Chapter 2: A New Start
#2 of Changing A Life
Monday found Chris walking down the sidewalk towards school. He dressed in his usual dark shirt and blue jeans with his wristbands around his wrists. He got a few funny looks from passersby since he wasn't wearing a jacket despite the chilly November air. The only thing that was different about him on that particular morning was the positive air he had about him. His new friend, Kalyn, was at his room in the boarder house every night of the weekend despite being told a secret Chris had kept to himself for six years. He considered her a true friend even though they had met less than a week ago. He was actually looking forward to his English class for once. He let out a puff of breath, smiling as his foggy breath dispersed.
He stepped through the main doors of the school and walked through the scattered crowds of teenagers, hoping he could get to his first class on time. I can't believe I slept through my alarm clock. You'd think something that loud-- "Oof!" Chris staggered backwards as he collided with another student. He shook his head to regain his balance and gasped as a pair of furry hands grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up off his feet. All he could see was a pair of cold green eyes and a black-furred face. "You better watch where you're walking punk. You bump into me again and I'll have the pleasure of rearranging your face." Chris fell back to his feet and glared at the wolf as he walked away. The black wolf was easily a foot and a half taller than him and much stronger by the look of the large bulges in the arms of his orange and black letterman's jacket.
He was getting ready to yell at the wolf before a white paw covered his mouth and muffled his voice. The paw didn't let go until the wolf had turned a corner. Chris turned around and glared at the white tiger standing behind him. The tiger raised an eyebrow. "You don't want to get on that guy's bad side. He's the king of jocks around here. You get him mad and you're likely to get the shit beat out of you by him and his football player lackeys."
Chris straightened the straps of his backpack, frowning a bit. "Thanks...Sorry for the look. I'm just not used to people grabbing me from behind. I'm Chris." He smiled and offered his hand to the tiger.
"Thomas," the tiger said as he shook Chris's hand. "And it was either that or let you get killed by a bunch of muscle heads. I gotta get to class. See ya." Thomas smiled and waved as he ran down the hall leaving Chris with a smile on his face. Hmm...I don't know exactly, but I think I might have made a new friend. He smiled as he hurried down the hall to his first class, hoping the day would hurry by so he could get to English soon.
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Eleven o'clock could not have come sooner for Chris. During his first three classes, he kept glancing at the clock. He was glad the day was seeming to go faster than normal. He hurried into his English class and over to his seat. Just a few seconds after he sat down, Kalyn walked into the room and, smiling brightly, walked over to her seat next to Chris. She gave him a funny look as she noticed his lack of warm clothes. She removed her own coat and laid it on the back of her chair. "Morning Chris. You feeling ok?"
He smiled at the vixen as he pulled his English book and set it in front of him. "I'm feeling great. It's a nice day and I think I might have made another friend this morning."
She couldn't help but laugh. "You seem a bit too cheerful today. I think you overshot the feel-good by a good bit. Anyway, I talked to the Theatre teacher, and she said that she'd lend us some costumes for when we act out our scene."
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All to soon, the bell rang to signal the end of class and the start of lunch. Kalyn dashed out the door to wait up for Chris. "Hey Chris. Why don't you start eating lunch with me? It'll give us a little extra time to make plans for our project."
"Sure. Sounds like a good idea." They walked into the cafeteria, each grabbing a bowl of spaghetti, and sat down at an empty table by the window overlooking a small courtyard. Chris looked over his shoulder at the small rock garden right outside the window behind him and smiled. It looked like one of the old-fashioned gardens that were found in ancient Japan. I wonder why I never noticed it before. Probably too busy sulking around. He was brought out of his thoughts as a pair of furs sad down next to him, one on each side. He looked at the tiger and bear, each wearing identical football letterman jackets before looking at another fur joining the table. His eyes narrowed as they met the eyes of the wolf he had run into that morning.
Kalyn smiled at the wolf as he sat down and put his arm around her shoulders. "Chris, this is my boyfriend Luke. Luke, this is Chris."
The wolf nodded as he met Chris's glare. "Yeah, I remember you talking about him. I don't remember me saying he could eat lunch with us though..."
Chris didn't like Luke's tone. In fact, there was a lot about the wolf he didn't like. "Well, I don't remember asking for your permission. I thought this was a free country."
Luke stood up, glaring at Chris as he too stood. "I don't like your attitude. You've got a little too much gall for a human. I oughta take you down a notch."
"I'd love to see you try you muscle-headed--"
"Boys!" Kalyn put a paw in front of them and looked at each of them with daggers in her eyes. "Both of you stop this right now. All you're doing is acting like a pair of babies." Luke gave another glare at Chris before sitting down and grabbing a forkful of pasta. Chris sat down too, but unfortunately he didn't notice one of Luke's lackeys pull the chair out from under him. Chris fell hard on his ass and rolled back into the window. The glass shattered when his head made contact. He fell through the hole, feeling a great pain across his back before landing on one of the rocks below. His world went black.
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BEEP......BEEP......BEEP......
All Chris could see was black, but a steady beeping filled his ears. He was groggy as hell, a feeling he knew was brought about by painkillers. He could feel a dull pain across his back and on the side of his head. He tried to open his eyes when he heard another noise, but to no avail.
"--didn't tell him to do it, he just did! What was I supposed to do?"
"Stop him before he had a chance to!" He recognized the voices. Kalyn and Luke. By the sound of things, she was not happy. This is a good time to just lay low... "And you know what was worse? You didn't even attempt to help him! He could have been dead, but you and your friends were sitting there eating like nothing even happened!"
"Why are you fretting over this dweeb? He's a human. They're an endangered species anyway; let them all die and get it over with!"
"That's it!!! I've heard you say some heartless things, but I never thought you'd be low enough to say that! Get out! Now! We're through!"
"But--But--" Chris heard a door slam followed by a few angry huffs from Kalyn. He tried again to open his eyes and managed to wrench them open. He blinked from the sudden brightness and took a look around. He was in a hospital bed with the curtains drawn around him. The beeping he heard was from a heart monitor near the head of his bed. An IV was standing next to it dripping some solution into a tube embedded in his wrist. His eyes met a shadow in the curtain that was moving across the room to the window. He could make out a muzzle and a pair of familiar-looking ears. "Is he always such a kind person, or am I just lucky?"
The shadow jumped and turned around, soon replaced by a beaming vixen face as Kalyn moved the curtains aside. "Chris! You're awake!" She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, making him cringe as her hands pressed against his back. She quickly withdrew. "Oh God, I'm sorry. I was afraid you wouldn't wake up."
"How long was I out?"
"About four days. When you fell through the window, your back was sliced by the broken glass and you landed on a rock with your head. The doctors said you had a fracture in your skull. I was scared to death."
Chris ran a hand over his back, feeling the stitches through the gown he had to wear. He reached his hand to the side of his head where he felt the other pain. His hair was shaved off and he counted seven stitches right above his ear. He lowered his hand and looked to the door when he heard a knock from the other side. "Come in."
The door opened a bit and the head of a white tiger peeked through. He let out a sigh and smiled when he saw Chris sitting up. "Good, you're awake. I told you not to get on his bad side, but you didn't listen."
Chris laid down gingerly and shrugged. "What can I say, Thomas? Humans are too stubborn for their own good." He smiled as Thomas sat down in the seat on the opposite side of the bed from Kalyn.
Thomas laid down a book on the bedside table and pointed over at Kalyn. "I've been coming here ever day, and every time I come she's here. You seem to be pretty popular for someone who's been here for such a short time." He chuckled to himself as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "Damn. Mom's wanting me home. You get better soon, you hear me." He smiled at Chris and Kalyn and pat Chris's shoulder before hurrying out the door.
Chris shook his head and laughed. "A short visit, but that's better than I've had before." He raised an eyebrow and looked at Kalyn. "You've been here every day? Really?"
She gave an embarrassed smile and looked away. "Yeah...You really had me worried when you fell. I've been coming here every day after school for a couple of hours. Thomas came for a short while too, but he'd leave long before I did. I don't really have anything to do after school, but he has to help take care of his mom and four siblings. So that's understandable...We were afraid you wouldn't wake up...It really means a lot to us you're still with us."
Chris smiled softly and moved his hand to her hand laying on the side of the bed. When he grasped her hand she looked from her hand to Chris, a slight blush hidden beneath her fur. "And it means a lot to me that you two care. Thank you Kalyn." They spent a couple of minutes looking at each other in wonderful silence before a nurse poked her head in the door to tell Kalyn that visiting hours were over for the day.
She hesitated before she took her hand form Chris's and stood up. "I better get going. I'll be back tomorrow so don't do too much." She leant down and gave Chris a small kiss on his cheek before walking out the door, waving good night as she shut the door. Chris laid there with a bewildered look on his face, his hand slowly making its way to his cheek where she kissed him. A large smile spread across his face. He stayed still for a long time just smiling and thinking how wonderful it was to have someone like Kalyn and Thomas for a friend, his thoughts moving to Kalyn. The drowsiness of the pain killers kicked in again. He slowly drifted off to sleep with her face in his thoughts.
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((Sorry it took so long to spit this out, but here's the second chapter. Again, any comments and suggestions are more than welcome.))