Cheetah in College - Chapter 1: The First Day
"Moka! Wake up! You're going to be late!" his mom yelled up the stairs.
The young cheetah's eyes snapped open and he scrambled hurriedly out of bed. Reaching for his glasses on the bedside table, he knocked over an empty cereal bowl from last night. The plastic bowl bounced on the ground and the silver spoon clanged on the hardwood floor of his bedroom. Ignoring the momentary ordeal, he put on his glasses and focused his eyes on the shotty alarm clock which read 9:31am.
"Dammit!" he said aloud.
Jumping out of his PJ's and slipping into something more appropriate for the day: a pair of blue jeans and an Old Navy T-shirt, he grabbed his cell phone and wallet and ran downstairs. Luckily, he had packed his necessary belongings last night, which included some bed sheets, clothes, an office chair, a computer, a backpack, and a massive HD TV which his dad had acquired from his job.
His mom was waiting for him downstairs with a bag of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and a smile. He grabbed the cookies and a kiss before hopping into the rust-bucket that he called a truck. The vehicle started right up and he had time to wave goodbye as he tore down the long driveway of his family's plot of land.
His college was a decent one. It was definitely one of the cheapest colleges in the state. Money was never really a problem with his family. In truth, he had picked it because of its proximity to home. It was only an hour away, which meant he had an hour of music and some good thinking time ahead of him. He tuned the radio to 97.9. "School's Out" by Alice Cooper was playing. He rolled his eyes and flipped the radio to 95.5 which was playing a song by Elton John. Pretty soon his thoughts began tuning out the radio.
Boy, move-in day. It seemed surreal. Just last Spring he was sitting in Mr. Gustav's high school classroom learning about aerodynamics and aviation history. His thoughts wandered to the fanny-pack-wearing computer art teacher he had had classes with for 3 years in high school. High school had been fun, but it was definitely time to move on. He was interrupted by himself after realizing he was going 83mph down the 65mph highway. He adjusted his speed and set the prehistoric cruise control to 70mph for a more controlled speed.
There was a slight annoyance in his legs. He stretched and fidgeted in his seat until he was somewhat comfortable again. Being a cheetah, he was accustomed to movement and didn't take well to sitting in one place for very long. Or one station. He switched off a cheesy Paul McCartney song to catch the guitar solo in the middle of "Rainbow in the Dark" by Dio.
Before not too long, he had arrived in the college town. He was happy to see descriptive signs directing him to the university. Driving through main street, he got to see all the local restaurants and stores that were hopping with activity and excitement. He scanned the streets for any attractive girls but was a little let down. The college specialized in engineering of all sorts. Luckily, they were planning on adding a nursing school that would be sure to bring in some cute furs. Entering the campus, he found a parking spot to squeeze his small S-10 pickup next to the entrance of his all-male dorm. He got his backpack from the floor of the truck and stepped outside. The 4 story dorm had tan-color bricks and black window frames. There were large oak trees scattered around the building and pathways leading to and from every entrance.
Climbing the steps to the main entrance, he noticed a small line of furs at the main desk inside. He opened the door and jumped in line. The furs in line were very diverse. The one directly in front of him was a black and white border collie with a thick, muscular neck and shoulders. Moka seemed a bit wimpy standing behind him. His white and golden-yellow cheetah body was slender and built for agility. He was tall and had long arms and legs, which didn't have bulging muscles like the collie in front of him. He was borderline lanky, which would seem unnatural if he weren't a cheetah. He was covered in black spots, which would also seem unnatural if he weren't a cheetah. Under his T-shirt, he had a lightly toned, flat abdomen, covered in white fur. He had a very long tail that started out with being covered in black spots and ending with having several black and white rings at the end of it.
In front of the collie was a grey wolf who seemed to be very upset about something. In front of him there was a handsome shirtless cougar wearing a colorful sombrero and Hawaiian-themed swim trunks. Moka chuckled. At the front of the line there were a couple of labradors who really looked like a couple of trouble makers. At the desk there was a rabbit who looked like he couldn't handle the simple job he was doing.
Moka noticed an open door that looked like an office. Inside, there was a jolly bear talking to a raccoon about various indistinguishable topics. As he was trying to make out the conversation in the rather loud meeting area, someone bumped into the back of him. Moka turned around to see a badger that was trying to text someone and walk.
"Oh, sorry, dude," the badger apologized.
"No problem," Moka said.
The collie and the wolf had turned around to see what the commotion was all about. The wolf seemed rather dissatisfied that a fight hadn't broken out. As the badger went on his way, Moka watched him nearly stumble into a group of furs and a wall on his way around the corner. Turning back to the front of the line, he noticed that the labradors were done giving the rabbit a hard time and he cougar had already finished registering too. Big bad wolf was next. Moka tuned his ears into the conversation in order to know what to say when it was his turn.
"N-name, please?" the rabbit stuttered out.
"Peter Wolf," replied the wolf.
"Can I see your ID?"
Grumbling, the wolf reached into his back pocket to grab his wallet and pulled out his ID. "Here," he brought the card to daylight.
Moka readied his photo ID as the rabbit handed the wolf his room key and some information about the dorm.
The process repeated for the collie and yet again for Moka.
"Name, please?" the rabbit asked, timidly.
"Moka Cheetah," Moka said, handing the rabbit his ID.
"Thank you, here is your room key and some information for you to read when you're all moved in. This pink brochure is about the internet here and what you can do if your computer can't connect. The green one is about some dorm rules including quiet hours and..." the rabbit droned on.
Moka stopped listening to him and concentrated more so on the inside of the office the rabbit was in. Behind the rabbit there were a bunch of iron mail boxes with dorm room numbers on. On the desk, there was an ancient computer monitor and keyboard. The office itself seemed old enough to belong in a black and white movie.
"...and finally this little white slip has some phone numbers you can call for help. There's the emergency line at the top there, campus police, residence hall network services and the phone number of Tony, our bear-in-charge in the office across the hall," the rabbit finished.
Moka raised his eyebrow to make sure the rabbit was finished before saying, "Thank you," and making his way to the staircase. The key in his hand looked fairly new. They must have replaced the locks on the rooms recently. It had a small '410' engraved on the face of it. He kept the key in his hand as he ran up the stairs, passing several furs on the way up. When he got to his dorm room, the door was already wide open. Puzzled, he stashed his key and papers in his pockets as he walked into the small room. The room had two large bed lofts making up two thirds of each side with plenty of room underneath and in between. The desks were at the end of each loft, and the closets were behind the desks. Moka noticed the bed on the right side had a colorful sombrero on it. He stepped inside a bit more to see the cougar in the Hawaiian swim trunks that he had seen downstairs. The cougar heard him and turned around, a bit surprised by the close interval of the two arrivals.
"Hi there, you must be my roommate," the cougar said with a grin.
"Heh...likewise," Moka said, rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand. He was a bit uncomfortable with meeting new people.
"Well I'm uh, I'm Chad," the cougar told him.
"Moka," Moka said.
"Nice to meet you, Moka," Chad said.
"You too. Hey, I have a huge TV in the back of my truck. Would you mind helping me carry it up here?" Moka replied.
"Yeah, but can we save that for the last trip? I have a few more loads to bring up here and I'm sure you do too," Chad said.
"Oh, yeah I guess I do." Moka said, throwing his back pack on the top of his bed on the left side. He walked into the hall where he could already hear stereos being set up and tested loudly. Chad eyed him when he left. Blinking a few times, he turned back to setting up his desk and closet area.
When they were done bringing up their stuff and setting things up in the dorm, the two roommates met outside by Moka's truck to carry the TV up to the dorm room.
"Holy shit," Chad said, "You weren't kidding about the size of this thing."
"I know, man. The thing's a beast," Moka said, getting in the bed of the pickup truck. Getting behind the TV, he began to push the TV toward the tailgate with his legs. It slid on its cardboard with no problem. Chad dragged it to the edge of the tailgate and Moka hopped down to help. When the two young males were in position, they hoisted the TV up off the tailgate and began their slow walk. Along the way, Moka couldn't help but steal glimpses at Chad's upper shoulders and pectoral muscles as they kept the TV straight and level. He shook his head and concentrated on not dropping it. The two weren't even inside by the time the TV had dug a bit into Moka's fingers. It was getting to be a bit too heavy for him.
"Wait, wait," Moka said, resting the TV on his knee. He reaffirmed his grip on the TV and said, "Okay, let's go."
After a few more rests and a lot of sore fingers, they were able to place the TV under the right side loft of the dorm room. Moka sat in his office chair and let Chad plug it in. Heavy hauling was not a favorite of his. The TV was working in no time. It didn't matter what was on. Anything coming from the TV was a sign of success. Chad sat down next to Moka and they surfed the available channels of their new residence together.