I'm Here For You
#9 of Short Stories
My friends are over there. We usually sit in the table in the corner of the cafeteria. That's because it's the one that get's the most sunlight and the best view of outside the school.
The dalmatian pup is JJ. That feline sitting on his right and holding his paw is Christine. As you can tell, she's his girlfriend. And the brown wolf, Alex, is my best friend. Me? I'm just your average orange fox.
I walk over to our table and sit down. "Hey, Junior." Alex says. That's not my real name. My real name is Zeke, but that's also my father's name so everyone just calls me Junior. It doesn't really bother me.
"Hi." I said.
"We were thinking you weren't coming today." Christine says.
"What makes you think that?"
"Because you weren't here for first period." JJ says.
"I was late. It happens to everyone." What really happened was my alarm clock. I forgot to turn it on last night.
"Well. You're here man." Alex put an arm around me, jokingly, as only best buds would do.
"Whatever. You guys wanna start?" I ask.
"Sure." JJ says. Every day, the four of us play Cards Against Humanity while we eat lunch. The teachers don't approve, but we're mature 16-year-olds... sort of. And we do this sort of thing every day.
As I get my cards out I look up and see Tim. I think he said he was an arctic fox/husky hybrid or something. I don't remember, but his fur is snow white. There's been rumors going around the school that he's gay. I don't know who started them, but I don't really care. He walks over to the empty table a few away from ours and sits down. He puts his arms on the table and buries his head in them.
"Zeke!" Alex says.
"Huh? What?" I stutter.
"Are you gonna get the cards out or not?"
"Yeah. I just noticed that um... Tim came in."
"Really?"
"Yeah he's over there." I point at him. "It's kinda sad seeing him alone like that."
"Why do you think he sits like that every day?" JJ asks.
"He's probably just daydreaming about other guys again." Alex says. JJ laughs and they fist bump. Even Christine smirks at that. I don't.
"Guys?" I say.
"What?" Alex says.
"Why would you say that?"
"Because. Ain't it obvious? He's gay."
"So? He shouldn't be treated different."
"And why would you say that? Are you saying you're gay too, Junior?" JJ says.
"No. You know I've been dating Maria for two years. Just because I don't bash furs like him doesn't mean I'm gay."
"Junior. Calm the fuck down and let's just play our game." Christine says.
"No. You know what? Maybe I don't feel like it."
"Junior. Don't get worked up over nothing." Alex says.
"It's not nothing. Put yourself in Tim's shoes, you want others say bad stuff about you all because of who you love?" I get silence in return. "That's what I thought." I take my bag and get out of the seat.
"Junior. Don't go. You're making a big deal out of this." Alex says. I ignore him. I go over to Tim. He's still has his head in his arms. I gently rub his back and he look up at me.
"You alright, Tim?" I ask.
"Yeah. Why?" he says.
"Because you've been crying."
"What makes you say that?"
"Your eyes are watery." He looks down, but I put a paw under his muzzle and raise to head so we meet eyes.
"You can talk to me. You know." I say, "Don't listen to any of these bastards who are making fun of you."
He wipes the tears out of one of his eyes. "Really?" he says.
"Of course."
"Thanks." All of a sudden, he hugs me and his tail wags. I hug him back. When we let go of each other, I hear Alex, JJ, and Christine snickering. I turn to see them obviously pointing at me and Tim.
"By the way, I don't we've formally introduced each other." I hold out a paw. "I'm Junior."
"I'm Tim." he shakes paws with me.