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Chapter 2: Selection

He awoke, too early to rise and too late to fall asleep again. He groaned, got out of bed anyway, and grabbed some clean clothes he had from one of his drawers. He shuffled over to the bathroom where he turned on the water and attempted to regulate the temperatures to an acceptable degree.

Upon reaching said desirable temperature, he stripped of his clothes and got in the shower. His fur was matted with water and steam rose from him as he applied various shampoos upon himself, and washed the previous day away. He gargled some shower water and spit it back out, removing some of the taste of sleep, and shivered in the now apparent cold.

He finished his shower, dried himself, and put on clothes hastily. He continued to shiver for a moment as he brushed his teeth, performing the morning ritual to prepare for the day. He looked at the mirror, staring at the fox staring back at him. Reddish orange fur, slightly brown toward the ears, socks and tail. He had white traveling under his chin and down along his body, and at the tip of his tail. His eyes were yellow and unmoving, locked in a gaze unto himself.

He finished up brushing his teeth and spat out the cleaning mixture. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and wandered back into his room, idly fixing his clothes and general appearance. He heard soft snoring in the distance.

He turned on his computer and checked his commonly frequented websites, confirming that nothing was new. He sighed, put it back into sleep mode, and climbed back into bed, warming up under the sheets.

He closed his eyes for what seemed like a second, until he heard his alarm blaring beside him, signifying that it was time to awaken and that he had fallen back asleep. He felt as if he had not slept at all. He turned the alarm off, slid back out of bed, and headed downstairs.

He saw his lunch packed atop the kitchen counter. His mother left early, but she still managed to pack him a lunch before departing. His papers were next to it, signed by both of his parents. His father was still asleep, and he envied him.

He grabbed everything in a hurry and left. There was nothing for him at home, only the possibilities ahead.

-

At school, he made his way a little early to his first class. The door was unlocked, so he opened it and walked in, taking the same seat he had the day prior, ready to receive who he would be partnered up with, which he decided previously to be one of his friends. He just needed to wait for the test and results.

The time eventually came when the others would trickle into the classroom, take random seats, and chatter loudly. He took out his signed papers and placed them on his desk and waited for the teacher.

The teacher did not take long to arrive shortly before the bell that signaled the beginning of the class. He brought a stack of papers with him, and began to idly distribute them to the desks, regardless if there existed anyone in it or not. They were turned over, and he asked those present to not flip them over until instructed to do so.

When everyone arrived, the test began. The fox grabbed the paper, flipped it over, and stared at the questions. He sighed and lazily scrawled his answers upon the paper. The material was simple to him, and if that was what the course would contain, it would be useless to him, except for a credit. He finished in only but a few minutes and showed none of his work, for it was all in his head.

He looked around the room as discreetly as he could, mostly with subtle movements and peering out of the corner of his eyes, and unsurprisingly he confirmed that no one else was finished, at least that he could see. He did not rule out the possibility that someone could have been finished and had been drawing on their paper, as was the custom for those that suffer from such boredom.

He glanced the wolf far on the other side of the classroom. He had his head in his non dominant paw, his eyes darting back and forth across the paper, his other paw holding a pencil that seemed to be positioned near the top of the paper, as far as the fox could tell.

Roger shook his head and placed aforementioned head upon his desk in rest. Ten minutes later and the tests were recalled. He wanted to take a nap in the time, but he figured he would not have had the time to do so, so he did not even attempt it, though he did feel tired.

The teacher collected the tests and told the class to converse amongst themselves until he was finished grading them. A dull whisper amidst the crowd turned into a soft roar, and finally the room was full of chatter. The fox did not speak to anyone; there was no one to talk to near him.

He peered over, and to his surprise, the wolf also remained quiet, although he assumed for different reasons. Judging by his expression, he was far too stressed out to focus on much else. Roger shook his head.

The teacher had finished grading and began assigning everyone their partners for the course. The pairings were typical and seemed to fit with the same level per student. Roger breathed relief at first, but as the numbers dwindled, he got worried. A spark of hope, however, when he imagined that perhaps he would just not get a partner.

The roster was uneven as students had dropped. Someone would be left alone, and he hoped it would be him. Soon there were only but a few students left, and he held his breath.

The teacher made a group of three, amongst those he did not know. His heart sank, and only further when he realized only two students were left: himself and the wolf. He cursed under his breath

He silently accepted his fate. He wanted to protest, but kept to himself. He wanted to tell himself that it could have been worse, but when he thought about it, it could not have been. He waited for the class to be over, so he could flee from the nightmare placed upon him. Perhaps the teacher would at least give them a little more time to relax and not have to deal with each other.

"And here is the homework for tonight," the teacher began. He started handing out papers to the students as they let out a derisive groan. "It's just a page and it should be the most basic of materials to help prepare you for the lesson which starts tomorrow. We have a lot to cover and not enough time to do it, as always."

Roger got the paper and glazed over it. It really was simple, not even at the level of which they should start at. He quickly finished it and put it in his bag, readying it for the next day. He became anxious, his leg shaking up and down, ready to leave when the time came.

His bit his lip unnoticeably when the teacher requested that he and the wolf stay behind. It was also recommended that students begin working together immediately, although it was not mandatory for the first week of instruction. The bell rang and he remained seated.

After the rest of the students filtered out, he got up and went to the teacher, already accompanied by the wolf. He stood by expectantly, waiting to receive what he felt would be a death sentence. His reluctance to the situation knew no bounds.

And then he thought, perhaps his paper had gotten mixed up with another's, since they did generally pair up by ability levels. He was sure he had not missed any of the questions, although now he began to second guess himself. No, he was sure.

But it was confirmed. He stood next to the wolf and stared at the teacher, waiting for what he had to say. He did not have to wait long.

"I've paired you up because you, Roger, got the highest score in the class, and you, Hunter, got the lowest. I want you two to start studying together immediately. Really, it will most likely just be similar to tutoring. In the past, such pairings were beneficial for both students. So, I want you two to exchange names and numbers, get to know each other, and start studying together tonight. Understood?" They both nodded.

They headed outside and faced each other awkwardly. The wolf spoke first, tripping on his words to begin, but introduced himself, "I... I'm Hunter... I guess we're partners now?"

The fox nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, I guess so. I'm Roger. Was hoping to have a quiet year, but I guess I can't have that. Anyway, here's my number." He scrawled a few numbers on a scrap of paper he pulled out.

The wolf tore the paper, keeping the fox's number, and writing his own on the other. He spoke softly, saying, "I'm sorry. I'll try not to be too much trouble."

Roger raised an eyebrow. He had not expected that response. He took the piece of paper and pocketed it. "I didn't really mean... okay, well, anyway, we have to start tonight I guess. Just meet me out front after school I guess, you can come over and we'll get started."

The wolf nodded sheepishly and wandered off. Roger shrugged and left as well.