Forgotten Pawprints Chapter Two: Classroom Confusion
Hello! And welcome to the 2nd installment of Forgotten Pawprints. I think I have improved on my writing a little and the story is finally getting underway. I'm so excited! Please let me know what you think of it by leaving feedback.. Hehe. I hope you enjoy the 2nd chapter as much as the 1st!
**********
"Must get there, must get there, must get there!" Lin was running down the hall, panting, with this coaxing through her mind. She just had to get there before everyone else, before the bell rang, before Kiyao. Much to her great surprise, however, the bell rang to signify the beginning of 5th period, and Lin cursed under her breath.
"Well, I guess everyone is here," cawed Mr. Crow, "Welcome everyone t-" His voice cut off when he heard the door open, and he turned to see Lin shyly stepping within the classroom. "I'm glad you decided to join us," he remarked, placing his wings on his hips.
"I'm sorry I'm late, sir," said Lin, feeling extremely embarrassed, and she started fiddling with her messenger bag strap. "I tried to b-"
"I don't want to hear any of your excuses," the teacher snapped as he walked to his desk, "Now take off that ridiculous coat and find a seat."
The panda discovered that there was a coat rack to her right and proceed to take off her trench coat. The clothes that fully remained invisible to the eye had now come into view: a plain, button-up, black work shirt and a pleated knee high skirt that only came down to the top of her boots. Turning around, she finally set her eyes upon Xen who was sitting at the very front of the class, closest to the door, and she mouthed to Lin, "Why are you late?" Lin had begun to whisper the answer, but Mr. Crow interrupted her, "Have a seat, Lin!" With a timid gaze and nod to her teacher, Lin looked around the room in hopes to find an unoccupied seat, but she, instead, noticed the panther she had met during lunch who was busy speaking with a female raccoon. Behind her was indeed a free seat for Lin; and as the panda walked towards it, she and Kiyao locked gazes for a brief second, which seemed like forever to Lin, and Lin finally set her form in the seat behind her.
***
While Mr. Crow was rambling on about different types of cameras and light-depth, Lin lowered her head to the desk, letting out a soft groan. "Are you alright?" asked a voice. Lin opened her eyes and realized she was sitting next to someone. She raised her head from the desk and looked upon a female Chihuahua. The dog smiled sweetly upon Lin, and the panda couldn't help but to return it. Stuck in such a moment, Lin observed the cute dog, taking note of her top that was much like her's (only white) and a red flower that seemed to glow against her tanned fur.
"Oh yes, I'm fine," Lin finally answered.
"That's good. You made a real spectacle of yourself, coming in late like that," the dog pointed out.
Lin placed a paw behind her head nervously, "Well, I-I didn't mean to be." She felt herself beginning to blush; and hearing her classmate giggle, she figured she must've noticed.
"It's alright. It is the first day after all," reflected the Chihuahua, "By the way, my name is Hitomi."
Lin stared into Hitomi's brown eyes, and replied, "Lin."
***
Lin carried on about her work (if you could call doodling small sketches of her and Kiyao together work), although, once in awhile, she would raise her eyes to stare at the back of Kiyao. "I wish I knew what she thought of me," she sighed to herself, "It's obvious she hates me now, now that I wasn't here in time to save her a seat. I guess I should apologize." Nearly absentmindedly, she reached forward and tapped Kiyao in the middle of her back. The panther looked over her shoulder with a stern expression at first, but then her eyes softened, seeing it was Lin that was trying to get her attention, and whispered, "Hello Lin." A pause rose between them as Lin was attempting to figure out what she was going to say.
"Hey, umm..I'm really sorry about not getting here on time. I-"
Kiyao cut her off by finishing Lin's sentence, "I'm sorry too."
"R-really? Why?" questioned Lin, as she slightly tilted her head.
"Because," answered Kiyao, now looking down at the floor instead of into Lin's eyes, "I wanted to-"
With a caw from Mr. Crow, Kiyao jumped and spun around and Lin hid her head under her paws. "Kiyao! Lin! Stay after class! There'll be no talking in my class while I'm around. You two can talk all you want to after class while you wash the desks and scrape off the gum from underneath." It seemed that Lin and Kiyao groaned in unison while the rest of the class snickered, and, with a sigh, Lin buried her head in her arms while her only comfort was a brief back stroking from Hitomi. "It'll be okay," she whispered in Lin's ear.
"No, it won't be."
"Sure it will, just be sure to get here first so you can get the desk washing job."
"Hitomi," began Lin as she emerged from her arms, "If I'm not on time for his class, what makes you think I'll be on time for his detention."
***
"Wow, late for class and detention on the first day," commented Kit as he walked with Lin to her locker at the end of the day.
"Yeah well, both were my fault I guess," sighed Lin as she began to rotate the combination lock.
"Why were you late anyway?" asked the fox, folding his arms and propping his form against the lockers while watching Lin zip up her bookbag again.
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?!" growled Lin as she slammed her locker shut.
Kit lowered his head a little and flattened his ears, "I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"It's not your fault," Lin let out with a sigh, "It's just that- well- It's no one else's business anyway!"
And with that, she shoved her paws into her coat pockets and strolled off to detention.
***
Upon entering the class, Lin discovered that Kiyao was already there, sitting on the edge of Mr. Crow's desk, and pushing a pencil against the brim of his pencil cup. The panda didn't say anything to the self-entertained panther; instead, she, without looking in Kiyao's direction, plopped her bookbag and messenger bag next to a desk and sat down, resting her muzzle in her paws. Once in awhile, the panther would stop amusing herself with the pencil and gaze towards Lin; and when Lin would look up, she would turn away until finally she slipped off the teacher's desk and walked towards the dry-erase board behind it.
"Looks like he forgot about us," she mused while picking up a marker.
Lin perked her ears and looked up, "Hm? ...Oh, right. Yeah. Looks like."
Kiyao had begun drawing what seemed to be some sort of flower; and while Lin was curiously watching her, the panther spoke, barely audible for Lin to hear, "Because I wanted to have you sit next to me."
Lin's eyes slightly widened, her ears went flat, and she felt herself beginning to blush as she responded, "Oh, really?"
Kiyao nodded while finishing her drawing, then picked up an eraser and placed it to the board.
"Don't erase it!" Lin blurted out as she jumped from her seat to take the eraser from Kiyao. The panther stared at her, and Lin desperately tried to explain herself while setting the eraser in the cradle, "Well, don't because I think it's very nice, um..." Her voice trailed off when seeing that Kiyao was still staring at her, and she turned to face the board. "Maybe if you used a little bit of color," suggested Lin as she reached in front of Kiyao to grab a blue marker, "it'll look even more pretty." As Lin had begun to color the petals, she felt Kiyao's arms sneak around her waist and her head rested against Lin's shoulder. Feeling her face becoming warm, Lin swallowed, ignoring the fact that Kiyao's arms were around her, and continued to color.
"Are you okay?" Kiyao finally asked.
"I'm alright," answered Lin as she placed the cap on the marker, but was still gazing at the board.
"That's good," sighed Kiyao as she nuzzled against Lin's back, "I thought this would make you feel uncomfortable."
But it did. Lin never felt so vulnerable in her life up until now, and she was praying to the gods that Kiyao couldn't feel her trembling underneath her paws. Then, one of Kiyao's paws left Lin's waist and slid up to her mid-drift, and began to lightly knead.
"Uh, K-Kiyao?"
"Yes, Lin?"
"Please, don't do... that."
"Why not?"
"Because we're in Mr. Crow's room."
Kiyao opened her eyes quickly, and pulled away from Lin; and Lin deflated. "I'm sorry. I-I don't know what came over me."
"It's okay," reassured Lin, turning around to face Kiyao, "I just don't think this is the time nor the place, and besides, I barely know you."
"But I want to get to know you, Lin," whispered Kiyao as she approached Lin, resting a paw on Lin's chest and wrapping an arm around her waist.
"I-I, umm..." Lin stammered as she watched the panther's muzzle coming closer to her own, and she shut her eyes to prepare herself.
BAM! Something slammed closed and Lin jerked away from Kiyao's hold, and frantically rushed over to her bags, placed them on, and opened the door, exiting without a second thought and leaving Kiyao alone in the classroom. Although, something stopped Lin in her tracks for her eyes had caught upon a red flower that had fallen and was now lying still on the tiled floor, and Lin knelt before it, placing it in her paw.
******
That's the end of chapter 2! Keep a look out for Chapter 3!