Bad Nicknames
I sat at my desk in French class, staring forward blankly as Mr. Watley, a pudgy old dalmatian, recited short, basic phrases in French. With a quiet huff, I slumped further down in my seat. Blake sat next to me, giving the occasional glance in my direction, and a smirk to accompany it. Mr. Watley turned from the chalkboard to the class. "Alright students," he addressed us. "C'est tout pour aujourd'hui." He sat at his desk, turning to his computer and typing away. Several students gave confused looks, some flipping open their textbooks to figure out what he had said. "He said that's all for today guys." Blake announced cockily. He leaned back in his chair and sat his feet up on the desk. "So you speak French too?" I asked flatly. "Like I said, it's the language of romance. It makes anybody swoon when I serenade them." He leaned forward grinning, dragging a finger along the underside of my jawline, slowly pulling it away.I rolled my eyes and sighed. "You're a very touchy-feely guy, aren't you?" I rested my head in my hands. "Only for certain people." He sat back again, closing his eyes and giving a calm smile. "I can tell you like it though." His smile grew a fraction of an inch."And how is that?""You haven't asked me to stop, have you?" "I..." It had been awhile since anybody had given me this kind of attention. And it wasn't half bad. So long as he didn't go too far. And even then, it was easy to forgive that cocky grin... "Told ya Freshie." He gave a small chuckle. "But don't feel bad. Nobody can resist Blake, the alpha of Wolf Springs High School, the perfect student, the star athlete!" He flexed his biceps, a spark of narcissism shining in his eyes. "You are so full of yourself." I laid my head on my desk, giving him a glance. The confidence was replaced by... disappointment?It returned in only a second. "So what's your story, Freshie?""Terryn.""Terryn. Sorry. What brought you here?" I sighed. "I moved here. San Francisco wasn't exactly hospitable to my family." "What do you mean?""Well, more so that certain people there weren't happy with my father. He often entertains himself with the wrong crowd. He was a gambler, not that he'd ever admit to it. He lost a few bets and refused to pay up. Basically, they gave him 2 choices - Get the hell out of town, or he could pay with something other than money - Namely, his life." I explained.Blake gave a blank stare. "I uh..." "So he packed his bags and dragged us along with him." "I'm... Sorry?" He wasn't sure how to feel. "Don't be. I'm used to it. This is the fourth time we've had to move." "That's rough man." He looked down at the floor. I gave an apologetic smile. "So what's your story?" His ears perked up and his tail wagged a small bit. "I hunt ghosts and solve mysteries." He grinned. "Oh
really now?" I played along. Why not?"Yep." He bragged. "You don't see any ghosts around do you? You're welcome." I laughed. "That is so cheesy. But really though, I wanna know." "Like I said, there isn't much to know. I'm a junior, I play football, and I'm a hit with the ladies." He smirked. "And maybe a couple of guys." His smile became a bit more suggestive, at which I felt my cheeks grow a bit warm. He was very handsome, if I thought about it. And that smile... Wait, what am I thinking? I just met him! "That's very... Interesting." I couldn't help but smile. A face like his made it hard not to. The bell rang loudly, making me jump in surprise. "Well my little Freshie, I'd love to show you around, but I have to get to the other side of campus and I can't afford to be late. And so, I must bid you goodbye." He gave a showy bow, before standing back up perkily. "Think you can find your next class?" He asked."Probably not, but hey, it's my first day so it won't matter much." I gave a short laugh and rubbed the back of my head. "Well, I'll catch you at lunch then. See ya." He waved over his shoulder as he walked out the door. "Bye!" I replied; with quite a bit more enthusiasm than I intended, to which I internally scolded myself. I turned down the hall into the flow of students crowding down it. I tried to focus on getting to 4th period, but my mind kept looping back to thoughts of Blake. I was deep in thought when I looked up to see my fourth period class, Biology. An old, grey rabbit sat behind his desk, his foot tapping the floor rapidly. I sat in a free desk near the back, dropping my bag down beside me. The bell rang, and he stood and closed the door. "Good-mornin'-students-I-hope-you-allr'-havin'-a-wonderful-day-so-far!" He sputtered out, so quickly I could barely comprehend what he said. "I-also-would-like-to-welcome-our-new-student!" He gestured towards me, his hand practically vibrating. "This-is-mister-Tern-Das!""A few of the students glanced towards me with confused stares, some muttering."Tern?""Das?""Yes-students-Tern-Das!" He repeated.More confused faces came."It's Terryn. Terryn Dawes." I corrected him, several students giving quiet "Oh"'s and "Ah"'s. The rabbit tapped his foot on the ground, making a rapid dull thumping. "Is-that-not-what-I-said?" A few students giggled, mumbling comments about the old hare. His ears twitched as he simply turned around to sit down at his computer again, opening up a slideshow that was projected onto the board, and he began to explain diagrams and charts over various strands of DNA. "Hey Tern!" I heard a student behind me whisper loudly. "Tern!" A paper ball bounced off my shoulder. I turned around and faced him."My name is Terryn." I whispered back, frustrated. A snow leopard stared at me, smirking from
ear to ear. His long tail wriggled and swayed behind him. "I know, I just wanted to get your attention." He chuckled, leaning closer to me in his desk. "I'm Jay." "I'm Terryn." Not that he didn't know that. "No, you're Tern.""Shuddup." I gave a small laugh, the feline returning a wide toothy grin. "Ahem!" The rabbit up front cleared his throat. We both looked up to see him glaring at us both. "Terryn Dawes..." His speech had slown down, and so had his foot thumping on the floor. "Since you seem as though you don't need to learn this material, perhaps you'd like to show me how much you know." His hand whipped up, pointing at the board. "Tell me, who originally discovered the double-helix shape of a strand of DNA?" His face was stern, and confident that he had me stumped. "Well sir, most people believe that James Watson and Francis Crick discovered it, but they actually based their work on one of their colleagues, Rosalind Franklin." I couldn't help but give a tiny smirk. He sighed, his eyes boring into me. "Correct, Mr. Dawes. Do not let me catch you talking again." He turned back to the board, resuming his teaching, his speech picking up speed again. I looked over my shoulder back to Jay, shrugging and turning back towards the front. The rest of the class went by normal, with the occasional quick glare from the teacher at me and Jay. Once the bell rang, we stood, grabbing our stuff and heading out the door. I waited on the feline, and we walked together. "So where are ya from Terryn?" We made our way down the hall, not making eye contact, simply holding a conversation while staring forward. "I came from San Francisco. We'd lived there for about a year and a half." "Why'd you choose Seattle?" "My Dad sorta has a thing for big cities." I left it at that. "Well, I gotta get to 5th period, I have second lunch. I'll see ya later Tern." He teased again."Oh boy." I gave a small laugh and shook my head. I turned into the bathroom, stopping in front of the sink, staring into the mirror. Yeah, I like to make sure I still look somewhat decent throughout the day. No big deal. A white fox stared back, with cobalt blue eyes. Black hair hung down, in a bit of a 'messy but still groomed' style, long bangs hanging around my face, the top a bit ruffled. I'm thin, but not anorexia-thin, a bit more toned and slim. A silver chain necklace dangled from my throat, a small ring hanging from it, and tiny blue gemstone set in the ring. I tucked it into my grey hoodie, like I usually do. I ran my fingers through my bangs, pushing them out of my eyes. I heard a snicker near the door."Re-applying your makeup, kid?" I turned to see a large leopard walk in, an amused grin on his muzzle. I simply dropped my hands to my sides and walked past him. "What, no reply? You already scared, pussy?" He spat as he stepped
back, putting his hand on the wall in front of me, and blocking my way. "If you value that hand, you'd better not pull a stunt like that again." I glared at him, ducking under his arm and continuing out the bathroom and into the hall, and melting into the crowd of students headed to lunch. The lunchroom was loud and crowded, students pooling into the various lines to get their food. I looked over at the counter displaying the food options, greeted with various bland, grey, tasteless looking foods, some of which were unidentifiable. "Blegh..." I mouthed to myself, sticking my tongue out. I grabbed a single apple before turning and finding an empty booth, sitting down and glancing around, taking small bites of the apple occasionally. "Hey, hey, hey!" I turned to see Blake plop down next to me in the booth, setting down a tray with a dried, slightly burnt burger on it. I nearly gagged looking at the disgusting attempt at a sandwich. "Hey." I returned his greeting. "So, did you miss me?" He joked. "Oh be quiet." I giggled.I heard the clattering of another tray being sat down as another wolf sat down at the booth. He was much shorter than Blake, only a few inches taller than me. He had purple fur dominating what parts of his body I could see, white being the less dominating, only covering his muzzle and neck, down into his shirt. Dark purple eyes glanced between me and Blake. He wore a black long sleeve t-shirt, with violet stripes wrapping around his chest, elbows, and wrists. "Hey Blake." He greeted, before turning towards me. "Who are you?" He spoke with a distinct Australian accent. "This is my little Freshie!" Blake threw his arm over my shoulder, pulling me to his side and grinning. The violet lupine gave a small laugh. I smirked. "I'm Terryn." "This here is Kyzie." Blake introduced him. "He's adorably shy at first, but once he warms up to you, he's just as crazy as any of us. And you probably noticed the incredibly awesome accent." Kyzie blushed at being called adorable, giving a small giggle. "Who is 'us'?" I asked looking up at Blake."You'll meet em' eventually." He gave me a light squeeze. I'd almost forgotten he'd pulled me up against him. He was so warm... I gently pulled away, so as not to seem upset or rude. "Hell, you could meet em' tonight, if you'd like. We're all hanging out together." His ears perked up.A chance to make some new friends... That'd be nice. And getting to be with Blake. Another plus. Most of all I don't have to be at home. "Sure, I'll go. Sounds fun." I replied, taking another bite of the apple. "Hey, no need to get so excited." He said sarcastically. "Oh boy, I can't wait to go! Thank you for bestowing the honor of hanging out upon me!" I shot back sarcastically, grinning. "Is it going to be in the normal spot, Blake?" Kyzie asked."Yeah, why
wouldn't it be?" He answered. "Just making sure." "Can I know where this is at?" I asked, half expecting to be answered, half expecting not to be. "Let's make it a surprise." He grinned."Jeez..." I giggled. There was a loud buzz that echoed throughout the lunchroom, signaling the end of lunch. "See you guys tonight then!" Kyzie stood, speeding away to get to his next class. Blake left the booth, throwing away his tray of half-eaten 'food' into the trash, before returning to me. "Meet me in the parking lot after school. I'll pick you up." "Okay, see you then." "Don't forget, Freshie." He chuckled, teasing me with the nickname once again. I simply smiled in response, turning and making my way down the hall. The next three class periods passed by uneventfully, boring to say the least. I found my locker and threw the books and notebooks I didn't feel like carrying with me into it, lightening my bag. I waited out in the parking lot, keeping my eyes out for Blake. "There you are." He clapped his hand down onto my shoulder, announcing his presence. "For a second I thought you'd bailed on me. You ready to go?""Yeah. Can I know where we're going now?" I asked."Nope." "You ass." I spat playfully and jabbed his side with my elbow. "Is your boyfriend giving you a ride home, faggot?" I heard the familiar voice from earlier today in the bathroom. I looked to the left to see the same leopard, grinning and laughing with his friends. "Just ignore him Terryn." Blake mumbled."Stay right here please." I ordered the lupine, before turning and walking calmly towards the oversized cat. "What was that? I couldn't hear you across the parking lot." I glared at the leopard, who was significantly taller than me, only an arm's length from me now. I pulled my messenger's bag off my shoulder, holding it to the side."I said, is your boyfriend-" I lashed out, wrapping the strap of my bag around the back of his neck, yanking downward and dropping my bag to the ground, stomping on it and successfully pulling him down to my height, the strap of my bag holding him hunched over. "What was that?" I growled, baring my fangs and snarling. "I couldn't hear you. And I better not hear from you again, you get that you oversized pussy cat?" I pulled the strap a bit lower, making him have to look up at me. "C-chill out man, I didn't mean any harm." He stuttered, straining against the strap. "Good." I yanked the strap free from around his neck, lifting my bag up and returning it to it's place over my shoulder before crossing the parking lot and returning to Blake. "You can be absolutely terrifying, for somebody who's only 5'7"." Blake smirked. "Let's just go." I laughed.