I Don't Like Mondays
Jared, are you okay? You look a little distant today," asked Sabrina.
"I'm fine, mom. Honest..." answered Jared unconvincingly.
The pink, young weasel stood on the welcome mat of his Denver house while he mother sorted his backpack out. She shoved a packed lunch in and gave him a quick pat on the back.
"Well, if you're sure," she leaned in and pecked him on the cheek. "Have a good one now!" she insisted through a wide, motherly smile as Jared exited onto the front lawn. Jared breathed heavily and didn't look back, walking down the path. He looked very focused and disturbed with his eyes darting back and forth. When he reached the bus stop, a smile crept unwantingly up his face at the sight of an otter, sleek and slender with her usual hippie getup waiting.
"Hey Jared!" she said, and lifted her hand up off her lap to lazily welcome him.
"Mornin' Mox," was the sullen reply.
"You alright?"
"Yep."
Moxy shrugged a little unnerved. This was most unbecoming of him. Jared was the most bouncy, energetic boy at high school, although most people preferred to call him crazy and a freak. His vivacious pink fur also made him an easy target for bullies. The pink weasel slouched against the bus stop...
"Is it those bullies again?" inquired Moxy, tilting her head forward so she could get a look at his face. "Honestly, Mox, I'm fine. Stop worrying," he lied. Moxy sighed and looked up at the roof of the shelter, bored... "If you say so."
Eventually, the bus pulled up, late as usual, and the sneering faces of the shitheads that went to school with him peered out. Jared knew his fur didn't help him much, but he was glad, because it gave him the freedom to go the whole nine yards and dress however he wanted. Today, he was wearing a 'Fuck the record industry' t-shirt and his hair was green, sporting a bridge piercing, large septum gauge and snakebites in his lips. Some jock bear built like a brick wall stuck his leg out and caught Jared's shins. He tumbled to floor with a loud "ACK!" getting a half eaten lollypop stuck on his cheek. The whole bus laughed as he got up, and tried to trip him up as he walked past again. Moxy slapped the jock that did it, giving him a very red face and sat at the back with Jared.
"Ignore them, lovie," she said and rested her cheek on Jared's shoulder. Jared liked the closeness of his friend, and smiled a little. The two weren't in love, per say, but shared a romantic friendship. They had always been close like this, and Jared needed a few hugs to get him through the day.
He just wished it would last a little longer... He couldn't take it anymore.
Jared reached the schoolyard and waved goodbye to Moxy as she went to her classes and he went his own way. The pink weasel preferred to cut through the cafeteria to get to registration; the usual group of bullies that waited for him didn't congregate there this early in the morning. Only Jared wasn't headed for registration this morning...
He made a detour for the reception, where the principal's office was located. The dumpy lioness receptionist smiled and waved good morning at him. She knew Jared well from all the times he had called home playing sick to avoid the school he hated so damn much... Jared approached the desk.
"Mrs Appleby, is the principal in?"
"Sure, he's free now. I'll buzz you in,"
"Thanks,"
He turned away, and there a loud buzz came from the principal's office. The receptionist nodded towards the door, and Jared sullenly entered. Sat behind the desk of the small office was a blue Norwegian rat, wearing a black suit and frowned at Jared.
"Something I can help you with, Mr. Lusk?"
"Yeah, you can fucking die!" he shouted.
Jared reached into his pocket and drew out a 9mm handgun, pointing it at the principal's head.
"J- Jared. Don't..." said Principal Shepard. His eyes were like plates, cross-eyed staring down the barrel of the gun. Jared breathed heavily and started to well up at the eyes. "I didn't want it to come to this! But you didn't do anything. Torment, day in, day out. I've had enough! Do I really have to kill you get my point across?" he shouted, twitching his ears with nervousness. He was past the point of return now... There was no way out from here.
"Jared, put the gun down. T- then we can talk this through," begged Shepard.
"You're gonna cart me off to jail now, anyway!" he said and started to sweat. His palms were clammy and cold.
"I can't talk to you unless-" but he was cut short. "Fuck you, you dictating, blind-eyed cunt! I've come in here more times than I can remember complaining about some dick who thought it would be funny to beat me in the communal showers while everyone stands by and laughs, and you take the moral high ground? I should fucking kill you now!" shouted Jared, overcome by rage. He was prone to doing things he regretted while high on adrenaline, and Shepard realised this.
"Jared..." started the rat, but was interrupted again. There was a bang at the door and a startled cry. It was Moxy...
"Jared, let me in, please! Don't do this..."
Jared paused, keeping his sights trained on the monument of all his hatred, who sat pompously behind the wooden desk. "Alright, come in..." he said.
Moxy cautiously entered, but looked just as frightened as Jared himself was.
"Jared! Please... Don't do this. They'll put you away, and I don't want to lose you... Please!" she begged. The principal turned his head to the weasel and lowered his glasses. "Mr. Lusk, if you give me the gun, I won't call the police, but I will expel you. This place is not good for your mental health. It's your choice; prison or homeschooling."
Jared looked towards Moxy, the only reason he went on living. He felt so ashamed by what he had done; ashamed of making her cry... He would give anything for it to stop. "Jared please..." she pleaded, tugging at his sleeve.
"Al- alright," he said, after a long time of silence and slid the gun to the principal. "I- I wanna drop out too..." said Moxy, sniffling. Moxy needed Jared as much as he needed her.
"Now, both of you leave my school, and we won't speak of this to anyone," said the principal, and gestured towards the door.
It was a long time before either of them recovered from that traumatic happening. Sabrina and Ray were very disappointed in both the school and Jared, but most of all surprised, and even more, grateful that they still had a son. It was during their homeschooling that Jared developed an affinity for music, and eventually got a scholarship at Manchester University in England...
From that day forward, Jared felt a bout of relief every time he awoke in the mornings, grateful to Shepard for waking in his own bed, and not a prison cell. He had been granted his redemption.