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Who here has had a visit from DARE in middle school? DARE is a program that basically teaches people to not to drugs or alcohol. And I took the messages that they taught personally. My mom smoked cigarettes, so my immediate reaction was "Oh my god! Please stop! I don't want anything bad happening to you!" I love my mother, she was pretty much the only breath of fresh air in my house other than my sister.

To this day, I still believe that drugs are completely wrong. And as you all should know, drugs wouldn't be mentioned unless it was part of the story.

This particular story is the tale of an important moment in any furry's life.

My first furry convention.

However, something horrible happened at that convention that I still can't get over. And for the first time in this series, the subject is more than one person. It's a whole family of people.

(Play)

Back around Christmas 2017, I joined a Telegram furry group so I could meet new people. I've been in the fandom for two years at this point and wanted to know some more people.

Then I met him.

An arctic fox with blue fur who lived in Chicago. So we talk a little bit, get to know each other and whatnot. And he introduces me to his family. His husband, a bear; his son, a fox; and his son's boyfriend, a hyena-raccoon hybrid. The arctic fox told me that he wants to meet me since he's going to AnthrOhio, which is about 30 minutes away by car.

So, I think about it for a few week and decide, Hey why not? It's not during the school year since college lets out in April. And this convention was in May. I tell him yes, and I register to go to the con. We agreed that I would help pay for the room, which was completely fair. I had the money to do that, so there were no arguments from me.

Months go by, I plan the trip to the con. When the day comes, I have all my things packed; clothes, toiletries, board games, extra cash, and so on. I told my parents that I was going to Cedar Point with some friends from college, so they were reluctant on me going but eventually agreed as long as I texted them to make sure I was okay.

I back out of my driveway and drive to Columbus, where AnthrOhio was being hosted. When I got there, I was the first one among the five so I was nervous. Some others from the group chat were there already so I hung out with them in the restaurant until the family arrived.

It was so nerve wracking when they finally showed up, because these were people I was going to spend the next four nights with.

They rolled up in their car, greeting me as they passed by.

The arctic fox, the other fox, and the yeen-coon.

(Pause)

Keeney. Titan. Cisco.

You're next.

(Play)

We greeted each other. The arctic fox tried to scratch my stomach as a greeting, but I shied away. I'm not one hundred percent comfortable with being touched around the torso area and I explained that to him beforehand.

We all went up to our hotel room, and it was awesome! Two large beds, a desk, a fridge, a TV, and an awesome view of the highway. I claimed the right bed with the arctic fox. The other two got in the other bed because they were dating. When I asked them where the bear was, the arctic fox explained that he started a new job back in Chicago and needed to be there. And I understood, I was gonna start a new job after this convention as a pizza delivery driver.

The first day was pretty eventless. They brought be down to the bar for some dinner and we started talking to some other furs that were roaming the con.

I mostly sat by myself and didn't really speak. I hardly ate too, I was so completely nervous around all this new surroundings and people! The arctic fox gave me a backrub and tried to comfort me while I was on the verge of a panic attack.

When we went back upstairs, the others started to get ready for bed. Then one of the friends I met at the restaurant came over to talk with us. Well, mostly with the others. I just sat on the bed and watched them conversate.

Slowly, the conversation turned sexual in nature and I knew I was about to witness some very Not Safe For Work things in about two minutes...

(Fast Forward)

This part of the story is not relevant to why I'm depressed so I'm skipping it. Plus, I'm trying to keep professional here.

(Play)

The next day, the four of us went to opening ceremonies and we wandered around the con. I remember we stopped by the Artist Alley, but we left because the arctic fox was claustrophobic. The Artist Alley was in a small room, probably no bigger than a classroom, and there were dozens of artists selling their stuff; drawings, 3-D art, etc.

After walking around, we decided to get some breakfast at a breakfast bar around the corner of the hotel. I had some French toast, because that stuff is delicious. And we just talked for a while. I offered to help pay for the meal, but they didn't want me spending my money on something small.

When we went back to the hotel room, I was completely bored. It was day two of the con and I was going to go back home in two days. I wanted to do something memorable to leave the con with. So I tell the arctic fox that I was going to head back downstairs and check out some of the things down there.

I head back down to the Artist Alley, and I get a badge commissioned, because I figured that would be the perfect thing to walk away with. I paid $20 to a very neat artist who agreed to do a picture of Toni. So I sent her a reference sheet and went back out into the con area.

Right down the hall was a board game room. And I remember from the morning announcements that there was going to be a competition regarding one of the games later that day and the winner got a free copy of the game, no questions asked. I figured there was no harm in checking it out. So I go in there, hang out for a couple of hours. I played jumbo jenga with another person, whose name I forgot (Sorry).

Around three o'clock, I signed up for the tournament to play for the free copy of a game. Luckily enough for me, it was a mathematical games that involved numbers and building a picture of a deck. And those who know me knew that I was like a god when it came to numbers and math. Numbers and formulas and equations run through my brain at the speed of light. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but you get the point.

The game took a little while to win, but when I ran out of cards, I had the most points and was deemed the winner. And I was allowed to take home a free copy of the game! All I could think about on the way back up was how excited I was about all this and how I wanted to show off a little. I was gonna bust in the room and say, "Hey! Guess who won that free game, bitches?" And we'd all laugh and probably play the game together.

(Pause)

Yeah... this is where this story goes downhill.

(Play)

When I open the door, no bullshit, there were seven or eight...

(Pause)

I still cannot mention details that happen here.

Let's just say I walked into a room party that Keeney was hosting without my knowledge. And for those or you curious, I did not participate in any... "activities" in there... at least while the shit was going down. I did have fun with this really fat ferret, who I'm still friends with today.

But none of you need to know that. So, I'm skipping to the part where the whole thing gets bad.

(Fast Forward; Play)

When my ferret friend left, I sat down in bed and relaxed for a while. It was around 6 o'clock and I've been walking around the con for a few hours. So, I deserved a break. I watched some YouTube videos on my phone (I love watching BlastphamousHD because he always makes me laugh) and settled into bed. Around 8, I probably fell asleep by the time my roommates came back into the room, but I had no idea what they were gonna do. I figured they were probably gonna have at it again and then go to bed.

I woke up and it was around 11 at night; pitch black outside and you could hear the crickets chirping. The first thing I noticed was how AWFUL it smelled in there. It smelled like a cow turd covered in grass lit on fire. I'm surprised that it didn't make me sneeze or trigger an asthma attack.

At first I thought that someone forgot to flush and it the smell would go away. Then I heard two people talking that I didn't recognize. I don't remember what they said exactly, but one word stuck out in the whole conversation. "Weed".

All at once, it clicked. My roommates were hosting a pot party! While I was asleep!

Who the fuck does that?

I was SUPER pissed off, because for one, they didn't tell me that they were going to do that and two, weed is illegal is in Ohio. I could've been in huge trouble for being in that room while they were smoking. I wondered how long this was going on for and I got mad.

Without saying a word, I grabbed my car keys and phone, slipped on my boots, and went outside to my car. The yeen-coon tried to talk to me on the way out. "Hey, how's it going?" Like everything was okay at that moment.

It wasn't.

They knew I didn't approve of drugs. And not only did they do just that, but they had the nerve to smoke it while I was asleep. Who knows how much secondhand smoke I inhaled and how this would have affected my job.

I didn't say anything to anyone on the way out. All I could think about was how I got stabbed in the back again by people I thought I could call my friends. I went out to my car and decided to sleep in there for the night, then head back home tomorrow.

I went on Telegram and started to tell people what had happened, most were supportive. When the young fox, yeen-coon's boyfriend, tried to ask me why I was sleeping in my car, I told him why. Not missing a beat. I told him it was rude and illegal what they did to me. He didn't say anything back.

The next morning, after sleeping in my cramped car, I went back upstairs to the hotel room around 8 in the morning, so the sun was up and I knew my roommates weren't 100% awake yet. I grabbed my luggage and started stuffing everything I could find that belonged to me in the bag. As I was doing this, the young fox came back into the room and tried to rub my back. "Good morning, Toni," he said as if everything was completely cool. I slapped his hand away and gave him the death glare. I was in no mood to talk to him. Or any of them. Ever.

When I finished gathering my stuff, I left my room key behind and left. I put my luggage back in my car and went back inside so I could charge my phone and talk to my ferret friend. He gave me a hug and told me everything would be fine.

But it wasn't. This was the first time in my life that I been ensnared in an illegal drug party and there was no I could ever be able to forgive them. And it sucked because I've been talking to those guys for seven months so it felt like I was part of the family. All of it taken away in one night.

When my badge was finished, I said goodbye to the only friends I had left and went back home.

My first furry convention completely ruined because of people I thought were friends.

(Stop)

That's that. I told my parents a half-truth; that a roommate was caught smoking weed and so I got mad and left.

What really made me upset was that I lost four friends in one night. I couldn't talk to them at all. Even when I ran into them at the Dealer's Den the next day, I didn't say anything to them. I bought a few books, got them autographed, went to talk to some buddies, grabbed my badge and left.

What really pushed me over the edge was when I confronted Keeney about the situation. Titan agreed that what they did was wrong. But when I tried to ask Keeney why he was smoking, he was deflecting my question, so I ask him again and he legit answers, "I don't know what you're talking about, you didn't ask any question."

Fucking coward.

He didn't have the balls to admit his mistake.

This story is depressing for me because not only did I lose friends but now my memory of AnthrOhio is tainted. I have no clue if I will go back next year, because I don't want to run into them again. Yes, I plan on going to MFF, which is in Chicago and more than likely, those three will be there; but it's a much larger con so I highly doubt we'll even see each other.

But it still doesn't make the pain any less severe; having a whole group of friends ripped away like that. I will never be able to talk to them again, because all I'm ever going to think about was how they could've gotten me in serious trouble. And they didn't even have any nerve to own up to their mistake.

(Next)