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The New Boy: Part II

2

Almost half a month had passed since Lynch had first darkened the doors of Arconis High, and in that time he had done absolutely nothing to better himself in Shilva's eyes. Even after that blatant display of crass behavior and - in Shilva's eyes - damn near faggotry, the pink golden-boy of Arconis was willing to, if not forgive and forget, live and let live. He even told Lynch as much, but that just made the jackal laugh, and Shilva swore that they were enemies now: Lynch would be expelled before the end of the year. Shilva would see to it.

Unfortunately for the pink fox, the past two weeks gave him little hope that his goal would be realized by the end of the year, and even made him fear the jackal's status a little. Lynch seemed to spend most of his time walking around the halls breaking every norm he could, but none of it ever seemed to blow back on him. He would curse in front of teachers like he lived in the ghetto and question their authority over him at every possible moment. He'd make passes at both male and female students in the crudest ways. And what would the teachers do? Just smile faintly and shake their heads. Some would even chuckle, like it was all some big joke. It infuriated Shilva every time he saw it.

One time in particular Shilva thought Lynch was going to finally get his comeuppance, only for nothing to come of it once again. The stupid jackal had chosen Ray as the next target of his depraved same-sex flirtation. Of all the people for him to choose, Ray was possibly the worst. He was the captain of the football team and actively, ferociously straight; he was known for pummeling his teammates just for staring at his ass for a second too long. When Shilva heard Lynch making a particularly blunt comment about the lion's package, Shilva paused, expecting to see the jackal get beaten to a bloody pulp, or at least roughed up a little. Instead, Ray just chuckled and shook his head in amusement, ruffling Lynch's hair and walking off as if nothing had happened.

It was truly an enigma.

As the head of student government, Shilva felt pressured to enforce a certain standard of conduct in the halls. If it were just Lynch acting up, he might have been able to do it, but like a virus Lynch's behavior spread. Previously puritain pupils were soon cussing like sailors in front of teachers who didn't care in the slightest, and though there was no same-sex flirtation as far as Shilva could see, PDA was definitely getting out of hand. There were simply too many offenders for Shilva to deal with.

Near the end of the second week things stopped getting worse, and Shilva convinced himself this was as bad as it was going to get. People were swearing, sure, and the amount of hand holding and kissing in the halls personally made Shilva ill, but that was his own problem. The plague of bad behavior seemed to have stopped at that, and Shilva was certain that Lynch wouldn't dare push the boundaries any further.

He thought that, at least, until Monday morning of the third week.

Shilva's school operated on a rotating schedule, and most classes would take place only twice a week. Third period on Monday was Communications, Shilva's favorite class. The topic itself, Shilva honestly couldn't care less about. Why did he need to take a class to learn how to speak to others? He aced it of course, just like every other class, but the topic itself bored him.

The teacher though, Mrs. Yain? Oh Lord, he lived just to be able to chat with her after class. So did every other male in Shilva's class, sure, but that was because she was a bombshell and not afraid to show it. While that certainly did factor into Shilva's minor infatuation with her, the real reason Shilva loved her simply came from her incredible ability to simply treat him like a real adult. There was never any hint of condescension in her voice, and her level head made for a better conversation than her looks would make one assume. She knew how to articulate herself like the best of scholars, yet did so in a manner befitting only the most humble of folk. During their lengthy conversations, she'd speak to him as an equal, not just some random, know-nothing student from the masses or like some special 'gifted child'.

Shilva found himself lulling over their previous conversation as he strolled over to her class that morning, memories of a hearty discussion on the merits of the mind; the pros and cons of hard work versus natural mental aptitude on constant replay through his head. It wasn't much, but given all the headache Lynch had been providing him in the short time he's been in the school, it was certainly a source of solace.

A solace he'd find sorely interrupted. As the pink fox approached Mrs. Yain's office, he heard the sound of conversation from within. Shilva's heart sank a little - no doubt some failing student was in there, begging Mrs. Yain for a chance to pass. He figured he'd best be on his way; Shilva cherished their conversations, but someone else's academic career was much more important.

And on his way he was, until he heard the student's voice clearly. There was no mistaking that uncouth mouth; it was Lynch! Shilva glanced around the empty hall before sneaking up to the door and putting his ear up to it. Part of him felt guilty for eavesdropping, but... well, he knew it was wrong, but his heart leapt at the possibility that Lynch was getting chewed out, maybe even failing! His ears twitched, making minute adjustments to better hear the conversation through the thick oaken door.

"...entirely out of the question. I don't think it's possible to..." That was Mrs. Yain, no doubt telling that wretched Lynch that he was doing so poorly, no amount of extra credit could save him.

"...I think you might be convinced otherwise..." That was Lynch for sure. Shilva couldn't mistake that smarmy tone for anyone else. He grinned. There was no way Mrs. Yain would go easy on the bastard!

There was a silence, and Shilva frowned. Were they whispering or something? Or... no, there was a shuffling sound, and...

"I-It's so... so big..." Shilva's face burned. Surely he misheard Mrs. Yain?

"Damn right it is, whore. Broke bitches badder than you, too." No, there was no mistaking it.

"I... I object to your language, young man!"

"And I object to your yapping. Pretty face like yours could be doing so many better things right now. Now open the fuck up!"

There was a gasp quickly followed by the loudest, wettest gag Shilva had ever heard. The fuck was going on in there? Was... was Lynch raping Mrs. Yain?

The pink fox was seconds from barging in to save his favorite teacher when he heard her let out a low, garbled moan, followed by a gasp. No, that wasn't rape... it must have just been a french kiss with an extreme amount of tongue. Shilva expected to hear a scream, a smack, something to repudiate Lynch for daring to kiss her, but... nothing. Just heavy breathing, then a continuation of the wet sounds of a deep, sloppy kiss.

Shilva pulled back from the door and braced himself against the wall, sinking down to the cold tile floor. This wasn't right. This couldn't be right. Every part of him wanted to think he was mistaken, that there was an innocent explanation, but the sounds coming from the room next to him were plain enough. Not even Mrs. Yain, the best teacher in a school full of brilliant minds, was able to resist Lynch, and now they were making out like horny teens. How could she sink so low?

The sounds of their kiss made Shilva sick to his stomach, and he forced himself to his feet. He felt ill. He felt like someone sucker punched him in the gut then followed it up with a nice solid blow to the balls. As he staggered down the hall, wanting nothing but to put distance between him and his fallen idol, he felt betrayed. Instinctually his hands went to his pocket, and before he realized it he had texted Arthur.

'Remember that new kid I was complaining about, Lynch? you won't believe what happened.'

As if his dragon friend was just sitting there waiting for him, Shilva's phone started vibrating. Arthur was video calling him already! Shilva hesitated a moment before answering the call. Phone use was disallowed during school hours for any reason... but surely no one would see. Or if they did, they'd understand.

Arthur's curious face popped up on Shilva's screen. "Shilva! What's happened? Tell me everything."

Before Shilva could reply, he heard an impatient 'ahem' behind him. The fox flinched and turned around to see Principal Wexler standing over him, arms crossed. Shilva was small and lithe enough that any authority figure would seem imposing next to him, but the middle-aged tiger's bulk and height didn't help.

"Having a good lunch, Mister Goldwater?" Principal Wexler growled. Shilva shrank back under the tiger's hard gaze, entirely unused to being on the wrong end of authority, but before he could stammer out an excuse, the tiger broke out into a broad grin and chuckled. "I'm just kidding Shilva, I know you'd have a good reason to bend the no phone rule. Just, keep it brief, alright?"

With that, Principal Wexler continued down the hall. Shilva let out a sigh, the tension in his back fading once the tiger turned out of sight. Joke or not, Shilva knew he definitely wasn't the type of guy to relish confrontation with authority.

"Well now Shilva, I had no idea you'd turned into such a troublemaker since I've been gone." Arthur's teasing tone jerked Shilva back to reality, and though he blushed crimson at the insinuation, he had bigger fish to fry than coming up with a witty retort.

"Arthur, you know I wouldn't ask you to call during school if it wasn't important. Lynch is ruining this school!"

The dragon raised an eyebrow. "That's quite the accusation, my friend. What do you mean?"

Shilva glanced left to right, making sure no one was around before continuing. "I caught Lynch and Mrs. Yain," he said in a half-whisper. The fox couldn't believe it when Arthur just shrugged in reply. "How in the world can you just shrug this away? Lynch is getting it on with a teacher. Not just any teacher, but the best one in school!"

The dragon just shrugged again. "I mean... okay, sure, maybe that isn't the best behavior ever, but like... is that so bad? They're both consenting, right?"

Begrudgingly, Shilva nodded.

"That's kinda what I figured. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's good, but if Mrs. Yain's the smartest teacher there, right? Do you really think in all of her genius that she hasn't considered anything you've thought of? They're both adults, as long as they're having fun and both happy, there's no problem, right?" Arthur's words seemed uncharacteristically pointed, but Shilva brushed that off as paranoia.

"I guess," Shilva admitted, "but... Lynch is still bad news. Mrs. Yain is bad enough, but it's one of those things where it's all the small things he does that adds up."

Arthur tipped his head. "Like what?"

Shilva did his best to explain everything that Lynch had been doing the last few weeks, from the cursing to the rebellious attitude, but nothing he put out there seemed to surprise Arthur at all. The dragon dismissed each one with growing unconcern, almost cold in the way he treated Shilva's protests like they were worthless.

The fox was starting to grow frustrated. "You're just like everyone else!" he finally growled, throwing his free hand in the air. "Everyone else just, just ignores it! The teachers just smile and shrug, the students are even starting to join in... I swear I'm going crazy. I thought you and Alan would be on my side at least, but Alan's been MIA basically every day for the last week, and you..."

...and Arthur was butting heads with him too. Both his closest friends weren't there for him, and for the first time in years, Shilva felt alone. His chest ached, but Shilva sighed, closed his eyes, and forced on a smile.

"You know what? Nevermind. You're right, I'm sure it's nothing to get worried about." The lies felt like sand in his mouth, but it had to be done. Arthur seemed to think he was overreacting about Lynch, and maybe Alan wasn't absent, but avoiding him to avoid his rants about that infamous jackal. Perhaps he was overreacting... but either way, it was best for him to drop the subject.

The warm flowed back into Arthur's expression. "There we go," he beamed, "that's right. Don't you worry about Lynch, things have a way of sorting themselves out. They certainly have for me!"

Oh, right, the move! They'd been chatting almost constantly over the phone for two weeks now, and Shilva hadn't even asked Arthur how the move was going even once! Well, better late than never to start acting like a good friend. "How's that been going, anyways?" the fox asked. "Do you like your new school? Or, your father was thinking about tutoring you, right? How's that been going?"

Just as quickly as the warmth returned to Arthur it disappeared, this time replaced with a look of guilt. "I-I, uh..." the dragon stuttered. "I... it's going good. I'm good. I uh, I gotta go, bye!"

Almost before Shilva could react, Arthur dropped the call, leaving the fox staring at his phone's background in stunned silence. What the hell was up with him? Shilva sighed, shaking his head and slipping his phone back into his pocket. Whatever it was, he could deal with it after school; his growling stomach told him he should get to lunch before he missed the period entirely.

3

The problem of Mrs. Yain stuck with Shilva all through the rest of school that day and his entire day at home. Arthur was no help, responding to absolutely nothing he was sending him, and Alan was still missing, refusing to answer Shilva's calls. Perhaps it really was Shilva's obsession with Lynch driving everyone away... but he just couldn't let it go. He went to bed early that night with no appetite for dinner, but tossed and turned until morning, unable to keep his mind off the situation.

The sharp trill of his alarm went off just after Shilva had finally fallen into an uneasy sleep, and for the first time ever, the pink fox seriously considered just staying home. His parents weren't home, off on a business trip yet again, and surely one day wouldn't hurt his academic career? Then again, he had perfect attendance, and besides that nothing would ever get better unless he went and made it better himself. What better reason to force himself to get up? There was no use laying around complaining when there was something he could do to improve his situation.

He lay there for a good long minute, the warmth of his bed and the heaviness of his eyelids wrestling with his natural inclination towards responsibility. It was a rough, tiring fight, but in the end responsibility won, and Shilva groaned as he swung his feet over the side of the bed and forced himself to get up. His breakfast tasted like dirt and the air was cold as he walked to school, but there was no way he was going to let himself rest until he set things right with Alan, Arthur and Mrs. Yain.

It was a bit earlier than usual to arrive at school, even for him, but the janitor let him in without a problem. After thanking him, Shilva went straight down towards Mrs. Yain's office. She always came in early to grade; Shilva was sure that he would be able to meet with her without anyone else interfering.

Just as he rounded the corner to her office, however, he saw something that surprised him almost as much as hearing Mrs. Yain and Lynch the day prior; Alan sat on the other end of the hall, curled up around his books and dozing. What the hell was the rabbit doing in so early? It wasn't like Alan to come to school just for the hell of it, and though he knew that Alan had a bit of a rebellious streak, there wasn't a detention session held this early.

Shilva quietly padded up to the sleeping Alan and crouched down next to him, gently shaking his shoulder. "Alan. Alan, are you alright bud?"

Alan awoke with a gasp, scrambling back with a wild look in his bloodshot eyes. It took him a moment to realize where he was and calm down, but once he recognized Shilva, he looked no less tense than before. "O-Oh. Hi, Shilva."

The fox sat on the hallway floor, crossing his legs. "Alan, are you alright? What's going on?"

The rabbit looked to his left. "Oh, I uh... I've just been hanging with Lynch lately. That's probably why you haven't seen me around. I know you avoid him."

"Alan, why..?" That wasn't the answer Shilva expected, but it was still good to know that Alan wasn't avoiding him, even if it meant he was hanging out with Lynch. The fox sighed and shook his head. "No, that's not... I mean, I was wondering about that but I meant are you alright right now, as we speak? You look like absolute hell, you're in school earlier than ever, your eyes are bloodshot, you obviously aren't sleeping well... not to mention you smell like shit, and can't tell if that's your body or your breath. Or both. What's up, are you alright?"

"...oh. Of course, I uh... I've just been up late the past few nights."

"...up late hanging with Lynch?"

Alan's ears flipped back. "What's it to ya?"

Shilva flinched at Alan's uncharacteristically rough tone. "I'm just worried! You haven't been yourself lately! This, hands down, has to be the worst state I've seen you in since we were little, and-"

"Oh, get off your fucking high horse!" Alan snapped. That shut Shilva right up, who just stared at Alan with a wide-eyed look. "What, just because I'm tired and I look a bit different, that all of a sudden makes Lynch a "bad influence" on me compared to your ridiculous standards? Did it ever cross your mind that maybe, just maybe, that we were up because we were having a genuinely fun time chatting, playing games and just being friends? Or is that magically something you've decided is a luxury exclusive to YOU?"

Alan arched his head back, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Look man, I'm sorry, but you're way too fucking obsessed with him. Lynch is a nice dude, alright? Why does it even matter so much to you, are you gay for him or something?"

Gay? For Lynch? Rarely was Shilva offended, but the insinuation he was a fag left the pink fox red and spluttering. How could Alan of all people think he was gay? Before he could gather up a reply though, Alan gathered his books and stood up, towering over the fox.

"Look, if you're turning gay on me that's fine, I don't actually mind it as much as I pretend to around your homophobic ass. But that's your problem, not mine. Having the hots for the new kid is understandable, it feels like everyone in the school does, but this... Lifetime-Network-TV-Movie, Possessive Stalker Boyfriend-slash-Husband shit you have going on is taking it way too far. You... You've got some shit to deal with, man. Talk to me when you get it figured out."

Alan let his harsh words hang in the air for a moment before sighing. "Look, I gotta go talk to Mrs. Yain about my grades. See you around." With that, Alan walked down the hall to Mrs. Yain's office, entering in and closing the door behind him.

Shilva watched in shock, staring at the door long after it closed. Since when did Alan like the gays so much? They'd spent hours before doing nothing but talking shit about homos, hell that's a lot of what everyone in the school did, just like their parents. The only thing that changed was Lynch coming to town, and suddenly everyone was acting weird. Was Alan dealing with feelings for Lynch, and projecting it on Shilva? Fuck, was Lynch turning Alan gay?

The pink fox frowned. It seemed like a Lynch thing to do, but whatever the cause of Alan's odd behavior, it had to be linked to Lynch. Every other bad thing in his life was. Something fucky was going down in this school, and Shilva resolved to get to the bottom of it.

Shilva gathered his things and walked down the hall as fast as he could, eager to get away from the dual stresses of Mrs. Yain and Alan. He had to pretend not to hear the moans coming from behind Mrs. Yain's door as he passed.