Another Day
This is my first story, my first introduction into the writing world so to speak. This is more of an "I'm bored and need something to fill my time" kind of thing as well. First off, I make no guarantees that any of my details are correct. So bear with me if I get anything horribly wrong. Second of all, there is no second. :P Do leave some nice comments and critique please.
It started with a rude awakening for Thomas Finnigan. His digital alarm clock went off at 6:10 with the standard annoying buzzing. He blindly groped for the snooze button and pressed it, sliding out of bed and shuffling off towards the bathroom. He turned the shower to spray a steady stream of hot water and stepped under it in an attempt to wake up. Done with the morning ritual of waking and washing, Tom put on his usual slightly faded jeans and t-shirt with the caption 'I see stupid people' written on the front. He closed the door to his room and walk down the stairs into the dark kitchen. He yawned and mechanically flicked on the overhead light, reaching the freezer and pulling out a box of breakfast Hot Pockets. After putting two of them into the microwave, Tom walked into the living room and turned on the TV, silently praying to see an image of his school laying in a smoking ruin.
"Today's forecast will be a sunny 65 with a few showers... "
Damn, and I had such high hopes. Tom walked back to the now beeping microwave and took his breakfast out to hungrily devour it. The TV screen went black as Tom got off the couch and grabbed his car keys. After grabbing his backpack, brushing his teeth, and turning out all the lights, Tom walked out the door and headed to his car. He walked slowly, dreading each step toward his dark blue Ford Focus. He unlocked the driver's side door, tossed his bag over to the passenger side and got into the vehicle. Tom gave out a low sigh and closed his eyes, letting one last mental wish run through his head. The engine rumble to life and the car took off, heading to the last place Tom wanted to go.
It took all of 15 minutes for Tom to get to school, though the 15 minutes was always too short for his liking. He parked in his usual space, far away from all the other cars, and glanced upon the tan brick structure of Lake Side High School, seeing it still in one piece. Thinking about the name of his school brought another though. Where was the lake anyway? Was there ever a lake? He shrugged off these thoughts as he turned off the engine and got out of the Focus, grabbing his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder. He locked his car in the off chance that there might actually be a person who would want to steal it and proceeded to the building. A huge banner hung over the front doors, fire engine red and black with the words "GO LAKE SIDE HIGH TIGERS!"
Before we go any further, let us gleam a little more information about our dear Tom. Tom is the stereotypical gangly teenager, 6'1", 145 pounds, very lean but not quite twiggish. He had a decent looking face, his nose and mouth not too sharp or long and was fair skinned, dark blonde hair setting a pair of sharp, bright blue eyes. You already know what he wears, and yes that's pretty much all he wears, except for deviation in shirts. He's a good student, getting A's and B's in all his classes and even a member of the Honor Roll. He has friends, mostly the computer nerds and bookworms. You know, the kind of people who gather on a weekend to do a hardcore session of D&D, complete with Mountain Dew in the fridge if you ever had to ask.
Now, back to the happenings of the present. Walking through the double doors of the entry way, the inner workings of the school opened up. People and furs of all different kinds were walking this way and that, chatting away about their inconsequential lives. He spotted several red and black football jerseys dotting the halls. Great... Now the monkeys will be showing off for their girlfriends. Thankfully the bell rang for the first class almost right away.
British Literature was the Tom's first class, and one of the few of the day he enjoyed. He took his usual seat at the front, right in the middle of the white expo board. It took a couple minutes for the rest of the class to shuffle in through the door, followed directly by the teacher himself. Mr. Pine was an old and grizzled wolf, standing approximately 6'4", a thick coat of grey fur covered by a thin button up shirt and pair of office slacks. Like all furs that Tom has ever seen, shoes were completely absent.
"Good morning class!" Mr. Pine chimed in as soon as he situated himself at his desk.
"Good morning Mr. Pine," the class responded in unison.
"Right then, roll call. Mr. Ashford... Mrs. Bennington... Beuler... Beuler? Has anybody seen Beuler? I swear that kid better not be taking another day off." The rest Tom ignored until his name was called, eliciting the general response of 'here'.
"Okay class," Mr. Pine addressed everybody. "Today we have a new student who has transferred all the way from England. Everybody give a warm Lake Side welcome to Ms. Bringham."
Almost as if everybody was of one entity, the whole class turned to the door. In stepped a vixen, slight in build, about 5'9" in height, wearing a white shirt and mid-length black skirt, she pure orange except for the tip of the tail, paws and feet. To Tom, it was as if the whole world had just come to a stand still. All the lights had gone dim, all except for one, which was shining down brightly on the new addition to the class, almost giving an angelic vision. Then suddenly, reality came crashing back. What would such a beautiful vixen like that want with a nerd like me. I might as well wish for a million dollars He momentarily day dreamed of living in a big mansion, luxury and sport cars filling a 4 car garage, and a supermodel on each arm, one a busty blonde woman and the other a snow white bunny. This was abruptly ended by a voice, lighted with a slight British accent talking to him.
"Excuse me, is anybody sitting here?" The vixen was right beside him and looking right into his eyes.
Tom just stared, mouth slightly open, stuttering a reply while shaking his head slowly side to side. She just giggled, a laugh that must have been created by the heavens. After rearranging her stuff and settling down, she turned to Tom and introduced herself.
"Hello, my name is Ashley. Who might you be?"
"H-Hi... I'm Tom... "He replied and blushed lightly. Why of all people is she talking to me?
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance Tom."
The rest of the class, and morning for that matter, was a blur for Tom, his mind filled with that one image of the vixen walking through the door, angels singing in a chorus as wings and a halo were added to the vision, making her to be a likeness of what he would like to think was a heavenly being. Math, History, and even Physics went by as though it were just a dream.
Lunch started with the usual rush, everybody jostling for their place in line. Tom, in his usual lunch time ritual, just waited for the lines to form and tagged on the back of one. He was still in a haze when suddenly spotted her in the next line over. She was talking avidly to some other female students which she had probably met in her previous classes. Another moment of day dreaming washed over Tom, making him oblivious to his surroundings. He recollected himself in time to pick out the food he wanted and pay for it. He grabbed a plastic fork and brought his food over to one of the tables, the only person there for the time being and began slowly eating. Tom propped on elbow on the table and slowly began eating; slipping back into the images he was running through his head while he was in line. He almost didn't notice an orange body moving towards him from the corner of his eye. All he could do was turn his head and stare at the gorgeous creature walking straight to his table. She's actually going to sit here with me? Wouldn't she rather sit with the other, more popular people? He gave a mental shrug, telling himself not to complain.
"Hello... Tom was it?" the vixen asked as she set down her tray on the table and sat across from him, a smile spreading across her muzzle revealing strikingly white and somewhat sharp teeth.
"Yeah..." It was all he could muster, her splendid beauty and smile setting his mind into a jumble of thoughts. He finally cleared the fog in his mind enough to remember he had a fork full of food halfway to his mouth and quickly finished the motion. He chewed his food and swallowed, grabbed the milk carton and drank slowly, occupying his mouth for as long as he could while he sorted his thoughts out. What the hell do I say? What do I talk about? God I hope I don't make myself look like an idiot. Then again, I am an idiot when it comes to girls. Do something... Anything! "You're very beautiful," he blurted out, immediately blushing and looking down at his food.
"Why thank you. You know, you're not half bad looking yourself." She replied, laughing lightly behind her paw. What a laugh... This of course caused Tom blush and Ashley to giggle more.
Tom finally cleared his throat and asked, "So, where in England did you come from?"
"Just outside of Kingston. It's lovely there, especially this time of year. How about you?"
"I was born and raised around here actually."
"Oh how splendid." She replied.
"Not really. I wish I could go somewhere else. Just visit another country, like Japan, or England even. You know, get a taste of culture in the big world."
"You should come over some time. I'm sure I could give you a good taste of England." Tom looked up from his food to see the female fox staring at him, a broad smile and a gleam in her eyes that suggested there was a hidden meaning to what had just been said.
"Uh... sure... whenever you want." He replied, a little unsure of what to think of the invitation.
"How about tomorrow then? We've just finished getting our goods out of boxes. Why don't you come by around noon?"
"Yeah... I guess. But where do you live?" Tom inquired, feeling that he already knew the answer.
"Do you know where... ah, bloody hell, what was it called..."
"Could it be the light blue house at the end of Applewood St.?" He offered.
"Yes! That's it, but how did you know?" she asked, curious as to how he knew the street and house she had just moved into.
"I live a couple houses down, the red brick one."
"I know where that is. Well, I guess that takes care of that then."
"Yeah, guess it does." Tom went back to picking at his food, which had gone a little cold by now.
"I guess I'll be going now. Do remember to stop by at noon. Ciao." And with that the lovely angel of Tom's day dreams got up and smiled, winking as she turned. He watched her back, taking in as much as possible. The curve of her body, the brilliant orange of her coat, the cute little splash of black on the tip of the tail. I bet that it's nice and so- WHOA! What the hell am I thinking? I just met her, I shouldn't think about that kind of stuff. I'm no better than those jocks who think with their bodies before their head comes into play... But still...
Lunch ended and Tom continued on, never being able to keep thoughts of tomorrow out of his head. It was all he could think about, almost as if he were addicted, and the drug just happened to be a very sexy vixen. Art passed as his previous classes had, and then came PE. Ugh... okay, last class of the week, I can get through this. TGIF
He walked into the gym locker rooms and started to change into the school's standard black polyester shorts and red t-shirt. The class was broken up into male and female, each on the opposite side of the gym. A large tiger wearing the same gym outfit as the class blew a whistle at one end while walking in.
"Okay boys and girls. Today is dodge ball day!" Mr. Kit, the gym teacher yelled out with a large grin parting his muzzle. Great... there goes any thought of surviving in one piece. "The girls will be sitting out the first round. Now you half on this side," he said while making an imaginary division in the mass of bodies. "The rest of you go over there."
A line of 10 infamous red rubber balls were set in the center of the gym as the rules were pointlessly explained. Of course Tom blocked this out, not caring an inch for the violent nature of dodge ball. The whistle blew and the mad rush to grab a ball was on. Soon red balls were flying left and right, one coming so close to hitting Tom's head that he could hear it whistle as it passed his ear. It was at that moment that a small gasp of distress came from the stands. He glanced to his left to see the source and discovered the vixen sitting there with a paw covering her mouth. She let it down to wave, and he waved back, giving a nervous smile. Tom turned back to the game to stare at a red sphere flying right at his face. The world slowed down, each second seeming to take a minute. As soon as the ball connected with the front of his nose, time sped back to normal. The ball hit him square on with a loud rubber THUNK! He fell back onto the gym floor, a small but steady stream of blood trickling out of his nose. Everybody on the bleachers and on the gym floor looked at the sound and starting laughing and giggling upon seeing Tom on his back. Somewhere in the background, a whistle blew, stopping all action.
Tom sat up slowly, seeing the room spin and feeling something wet dripping down his chin. He looked around slowly, seeing people stare at him, some of them doubled over in laughter. The teacher come over and helped him to his feet, asking if he was okay. Tom just nodded dumbly and stumbled forward. He was told to stay where he was for the moment. Tom just stood there, trying to remember what had just happened. Soon after an ice pack wrapped into a paper towel was shoved into his hand and pressed up against his nose. He pulled the ice pack back to look at why he had it and saw a red blotch. He quickly pressed his hand to his nose, feeling the wet trail down the front of his face. Tom put the ice pack back on his nose and sat down at the end of the bleachers, staying like that for the rest of the class, watching the rest playing and seeing the secretive glances at him. Why me? If he hadn't been so busy wallowing in his self pity, he might have noticed the one concerned look resting upon him.
Tom was now back in his car, driving home with the pain of gym class still fresh in his mind, sniffling a little to get the congealed bits of blood free from his nose. He'd have to explain the red stain that was present on his face, a fact that he didn't particularly care for. He'd probably just give some lame excuse, like "It was just a nose bleed." That is, if his mom would even notice.
Sometimes it was hard living with just your mom, especially if she was a nurse for the hospital and worked the afternoon and night shift. But, on the plus side, Tom thought to himself, it gives some alone time.
He pulled up to his house and parked on the side of the road, grabbing his back pack and locking the car. He trudged into the house, shutting the door and letting out a breath, which sounded more like a sigh in the oppressing quiet. Tom walked up the stair into the room, stopping briefly at the fridge to grab a snack and take a post-it note off the fridge from her mom. More food in the freezer, hooray. After depositing his bag on the floor of his room, Tom lay down on his bed and closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose in the hopes that it would help.
Tom spent the next couple hours looking at his ceiling, the memory of gym class playing over and over in his head like a bad news program without anything else to report. He shook his head slowly and sat up, getting off the bed and out of his room as hunger finally got the better of him. He shambled down the stairs and found the boxed food his mom had left, which didn't look too appetizing. He immediately threw it away and raided the fridge and freezer for something better looking.
We'll skip some of the more boring details of him eating, watching TV, getting on his computer and doing random stuff before going to bed. Suffice to say, he doesn't have a very interesting life after school.
Saturday started like any other. Beautiful skies with brilliant sunshine spread across the ground. Birds flying this way and that, chirping in their merriment. Why is life taunting me? Tom shuffled downstairs to the scent of fresh pancakes, bacon and eggs being cooked. Wait a minute, that's odd. Mom never cooks on Saturday mornings. He got to the bottom of the stairs and turned the corner, then stopped. There she was, orange tail and black tip swaying back and forth as the owner of it stood in front of the stove humming lightly. Tom stood there gaping, his mind racing. WHAT THE HELL IS SHE DOING HERE?!? And why is she cooking breakfast? Where the hell is mom? He quickly, but very quietly, went back to the stairway and hid, trying to organize the rush of thoughts going through his head. He never got the chance.
"Oh, Thomas, there you are. I was just about to call you down for breakfast." His mom said as she popped her head around the corner. "Come on, sit down at the table."
Tom just followed his mom and sat, propping his elbow and resting his head on his hands. Okay Tom, think. You're a smart guy, so why the hell is a hot vixen that you just met yesterday standing in your kitchen cooking breakfast? Wait, why am I even questioning this? I should be on my knees and praising every religious figure known to man. Think think THINK! Just then a plate loaded with scrambled eggs covered in melting cheese, bacon, sausage, and pancakes were placed right in front of him. He glanced up into the face of the smiling vixen. It was all he could do. He was dumbfounded by that dazzling grin. Almost as soon as the fox had appeared, she whisked back to the stove and finished up. Tom just looked down at his food and shook his head. Thankfully for him, his mom was a little occupied with her own food and the Saturday paper.
At first, all he could do was play with his food, hunger not being on the top of his list of concerns. But, slowly, he separated the eggs, bacon, sausage, and pancakes and took a sampling of each. He didn't know whether he should have been surprised by how delicious each separate items was, not to mention the combination of them all, or just thankful that he finally had a breakfast that wasn't fast food or fresh from the freezer. Soon, all thoughts were gone from his mind, and all that Tom focused on was the heavenly scent and taste of his wonderful meal. Each single taste leaving a complicated dance of flavors on his tongue, and at the same time adding together to make something new and even better. He had died and gone to heaven.
As he sat there eating, unaware of the world around him, both his mom and the fox sat at the table looking at him. Tom's mom with just one eyebrow raised and look of slight disapproval. Ash was caught by a fit of low giggles. It was this that snapped Tom out his own world. He just noticed that he had been letting out low moans of satisfaction. His faced turned crimson as soon as he saw he look on his moms face and hung his head, almost burying it into his plate. The rest of breakfast passed uneventful, and without a sound except for the scraping of forks on plates.
"Well Ms. Finnigan, me and Tom were going to head to my house to do a research project on medieval England." Ash proposed after having cleaned up all the dishes.
"Okay. You kids have fun. Now Thomas, before I forget, I have to work the night shift tonight, so I'll leave the door unlocked so you can get in okay?"
"Yes mom." He replied, just wanting to get away from his house at the moment.
"Okay. Bye now. You kids have fun!"
They were ushered out the door and stepped onto the sidewalk as the front door of Tom's house was shut behind them.
"So what was that about medieval England back there?" Tom asked, wondering why she had used that excuse to his mom.
"Because silly, I needed to tell her something. Besides, research projects usually take a lot of time. This way, if you weren't home by dinner, you mother won't be wonder just what you're doing." She replied in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.
"I guess that makes sense. But just what are you planning that could take all day?"
"You'll just have to find that out won't you." She teased.
They arrived at her home and she opened the door, revealing the bright interior. The entry of the house was very spacious, the walls painted a pale cream color that soaked the light but didn't suck it all in. A couple tapestries hung on the walls, ornate patterns worked into them that crossed this way and that. Several paintings also lined the walls, beautiful country side views or people painted in regal poses in fancy dress. It was more than he could take in at one time. That was just the entryway too.
"Are you going to come in? Or are you going to stand there like a sod?"
Tom jumped a little and realized that he was still standing outside the door. He smiled and blushed as he walked through the door, hearing it promptly close behind him. What he didn't expect to hear was the lock clicking into place. He whirled around and found the vixen standing there with a large grin spread across her muzzle. He didn't know why, but Tom thought that it looked like a predator that had just trapped and cornered its prey. That's when it finally dawned on him. Oh shit. This doesn't look good.
"Uh... w-what are you doing?" Tom stuttered as he started back up slowly.
"Oh, nothing that we both won't enjoy." If it was possible, the grin showing off razor edged teeth got wider. "You know, ever since I first saw you yesterday, I knew that I had to have you."
Tom just smiled nervously at this and kept backing up, tripping and falling back down a short flight of stairs. He tumbled two or three times and landed hard on his back, laying there and letting out a low groan. Almost instantly, the fox's smile turned into a frown of concern. She rushed down the stairs and fell to her knees beside Tom.
"Oh my god, are you okay? Please say you aren't hurt."
"I think so..." Tom replied, sitting up slowly and testing his ankles, wrists, and any other joint he could think of to make sure everything still worked properly. Finding nothing wrong, he put his hands on his back and checked his ribs to see if anything cracked. Twisting first left, then right, nothing happened, except for his back popping once or twice, both of them not pleasant feeling after his short trip. (Pun intended)
"Do you want to lie down?" Ash asked, worry present in her voice and on the features of her face.
"No, I think I'll be good."
Tom sat up slowly, cringing lightly from the effort but hiding it as best as he could. Steadily he went from a kneeling position to standing up, smiling through the ache that was spreading across his back. It seemed to be working, up until the moment he was pushed back without effort onto a couch.
Ash stood there with one eyebrow raised. "Good, huh? I believe that when you can't be pushed down with a pinkie."
"Okay, you win. I'll lay here like a good little boy."
"Now that we have that settled, would you care for something to drink?"
"Water, please."
"One glass of water coming right up," and with that Ash ascended the stairs, tail swaying to and fro with the motion of her rear end.
I could get used to seeing that... Tom mused as he watched from the couch. Being left to his thoughts, he slowly closed his eyes and laid his head back. He went back to the events of yesterday, starting with the fateful moment in English class and ended it a couple minutes later with him lying on the couch. Once again he tested his strength, sitting up slowly, trying not to set off another ache that would spread throughout his back. Eventually he got up right and turned himself the sit on the edge, his head in his hands, and look down at the carpet lying on the floor. He stayed that way for a few seconds before hearing light steps on the stairs.
"You're stubborn aren't you? Though it seems this time you won't be pushed down too easily." The smiling fox said as she handed Tom his glass of cold water.
He smiled and nodded his thanks and took a long drink, nearly emptying the glass. The refreshing coolness ran down his throat and seeming to reinvigorate him.
"Thanks for that. I really need it." Tom looked up at the fox with a smile.
"What kind of host would I be if I didn't provide my guest with even a glass of water?" She replied with a smirk that flashed across her muzzle.
"A horrible one," he shot back.
Suddenly, Ash crossed the room and pushed Tom back towards the couch. With a short yelp of surprise, Tom pushed back while putting his hands behind him on the couch for support.
"Well, it seems like you've recovered enough." Ash pointed out playfully, a conspiratory smile slowly spreading on her face.
"What's with that smile? It's a little bit creepy." Tom said as he stared into her eyes, edging away as much as the couch would let him, pressing back into the cushions as if he wanted to become one with the couch.
"Really now," Was all she said as she slowly sauntered towards him.
"I-I-I..." Tom stammered before shutting his mouth and retrying. "I don't like where this is going."
"You will by the time I'm through with you." The predatory grin had come back, and this time there weren't any more stairs to fall down. His own stubbornness had already proved that using recent bruises as an excuse wasn't going to work.
A short but sharp claw traced up his leg and circled his groin as the vixen leaned over the almost helpless young man. In a desperate attempt to escape, Tom thrust his hands out at her to push the fox away. Unfortunately, they landed themselves squarely upon her breasts. They both looked at her chest in surprise. Tom in a mix of horror and shock, though deep down he didn't want it to end. Ash look down, as surprised as Tom, but in a very different way. She drank in the feeling of his hands on her chest; the warmth passing through her clothes and into the fur. But before she could fully enjoy the feeling, Tom quickly pulled his hands away and put them up by his shoulders. She looked back down and frowned in response, needing much more than that to be satisfied. The look on Tom's face was the only thing that kept her from almost literally jumping on him.
"Look uh... I'm not ready for all this. It's happening way too fast. I don't even know you. You're beautiful, and I'm attracted to you, but I just don't think this is right."
It hurt Tom to say that, especially when he saw the rejected and almost depressed look that crossed the vixens face. He wished he could take it all back, but it wouldn't have felt right. The only reaction that he got in return was a numb nod.
"I'm sorry." It was horrible, and not the best thing to say, but it was the only thing Tom could think of.
"No, I understand..." That was a load of crap.
Ash removed herself from Tom's lap and started walking away.
"Ash... Look, you're very attractive. I actually count myself lucky to even be noticed by somebody as beautiful as you. I'm dead serious on that." He added as he saw the eyebrow of the vixen raise slightly. "But I want to get to actually know you before we rush headlong into this. Otherwise I wouldn't be any better in my mind than some of those jocks to think with what's in their pants before anything even comes across their head."
The vixen looked down at the floor, letting the words run through her head. "You know, this is truly a first. I've never had a guy turn me down for sex. You're the first. I don't know if it's because you actually care, or you're special."
"I'd like to think that I care. I won't say that I don't have the temptations or way of thinking that every guy does. I'd love to be with you, especially if you keep cooking more orgasmic breakfasts." That got a small smile out of her. "Let's just take it steady. Do the whole boyfriend and girlfriend thing, ya know?"
"Yeah... I guess that makes sense." She still didn't sound all too enthusiastic about it. Tom stood up and walked over to the vixen and wrapped his arms around her. She gladly accepted the embrace and buried her head into his chest, small tears running down her cheeks. Whether they were from happiness of finding somebody who just might actually care, or from overwhelming emotions, not even she knew.