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Chapter 3: Friends and Foes

I pushed the antique door open, and a little bell jingled signifying my arrival. The blue sparrow, whom I presumed was Midge's brother, looked up, a straight line and no sign of emotion on his face. He was a scrawny avian with dark saphire feathers and rust colored beak. He was slenderly built and portrayed no real muscles or fat. To compensate for his petite structure, he had a long feathered tail that was like a train of a wedding dress which draped onto the floor behind him. His clothes, however, were simple, just like his sister's; a white cotton button up with a black satin vest over it and tan trousers. His age was unidentifible because he dressed as if he were already a teacher, but appreared to be a high school student.

He folded his magazine and stuffed it under the counter. I watched him step out from behind the counter and walk up to me, "Are you looking for something in particular?" he asked. His voice was deep and monotone, showing no true interest in me. I met his gaze and saw his eye color resemblance to his sister, both a light fawn-gold color. Pausing, I smiled, "Actually," I started to say before I was rudely cut off by Midge's brother asking slowly, "Are you visiting here?" then quickly added, "Oh, um, sorry... I interupted you, didn't I?" he suddenly became somewhat bashful. I grinned, "Yeah, it's okay. Don't worry about it. And no, I just moved here today. I live in the apartment building down on Minnow Lane" He became preplexed, "Really? Nobody ever moves here. I'm planning on getting out of this town just as soon as my senior year is over" I politely nodded and then asked, "Okay my turn to ask a question, is Midge here by any chance?" As if on cue, I heard a thunderous crash and some things fall over. A groan could be heard from the back room and the blue sparrow sighed, "Yeah, she's here alright. Let me go help her out. Be right back" He turned and marched into the back room.

I pivoted on me heel and tip toed into the psycology section of books. I adore literature of all statures: fiction, science fiction, history, psycology, romance, comedy, mystery, you name it, I'll love it. And while it progressed my reading ability in school, I would often find myself reading stories right in the middle of a lecture, proving to fail yet another test. I became fascinated with the fiction section and had a whole stack tucked under my arm for safe keeping. I heard an "ow" and a grunt from the front of the store. Turning my hips to the direction of the noise, I saw Midge with an ice pack on her head and her brother holding a stack of books of his own.

"Oh hey there Kryn" she grumbled, wincing at the pain. I scurried to her, "What happened? That wasn't you, was it?" She chuckled, "Yeah, I was checking inventory and a big ole box full of dictionaries fell on my head" I couldn't supress my childish grin and giggled,

"Nice one, clutz" She grinned back, "Thanks. You didn't have any trouble finding the store, did you?"

I waved her concern away with a lie, "Pssh me? Get lost? Never! I made it here just fine".

Midge's brother furrowed his brow, "Then why was Casey with you? Looked like he was showing you the way"

I was furiously making a slicing motion across my neck to Midge's brother, when she turned to me, "Oh, so you met Casey? He's a nice guy, isn't he?"

I nodded and replied solemly, "Yeah, I just wish his brother didn't bite my head off. Not the best way to make a first impression, yeah?"

Midge sighed and shook her head, "Yeah Caleb, he has quite the temper. There's a school-wide bet that he's goin' to snap and pitch the biggest fit soon. Everyone has money placed on which month they think he'll explode"

I placed a hand over my mouth, "That's terrible!"

Midge looked suddenly guilty and I eyed her suspiciously, "You didn't participate, did you?"

She coughed, "Well..." I sighed and couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"Which month?" I asked.

"May"

"Well it's almost the end of April, you might just lose that bet"

She chuckled, "That's okay, I only bet ten bucks" Then she paused, "Oh and this is my brother, Angus. Angus, this is Kryn. Hey Kryn was grade are you in?"

I waved slightly at Angus who was now once again behind the desk, not looking up he waved back. I looked back at Midge, realizing I hadn't answered her yet, "Oh um, I'm a junior this year" Her smile got wider, "Sweet, so am I! Then you're going to the highschool right?" I nodded, "Yep" Midge looped and arm through mine and began to drag me away and out of the store. The little bell jingled behind us as she continued to lug me down the sidewalk. "Where are we going?" I asked almost tripping and taking her with me. "Well, we got to have you start making friends! Hey when does your momma want you home?" I felt a sudden pang of homesickness. Midge stopped, "Kryn?" I smiled through the sadness, "Heh, it's cool. I'm emancipated" Midge made a little "o" shape with her beak and continued on, not bothering to ask further questions. Passing by the main town, we traversed into the plains where some houses were spread out. We arrived at a plain old white cottage. Midge let go of me and knocked on the door, barely making a dent of sound in the peaceful breeze with a tender tap. The door slowly creeked open and there stood a tall and gangly looking feline. She was definitly young, her round innocent face gave it away.

"O-oh hey, Midge" she stuttered quietly, now opening the door to its full length.

"Hi Maggie. This is Kryn. She's new! Can you believe it?" Midge said, pushing me forward and presenting me proudly while Maggie stared in awe.

"Did you know Kryn is an ancient m-male Gaelic name m-meaning "high exalted one"?" Maggie asked, her large buggy eyes boring into mine.

"Yes...?" I asked wondering if this was a trick question.

"W-why do you have a boy's n-name?" Maggie asked.

I sighed feeling a little offended, but knew this was just an honest question, "My mother is an Irish jackalope and they thought I was gonna be a boy. She liked the name a lot so she just kept it"

Midge pitched a fit of laughter, "Oh lordie, are you serious? That's hilarious!"

"Yeah yeah. I didn't think anyone would know about that little fun fact" I grumbled sarcastically, feeling embarassed.

Maggie looked worried, "Oh! I'm sorry, did I upset you?" Midge placed a feather hand on Maggie's forearm, "Nah, it's okay Maggs, Kryn'll be fine" I stood moping with a sour look.

After that we bid Maggie a good evening and left the plains. Maggie was sweet and intelligent, but seemed clueless about anything to do with socializing. I chuckled when I remembered her asking, "what does it mean to be a BFF?" when she mentioned that she saw some carvings on a tree and one of them said "Eva and Sarah BFF". The sky was still a bright baby blue so I knew we still had time to explore before the movers came to drop my things off. Midge showed me the way to another house; this one was a victorian two story with wooden swirly decorations adorning the roof.

Midge rang the door bell and a few moments later, a German shepard stepped out. He wasn't lean like the coyote twins and was well muscled; it was apparent through his tight tee. With a towl draped casually around his neck and sweat pants on, it was obvious we had just interupted him in the middle of a workout.

"Wassup' Midge? Who's your friend?" he asked a little pinprick of inerest in his light voice.

Midge pushed me forward, "This is Kryn. She just moved here so I'm helping her meet some people from school. Play nice"

I waved shyly. I have to admit, Casey was cute, but this guy was extremely attractive. "Kryn eh? Weird name. Does she speak English?"

I narrowed my eyes, "Well you're rude. Yes I can speak English; what's your name then, dog?"

He smiled, a full set of pearly white gleaming and amusement dancing in his eyes, "I'm Raymond. Would you ladies like to come inside? I'm sure you'd like to meet my sister too, right, rabbit?" he mocked me.

I scoffed rolling my eyes, "Oh what a gentleman. But that's okay, Midge and I have important places to go. C'mon Midge"

"We do?" she squeaked silently as I dragged her away. I hissed, "Just show me someone else, kay?"

As soon as we were out of earshot, I hurrumphed, "What nerve! He's so, arrogant!" Midge laughed, "Yeah, that's Raymond. But I can tell he likes you already. He likes pushing peoples buttons" I snorted, "I can tell"

Continuing on, we passed by some adults, and they glared at us. Some even looked like they were hiding something. We both noticied their stares and I said, "Jeez, some old wolf gave me the stink eye earlier too. Is there something wrong with me?" Midge shrugged it off, "They're always like that. Unless they're your parents or close family friends, expect to get mean looks from the adults here. It's like they envy us for our young charming looks" she batted her eyelashes and smiled a sickly sweet smile, "Oh and we harlets just might snatch up their husbands with our young faces and bodies. Oh la la" Midge attempted to look seductive but ended up doing an awkward wiggle. I laughed, "Yeah well I'm flat chested and women over the age of 21 have big boobs so they got nothing to worry about" We both cracked up.

The sky was turning orange as the day neared an end. We met a few other people and Midge escorted me back to my building. I retired for the night and was welcomed by many boxes stacked up against the walls. It was my first night alone, and I wasn't sure how to deal with it.