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"Miles! It's time to get ready for school, get up!" A voice rang out, pulling the tired snow leopard out of his sleep. He yawned and cracked open his eyes, half blinded by the sunlight coming through his bedroom window. "All right! I'm getting up!" he said to the voice downstairs. Getting up for school was the last thing he wanted to do, especially when his bed was so warm and comfortable. Sitting up he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and scanned over his cluttered room. All manner of objects lay strewn about the floor, including his clothes. He finally stood up and walked over to his closet and opened the door. He hadn't done laundry in over a week and that left him with very little selection. He threw on a baggy blue shirt and some tan cargo pants. The voice called out again from downstairs, "Miles, are you getting ready yet?"

"Yes mom!" he replied, suppressing a small growl of irritation. He continued to the bathroom to take care of his grooming. A few minutes later he walked downstairs to the kitchen, his backpack slung over his shoulder. In the kitchen he saw his mother cooking breakfast and his father at the table reading a newspaper. He grabbed a crescent from the counter and popped it in the microwave.

"Graduation is only a couple of months away Miles. Are you excited?" his father asked.

"I guess so." He answered half-heartedly. Pulling out the crescent and taking a bite of it.

"Oh come now. You'll be done with highschool, and heading right off for college. You have a good future ahead of you." His mother encouraged.

"If you say so." The senior year snow leopard responded with the same lack of enthusiasm.

His father put down the newspaper to look at him. "Look son, I know you don't think you want to go into medical field. But, with time, you'll see we're right. You'll be happy as a doctor."

"Uh-huh." Miles irritation was spiking now, but he kept it in check. His tail was thrashing behind as he made his way out the front door to go to school. "Come back home on time! We have guests coming over tonight!"

Miles didn't respond and continued walking, stewing things over in his mind as he went. He didn't have much time to as he heard footsteps approaching from behind. Not a second later he heard his friend, "Yo, Miles! What's up?"

Miles looked to see Roryk, his best friend running up to him. The German Shepard approached with a huge smile across his muzzle. "Hello Roryk. Judging from the look on your face. Your parents decided to buy you that car you've been wanting?"

"We're picking it up after school!" his friend replied in an ecstatic tone. Miles chuckled, "Well, I'm happy for you man. You earned it."

"Yeah, only because you helped me with all my studying. Without you, my grades wouldn't be near where they are now. If I didn't get them up to at least a C all I would've gotten was an old clunker only a few miles from miles scrap yard. Seriously, I owe you big time."

"You know you don't owe me a thing Roryk. I was happy to help." Answered the leopard. He had spent several weeks tutoring Roryk over several of his classes, but he didn't mind.

Roryk must have noticed he was troubled, "So, your parents still making you go off to college to be a doctor huh?"

"Yeah." Miles said, his ears lying flat, more than a little sad.

"Then why don't you just refuse? I mean, you're almost 18 years old. Technically, they can't tell you what to do. You could move out, make your own life." He suggested.

"And do what? I make minimum wage, barely enough to afford rent at even the worst apartments in town. Not to mention utilities, groceries, and what if I get sick? No way I could afford to go to the doctors. What would I be able to do with my life then?" He said looking down at the sidewalk as they made their way to school.

"I don't know Miles, but there's got to be something."

"No. I don't think so. Besides, my parents have it all set out anyway. I've already been enrolled. I've got scholarships, a room, and classes signed up. Oakland University is going to be my new home for the next 6 years."

"Man, that's more than 800 miles away." Sighed the German Shepard, "It's going to suck here without you Miles."

The two spent the rest of the walk to school in silence. It wasn't until they were through the front door did Roryk speak, "Well, I've got my history class this morning. I'll see you at lunch Miles."

"All right, see ya." He waved as Roryk went down the opposite corridor. Miles walked down to the right hallway, lost in his own thoughts. He didn't really have to pay attention as he walked to his English class. The way was so familiar to him he could have been blindfolded and still found his way there with no problem. He entered the small, white brick room and sat at his desk. As usual someone had doodled on the dry erase board at the front of the class. Most of them very juvenile things he'd come to expect from his classmates. A few posters were stuck to the walls, a couple of them close to falling off. He rummaged through his back pack, pulling out his notebook and a pen, setting them on his desk. The last for the students flowed into the classroom seconds before the bell rang, but the teacher was nowhere to be seen. After a few minutes passed with no teacher, the room fell into chaos. Miles could make a safe bet that you could hear the chatter inside the room from across the school. A few of the class bullies started making their rounds, going after the nerds and outcasts of the class. Miles saw the star football player of the school, Brian Charleston, a large coyote, probably around 6' 8" tall, pestering students only a few desks away. He sighed inwardly, knowing it was only a matter of time before the jock made his way over to his desk. Miles busied himself with a new book, one he had bought only yesterday. He was only half way through the first chapter when Brian came to his desk.

"Well, if it isn't little Miles. Ohhhh, how adorable, he's reading a book." He said in a mocking tone. A half-sneer, half-grin on his face.

Miles rolled his eyes, "What do you want, you balls obsessed asshole?"

The look faded from the jocks face and he bent down lower so that he was close to Miles's face. "What did you say to me punk? You'd better watch it, I can throw a football several of you far."

Miles set his book down and glared at the jock, the play on his name almost making him laugh it was so stupid. "Was that supposed to sound clever?" he said, an eye brow raised.

"No, it was supposed to be a threat."

"Then you failed miserably." Now, much of the class had their attention on the coyote and snow leopard. Miles was known for not putting up with the idiocy of the school's bullies, but NO ONE, stood up to Brian. Seeing all the attention they were getting, the coyote grabbed the book, "What's this? The Trials of Adrivor? Some nerdy shit if you ask me." He then proceeded to rip the book in half.

"HEY! I just bought that you prick!" yelled Miles. Brian merely threw the remains of it in his face and walked away laughing. Miles stood up, the hair on his back raised and his claws unsheathed, "Why don't you do everyone a favor and just OD on your steroids already!"

The entire class fell silent and the coyote stopped in his tracks, and slowly turned around. "What did you just say?" Rage edging his voice. It had been gossip for years now, and everybody had their suspicions. Hell, everybody practically knew the coyote used them, but no one had been able to prove it, he even showed negative on the drugs tests.

"You heard what I said." Miles stood up straight and looked Brian in the eye. The canine lumbered toward him, a couple of his jock friends getting up to help. Still, Miles didn't back down. He knew he couldn't win in a fight against this many of them, but he would at least make sure they didn't walk away without a limp. Just then the door opened and the English teacher walked into the room. Mrs. Feldspar was a short old golden retriever, but she held a strict rein on her class.

"Sorry I'm late class, my car didn't want to cooperate with me. Brian, is there something wrong with you and your friends seats?"

"No, Mrs. Feldspar I -"

"Then I suggest you sit down then, unless you want to go to the office?"

"No ma'am." Brian said, his friends quickly finding their seats. Before going back he looked at Miles and mouthed the words "This isn't over."

Miles coolly smoothed out his fluffed out fur and sat down, throwing the torn book into his backpack. The rest of class continued without a problem. Just a boring lesson over MLA format that Miles had heard about a thousand times before in other classes. He resorted to drawing in his notebook to pass the 50 minute class time. When the bell finally rang, he tossed what he had in his bag and approached the door. Before he could, Brian charged by and knocked into him, almost making him stumble. The coyote walked out the door as though nothing happened. "Asshole." Miles said under his breathe. He walked out into the halls again, this time heading for the art classroom. During the walk there, his cell phone gave a quick jingle. Fishing it out of his pocket, he saw he got a text from his boss, it read "We're going to be short-handed tonight. You need to be here tonight."

He quickly replied, typing each character as fast as he could, "I can't. I have to be home tonight."

As he walk into the art room, he received another text from work, "If you aren't here tonight, then you can look for a new job tomorrow morning. Be here by 5."

He sucked in air through his teeth, and rubbed his temples as he got to his art room desk. He then sent his parents a text explaining the situation at work to them. It wasn't until half-way through class that he got an answer from them. He put his paint brush down and wiped his hand clean of paint before picking the phone up again. "Fine, but be here by at least 7. No later."

He groaned reading this, wanting to slam his head against the solid art desk repeatedly, but he abstained. The rest of art class left him unable to paint anything and soon he was on his way to math, and then programming, and then finally lunch. By the time he got to the lunchroom it was crowded and noisy. The line by the cafeteria almost went outside of the lunchroom. A motion out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Roryk was by the doors leading into the courtyard waving at him. Miles took one more glance at the lunch line and decided to skip it. He'd probably have to wait half an hour before it went down at all. He squeezed through the rows of tables trying to meet up with his friend. He felt something splat against the back of his shoulder and slide down. Reaching behind him he pulled off a clump of mash potatoes and shook them off his hand. Looking back, Brian was standing up with a satisfied grin on his face. Miles arched his brow with a look that said "Seriously?" Brushing off the remains of potatoes, he rolled his eyes and continued over to his best friend.

"What a jackass." Commented Roryk.

"Tell me about it." Miles said, still shaking the starchy substance off.

"Is it true you almost got into a fight with him in your English class?"

Miles proceeded to tell him what had happened in English class. The two walked outside, sitting in a shady area of the school courtyard. A few clouds floated by and blocked out the sun once in a while, keeping the outside temperature nice and comfortable. When he was finished Roryk just exhaled loudly.

"Damn dude. Are you just suicidal or something?"

"No, I'm sick of dealing with him. He's been a nuisance since middle school."

"You only have to put up with him for half a semester more Miles." Said Roryk, pulling out his lunch he brought from home. Knowing Miles had skipped out on the cafeteria lunch he tore his sandwich in two and gave half to him. Miles took it appreciatively and continued, "I'm just tired of dealing with all of this. And from what I saw touring Oakland university, it's not going to be much different."

"I don't know what to tell you man. Maybe things will turn out alright somehow. It's always possible." Roryk suggested.

"How? I'm going to be moving away, leaving all my friends behind, to get a degree for a job I don't want, for parents that don't listen to me. How is any of this going to turn out alright?" Miles said, wanting to just scream out to the sky. He downed his half of a sandwich in a couple of bites and looked at the ground. Several moments of utter silence passed before Roryk spoke up, "Well, if we don't have much time left to hang out, then let's just enjoy the time we do have."

The two spent the rest of lunch chatting about random things, until the bell rang for the next classes to start. Dusting themselves off as they stood they went their separate ways again. Miles was heading for chemistry class when something caught his eye by the school's front office. A brief view of colors, sky blue and light violet.

He tried looking again but the crowd of students bustling by obstructed his view. He walked through the crowd, trying to reach the office, but when he did, whatever, or whoever it was had already gone. He shrugged his shoulders and gave his head a light shake. Resuming his original course he quickly made his way to the chemistry class. Chemistry today was a little boring. No projects or anything, just chemical equations. Half way through class, another flash of the same colors as by the office caught his attention just outside the door of the class. Again it was too brief to tell what it was, but before he could do anything the teacher got onto him for not working. Burying himself back down in his work, he pushed the colors out of his mind. The rest of his classes went on without another trace of the colors he saw earlier. His last class for the day was history, actually one of his favorite subjects. It was just notes today, but he rather enjoyed it, until the end of class. He looked up at the clock, it was only two minutes until school was done for the day. He started packing his things ready to walk to his work, but the teacher stood up.

"Hold on guys, because of the pep assembly we have to change the schedule for tomorrows quiz."

Miles looked at the clock again. Only one minute left. He had to be at work at five. He was already going to be cutting close as his work is 20 miles from school. His history teacher went on to discuss the subject of the quiz for all the students who never paid attention and were clueless that they had a quiz tomorrow. When the bell rang, everyone rose from their seats to leave but the teacher stopped them and continued to talk. Miles grit his teeth together, desperate to get out the door. 'Come on, come on! I've got to leave!' he screamed in his mind. It was another 3 minutes before he finished speaking. The moment he dismissed the class, everyone made a run for the door. Miles ran through, to the front doors. He sprinted outside, past the side walk, and ran several blocks before slowing down. He had to get to work, be home by seven, get his homework done, study, and prepare for the next day. Once he got into the downtown area of the city he had to wait for cars to go by and the crosswalk signs to give the all clear to go. Running from block to block (and nearly getting hit by drivers that weren't paying attention to the road), he could start to see the mall up ahead. Looking at his watch, he saw that it was 4:38 p.m. He didn't have much time left! Looking at the next crosswalk, the traffic there was backed up, with a large group of people waiting to cross. He couldn't wait any longer. He bolted across the middle of the street when he saw a break in the line of cars. Several honked their horns at him, but he didn't have time to worry about that. Once he was on the other side of the street he ran through a car dealership lot, and through a large field just outside of the mall. He didn't stop when he finally got to the door but continued running, seeing as he had only 7 minutes left now. He practically leapt down the stairs at the food court. He burst into one of the bathrooms and into the nearest open stall. He pulled his work uniform out of his backpack and threw it on. His legs felt weak from all the running and he was struggling not to pant loudly. His left ankle also had a searing pain in. The field he ran through was pretty uneven terrain wise. Ignoring the pain he put the rest of his uniform on and approached his work. The movie theater was just beside the food court and judging from the looks, they were severally understaffed. Lines of people were outside the ticket booth and the snack bars. Miles rushed past the lines into the employee area. As he closed the door he heard his boss, "You're 3 minutes late Miles." Said the middle aged grey wolf.

Miles was still gasping, trying to catch his breath. "I got *huff* here as fast *huff* as I could."

"Just go to the booth, the lines are only getting bigger." His boss ordered. For the next hour Miles sold tickets to anyone in line. Many of the people in line were rude and impatient, never saying thank you or anything. They just acted like he was a machine there only to serve them. It was nearly 6:15 when Miles heard his boss, "Miles! Get up to the snack bar, now their over run!"

Miles rushed over to the snack bar, threw on one of the employee aprons and started taking orders. There was only one other person there, and they left almost as soon as Miles started filling out the orders. For the next 30 minutes, he was hurrying back and forth, working the equipment, handing out food, and giving back change. Once again, no one acted appreciative or anything. They either sneered or made some remark about the theater being understaffed as though it was his fault. Finally, Miles looked around to see that all customers had either been served or just skipped snacks and went to see the movie. He let loose a sigh of relief and leaned on the counter. His ankle was hurting worse now, a sharp pain when he stood on it, and a dull throbbing pain when he took his weight off it. Then he heard an all too familiar, irritating voice. "Well, what have we here?"

Miles didn't need to look up to see who it was but he did anyway. Brian stood in front of the counter with a wide grin on his face. On either side of him, two girls clung to him, giggling. Miles kept a blank expression as he addressed him, "What would you like to order?"

"I don't know. Let me think." He said in a mock tone.

"Don't strain yourself." Miles said quietly enough that Brian couldn't hear. It was obvious the coyote was just trying to take up his time to try and annoy him.

"Give me an extra-large popcorn with extra butter."

Knowing he could lose his job if he did anything, Miles turned around and scooped a bag of popcorn putting extra butter in it. When he turned back he said, "That'll be 8.50."

Brian looked down at the popcorn and went, that's too much butter."

"That's the standard extra butter amount." Replied Miles.

"I didn't want extra butter."

"Okay, so that's how he wants to play it." Thought Miles. He could almost swear he felt an aneurism coming on.

"Give me a small with no butter." Demanded Brian. Miles already knew where this was going so without another word he went to the popcorn machine, reached around it out of sight and pulled the plug. The light in the machine turned off, and it fell silent. He turned back to Brian and plainly said, "Sorry. Seems the popcorn machine is out of order."

The grin faded from Brian's muzzle, seeing Miles stop his fun before it really began. He snatched the popcorn from the counter and threw the money at Miles. As Brian left with the two girls close behind, Miles's boss came over.

"What's going on over here?"

Miles shrugged his shoulders, "It seems one of the customers was upset that the popcorn machine is out of order at the moment.

"What?" shouted his boss. The old wolf walked up to the machine slapping the side of it a couple of times. Miles knew his boss wasn't bright enough to check the plug. Another beeping sounded from Miles's phone. Looking at the screen he had a neither text message. It was from his mom, "Where are you?"

He looked at the time. It was 6:50 He had 10 minutes to get home. "Oh, shit. I've got to go." He said heading for the exit.

"No you don't!" his boss yelled. "We're understaffed as it is. If you leave now, you're not getting paid for tonight!"

"I just- Fine! I've got to go now." He said making a beeline for the exit. Making sure he had all his things he ran outside, dashing for his house. On the sidewalks he ignore most of the crosswalk signs, determining for himself when a good time to go was. He stopped at one seeing a truck speed down the street. His shoes grinded on the pavement stopping him just inches from the road. As the truck went by, it hit a large puddle of murky water, splashing all over Miles. He rubbed his eyes clean and continued running. His shoes and socks were soaked, squishing each time he took a step. He sprinted, ignoring his burning lungs and painful ankle. It was 10 past seven when he finally walked up the street to his house. As he walked up the steps he noticed another car parked in the driveway. It belonged to his Uncle Stein and Aunt Remmy.

'So those are our "visitors" tonight.' He thought, opening the door. As soon as he did he was greeted by his parents, "You're late and - What on earth happened to you!?" his mother asked.

"I was coming home and this truck-" he started to explain, but was cut off.

"Oh never mind that! Go get washed up. Your Aunt and Uncle are here." She ushered him upstairs. He walked started up and mumbled, "Nice to see you too. How was your day?" He walked into the bathroom and started the shower letting it warm up first. As he started to undress he knelt down and rubbed his sore foot. It wasn't just his ankle now, it was his entire left foot. He rubbed the base of the ankle and flexed his toes out, which lead to a loud pop and renewed pain. Hoping it would be all right he stepped into the shower and let the hot water wash through his fur. He kept the shower short and dried himself off. Luckily, his room was right beside the bathroom and he only had to take one step in the hall to get inside. He threw on his cloths and carefully went downstairs, trying not to limp. When he got to the dining room, his mother, father, uncle, and aunt were already eating. Miles made a plate for himself and sat down, opting to stay quiet for as long as he could. After today, the last thing he felt like was talking to his family.

He was somewhat relieved when the diner was over. He hadn't needed to say much, just answer a question once in a while. Soon, his aunt and uncle left. Before his parents could chew him out for anything that wasn't really all his fault, he ran up the stairs.

"Where are you going so fast?" his father asked, obviously ready to lecture his son about punctuality or something.

"I've got homework to do, and a quiz next week I have to study for!" he said, not stopping. He heard his father grunt something but Miles really didn't care anymore. Sitting at his desk, he rushed through his homework, and crawled into bed. He lay there awake for some time, just mulling over things in his head. Everything he dealt with today, everything he was going to have to deal with tomorrow, what he needed to deal with when he went to Oakland. His friends' words played back in his head, "Maybe things will turn out alright somehow. It's always possible."

Miles snorted, "Yeah right." And rolled over, falling into a fitful sleep.