Forgiven: Chapter 1
"I'm Sorry." That's the way everything ends. Two words that can either mean great remorse, or devastating disaster. But it didn't matter whether he was or not, he made that choice and now he is going to have to live with it. It was his mistake and I will never forgive him for what he did that night. Best the Heavens have mercy on his soul and clean him of his greatest sin.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Waking up to the sound of my alarm clock, I realized that this year was my third year of High School, meaning that I had officially been granted "Junior" status and was no longer a target of abuse. It was kind of funny when you took the time to think about it, the fact that just because you passed two years of Hell and being a target now made you a demi-God. As one could expect, the freshmen always got the worst of it, being called short, small, weak. The sophomores got their fair share as well, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the freshman year.
I managed to keep my head down throughout those two years and avoid whatever big event or social thing that went on, resulting in hardly ever being picked on or bullied. There was that and also the fact that I had a strong will that kept anything from really ever getting to me. I never bothered to seek mateship due to the fact that by the end of my sophomore year I knew I was gay, and the last thing I really wanted was to have to tell people to shove their anti-gay opinions back up their ass.
I had never really thought about finding a mate until this year, but I honestly had no idea how to get one, or who was even gay. Sure there were obvious gay furs around school, but I was looking for something different. I wanted an actual male, no someone who wished they were a female, or acted as such. I wanted a male who could wield a hammer without worrying about smashing a claw or accidentally throwing it. I wanted someone who talked and acted like a real male and not some prancing queen.
Of course the chances of that were slim, and it didn't help any that I wasn't actively looking. I merely hoped that someone would see through the disguise I put on and would pursue me. I was what I liked to refer to as a "Shadow". I didn't really bother looking for friends, and what few I had I could care less about. They were great people, but they were just to publicly outward for me. However they accepted me which I was grateful for regardless.
As I stared up at the ceiling I couldn't but wonder if this year was going to be better, or the same old shit just at a different time. Not wanting to bum myself out on the first day of school I decided it would be best to shove those thoughts into the back of my mind and wait until it became relevant to ponder on them.
I rolled of my bed already being nude and walked to the bathroom. I have never liked sleeping with clothes on because I would always end up getting to hot or they twist and wake me up causes me waste precious sleeping time readjusting them. Stopping in front of the mirror I examined myself. I was a small panther, but tone. I lifted weights on occasion always meaning to do it more, but even when I had time I didn't. I always got distracted by other slightly more meaningful things.
I gave a short sigh of disappointment at my physical deficiencies and turned on the shower. I didn't bother to think on the matter anymore as the white noise of waters spraying against tiles offered all the sounds I wanted to hear. I quickly washed my fur with some shampoo that resembled ocean breeze, and turned off the water. Remembering I didn't bring the towel with me from my room, I gave another sigh of disappointment and stepped out and quickly walked back into my room before the cold air of the house could make its way past my fur.
Quickly grabbing the towel I dried myself off the best one can having fur and brushed it straight. My standard articles of clothing were simple with very little variation, white T-shirt and blue jeans with a long sleeve black overshirt. I didn't really have the money or will to go out and get something more colorful or different, plus I never found anything I liked anyway.
Shoving my keys, wallet, and phone in the respective slots in my pants I walked out of the house I towards the school. Being the first day of school I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, everyone was always a bit nervous on the first day of school whether it was finding the classes you had, making sure you got the schedule you wanted, or seeing the new staff hired over the summer.
Locking the door and heading towards the sidewalk I heard the loud Rev of a sports car. I looked to the left and down the road further into the neighborhood I saw GT Mustang full of jocks from the football team. I silently shook my heard noting how silly they acted, by at the same time in the back of my head I wished I could have that kind of life. It was unfortunate however that I had a small bone structure and therefore not heavy or bulky enough to play sports.
Heading the other way I started making the old daily walk to school. After doing it well over 500 times one can begin to do it with their eyes closed, such was my case. I only had to open them every now and then just to make sure I was still walking in a straight line. It wasn't five minutes later when the Mustang full of jocks passed me, one being kind enough to whistle at me as they drove by. I didn't pay any attention however as they never really caused me any sort of problems.
The rest of the walk to school was as uneventful as always, sun shining in my eyes and the air blowing through my violet tinted black fur. It was probably the most relaxing part of my day when I thought about it. Nothing to do but think inside my head, no one talking around me, and other than crossing a few crosswalks relatively safe. Too bad though the school was only a measly mile away so it left me a total of 20 minutes of relaxation if I walked normally, maybe 25 if I decided to go slow.
As I headed up to the school "open campus" design where one could enter it from any direction because there were separate buildings with interconnecting sidewalks, I noticed a lot more jocks were here than usual for the first day of school. I looked at the time on my Droid to notice it said 6:54. School didn't start until 7:45 technically so I shrugged my shoulders and assumed the coaches belittled them to come in early for the seasons football preparation.
Heading for the front office to get my schedule for the year because I didn't feel like going to the open house, I couldn't help but feel like I was being watched from behind. I casually turned around to look and saw nothing but the rising sun starting to peak over the tree tops. "I've got to stop being so paranoid" I thought silently inside my head and continued towards the office.
Opening to more than worn out glass door I entered the office to discover a handful of freshman getting their schedules and asking where their first class was followed by them hurrying to get to it out of fear of the upperclassmen beating them up. One went so far as to turn around, see me, and backed back up towards the front desk. I rolled my eyes and made a silent yet audible sigh which the poor collie picked up and sent him running out the side door. That action brought every freshman to turn around and part a path for me out of fear.
A little annoyed I walked past all of them to the front desk where the all to familiar clerk, Ms. Arroya, handed me my schedule with a smile and said "Congratulations". I simply just nodded not sure what she was congratulating me on, and gently took the sheet of paper from her paw. For a aging otter in her mid 60's, she had excellent memory, or she just remembered everyone who was worth remembering.
I looked at the poorly designed schedule, which appeared to be made on Excel by a undereducated employee, and looked for my first class. After a bit of deciphering on where the schedule actually started and ended, I concluded that my first class was Anatomy I in the 2200 building. Conveniently enough the 2200 building was the same building as the office, but with all the classroom on the second story. I always thought of what a poor design it was the have the office on the first floor and the classrooms on the second, but at the time they were in desperate need of a new office and more classrooms so they had to combine the two in one building. It was a pretty compact design based around an upside-down "U" walkway inside and one could transverse one exit to the other in a little less then a minute. It was however a little bit taller than the standard two-story building specifications by about 6 feet or so, and made navigating the stares a bit of an annoyance, especially for those who had two or more classes in the building. A nice part however was that one did not have to enter the main office area to navigate said stares as both pairs were looking in their own little enclosure on the sides of the building.
I made my way up the stares to the top platform where the entrance to the building stood, and froze when I saw a large wolf wearing a letterman jacket staring off and the sunrise through the slightly black tinted windows. The building was just tall enough that it was slightly above the old oak trees that grew freely on campus, which made watching the sun rise very soothing and what some would consider "Awe Inspiring"
However I didn't have time to be "Awe Inspired" as the wolf turned to face me. I simply walked passed him as calmly as I could trying to enter the door before he had a chance to grab a hole of me. He managed however to grip a paw onto my shoulder and pull me back and turn me around to face him. Knowing I was most likely in danger I looked on the front right of his jacked to get his name and number. Neatly embroidered in gold threat it said "Marc" and under it in maroon read "62". I was hoping I could remember the information before it was pounded out of my short-term memory.
I wasn't about to show him I was scared though and lower myself into the fetal position and ask for mercy. I looked straight into his eyes and glared at him for all that was worth, full well knowing that my beating was going to be worse for showing defiance and asserting dominance. However after a good 10 seconds after the stare-off his facial expression never changed, and he never bared his teeth. After another 15 seconds he let me go, the entire time staring in my eyes while offering no hostility in his.
Leaving me confused he walked into the building without any sound at all, and let the door close behind him. Not only was it a very odd encounter, it left me feeling "probed" and tossed aside. I guess though that it was better than being pounding into a pulp before the first bell of the school year.
I was knocked of of my daze by the sound of other student entering the stairway and I glanced at my phone which now read 7:12. I sighed knowing I would have to be in the classroom by 7:30 and thought to myself if I could make a walk around the campus to see if there was anything new. However after what just happened I decided it would be best to just be early to class and look over my schedule at the other classes I had. I knew it wouldn't take me long to find any of them since I had been in every building on this campus minus the Portable area. I had always been fortunate to not have a class in a Portable seeing how I have overheard nothing except bad things about them. Everyone always complained about how musky, hot, or damp they were. They all had air-conditioning, but they were always over crowded effectively making it no better then a giant fan.
As I entered the building I glanced at the schedule which was still in my hand and looked for the exact room number, 22-212. I knew from the last three of the digits that it was going to be closer to the other entrance and made a note to come in that way instead, and since it ended in an even number that it was going to be on the right side. I made my way around the "U" casually due to the amount of time remaining I had left before I needed to be in the classroom and decided to do some sightseeing in other classrooms that had their doors already open.
The one thing I never really understood is why teachers took so much time in decorating their classrooms. No matter what the did, to me it was still ugly off-white painted cinder block walls with a beat up thick wooden door. I could only really guess it was more for them to feel comfortable and happy rather than the students. Also just maybe so it didn't feel like a jail cell.
I rounded the last corner of the "U" and found my classroom right after the turn. I opened the door noticing some claw marks on the wood next to the door handle that looked they were caused by a bear. I pulled the handle and pulled the door open and entered the classroom.
"Oh Hell" I whispered to myself as I saw the same wolf straight in front of me looking down at a piece of paper laying down on the center front-row table. I noticed as he searched the paper with his claw and stopped, his silver-white tail flicked once followed by him going to the very back-row to the right table.
"As long as I don't have to sit next to him" I again whispered to myself knowing that the paper was now a seating chart. I made sure not to glance in the wolf's direction after he sat down to face the front trying to pretend I didn't see him and made my way to the piece of paper. It didn't take me but 3 seconds to find my name as I started at the back-row just for curiosity, and found that I was indeed sitting next to him.
I sighed deeply and made my way ignorantly towards my seat trying to forget who I was going to be sitting by for the next quarter of the year, trying to forget I was going to be sitting by some dumb jock who was going to harass me and show how much better he is at everything. Still as I reached the tabled, I pulled back the chair and took my set as far to the left as possible to avoid him, even if it was just a few inches.
What happened next was a complete surprise as he reached under my chair and grabbed one the metal legs and pulled me next to him way to close for comfort. "Names Marc" he said just loud enough for me and him to hear.
"Meiko" I replied without making eye contact and staring straight ahead silently scanning for the teacher, which apparently was not present yet.
"How do you do Meiko?" He questioned in what could be considered a slightly cocky tone.
"Well enough to know you just want to use me for your own personal benefit" I replied back just loud enough he could hear the annoyance in my voice.
"Hmmm" was the next sound he made as he pushed my chair back into it's proper place. "Why are you scared of me? If I wanted to pound you into the ground and use you for personal gain I would have done it 5 minutes ago outside."
"Speaking of which why didn't you? No one was there." I replied back harshly becoming borderline irritated.
"Maybe because I saw something in you, something special" He quickly replied getting up from his seat to go get two textbooks carrying them carelessly. "Here I got one for you, but I don't suppose you care whether or not I got you the nicest one in the stack." he announced as he sat back down.
"Thanks" I replied actually somewhat happy since I always got up last to grab a book, and was always stuck with the shitiest choices. However I didn't have time to say more as the bell rang and the teacher talking as soon as he came into the room carrying a mug of coffee that was bigger then his large bear paw, he himself weighting well over 900 pounds if not more by the vibrations caused on the floor by his over sized Brown Bear frame.