P但tisserie: Chapter 2 - Him
#2 of Pâtisserie
AHAHAHA!!! Surprise! I wasn't planning on posting chapter 2 so soon, but I thought that since chapter 1 consisted of a whole lot of nothing I should add some meat to the story. Don't get used to this however. From now on imma stick to my strict one-chapter-per-week schedule. Also thank you to everyone who has already liked and followed this story. The fact that you already have faith in me is really reassuring. <3
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Anyway, enjoy Chapter 2 of P但tisserie!
Chapter 2: Him
Gideon always hated the first day of school. After spending the summer traipsing around the county with Travis, getting into shenanigans and generally not giving a shit about anything, he was once again forced to sit inside the stuffy, claustrophobically crowded white-brick building that passed for Bunnyburrow's center for public education. Or at least, that's what he told himself. In truth Bunnyburrow's public schools were rather sparsely populated considering the ever increasing rabbit population. However most of the lapine families hired private tutors for their unfathomably large litters; most of the kids who used the public school system were either preds, non-lapines, or the children of less affluent rabbit warrens who couldn't afford such large families.
And if Gideon were being completely honest with himself, being in school was preferable to being anywhere near his pa. He had managed to avoid most of the labor his pa tried to force upon him throughout the summer months by sneaking off early in the morning, or on days when his pa was especially shitfaced. Of course, he'd get a beating once he got home, but over the years he'd developed a rather thick hide. Travis never asked about the scars barely visible under the russet fur on his back, because Travis knew Gideon's tells more than anyone; he knew there were some things better left alone.
Travis was currently sitting next to Gideon in the back row of the classroom, the black-footed ferret's slender frame ridiculously small in the large desk he tried to occupy. Although they had both grown substantially over the summer, Gideon had grown at least a full two heads taller. Despite this, Gideon's desk was also slightly too tall for him. The classroom was organized with the smaller desks in the front for the shorter mammals, and the larger ones in the back. Being the first ones to arrive the two friends had claimed the prime real estate at the very back of the room, furthest from the stern-looking black-wooled sheep who was apparently their homeroom teacher.
Their class had slowly filled with mammals of various sizes, from a vertically challenged raccoon named Gary who nearly pissed himself once he saw Gideon in his homeroom, to a tall grey cougar whom Gideon didn't recognize. The cougar in question stumbled a bit when he walked into the room, resulting in a few snickers from his classmates. Then he awkwardly positioned himself in a chair that was far to short to accommodate his long legs. Gideon found this mildly amusing, and noted that the cougar did look vaguely familiar, though he still couldn't place a name to the face. The rest of the class was made up of several lemmings, a stag with newly acquired albeit stubby antlers, some prairie dogs and a fair number of rabbits.
"All right, all right." the sheep at the head of the classroom spoke up finally. She was wearing what appeared to be a silk white blouse with a green cotton plaid skirt. Her eyes pierced into the crowd with an air of distrust.
"Looks like we got stuck with a bitch." whispered Travis under his breath. Gideon chuckled softly in response.
"I am Ms. Langley, your homeroom teacher." She glanced furtively at the various students in front of her.
"First thing's first, don't get too cozy where you are. We will be following a seating chart in this class. Speaking of, this class is meant to help you familiarize yourselves with the schedule for the day, school announcements, and acquiring some much needed organizational skills." She looked around someone disdainfully at what she apparently deemed to be slovenly youths.
The untempered flea, convinced of its own delusions of ascendancy, pontificated to an indifferent assembly.
Smiling to himself Gideon scoffed at her austerity.
"This class," she continued, "is NOT a free period to catch up on forgotten homework or to socialize."
There was a quiet collective groan amongst the students, apparently none too thrilled to be at the mercy of a homeroom teacher with authoritarian delusions. Travis elbowed Gideon in the side, shooting himself with a finger gun when Gideon turned to look at him.
"Now that we've got that out of the way," Ms. Langley said as she walked to her desk, "here is your seating chart. Please follow it accordingly."
Pressing a button on her desktop computer, the projector turned on and displayed an image of various sized boxes with a single name in each. From the back of the room Gideon and Travis had to squint to read the small text, their faces falling when they noticed their new seating arrangements. Travis had been placed in the third row from the front, while Gideon the second from the back.
"This sucks." murmured Travis.
"Shoulda thoughta that 'afore you became a ferret." Gideon responded, lightly punching Travis in the back as he walked away.
The entire class shared in a mutually irritated sigh as they all shuffled around to their new desks. Upon reaching his, however, Gideon noted that given his substantial girth, he'd have a hard time squeezing into his desk. He attempted to anyway, sucking in his gut and trying to shimmy his way into his chair. Once he managed to slip his plush tail through the hole in the back of his seat, he tried and failed to relax, feeling very uncomfortable with his stomach pressing into the edge of his desk.
Shit, he thought as he tried repositioning himself, scraping the desk audibly across the concrete floor and causing multiple heads to turn, including Ms. Langley's.
SHIT.
"Is there a problem Mr... Grey?" she said after a brief pause while she read the name on the seating chart.
"Not at all ma'am." Gideon huffed out impatiently, still trying to find some semblance of comfort in his straightjacket of a desk.
"It's because he's too fat to fit in the desk!" shouted out Gary from the front row, eliciting immediate laughter from his peers. Gideon stared daggers into the raccoon, quickly snuffing out his goofy expression. Gary visibly gulped.
And then a soft voice Gideon didn't recognize spoke up behind him.
"Gideon can have the desk next to me. Kayla moved away over the summer and it should be big enough."
Turning his head Gideon looked at who had spoken and inadvertently called him fat as well. The words had apparently come from the same lanky cougar that had tripped over his own legs.
"Very well." said Ms. Langley. "Mr. Grey, you can take the desk next to Mr. Catmull."
Catmull? Bobby Catmull?
Gideon looked again at the tall cat who was apparently his new neighbor. He looked almost nothing like the pathetic twerp Gideon had pushed around the past 7 or so years. This was the same cat that did the stupid one man band for the talent show last year? As Gideon shuffled over to his new seat, he looked closer at the cougar's muzzle, finally recognizing the same naive brown eyes and stupid grin he'd had when he was half his current size.
Grunting as he slumped into his chair, Gideon refused to make eye contact with Bobby when he said "Hey Gid." He simply muttered a "don't fuckin' talk tah me" and turned away.
However, as the 30-minute period wore on, Gideon continued to take furtive glances at the cat, still finding it hard to believe that this was the same mammal he'd regularly stolen almond milk from when they were in elementary school. He started to notice things... interesting. Bobby's once round face had become accentuated with a more visible jawline, and the rest of his body had also abandoned the curvier days of his childhood in place of a more angular construction. His whiskers had darkened as well, prominently jutting out from the space between his nose and mouth. His fur, which had looked grey from afar, was up close more visibly sprinkled with hints of tan, and it was noticeably less fluffy and more glossy than it had been. In fact, when Gideon inhaled through his canid nose, he could even detect hints of the cat's damn shampoo. It was a flowery scent, lilac probably.
Fag, thought Gideon.
He tried to focus on what Ms. Langely was droning on about, but his attention continued to be drawn back to the cougar. Finally, the bell rang for them to head to their first period, and Gideon hastily ran out of the class and into the quickly filling hallway, catching up to Travis who had gotten out even faster.
"What a grade-A bitch." said Travis as they walked side by side down the hall. Gideon nodded absentmindedly, still distracted by thoughts of lilacs and speckled fur.
"She's a fuckin' homeroom teacher, not the fuckin' president." Travis continued, not noticing that Gideon was only halfway with him. He did notice eventually.
"Dude, what's up with you? Are you okay?"
"Hmm? Yeah... ya ah'm okay." Gideon responded.
Suddenly Travis grinned as he looked over Gideon's shoulder.
"Hey, look who it is," he said as he elbowed Gideon and gestured towards Gary. The raccoon was currently using the drinking fountain across the hallway from them. Gideon and Travis shared a wicked grin as they sauntered over to the raccoon. Walking up to Gary's right side, Travis shoved him straight into Gideon, causing him to stumble and fall face first into Gideon's chest.
"Hey! Watch it loser!" said Gideon in mock surprise. Gary looked up in utter horror at Gideon towering over him, and then turned his head to find Travis behind him, blocking his only escape.
"Gi-Gideon! I didn't mean to, I swear! Someone pushed me!"
"Awww," Gideon crooned in mock sympathy. "It's okay li'l coonboy. Let me help ya up."
Gideon grabbed the raccoon by his waist, hoisting him onto his footpaws. Gary's head barely stood above Gideon's navel. However, before Gary could fully recover from his fall Gideon placed his left footpaw on top of Gary's, letting his full weight press down on the racoon.
"Ow ow ow that hurts!" Gary cried out.
"Oh ah'm awful sorry. Ah guess ah jus' don' know how heavy ah am."
On the word heavy Gideon pressed even harder into Gary's sole, and the raccoon started to tear up as the pain in his footpaw grew. Seeing a teacher approach from down the hall Gideon quickly lifted his weight off of him.
"What's going on here?" inquired the teacher, a ram named Mr. Woolsby wearing a white button up and a tie. Gideon had had a few run-ins with him in the past.
"Nothing Mr. Woolsby." Travis answered. "We're just saying hi to our good friend Gary here."
Mr. Woolsby glanced skeptically between Travis and then Gideon.
"Are you okay?" He asked of Gary.
Gary looked between Gideon and Travis fearfully, before stammering out "Y-yes sir! Just saying hi to some... old friends!" Gary smiled unconvincingly through his teeth.
However, it seemed good enough for Mr. Woolsby.
"Okay, but I'm watching you Gideon Grey." he said before wandering off down the hallway. Gideon mockingly saluted him goodbye, before pulling on the suspenders of his overalls and turning back towards Gary.
"And ah'll be watchin' you, coonboy. Don' ya forget it."
With that Gideon and Travis walked away, leaving Gary to contemplate their threat.
The rest of the day was mostly uneventful. Gideon's first period math class was boring as he expected. Second period English was less so, as he shared this class with Travis and didn't have any assigned seating. Third period was history, which was just as dull if not more so than math. After lunch Gideon had a free study hall period, which he had signed up for instead of an elective. The fox had been interested in some of the programs the school offered, but he feared what his pa would say if he chose something like culinary arts for example.
It was during his study period that he felt a pressure building in his bladder. He got up and started walking towards the door when the teacher, a large bull sitting behind the desk whose name Gideon didn't recall called after him.
"Where do you think you're going?" he said gruffly.
"Ah gotta piss." replied Gideon curtly, causing multiple other students to chuckle. The bull simply huffed out of his nose impatiently and waved Gideon away.
After relieving himself Gideon started to wander around the empty hallways, not caring if a teacher saw him. It was his free period after all.
It was while he was walking down the D-wing of the school building when he heard... something. A gentle yet passionate melody echoed softly through the hall. Gideon faintly recognized the tune but couldn't name it from the top of his head. He followed the noise further down the hall, getting progressively closer to its source. Finally, Gideon reached a slightly ajar door with the words Orchestra Room engraved on the wood surface. Peeking inside, Gideon saw somebody standing alone in the middle of the room, somebody he recognized.
Bobby.
His grey tail with flecks of tan flicked back and forth as he held a violin between his chin and shoulder, the bow in his paw sliding back and forth across the instrument. Bobby had been making that music, and Gideon was completely enthralled. The look on Bobby's face was one of complete concentration with traces of bliss, and the cougar's body swayed with the passion of his music. Stepping further into the room, Gideon accidentally knocked over a water bottle that was sitting near the door, startling Bobby and prompting him to stop playing as he spun around quickly.
"Oh! Hi Gideon. I, uh, I didn't expect to see you here." Bobby's voice was just as gentle as his eyes.
Why do ah keep thinkin' this shit!? Gideon thought, frustrated with himself. Bobby however was visibly flustered.
"I, I'm sorry if I disturbed you. I had a free period and I asked Mr. Hoofston if I could practice in his classroom. He doesn't have a fourth period so he said it was okay..." Bobby trailed off as he looked into Gideon's expressionless face. Gideon wanted to be mad. He should've been mad. This was the cat that called him fat. So he walked up to him and snatched the violin out of his paws. Bobby didn't even fight back.
"Please, Gideon. That was really expensive. I saved up all summer for it." Bobby didn't really act outwardly distressed, but there was a slight desperation in his tone. Gideon could see how his brown eyes revealed his fear, frantically shifting from the violin and back to Gideon's own eyes.
Gideon held the instrument in his paws. It was lighter than he expected. It would probably smash really good against the concrete floor. He knew that's what he should do. He was Gideon Grey. The bully fox.
"You called me fat." he said simply to Bobby, almost as if trying to convince himself that he should be more upset than he was.
"Oh... I'm sorry Gid, I certainly didn't mean to. You can have my leftover lunch if you want. It's in that bag over there." Bobby gestured to a brown paper bag next to the door and the fallen water bottle. "Just, please, can I have my viola back?"
Viola?
Gideon looked down at the instrument in his paws. He didn't know there was a difference between violins and violas. His grip on the neck of the viola tightened. He felt how delicate the varnished wood was; just a little tighter and it would splinter. The cougar audibly gasped.
Looking back at Bobby, he locked eyes with him. Only for a moment. But Gideon saw that he had started crying. Bobby no longer tried to hide his fear. The fear he, Gideon Grey had caused. He'd seen it many times before, but it had never stayed his hand. Now, however, he just couldn't bring himself to follow through with his cruelty. Slowly he stretched out his paws towards Bobby, offering the instrument back to its owner.
"Thank you." Bobby said softly, taking the instrument in one paw and wiping his eyes with the other. He smiled weakly at Gideon.
"Whateveh..." Gideon muttered as he turned around and nearly sprinted out of the room, shocked at his own actions, or rather, his inaction.
Once in the hallway, he stopped and pressed his back against the wall, sliding down to the floor as he sighed deeply. He heard Bobby quietly whisper something to himself, and again felt completely bewildered by what he did, or didn't do. Then, Bobby started playing again.
It was the same song as before. And it was still eerily familiar to Gideon. He could've sworn he'd heard it before.
Bobby played masterfully. The music was almost painfully beautiful, with Bobby adding the perfect amount of vibrato and nuance.
The sound of unbridled grace, pure in its quality, meanders through my head like a river towards the endless sea, bound by no force but its own.
Gideon unconsciously smiled to himself at his spontaneous poetry, and even started swaying back and forth with the rhythm of the angelic melody. Then, realizing what he was doing, he scowled and hurried down the hall, turning into the nearest bathroom. He splashed cold water onto his muzzle as he gazed into his blue eyes through the mirror.
What the hell?