To Somewhere, without You | Chapter 1
TO SOMEWHERE, WITHOUT YOU
Chapter 1
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The light-gray furred catboy sighed and sat up on his bed. Today would be just another day in the life of an almost ordinary guy. Esko's cheeks and belly and the tip of his fluffy tail were a lighter gray than the rest of his fur. From the back, he was often mistaken as a wolf or dog. But the red streak in his head fur made him stand out considerably from the front. His legs dangled off of the mattress, and off of the wooden frame. His shoved himself down, straightening his knees to stand. His red plaid boxers were the only clothes he was wearing at the moment, and as he stepped over papers and notebooks they swung in the wind he created. The cat quickly got himself dressed in a shirt and some jeans, threw on his hoodie, and flew out his bedroom door. He hurried down the stairs to get some cereal, and as he turned a corner into the kitchen, one of the greatest current pop stars jumped out in front of him. It frightened him, and he shrieked. His high-pitched meow and frizzled fur made it easy to tell that he was scared.
"Oh come on, man! You're such a pussy!" the red panda said. Red pandas weren't common in the western continents, and they look cute to almost everyone.
"It's not funny... You're lucky my fur settles quickly, Jackson! We'd look like ragamuffins if we went to school with my fur like that," Esko told his boyfriend.
"I love it when you use that word! It's so adorable," Jackson said, throwing his right arm around Esko's shoulder. They hugged.
"I'll get us breakfast, you get our stuff together," the catboy planned.
* * *
The sound of raindrops pounding across the dark asphalt and the leaves of trees echoed through the wide streets of Ashkeep Township. The two boys walked up to their bus stop at the corner of Walnut road and Chestnut street. Esko Juniper's red hoodie was dark tinted on his right shoulder from the rain, but his left was dry. Jackson Birch was laying his head on Esko's left shoulder, keeping part of his lover out of the rain. Jackson's hood was up, and he was wearing sunglasses. It was hard for him to go a day without having someone take a 'selfie' with him. They reached their stop a bit later than they normally do, and the bus arrived as they did. A girl walked through the door of the bus, and up the steps into the aisle. Her honey badger legs wouldn't help much walking up anything, but she didn't care. The couple stepped in after her, and took their usual seat in the very back of the bus, despite them being just freshman. One of Jackson's songs came on the buses radio halfway through the bus ride. It was a hit single, and Jackson hated it. It wasn't the song, but it was that the song had made him popular.
"You shouldn't regret giving out the song for radio stations to play, it's good! It'll get you more publicity. I can understand why you don't necessarily want that, seeing as everyone in school always wants your autograph," Esko tried to comfort him, "Anyways, you look like a drug dealer. Just be proud of yourself. And if you really want them to stop, then be like me. Be unlikeable,"
"I like you," came the red panda's reply. Esko set his head down on Jackson's large belly. Jackson pulled his hood back and took the sunglasses off. Two small tufts of fur rose from the upper sides of his head, and two larger tufts that mimicked Esko's fur appeared on his cheeks. He reached up with his left hand, from the same side as his cat boyfriend, and placed on Esko's upper torso. His other arm came up to complete a full hug around Esko, just as the troublesome love song had ended.
* * *
"Hey Jackson! Can I take a selfie with you?" a girl shouted from across the cafeteria. They open the school before the school day actually starts, so anyone who arrived before homeroom had to go to the cafeteria or library. She was a slim crocodile, of which there was a surprising amount of in Ashkeep, a small New Jersey, USA town. Her pink zipperless hoodie and her gray pants worked fine with her pink shoes. Her backpack was a dark blue with leather trim and white flower patterns. She wore her white and red headphones proudly. She wasn't afraid to express herself when she wanted to, but she was actually rather shy. Most of the school knew her as 'Actor' because she wouldn't say her real name to most people. Esko noticed the world tinting a rather odd shade of purple more and more as he looked at her. This would happen occasionally. A small voice in his head was telling him that she was just like him, a freak. He pushed the thoughts back and the world returned in full colors, with the white walls of the school and the colorful crowd of people.
"...and there ya go. Now leave. I don't like being obsessed over. Esko's the only exception," Jackson told Actor. Esko had missed her taking the picture as well as most of what she and Jackson had said.
"Now just you wait! I want to talk to Esko about something," she told him. She had just refused to leave entirely, instead insisting to stay. She sat Esko down at a secluded table and sat next to him.
"Hey kitty-cat-boy, why were your eyes purple? I thought they were light blue."
CHAPTER: END