Heavy Metal Soup for the Soul- Chapter 1: Welcome Home
Heavy Metal Soup for the Soul- Chapter 1: Welcome Home
Warning: Characters in this story vary in age, the main characters ranging from 15-17. All characters whether made up or based off of real life persons are consenting and belong to me or their respected players. Any references to band names, songs, or other media are not owned by me and are strictly used for this stories plot and development. The city of LeMans does not exist, not this one anyways, it is a fictitious city in which I have based off of neighboring cities and towns near my own home.
Silence filled the dark musty bedroom, pitch black completely unaware of a daylight creeping slowly up the backside of the mountains looming in the distance shadowing the relatively quiet valley below. Then again the bedside clock was putting out a faint green glow from the block numbers reading 5:59. The bed next to it kept a dark figure nestled in sheets still sleeping as unaware of daylight as the room. The clock changed the numbers now reading 6:00; a soft click brought a small red light on signaling the CD inside of the clock to start turning rapidly. An ambient whine of feedback rose out of the speakers being soon followed by two hard hits with a harsh voice trailing," Te'Amo I hate you." The figure began to stir, as second sequence of hits and the dark voice," Te'Amo I hate you", with the third time in the sequence the figure was now sitting up in bed. The figure turned letting their feet fall from the bed resting onto the cold carpet, whispering in unison with the dark now screaming voice," you always think that you were right." The figure let the past pace of the music sink in waking every thought, every sense, finally standing and moving towards the bedroom door and flicking on the light. Light quickly embraced everything, revealing everything which moments before were shadowed and hidden. The newly revealed walls were littered with posters, plaques, and memorabilia hanging from the walls and ceilings. The figure escaped the light only briefly, quickly turning back heading towards the stereo system moving to the back, hands reaching down for a couple small strands of wiring inserting them into the back before retreating down the hall. The music seemed to fade away into distant ambience but seemed to fade in further down the hall. A few moments later another light flicked on revealing the bathroom, and the figure looking himself in the mirror watching his drunken like stupor of sleep slowly fade.
The male wolf reached up combing his long dark brown backwards with both hands past his ears before bringing them back down rubbing at his eyes, scraping whatever gunk had built up over the night. Wiping the build up on a tan colored hand towel, which nearly matched his fur a coat of tan, dark brown, grey and copper mix on the outer complimenting a coat of off white fur in is inner body. His green eyes looked down at the two small speakers sitting at the end of the counter, noticing the track on the CD shifted to track two before moving to a line of words written in black eyeliner across the top of the mirror.
"Nevermore to be held down by the wings of destiny. Nevermore to be cast aside. This Day is mine."
The male stared back down at himself bare chested in only pajamas, he was a leaner frame not too skinny but not so bulky, in decent shape not as ripped as some of his friends but still enough to entice some attention from girls every time he took off his shirt in public. The wolf's hands moved down to the lower of his back above the base of his tail, turning and stretching, a series of pops filled the small bathroom each one bringing a small amount of relief freeing some strain in his spine. His fingers moved down moving under the lower set of clothing he had on slipping off the black cotton pajama pants, setting the off the side his hands moving back to the grey boxer briefs, setting them next to the discarded pants. The wolf moved towards the bathtub itching at his chest and yawning, stepping in and closing the black shower curtain. The warmth of the shower in the morning was the favorite step of his morning routine getting ready for school. The heat woke every last sense that may have been dull up to that point; he let it soak in a few moments before quickly washing. A few tracks of music passed before the male turned off the water slipped out of the shower and quickly began to dry off heading back to his room.
Entering his room he was met with another familiar song, "your tears don't fall, they crash around me..." the wolf flipped open the phone, quickly lowering the volume on his radio before answering, " Hey, Cowboy."
"Hey man you awake yet," spoke the voice on the other end. Another male, his voice having faint traits of a southern accent originating for the deep south of the U.S. Music, other voices and a diesel engine were scattered in the background as he spoke.
" Yeah, I'm just getting dressed," he answered, noticing the time reading 6:25, before turning to rummage through his closet for something to wear.
"Hi Xan," called out a familiar angelic voice in the background.
"Was that Brooke," asked Xan. It was what he'd been going by for the last year or so when a new girl joined his group of friends, her name was the same as his, Alex. So to help clear up any confusion when they were being addressed the wolf decided to go with something different, though he didn't want to go by his full name of Alexander, so he decided on Xan and it had stuck ever since. The wolf moved across his room the phone being held between his shoulder and ear as he moved a pair of boxer briefs up his legs.
"Yep. Hey this party bus will be there in about ten, fifteen minutes so you better be outside ready to go."
"Alright, I'll be ready. Talk to ya in a few, see ya," Xan clapped the phone shut hearing the faint goodbyes as he did.
The wolf turned sliding a pair of Areopastle jeans up his legs, clasping them at the button before letting them sag comfortably around his hips sliding a belt on and securing them in pace. The next thing to go on was a slim fit black band tee, white intricate designs graces the front and back, the white lettering reading 'Dir En Grey' and 'The Rose Trims Again' on the front with a number of dates and cities listed on the back. Xan grabbed his backpack and headed up the stairs towards the front door stopping briefly to say goodbye to his mom who, as usual, busy on the phone, was it work or was she bullshitting with one of her friends or one of his sisters, the wolf couldn't tell. Shutting the door he heard his mom yell," goodbyes Xan have a nice day at school."
Today was the first day back to school, the wolf had enjoyed the summer; had a lot of good times, a few sad times, but nothing to keep him and his friends' spirits down for long. But he had high hopes for today, finally getting to see a couple of his favorite teachers and a few friends he hadn't heard from since they had gone out of state for the summer, and meeting all the new kids to his social group. In pondering how the day would be a black short bus pulled up to his driveway where he was standing. The short bus had white lettering painted on the side where the school district usually was, it read 'Save a horse, Ride COWBOY' the wolf smiled every time he seen that saying. From outside the bus Xan could hear muffled, loud music which instantly cleared up as the door to the bus opened spilling the muffled music into clarity. The driver looked down pointing a finger at the wolf singing along to the music in a distorted growling voice, " get one thing straight from the get go, I truly don't give a fuck about you," the gesture made Xan shake his head smiling as he climbed aboard. The driver was a male collie, wearing a similar outfit as Xan's, save the shirt which was grey with 'Metallica' in white across the front and the coolie's distinct signature item of apparel; a classic worn black cowboy hat. The wolf extended a hand which was met by the coolie's, their hands slapping together then clasping one another," Morning, Cowboy."
"Mornin' partner," the collie spoke smiling as his friend climbed aboard, a faint southern accent in his voice," find yourself a seat man. No standing in the bus while I'm driving."
Xan moved to an open seat two rows behind Cowboy, throwing his backpack in and sliding into the seat and resting his head leaning into the leather bench. He was caught off-guard by two pairs of arms reaching from behind the seat and hugging around him almost immediately as he sat down.
"Ello' Xan," two soft voices greeted him cheerfully. The wolf recognized both voices, two of his best friends, Brooke and Jess. Xan examined each set of arms; both sets were soft and slender with some slight toning and definition in the arm muscles. The difference was in the color of the fur, one set of arms were dark in color, black with the underside fur being brown, the other arms were a light tan with mixed grey tones which nearly matched Xan's own fur color. The wolf reached up and grabbed the both pairs of arms and pulled, two figures came up over the seat landing upside down on either side of him.
To his right was a dark furred girl, a German Sheppard, smiling as her green eyes stared up at the wolf. She wore a pair of tight faded hip hugger jeans littered with holes and rips in the knees and thighs, a tight grey t shirt that read 'SevenDust' in white gripped around her upper body scrunched from the way she was positioned in the seat, her navel standing out in her dark caramel fur dawning a silver belly button ring. Brooke had been one of his closest friends for a long time; they knew everything about each other. When she had relationships end badly Xan was her shoulder to lean and cry on, she could always count on him to be there for her. Aside from that, Brooke headed the 'S7ven Street Team' the ones responsible for advertising and spreading the word about Xan's band S7VEN, and at their shows she could be seen running around the crowd and stage with her camera in hand snapping as many photos as she could to post on the band page.
The figure to his left was a lighter furred girl, a jackal, her grayish tan pattern nearly matching the wolf's, smiling seductive as always her brown eyes taunting the Xan with her stare. Her long raven hair draped over her face, giving her a more seductive, more mysterious presence taunting every desire from almost every guy and some girls she met. Her long ears sparkled through the morning glare lined with small gold and silver hoops, and jeweled stud earrings. She wore the same jeans as Brooke, faded hip huggers covered in holes, the two shopped together and usually picked out the same clothes, and it wasn't uncommon for them to look identical in their dress on some days. Their shirts, however, today were unmatched, the jackal girl fit snugly into a tight black tank top, a golden staff like symbol stood out boldly on her chest with the word 'DevilDriver' written in white and gold parallel to the symbol. The girl's belly button ring matched her friends, a small silver hoop glinting against her abdomen; they got the matching rings the same day they both got their navels pierced together. Jessica Sali, she'd been the wolf's best friend for the last five years. They went and did almost everything together; the two were nearly inseparable, even more so being in the same band together.
"Oh that reminds me," spoke Brooke, her voice giddy with excitement as her nimble hands clambered for her backpack un-zipping a side pocket and taking out her camera. "Check this shit out," the female canine began a slide show on her digital camera going through the pictures she had taken from the bands most recent show. The two figures sitting in the seat adjacent to the three friends leaned over viewing Brooke's work, while another figure appeared leaning up over the seat also peeking at the photos. Brooke smiled wide as she came to a photo, "Oh Adrian and Maria there's a great pic of you two," the two foxes smiled wide. The vixen smiled and nuzzled the male fox next to her," the dual lead during Broken Faith when we did that back to back playing."
In their band, Maria and Adrian Chavez were the brother and sister team on guitar, rotating back and forth between lead and rhythm guitar parts. Adrian was more built than Xan or any of their friends; he worked construction but also enjoyed weight lifting and standing just over six feet tall he had almost an intimidating stature to him. But to all those who knew him the best knew that he was one of the most gentle and caring people they'd ever met despite that he was never one to back down from a fight. He had the nick name Angel given to him because of how caring and protective he was of his sister and his friends. Brooke was the one who originally gave him the nick name the night a group of guys ambushed and tried to rape her, it was the fox that herded them off with a baseball bat in hand before carrying the canine girl back to his family's apartment. Adrian wore a favorite pair of baggy blue jeans and a slim fitting black tank top that complimented his strong muscular frame. Both fox siblings had a darker brown tint to their sandy orange fur and both had long slick raven black hair. Adrian kept his up out of his eyes with a white bandana while his sister Maria let hers drape down curtaining down her back over her shoulders and down the front of her collar.
The vixen flaunted her looks effortlessly; she was the kind of girl that still looked beautiful even on a bad day or on a stage under the spotlights covered in sweat. Her stage presence was high energy, running and jumping all over the stage with her trademark windmill letting her long black hair glint in the light as the lengthy locks became like helicopter blades spinning rapidly. She also covered backup vocals harmonizing with Jess whether it was an angelic singing or banshee like scream vocals. She always took the biggest toll every show next to Xan, her constant movement on stage, covering backup vocals as well as handling most guitar solos in their songs. Adrian was no stranger to carrying her into their families apartment after she would fall asleep on the way home from a show due to her own exhaustion. Now she was wide awake her usual easy going attitude decked out in a black baby doll t-shirt with a white emblem design with the words 'Lamb of God' written across the top of the emblem. On her bottoms she wore low riding slim fit jeans, faded out and worn, laced with rips, tears and holes, and draped a bandana identical to her brothers tied to a hole in one of her back pockets like a second tail.
Looking at the picture Adrian nearly dwarfed his sister, her much smaller slender frame pressed against his taller muscular form. Brooke pressed a button the picture changing to a young crazed looking male black panther wide eyed smiling with his mouth wide open, a guitar slung over his shirtless bare shoulders hanging limp while his toned arms reached out above the crowd holding up two long middle fingers to everyone. Everyone erupted in laughter at the picture including who the picture was of laughing while his dark form loomed over Jess, Xan and Brooke. The wolf tilted his head back looking up at his black cat friend, "Tireé you are one crazy son of a bitch."
"Hey man that's just how I roll, ya feel me" the panther responded. Tireé stood out almost more than the rest of his friends, being one of the few African American kids in the area that enjoyed heavy metal as well as being a part of a wealthier family. The big cat prided himself in being humble, fun loving, kind hearted and easy to get along with. True his family was wealthy and lived in the higher suburbs but Tireé did everything he could to make that not a constant topic or rub it into anyone's face, especially with Maria or Adrian. Tireé covered bass for their band, giving the music the heavy boom that their fans had come to expect as well helping the band develop a wider sound in convincing his band-mates in doing rap covers. Their most recent success being a heavy and brutal sounding version of Chamillionaire's song 'Ridin' Dirty ' which is where and when the picture had been taken. Tireé wore very baggy blue jeans with a white fade showing heavy down the front of the pant legs as well as the back, two logos showing a rhino were stitched into the back pockets. Draped over the jeans was a tight fitting white t shirt with the words 'Soulja Boy' written in blue in graffiti style lettering. The silver chains around his neck glinted in the morning sun, standing out against his chocolate furred neck, each chain bearing dog tags. He wore four dog tags, one was his older brothers, another his dad's who both died during their tours in Iraq, which Tireé alone with no parents. The panther was adopted by his uncle, Tiree's dad's baby brother a wealthy entrepreneur living in the suburbs of LeMans. The other two were from his grandpa in WWII and his late uncle in Desert Storm who also was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad a couple months before the panther's dad and brother were killed.
The group of friends always tried not to focus and dwell on the hard times, out of them Xan and Cowboy were the only ones not to have their share of grief and sorrow. The Chavez siblings lived in the older part of LeMans in a low income apartment complex with their mom, a single mother working two jobs to keep her kids in school and food on the table. She struggled to keep her children clothed, fed and happy while still trying to keep their deadbeat father away from them. Brooke's parents were both alcoholics and worked full time, the girl was hardly noticed and when she was her parents would curse her being a mistake they created. She made her second home at any of her friend's houses, her room at home was empty save the bare mattress that was her bed and the one picture of her and her parents, and the only sober and happy day they ever had.
Jess lost both of her parents to a drunk driver on their way home from an ancient art auction; she now lived with her single mother aunt just down the street from the Xan's home. The jackal's parents were art collectors and treasure hunters combing the world for her family's ancient treasures, this was the reason she prided her Egyptian heritage and always kept two gold ahnk pendants on her at all times in memory of her birth parents.
Tireé made the tradition of staring at a picture of his family every night, moving his eyes slowly over every member in the order he had lost them, first his grandparents on his dad's side, then his grandpa on his mother's side. Finally his eyes would move to his mom, they'd lost her to cancer after a two year battle with the disease, months later her brother, Tiree's uncle was killed. Finally his eyes would focus on the last two people he lost, his dad and older brother, with a tear in his eyes he would then pad silently to his room and bury himself into his bed.
Cowboy's short bus finally came to a stop inside the school parking lot, parking in his usual spot next to the wood shop and agricultural building, something he had worked out with the teachers and vice principal. They had even let them spray paint his own parking stall, in bold white letters it read, "Cowboy's Bus Parking Only. All Others Will Be Towed." The collie stood up and pulled the lever for the door," Second week of school at LeMans High and all is well. Make sure you guys don't leave anything on the bus."
"Yeah," shrugged Xan," never know when some punk freshman or sophomore will try and break in here."
"Hey Cowboy," Maria giggled," What happened to the last kid that broke into here."
"Oh yeah, wasn't that the kid that was wearing one of your hats around the school," replied Jessica.
"Yep," chuckled Cowboy," he had a nice shiner around his eye after I got a hold of him."
The group of friends all laughed and talked as they began heading inside, the collie closing and locking the bus door on his way out. The time was had just struck seven, still thirty five minutes before the first bell rang, a warning letting the students know they had ten minutes to get to their seats in class. Cowboy and Adrian were the oldest out of the group, it was their senior year, while the others were all in their junior year, though all were still close in age, the youngest being Brooke who was not quite sixteen yet, and the oldest being Cowboy, having just turned eighteen.
The friends all moved inside to the cafeteria/student commons, sitting at their usual table, on the top deck in the corner nearest the halls, their backing wall being the student counseling offices. All of them opened their backpacks moving books and notebooks onto the table, they took advantage of getting to school early to finish up or double check their homework before heading to class. They all worked hard to break the mold of what others believed to be stereotypical metal heads, they all jumped at the chance in any way they could to prove someone wrong about them, their friends or their social group.
As the group chatted some more another figure rolled quickly to the table coming to a stop at the end of the table to an open space. The figure was a young male cheetah, his hair was long dyed jet black with blonde streaks throughout, the tips of his bangs swooping to one side of his face his bangs coming down across his eyebrow, almost covering one his bright green eyes. His soft rounded ears both had small gauges in either side; today he wore black spikes through both ears. His shirt was white with three birds with ropes around their necks, with the words 'lie, lie, lie' in black off to the side. The figure sat in a chrome wheelchair, his only mode of transportation around the school. Draped across his legs were a pair of long khaki cargo shorts, with a pair of black thigh high socks emerging from a pair of bright red skate shoes, with an odd shaped and fallen over 'E' graphic in white across the outside of the shoes. the cheetah's upper body was well toned from the work out he got from moving himself everywhere he went, he kept his hands bundled in a pair of black and white fingerless gloves to keep them from blistering from the wheelchair.
Brooke quickly leaned over to the cheetah, giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek," Cody," she greeted kindly as the male responded back to her returning the hug to here. Jess followed suit doing a similar gesture kissing him on the other cheek and wrapping her arms around him," how was the weekend."
Xan quickly leaned forward bumping his fist against Cody's," how was the date."
The girls smiled and gasped at the news," with who," asked Maria. The cheetah's expression changing slowly from a smile to a solemn look of disappointment across the cat's face, his look blatantly told the story of his date.
"Wow, that bad huh," spoke Tireé, noticing the fellow big cat's expression Change.
"Her name was Ashley; she lives up by the capitol," the cheetah shrugged," not very sympathetic for the disabled. I mean don't get me wrong, really cute blonde bunny girl, but she was kind of a bitch."
"So no rides in the wheelchair," asked Cowboy curiously.
"Nope, nothing, a kiss goodnight but that was it," replied Cody.
Xan smiled and began rambling," Wait, a bunny," the wolf pause as he computed the improbability," and no rides. Not any kind of rides at all." The wolf laughed," but bunnies are always..."
"Not this one," sighed Cody, "guess she doubted whether I could perform or not. Anyways Cowboy here's our music," the cheetah handed the collie a small boom box which he plugged in behind the table and began scrolling through Cody's iPod. The music began blaring which almost seemed to help speed up time, cutting a long drawn out wait for school to start in half as more of their friends arrived and settled in and began conversing with everyone.
As class drew closer Xan took more notice of his fellow class mates throughout the student commons, despite a firm place inside the social group of metal heads the wolf had his hand in almost every clique in the school. Directly below their table was the small group of tables where the local gang banger and hip-hop/rap groups, they all befriended him after the wolf helped with drum tracking for some of the local hip hop groups, he was the first that got the call as soon as one of them was heading in the studio to rap. Below that clique were the band and orchestra students, no surprise as being friends with that particular group. Xan was often brought in by their band teacher, Mr. Swid as they called him, to help teach percussion to the beginning band classes. As well, the wolf lead the schools pep band, playing and conducting music at every school sports event and pep assemblies. Adjacent to that group was art club, the gamers and computer geeks, all of which Xan was big into, the wolf was an exceptional artist and loved building computers as well as playing video games for hours on end.
Near the end of the student commons Xan watched a figure in that group, they were in the far end though on the same tier level as Xan's group was. This group was the jocks, the athletes of the school, and in some cases the best of the best in the game of egotism. The figure that the wolf watched was another wolf, with the same fur pattern as himself; in fact the other wolf nearly resembled Xan, only with short gel spiked bleach blonde hair. The figure noticed Xan watching and immediately ran towards the wolf and his friends," Hey cuz, that was an awesome show you guys put on." The wolves slapped hands in a high five fashion before pulling each other in to a half hug. "So Cord, are you guys gonna win the first game of the season on Saturday," Xan asked referring to his cousins position as captain of the varsity basketball team.
"As long as the guys don't get shit faced at Mel's party Friday night," the wolf rolled his eyes," then yeah I think we'll have a chance.
"Shit her usual 'welcome back' party," Maria groaned rolling her eyes," she'll try and invite us three again." Her eyes focused on Jess and Brooke as she spoke," she invites us, then talks shit about us; same shit, different year."
Jess giggled and smiled," I'd go just make a scene and embarrass the dumb bitch."
The blonde wolf quickly took notice to the cheetah in the wheelchair," Wheels," it was Cody's nickname the group had given him to have fun and lighten the mood of his condition," how was the date." Cody's disappointed expression said it all to the blonde wolf," that bad huh."
"Yeah, she was a bitch," Cody shrugged it off.
"Don't worry, you'll find a girl you can give wheelchair rides to," replied Cord," Oh and by the way everyone. I guess Mel is letting me help invite people to her party, Friday at the Sanchez's house starts at 7."
The friends all looked at each other before answering unanimously," Okay."
The first bell rang, the ten minute warning to get to class, they all began packing their things and began making their separate ways. Xan looked up at Jess and Tireé," off to Miss Drummond's we go," he said smiling it was a fun time getting into the same class period as one of your best friends, it was even better when two of your best friends were in your same class as you. The three friends moved down the hallways towards their class, as they entered the classroom the noticed large bold writing written in green marker across the white board 'make your own seating chart today' the three ran quickly filling in three desks along the aisle closest to the door. They sat down and watched students file in and fill in the seats around them, some they knew, some they didn't, some they liked and others that the three despised.
Xan watched before his eyes were drawn to another group of three, all looking for seats close by each other, not finding any right off hand. At the front of the class were three females, out of them the shortest was a white and tan spotted fur kitten with long brunette hair combed to either side, sporting a pair of thin black framed glasses. The cat wore a pair of faded blue and white brand name jeans with the designer holes that came with the pants on both knees. While her skinny upper body was draped in a pink, short sleeve shirt with the brand name Quicksilver in black that hugged tight across the cat girl's small chest. On her back she carried a small backpack though she cradled a couple text books against her chest, her eyes fixated in one of two directions, the path in front of her and her two friends to her side. Her entire presence gave off hints of shyness and timid qualities, which suggested why she walked so closely to the other two females.
The figure standing next to her was a husky, sporting short stylized blonde hair layered in straightened yet messy pattern. Her figure was clothed in a tight white t shirt with sketched designs of a city skyline with musical instruments on the front with splashed color across the shirt art giving a sense that she had painted the shirt herself. Her lower body was hugged in a tight pair of jeans that had barely been worn, suggesting that they were brand new of the store room floor. The bottoms of the pants flared slightly, barely draping open around a pair of white stiletto heeled boots, which also looked barely worn and brand new. Her whole outfit blended flawlessly against her mixture of snow white and light beige coat of fur.
The third female walking with them was a tigress, her fur dark amber with a yellow beige under coat of fur. Long dark brown and black stripes covered her form from head to toe flowing into her natural fur coloring. Her long slick hair was dyed black underneath and a bright red on the top layer the dark mixture of colors flowing well with her fur pattern. She wore a bright green shirt which also stood out boldly against her amber slender frame, on the shirt was a cartoon of a cookie holding a baseball bat while another, a tooth character, lie on the ground it's eyes crossed out. The shirt hugged tightly against her chest down to her stomach where it wrinkled up showing the beige fur on her belly before her green studded belt wrapped a pair of skinny blue jeans around her hips. The pants hugged her legs down noticing they had paint streaks and dashes of bright color splattered all over the them, the wolf's eyes trailed down to find she was barefoot, her toe nails painted a bright green standing out boldly against her amber fur.
The three females turned their heads not seeing any open seats by another female the wolf recognized, but didn't exactly see eye to eye with at all. The wolf then noticed two open seats next to him and Jess and a third open seat in front of Tireé. He watched the tigress nod towards the seats Xan noticed, and the three females filtered into them. The husky took her seat in front of Tireé, while the kitten took her seat next to Jess and finally the tigress sitting in the vacant seat next to him.
With that the bell rang, and an older female German Sheppard rose and moved to the front of the class, Miss Drummond, she had been unanimously voted as being the hottest teacher in the school by the students. Her brunette hair was layered and had slight curls throughout which bounced as she walked, in her heeled black boots and jeans. When she got to the front she adjusted her dark violet blazer over her white undershirt as to not show off her cleavage," Morning everyone, glad you guys found you your new seats."
She moved to one side of the room making a quick count of students in each row, before putting down paperwork at each row," take one and pass it back. Now this year's school year theme is 'a living legacy' and each English class is required to assign different final projects that have to do with this year's theme." Drummond moved to front and center of the class, "so now the option is we can do the same old boring report and presentation." She tilted her head making a sad face and shrugged to the class. She then perked up and put her hand up with only her index finger up in a 'wait one moment' fashion," or." She moved to a student's desk in front over her slightly hunching over as she leaned onto it," who likes Halloween and dressing up," she smiled as her students all smiled some putting up their hands.
"I thought so," she moved a cart with a projector on its front and center before pulling down a white screen from above the white board. "So," she turned on the projector displaying a copy of the handout the students had just been handed, " each of you are going to select one of your ancestors, and highlight their life, their legacy and then present what you are doing to preserve that legacy." She then switched the image on the projector, "now here's the twist," Drummond paused to see her student's reaction, smiling evilly to some groans. "The final is graded individually, however, take a look at your classmates around you," Xan looked around the class his eyes drawing to the girl next to him, realizing she was looking at him as their eyes met. Miss Drummond then spoke again," all of the assignments leading up to the final are group assignments, so I'm going to split you into groups of four." She moved down the front of the room slowly, pairing up groups, she then came to Xan and his friends," group six will be Xan, Terra, Jess, and Kami." She then noticed Tireé and the tigress in front of him," Tireé, Shauné why don't you two join group six."
The six looked at each other before turning back to Drummond," so for the rest of class I want you in your new groups to get to know each other and discuss maybe some ancestors you could use for the final." Xan smiled watching his group beginning to talk and converse before watching Jess' hand come up into the air signaling their teacher to their group. Drummond walked over," what's your question Jess?"
"How recent of ancestor can it be, or the opposite how far back in our family tree can we go?" Drummond smiled and answered her question happily," I'd recommend at least a grandparent for most recent, and you can go as far into your family tree as you'd like. I figured you'd enjoy this project Jess, you too Tireé I know the both of you have a very big interest in your own families." As Drummond returned to the other students, Terra turned to Tireé and Jess," big interest in your families?"
Jess smiled," yep, my biological parents were treasure hunters and traveled the world recovering our family's ancient treasures that were stolen by grave robbers."
"Ancient treasures," Kami questioned.
"I'm descendant of a pharaoh in ancient Egypt."
"Very nice," replied Shauné," and what about you," her question turned to Tireé. The panther smiled slightly," since the civil war my family has a military history. My great great great grandpa fought in the civil war, my great grandpa in world war one, my grandpa flew with the 'red tails' in world war two, and then my uncle who served in both desert storm and Iraq, and my dad and older brother who fought in Iraq too."
"Wow," replied Kami," quite the history there."
" Yeah, not sure on who to do it on though," the panther smiled and looked at Xan," what about you Xan, who's yours gonna be on." The wolf smiled shaking his head," not sure yet." Jess smiled," your families messed up though; you got too many famous people in your tree." Terra giggled," how so?" The put a finger on his chin sarcastically mocking a thinking look," well, I've got a cousin that rides a bike, a cousin that landed on the moon, two relatives that were brothers that built planes, oh and two grandmas that were queens and one of them had her head chopped off."
Jess began to giggle," let me guess you're gonna be wearing your kilt." The wolf laughed throwing on a Scottish accent," Aye, I enjoy wearing me kilt. It gives the boys a chance freedom from the tyranny and oppression of underwear, the bloody bastards."
The group burst out laughing before Shauné spoke up," so who's going to Mel's party on Friday?"
Jess and Tireé both rolled their eyes before both saying in unison," we are."
Kami let out a small depressing sigh," I am, I have too."
A concerned look formed on Terra's face," Kami you don't have to go. You can stay home so you don't have to be around them." The tigress turned slightly peering over her shoulder across the room, watching the girl they spoke of sitting back admiring herself it would seem.
The small kitten shot a stern look at the tigress," I'm going for you Terra, I'm gonna be there when he hurts you again."
Terra began to speak before getting cut off by Kami again," he will hurt you again it's just a matter of time. How many times has he hurt you and broken your heart so far Terra?"
The tigress went silent; Xan, Jess and Tireé had confused looks across their faces, completely lost in the situation. The three looked back and forth between the two cat girls, Terra with a face of worry and denial, while Kami wore a stern cold face, trying to melt through her friend's thick stubborn personality. Tireé turned to Shauné, she just shook her head, saying only," I'll tell you later," before the husky turned back as their teacher walked around the class handing out their worksheets and outline papers for their class project.
Xan sat back taking his papers before trailing his eyes back to the tigress, the answer to their confusion finally hit him, he knew he had seen Terra with another guy before, hanging off him and wooing over his good looks and charm. But from what he knew about the guy and the things he had heard from him and his friends the wolf knew things might not turn out as they would hope for this weekend. The only real thing that was real or true about Angel Martinez was that he was a complete and total asshole. He was a king of liars and the prince of the school jock scumbags. Xan guessed they'd all learn the Pitbull's true colors come this weekend at that godforsaken "welcome back" party.
To be continued...