Forged in Blood, Sweat and Tears
#10 of Eric's Schooldays
Another day, another week, the main problem now that faced Eric now was the oncoming semester exams. He was totally unprepared for the exams that were going to take place in a couple of week's time. He hadn't made any proper notes for any of his subjects and he had no idea where to start. Should he make notes on the subjects he wasn't doing so well in first or should he be making notes on the subjects he was doing well in just to get them out of the way so he could only look at them before remembering what he had learnt? In addition to all this, problems between him and Carla had deepened. The pair rarely saw each other anymore and Eric was getting rather restless. Unbeknownst to him though there was a reason as to why she was avoiding him, as well as Chris and Alex for that matter.
Being rather nosy was something Eric was really good at. Whether or not this was a good thing was debatable. It provided him with some good information but constantly landed him in hot water as well. As he was leaving school one day he heard Chris's rather loud voice. He hadn't seen him apart from during classes and there were a few things that he would have to discuss with him. Just as he was about to turn around a corner something made him stop in his tracks, the sound of 'the bitch' Laura.
"Look you must know what you're doing is wrong. I can bring you down and I have the evidence to prove it,"
"Oh really? Well Chris you may have evidence but I have diplomatic immunity. With one complaint I can have you expelled from the school. Is that what you want? Is it?"
Chris clenched his teeth angrily; he was taking on one of the most influential students in the school. Not to mention how much better she was doing then he was in terms of grades.
"I'll get you Laura just wait and see!" Chris muttered icily before stalking off, a deep scowl plastered on his face. Eric knew better then to annoy Chris when he was in such a mood.
"Tomorrow, I'll talk to him tomorrow," Eric told himself as he made his way home.
When he reached home something in his mind told him that something was wrong, not only at school but at home as well. His prediction was partially correct as his sister had been meaning to talk to him for some bizarre reason.
"What do you want Alice? I've got some important things to do," Eric muttered.
"I need you to sign something for me," she answered, "I asked mom and dad and neither of them wanted to sign it,"
Eric took the sheet of paper and was expecting something terribly wrong on the sheet but instead found something rather innocent looking. He looked up and down the sheet to make sure that he hadn't made a reading mistake.
"This is a permission slip to go to one of the basketball games as a cheerleader. There's going to be supervision at this game! What problem could there possibly be?" Eric asked, narrowing his eyebrows a bit.
"How should I know? This is the first time they ever refused doing something for me,"
"Well I'll talk to it to mom and dad over dinner... speaking of which what is for dinner?"
Alice let out a quiet sigh, "Your stomach is always the first thing you think about isn't it?"
The dinner table was a rather silent one as the entire family sat down to dinner. Alice looked at Eric expectantly most of the time during the whole ordeal and this unnerved him to an extent. He was expected to be able to convince his parents that Alice would be able to take care of herself. He was about to open his mouth to say something but was quickly cut off by his father.
"Eric I know how much you stand up for your sister but this is one thing that I and your mother both disagree on. The world is full of predatory furs. We didn't think the risk was worth it,"
Eric was stunned. His father was someone he looked up to and given the fact that he was probably the more tolerant of both his parents this came as a big surprise to him. The topic seemed so trivial yet he still had one trump card he could play.
"Dad wasn't it a couple of weeks ago that you said that Alice wasn't a stupid girl?" Eric asked confidently. Alice's ears perked as she heard this.
"You said what about me?" she hissed at Eric. Eric gave her a piercing glare which caused her to become silent almost immediately.
"Yes I did say that," their father answered, his left paw quivered slightly as it started to dawn on him what was going to happen.
"Well then therefore aren't you contradicting yourself by saying that you can't trust her with something trivial like this when compared to my thoughts on something very similar then?"
Eric asked casually.
Upon seeing his father's eyebrow twitch he knew that he had won. That was basically the universal signal to say that he had been outsmarted and to have it done by a sixteen year old made it even worse for him. Sighing deeply he admitted defeat and grudgingly allowed it.
Shortly afterwards Eric was in his room pawing himself off to a rather risqué picture when his sister quietly entered his room. Being stuck in the annoying habit of leaving his bedroom door unlocked and always pawing off while naked he knew that one day he would be caught. It was just that he never believed that it would ever happen to him. His parents left him alone a lot more ever since he turned fourteen and he had never expected his sister to be so close to him.
"Hey uh whatcha doing?" she asked innocently, trying to ignore the fact that Eric's face and chest was now covered in his own cum.
"Uh... um I was uh," he stuttered. Alice giggled at her brother's sudden discomfort. His penis was nothing new to her but she had never seen him come before. Taking a tissue from a nearby box she handed it to him and gave his cheek a lick.
"Been having a little fun eh?" she smirked, much to his annoyance.
"Yeah you could say that," he answered, closing the video he was watching while he pawed off.
"Well thanks anyway, that was sweet of you to fight for me," Alice told him, drawing circles on the table with a finger.
"No probs. There's something going on at school anyway that I don't quite understand," Eric replied, thinking deeply about why his friends were avoiding him
"Really? What?"
The next piece of the missing puzzle came shortly after his physics class had ended. Someone who had normally never talked to him or anyone else for that matter approached Eric after everyone else had left. There was something sinister about the way he said things though, almost as if every word he said was a deadly poison.
"Er who are you?" Eric asked.
"I'm Seth Fraiser... I sit up front in your physics class," the newcomer answered. Eric thought about this a little bit. When he did think of it there was one white fur that was always sitting in front of him.
"Look I don't have time to chat but I'm going to give you this one warning. Don't go poking your nose where it isn't wanted. You'll learn a lot more then you wish to know,"
Before Eric could ask what Seth had meant by that he had already disappeared, leaving Eric more puzzled then ever.
"Damnit where is that horny bitch? I want to settle this score today!" Carla snarled as she, Chris and Adriana prowled through every area that the kitsune was known to have an active presence in. They eventually found her chatting up to some of the more intelligent students, which seemed incredibly odd. With her though was a male lion and a dragoness, both of which who weren't exactly pleased to be there. Strutting up to the kitsune Carla pointed an accusing finger at Laura before saying what she deemed as incredibly important.
"You! Bring yourself and four others to the oval opposite the school after fifth session. This is a score we settle now!" Carla spat before turning tail and leaving with Adriana falling in step after her.
"Bring somebody to look after your bags," Chris muttered before he left as well.
"Well now that's settled we need somebody to oversee the fight," Carla told Adriana.
"But who would do that?" Adriana asked.
"I know who is perfect for this," Carla replied as she opened the door to the school's library, "We must find Seth Fraiser. Knowing him he'll probably be in the science area,"
After scouring the entire library they finally found the ermine in an area which he would normally never be; the literature section.
"Wait I never knew you did English literature," Adriana exclaimed as she took a seat opposite him.
"I don't. It's quieter over here," Seth replied, putting his book down, "What do you want?"
Carla handed him a folded piece of paper which he read with great interest. Placing the paper back on the table he couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
"Okay I'll do it... but what's my cut?" Seth asked. His eyes widened when a small pile of his favourite candy was dumped on top of it.
"Where did you get these?" he asked, completely dumbfounded and awestruck at the same time.
"We have tons of it at home. My aunt believes that we actually take them. Too sour for my tastes," Carla replied.
"It's a deal," Seth grinned as he quickly hid the sweets so they wouldn't be confiscated by one of the malicious librarians.
The end of the school day couldn't come any quicker for Carla and her companions. They were more than eager to crush Laura's oppressive regime and were starting to get a little restless from waiting for their opponent to show up.
"Where is she?" Carla grumbled to herself as she leaned against a tree.
"Give her some time, she'll come. There's no way that she wouldn't challenge one of the most popular girls in the school to a fight," Chris replied, placing a paw on her shoulder. She looked at him before returning her gaze to the tree next to her.
"You know I'm not sure whether or not it is actually worth fighting for Eric anymore. I mean he seems so distanced from the rest of the world,"
"Carla I haven't known Eric as long as you have but believe me he is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, trust me,"
Presently Laura and her group were striding up towards Carla and they seemed to have brought a small group of spectators as well.
"All right, let's do this," Laura hissed, gesturing for the fight to begin.
"We shall make this simple, five on five. The first two will fight by themselves then ending in a three on three understand," Carla said, her arms folded across her chest.
"That's just fine with me. Who's judging this fight anyway?" Laura snarled.
"That would be me," a dark figure answered, coming out from behind a tree. Pulling back his hood Laura let out a disgusted grunt.
"Seth Fraiser... why would you of all people be judging a fight?" she asked him.
"Hey look I could be doing better things at the moment but in reality I want to see someone kick your pompous little ass into the ground. I warned you not to screw with me before but when you took my place on the chemistry team... lets just say that I snapped," Seth bitterly answered taking a few steps back, "Leaders choose the order of your fighters,"
Carla had already chosen the order in which they would fight, she just wondered what order Laura had chosen.
"First fighters prepare yourselves,"
Carla tilted her head a little, her signal for Alan to enter the arena. The raven stretched himself before taking up a defensive stance. His opponent was someone Carla recognized from a long time ago, an ex-boyfriend and a violent one as well. She had no qualms in dumping the lion, simply on the way that he acted around her.
"Well looks like Alan doesn't stand a chance," Carla thought bitterly as the pair engaged each other in a flurry of punches, kicks and bites. It wasn't long before Alan made a fatal mistake and got kicked hard in the groin. Rolling on the ground in pain only sought to make the lion chortle heartily.
"You call yourself a fighter? You ought to be ashamed of yourself!"
"Alan is unable to continue fighting. The match is awarded to Laura. Carla choose your next fighter," Seth reported, taking out a pair of dark glasses and a cloak. Gritting her teeth Carla gestured for Monique to step forward, the mouse was not to be underestimated.
"That's my opponent? You've got to be joking!" the lion chortled, only to be quickly taken down by the smaller but more agile Monique. As the lion lay on the ground clutching his stomach Monique placed a foot on his head.
"Huh some fight you proved to be. Three blows to the stomach and your crying like a baby," she grunted as she walked to the centre of the fighting arena.
"Gary is out of the battle. Laura choose your next fighter," Seth ordered.
Meanwhile Eric had just finished using the toilets in the shopping centre and was about to start on his way home when he noticed someone from his maths class run up towards him.
"Oh Eric thank goodness! Look you got to get to the park straight away. There's a fight going on!" the gryphon chattered. This perplexed Eric to a great extent, what did she mean by that?
"Oh really? Between who?" he asked.
"Between Carla and Laura,"
By now a small crowd had gathered around the two warring groups. The constant chanting of 'Fight, Fight, Fight' only made them more and more eager to fight. Presently Monique was having a rather nasty fight with a raccoon that Carla recognized from her English class and from the looks of things Monique was winning.
"Beware of Mitchell, he has a hard punch," Carla warned Chris, who happened to be staring daggers at the dingo.
"Oh don't worry I've got a special surprise for him," Chris chuckled.
"Don't be careless,"
As the final blow was delivered Carla couldn't help but smile to herself. Monique had surpassed her expectations and appeared to be a much better fighter then she had first expected.
"Akara is unable to continue. Both teams are now allowed to enter whoever is left,"
The victory was short lived however as Monique was quickly brought to her knees by a powerful hit to her kidneys. Upon seeing this Chris entered the fray, taunting Mitchell to come fight with him.
"Come on you wanna pick on a girl then you pick on me!" Chris snarled, balling his paws into fists.
"Oh when I'm through with you, you're going to be crying for your mommy," Mitchell snapped trying to sweep Chris off his feet. Chris dodged the poorly aimed attack easily and responded with a kick to Mitchell's chest. As the dingo stumbled backwards Chris tried to take advantage of his weakened stance but instead got hurled head over heels onto his back by his dexterous opponent.
"Oh fucking hell!" Chris groaned as he got back up. He hadn't expected that to happen, Mitchell must have done calisthenics or something to be able to change a bad stance to his advantage.
"So who's the good fighter now huh?" Mitchell bellowed as he launched a volley of punches at the fox, most of which he blocked but one managed to get past his defence and hit him square in the chin. Stumbling backwards a bit Chris managed to compose himself before he was attacked again. It soon became obvious that Mitchell wasn't going to give him any chances whatsoever.
"Better bring out the big guns," Chris thought to himself as he blocked another attack. Having been trained in unarmed combat by his father he had been told never to use it unless the circumstances were absolutely correct. As he watched and waited for his opponent to make another move Chris soon came to the realization that he would have to make the first move this time or risk getting pummeled badly.
"For everything that has a lot of weight, whether it be fat or muscle, the easiest way to take it down is by going for the legs," Chris told himself as he tried to find the quickest way to make Mitchell fall flat on his back.
On the opposite end of the scale Adriana was successfully winning her engagement with one of her old enemies from primary school, a dragoness going by the name of Anna.
"Do not think for one second that I will show you any mercy. You never left me alone in primary school and stole the guy of my dreams at the same time!" Adriana hissed. This drew a rather concerned glance from Alex, who had agreed to look after all their belongings.
"Hey wait why is this the first time I have heard about this?" Alex called out.
"Now isn't the time Alex! I'll tell you later!" Adriana replied, rolling her eyes at the same time.
"Hey now Nathan was fair game! Just because I chose him first doesn't mean you have to get all natty about it," Anna growled.
"You chose him first? My arse you did! You knew I was asking him out!" Adriana snarled, charging her opponent with all of her speed. Her first blow caught the dragoness by surprise and the two were soon wrestling on the ground, each trying to gain the advantage over her opponent.
"Nathan was mine bitch! You had no right to take him from me!" Adriana bellowed, punching Anna hard in the stomach. The attack had little to no effect on the dragoness and Adriana was soon levered off her and thrown aside.
Carla and Laura however had not moved from their original positions. They just stood staring daggers at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. It wasn't long before Eric was on the scene, demanding to know what was going on.
"Hey out of the way! What the hell is going on here?" Eric demanded as he pushed his way through the crowd.
"Eric?" Carla asked, diverting her attention to the voice of her boyfriend. Something which was incredibly stupid as Laura soon took advantage of this and lunged at her in a painful spear tackle.
"Why you cheap bitch! I'll get you for that!" Carla snarled, throwing a punch which connected with Laura's jaw.
"Huh you fight as well as my sister!" Mitchell grunted.
"Is that supposed to deter me?" Chris smirked, wiping away a trickle of blood from the side of his muzzle, "because if it is then it's not working,"
"You sure a cocky one I'll give you that," Mitchell replied before receiving a three hit combo to his gut.
"Do you even know how hard it is to get a guy to like you?" Adriana demanded, holding Anna by the collar of her uniform.
"If I were you I'd be lucky to even had Alex over there!" Anna smirked, taking advantage of Adriana's rage filled state and forcing the vixen onto the ground. Alex couldn't do anything but watch from a distance as the two females attacked each other without mercy. He had been specifically ordered not to engage in the fight. It was 'their' issue not 'his' but he couldn't help but feel completely helpless, watching his friends being part of a fight which he may have helped cause.
Alex wasn't the only one feeling rather helpless. Eric was left a little dumbfounded after discovering his girlfriend and who he referred to as 'The Bitch' fighting each other. And they weren't sparing anything, nails dug into flesh and gouged wounds which bled slightly, fists flew at both girls and multiple bruises were starting to develop. He had to stop this and he had to do it now. Charging up to the both of them, who happened to be in a complete arm lock, he grabbed a hold on both of their arms and demanded that they stop fighting. Had he known how angry the both of them were he would have thought twice by his actions as he was punched in the face not once but twice. He fell to the ground a little stunned but not much worse for wear. Through his blurred vision he saw what looked like Alex run up towards him.
"Man are you alright?" Alex asked, attempting to help him sit up. He soon felt another being grab onto his other arm and also help him sit up. Eric was about to thank the other for helping him but the reaction from Alex was a little more hostile then he expected.
"Hey let go William! He's my friend meaning that I help him! Get lost!" Alex snarled.
"Your friend? Oh I see, apparently it is now a crime to help someone in need? Where are YOUR priorities! I was trying to help him you loser!" William snapped.
"That's it! You asked for it!" Alex bellowed before tackling William, leaving Eric to pick himself off the ground by himself.
The fight hadn't gone unnoticed however. Unknown to everyone on the oval someone had raised the alarm and the sound of a police siren soon scattered the crowd that had collected around the group, even Seth who was supposed to be supervising this fight had scarpered. The only ones who happened to have not noticed were those currently fighting and Eric.
"Hey! Hey! Break it up! Break it up!" one of the officers ordered, separating Chris and Mitchell while his partner broke up the fighting between the girls. Unable to rival each other in the arena of fighting the rivals stared daggers at each other until they were ordered to give their full names by the male dragon.
"Hey Graeme I'm going to get some of these kids patched up alright," his partner, a female rabbit, told him, referring to Eric, Chris and Anna. Eric was currently sporting what he believed to be a broken nose and what might possibly a black eye, Chris was suffering from what could have been a dislocated shoulder or a subluxation at least and Anna seemed to be the worst off with what could have been a broken collarbone. As the three were led away the male officer who remained behind was more than a little peeved from being taken away from his proper duties. He was doing something important damnit!
"I'm disappointed in you lot. And I thought that students from your school always had good behaviour. Go on get outta here! If I find you guys fighting again I will not hesitate to arrest you understand?" he growled, causing the remaining students to scatter.
Eric was expecting trouble the very next day at school, if not by other students then by the principal himself. As expected he and ten others were called up to the principal's office after fifth session had ended for that day. As the eleven of them marched in, all of them with some form of bandage adorning their body, they could tell that they were in big trouble.
"Carla, Laura come closer," Principal Kelso demanded. As the two girls stepped forward the volume of Kelso's voice dropped so low that Eric could barely make out what was being said.
"Carla I have been told that you are the ringleader in this affair. I am very disappointed in you. What do you have to say for yourself?" the lion asked her.
"I had to do this... I was taking revenge," Carla replied bluntly.
"Hmm... a likely story, Laura, your father will be very unhappy when he hears about this. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Well apart from the fact that Carla knew that this was going to happen sooner or later. I just acted upon instinct," Laura answered, knowing all to well that what she had said only made Carla angrier.
"I'll be sending letters to all of your parents. Take this as a warning, let us never meet again under these circumstances," Kelso demanded as everyone walked out of his office.
Back outside the entire school was deathly silent. Not that it would be for long as a brief exchange of words soon proved.
"Look bitch stay the fuck away from Eric alright! He's mine and mine only understand! If I ever find you fraternising with him again you will pay with your life!" Carla hissed.
"Oh yeah? Well maybe you should have known that this was going to happen! It was your own fault in the first place! Fine then keep Eric... he's a crap sex toy anyway!" Laura grunted.
"Well then we're in agreement. You leave Eric alone and I'll never fight you alright!" Carla growled.
"Fine!" Laura yelled as the two sides parted and went off in the opposite direction.
With this heated debate going on nobody had seemed to notice Eric's reactions to everything being said about him. Although he did dismiss most of the claims he couldn't help but feel slightly hurt when he was labelled a crap sex toy. Not that he should have cared. He was being used by Laura in the first place! In his mind though he knew that he had bigger things to worry about, the semester exams were near and he had no idea on how to get started. He would have to worry about the conflict over him later.