Love At It's Finest: Episode 1

Story by MaerLriole on SoFurry

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All Chaeacters within are © to O' Laoghaire Imagineering


A shrill clanking filled the halls. Great. New York City. New home. New school! And I was already late on my first day; arriving in the middle of the eighth week no less. No reason to rush to class seeing as how I'm eight weeks too late for class. I hitched up the strap of my new book bag and steered off in the direction on the closest bathroom.

I rushed through the door and into the handicapped stall. I find myself staring at a silver fox with fur the color of the blackest midnight and eyes the shade of molten gold. The only places my fur wasn't black were a small area of my mid-section and the tip of my tail which, for the moment, was twitching nervously behind me. I hate being the new kid; I hate having moved from Virginia to Florida, and then Kansas, until we finally arrived in New York City, my favorite city (besides Hollywood, California, of course). A small section of head-hair was so long it reached down past my eyes and I have to constantly brush it out of the way; which I did now.

My name is Maer Lriole (pronounced "mare" and "ree-oh-lee," yep my family has a huge collection of strange and unusual names). One thing that I think is obvious, but apparently not many people have caught on, is that I'm gay. Well, actually it's complicated. The way I see it is this: the definition of "straight" is to have a romantic attraction to one of another sex; the definition of "gay" is to have a romantic attraction to one of the same sex; therefore, as I have no romantic attraction at all, I am neither. Though, yes, I prefer other males. The reason I think it's obvious I'm gay is because I have quite a few feminine mannerisms. I talk a lot with my hands, my hips say a tad bit when I walk, I like to have longer claws than the average fox, and also a few others.

I took a deep breath, worked up my courage and left the bathroom to endure an hour and forty-five minutes of Math for College Readiness. I was all excited about my senior year in High School; that is, until we decided to move again. Being the new kid on top of the pressure of being a senior? Yea-no, that shot down my balloon faster than shooting down a duck in a Loony Toon's cartoon. So now I'm the new-kid-senior in a brand new school without any friends whatsoever; what's worse is the fact the I'm not a morning person and, for me, there shouldn't be such a thing as a 6 am. Fun. My school uses a Block Schedule so, of my eight classes, I only attended four each day; odd, then even. Today was an Odd Day, so I had Math, Photoshop, Music Theory I, and English IV.

I arrived at my math class ten minutes late. The cougar wearing a button down shirt and slim-fitting khakis stood up as I walked over and introduced herself as Mrs. Valifoure. "You can sit anywhere," she said; so I grabbed the first seat I laid eyes on. This seat happened to be next to a rabbit that wasn't very large in size, even including her ears she was still a good half-foot shorter than me. "Hi! My name's Gale. Just to warn you, I like to poke people." After a beat she really did poke me and then giggled afterward. I could just tell I was really going to enjoy this class. "Maer," I replied.

Today we reviewed exponents and Gale showed me her notes on the other lessons. Review on PEMDAS, addition and subtraction, multiplication and division; this was going to be incredibly easy. Mrs. Valifoure passed out a worksheet consisting of twelve problems and when I finished, I pulled out a book to read. The bell soon rang and I then went to Photoshop class with Mrs. Obique, an otter; followed by Music Theory with Mr. Tulle, a beaver. The next obstacle I had to overcome would be Lunch.

I chose a table in the far back and sat on an end seat. Within five seconds, however, I found myself attacked by discussion on all sides. A hare and a Siamese cat sat on my right and a grey wolf parked himself in front of me, while a bear slid in diagonally from where I was sitting. "Hey, a new kid! I'm Andrew," the grey wolf said. He continued and pointed in the bear's direction, "This is Vick and these two"--he indicated the hare and the cat--"are Kaitlyn and Kaitlyn. They go by Kate and Kat." I smiled and waved and said, "My name's Maer." It turns out Andrew was insufferably loud and rowdy. Vick commented very occasionally and both Kaitlyns argued with Andrew every now and then. I gave my input every now and then and found I was, actually, enjoying myself. As Lunch came to an end, I prepared for my last class of the day: English.

I arrived in English two minutes early, things started to look up. When I asked Mr. Frinse, a dingo, where I should sit, he directed me to the desk in the front of the classroom. After I sat down, I pulled out my book and read. The bell soon rang and I reluctantly stopped reading. When I looked up, I locked eyes with those of the most startling and deep blue surrounded by fur the color of the sun. A sudden jolt shot through me. Heat rose in my face and I looked away quickly, catching a fleeting impression of a well-built tiger. I concentrated, discussed with the rest of the class and did all my work; all the while looking anywhere but there.

My first day of school was released and I bolted out of the room and raced down the stairs and out of the school to come to a halt in the parent-pickup zone. That's right, I have no car of my own and I'm an 18-year-old senior. That would be because I do not want to drive; never have and never will (unless it's a real and true emergency). Moments later, an old red fox pulled up in a dark-blue van, my grandfather in my favorite car. My mom and I live with my grandparents and my mom doesn't get home from work until 5:30, so my grandfather is usually the one to pick me up.

Immediately after I walked through the door of my house, I went straight to my computer to do my math homework. Once that was finished I waited impatiently for four o' clock to pass so that I could call Reyna, my cousin and a grey wolf. Reyna is probably the only member of my family who fully understands me. We've confided in each other over everything and we still do now. Talking with Reyna would, hopefully, calm my frayed nerves.

I asked my grandfather if I could borrow his cell phone to call Reyna, as it was now 4:49. He gave me his phone and I dialed her number. Reyna and I talked until my mom came home and dinner was ready. I said good-bye and hung up, my stomach growling incredibly fiercely. While eating I watched Halloween movies with my mom (as Halloween was a mere two weeks away). After dinner, I stayed up until about 9:30 and then showered, brushed my teeth, and got into bed.

That night, I dreamed of a vast, deep blue sea that was touched by rays of golden light...


End too abrupt for you? YOU can help control where the story goes from here!

Send me a PM with the subject "Love at First Sight" if you want Maer and his new crush to fall in love

Have the subject say "Whoa Boy!" if you want things to go slower

Or send "No Way!" if you want them to not fall in love at all