Valentines!
#1 of Valentines!
Jake woke up with a drool-soaked pillow and a numb arm, his overly fluffy wolf tail tangled around his leg, knotted in among his fur. He peeled an eyelid back to glance at the clock, the illuminated red dial glancing back. He had fifteen minutes to be up and ready for school.
"Crap."
He rolled out of bed, his legs carrying his upper half through the house, eyes fighting the invisible force pulling them shut. He showered, brushed, ate, dressed and prepared for school. Once he was ready (and slightly more awake) he climbed into the back seat of the car, his mother flicking her tail around the seat to brush at his fur a little more.
"Got everything?" She asked from the front seat, starting up the car.
"Yes." Jake replied, almost mechanically.
"Lunch?"
"Yes."
"Books?"
"Yes."
"Glasses?"
Jake rolled his eyes. "Yes."
"Bag?"
Jake blinked.
"Jacob?"
Jake blinked again. "Uuh.."
Jake launched from the car and rushed back inside, grabbing his bag with the aforementioned items inside it. He jumped back in the car, his mother muttering something about the loss of a head... He didn't think much of it.
Several minutes later, they arrived at school. Jake hopped out of the car, his mum waving as she drove away. Outside he found Cassy. Cassy was a Siberian husky, lengthy white coat and piercing blue eyes. She always wore the most stunning clothes, latest in fashion, and she always showed just a little snippet of cleavage, without appearing to be too slutty. Conservative, but just that hint of bust. He waved to her and smiled as she jogged up. He'd known her since they were both pups, and had the biggest crush on her since third grade. She reached him and smiled, grabbing his paws and pulling him forward, kissing him on the cheek and hugging him.
"Hey Jake!" She said happily. "I didn't see you yesterday!"
"Nah," he said, lingering just that pinch longer to hold her scent. " I had some things to do in town. That new aquatics center's going in and Uncle Ford wants me to help out."
"Aaah, I hope he's paying you!" Cassy said, punching his shoulder excitedly. "If he's not you let me know, I'll get mum to have a word with him."
Uncle Ford was Cassy's uncle, but the families were so close we might as well have shared relatives.
"Yeah he's paying me." Jake lied. He knew if Cassy's mother had a word with Uncle Ford, there wouldn't be much of an Uncle ford left.
"Okay, well I have to go! The buss is here, basketball trip! We still on for Friday night?"
"Y-Yeah! I'll pick you up around five!" he called after her as she jogged back to the group of girls waiting at the bus. He gave her a final wave and grin before turning back to the gate and giving a whistful sigh.
He wandered through the front gates just as the bell rang for the first class of the morning: Home Economics. Jake was never one for many productive subjects at school, like Agriculture or Workshop. The curriculum stated that he had to participate in at least one life-skills class, and home economics meant learning to cook, something Jake had always planned on doing anyway.
He wandered into class and sat down with his usual group and began the lesson, writing a few theory notes on yesterday's soup before beginning today's practical: Mud cake. He stood up and went over to his specified cooking area, waiting for his usual partner to arrive. He waited a good five minutes before noticing that she wasn't even at school today. He peered around and noticed a new kid: a shy looking tom cat, fluffy ginger hair, standing in the middle of the classroom. He rolled his eyes. It was obvious he would have to be partnered with this guy.
Jake hated partnering with people he wasn't familiar with. He wasn't sure what to expect of them. He knew that his usual partner was the most efficient person imaginable in the kitchen, cracking eggs, pouring milk, sifting flour and whisking all at the same time. Of course, she was a squid, but that wasn't the point. She had ten arms and this guy only had two!
Jake whistled to him, watching him jump and turn. Jake waved him over with a paw, and he approached, unsure of how to handle the situation. Jake put on a friendly smile. He wasn't one to make people uncomfortable, if he could help it.
"Hey." he said, offering up a paw. "The name's Jake"
"Oh, hi" the kitten said, grasping the paw lightly. "I'm Curt. I'm sort of new here."
Jake shook his paw and nodded. "Yeah, well my partner seems to be missing today so, I guess we should cook together. Hope you're handy in the kitchen!"
Curt smiled. It was his first class in the new school and already he was meeting people. He poured over the ingredients list and rushed off while Jake fiddled with the oven and various bowls. The kitten returned, placing all the ingredients on the bench, smiling proudly.
"Right then! Let's get to work! We'll need..."
So Jake and Curt set to work, cracking, beating, pouring, mixing. They had everything prepared and in the oven, running a tiny bit late due to a minor egg-and-flour incident(To be more specific, Jake throwing egg and flour at the girls on the opposite bench). Once everything was set baking, Jake took a seat and Curt sat across from him. It was clear that the kid wasn't good at this "making friends" thing, so Jake started.
"So, where are you from?"
"Oh, I'm from the City. Nan and Pop wanted a quieter life when they retired, so we moved out here."
Jake nodded. "How come you live with your nan and pop?"
Curt smiled and sat upright, a little more pride in his voice. "Mum and dad are paleontologists. They're over in Cairo, at a dig site."
Jake nodded, genuinely impressed. "Do you go with them often?"
"Oh no," Jake replied. "Nan and Pop need me around the house. They're both retired now so, I figure it's best if I stay with them, help them kick back and live a little."
Jake chuckled to himself, feeling the situation get a little more comfortable. "So, what do you think about Kasey over there?" he said, nodding to another feline who was glancing their way. Her eyes rested on Curts for a while before she blushed and turned away, stirring the same reaction from Curt.
"Oh! I didn't know sh-she was watching!" he said, blushing a little more, his muzzle twisted into an embarrassed smile.
"Yeah, she's been watching you ever since the egg incident." Jake said teasingly. "I think she quite liked that egg to the butt. Nice touch."
"Hey, that was you!" Curt said, laughing and swinging at Jake's elbow.
"Well, that's not what she thinks.." Jake said, winking at him and laughing under his breath. "Go on, go talk to her."
"Oh no, I couldn't.." Curt said, turning his head down and blushing even more.
"Awwh c'mon, don't get all shy on me. If you're gonna be here a while, a girlfriend's a good thing to pick up on! Now get over there and-"
Jake was cut off by the buzzing of their oven. He turned to it and looked at the darkened smoke billowing out of it. His eyes widened as he launched at the oven, flicking it off and dragging the door open to see the damage. There was their cake, sitting in ashes at the base of a cake tin. He sighed and bashed his forehead against the hot oven door-frame, jumping back and rubbing it.Curt laughed at Jake as he rubbed his head.
"That was our cake man. That's not funny!"
"Calm down" Curt said, opening up a cupboard, pulling out a bowl full of mixture. "I always make a second one, just in case."
Jake peered at the grinning kitten, smirking and shaking his head. "You sneaky son of a-"
"Ten minutes left guys, let's get these cakes finished!" called the teacher, re-entering the room just a little too late to see the billowing smoke. "Can't assess a half-done cake!"
Jake and Curt both looked at each other. "Assessment?!"
Curt thrashed the reserve batter into a cake tin and slipped it quickly into the oven, Jake taking the old and burnt out cake and thrusting it onto the bench beside them, pretending it wasn't even theirs. He stood opposite the oven and whistled innocently to themselves, waiting for the second batch to cook. Five minutes later and the mix was beginning to rise.
"Okay, if you're not done then you'll just have to stay back and finish it. I want this class to pass this year!"
The teacher left the classroom, followed by most of the class and their cakes, all iced and decorated perfectly. Ten minutes later, the class had emptied out, leaving Jake and Curt alone with their nearly-finished cake. It was baked, but they had to ice and decorate it now. They had their icing ready, and Curt being quite the artist with a piping bag, got to work decorating the cake from top to bottom, making little swirls and flicks that Jake would have never thought to do.
Jake watched closely. So close in fact that his nose nearly touched the cake itself. Curt smirked and squirted a bit of chocolate icing onto the wolf's nose.
"Careful you." he said. "Don't want to ruin the cake!"
Jake chuckled and watched Curt put the finishing touches on the cake, Dragging a small spatula through it to make some intricate patterns and waves. Once he was satisfied he turned to Jake and held up the cake, grinning.
"What do you think? I mean, this is the first cake I've ever made on my own. Well, sort of, I had you to help me instead of Nan."
Jake's eyes nearly fell out of his head. "What is your grandmother? A wedding cake chef person or something?"
Curt laughed. "She was a pastry chef, living in France with Pop for almost 30 years. She used to come and visit, once a year, and cook for us."
Curt put the cake up at the front table with the rest of them, turning to see Jake peering at the other cakes, comparing them. Curt giggled lightly, Jake peering at him.
"What? They've got nothing on us!" Jake said, honestly.
"No, there's a bit of.."
Curt moved up to Jake and stood on his toes, licking the icing off Jake's nose. Once his face was level with Jake's again, he could see that the feline's cheeks were red again, and their noses were awfully close.
"..icing.. there." Curt nearly whispered these last two words. He nervously touched Jake's side, Jake unsure of what was going on. Curt stepped closer and pressed his other paw onto the pup's side, resting them there.
"Uuh.." Jake said. "Wh-what're you.. doing?"
"Oh.. Oh!!" Curt snapped back to reality, his paws coming back to his own side, his nose pulling away from Jake's. "I'm sorry. I just thought... Uhm... It's just that I.."
Curt blushed, looking exactly as he had during the conversation about Kasey.
Jake held his breath, the atmosphere suddenly thick enough to cut with a knife. He hesitated, unsure of what to do.
"Sorry dude, I just... Umm.."
Curt pounced forward and wrapped Jake in a tight embrace, his arms reaching right around the wolf's middle, pulling the two together, forcing their muzzle's to entwine. Jake gasped and gripped at the feline's sides suddenly, taken by surprise. He had no choice but to let his muzzle slide open, feeling the tom's tongue embrace his own. Jake stood there, dumbstruck, Curt's embrace the only thing keeping him from collapsing on the floor. They kissed for a little longer before Curt pulled back, Jake standing stock still, blinking.
Jake's face turned a rare shade of red. "Uuh.."
Curt stood, his paws still meekly gripped onto Jake's sides. He bit his lip nervously.
Jake's mind tried to process what had just happened. His first thoughts where of Cassy, Uncle Ford's receptionist, Kasey and that time in the nurses office...
"I have to go."
Jake almost dropped Curt, who regained his feet just in time to see Jake fleeing out the classroom door. "Jake wait!" He called. The door swung shut, the sounds of Jake's sneakers echoing down the hall. Curt gathered his things together and quietly shuffled out of the classroom.