FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chris sighed as he stood outside room Sr. Eng. 203. This was the second school he had been sent to since the school year began three months ago. He sighed again and ran his fingers through his wavy brown hair. He was dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans and a black T-shirt. He had thick, black cloth bracelets around both wrists. His sad blue eyes stared at the door for a moment before he reached out for the doorknob. As he stepped into the classroom, every single head turned in his direction. He stared awkwardly at the faces of numerous furs in the room before looking down and walking toward the teacher, a short pudgy rabbit. He handed her a slip of paper and wandered to the back of the room to an empty seat, the rest of the class staring at him all the way. As he sat down and laid his head on the desk, he took a glance around and noticed that he was the only human in the room. It wasn't a surprise since humans were on the endangered species list.

The teacher, Mrs. Somon, tapped her ruler on her desk to get the class's attention. "Now class, we have a new student joining us as you can tell. His name's Christopher Adreis, and I expect you to make him feel comfortable. Now, as I was saying, today we shall start on our next project. I want everyone to get a partner and pick a play written by William Shakespeare. In exactly one month, I expect for everyone to turn in a three-page report over your play and I want you and your partner to act out a scene in front of the class. Now pair up!"

The sound of feet stepping and desks turning filled the room as everyone paired up, keeping as much distance as possible between them and Chris. He didn't really care. He just kept his head laid on his arms, not even noticing the whispers around him. "I'm not pairing with him. He's a human." "Nothing but trouble they are." "Probably has some disease. Look at him just sitting there."

"C'mon guys. Don't be mean just because he's different." A vixen stood from her seat and pulled it next to Chris's. He looked up at her with a blank expression. She looked down at him smiling with her eyes closed and her hands on her hips. She had orange fur with black on the tips of her ears. She was wearing tight blue jeans and a pink shirt drawn tight over her breasts. She sat down and kept smiling. "What's wrong? Can't say hi?" He just stared at her and blinked. Her smile faded into a look of concern. "You could do with smiling a bit. This place isn't that bad."

He shook his head and frowned. "It's not that," he said in a low voice. "It's something you wouldn't understand." She smiled and leaned towards him a bit.

"I think I might if you told me, but if you don't want to tell, I won't force you to. I'm Kalyn. Anyway, let's decide what to do."

*******

The rest of the week dragged by. Every day, Kalyn walked into class with her usual cheery disposition and Chris as gloomy as ever. They both worked on their project, but there weren't many words exchanged between them no matter how many times Kalyn tried to start a conversation. She thought he was suffering from depression since he just moved to this school and most everyone else was already talking behind his back. He rarely talked and never smiled. She decided to make it a goal to make him smile before the end of the project. They decided to work on Romeo and Juliet. It was actually her who made the choice since he didn't suggest anything.

At the end of class on Friday, she stopped him before he walked out the door. "Hey Chris. I think it would be a good idea to get together during the weekend and get farther on our project. What do you think?"

He shrugged and pulled his backpack higher on his shoulder. "I guess. Where?"

"Well, my parents wouldn't like it much if I had a guy over. How about your place? Think your parents would mind."

He sighed and turned away. "I can't see how they could mind. See ya later." He left, leaving Kalyn looking a bit confused.

Mrs. Somon walked up behind Kalyn and tapped her on her elbow since she couldn't reach her elbow. "I think there's something you need to know about him." She led Kalyn to her desk and sat down. "That young man's last name sounded familiar to me, so I looked on the internet. It turns out his parents were murdered in their own home when he was twelve. Since then, he's had to be on his own because he has no other family to turn to. It's no wonder he's so silent and depressed all the time." Kalyn sat down and folded her hands in her lap with her head down. So that's the reason he's so sad. I thought something was wrong...But even if his parents died, that's no reason to be so bummed for six years. Maybe I can try cheering him up again tonight.

After school, Chris and Kalyn walked to the boarder house he lived in. He took her to his room on the top floor and unlocked it. She had to stifle a gasp at the lack of anything inside. The room itself was very small, maybe eight feet by eight feet at most. There was only an old mattress on the floor with a blanket and a pillow, a small chest of drawers, and a tiny fridge in the corner. She stood in the doorway as he stepped inside and dropped his pack on the mattress. "This is where you live? It's not much..."

"It's enough. I don't need much. Soda?" He knelt down and opened the fridge, pulling out two cans of cola and offering her one. She hesitated before taking it and stepping in. They both sat at the foot of the mattress for a few minutes in silence.

Kalyn stared down at her hands. "I heard your parents were killed...I'm sorry..."

Chris shrugged and set his empty soda can on the floor. "What's to be sorry about? They're dead and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Let's go ahead and get the work over with."

**********

They worked for a couple of hours in silence for the most part. Chris stood up and walked to the door. "I need to go to the restroom. Don't touch my stuff." When he left, Kalyn laid back on the mattress and sighed. Guess it may not be a good idea to ask about it anymore. He's depressed enough without me dragging up painful memories. She rocked onto her side as she felt something hard pressing into her back. She reached behind her and picked up a small book. It looked like some sort of journal yet different. She flipped through the pages and gasped, utterly surprised at what she saw. Every page was covered in detailed drawings of people killing themselves. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that every single person was wearing the same clothes and had the same facial features. They looked remarkably like...... "What...?"

"I could have sworn I said not to touch my stuff." Her heart leapt into her throat as she looked up and say Chris standing in the doorway. "Never thought you'd fail to respect someone else's privacy." He leaned forward and swiped the book from her hands. "Get out..."

He didn't look mad, but that was what scared Kalyn more. She cringed a bit as she stood. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to look...It was just there..."

"I said get out!" He turned his head to face her, causing her to jump back. He looked as pissed off as a person could get; the fury in his eyes could make the bravest knight cower in fear. He looked away again and sat down on his mattress facing away from her.

She frowned and walked behind him, kneeling down to his level and putting a hand on his shoulder. "I really didn't mean anything. My curiosity got the best of me. Why were those drawings of you killing yourself?"

His face softened again as he removed the cloth bracelets and held up his wrists for her to see. She gasped loudly at the thick scars an inch below his hands. "Failed attempts. Now you know. Happy?"

She moved in front of him and sat down. "No. I'm not. Why would you even think of killing yourself?"

He stared at her for a minute, unsure whether to tell her what he had been keeping a secret for years. She's been trying to be nice... Maybe I can trust her... He hung his head as tears began building in his eyes. "It's hard living as a human. Barely any of us are around anymore. Everyone sees us as some sort of scum on their shoe, something revolting. My parents fit that bill. They were despicable; everything they did was for their own benefit. They ran a multi-million dollar company that cheated others out of money they needed, and I hated it. They kept filling up their pockets and never even thought about doing something nice, not even glancing in my direction. One night...I was sleeping...I don't know what happened...I woke up standing over my parents bloody bodies with a bloody knife in my hand. I freaked out and called the police. They wouldn't have believed that a twelve-year-old would be able to kill a pair of adults twice his size, so I told them someone broke into the house and killed them." Tears streamed down his face. He had to fight himself from breaking down crying. "Waking up finding that I killed my parents scared me. I was afraid to have friends, do I drove everyone away. Moving to another state every few months. I thought if I kept people away, I wouldn't experience that again. I tried to take my own life a few times, but I kept ending up in the hospital instead. I--" He fell forward onto the mattress, sobbing into the fabric.

Kalyn frowned and pulled him up and laid his head on her shoulder, closing her eyes as she embraced him. "Shh. It's ok. You don't need to cry; I'll help you. You need a friend to get you out of your slump. You won't have to be afraid anymore." Chris's crying began to slow down as he took a few slow breaths. He placed his hands on her arms in gratitude. He felt as if a weight had been lifted from his heart. They stayed there holding each other for a while. Chris was finding it pleasant having someone who was treating him with such kindness. No...Not just someone...A friend...

For the first time in six years, Chris began to smile.

(Ok. My first story. I'd appreciate any and all comments that will help improve my writing skills for the next instalment "A New Start")