It's a Wonderful World
#2 of It's a Wonderful World
I do not own the song title "Come Together" nor do I own the band name "The Beatles"
If it's illegal don't do it, if you don't like it, don't do it. Simple, eh?
I own all the characters in this work and all of the following is all of my own creation, any and all similarities are completely coincidental. Please, do not plagiarize any of the following works.
I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to leave a comment.
It's a Wonderful World
Chapter 1: "Come Together" by The Beatles.
How did I get here in this white room with three other foxes sitting beside me? Truthfully, I alone cannot tell the story; I don't know what was going on in the other three foxes' heads as our worlds got turned upside down. It's amazing how a few days ago, we were all having the time of our lives, our band was amazing, we were about to go on tour, we had the greatest boyfriends any fox could ask for, life was great, but then, it became horrible. This is our story. This is our tale. The tale of our "Wonderful World".
28 November, 2011. One year earlier.
"Jude... Oh Judey... Jude, it's time to get up for school. Are you sure you're alright to go? You gave me quite the scare yesterday." I awaken to the gorgeous voice of the arctic wolf.
"I'm fine, it was just a bad headache, I'll be alright," I reply through my grogginess.
"You just found out your parents are dead."
"I've known they've been dead for the past year; I've taken care of everything for James and myself. I'll be fine, don't worry about me."
"You know I will worry regardless of what you say, that's what loved ones are for."
I place a paw on his, "I'll be fine," I say, looking deep into his eyes trying to convince him of my healthfulness.
"Alright, but if you start feeling bad, I want you to go home, 'Kay?"
"Certainly. Can I get ready for school now? We have a test in biology; it's worth a quarter of our grade."
"Do you really care about your biology grade?"
"Well, not by itself, but I do care about my GPA, and I need to know the stuff in biology if I want to become writer."
"Alright, I get it, you want to go to school; I won't stop you."
"Thank you." I lift myself out of bed, my legs sore from running yesterday. Of all the things I am, a runner is not on that list. My legs just don't like the pressure running puts on them. I walk over to my closet and pull out a pair of pants before I look down to realize I was completely naked.
"You certainly didn't have any problem undressing me, now did you?"
"I didn't want you to sleep in your uncomfortable clothes."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say." I pull a pair of boxers from my drawer and put them on.
"Aw, I was enjoying my view," Caine says with a whine.
"What? Do you want me to go around naked all day?"
"Would you?"
"Hmm, let me think about that... No! I may not be as shy of a fur as when you first met me, but I still don't want that kind of notoriety," I bark back, putting my pants on.
"That's a shame."
"You're serious about this whole me being naked thing aren't you?" I put on my shirt. He tilts his head to the side and gives me a smile. "Maybe we could stay home all day sometime and I'll be naked throughout, how does that sound?"
"I'll take what I can get, but I still think it would be better in public."
"No, just no." I tie my shoelaces together and pick up my backpack. "Let's get some breakfast."
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, James spent the night at my house with Able."
"Alright, at least he has some reason to go to school and stay there now."
"He doesn't stay in school?"
"No, he leaves early all the time complaining of a stomach ache."
"Why?"
"He's just too smart. He is uninterested in everything because it's too easy for him. He wants to go to highschool next year."
"With a brother as smart as you, it's no wonder he is so smart."
"Thanks," I reply as I put the waffles in the toaster. Moments later I place two on each plate and return to the table with forks and syrup. "I know, I know, my breakfast is nowhere near as good as your mom's breakfast is but it's all I have."
"Oh it's not a problem; I've actually wanted toaster waffles for a while now." We eat our waffles and place our dishes in the sink before departing towards school.
The day is brisk as the winter wind cuts through our clothes and fur, lowering the temperature of our blood by about a quarter of a degree, causing me to shiver. Our pace quickens as our bodies begin to become more and more aware of the chilled conditions of our surroundings. As the entrance to school comes into view, we are close to running in an attempt to get into the school halls as soon as possible. Once we make it into the shelter of the school building. we look to see a multitude of furs with the same thought in mind most likely. We walk in and lean up against the wall just outside the door of our first period classroom.
"You know, we could share body warmth," Caine whispers into my ear.
"You don't know how malicious most of these furs are. They wouldn't leave us alone if they knew."
"How can you be so sure?"
"You see that fur?" I motion to the depressed looking fox across the hall which I finally realized as the same fox we saw at the pier yesterday.
"Yeah."
"He came out freshman year to his best friend, he turned on him and now, he gets pushed around all day, every day by almost everyone. That's how I can be sure. I don't want to end up like him. I don't want to go home every day bruised and beaten. I like my teeth the way they are, thank you very much."
"How could the school staff and his parents let that happen?"
"Here's the most messed up part. He came out to his parents and they kicked him out. He works at the beach as a lifeguard and has his own place just off the beach. The lifeguards have been taking care of him."
"What's his name?"
"It's Nero." He gets up from the wall and walks over to him. He offers a paw and they shake saying a few things before they both head back my way.
"Jude? Is that you?"
"Hey Nero," I reply.
"We haven't talked in forever." The reclusive looking fox from just seconds ago disappears and is replaced by this energetic fox.
"Not since you acted like you didn't know who I was two years ago. What happened? We used to be such good friends before that."
"Well, you always talked about how you don't like being part of things that caused drama, so I didn't think you would want to associate yourself with the school faggot."
"You were my friend, and you still are," I begin as the bell rings. "You should hang out with us at lunch!"
"Uh, sure, where would you like to meet?"
"I don't really know... How about here?"
"Sounds good, I can't wait to catch up!"
"Cool!" he runs off to get to class.
"And you couldn't have done that yourself because?" Caine asks from beside me.
"I'm just not that kind of fur. I don't just go out and socialize, I let other furs come to me and so far it's worked out. Thanks for that though, I missed talking with him. Come on, let's get to class." I step into the almost empty classroom next to me. I take a seat and Caine takes a seat next to me. A minute later the bell ring.
"Everybody get up please, we have a couple of new students joining us today so I made a new seating chart." The twitchy little golden retriever, Mrs. Aviles says as furs begin to get out of their seats and stand by the wall. I scan the room in an attempt to see the new faces.
A fox and a wolf. The fox is about the same height as me, maybe a little shorter. He's a regular red fox with the usual markings associated with furs of his breed. His hair is dark brown and drops over his forehead and almost to his eyes before sweeping to the side. His eyes, which are probably the only thing distinguishing him from most other red foxes, are a vivid purple. The wolf to his left has the same color of eyes. Why would they both have the same colored contacts? Come to think of it, I've seen quite a few furs around with those purple eyes in the past few day. Maybe they're part of some gang or something. The fox's clothes consist of a red Panic! at the Disco shirt, a thin black jacket unzipped, and a pair of slim dark jeans.
The wolf next to him looks as though he belongs in an old fashioned black and white movie. His fur is just different tones of grey, his head fur is black. Even his ensemble is colorless. His shirt is black and grey stripped, he's wearing a pair of faded grey jeans, his shoes are black. The only thing that breaks the colorless uniformity is his purple eyes. His eyes are calmly scanning the room, seeing everyone with bright eyes. His friend, on the other paw, is a different story. His eyes are darting from fur to fur in a mad rush, like a lesser rabbit looking for a way out, a path open enough to dash free.
I feel a bump against my arm.
"Jude..." Mrs. Aviles is staring at me with contempt.
"Umm... Yes?" I answer timidly.
"Your seat, Mr. Avery," she says pointing to the desk seat combo beside her.
"Okay, sorry." I walk to the desk, my eyes focused on the floor, my ears splayed, and my tail stiff between my legs. I take my seat and plant my forehead against the edge of the desk.
"Arxidan Martinez," the teacher says about a minute later. I don't know the name so it has to be one of the new kids, but which one? I feel a body plant itself in the desk next to me. I look over to see a pair of dark jeans. So I got the fox. Sounds good to me, he seems a lot easier to ask about the purple eyes. If it is a gang, it's less likely he'll be able to do anything.
"Arxidan was it?" I say perkily, lifting my head to look him in the eyes.
"Umm, Arxy, actually," he replies with a voice as timid as mine is normally.
"Arxy it is then, I'm Jude, by the way."
"Good to meet you."
"So, what's your story?"
"How do you mean?"
"Did you just move here or change schools or what?"
"Just moved here, my dad ran me out of the house." He is immediately surprised by what he had said. That's quite the personal thing to say when you first meet someone.
"What about steamboat wolfie over there?"
"Steamboat wolfie?"
"The colorless wolf over there."
"Oh, Rex, he's my best friend and decided to come with me."
"That's quite the show of loyalty. That's amazing how good of a friend you have."
"Yeah, he's really great." I should probably ask now.
"So, I was wondering, what's with the purple contacts?"
"Purple contacts?"
"Yeah, your eyes are purple."
"You can see them!?"
"Of course I can, they are pretty bright." He takes a quick look around, probably checking if the coast is clear.
"It's not contacts."
"Woah, so your eyes are actually like that?! That's awesome!"
"How can you see them?" he talks loud enough for me to hear but seemingly to himself.
"What do you mean?"
"That wolf," he mumbles, "I got these eyes after yiffing my boyfriend Rex," he whispers into my ear. "Which guy did you yiff?"
"Um... His name is Caine, he's the arctic wolf sitting next to Rex." Arxy leans back to catch a glimpse of him.
"Nice catch, although, if you're trying to hide it, your mate isn't exactly doing too good of a job at it. He's over there staring at you, probably thinking about what he wants to do to you," Arxy says with a giggle. I turn to see Caine looking our way almost drooling and Rex trying to talk to him, but not really getting anything through to him.
"Yeah, Caine can be quite absent minded at times."
"Um, quiet please. We need to get started now," Mrs. Aviles says grabbing the attention towards the projection on the board. She begins to teach a lesson on grammar completely useless to me. I lie my head against the table and feel myself start to drift off.
"Hey Jude... Jude, wake up." I feel a paw pushing against my shoulder.
"Huh? What's up?" I ask trying to kick my drowsiness.
"You started snoring," he says with a friendly smile.
"How loud?"
"Not too loud, I was probably the only one to hear it."
"That's good. Thanks."
"No problem." I revert my attention towards the front.
"When writing, if another person is talking," she continues. The class period flies by. "Alright, don't forget to do your homework," she says as the bell rings. Good thing I already finished my homework as she was still teaching it.
"Hey, Arxy, could I see your schedule." He nods and rummages through his backpack.
"Here you are," he says passing me the 8 1/2" by 11" piece of paper. I look at the classes and realize that, this class aside, we have two others after lunch which we also share.
"Cool we have two more classes together after lunch. How about we all hang out at lunch?"
"Um, I wouldn't want to intrude on your group."
"Group? Our group consists of me and Caine. We need some new faces. Meet us here at lunch," I suggest as we walk through the door way of the room.
"Alright then, see you later I guess," he says as he reunites with Rex and they walk off into a direction opposite to that of my next class.
"Looks like we have a couple of new friends," Caine says next to me.
"Yup, don't they make a good couple?"
"Couple?! Rex told me they were step brothers."
"Well Rex lied. That's the reason their eyes are purple."
"Purple? Their eyes aren't purple, Rex's eyes were grey and Arxy's were brown."
"You can't see them?"
"Are you sure you're feeling alright? You do have a history for seeing things that aren't there."
"I'm fine! I'm not some fur who needs to be in a mental institution! I hope this doesn't turn into a routine thing with you, I'm not crazy." I walk off to the next class, taking a corner seat next to a fur, preventing him from sitting next to me.
I'm not crazy, I don't care what anyone says. There was something wrong with me for the past year. I was in a car crash, isn't that enough of a reason for an ongoing hallucination? Blunt trauma to the brain would certainly explain such a hallucination. Although, how did I remain so absent minded about it until now? And that nosebleed seemed far beyond normal. Then there was that burning pain in the back of my head.
"Are you alright there?" the fur next to me, an arctic fox says.
"I'll live," I reply giving him a plastic smile.
"That's good, I'm Ryo, by the way." He offers his paw for a shake. I oblige. "I just moved here."
"Yeah, there's a lot of that going around lately. I'm Jude, I've been here my whole life."
"Really? In that case, maybe you could help me out a bit. I don't understand the layout of the map on the student planner. I've looked at it about twenty times and I've only been able to find the bathrooms, I had to ask someone where this class was."
"No problem, let me see your schedule." He pulls out his planner and schedule sheet. English, Biology, Algebra 2/Trigonometry, lunch, Multimedia 2, Health, and Phys. Ed. All the same classes but we only share teachers in this class and P.E. "Your next class is next door to mine. Just walk with me and I'll show it to you. The rest I'll show you at lunch afterwards."
"Alrighty," he replies with a smile as the instructor calls attention to the front.
"Settle down everyone, we have a test today. It's worth thirty percent of your grade so take your time so you can get as many as you can right, if you don't finish you could stay after class until you do. Remember, number two pencils only, and don't forget to check your bubbles to make sure you don't get a miss mark. You may begin once you get the test." As the packet lands on my desk I immediately open it and begin answering the questions in my head so that by the time I get the answer sheet I just have to bubble in the answers. I finish bubbling in the answers, I already had almost half of the test finished. I proceed to finish it before some people have even started. I lay my head against the desk and take a look around the classroom.
All the furs are busy at work trying to answer questions that come so easily to me. I don't understand what makes the questions so hard for them. I see some furs scratching their head in confusion and other looking blankly into space without a thought in their head. How I wish I could be like that. To let my mind relax and lose thought so I could just relax and not give a care about anything. Like this Ryo kid, so calm, not even worrying about his test. Of course, that's because unbelievably he's already done with it. It feels good to see somebody with the same amount of mental capacity. One could only go so long surrounded by people of lesser intellect before they feel as though they are going to lose their mind.
Who is he? Ryo, the arctic fox in bio. His fur is full white with the exception of a small black diamond on the bridge of his nose. His clothes are the most common of our age group, a solid colored shirt with a insignia of some brand, his shirt happens to be Furrister, a pair of slim jeans, and a pair of Vans shoes. His head fur is cut short so it stands only slightly higher than his regular fur. His eyes are a ruby red, not as uncommon as the purple I saw earlier today, but not unheard of. It's said that furs with red eyes are much quicker to anger in comparison to those with eyes of a different color, well other colors except for that of white which is the trait of a feral.
Such a simple thing as the color of a cub's eyes could determine whether or not the cub lives, and if the cub dies, the mother and father are then tested extensively in order to check if they have the potential to become feral themselves. Even if all of their tests come back clean, they chemically sterilize both of them to prevent the production of any more furs with those cursed white eyes. Ryo should feel lucky; anger can be easily controlled with a little work at it. Ferality, on the other paw, doesn't have a cure other than death. The Internet rocks. Many things that I know that most furs probably don't or shouldn't I have learned from the Internet. I'd also have to thank my memory for being able to hold each memory as though it was just a second ago.
"Those of you who are finished can bring their test booklets and answer sheet up to the front desk." Both Ryo and I get up from our seat and take the test up along with a few other furs that have a higher mental capacity than the others.
Mr. Jameson. The mid-season replacement as I like to call him. He gives the most boring lecture anyone has ever heard and does nothing but lecture and tests.
Mr. Allen, on the other paw, was an awesome teacher; he actually had discussions with his students rather than lecture. A lot of furs liked Mr. Allen and not just because he was a good teacher. He wasn't very hard on the eyes either so a lot of the girls had a crush on him. Too bad he started going crazy. I miss his discussions. We always got into heated debates about various subjects, well the class did, I normally wasn't involved in the discussion because of my timid nature. I just sat back and watched as tempers flared as they talked about such things as abortion, divorce, politics, and various other controversial topics. When he started losing it, a lot of his discussion was geared towards ferals. Mr. Allen, I wonder where he is now. He's probably sitting in some white room by himself. That's quite the shame how such a great mind is being contained in such a place. I'm not going to be labeled as a psych patient because of one situation caused by an accident.
"Alright everybody, the bell is about to ring so gather up your belongings unless you are staying after to finish." I look around the room to find several furs quickly bubbling in random answers in the hope to finish by the time the bell rings, allowing them to have the five minutes of passing period to socialize with their so called "friends". Such idiocy is the reason for California's shitty economy. If they gave control to somebody who actually had solutions, instead some blowhead who just wants power and has popularity, the world would be a much better place. Mortality rates would be much lower due to the availability of money. All we need is some proper organization.
"Aren't you going to show me to my next class?" Ryo asks standing beside me.
"Um... Yeah, come on let's go." I walk outside of the class room and head towards the class, Ryo very close behind. "Alright here it is. Remember to come out of class and look for me so I could show you around."
"Will do, thanks Jude."
"No problem, glad to help." I turn around to almost bump into Caine. I turn to go into the classroom.
"Jude," he says sternly, grabbing my arm and turning me towards him. "Let me talk, please." My eyes advert towards the ground. "You're not crazy, I know that, but I might be. I'm not one to do the things that I did. I don't know what came over me, but I don't regret a thing. I've fallen in love with you and I don't want to ever lose you. I'm sorry if I'm working too hard to make that happen. I don't care if it's a just a mild headache, to me it's a concussion. I don't care if it's a stomach ache, to me it will be poisoning. I don't care if you start talking to imaginary friends, to me you will always be in your right mind. I love you, Jude. That will never change; our bodies and minds may decay, but that love will always be there. I'm sorry for making you think I'm calling you crazy. I just worry about your health."
"I know, and I don't blame you, but I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself. Just let me do so."
"Alright," Caine finally submits to my independence.
"Let's get into class." I walk into the class, glad to not find anybody paying any extra attention to me and Caine allowing me to infer that nobody noticed our conversation. We quietly take our seats in the front of the classroom as the bell rings. The teacher takes roll and begins his lesson on sine, cosine, and tangent. The great Indian chief SOH CAH TOA.
"The ratio for sine is O, opposite, over H, hypotenuse." This has to be about the tenth time I've learned this. Another period to gear my attention towards other things. Like the three foxes I'm spending lunch with.
Nero, Arxy, and Ryo. Each has his own set of problems and his own story. Each has a different intellectual level, a different specialty, and different skills. I'm not one to be superstitious and certainly not one to be religious, but I think that there is some higher power at work here. Of all the furs in the world it's four foxes, three of us homosexuals (maybe even all four of us), two of us from this city, two of us, as far as I know, with an intellect to challenge professors, this is by no means a natural occurrence. I don't make friends, it's not my thing, yet here I am, waiting for the bell to ring so I could spend time with those three foxes.
"Is my class boring to you Jude?" the teacher says as I revert my attention towards him.
"Do you want the truth?" I reply with a tone of defiance.
"Please, enlighten us."
"Yes, it is dreadfully boring to me. I don't mean any disrespect sir, but I don't really need to be in this school, let alone this class. If you want to throw me out of your class go on ahead, but you might want to hurry if you do."
"And why is that?"
"Well," I say as the bell rings. "That, see you tomorrow Mr. Oran." I walk out of the class room with my backpack over my shoulder and my hand waving to the kangaroo.
"Hey Jude!" The arctic fox from Bio comes up to me with a bright smile on his muzzle.
"Hi! We have to go to my English class because we have to pick up three other furs."
"Alright. Um... Who is the wolf."
"Oh! This is Caine, Caine this is Ryo, he's in Bio with us."
"Yeah... I noticed. He's the guy you used as a shield from me."
"Yeah, well, I didn't want to talk to you during that period."
"So who else are we hanging out with?" Ryo interjects.
"A fox named Nero, another fox named Arxy, and his boyfriend, a wolf name Rex." Caine utters, completely letting the boyfriend part slip out of his filter. I throw a quick jab at his shoulder as he realizes what he just did.
"So we're the gay group or something I guess?" He responds lightheartedly. "Don't worry; your secret is safe with me. I'm pretty good at picking up on stuff like that. By the way, I'm on your team." Four for four. If god does exist, he certainly likes furs being in groups of their own. Four foxes, four gays. I wonder what else we have in common. Only time will tell.
We begin walking back to our English class and rendezvous point. This part of the school is unusually quiet for the time. Normally you would hear a multitude of furs chatting. Odd.
We arrive at the class to find not a fur in sight.
"Where are they?" Ryo asks.
"I have absolutely no idea." Truthfully, I think I know where they are, I'm just hoping that I'm not right. That's kind of funny, me hoping that I'm wrong. A fur runs through the hallway. I'm right. "Come on guys, Hurry!"
Wait, think about this Jude. Don't just go running into this.
Why not!?
Are they really worth the repercussions?
Of course they are, they're my friends.
If that's your decision you better hurry.
I dash out into the quad and catch a multitude of furs crowding around in a circle. Cheering is rampant.
"Get those faggots!"
"Beat the hell out of them!"
"Beat them straight!" are just a few of the things shouted by the crowd. I run into the center of the circle, pushing furs out of my way a lot easier than I should be able to. Once I get into the circle I observe my surrounding to find three furs on each side. To my right I find three jocks that I've seen on the football team. To my left I find Steamboat, Arxy, and, although his fur is matted with blood and his face distorted with pain, Nero. Anger, by far, is the worst emotion.
"Oh, look, it's another faggot, come to help his butt buddies!" The leader the group, a Rottweiler by the name of Oscar, proclaims to the crowd. Sure, probably the most spiteful homophobe in the school, I have to admit that Oscar has one sexy body. The best bulges in all the right places, which is to say that he can probably deliver quite the beating. From the look of the relatively minute injuries on Nero, Oscar is not the one to give them to him.
It was probably Henry, the orca on Oscar's left. His body is of similar build as Oscar's but significantly less bulky. The last fur of the trio is Kyle, a rabbit. Most rabbits aren't that intimidating or strong, but Kyle is quite the exception. He's freaking huge in comparison to all the rabbits in the school, that and his speed has combined to help him join the jock group. Quite the trio.
"What's happening?" Caine and Ryo ask almost simultaneously as they break through the circle of furs.
"Even more fags! This is turning out to be quite the orgy." Oscar shouts.
"You can go and shut your fucking muzzle, Oscar. You think you're so cool because you pick on people who are different than your vision of the perfect fur. I'm certain that there is quite the multitude of furs in this school, hell, probably even in this circle, that are fucking tired of you. So why don't you shut the hell up?!" I shout back at him, breaking my previous silence and anonymity.
"Oh no, the faggot is mad at me, what should I do?" he replies in a mocking manner. "I know, I should shut the faggot up, that's what I should do!"
"Kick his cock loving ass!"
"Break his jaw so he can't suck no more cock!"
Anger even brings out the worst of fur's grammar.
"You really want to fight?" I ask hoping to avoid suspension that is imminent if I get involved in a fight.
"Don't try to get out of this; your ass is going down." Fine, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this right. I take off my shoes and socks, giving myself the best grip I can with the floor.
"Alright, don't say I didn't give you a chance to back out."
"He actually thinks he can win?"
"Think?" I raise an eyebrow. This sends him into a rage as he dashes towards me. I'm glad he gets into fights almost every week.
"Left hook to the jaw followed by a right punch to the solar plexus," I say aloud. He swings his left arm around in an attempt to hit me. I quickly duck in order to avoid the initial hit. He recovers and goes at me with his right arm. I duck lower, just out of reach of his fist and grab his arm, using it for leverage as I pull him down and bring my right leg up and press my foot paw against the bottom of his muzzle.
The crowd makes an angry yell although I hear a small amount of cheering other than that of my friends. It's good to know that there are a few furs rooting for me.
"You still want to keep going?" I ask as I get up and raise my eyebrow again. As far as I figure if I can keep him angry, this will be over in no time.
"The fucking faggot hit me! That was a fluke! Don't think you'll land another one!" He lets out a growl and comes at me again.
"Straight punch to the nose." He comes at me again. Here it comes. I prepare to move to the side when a paw comes out of nowhere and takes hold of the Rottweiler's wrist. I look over to find Ryo to be the fur grabbing hold of Oscar. He doesn't seem to be doing anything but Oscar is now on his knees, begging to be let go.
"Let him go, Faggot!" I turn to see Henry going at Ryo.
"A jump kick." The words come out as a whisper as Nero jumps out and knocks back Henry.
"Gotcha!" Kyle gloats beside me.
"Right hook to the temporal lobe." I close my eyes, my mind moving just fast enough to be able to react mildly to the rabbit's speed.
1...2...3... Impact... Or not. I open my eyes and turn to my right to find Arxy holding Kyle, incapacitating him.
"That's quite enough young men!" a booming adult voice breaks through the crowd. The circle of furs immediately disperses but they all stay at a distance close enough to see the action. The principal comes into the view as the three foxes recoil back. "What are you all doing!? Fighting on school grounds is strictly forbidden. My office, now!" the large intimidating badger shouts as the crowd further dispersed and we begin walking into the office. Many of the furs working at the office stopped their work to look at us, most likely at Nero's injuries. "Please, take a seat." He says as we enter into his office.
"Yes Mr. Anderson," Nero, the three jocks, and I say. We all take seats in the large table. Nobody says anything for a period of time as we await our judgement.
"So what happened?"
"I don't know sir, we were just hanging out and those two started messing with us," Oscar talks for the three of them.
"That's a damn lie! We were the ones getting messed with," Arxy shouts out in defense.
"Arxidan, let him finish his story, you'll have your chance."
"Thank you Mr. Anderson. As I was saying, we were just sitting around and they came over and started shoving us. We started defending ourselves so a group started to form around us. We tried to get away, but the circle of furs wouldn't let us. After a little the other two joined in to outnumber us. There was a little tussle and then you graciously intervened." As far as I've seen, he's always been quite the compulsive liar.
"Alright, so what's your story?" Mr. Anderson says looking back at our group.
"Nero and I were standing around waiting to meet up with Jude and these three come along and start calling Nero a faggot, as his new found friend, I stand up to defend him, asking them to just leave us alone. They don't, and start calling me a faggot as well, that's when the circle started forming. Nero had a rebuttal and Oscar saw it as an insult and attacked Nero, causing the injuries you see. That's when Jude and the other guy-"
"It's Ryo," Ryo interjects
"Jude and Ryo came to our aid. We repelled them, not causing much damage to them since we mostly tried to disable them until an authority came by."
"Oscar, take your friends and go sit outside of my office." A smile of triumph grows on Oscar's muzzle as he exits the room. "Now you four-"
"You're seriously going to believe them? Come on! How could this happen to Nero if we weren't the ones defending, Regardless, look at those guys, they're freaking huge, there's no way those two would be able to take them on alone." I argue.
"I was going to say good job. I saw the whole thing myself. I just wanted to see if Oscar would confess for once. The way you stood up for each other is quite commendable. Not many furs want to stand up to Oscar and his goons, not even a few teachers. Unfortunately, I have to suspend you, its school policy, but your sentence will be much less severe in comparison to that of Oscar, Henry, and Kyle.
"Oh, in that case, sorry about that."
"Don't worry about it Jude. You are free to go home; you only have a week's suspension so I will see you all next Monday, alright?"
"Thank you Mr. Anderson. Thanks for defending us," I say as I make my way out of his office.
"Send those three in on your way out, please." He says as the last of us exits the room.
"He wants you in there," Nero says, walking past them.
"So... You guys want to come over? We don't have anything better to do since we don't have school anymore," I suggest.
"Um... Let me call my dads, see if it's okay with them."
"I thought your dad kicked you out?"
"Yeah, but we meet these two guys who took me and Rex in, and sort of adopted us in a way. They live only a few blocks away from here."
"Oh, alright. Go ahead and call them," he pulls out his phone and steps off to the side to make his call, "What about you Nero?"
"Um... Sure, I got fired yesterday, so I don't really have much to do anymore."
"So that just leaves you Ryo."
"It should be fine, I'll text my parents right now." He pulls out his phone and starts texting away.
"Alright, they said it was fine," Arxy says rejoining the group.
"Cool, so let's get going." I begin walking in the direction of my house.
"Is it just me or should we have gotten our asses kicked today?" Arxy asks. "I mean, they were pretty buff and they seem as though they fight a lot. That was my first fight yet somehow I got behind that rabbit unbelievably quickly. Could someone explain that to me please?"
"It's simple really, our bodies were in a stressed situation so adrenaline was released into our bloodstreams allowing us to move faster, be stronger, and in Jude's case apparently, think faster," Nero explains. Everything is correct except for my thinking faster, that was just remembering what I've seen from their fights.
"Here we are," I say as we stop in front of my house. I walk up to the door, open it, and usher everybody in.
"How long will we be able to stay?" Nero asks.
"As long as you guys want, it doesn't matter."
"Your parents don't care?" Ryo asks.
"My parents aren't exactly alive to care."
"Oh, sorry."
"Don't worry about it, I'm over it already. So how about all of you, anything you would like to share?" I move the group into the kitchen as I grab four water bottles and pass them around.
"I'll start," Arxy begins, "Up until Wednesday of last week I lived in Atherton, a smaller city a few miles south, with my dad. He was a single parent because my mom died a couple years ago, cancer. My dad had always been abusive, but when my mom died he seemed to get a lot angrier, and he started to drink a lot more. But that's the past, right now I am living with my boyfriend Rex in what I have chosen to consider my dads, Josh and Andrew. I feel that that couple really cares about me."
"I'll go next," I say as Arxy finishes, "I have lived in Redwood my whole life. I can't say that my story is as interesting as Arxy's is. I've spent my whole life working on my academics so please pardon me if I am a bit socially awkward. Caine is my boyfriend and he helped me finally realize after a year that my parents are dead. Before anyone says anything, no, I am not crazy. I suffered severe brain trauma which I believe is what caused me to believe that my parents were still alive, even though my body has been taking care of everything for me and my brother, James."
"Interesting," Ryo says quietly, " I guess I'll go next. I previously lived in Phoenix, Arizona. The reason we moved, as far as I've been told, is because my parents' jobs have been transferred here, but I'm pretty sure the main reason is because my best friend, and for a brief moment, boyfriend, turned feral and I was forced to kill him. On my way over here we picked up a blue otter by the name of Luke, and I've started to fall in love with him. His whole family is dead now, which isn't much of a backset since he didn't really like his family. Um... What else? Oh! I burned that guy, Oscar's, wrist."
"Wait! Burned?! How?" I blurt out, my curiosity getting the best of me.
"It seems that whenever I have a strong emotion, in that case anger, random body parts raise in temperature. I guess I was so angry that I burned him."
"That's amazing, I wonder how it works."
"So far, my parents have said that it has to do with something my blood and my skin. And what about you mister 'I know everything you are going to do'."
"It's simple, those guys get into fight almost every week. All I do is watch and I remember how they fight."
"Well I think it was awesome watching you kick their asses." Nero adds, after gulping down a muzzle full of water.
"So what about you?" Arxy says nudging his shoulder.
"What?"
"What's your story?"
"I came out to my best friend about two years ago and he turned on me. After that he told everyone and as you saw, I'm constantly referred to as the school faggot. When I decided to come out to my parents they immediately kicked me out. I got a job at the beach as a lifeguard. I worked as a lifeguard up until yesterday, I got fired yesterday because the city doesn't support furs under the age of eighteen working as a beach lifeguard."
"Damn, that sucks man," I place a paw on his back. "Listen, if you ever need any help whatsoever, don't be afraid to come over. I'll do whatever I can. For the time being, you should go take a shower so you could get all that blood out of your fur." I usher him towards the bathroom. "I'll also let you borrow some clothes."
"Don't worry about that, I have all my clothes in my backpack."
"Why do you have your clothes in your backpack?"
"Well, part of the deal of my apartment was the job, so once I lost my job, I got evicted."
"Damn, that sucks. If you would want to stay here for a while, it's perfectly fine. I'd hate to think of you on the streets."
"I would like that, thank you, Jude."
"Don't worry about it. Don't worry about rushing, take your time to relax. You could the towel on the rack when you are done." I then return to Arxy and Ryo in the kitchen. "You guys want to move to my room? It's probably a bit more comfortable there."
"Sure."
"Alright." They reply. I then usher them upstairs and into my room. As we enter the room, they both stop to look around.
"Woah, awesome guitar!" Ryo says as he quickly runs towards it, picks it up, and starts playing a random song. Sounds like it's of an alternative genre. I'm pretty sure it's "Sugar we're going down" by Fall Out Boy. "Why didn't you tell me you played the guitar?"
"We just met and didn't get much of a chance to talk. Nero and I wanted to start a band, he can play the drums."
"We should do it!" Arxy exclaims.
"What about a vocalist?" I ask.
"I could do it! So it will be Jude and Ryo on guitars, Nero on the drums, and Arxy with the microphone. Interesting idea. I'm all for it!"
"I would like to go for it," Ryo adds.
"Then let's do it!" The thrill of the moment rushes through my mind as I imagine the road ahead of us. Months of practice, difficulties between us, possible failure to launch. Although, on the other paw, we could rise to fame, gain quite the profit, and the four of us can become the best of friends.
"What's going on guys?" Nero asks as he walks into the room with a new set of clothes.
"We're making a band, and you're the drummer!" Ryo explains to him with a giggle of excitement in his voice.
"Alright, one problem though, my parents probably sold my drum set, and even if they didn't there is no way I would be able to get them back."
"I could get some, my parents had more money than they led me to believe and even better life insurance policies."
"So how about a name?" Ryo asks.
"Um, how about wintergreen?" Arxy suggests.
"Like gum?" Nero interjects.
"Yeah, we're cool with a little sweetness."
"Um, I don't think so."
"How about something completely observation based like "The Foxy Quartet"? There's four of us and we're all foxes." Ryo submits.
"It's a Wonderful World," I say quietly.
"What was that Jude?"
"It's a Wonderful World," I repeat.
"I don't know, it doesn't really seem to roll that well," Nero contradicts my submission.
"I don't know guys think about it. We're on stage," Arxy begins to get lost in the moment. "Welcome ladies and gents, welcome to our wonderful world! We are proud to welcome to the stage, It's a Wonderful World. And the winner of the Grammy is... It's a Wonderful World! I kind of like it!"
"Well, when you put it that way, it does sort of sound good," Nero says changing his mind.
"I think it's pretty interesting, wonderful even!" Ryo adds.
"So, It's a Wonderful world?" Arxy asks.
"Sounds good."
"I like it."
"Then it's settled. Gentlemen, welcome to It's a Wonderful World!"
Indeed, welcome to "It's a Wonderful World"! This has been my project for quite some time now, so I'm glad to finally put it out.
I reiterate, I do not own the song title "Come Together" nor do I own the band name "The Beatles"
Any and all comments are welcome.