Here's to Hoping
Disclaimer: There is no sex in this story. No masturbation. Nothing. This is a clean story, so if you're still interested, carry on.
The meerkat grunted and sat back in his chair, rubbing his eyes firmly before both paws dragged their way up through his thick mop of hair before leaning heavily on his elbows once more, staring at the glowing screen that was his laptop. The thing hummed quietly, mocking him.
There was a second computer, next to the first... Well, only the monitor, technically. The custom tower sat in a rack below, whirring quietly. He'd been there for an hour-and-a-half now. He'd achieved only a few lines of type in that time. How depressing. He'd been trying to write this story for days now. It wasn't an assignment, he'd just had this story in his head for a long time, and it was time for the thing to come out on paper... Or, pixels, in his case. It was three in the morning. Thirteen hours and he had to be at work. He didn't particularly care for his job. He was a crew member at a fast food joint, only a bit more. He'd been there for a while, and his manager had offered him a trainer position, and the only part of the title that was missing was the paperwork and a pay raise.
He'd started the job the summer before his junior year of high school, and here he sat as it closed. Something had happened over the year though. He'd enlisted in a German program in his school, and did fairly well, but about half way through the first semester the class, he'd gone with a chosen few to district wide competition for the language. He'd headed up a skit, which had required him go into class early, several times a week. There was a problem, though. About two weeks until the actual event, half of his "cast" had dropped out, and had to be replaced. One of the replacements, in particular, he took a liking to.
She was a slim little ferret girl by the name of Megan, and they got along all through the practices. The day the team left for competitions, the two really didn't talk, and didn't really talk until she'd asked him to cover one of her events. It was a more academic thing, but he'd said ‘sure, what the hell' and did it. He'd gone to state with that event, and over again with their skit. Five more weeks passed after that day, and with much badgering from their teacher, the group had gotten back together for practices. The meerkat couldn't complain. He liked seeing Megan, because, again, they got along splendidly. More than half the time, they'd end up playing slaps in the hallway, at a fairly even keel.
It wasn't that she was over strong, and he was weak, it was more that her hands were small and stinging, and he delivered the more slow punishing blows.
The day for them to leave for state came around quickly enough, and so did the gotta-be-awake-at-five-to-make-the-bus. It wasn't even a charter. The debate team got a charter. No, they were packed into an old yellow bus, for four hours, and only three breaks. He and Megan hadn't talked much on the trip, mainly because her time was preoccupied with the annoying little Mormon of an otter , who, it turns out, wanted to date her. Funny enough, throughout the first day, she'd more-or-less called him a creeper, to his face, and the meerkat couldn't do anything but laugh when he saw it.
Back to it, though, our protagonist had started growing attached to the little soccer playing ferret. They tooled around the campus at which the state competition was held, a good amount of time with her on his shoulders. They were friends to say the least. He'd ended up in her shared motel room until well after lights out. He knew both of her roommates. One was a real tomboy, a scrappy little cowgirl of a vixen. The other was one of the most innocent of innocent dog girls. He couldn't really tell her breed, but it wasn't of any concern to him, mainly due to the fact that she was out cold on her bed.
The vixen was a chatty one, and that's when the meerkat and ferret got to know each other. He was growing very attached by this time. The next day went slowly. Mainly touring the surrounding city and waiting for the award ceremony, and when it came, it wasn't a huge thrill, though, their school had gotten tenth in the state. He was kind of let down however, by one simple exchange.
"So, if the otter is a creeper, what does that make me?"
"You're a good friend."
That is a crushing blow to anyone who has ever experienced it. He didn't let it show, though. He had kept close, keeping up the playfulness he had for the rest of the trip. He chilled with her and the little vixen at supper that night. They'd had a ball; Dirty jokes and sub-par renditions of favorite tunes, which were soon picked up by the rest of, well, everyone eating at the Tex-Mex/German place.
The next day they'd all packed, loaded up, and started the trek home. He slept most of the way, but when he was awake, he talked to her, and got to know her that much better.
School resumed as usual after they got back. Quizzes were killing him in his German class. He had first period. She had third. He, unlike her, though, picked up little cheat sheets, and they worked like a charm, and toward the end of the year, she was starting to suffer, and he took the opportunity to make up for his lack of getting along wither her buddies at the lunch table... A loud little Siamese and a rather queer looking Dalmatian. Those were the two he noticed, at least... And it was awkward, really. She was a freshman, at the time, and he was a junior... People thought it strange. He didn't give a damn.
Back again to the story... The quizzes were doing her badly, so he offered his cheat sheets, and she thanked him, and even more when they worked out well.
Now, though, it was summer, and he was working nearly full time, and they didn't really see each other, but he really wanted to, and it was all said in a simple little text he'd sent her.
~Hey, you wanna do something sometime?~
Now he just had to wait, and he was hoping.
p.s.
This is my "virgin" submission. Please, comments are welcomed.