Bets: Chapter Three
#4 of Bets
A/N: Sorry it took longer than two did. I moved into my dorm and it's really hard to write gay furry porn when someone is sitting about four feet from you. Anyhoo, enjoy! Or don't. But I'd really prefer if you did.
XXXXXXXXXX
"What's gotten my favorite fag so excited?" The voice was behind me. I almost dropped the phone with how fast I snapped it shut.
"Go to hell, Hamlet." A sigh came from the cheetah. I smirked and managed not to laugh when he walked around to sit on the opposite side of the table. "Oh my God. What the fuck did Lily do to you?"
Sere, normally so immaculate in dress and posture, slouched in his seat. His normal dress shirt had been replaced with a garish, tie-dye monster, and his pants, normally long khakis, were shorts. That a stripper would be embarrassed to wear.
He glared at me. "I lost a bet, okay? Not that you'd know anything about that. I don't think you've ever bet anything in your life."
I'm very thankful I don't get poison.
I mean lunch.
Otherwise I may have sprayed food out of my nose. When I finally controlled my laughter after several moments, I looked at him again. He glared. I cracked up again.
"Oh, fuck," I finally choked out, wiping tears from my eyes. "Where is Lily anyway? You two are normally attached at the hip. Or crotch. Whatever." Maybe I won't laugh if I don't look at him. Even with that precaution, I could still feel his glare.
"She's getting my lunch. We saw your tail wagging from across the cafeteria, so I decided to come see what had you so excited." His voice was cultured and held enough charm to choke an elephant with it.
"Well. That's none of your business. And I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to."
"Tell him what?" Lily's voice was bright and happy and could make you feel like you were traipsing through a butterfly- and flower-filled meadow. In spring.
"Nothing," I stammered as she sat down and placed one tray of food in front of Sere, the other in front of herself. I'd always had a problem lying to Lily. And now I felt like a kid caught with one hand in the cookie jar.
The cheetah across the table started laughing. "Oh God, Ian! Your face was priceless." The cheetah's voice rose with every word, until he sounded more like an insane hyena than himself. I frowned at him. It couldn't have been near as funny as the way he's dressed. That thought brought a smile to my lips.
"Stop it," Lily said as she swatted at her boyfriend. Her body shook with repressed laughter. "It wasn't that funny!" Sere just glanced at her. Her body started shaking more. "Okay. Maybe it is."
Her body's shaking attracted the attention of Sere, and he, in his infinite straightness, stopped his laughter and moved his gaze to her breasts.
I snorted. Straight guys. Not that I'm any better when it comes to guys with a nice ass.
My snort cut Lily's laughter short. "What?" She seemed oblivious to Sere's eyes trying to bore a hole through her shirt.
"Nothing."
"Okay." The way she drew out the word made her doubt clear. "What was it you wouldn't tell my wannabe peeping tom?" That snapped Sere's gaze anywhere that wasn't her chest. "Does it have to do with why your practically shaking the table?"
"Yes." I felt it better to tell her the truth to prevent them from falling into fits again.
"Uh-huh. You gonna expand on that?" When she wanted it to be, her voice could be as sharp as a scalpel.
"No."
"Fine. Just remember, you forced me to do this." She looked to Sere. "Stand up."
His ears went back. "Why?"
"Because he won't care if I shake my rear a little," she retorted.
Oh. So it's going to be that way, huh?
"Lil, I wouldn't tell even if he gave me a lap dance."
"Oh. So it's going to be that way, huh?" She smirked at me. Between that and her words' eerie similarity to my thoughts, I could almost believe she could read my mind. "I will find it out, Mr. Carter."
Thank God the bell rang. Otherwise I would have had to come up with a response. I ran out of the lunchroom like my ass was on fire.
XXXXXXX
Oh shit.
I forgot I had fifth with them.
Fortunately, the American History teacher was one of those that droned on endlessly. Normally, I would agonize over every second I couldn't make a smart-ass comment to one of them, but I was thanking God this time.
As Mr. Gabool, a lean coyote who was the baseball coach, started on the difference between some such president and some other president, I could feel Lily's glare from where she sat behind me, with Sere to her side. I looked everywhere but behind me, completely ignoring them.
Thankfully, Gabool did not call on me, as I was too busy not paying attention to the two behind me to pay attention to him.
When the bell rang, I was out of my seat and into the hallway before it stopped. Thank God that was over.
XXXXXX
Fuck.
I had math with them, too.
I have no idea how I keep forgetting shit like this.
Ms. Pril was the coolest teacher in school. She let you talk and work together after a short fifteen minute introduction to the material, so long as you worked. Unfortunately, the three of us were the best multi-taskers in the class.
"Whatever it is, it's really important." Lily's pencil had feathers near the eraser that swirled in the air as she wrote. I ignored her. "Otherwise, you'd tell us straight out like you always do. And it probably has something to with someone else."
I continued to ignore her. If there is a one-hundred and four degree angle between a tower and a fire, and a thirty mile distance between that tower and another, what is the distance between blah, blah, blah.
Whatever.
"Oh my God, Sere! Get your hand out of your pants!" I couldn't help it. My head snapped to Sere, who sat with both hands clearly visible. I snapped my gaze to Lily, who sat with a smirk on her face. "So you can hear me."
I stuck my tongue out at her. Her hand jerked as if to grab it and I quickly slipped it back into my mouth.
"C'mon! Just tell me! I swear on Sere's balls I won't tell." Sere stopped what he was working on and looked at her.
"What? You can't just-" Her raised hand cut him off.
"So what do you say?"
"No."
"Well, if you're going to be like that then-" I tuned her ranting out so I could think. I doubt she'd tell anyone, but what if she did? No one would believe her, so that's not a problem, but what if she thought I lied? That would suck. And not just because she'd probably kill me. But what if I did it after the fact? I'd be able to describe it in much better detail, which is not how you lie, so she'd probably believe me, and would leave the issue alone. I stopped her talking.
"One week. I'll tell you in one week."
She grinned. "Deal."
XXXXXXX
After math was done, I started to make the long trek to my locker. I kept my eyes open, as this was the time when I'd normally see Jesse, but I didn't see any flash of gray. I sighed and gave up my tiny hope of seeing him.
As I rounded the last corner that would take me to my locker, I noticed something. A familiar gray wolf was working on shoving a piece of paper through one of the vents in my locker. I was within distance for a normal speaking voice to be fine and was about to tell Jesse to just give it to me when it finally slipped in.
This close, I heard him sigh in relief before he made a quick turn and stopped just short of ramming into me.
I didn't have to look down far to see his pretty eyes. "You could have just given it to me, you know."
He jumped back and his ears went down. He's really cute when he's embarrassed. I stepped past him and began working on my lock to open the door.
"Yeah. Um. Sorry." It was almost a question.
"Not a problem, I have to get my psychology book anyway." I turned my head and gave him a smile. His posture went from mortified to relaxed almost immediately. I turned my attention back to my locker and pulled on my lock. It snapped open and I pressed up on the handle to open the door.
The piece of paper fluttered as it fell to the floor. Jesse quickly snapped it up before the rush of the students around us could sweep it away and handed it to me, with his ears back again. I smiled at him again as I pulled my psych book out of my locker, before closing it and grabbing the piece of paper.
We stood there for a few seconds before he fidgeted. "Aren't you going to open it?"
"Only if you want me to." He nodded. "C'mon, then. No need for us to be late."
He relaxed again when we started walking without me having read the note. I wondered what was in it that it could make him so nervous. "Yeah, I'm already almost failing math, no need to add being late to it."
I just barely stopped myself from saying I could help him if he wants. I didn't want him to take it the wrong way. We walked in silence, before we had to go down different hallways.
I'd barely sat down before the bell rang. I idly wondered if Jesse made it on time, before remembering the note still clutched in my hand. I opened it carefully and read it.
Tonight. 7 P.M. Movie. I pick. You pick me up, you pay. No one is told. Jesse.
Beneath that was scribbled an address.
I resisted the urge to pore over it all hour and carefully refolded the paper and slipped it into a pocket. Try as I might, I kept slipping back to thoughts of Jesse and tonight while the teacher rambled on.
I was going to make sure this was the best not-a-date date ever.
God.
That sounded horrible.