in on her own. She was a playful little devil, forcing me to chase her all over my backyard before she ran out of breath. She pointed the way to Paul's house where she allowed herself to get off. I guess I wasn't trustworthy enough to know the location of her house just yet. "Hey, I took you to my house. You better take me to your house next time. You hear?" She waved and completely ignored what I said. As I drove off and watched her get smaller in my rearview mirror, I couldn't help but feel empty. I stepped inside my house and I sat on my couch. I looked to my right and brushed some blue fur off. Now it was on the floor. I grunted as I leaned over to pick it up. I went into my kitchen and threw it in the trashcan where I noticed the ripped halves of paper. It was time to drink. I began to pour myself a glass of milk but my gaze wandered past the doorway of my kitchen and into the living room. I sighed. Something cold and wet hit my foot. I hastily took a couple steps back and noticed that milk had spilled over the top of my cup. I realized that what I needed wasn't a drink but some sleep. I poured everything down the drain and then dragged myself up the stairs. I stooped over to pick up two pillows that were lying on the floor and straightened out my bed sheets. That's when I stopped myself. "What the hell am I doing?" Why would I straighten out my sheets if they're going to get messy anyways? I put everything up and went downstairs where I let the couch become my bed. It was then that I realized... "I never got her name."
