Chance's Encounters. College day end.
#11 of Chance's Encounters
Chance's Encounters College Days Ends By Roofles
"That was fuckin' awesome." The lime green hyena slapped a paw against the german shepherds back grinning his yellow stained teeth. "The crowd loved us." The bass player jumped up onto the large amp. He began tuning the bass as usual. It was just an excuse to do something with his paws then sitting there doing nothing.
"Opening for Spinal Tap was a great idea." The fat rat agreed playing a cord on his guitar. He took a seat in one of the chairs in the back room of the stage and grabbed for the pizza box. A table of food had been laid out for all the players.
"Pffsh, yeah." Jasper laughed leaning against one of the stage poles. "We keep this up and..."
"And?" The hyena raised an eyebrow and looking at the dog. The corner of the hyena's eyes were crusty and there were large bags underneath him as if he hadn't slept in at least a couple of days.
"None of your fuckin' business!" The dog snapped at his band mate. Pushing off the pole he grumbled to himself. "Need a damn smoke." He pulled the pack from his leather jacket and was already pulling a fag out when the back door shut behind him.
Sticking the filterless cig in the corner of his muzzle he pulled his phone out looking it over. No text messages. His ears folded back and the end of his tail tucked a bit. He shoved it back into his pocket and lit the cig. He took a long breath of it letting the tendrils of smoke escape from his snout. He looked around the back alley, kicking a fallen can out of the way. The grit from the ground irritated his bare paws and dampened his spirits.
"Hey. It's me. Call me when you whenever." Jasper said getting nothing but the recorded message after calling the cat. "Fuck." He breathed leaning back against the door looking up into the air. He breathed out the smoke into the night air. "Fuck." He muttered again.
Money had always been an issue. The cat was finishing up college, paying the bills and was getting concerned about student loans. They didn't have the credit to take any loans and everyone they knew were just as poor and broke as they were. Most were in debt or were nothing but leeches, draining funds from their family.
Jasper was focusing with the band. It was getting a name around town and people were beginning to actually call THEM for gigs. Big stuff. Moving up in the ranks. However the money wasn't really there all the time and they drank enough to burn through any money they got out of it. Chance had wanted him to get a real job, for their REAL life.
The first fight they actually had. Throw away his dream and to "grow up."
"Pffsh," the dog stamped the still burning cig out on the ground as he slid another one into his muzzle. Even before he lit it his phone was out looking at it to see if he had got any calls or text. Nothing still. "Not my fault the teachers are dumb fucks." The dog grumbled remembering why he hadn't stuck with the whole college thing as Chance had. "Bunch of cocky pricks thinking..." He continued to grumble.
He flicked the cig with his finger before pulling another.
"Besides who'd hire me?" He frowned down at himself. Large german shephard, cut, beat up face in a leather jacket and tight ripped pants. Mohawk running down the back of his neck, pierced lip and ears and others parts of his body covered up. Most people moved out of his way when he walked by, whispering things behind his back. He wasn't like the cat who everyone just fell in love with.
The dog folded his ears back at that once more grumbled as he began to blush a bit under his brown, black marked face. "Stupid cat. Stupid. Stupid." He kept grumbling as he thumbed his phone waiting it to buzz a response.
A car screeched in the street down the alley, the light above buzzed off and on as bugs bumped into it, even a stray cat was rummaging through a trash can. And yet the sound was deafening.
"Come on, come on, come on!" The dog found himself strangling his own phone as he shook it. His ears drooped to the side. He should just call a night, head home even knowing no one was waiting for him. Better than going out with the guys and drinking again to forget his woes.
Chance was most likely out with his friends. All of whom practically hated the dogs guts, filling the cats head with all these ideas of just how much better life would be if he ditched the dog in some gutter. Find a good stable boy to settle down with and have kittens, like all the cat's friends seemed to be doing. Married and with families already. Was just more unwanted thoughts they were putting into the calico's mind as far as Jasper was concerned.
He'd be a horrible father. Jasper frowned as his own thoughts betrayed him. Chance would do fine, be great anyone would be lucky. Jasper? He'd be a screw up there too. Screw up in school, at work, in life... So then why was the cat still with him?
These thoughts weren't healthy to ponder on and the dog couldn't allow himself to think of such things again.
It was only as the dog tossed the now empty pack of cig's to the side, heading back in with the last one tucked behind an ear that his phone buzzed. He stopped not wanting to think of it. Not even wanting to answer it for fear it was someone else. But still he found a paw sneaking into his pocket to pull it out and look over the screen.
"Just got off work." It read. Simple, clean well written for a text message. Defiantly from the cat. This whole time he was working and the dog thought he was ignoring him over their fight.
The phone rang the next second, buzzing in silence mode. The dog answered it lifting it up to his ear with a gruff "Hello?"
"Hey." Was the soft voice on the other end that made Jasper's heart flutter and paws sweat.