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"But you can't!"

"I can."

"Aunt Evelyn!"

"Connor?"

"No, seriously! This is such bullshit!"

"Watch your mouth."

"Why, why are you doing this to me?"

"And just what am I doing?"

Conn stopped arguing for a split second, trying to piece together this absolute atrocity. This disgraceful undermining of his maturity!

His aunt watched him with an impatient, bemused expression on her stoic face. The tigress obviously had no intention of relenting, but Conn would not give up just yet.

"You're... you're like, insulting me! You're saying I'm not to be trusted!" The little black tiger whinged.

"Yep, that's exactly what I'm saying," his aunt agreed with a curt nod, pouring his breakfast cereal into his bowl for him and plopping it down on the kitchen counter. "Dig in."

"You're only going away for the night, why, why do I need a babysitter?"

His aunt turned to lean against the counter, glaring at him with bright amber eyes.

"Because last time I went away for the night, you threw a party that had every neighbour calling the cops... my chinaware was smashed, I found two fifteen year old girls making out in my bed-!"

"Oh shit, I totally forgot about that, that was freaking awesome," Conn said, leaning back with a big toothy grin and getting lost reminiscing. His aunt Evelyn frowned and took the opportunity to leave the room, straightening out her dark work suit and snatching up her briefcase.

"Wait, so... there's really a girl coming to mind me? Really!" Conn called after her.

"Indeed there is," the dark furred tigress shouted from the living room as she strode for the front door. "Get to school, I'll make your dinner before I leave! Love you!" she added and slammed the door. Conn just sat there pouting, feeling a little guilty he hadn't shouted it back. He glared at his cereal as it soggy-fied the bowl in front of him and then snapped his jaws angrily, heading up to his room to get ready for classes.

His anger melted away in the brisk walk to the school. He wished he hadn't hung around this morning; he was a bit obsessive when it came to punctuality. Plus he would have gotten to spend more time with the love of his life; he spotted her as he arrived on the school grounds. She was walking along the sidewalk, her shoulder brushing the chain-link fence running the length of the school yard.

She was a petite lioness, blonde highlights in her long flowing brown hair that fell over her glassy blue eyes.

"Kate!" Conn smiled, meeting her halfway and pulling her into a clingy hug that made others cringe and roll their eyes as they passed. Kate smiled awkwardly and kissed his cheek.

"Hey babe," she said. Damn, she was so pretty. Conn slipped an arm up her back, under her backpack and led her inside to class. She seemed even less chatty today than the others. But they were fine, Conn had no doubt. As long as he loved her and made her feel special, why would she possibly break up with him...

He didn't notice his stalker behind them. As Conn pushed up the glass doors into the school corridor, he felt a massive paw grip his back pack and shove him forward. His arm, which had been stuck up Kate's back seemed to get left behind as he fell flat on his face, howling in pain.

"Nice!" chorused the gang of students standing around him; big beefy bullies of course.

"Hey numbnuts, you still in one piece?"

A foot pressed into his side and kicked him onto his back, up onto his rucksack so Conn looked like an overturned turtle-tiger. His attacker was of course, Blaine. A deer, handsome and stocky; he definitely had some bovine blood in him. His blonde, cropped hair almost hid his blue eyes as he leered down, soaking up the praise from his cronies. The cool kids of course. A Doberman, an otter, some cute looking hybrid that probably thought he was extra-special.

"Leave him alone, jerk!" shouted Kate, slapping his arm softly.

"Yeah, whatever," Blaine said, walking away and dragging his cronies behind him; they were still guffawing and chuckling to themselves. Conn noticed that Kate didn't help him up. She looked even more embarrassed than he was.

And then the day was pretty much over before it started. Mathematics was first, focusing on simultaneous equations and boring algebra. Miss Cogan, the fox was hot though; every boy in there was stupid enough to believe that straight As were the key to win her affection, despite a twenty year age gap. Conn couldn't help steal a glance at her cleavage as she bent over his desk to hand him back a test.

Art class followed with Conn trying to ignore Blaine's balled up paper missiles. He wished he could fight back, wished he was strong and tough but he was quite petite. He wasn't all that ashamed, he looked good. Slim, but toned. He just always had a fantasy of beating up the bad guy and getting the girl.

And while he looked good, he really did adhere to the phrase, "meek as a kitten." He soon put it out of his head, because when the final bell rang he was meeting up with Kate. Conn found her waiting against the brick wall, right outside the school entrance her bag resting against her legs. Their usual spot for sweet summer smooches and hanging around with one another.

"Hey sweets," he smiled.

"Hey Conn." Kate seemed to be looking at everything except his face, making every effort to avoid eye contact. Conn frowned and leaned out to touch her arm, but she pulled away. Conn didn't even notice She smelled amazing, even after a sweaty school day.

"Conn, next year is final exams, right?" Kate said, talking to his shoulder.

"Yeah, duh," he said with a big grin.

"And we're supposed to be studying all year?"

"So?"

Kate looked exasperated, impatient like dealing with a small child who's throwing a tantrum. Conn had to admit he felt something was wrong.

"So what's your plan, what's our plan?"

"Well, you know me sweets, I cross any bridge when I come to it-"

"Conn I-I don't think I'm going to be able to see you, next year I mean. I don't know if I'll have time." And that was that.

Conn didn't seem to hear much after that. The excuses, the apologies. The "you've been a real comfort" and "If it helps, you're the first boyfriend I've broken up with in person." It was over. Now he was just trying to keep it together, trying not to drop to his knees and beg for companionship. Conn became suddenly aware of a boy standing at the corner behind them, watching her and looking fed up. Kate seemed all too aware of him as well.

"I know I'm a big part of your life, and I know you love me; and I love you, but I'm not in love with you, if that makes any sense?" Kate asked, now looking anxious to leave. The damage had been done, there was no need to stick around; and she seemed to have another gentleman waiting for her. Conn glared past her at the boy. He didn't even hear Blaine approach.

"Hey numbnuts!" he spat out, advancing on him. That did it, the dam burst and Conn looked away, his vision blurring as tears welled up in his green eyes. Kate picked up her bag, smiling weakly at him then walked away, not even caring that Conn and his bullies saw her walk off school grounds with a new boyfriend. He would never hear the end of it...

"Oh shit, did she just dump your ass?" chuckled one of Blaine's boys, the otter.

Conn was too upset to respond, waiting for a follow up when the bully shocked him.

"Here, shut it Reagan."

Conn looked up to see Blaine watching Kate disappear down the street, his eyes narrowed and a stoic look of resignation on his face. "Leave it," Blaine ordered again and led his boys away. Conn was left trying not to burst into tears, all by his lonesome.

Aunt Evelyn would later find him sobbing into his pillow, muttering between racked sobs. She picked up the words "Kate" and "gone" and put the two together. Her promise to cook his favourite meal did not do much to help. Conn sat staring at his cheeseburger, the din of a television show blaring fuzzily in the living room.

His aunt watched him from the hallway, waiting for the babysitter to arrive.

Kate had had a bit of reputation when he met her. She got around a little, kissed a few guys and rumour had it she sucked off a boy (or two) in an alley after last year's spring fling dance; Conn only realised he had never seen that much of a slut in her, probably because he had to practically beg her to kiss him.

He was just about to take a bite of the cold, congealing burger when the doorbell rang. Aunt Evelyn spun on the spot and Conn nearly face-planted into his dinner. She answered the door. He caught snippets of a conversation in the hallway, then they marched into the kitchen.

"And here he is!" Aunt Evelyn sounded like a circus presenter.

Conn looked up. He was glad he wasn't eating because he most certainly would have thrown up or choked. The girl was stunning!

A dark navy wolfess; tall and very curvy, a little pudgy in the hips, belly and thighs. Her fur had blue and silvery spots down her neck. Her black hair was so dark it didn't even shine in the light; it was pulled back into a pony tail. Her icy and yet warm eyes (one blue and one yellow) looked him up and down and she frowned. She had piercings! In her dark, blue lips and in the pointy, tufty ears.

"He's a bit old isn't he?" she said, amused. Her voice was a little hoarse, husky as if she had been shouting all day.

"Well look," Aunt Evelyn said, awkwardly, "you're here as, well, insurance. He doesn't need a bedtime, he can do whatever he wants. Just no parties, not even a friend over!" The wolfess looked more amused, watching him as if he were a child.

"Fine by me. I'm Cleo," she said. Short introduction; this girl didn't draw things out.

Conn didn't respond. He was too upset, though he did well to hide it.

His aunt left after pecking him on the cheek and pleading with him to be good; and then he was alone with the stranger in the space of a few seconds. He left the kitchen and curled up to watch some of a movie he liked; an old sci-fi one that was crappy but classic at the same time.

His eyes were drawn to the wolfess every few minutes. She was sprawled on the couch, her bushy-fluffly tail circling around her curvy, tight behind that seemed ready to burst from her denim shorts. The red hoodie she wore concealed her chest but he was all to certain they were fantastic. He was sure she hadn't looked up from her phone in the hour she was watching him; which reminded the tiger...

He opened up his own cell, opening the Furbook app. His worst fears were realised. The world was an awful place; so much death and so much destruction, but nothing had happened as terrible as this: Kate had deleted him as a friend.

Conn howled, forgetting about his fellow couch-goer. Cleo jumped, dropping and losing her phone under the couch. The wolfess snarled and glared at him.

"What the hell was that?"

"S-sorry," the boy sniffed.

"Get my phone!" she ordered. Good god she sounded like an officer bellowing commands at troops.

Conn got all defensive, taken aback by the harsh bark of command. "You're closer, it's right under you-"

"NOW!"

He yelped, practically jumping from the couch and scurrying across the carpet and reaching in under the couch to grasp for the phone. As he gripped it, he felt weight push down on his back and craned his neck to look back. She was resting her legs on him, like a footrest!

"Hey!" he snapped, tossing her phone onto the couch. She threw her legs off and snatched up the phone, smirking.

"You look good on your knees."

Conn shuddered. He really didn't like how that had sounded; more like an observation than a joke.

"Whatever," he practically spat, and left the room, embarrassed. Eventually he found himself back in a trance, thinking about Kate. Then came the tears, then the sniffles and finally for the big finish, the sobbing into his pillow.

"Oh Kate," he hollered pathetically, smearing snot and salty tears over his pillow.

"So who's Kate?"

Conn sat bolt upright, almost rolling off the bed in the process. Cleo leaned in the doorway, one leg pulled up; foot resting on the door frame, watching with interest.

"She's my ex," Conn said bluntly.

"Girl trouble, huh?"

"Yeah no shit."

Cleo glared at him, her eyes staring straight through him, as if urging him to swear again and see what happens. Conn remembered to watch what he said from now on; his silence was enough to satisfy the girl. Cleo glanced around his room with a look of disgust.

"Tell you what," she offered. "Clean up your room, then tell me about her... then I'll tell you what to do." As he made sense of her offer Conn suddenly felt his heart leap in his chest!

"To... to get her back?"

"No, but to make her wish she had never, ever left you..."

For the next hour Conn picked up dirty socks, balled up underwear, tidied school books and even alphabetised his videogames while Cleo watched from the doorway. Occasionally she would scroll through her phone, maybe smirk or giggle softly as something on the internet, then go back to watching him like a hawk.

Conn noted that whenever he was on his knees, picking stuff up off the floor she would not take her eyes off him. He supposed he should have been flattered, maybe.

It turns out the Secret to Kate's Heart, was a good incentive; his room had never looked so spotless by the time he sat back up on bed. Cleo stepped over to him, standing what seemed to be ten feet tall. She patted his head, like a dog.

"Good boy," she murred. Conn looked down at the carpet, feeling his cheeks flush. He didn't look up when she asked questions about Kate, or when he started telling her everything about her as if he was in therapy. She was actually quite a good listener.

But when he was finished, her advice didn't make much sense and when he finally interrupted with; "Are you sure that's what I should do?" she nodded and asked him to trust her. It was a pretty big ask.

Conn reluctantly agreed, fearing the consequences if he did not. The rest of the night flew by. He was too excited about tomorrow to do go back downstairs, even when the wolfess left the room and padded downstairs. Was he supposed to follow her? In the back of his mind, Conn sort of kinda, not really but maybe wanted to follow at her heel. But he couldn't face being turned away by two girls in one day.

Cleo probably slept on the couch or something; after a while, he didn't care. He never remembered falling asleep. He'd been thinking about Kate, her blonde fur, her wind-swept hair and her sparkling eyes. Then all of a sudden, it was morning.

Conn was up like a rocket. A spritz of deodorant, scrub of the teeth, wax in the hair; he quickly changed tee shirts and leapt down the stairs. Cleo was on her phone again, standing up against the fridge and looked up as he went for the front door. She seemed amused, the classic never-ending expression on her face. But she still said, "Good luck."

The little black tiger tried not to shake as he sat in his chair in science class. He had always been partners with Kate, and this had been their desk. What had Cleo said? She had accused Kate of being selfish, only looking to Conn for stability while she figured herself out, maybe simply to lose the reputation she had picked over the years for putting out. Cleo's advice still didn't make sense to him but, still... Now he was just waiting for... now.

Kate stepped in with a little blue fox at her heel. Her bestie; they were giggling away to one another of course. Conn had never really met her. The two girls stopped in the tracks when they saw him. He tried not to make eye contact. Kate's friend just shrugged and looked at her as if to say "It'll be okay, honey," and sat up the front of the class.

Kate marched towards her seat, ignoring the all too obvious stares of attention she was drawing on herself. She sat down next to him and Conn's mind reeled. Whatnowwhatnowwhatnow? What do I do now? He looked at her and just gave a curt nod.

"What are you doing?" Kate whispered, exasperated.

Here we go... show time.

"What do you mean?" Conn said, trying to keep his voice steady.

"What are you doing here?"

"This is my seat Kate."

"Yeah, but we just broke up. Don't you want to sit somewhere else?"

Conn looked away to scrunch up his face and then tried to look calm as he turned back. "No, I like this seat. And we broke up, so what?"

"So what?" Kate almost shouted.

There was a still silence around the room and the teacher turned away from the chalk-board, annoyed. He went back to explaining about atoms. Kate looked confused, her nostrils flaring.

"I just don't want things to be awkward," she tried. Conn just looked at her, secretly enjoying how he had the upper hand.

"Kate. You're the only one making things awkward," he said matter-of-factly. The two kids behind them gasped in amusement and the fox sitting in front of them chuckled. Conn sat back into the seat, looking pleased with himself. Kate just stared at her textbook furiously.

Word travelled fast that his ex-girlfriend had made a fool of herself in science class. It still didn't really help Conn. Maybe he had expected too much from Cleo's advice. Was Kate supposed to throw herself at him? Was he supposed to act like this bad boy, be dismissive? He didn't know! He started to get miserable again, staring at the cold metal of his locker when he felt a familiar dread approach. The same knot it his stomach when a potential punch was in play. Sure enough, Blaine was right behind him. He opened his mouth to taunt him but Conn stopped him.

"Just not today, just not today man, please!" Conn begged desperately but to his shock, Blaine raised his paws in surrender.

"Hey man, it's all good."

Conn's jaw dropped open. "Say whut?" Blaine couldn't have looked more embarrassed or guilty. His cronies were silent too, their faces expressionless, watching their leader chat it out with what should have been prey.

"Look, Kate's a bitch man. Fuck it," he said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "We've all been there, so I get it. If you ever want to talk about it..."

Conn stared at him, finally closing his mouth and nodding. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, thanks. Definitely." Blaine seemed to perk up, clapping him on the back and moving on, his cronies silent. Conn couldn't believe what had just happened. He hoped Blaine was not upping his game, playing the long-con to get a bigger laugh at Conn's expense; but at lunchtime Conn was sandwiched in between Blaine and his friend Bryson talking away and laughing with the "cool kids."

It turned out they weren't that dumb at all!

Bryson was one hell of an artist, never missing a moment to whip out and show everyone his sketchpads; his portraits practically leapt off the page. A mastiff, Cody was the schools best quarter-back but he had a passion for little model ships. Steve the folf loved his Star Paws comics and Reagan, the otter was quite the master at chatting up girls; possibly the greatest wingman in the school. Blaine of course was a romantic at heart and had been crushed many times by girls over the years. Maybe seeing Conn so miserable had reminded Blaine of that same feeling.

All of a sudden Kate was walking past the table, despite her friends were sitting on the other side of the room. Reagan winked at Conn, and the black tiger tried to remember his advice. Coupled that with Cleo's helpful hints, Kate didn't stand a chance.

Rule One: You Are Over Her.

Conn continued to pick at his food as Kate lingered for a minute, then tapped his shoulder, carrying her tray of food with one paw.

"Are you ignoring me?"

Conn tried to look as impatient as possible.

"Sorry, what?"

"Are you ignoring me, are you mad at me?" She was looking strangely psychopathic, her fur was sticking up and she looked ready to hurl. Conn just looked back up at her, getting nervous.

"Kate, why would I be mad at you? Alright, seriously; we're finished, why drag it out?"

"I just, aren't you upset?"

"Why, do you want me to be upset?"

"Of course not?"

"Then what's the problem?"

"I... nothing," Kate stormed off and Conn grinned into his unfinished salad.

"That was beautiful," Blaine pointed out, chewing on a piece of chicken.

"Yeah, but, it just seems to be driving her away," Conn said, his grin fading.

"Look, you gotta commit to the bit. She'll come around," Reagan assured him. "She'll say I was wrong, I was stupid... but even when she does ask you out again-"

"If ever," Conn interrupted, pouting.

"We'll say that she will," Reagan said, "You'll still have to keep your distance, prove to her you've changed, love her softly."

"Which means, it might not actually be worth it at all? If I can't actually love her like I do, if have to keep worrying I'll lose her at every opportunity"

"Possibly... my opinion is fuck her and move on."

"To her fucking is like shaking paws," Conn suddenly said. He hadn't meant to make a joke but the table erupted in laughter.

Conn opened the front door of his home only to find it empty that evening. He found an email watching to be opened when he sat at his computer. Apparently Aunt Evelyn's business trip was "extended until further notice." His aunt was probably off rolling around in the sheets with some business guru.

Though... hold on a damn minute!

No babysitter... a free house! Conn's face lit up, his dubious mind already imagining the fun to be had. PARTY!!!!! PAAAARRRTAAAAYYYY!!! THEE MOST EPIC PARTY, shindig, box social, gathering, whatever you would call it! He would invite everyone; he would even invite Kate out of curtesy, he would get drinks and beers, get burgers and... and... his phone was ringing. Conn fished it out of his pocket and frowned. Unknown number. Probably the hotel.

"Yellow?" he answered, hoping it wasn't his aunt announcing her arrival. But it wasn't his aunt, nor was it the hotel. Ice flooded his veins when he heard the caller.

"It's Cleo..."

"Oh... haaai?" Yeah, that was about it. All he could manage. Haaai.

"I'm supposed to be babysitting again tonight but I can't come over," her husky voice sounded as bored as ever.

"Oh, oh I'm sorry. Well I'll be fine here on my own," Conn assured her, leaping for joy. But Cleo chuckled coldly down the phone.

"Eh no, you won't be. You're coming here. To my house." Conn stopped dead in his tracks, nearly letting the phone slide from his grip.

"Say what?" he asked, managing not to stammer. A weight had dropped in his stomach. Conn was way too afraid to mess with this girl but she was stepping way beyond the line.

"223 Lake Drive, that's half an hour's cycle away." Again, this sounded as if Cleo was reading from a book of facts. It was an order, not a suggestion. She was about to hang up the phone before Conn could respond when she hesitated. "And Conn..."

"Y-yeah?"

"Don't make me come get you..."