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Chapter Four

Friday March 29, 2008

11:50am

Basic Economics was a very different experience in the wake of spring break. Seeing Elena as Miss Rokem again, and from the third row of a classroom versus the front row of his car, made spring break feel like an amazing dream to Tyson. Still, there were hints at what had transpired over break--soft smiles when he entered the room, gazes which lingered for an extra moment. Those brief, reassuring things gave the shepherd a grateful take on his morning lecture, and at the end of Friday's class, Tyson crammed his economics text into his backpack with the speed of a depressed sloth, keeping his professor in the corner of his eye.

"Someone's in a hurry," Elena said to her slowest student.

Tyson grinned. "Yeah, how's your week going?"

They'd only spoken once since the kiss in the Porsche, meaning it had been a long and mostly uneventful week for the young shepherd. He was hoping to put an end to that with a spontaneous invitation to lunch--one of many off-topic thoughts to occur during his girlfriend's lecture.

"Mmm, fine," said the fox, raising her brow. "I hope you were paying attention in class."

A guilty smile crossed Tyson's muzzle. "As much as I could."

"So, what's on your schedule now?"

"Nothing for a little while. A psych class at two." Tyson shrugged indifference. "You about to have lunch?"

"I am. I'm meeting up with a few faculty."

"Ah, damn," said Tyson, smiling through his disappointment. "I was hoping we could grab a bite together somewhere. Maybe I should switch to a business major so I can see you more often."

Elena chuckled at that and slung her purse over a shoulder. "We'll talk soon and figure something out."

"Sounds good to me." Tyson hesitated, lingering hopefully near the fox. She smiled her warm and beautiful smile, one he had seen only hints of throughout her lecture, but she made no move to close the gap between them. Tyson, sensing defeat, backed slowly away and raised a paw in farewell. "See ya."

"Bye, Ty."

Damn, thought the shepherd, leaving the classroom and trotting towards the stairs of Sanford Hall. Not even a hug.

The shepherd gave himself a mental slap as he rounded a corner. It was pathetic to mope and stupid to think that Elena would risk being seen trading affections with a student in her own classroom, but that levelheaded thinking just wasn't meshing with his feeling as of late.

Tyson laughed at himself as he hit the cool, morning air.

* * *

12:13pm

Clark Hall housed a few hundred NISU students--most of them freshmen, and a decent chunk of the fourth floor was made up of psychology majors. A roughly-square, eight-story mass of orangish brick, Clark Hall stood near the west edge of NISU's campus, tucked between other dormitory halls. Room 43's door gave at Tyson's first touch, and as the German shepherd slipped inside he saw his roommate hunched over a desk across the glossy, mostly-unobstructed linoleum floor.

"Yo, Pierce."

A dust-colored paw waved over a curving horns as Tyson pushed the dorm room's door shut.

Each end of the room mirrored the other: a computer desk with three lower drawers, a six-shelf dresser and a moderately-comfy full-size mattress set upon a wooden frame. The dorm's walls were pasty-white, brick and cool to the touch. They seemed sturdy, but at times they could feel paper-thin.

At his desk, Tyson popped upon a laptop, one of few personal possessions in the room outside of personal effects and some tools kept underneath his bed, and lowered himself into a creaking computer chair.

Alright, he told himself.

Studies had always come to the shepherd naturally, especially for subjects he found interesting. In his first semester he had made the Dean's List with a 3.81 GPA, and he felt confident in reiterating that achievement. All he had to do was keep himself focused on school, a task which had become rather difficult in recent weeks.

Tyson took a long breath and went to work on the day's reading and assignments.

* * *

6:00pm

The shepherd closed his economy textbook with another long breath. Save for the distant boom of a subwoofer on the floor above, the dorm room was quiet. Pierce had gone out well before--leaving Tyson to his studies, his final class of the day and further studying. Now, Tyson was left hungry, drained and wondering what his favorite professor was up to. The nearest student dining hall was a block-and-a-half walk.

Elena answered his call just as he reached Clark Hall's front doors.

"Hello, Ty."

"Hi, Elena. What are you up to?"

"Oh, I'm just getting ready to eat. And you?"

"Same." Tyson leaned into a strong gust of wind and moved the phone closer to his muzzle. "And I was wondering if you wanted to do anything this week."

The fox hummed and answered in an apologetic tone. "I'm going to be pretty busy, so I have to say no. Sorry, Ty. I promise next week, though."

"Aw, damn," replied Tyson. "Yeah, that's fine. I suppose I'll be able to see you in class at least."

"Just don't stare too hard."

Grinning as he walked by a rowdy pack of football jocks, Tyson raised his voice and asked, "Was I that obvious?"

"No. You were fine. Like a good student."

" 'Like?' "

"Well, I'm starting to see the truth behind that handsome face."

Tyson could see the fox's smirk. "Oh god. What's 'the truth?' "

"A deviant.A sweet one."

"Me_?_ What have I done?"

"Don't play innocent with me, you devil. Your evil intent is obvious."

Tyson laughed and shook his head. "Go on, then."

The couple continued their little banter until Tyson reached the dining hall--at which point he, the "devil," bid his "mistress" farewell.

* * *

Tuesday April 1, 2008

7:08pm

The week proved long and uneventful for Tyson. His car and his campus friends occupied what time wasn't spent sitting in classrooms or grinding schoolwork at the dorm. All the while, the fox didn't leave his mind.

On the long-awaited evening of their date, Elena sat in the passenger seat of Tyson's 944, her paws folded softly over her lap--her musky, flowery sent arousing the young shepherd's senses.

Elena looked another kind of gorgeous: in jeans and a black, floral-patterned blouse which kept grabbing Tyson's eyes. The flowing, semi-transparent outer later of the blouse lightly-veiled the fox's arms, and while the V neck didn't go so deep as to expose any cleavage it still highlighted the fox's voluptuous figure in a very alluring way.

The canines were headed for dinner at the Dragon's Flame: supposedly an excellent Chinese restaurant. Tyson wondered if Elena was finding him unimaginative--three meals for three dates. He figured it was something worth racking his mind over later and put his attention on the downtown traffic.

The Dragon's Flame was violently red and gold. Its red-painted walls were speckled with variously-shaped golden paw prints, and large pictures of dragons and Chinese architecture sat within heavy golden frames. Golden-yellow kaleidoscope shapes blossomed from the red carpet lain underneath chairs and tables stained mahogany. From one such table, Tyson gazed about the room, taking in its red-yellow glow and spotting a family of unusual-looking canines at the table next over.

"Worried somebody might see us?"

Tyson jerked his eyes to the soft smile across the table. "Oh, no. I was just looking around--checking out the crowd."

"It's busy for a weeknight." The fox twirled some lo mein around her fork. Smiling, she added, "Tonight's on me."

A sigh left Tyson's muzzle before he plucked a dumpling from his plate. "Fine."

They ate in silence until Tyson gave voice to a bubbling curiosity.

"So, if the school found out about this_,_ would you get in trouble?"

"You don't have to worry about that. The worst that can happen is people might get upset."

"So, you won't lose your job over this?"

Elena shook her head. "We're consenting adults, and I've already got Dr. Schafer--he teaches some of the other econ classes--grading your work."

"Why's that?" asked Tyson, cocking his head and jabbing another dumpling from his plate.

"It's written into our code. Any teacher involved with a student needs to transfer that student's work to another professor. That way they know I'm not going to grade you unfairly."

Curious, Tyson leaned forward in his chair. "So, wait--does this happen a lot?"

The fox hummed in thought. "I doubt it."

From Tyson's perspective, it didn't seem like something a university would have written protocol for. He shook his head in disbelief. "So, this Dr. Schafer guy knows about us?"

Realizing how strange the conversation could sound, Tyson grinned and let his eyes dart about. Nobody seemed to be paying them much attention.

"Well, I didn't say anything explicitly, but it wouldn't take much to connect the dots."

So, at least one other person knows.

The thought made Tyson a bit uncomfortable, but there was nothing he could do about it. He hoped that this doctor was open-minded and, more importantly, tight-lipped.

"Have youtold anybody yet?" Elena's brow lifted as she made the inquiry, and Tyson shook his head.

"Nope. Nobody knows."

"I'm not sure if that makes me sad or relieved."

Tyson caught a hint of slyness in the fox's voice. "If you want, I'll stand up right now and let everybody in here know that you're my girlfriend and my professor."

The fox laughed and covered her muzzle with a napkin. After composing herself she sighed and retorted, "The worst part is I actually think you'd do it."

No such proclamation was made, and the canine couple continued their meal in good spirits. At the meal's end, they cracked open fortune cookies and read their fates aloud.

"Be receptive to new ideas from all fronts," Tyson read, then looked across the table. "I'm listening."

"New ideas," said the fox, pausing to think. "Okay, here's an idea: Sweetwater. Next weekend."

"Okay. Got something specific in mind?" Tyson had only been to the town of Sweetwater for some baseball games before his 944 had entered his life.

"Not really," shrugged Elena.

Happy to have secured another date, Tyson set the paper slip of his fortune on the table and grinned across the table. "What does yours say?"

Elena looked down, reading her fortune in a profound tone. "This is the time for caution, but not for fear."

"Fitting?"

The fox nodded. "Always be cautious around a devil."

"Ha. Ready to head out, my mistress?"

"You know," Elena began, clucking her tongue, "I'm not ready to go home just yet."

Tyson's ears perked. "I'm receptive to new ideas."

"How about a walk?"

* * *

8:18pm

The air outside of the Dragon's Flame was just beginning to cool. It felt great on the warm, exposed fur of Tyson's neck and arms. The collar of his black polo flared out with the buttons undone. There was no longer snow to be seen, only bare sidewalk and evening traffic as the two canines strolled to nowhere in particular. For over an hour they passed by closed shops, waited together at traffic lights and talked at ease. The time seemed to fly, and Tyson didn't notice the setting sun until the sky had gone black in its absence.

He had never had such great conversation in his life. He talked about high school: his friends, the trouble he'd made, even the girls he had dated. He talked about the weird, at times uncomfortable relationship that he shared with his parents--his short-fused mother in particular, and how glad he had been to leave home for college. While Tyson listened, Elena illuminated the twenty-six years separating their high school graduations, and she also talked about growing up in July, Colorado with five siblings.

"Five?"Tyson had asked. "Jeeze."

And Elena had smiled. "One kid was enough for me."

The thought of raising a family wasn't something Tyson had considered a great deal, and it occurred to him that it probably wasn't something which would be a factor of his current relationship.

But the talk of family also sparked Tyson's curiosity on a separate matter, one that he hadn't broached with the fox: her divorce. He had no idea of how long and how long ago Elena had been married, nor why her marriage had ended. He knew it was a more serious matter, and the shepherd pocketed his curiosity for another time. He had no intention of ruining such a great evening.

* * *

10:40pm

The canines enjoyed their conversation all the way to Elena's driveway. Tyson left the car to get his girlfriend's door, and as he helped the fox out, their eyes met. Then their muzzles. As their second kiss ended, the canines clung together tightly.

"I'm marking my calendar for Saturday," said Elena.

Tyson grinned. "I can't wait already."

"Be patient, my little devil."

"My tempting mistress makes that difficult."

Only a fox could make such a sly smile.

Their lips touched again, then split as Elena's tongue glided into Tyson's mouth, flicking over his teeth.

The fox's head rolled in a starboard list. Seconds later, she drew back with somewhat unsteady breaths. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ty," she said.

"Yeah . . . Have a good night, Elena."

Tyson hoped that he wasn't drooling. He watched the fox until she had stepped inside her house, then he threw his head back, grinning so hard that it hurt. "Holy shit. I'm in love."

Another perfect date in the books and another on the cards. The excitement was too much for Tyson. He felt like he could run a marathon or take anybody in a fight. Instead, the shepherd glanced at his car's fuel gauge and rerouted himself to a quiet stretch of Indiana State Road.

Later, he gaily danced up each flight of Clark Hall's stairway, taking a deep breath before triumphantly bursting through the door of room 43. "Hell yes!" he exclaimed, diving onto his bed. "I can't wait for the weekend."

Without thinking, the German shepherd whipped out his phone and deflated instantly. "Goddamn it!" He had completely forgotten.

A single unread message sat in his cellphone's inbox. The sender's name read "Mom."

"are u coming home this weekend for dads birthday?"