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More from AboxofDeth
Continuing my story, written by 
joshiah
Prolog - https://www.furaffinity.net/view/39823434/
Chapter 1 - You are here
Chapter 2 - https://www.furaffinity.net/view/40880819/
Chapter 3 - https://www.furaffinity.net/view/41397400/
Chapter 4 - https://www.furaffinity.net/view/41397446/
Chapter 5 - https://www.furaffinity.net/view/41845358/
Chapter 6 - https://www.furaffinity.net/view/42045373/
Chapter 7+ - On the way
____________________________
The smell in the air was hard to describe, but something about it was always stale: whether there was comfort in that smell, or the constant reminder of how boring high school had become, Deth couldn’t escape it.
Right in the middle of his high school career, he was starting to properly notice what a grind it had become. Getting up so early every day, trying to throw together an outfit that wouldn’t get him made fun of, but also wouldn’t make him stand out too much, all while remembering his books and assignments, and somewhere in there, he needed to find time and room for breakfast.
He rarely did, leaving him looking and feeling the part of a zombie until the middle of every morning, right about his third period perk-up.
“College is gonna be better than this, right?”
He and Flair were lucky enough to remain friends through childhood, and as teenagers, they had the utter blessing of having their lockers close by to each other. Their schedules meant that they still only ran into each other a couple times a day, but those were the rare points of school that Deth looked forward to; everything else felt like a meaningless, albeit necessary struggle.
“Feels like that’s how it always goes…you rush through elementary school and hear that middle school is so much cooler, then you rush through that and hear about how cool junior high is, and now we’re in high school, still waiting for the cool part…”
“Way to dodge the point,” Deth joked. “Have you even decided if you’re going to college, honestly?”
“Yeah, definitely. I don’t think there’s any trades out there that I’d really be interested in…”
The future was an open book to Deth, as well, but he didn’t see anything on the pages.
In as much, his future was just as bland and meaningless as the days that he was counting down, quietly waiting for graduation to come and whisk him away to something better.
“At least there’s something interested in you in the here and now,” the lion teased, having made eye contact with Naia before she actually made her presence known.
“I’m a someone, not a something,” she corrected him. “And you’re fantastic at ruining surprises; did you know that?”
“Gotta be good at something.”
Deth was dry in his humor, but even when Flair felt a paw groping his backside, he didn’t respond with quite as much vigor as his girlfriend expected. She chalked it up to the ruined surprise, but her digits were eager to hold his flesh while she planted a kiss to his cheek.
“It’s fine, babe…you know how much I love it when you surprise me between classes like this!”
Flair’s assurance wasn’t quite enough for Naia, who stared Deth down…but she didn’t see the same intensity in his smug, yet distant expression.
The lion wasn’t letting someone come between him and his friend, and he wasn’t going to play the jealousy game or start petty drama just for the sake of starting it. Flair seemed genuinely happy with the relationship, from Deth’s perspective.
There was a hint of discomfort about him and his smile, but then again, Deth could imagine having the same reaction if someone snuck up on him and groped his ass when he wasn’t expecting it.
“Well, I’d hate to intrude on boy time like this, but I wanted to make sure that we were still on for this weekend?” she asked, worrying that Flair might have had other plans.
She was right to, but Flair wasn’t being forgetful. “Friday night, right?” he asked.
“And Saturday, unless you’ve got something else going on?”
“I already told you that Deth and I are getting together with some friends of ours,” he reminded her. “And I already told you that you’re welcome to come with, if you’d like.”
It still seemed like she was trying to bait Deth into saying something negative, but he was smiling casually, finding the idea was one of the first things to make him honestly happy that week. Bland and begrudging as school was, there was always comfort to be had in partying with friends on the weekends, even if the hardest Deth ever went was hanging out in the corner and chatting with Flair and Red.
“I was hoping I might be able to twist your arm a little bit and get you alone on back to back nights for once, but…if I’ve gotta wait my turn, I can wait my turn,” Naia groaned. Seeing she wouldn’t get a proper rise out of Deth, she gave up the ghost and smiled at him with greater sincerity, glad that he wasn’t meddling in the affairs of others. “But maybe you can actually…you know…stay the night on Friday?”
“If I get caught, we’re both dead. You know that, right?”
“And that’s what makes it so much fun,” Naia countered. “Trust me, we’ll be fine…”
Out of respect for his friend, Flair was trying not to pretend that Deth wasn’t around anymore, but whether she meant to be or not, Naia was very demanding of his attention.
She’d done so much to capture both of their attention spans in the process that Deth didn’t even notice a warm smile turning his way as another girl snuck past his locker, hoping to capture his interest.
Dividing the conversation the best he could, Flair looked more fearful than anything at the prospect of sleeping over at Naia’s house, attention divided or not.
“I dunno…sounds like risky business,” he claimed, trying to seem calmer than he really was. “I might have to ask Deth here for a few pointers about what to do when we get busted.”
Deth snickered, having to bite the back of his paw to stifle a full-blown snort. “Riiiiight, because I’m such a party animal. Staying over at girl’s houses all the time, sneaking out just before daddy comes in with a bat or a shotgun…”
“You wild animal, you!” Flair joked with him, showing even greater enthusiasm than he did at Naia’s kiss. “You’re gonna have to regale us with some of your closest calls on Saturday.”
Naia rolled her eyes. “Yes…I’m sure it’ll take him all of zero seconds to do that, but I’m still not sure I’ll be able to wait on bated breath for that long.”
There was a wide open chance for Deth to make a joke in poor taste, all at her behest…but he could see Flair pleading with him not to take the pot shot.
For the sake of his friend’s love life, he shrugged it off. “You might be surprised,” he deflected, lying right through his teeth. “But I’m definitely looking forward to the party, and I’m sure you two will be the highlight of it with your antics on Friday.”
For his part, Deth was being the wingman of the century. The relief was painted on Flair’s muzzle as Naia stole a quick kiss from it. “I do hope so,” she agreed, before releasing his backside and finally heading to her class. “You two boys behave yourselves, okay?”
It was a little too soon for him to say it, but Flair couldn’t keep his whispers contained. “She is so aggressive,” he admitted, but it was unclear if his voice was addled with excitement or exasperation. “I just hope I can keep up with her demands tomorrow…”
“You can stop with the details right there,” Deth paused him. “Let’s just pretend you two are gonna have a tea party or something.”
**
Getting to go to high school with some of his closest friends was great, and all told, they were the only people in the school that Deth much cared about.
He wasn’t afraid of expanding his social circle, but like so many other teenagers before him, he felt a bit like a social drifter, rarely settling in one clique, or even finding one in the first place. His close relationships were more important to him, and beyond that, he was doing his best to stay on top of his studies, caring about them far more than the average student.
When he wasn’t studying or palling around with Flair, he was only ever on school grounds for the selection of clubs that took place afterwards: for not being a social butterfly, he took part in a few different activities, and in the fall, he could be found in the Student Senate, making decisions about the future of his graduating class.
…That said, of course, he was mostly there for it to show up on a college transcript, and he was just as happy for the activity to be over as he was to arrive at it.
“Two more minutes…two more minutes…”
Whispering under his breath and pretending that he couldn’t be seen by anyone else in the room, Deth was trying to stay neutral in the raging debate about the school lunch options for as long as he could: he genuinely didn’t have a preference in the menu, and wasn’t sure if the prices were fair at all for the selection that was offered.
Even if he had done the extra research to be informed about the matter, he didn’t think it was nearly the big deal that everyone was making it out to be…but it was a great reflection of how the real world of politics worked, and just for that, he felt educated by the experience.
“Any input, counsel?”
Deth was the counsel, of course, that was being addressed.
“Students don’t have enough options already?” he asked, thinking of something on the fly and giving little care to what side he ended up on, as long as he got credit for his input.
“They have no range of options,” the vice president built on his point, “But I don’t think those options are fairly priced…and even if they were, there aren’t enough healthy and alternative options on the menu for students who aren’t interested in pizza and fries five days a week!”
“But if the students are happy with the choices they have, shouldn’t they just focus on changing the prices of the items that are most popular for now, and use any extra funding that we can milk out of that to expand the menu to be more accessible after that?”
Aurora, the VP, didn’t seem to agree with his order of operations…but she’d put a lot more thought into her presentation than he had, and she seemed genuinely concerned with the health and wellbeing of the other students.
Deth wasn’t cold or rude, but if he’d been completely honest with his closing statement, he would have reminded them that he brought a bag lunch to school most days and couldn’t relate to the strife of the average hot lunch student, nor did he care to.
“I’d love to debate you on all the reasons why that’s the wrong way to go about improving accessibility, but we’re all out of time for the session,” Aurora argued. “I do appreciate you giving us something to build on for the start of next week’s session, though.”
There wasn’t a proper friction between the two of them, and when the session was officially adjourned, whatever possessed Aurora to such a venomous spirit immediately passed on. The bright, blonde wolf had a personality as warm as the sandy tone of her fur, and after the fact, she was even cozying up to Deth on their way out of the classroom.
“I dunno where you pull those last minute points out of your ass,” she admitted, as she accompanied him toward the front entrance of the school, “But you always seem to have something to derail me when I think I’ve got all the sides of an issue figured out.”
“Would it be so bad if I admitted that it was dumb luck about 90% of the time?”
“…You know, you could have just lied through your teeth, and I would have given you a lot more credit than that,” Aurora admitted. “I do appreciate the honesty, though.”
“I’m not the type to lie if I can avoid it,” Deth countered. “So…I guess I might as well fess up that I’m just kinda there so I can put it on my college apps.”
“Like the rest of us, dude. I mean, sure; I’m passionate about some of the things we talk about, but don’t you think I’d rather have that hour back each week to do something other than fight with my classmates about hypothetical things that we’ll never get to address, anyway?”
Deth snickered. “You know, I always end up pigeonholing you as a bit of a hothead, but you’ve got a lot more depth to you than that. It’s refreshing.”
She tried to hide the reaction of her ears folding back, but Aurora wore her emotions on her sleeve more than most, whether she was putting on an act or living out her real personality.
“That’s…t-that’s really sweet of you, Deth,” she replied. The nerves in her voice kept her from asking what he was up to that weekend, and something about his state of mind kept him from asking the question back to her.
He could tell that there was some kind of interest there, at least, on her part, and he didn’t mind that, but the disconnect that kept him from reciprocating was deeper than he realized.
At that moment, he simply thought he wasn’t all that interested in her, but she was such a nice girl that he couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t at least want to try a date with her.
“Thanks.”
His response was drier than it should have been, but he was forcing a smile for her at that point; both of them could tell that something was off, as if the chemistry might have been there in another life.
That wasn’t enough to completely dissuade her, however.
“So, I…I heard that there might be this party going on at Red’s place this weekend, and I know you guys are good friends, and…n-no, that’s not what I mean.”
“I didn’t-
“I just don’t want you to think I’m asking you to get me in,” she hurriedly corrected herself. “I was…k-kinda wondering if I could go with you.”
The lion blinked. “Even though we’ve got extremely differing views on the plight of our fellow students hot lunch options?”
“…You are such a dork,” she sighed, chuckling her way through the exasperated breath. “Yes, Deth. I’m pretty sure I can overlook that fact.”
“Can I…can I maybe make you a counteroffer?”
She was doing a great job of keeping her emotions in check, but Aurora could feel a rejection coming from him, even if he was struggling to put it into the right words.
“I’m listening.”
“How about you show up with me and I just vouch for you being cool? I’m flattered that you want go with me, but I…I’m not all that c-
“You don’t have to sugarcoat it for me if you aren’t interested, Deth.”
“What if I don’t know if I am?”
This time, Aurora was the one blinking. “That…that’s a very fair and honest question, actually. Not exactly what I expected from you, but I appreciate you being forthright with me.”
“I’m sorry if that isn’t really fair to you,” Deth immediately scrambled back over his answer. “Don’t get me wrong; you’re cute,” he paused, realizing that he didn’t know why she was cute, as much as he simply accepted that property about her, “And you seem like you could be kinda cool…you know, outside of a fake senate setting.”
“You’re cute too, Deth,” she assured him. “Maybe a little goofy in the head from time to time, but…I really like a guy that’s honest with me. If you need some time to think about it, I understand: just don’t keep me waiting forever, okay? And if you need me to stay home from the party, that’s okay too.”
Deth wasn’t a fool: there was plenty enough sting in her tone for him to know that it wasn’t okay whatsoever, but the fact that he was even entertaining the possibility was more than Aurora had hoped for.
He didn’t want to leave her hanging on such a point, but he didn’t want to promise to be good company when he was still figuring out what kind of company he even was, much less the kind he was interested in…if there even was such a person.
“Maybe…maybe just this once?” he suggested. “But I promise I’ll think it over.”
Aurora’s smile was distant and thin, but all told, things went over better than she would have expected.
She kept her subtle frustration hidden deep as she nodded her agreement. “I’d rather spend the time alone with you if I could, anyway,” she agreed. “You have fun this weekend, okay?”
Deth nodded and offered her a brief wave, noticing the increased pace of her walk. He didn’t have a reason to stop in the lobby, as he had, but he was looking for anything to help him pretend that he meant to do that.
For the first time in a long time, he felt actively awkward, quietly whishing that he had an out from the situation.
**
“What happened to the party?”
Generally speaking, Deth wasn’t a demanding person, but he was visibly frustrated, crammed into the back of a borrowed van and sharing legroom with a bunch of other people.
He was the only one flying solo that night, and immediately, he wished he’d invited Aurora, if only to even out the numbers.
“My parents cancelled their trip. This was the best we could do on short notice,” Red told him. “I know it’s not as chill, but I think you can have a fine time at the local carnival, dude. We’re all in the same boat, here.”
“…Not exactly.”
As happy as Deth was to be out and about with Red, Nimbus and Flair, he was the only one that didn’t think to bring a guest. It was too late for him to call Aurora and let her know that he’d changed his mind, and even then, he didn’t have her phone number.
Even if he did, he didn’t want to call her just to make her fill in a gap for him; she’d opened her heart to him, even in a subtle way, and he didn’t want to cheapen that gesture by looking to have her abide his social anxiety.
“It’s gonna be fine, dude,” Nimbus assured him. The small group of friends were glad to have grown up together, but they were dealing with some of the same, awkward situations that any other teenager would: social circles opened and closed, expanded and contracted, and pieces floated around, sometimes bringing new ones in with them and on worse occasions, taking others away forever.
The bond they all shared was standing that test of time, but as they all piled out of the overstuffed minivan and stood in the parking lot of the festival, Deth could see his position as he stared at the ground: one pair of footpaws twitching in the dirt, surrounded by three other pairs.
“So…what should we do first?”
Deth immediately regretted opening his mouth, knowing he was going to get six sets of answers. He wasn’t going to have much input no matter what answers came out, but more than that, he didn’t want the attention turned back to him.
He was relieved by Naia’s mouth opening for the first time that he could ever recall.
“I need this hunk to win me a teddy bear…so I think we’d better head to the mallets first,” she recommended.
She was going to take the lead that night, no matter what the rest of the group was doing: whether they decided to play along with her ideas or break off into pieces, she was the one directing traffic. For his part, Deth was fine going along with that, but he was already slotted in as seventh wheel in such a large group…and following any splinters felt like it would put him right in the way of others good times.
“That sounds good to me,” he whispered, hoping a larger group would head that direction.
One by one, they all agreed to start there, but he knew that a split was coming sooner or later. He and Red were chatting each other up, frustrating Red’s girlfriend to no end and getting in the way of what she thought was a better time, but Deth was grateful for the chance to chat with him one-on-one, even when it was just for a minute or two.
“You think he’s got a chance?”
Deth, Red and Nimbus were standing at the back of the attraction, watching Flair struggle to keep the mallet up and over his head.
“I’m pretty sure he’s gonna pop his arms out of his sockets if he doesn’t hurry up and just swing the damn thing.”
Naia rolled her eyes. “You guys are such supportive friends…honestly.”
“We try our best,” Deth joked. “This kinda stuff builds character, doesn’t it?”
Nimbus nodded his agreement. “That’s right! He’ll be a lot better off for this when he’s older.”
“I hate you guys so much right now.”
“That’s the spirit, Flair! You can do this!”
Huffing and puffing, Flair was doing all he could to pump out his chest and flex his arms at the point of the swing. His overly long hold was exhausting, and as he posed for Naia to take a picture, he almost dropped it over his back.
At the last second, he tightened his grip and swung down with everything he had…but the satisfying DING of the bell at the top never came.
There was only the rusty grind of the little weight sliding up and down the pole, leaving Flair with exhausted arms, and Naia with nothing to hold in her own.
“…Okay, maybe you can’t do this,” Red murmured, “But that was still a good try, right?”
“With a cheering section like that, how could I possibly fail?” Flair dropped the mallet and groaned, foregoing his second swing. “Someone else can take this one for me…”
Red was quick to grab the base of the hammer. He was a little thicker than his friends; no one had a chance to tease him about anything before Red lifted the mallet overhead and slammed the pad.
There was still something satisfying about the DING, even when it came from someone else, but Flair knew better than to ask for the small stuffed animal that was handed over to him.
“Sorry, dude…pretty sure I’ve gotta give this one to my date,” Red teased. “Not that it’s much of one anyway.”
A soured pair of eyes narrowed on Red and the rest of the bunch: the man running the game had an undeserved sense of pride in his carnival booth, especially against the pathetic excuses for prizes that he was handing out. “You don’t like dem der prizes? Get yer arse on, then! Git!”
Just for being close enough to take the prize from him, Red was getting the idea that the man didn’t know how to use a toothbrush…certainly not on a daily basis.
“Great job bringing us to the scuzziest game on the fairgrounds, Deth,” Red’s date muttered. “Think we can go somewhere that the toys don’t have tetanus warning labels on them?”
All told, the local fairgrounds were a huge attraction, and there were plenty of other rides and games for them to peruse, but almost all of them were ridiculously expensive, especially for high school kids with middling jobs.
More than that, they were games that were aimed at couples…and Deth could already see Red and Nimbus slipping off with their respective dates, leaving him with Flair and Naia; he knew that wasn’t going to last.
“Hey, uhm…y-you two go ahead and do what you’re gonna do. I’m gonna go find a restroom,” he used the oldest excuse in the book, wearing a nervous smile the entire time. He kept trying to wrangle it in, but before the last couple could answer him, he’d already turned and headed in the opposite direction, having no desire to hang around as a third wheel any more than a seventh.
Flair reached out to stop him, but Naia was already grabbing his wrist and giving it a small tug. “Let him go, baby. I’m sure he’s fine,” she whispered.
She was being selfish with Flair’s time, but he was young and inexperienced. He still didn’t quite feel comfortable in that moment, but he couldn’t decide if it was a discomfort with Naia as a person, or his attempt to bury his concerns about Deth.
Either way, his arm was pulled back, and his body was tugged off by Naia, who felt that she was in the right; she just wanted to keep his spirits up that night, and she didn’t think she could do that while he was worrying about his friend.
That same friend was wandering through the fairgrounds only moments later, forgetting about his bathroom-based lie as soon as he thought he was out of the immediate picture.
“Dude?”
Red and Nimbus had reconvened somewhere in the other games, having burned through their cash about as fast as they could, playing unwinnable carnival games.
“O-oh, Red! I honestly wasn’t sure I’d see you guys the rest of the night,” Deth admitted. His forced smile was back right on cue, but he felt the warmth of the group coming around him once more, save for Flair and Naia. “How’s it going?”
“We’re your ride, Deth. We weren’t just gonna leave you here…”
“Oh yeah. Right.”
Despite the fun they’d been having, Nimbus and Red were frowning at their friend. “You know, we came here to have fun as a group, remember?” Nimbus asked. “And if you aren’t having fun, that means the rest of the group isn’t!”
While their dates weren’t quite as quick to jump on board with support, they weren’t going to be rude in front of the gentlemen that invited them out.
“You guys are the best; seriously, you are,” Deth claimed. “But I don’t want to bring down the mood…you can all head to the rides without me if you want.”
“We don’t want to do that,” Red suggested. “Not that we’ve really got much cash left anyway…”
“Burned a hole in your pocket winning those five dollar stuffed animals?”
“These things are worth at least six bucks, dude.”
Some uneasy laughter was still putting Deth in a better mood than he’d been since he arrived, but it wasn’t fixing the core problem.
“Clever, but…seriously, if you guys have something else you want to do, don’t worry about it. I can just walk home from here.”
“We’re not-
“Really, it’s fine,” Deth interrupted. “I’m…I’m getting in the way here. I’m getting really tired of being alone all the time, but I’d rather not be alone and in the way, okay?”
Nimbus wasn’t going to abandon his date, but he was quick to throw an arm of support around his friend and give him a nudge. “You haven’t been in the way all night, and you aren’t gonna start now,” he claimed. “Why don’t we all just head back to Red’s anyway and chill in the basement? Not like we’re not used to them yelling at us to keep it down, anyway.”
Group dates were almost always a chaotic adventure, but Deth was elated at the idea of this one ending somewhere comfortable and familiar.
“…You guys sure you’re okay with that?”
“Totally,” Red confirmed. “You start heading back to the car, and we’ll see if we can track down Naia and Flair.”
“Just make sure you bring them back with all of their clothes on…I’ve got a feeling they might have lost some on the way to…well, wherever they went.”
“Now there’s a little bit of that trademark, dry-as-sand humor,” Red poked a little fun. “We’ll see you back at the van, dude.”
They’d done a wonderful job of showing support while giving Deth his space, but immediately, his mind was racing with concerns about what the group would be saying about him once they were out of earshot. Anxiety was impossible to combat when it was the entirety of his internal dialogue, and the rest of the night, he was sure he’d be fighting it…
…A friendly smile, however, was able to change all of that.
“Kinda weird that you’d skip out on a party to end up alone at a place like this,” a familiar voice tickled his ear, drawing his attention in and stopping him dead in his tracks.
He realized who was speaking to him, but he didn’t realize that his friends could still see what was happening as someone took his paw.
“Aurora?”
“You know, if you didn’t want to hang out with me-
“I promise this isn’t what it looks like,” Deth rushed out an explanation. “Red’s parents were home after all, so we cancelled the party idea and apparently, this was the fallback…and I never even got your number, so I couldn’t let you know, and this…t-this night has been a total disaster, and now I’m making it wor-
Deth didn’t realize how forward Aurora could really be until she pressed a single digit to his lips. “Shhh…it’s okay, hon. Trust me, I didn’t expect daddy to drop me off at the fairgrounds tonight, either, but…you’ve got really honest eyes, Deth. I’d know if you were making up a lie, and I’m sorry if you’re having such a miserable time.”
She was so understanding that Deth couldn’t help feeling comforted, even if he still wasn’t sure how he felt about her. She’d given him a couple of days to think it over, but somehow, she knew that wouldn’t be enough.
“As for my number…well, that’s on me,” she whispered. “I kinda rushed off before I could give it to you, so…here.”
Her grip on his paw became even more obvious as she lifted it between them and pulled a pen from her purse, scribbling the digits into his fur, complete with a small heart at the end of the last number.
“Are you sure you want to give this to me? I know we kinda know each other, but I-
“I don’t just give my number to anyone, Deth. I only give it to guys that I’m dating…unless you want me to rub that out really quick?”
She was dolled up for the evening at the fairgrounds, but she was alone: all wrapped up in a tank top that showed a slim line of her midriff and a skirt that stopped just above her knee, she’d become a present before his very eyes, complete with a small ribbon around her neck.
Even if the only gift she ever gave him was that of a single night of comfort, he couldn’t imagine how anyone could say no to someone so kindly and beautiful…but the words were like lead at the end of his paralyzed tongue.
_______________________________
joshiahProlog - https://www.furaffinity.net/view/39823434/
Chapter 1 - You are here
Chapter 2 - https://www.furaffinity.net/view/40880819/
Chapter 3 - https://www.furaffinity.net/view/41397400/
Chapter 4 - https://www.furaffinity.net/view/41397446/
Chapter 5 - https://www.furaffinity.net/view/41845358/
Chapter 6 - https://www.furaffinity.net/view/42045373/
Chapter 7+ - On the way
____________________________
The smell in the air was hard to describe, but something about it was always stale: whether there was comfort in that smell, or the constant reminder of how boring high school had become, Deth couldn’t escape it.
Right in the middle of his high school career, he was starting to properly notice what a grind it had become. Getting up so early every day, trying to throw together an outfit that wouldn’t get him made fun of, but also wouldn’t make him stand out too much, all while remembering his books and assignments, and somewhere in there, he needed to find time and room for breakfast.
He rarely did, leaving him looking and feeling the part of a zombie until the middle of every morning, right about his third period perk-up.
“College is gonna be better than this, right?”
He and Flair were lucky enough to remain friends through childhood, and as teenagers, they had the utter blessing of having their lockers close by to each other. Their schedules meant that they still only ran into each other a couple times a day, but those were the rare points of school that Deth looked forward to; everything else felt like a meaningless, albeit necessary struggle.
“Feels like that’s how it always goes…you rush through elementary school and hear that middle school is so much cooler, then you rush through that and hear about how cool junior high is, and now we’re in high school, still waiting for the cool part…”
“Way to dodge the point,” Deth joked. “Have you even decided if you’re going to college, honestly?”
“Yeah, definitely. I don’t think there’s any trades out there that I’d really be interested in…”
The future was an open book to Deth, as well, but he didn’t see anything on the pages.
In as much, his future was just as bland and meaningless as the days that he was counting down, quietly waiting for graduation to come and whisk him away to something better.
“At least there’s something interested in you in the here and now,” the lion teased, having made eye contact with Naia before she actually made her presence known.
“I’m a someone, not a something,” she corrected him. “And you’re fantastic at ruining surprises; did you know that?”
“Gotta be good at something.”
Deth was dry in his humor, but even when Flair felt a paw groping his backside, he didn’t respond with quite as much vigor as his girlfriend expected. She chalked it up to the ruined surprise, but her digits were eager to hold his flesh while she planted a kiss to his cheek.
“It’s fine, babe…you know how much I love it when you surprise me between classes like this!”
Flair’s assurance wasn’t quite enough for Naia, who stared Deth down…but she didn’t see the same intensity in his smug, yet distant expression.
The lion wasn’t letting someone come between him and his friend, and he wasn’t going to play the jealousy game or start petty drama just for the sake of starting it. Flair seemed genuinely happy with the relationship, from Deth’s perspective.
There was a hint of discomfort about him and his smile, but then again, Deth could imagine having the same reaction if someone snuck up on him and groped his ass when he wasn’t expecting it.
“Well, I’d hate to intrude on boy time like this, but I wanted to make sure that we were still on for this weekend?” she asked, worrying that Flair might have had other plans.
She was right to, but Flair wasn’t being forgetful. “Friday night, right?” he asked.
“And Saturday, unless you’ve got something else going on?”
“I already told you that Deth and I are getting together with some friends of ours,” he reminded her. “And I already told you that you’re welcome to come with, if you’d like.”
It still seemed like she was trying to bait Deth into saying something negative, but he was smiling casually, finding the idea was one of the first things to make him honestly happy that week. Bland and begrudging as school was, there was always comfort to be had in partying with friends on the weekends, even if the hardest Deth ever went was hanging out in the corner and chatting with Flair and Red.
“I was hoping I might be able to twist your arm a little bit and get you alone on back to back nights for once, but…if I’ve gotta wait my turn, I can wait my turn,” Naia groaned. Seeing she wouldn’t get a proper rise out of Deth, she gave up the ghost and smiled at him with greater sincerity, glad that he wasn’t meddling in the affairs of others. “But maybe you can actually…you know…stay the night on Friday?”
“If I get caught, we’re both dead. You know that, right?”
“And that’s what makes it so much fun,” Naia countered. “Trust me, we’ll be fine…”
Out of respect for his friend, Flair was trying not to pretend that Deth wasn’t around anymore, but whether she meant to be or not, Naia was very demanding of his attention.
She’d done so much to capture both of their attention spans in the process that Deth didn’t even notice a warm smile turning his way as another girl snuck past his locker, hoping to capture his interest.
Dividing the conversation the best he could, Flair looked more fearful than anything at the prospect of sleeping over at Naia’s house, attention divided or not.
“I dunno…sounds like risky business,” he claimed, trying to seem calmer than he really was. “I might have to ask Deth here for a few pointers about what to do when we get busted.”
Deth snickered, having to bite the back of his paw to stifle a full-blown snort. “Riiiiight, because I’m such a party animal. Staying over at girl’s houses all the time, sneaking out just before daddy comes in with a bat or a shotgun…”
“You wild animal, you!” Flair joked with him, showing even greater enthusiasm than he did at Naia’s kiss. “You’re gonna have to regale us with some of your closest calls on Saturday.”
Naia rolled her eyes. “Yes…I’m sure it’ll take him all of zero seconds to do that, but I’m still not sure I’ll be able to wait on bated breath for that long.”
There was a wide open chance for Deth to make a joke in poor taste, all at her behest…but he could see Flair pleading with him not to take the pot shot.
For the sake of his friend’s love life, he shrugged it off. “You might be surprised,” he deflected, lying right through his teeth. “But I’m definitely looking forward to the party, and I’m sure you two will be the highlight of it with your antics on Friday.”
For his part, Deth was being the wingman of the century. The relief was painted on Flair’s muzzle as Naia stole a quick kiss from it. “I do hope so,” she agreed, before releasing his backside and finally heading to her class. “You two boys behave yourselves, okay?”
It was a little too soon for him to say it, but Flair couldn’t keep his whispers contained. “She is so aggressive,” he admitted, but it was unclear if his voice was addled with excitement or exasperation. “I just hope I can keep up with her demands tomorrow…”
“You can stop with the details right there,” Deth paused him. “Let’s just pretend you two are gonna have a tea party or something.”
**
Getting to go to high school with some of his closest friends was great, and all told, they were the only people in the school that Deth much cared about.
He wasn’t afraid of expanding his social circle, but like so many other teenagers before him, he felt a bit like a social drifter, rarely settling in one clique, or even finding one in the first place. His close relationships were more important to him, and beyond that, he was doing his best to stay on top of his studies, caring about them far more than the average student.
When he wasn’t studying or palling around with Flair, he was only ever on school grounds for the selection of clubs that took place afterwards: for not being a social butterfly, he took part in a few different activities, and in the fall, he could be found in the Student Senate, making decisions about the future of his graduating class.
…That said, of course, he was mostly there for it to show up on a college transcript, and he was just as happy for the activity to be over as he was to arrive at it.
“Two more minutes…two more minutes…”
Whispering under his breath and pretending that he couldn’t be seen by anyone else in the room, Deth was trying to stay neutral in the raging debate about the school lunch options for as long as he could: he genuinely didn’t have a preference in the menu, and wasn’t sure if the prices were fair at all for the selection that was offered.
Even if he had done the extra research to be informed about the matter, he didn’t think it was nearly the big deal that everyone was making it out to be…but it was a great reflection of how the real world of politics worked, and just for that, he felt educated by the experience.
“Any input, counsel?”
Deth was the counsel, of course, that was being addressed.
“Students don’t have enough options already?” he asked, thinking of something on the fly and giving little care to what side he ended up on, as long as he got credit for his input.
“They have no range of options,” the vice president built on his point, “But I don’t think those options are fairly priced…and even if they were, there aren’t enough healthy and alternative options on the menu for students who aren’t interested in pizza and fries five days a week!”
“But if the students are happy with the choices they have, shouldn’t they just focus on changing the prices of the items that are most popular for now, and use any extra funding that we can milk out of that to expand the menu to be more accessible after that?”
Aurora, the VP, didn’t seem to agree with his order of operations…but she’d put a lot more thought into her presentation than he had, and she seemed genuinely concerned with the health and wellbeing of the other students.
Deth wasn’t cold or rude, but if he’d been completely honest with his closing statement, he would have reminded them that he brought a bag lunch to school most days and couldn’t relate to the strife of the average hot lunch student, nor did he care to.
“I’d love to debate you on all the reasons why that’s the wrong way to go about improving accessibility, but we’re all out of time for the session,” Aurora argued. “I do appreciate you giving us something to build on for the start of next week’s session, though.”
There wasn’t a proper friction between the two of them, and when the session was officially adjourned, whatever possessed Aurora to such a venomous spirit immediately passed on. The bright, blonde wolf had a personality as warm as the sandy tone of her fur, and after the fact, she was even cozying up to Deth on their way out of the classroom.
“I dunno where you pull those last minute points out of your ass,” she admitted, as she accompanied him toward the front entrance of the school, “But you always seem to have something to derail me when I think I’ve got all the sides of an issue figured out.”
“Would it be so bad if I admitted that it was dumb luck about 90% of the time?”
“…You know, you could have just lied through your teeth, and I would have given you a lot more credit than that,” Aurora admitted. “I do appreciate the honesty, though.”
“I’m not the type to lie if I can avoid it,” Deth countered. “So…I guess I might as well fess up that I’m just kinda there so I can put it on my college apps.”
“Like the rest of us, dude. I mean, sure; I’m passionate about some of the things we talk about, but don’t you think I’d rather have that hour back each week to do something other than fight with my classmates about hypothetical things that we’ll never get to address, anyway?”
Deth snickered. “You know, I always end up pigeonholing you as a bit of a hothead, but you’ve got a lot more depth to you than that. It’s refreshing.”
She tried to hide the reaction of her ears folding back, but Aurora wore her emotions on her sleeve more than most, whether she was putting on an act or living out her real personality.
“That’s…t-that’s really sweet of you, Deth,” she replied. The nerves in her voice kept her from asking what he was up to that weekend, and something about his state of mind kept him from asking the question back to her.
He could tell that there was some kind of interest there, at least, on her part, and he didn’t mind that, but the disconnect that kept him from reciprocating was deeper than he realized.
At that moment, he simply thought he wasn’t all that interested in her, but she was such a nice girl that he couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t at least want to try a date with her.
“Thanks.”
His response was drier than it should have been, but he was forcing a smile for her at that point; both of them could tell that something was off, as if the chemistry might have been there in another life.
That wasn’t enough to completely dissuade her, however.
“So, I…I heard that there might be this party going on at Red’s place this weekend, and I know you guys are good friends, and…n-no, that’s not what I mean.”
“I didn’t-
“I just don’t want you to think I’m asking you to get me in,” she hurriedly corrected herself. “I was…k-kinda wondering if I could go with you.”
The lion blinked. “Even though we’ve got extremely differing views on the plight of our fellow students hot lunch options?”
“…You are such a dork,” she sighed, chuckling her way through the exasperated breath. “Yes, Deth. I’m pretty sure I can overlook that fact.”
“Can I…can I maybe make you a counteroffer?”
She was doing a great job of keeping her emotions in check, but Aurora could feel a rejection coming from him, even if he was struggling to put it into the right words.
“I’m listening.”
“How about you show up with me and I just vouch for you being cool? I’m flattered that you want go with me, but I…I’m not all that c-
“You don’t have to sugarcoat it for me if you aren’t interested, Deth.”
“What if I don’t know if I am?”
This time, Aurora was the one blinking. “That…that’s a very fair and honest question, actually. Not exactly what I expected from you, but I appreciate you being forthright with me.”
“I’m sorry if that isn’t really fair to you,” Deth immediately scrambled back over his answer. “Don’t get me wrong; you’re cute,” he paused, realizing that he didn’t know why she was cute, as much as he simply accepted that property about her, “And you seem like you could be kinda cool…you know, outside of a fake senate setting.”
“You’re cute too, Deth,” she assured him. “Maybe a little goofy in the head from time to time, but…I really like a guy that’s honest with me. If you need some time to think about it, I understand: just don’t keep me waiting forever, okay? And if you need me to stay home from the party, that’s okay too.”
Deth wasn’t a fool: there was plenty enough sting in her tone for him to know that it wasn’t okay whatsoever, but the fact that he was even entertaining the possibility was more than Aurora had hoped for.
He didn’t want to leave her hanging on such a point, but he didn’t want to promise to be good company when he was still figuring out what kind of company he even was, much less the kind he was interested in…if there even was such a person.
“Maybe…maybe just this once?” he suggested. “But I promise I’ll think it over.”
Aurora’s smile was distant and thin, but all told, things went over better than she would have expected.
She kept her subtle frustration hidden deep as she nodded her agreement. “I’d rather spend the time alone with you if I could, anyway,” she agreed. “You have fun this weekend, okay?”
Deth nodded and offered her a brief wave, noticing the increased pace of her walk. He didn’t have a reason to stop in the lobby, as he had, but he was looking for anything to help him pretend that he meant to do that.
For the first time in a long time, he felt actively awkward, quietly whishing that he had an out from the situation.
**
“What happened to the party?”
Generally speaking, Deth wasn’t a demanding person, but he was visibly frustrated, crammed into the back of a borrowed van and sharing legroom with a bunch of other people.
He was the only one flying solo that night, and immediately, he wished he’d invited Aurora, if only to even out the numbers.
“My parents cancelled their trip. This was the best we could do on short notice,” Red told him. “I know it’s not as chill, but I think you can have a fine time at the local carnival, dude. We’re all in the same boat, here.”
“…Not exactly.”
As happy as Deth was to be out and about with Red, Nimbus and Flair, he was the only one that didn’t think to bring a guest. It was too late for him to call Aurora and let her know that he’d changed his mind, and even then, he didn’t have her phone number.
Even if he did, he didn’t want to call her just to make her fill in a gap for him; she’d opened her heart to him, even in a subtle way, and he didn’t want to cheapen that gesture by looking to have her abide his social anxiety.
“It’s gonna be fine, dude,” Nimbus assured him. The small group of friends were glad to have grown up together, but they were dealing with some of the same, awkward situations that any other teenager would: social circles opened and closed, expanded and contracted, and pieces floated around, sometimes bringing new ones in with them and on worse occasions, taking others away forever.
The bond they all shared was standing that test of time, but as they all piled out of the overstuffed minivan and stood in the parking lot of the festival, Deth could see his position as he stared at the ground: one pair of footpaws twitching in the dirt, surrounded by three other pairs.
“So…what should we do first?”
Deth immediately regretted opening his mouth, knowing he was going to get six sets of answers. He wasn’t going to have much input no matter what answers came out, but more than that, he didn’t want the attention turned back to him.
He was relieved by Naia’s mouth opening for the first time that he could ever recall.
“I need this hunk to win me a teddy bear…so I think we’d better head to the mallets first,” she recommended.
She was going to take the lead that night, no matter what the rest of the group was doing: whether they decided to play along with her ideas or break off into pieces, she was the one directing traffic. For his part, Deth was fine going along with that, but he was already slotted in as seventh wheel in such a large group…and following any splinters felt like it would put him right in the way of others good times.
“That sounds good to me,” he whispered, hoping a larger group would head that direction.
One by one, they all agreed to start there, but he knew that a split was coming sooner or later. He and Red were chatting each other up, frustrating Red’s girlfriend to no end and getting in the way of what she thought was a better time, but Deth was grateful for the chance to chat with him one-on-one, even when it was just for a minute or two.
“You think he’s got a chance?”
Deth, Red and Nimbus were standing at the back of the attraction, watching Flair struggle to keep the mallet up and over his head.
“I’m pretty sure he’s gonna pop his arms out of his sockets if he doesn’t hurry up and just swing the damn thing.”
Naia rolled her eyes. “You guys are such supportive friends…honestly.”
“We try our best,” Deth joked. “This kinda stuff builds character, doesn’t it?”
Nimbus nodded his agreement. “That’s right! He’ll be a lot better off for this when he’s older.”
“I hate you guys so much right now.”
“That’s the spirit, Flair! You can do this!”
Huffing and puffing, Flair was doing all he could to pump out his chest and flex his arms at the point of the swing. His overly long hold was exhausting, and as he posed for Naia to take a picture, he almost dropped it over his back.
At the last second, he tightened his grip and swung down with everything he had…but the satisfying DING of the bell at the top never came.
There was only the rusty grind of the little weight sliding up and down the pole, leaving Flair with exhausted arms, and Naia with nothing to hold in her own.
“…Okay, maybe you can’t do this,” Red murmured, “But that was still a good try, right?”
“With a cheering section like that, how could I possibly fail?” Flair dropped the mallet and groaned, foregoing his second swing. “Someone else can take this one for me…”
Red was quick to grab the base of the hammer. He was a little thicker than his friends; no one had a chance to tease him about anything before Red lifted the mallet overhead and slammed the pad.
There was still something satisfying about the DING, even when it came from someone else, but Flair knew better than to ask for the small stuffed animal that was handed over to him.
“Sorry, dude…pretty sure I’ve gotta give this one to my date,” Red teased. “Not that it’s much of one anyway.”
A soured pair of eyes narrowed on Red and the rest of the bunch: the man running the game had an undeserved sense of pride in his carnival booth, especially against the pathetic excuses for prizes that he was handing out. “You don’t like dem der prizes? Get yer arse on, then! Git!”
Just for being close enough to take the prize from him, Red was getting the idea that the man didn’t know how to use a toothbrush…certainly not on a daily basis.
“Great job bringing us to the scuzziest game on the fairgrounds, Deth,” Red’s date muttered. “Think we can go somewhere that the toys don’t have tetanus warning labels on them?”
All told, the local fairgrounds were a huge attraction, and there were plenty of other rides and games for them to peruse, but almost all of them were ridiculously expensive, especially for high school kids with middling jobs.
More than that, they were games that were aimed at couples…and Deth could already see Red and Nimbus slipping off with their respective dates, leaving him with Flair and Naia; he knew that wasn’t going to last.
“Hey, uhm…y-you two go ahead and do what you’re gonna do. I’m gonna go find a restroom,” he used the oldest excuse in the book, wearing a nervous smile the entire time. He kept trying to wrangle it in, but before the last couple could answer him, he’d already turned and headed in the opposite direction, having no desire to hang around as a third wheel any more than a seventh.
Flair reached out to stop him, but Naia was already grabbing his wrist and giving it a small tug. “Let him go, baby. I’m sure he’s fine,” she whispered.
She was being selfish with Flair’s time, but he was young and inexperienced. He still didn’t quite feel comfortable in that moment, but he couldn’t decide if it was a discomfort with Naia as a person, or his attempt to bury his concerns about Deth.
Either way, his arm was pulled back, and his body was tugged off by Naia, who felt that she was in the right; she just wanted to keep his spirits up that night, and she didn’t think she could do that while he was worrying about his friend.
That same friend was wandering through the fairgrounds only moments later, forgetting about his bathroom-based lie as soon as he thought he was out of the immediate picture.
“Dude?”
Red and Nimbus had reconvened somewhere in the other games, having burned through their cash about as fast as they could, playing unwinnable carnival games.
“O-oh, Red! I honestly wasn’t sure I’d see you guys the rest of the night,” Deth admitted. His forced smile was back right on cue, but he felt the warmth of the group coming around him once more, save for Flair and Naia. “How’s it going?”
“We’re your ride, Deth. We weren’t just gonna leave you here…”
“Oh yeah. Right.”
Despite the fun they’d been having, Nimbus and Red were frowning at their friend. “You know, we came here to have fun as a group, remember?” Nimbus asked. “And if you aren’t having fun, that means the rest of the group isn’t!”
While their dates weren’t quite as quick to jump on board with support, they weren’t going to be rude in front of the gentlemen that invited them out.
“You guys are the best; seriously, you are,” Deth claimed. “But I don’t want to bring down the mood…you can all head to the rides without me if you want.”
“We don’t want to do that,” Red suggested. “Not that we’ve really got much cash left anyway…”
“Burned a hole in your pocket winning those five dollar stuffed animals?”
“These things are worth at least six bucks, dude.”
Some uneasy laughter was still putting Deth in a better mood than he’d been since he arrived, but it wasn’t fixing the core problem.
“Clever, but…seriously, if you guys have something else you want to do, don’t worry about it. I can just walk home from here.”
“We’re not-
“Really, it’s fine,” Deth interrupted. “I’m…I’m getting in the way here. I’m getting really tired of being alone all the time, but I’d rather not be alone and in the way, okay?”
Nimbus wasn’t going to abandon his date, but he was quick to throw an arm of support around his friend and give him a nudge. “You haven’t been in the way all night, and you aren’t gonna start now,” he claimed. “Why don’t we all just head back to Red’s anyway and chill in the basement? Not like we’re not used to them yelling at us to keep it down, anyway.”
Group dates were almost always a chaotic adventure, but Deth was elated at the idea of this one ending somewhere comfortable and familiar.
“…You guys sure you’re okay with that?”
“Totally,” Red confirmed. “You start heading back to the car, and we’ll see if we can track down Naia and Flair.”
“Just make sure you bring them back with all of their clothes on…I’ve got a feeling they might have lost some on the way to…well, wherever they went.”
“Now there’s a little bit of that trademark, dry-as-sand humor,” Red poked a little fun. “We’ll see you back at the van, dude.”
They’d done a wonderful job of showing support while giving Deth his space, but immediately, his mind was racing with concerns about what the group would be saying about him once they were out of earshot. Anxiety was impossible to combat when it was the entirety of his internal dialogue, and the rest of the night, he was sure he’d be fighting it…
…A friendly smile, however, was able to change all of that.
“Kinda weird that you’d skip out on a party to end up alone at a place like this,” a familiar voice tickled his ear, drawing his attention in and stopping him dead in his tracks.
He realized who was speaking to him, but he didn’t realize that his friends could still see what was happening as someone took his paw.
“Aurora?”
“You know, if you didn’t want to hang out with me-
“I promise this isn’t what it looks like,” Deth rushed out an explanation. “Red’s parents were home after all, so we cancelled the party idea and apparently, this was the fallback…and I never even got your number, so I couldn’t let you know, and this…t-this night has been a total disaster, and now I’m making it wor-
Deth didn’t realize how forward Aurora could really be until she pressed a single digit to his lips. “Shhh…it’s okay, hon. Trust me, I didn’t expect daddy to drop me off at the fairgrounds tonight, either, but…you’ve got really honest eyes, Deth. I’d know if you were making up a lie, and I’m sorry if you’re having such a miserable time.”
She was so understanding that Deth couldn’t help feeling comforted, even if he still wasn’t sure how he felt about her. She’d given him a couple of days to think it over, but somehow, she knew that wouldn’t be enough.
“As for my number…well, that’s on me,” she whispered. “I kinda rushed off before I could give it to you, so…here.”
Her grip on his paw became even more obvious as she lifted it between them and pulled a pen from her purse, scribbling the digits into his fur, complete with a small heart at the end of the last number.
“Are you sure you want to give this to me? I know we kinda know each other, but I-
“I don’t just give my number to anyone, Deth. I only give it to guys that I’m dating…unless you want me to rub that out really quick?”
She was dolled up for the evening at the fairgrounds, but she was alone: all wrapped up in a tank top that showed a slim line of her midriff and a skirt that stopped just above her knee, she’d become a present before his very eyes, complete with a small ribbon around her neck.
Even if the only gift she ever gave him was that of a single night of comfort, he couldn’t imagine how anyone could say no to someone so kindly and beautiful…but the words were like lead at the end of his paralyzed tongue.
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