Teenagers (Part 5)
Pleeeeaaase comment and stuffs :)
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As Andy started describing how he and the cheetah kissed behind the school for the whole twenty minute early break this morning all Sammy could think about is how he's missing that. He missed the fact that he doesn't have anyone to hold paws with or to call his.
But then he realised how many times he's had that thought before and feeding the thought in his head lead nowhere but to tears, and that's the last thing he want in the middle of the schools canteen.
"So what do you think I should do?" Andy asked.
"Wha- Oh eh, about what?" Sammy seemed pretty zoned out for a while there.
"Should I ask her to be my girlfriend yet?"
""Oh...eh...don't you think it's a bit early to do that? Might seem a little too desperate or something?" Sammy said this knowing it made sense, but the real reason behind was because he wanted to delay any further relationships between the two. Not because he didn't want Andy to be happy, or he hated Liz or he wanted to date Andy or anything. But it was more because he felt that if the two got together then what did that mean for himself? Less time with Andy.
And less time with Andy equals more time with himself which equals lonely fox. Because who else is going to hang out with him? Sure there are people in school he talks to every now and then, but none are close enough to invite over to his house or out to a movie. And it would probably have to be a girl too, not that he has a problem with that. Just if he asked a guy to a movie or to his house then the chances are he would say no 'cause well, who wants to be seen 'on a date' with a gay fox?
Andy agreed to not asking the cheetah out just yet, said he's wait a week or two. And when the bell rang summoning the student back to their boring unfulfilling classes Sammy felt a sharp bang of guilt in his stomach. He wanted to run after Andy and tell him to ignore what he said but it was too late now.
Thing were pretty calm over the next few weeks. Sure enough Andy and Liz got together but it was okay, Sammy learned to deal with it.
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This is the part of the story where we introduce a new character, a German shepherd named Michael. Michael attends the same school as our previous characters Sammy and Andy, Avondale Community School.
Michael was a small German shepherd. Or even for any dog he was small. He stood only about 5 foot off the ground. He had a normal colour pattern but the one thing that made Michael stand out from the crowd was his scars and cuts.
He had one definite scar on his left cheek, stretching from about half an inch under his eye downwards diagonally for about another three inches. Whenever anyone asked him where the scar came from his excuse would always be he fell off his bike when he was 14, which was the time he got the scar. He was 16 now and the facial marking isn't the only scar he has. He has one large scar on his right bicep about 4 inches long. A few other small ones were scattered over his body.
Michael didn't live in the same upscale part of Avondale as Sammy or Andy. He lived further downtown. The part of town you keep your head down in if you're walking through. The streets and pathways were poorly lit with cracks appearing all over.
Often you would see a burnt out car by the side of the road and you nearly always see a group of furs down laneways, more than likely doing drugs. Only two stores have ever been able to keep business going, one was a discount grocery store that had very basic and not very nice tasting food. The other was a liquor store.
Michael lived with his father. They lived in an old apartment block behind the liquor store. They lived on the fourth floor which thankfully was far enough away from the street not to get broken into regularly. The apartments on the first floor and some on the second are broken into very regularly. Not that the burglars would get much if they broke into Michaels home.
A stained, ripped couch along with a coffee table facing a small ancient TV in the living room when you enter the apartment. To the right of which (in the same room) a small fridge with a microwave oven on top of it sat in the corner. Beer cans and empty vodka bottles lay scattered all around the couch. This is where his dad sleeps.
Michael (thankfully) slept in a separate room towards the back of the apartment. But all that was really in the room was a mattress on the ground and some cardboard boxes containing his clothes, not that he had much of those clothes either.
Michaels dad didn't work, he just claimed unemployment benefit which consisted of one hundred and forty euro a week. A hundred of which was spent on rent and electricity, the other forty for liquor and food. So you can imagine how thin looking Michael must be...
Michael awoke Monday morning to a bang on his door and a rough "Get up" from the other side of it. He yawned, stretched and fumbled himself out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. Before getting in the shower he stopped and looked at himself in the cracked mirror, he ran a finger along the scar on his cheek, remembering how he really got it, against that very mirror.
After his shower he quickly dried and put his clothes on over his still damp fur, brushed his teeth and was straight out the door. He never gets breakfast, mostly because if he got breakfast that meant less food left for dinner.
The German shepherd has to get up extra early every morning because he has about a half hour walk to get to the bus stop where he met his one and only friend Shane. Shane was an otter about the same height as Michael, but a much healthier figure, he was a very upbeat and cheerful character.
The otter was from a different part of town, just this was his closest bus stop, and he usually gets dropped to it by his mother. Shane lives in a pretty larger two story house with a large garden, which was pretty average for Avondale. Michael often spends the night in the otters house and has loads of fun. His dad doesn't like that though.
"Hey!" The otter waved to Michael as he came near.
"Morning Shane." He smiled back.
"I gotch'a something, hehe". The otter began rummaging through his bag.
"Oh yeah? What is it?" Michael asked, knowing exactly what it was going to be.
"This!" The otter pulled out a lunch bag with 'Michael wrote across the front. "I knew you'd forget!"
"Oh...hehe yeah, thanks man." The truth is Michael didn't forget to bring lunch...