Chapter Text
I.
My eyes darted after the small pebble as it skidded across the concrete path. I slightly stretched my leg as I walked, catching it with my foot and kicking it in the other direction. This small stone had become my world for a moment, my companion as I moved through the campus of Cherryton Academy. I raised my head from the stone and quickly surveyed my surroundings. Around I saw a handful of students wandering through the quad. Like me, they also had a free period. While mostly everyone else was presently in their final class of the day, I walked outside and enjoyed the relative solitude of the empty path.
I kicked the stone again as I walked, my mind bouncing between the rock's motion and the night I had ahead of me. I wrestled to avoid those thoughts, if not for just a little longer. I threw my attention back to the stone for a moment, brought my foot back slightly, and swiped the rock more intensely. The stone was launched across the smooth pavement, rolling at fast speeds until it collided with the grass at the edge of the sidewalk. I took one last look at the tiny stone and pressed onward. I spied down at the little sports watch on my arm. The LED read out 1:58. I picked up my pace a little, striding toward the dorms. My free period while providing me with crucial time, would quickly be over and I needed every moment I could get.
Eventually I reached the boys dorm and pushed my way through the door. In the lobby, I proceeded to the elevator and clicked the up button. Looking up, the dull red digital screen read 5 then 4. I looked back at the watch.
"2:05." I said to myself. The red readout now produced a 3. I tapped my foot impatiently. All the thoughts that I had tried to push out of my head now reclaimed their place. "A, G… then D? Shit! Come on, you've played it before!" My mind yelled aloud in my head. A sudden high pitched "Ding" cut through my inner turmoil. I focused forward and heard the clank as the metallic doors of the elevator loudly opened. Taking a deep breath, I stepped through. Turning to the panel of buttons on the right hand side. I moved my hand towards the buttons before stopping over the seven. I put my finger to the hard plastic and pushed it in until it clicked. I felt the rough abrasions on the small button. I figured generations of sharp claws making contact with it hadn't done it any good. The mechanical doors made a loud clang somewhere inside and then glided shut. I heard the woosh of mechanisms and steel wires as I moved upward.
"I don't know what I am trying to say. And you're saying nothing at all." I softly mouthed. My fingers slowly began to take position and moved along the fretboard of a nonexistent guitar. My other hand moving up and down across invisible strings. For a moment, my insecurity faded as I knew my fingers were finding their correct places. I put on a slight smile as my body suddenly caught up to speed. I jolted up slightly as the elevator stopped and the door opened.
I stepped through and lightly sprinted through the hallway. Rounding the corner, I finally came to my destination. Finding room 701, I searched my pocket. With a small "clink", I gripped my keys and took them out to unlock the door. I moved inside and looked around the empty room. I looked to the floor and saw a small duffel bag near a bed. "Jack, you're too pure for this world." I thought through a smile. I looked away and undid the buttons on my dress shirt. I pulled it over my head and dropped it on the floor. Next I gripped the waistband of my slacks and unbuttoned them. I smirked and did a small wiggle as they dropped to the floor. Being in the room made everything a little more real. I realized I had been so anxious that I had neglected how excited I truly was. I took a deep breath before bringing my nose to my armpit. As I inhaled I could smell the faint remains of the deodorant I used earlier. Realizing that the musky smell I was expecting wasn't all that powerful, I figured I could skip taking a shower. I smiled and walked to my dresser.
"Guess that saves me 10 minutes." I said aloud as I pulled out the drawer. Inside my hand searched under various undershirts, finding what I was looking for. I gripped a red and black striped shirt, pulled it out and tossed it on the floor. I dug a little deeper and found the other thing I was looking for. As I held the fabric in my hand I blushed slightly. I hoped my friends wouldn't be too weirded out. It was a long sleeve fishnet shirt and god it was pretty revealing. Giggling to myself, I started pulling the porous shirt over my head. I felt like I was threading a needle as I maneuvered my hands through the tight holes of the shirt. I really didn't want to tear this up and I delicately inched inside.
"Ooh la la" I heard behind me. I quickly turned and looked at the yellow lab smirking from the doorway. He looked at me as I was oddly contorted in the nets, arms raised above my head.
"Oh shit!" I blurted but quickly regained my composure. "Hurry up and shut that door Jack." I said as I finally pulled myself into the mesh.
"Oh relax Migy, no ones gonna see you, besides is that the attitude a musician should have?" Jack said as he shut the door and moved to his bunk.
"Well you saw me, just how long were you staring." I asked with a devilish hint. I picked up the red and black shirt and put it on as well.
Jack mockingly giggled and stuck his tongue out at me before his smile returned. Jack went to the bag laying by the bed and began to rummage through it.
I turned to him. "What do you think?" Showing him my outfit.
"Ooh the no pants thing is very brave." He said as he laughed loudly.
I blushed and fetched a black pair of jeans from my dresser. "Is it three already?" I asked with a hint of nervousness.
"Oh no, my class let out early for the weekend, it is…" he stopped and looked at his own watch, "2:25, plently of time." He smiled. I took a slight breath of relief and pulled my jeans up.
"Hey thanks a ton, for packing early, that was really nice." I smiled at him.
"No worries." He replied. "I could tell you were anxious, I figured I didn't need to contribute to that." He started to unbutton his own shirt.
Looking to the bathroom, I moved towards before stopping. "You need the bathroom to change or anything? I kinda wanted to get everything finished before everyone showed up." He faced me.
"No not right now, gonna shower in a sec but I know you won't be in there all day." He smiled, kicking off his dress shoes. I ducked into the bathroom and moved toward the smudgy mirror. Five canine roommates did nothing for the cleanliness of the bathroom. I went to my little drawer of the sink and pulled out a little case. I poured the contents on the table and several little plastic pieces clattered out. The first being a small tube of red eyeliner. I applied it to the skin around my right eye and then blended it out. Next, I picked up a coal black eyeliner and did the same. I looked at the mirror and saw the contrast of the striking red and dark black in my eyes. I next picked up a small tube of mascara, unscrewing the applicator and moving it to my eye. Painstakingly, I fluttered my lashes centimeters from the wand until my eyelashes held their shape. I strained and blinked rapidly. I smiled at myself and looked back in the bag, inside was a little silver steel earring. I brought it to my ear and put it in. I smiled a nervous smile as I looked at myself and walked out of the room.
Jack sat reading a manga on the ground, looking up at me. "Ten outta ten." He grinned. "Very punk, very every dad's nightmare." I chuckled and sat next to him.
"Bathroom's yours" I said. He slowly stood up and picked up the bag. As he walked, I spoke up. "Hey Jack, thanks for…making this happen" I said slowly.
"What are you talking about, this is all because you dude." He smiled back at me.
"I mean it's our show, but it's not like anyone here would have gone." I went to my guitar in the corner, picking it up by the neck and bringing back to the bed.
"You know the guys like your music just fine, more importantly they're all your friends and I'm sure they wanna support you." Jack replied. "I just helped set things in motion."
There was truth in that. Everyone knew that Jack was Legoshi's best friend, but him and I had spent a good few months of this year becoming closer. It was nice to have a friend without the complete baggage of having known them for their entire life. Durham always was my best friend. Sometimes I felt I couldn't talk to him about everything. Things I wanted to say but didn't really know how to say them. It added an element of openness to a friendship. Being able to talk to someone with a large degree of freedom was super liberating.
Jack liked to talk about Legoshi. How he worried about him and wanted to help him get out of his shell. He also talked about how much he wanted to try dating apps. That made me giggle slightly. The sweetest guy at Cherryton wanted to try hooking up. I guess Legoshi wasn't the type that really liked talking about those things. For the most part Jack wasn't either and I could see why they clicked so well.
For me, having Jack served as a nice outlet for sorting out my feelings. He was always so clear headed when it came to that kinda thing. Compared to most in the room, he was easy to confide in.
He looked at me suddenly slightly reserved. "You ready for My Heart, Your Hands?" He said lightly. My heart stopped and my stomach jumped. Why did he ask me that. I felt the thoughts that I had pushed to the back of my head suddenly fighting their way to the front. In addition to that, I felt a warm rush of blood flow into my cheeks as a blush began to glow on my face.
"...oh…yeah, we've uh been practicing it pretty hard." I spat out like a complete idiot. "I...think it's gonna sound…great." I put my hand to my head.
Jack smirked. "Well, I know that everyone here is gonna love it, this is one where you're singing right?" He looked deeply at me. "You were the writer as well?" I could tell that he loved his line of questioning.
"And isn't it a song that you wrote for someone near and dear to you." He fluttered his eyes.
"You damn dog, maybe you're not as innocent as everyone thinks." I thought as my blush started to gradually fade.
Jack loosened his devilish smirk and spoke. "You'll do just fine and I think this what you want. If I had any suspicion that you didn't want this, I wouldn't have got involved." He said reassuringly as he turned and entered the bathroom. My heart slowed down and I focused. Jack was right about this, I was ready.
"My heart, your hands" I said quietly. I think this song was maybe the biggest reason this day was happening. It was the first song I wrote about being in love and Jack knew that. This song was the big reason that me and Jack had started hanging out. Early in the year, when I wrote it, he had heard me singing as I played. I wonder if he knew then what it was about. He was really attentive, that's one thing that made him such a good friend.
Jack poked out from the bathroom. "Also he's gonna love it." He laughed before dipping back inside. My ears perked up and the blush was back. This would be the night that the one I loved would hear the song I wrote for them.
I heard the shower start from the bathroom and felt the traces of heat emanating from under the door. I looked at the guitar in my hands. I brought my hand to the first peg and began turning. I heard the little warble sound as the tension of the string was released. The string was eventually loose and I was simply able to remove it. I continued the process until I was left with a stringless guitar. Looking at the red body and faintly seeing my reflection in it made me grin. So much was happening right now. Deep inside there were multiple points of terror but I knew I had to be brave. I wasn't a nervous hyena, I could be confident and impressive.
"Confident and Impressive… like him" I said to myself. The shower stopped. From the top of the dresser, I picked up a little cardboard envelope. From inside I retrieved several metal strings wound into loops. I took the thickest one and slid it into the guitar. I quickly began to tighten the peg and the string made a low hum as it was tightly stretched. Giving it a small pluck, it made a power sound. Even unplugged and out of tune, I felt the powerful vibrations from the fresh string. I had already been beating up my head about how I would handle tonight, there was no way I was gonna let my instrument slack off.
After a few minutes, the bathroom door clicked and Jack reentered the room. He was now dressed in a black band tee and jeans as well. I looked at the shirt. On the front were two white painted, carnivorous dinosaurs tearing into a crimson red heart on the center. Above the graphic was the "The Leftovers" in a white jagged font.
"You're really gonna wear that?" I said with a warm grin. "Everyone's gonna figure out you're an outside plant for our band." I said with a chuckle.
"Haha for damn sure, I have to represent not only my friend's band but my beautiful artwork as well." He said, proudly showing off the shirt. I laughed again and looked at the watch.
"2:58, the guys will probably be here soon." I said as I took a few more clean strums on the new strings.
"That sounds great, you're gonna score." Jack said cheerfully. I froze and blushed and jack blushed as well, putting his hand to his face "damn! Kill! I meant kill...eh." Jack interjected and then sighed. I sighed and snickered, it would have been hilarious if not so personal.
"Hehe, it's just fine." I placed the guitar down. "Jack...when did you know?" I slowly inquired. He looked at me confused.
"Know?" He replied. I cocked my head at him. I could see it click in his head. "Oh...Well, probably freshman year, at least I had suspicions." I thought about it.
"Huh, really and here I am thinking I was hiding it so well." Jack giggled slightly.
"Haha, I mean just cause most of our roomies are himbos doesn't mean it's not a small room." Jack cackled. "To be honest, the himbo thing was kind of a big signifier." He continued.
"Really how so?"
"Well…" Jack spoke. "I see the way you are around most people like that, I know you really don't like that kind attitude and personality. I think left to your own devices, you would avoid most guys and girls who were kinda vapid and show boaty. However, there is this one loud dumb dumb that you never avoid and really like being around." He smirked.
I was flabbergasted. Holy shit, this guy was some genius. Expertly dissecting every interaction like a legendary detective and decoding all motivations.
"Fuck" I said. Jack burst out laughing. I soon joined him. "Remind me never to plan a surprise party for you, it would clearly be a pointless venture." I said going to our communal closet.
"I see and know all." He replied as he sat and continued reading the manga. I dug in the closet and pulled out a long hard case for my guitar. The old case was covered in stickers, every sticker I ever found would eventually take up residence on this case. I brought it out and opened it up. Taking care before placing the guitar inside and snapping it shut. I sat next to Jack and looked at him. I softly punched his arm.
"Thanks for everything."
"Hehe don't worry about it." He continued reading. "And I'll help you wrangle the dogs and make sure we get out on time."
"Well you're like the reason all these dogs are coming with us so I really am gonna need you to play babysitter."
"Aye aye." Jack smiled.
"How did you convince everyone to come anyway? I didn't think that traveling a few hours to watch a hardcore show in another city would be everyone's cup of tea."
"Well that was a little complicated. Firstly I think Legoshi could use a little time off campus. He's been kinda quiet and dejected lately." Jack said.
"This is a new development?" I replied. He quickly turned and flicked my ear. My ear slightly twitched in pain. "Meh, okay continue."
"Anyway I may have told Legoshi that you were really wanting to use the art department's cables and a smoke machine for the show. And that you were too nervous to ask." He snickered. "I figured he wouldn't feel comfortable giving you that gear on your own. But I figured he would still wanna help. Which reminds me." He set down the book. "If Legoshi comes in holding some cables and smoke machine, you should probably thank him and play along."
I laughed aloud. "And the others?"
"Well I may have also slipped it to Voss that he could probably get drinks and impress punk girls if he said he was with the band. So that pretty much secured him." He smiled. "Then of course Collot realized he would have to go, lest his friend be horribly mangled."
I laughed again and then blushed. "So what did you have to do to convince Durham to make the trip?" I said looking away.
"Oh well to be honest, my plan was to hopefully convince everyone else first so I could kinda pressure him into going. But a funny thing happened. As I kinda brought it up to him, he asked me if I wanted to go so I wouldn't have to be alone in the dorms for the night." He giggled.
I perked up. "So he was planning on coming anyway?"
"It appears so, either way it made my job easier." Jack replied as he looked down at his watch. "3:17, they should really start piling in soon."
I heard a small chime from the other side of the room.
I stood up and walked over to my bunk where I had left a small flip phone charging. Opened it and saw a message he had received.
"Hey man, we're already ready to go on our end. We're gonna be showing up outside the school at like 4 o'clock on the dot. Please have your dudes and your shit ready to go, see you soon." The message was sent from Sin, a vulture who was my band's drummer. In the past, playing small shows in town. We had always traveled lightly, usually bringing our instruments sans the drums. Over the two years we were a band we had eaten a lot of shit. Playing in little back rooms at restaurants, having Sin play with minimal drum kits to save time. Also having the police break up two house shows that we had performed at.
All and all, when we received the invite to open for a known band at an actual venue, we jumped at the opportunity. Despite the show being a little over two hours away, we were determined to make it on that stage. Sin and our bassist Benny had spent the last 3 weeks arranging things to make sure we would be there. As far as I knew, they had everything ready. At that moment I wasn't entirely sure how they were going to be able to move the three of us, the rest of 701 and all the gear. I figured I hadn't heard any frantic "we're fucked" texts so I had to assume they had somehow figured everything out.
"Everything all good?" Jack called out from behind me.
"Yeah, I mean I think so."
"They're gonna be able to get all of us there?
"I mean they haven't said no, not quite sure how it's gonna go down but nevertheless here we are."
The door rattled and both he and I looked at it. The door pushed ajar and through the slight opening walked a small fennec with big ears.
"Sup chumps." Voss said as he made his way into the room. Right behind him was a large white sheepdog. He yawned and rubbed his non visible eyes through his dense fur.
"Hey dudes, are we like leaving already?" Collot asked groggily.
"Hey guys, uh not just yet but pretty soon." I replied with a little smile. The excitement was starting to build for me knowing that it was only a matter of time before our departure. Collot entered the bathroom with a bundle of towel and clothes.
"Aren't you worried all the hot water is going to be gone?" Jack gestured at Voss who was kicking off his dress shoes.
"I think imma go without the shower." He said as his tiny shoes hit the floor.
"Aren't you trying to hookup with girls at this thing?" I asked.
"Well it's gonna be like punk girls at this thing." He looked at us. "I doubt they showered today, I'm trying to fit in and they might just admire my raw scent." He proudly stated.
I could see Jack wanted to interject but he just looked to me, assuming I had the expertise to debunk his theory. I really didn't know what to expect from this new scene. "Eh I honestly have no idea, I'm gonna be on the edge of my seat to see if it pays off." Voss laid back and smirked.
The shower started up and more steam arose from the bathroom. The door opened up again. Durham hurriedly walked in and moved to the bathroom door.
"Collot just got in there." Jack said. I kinda lightly blushed and looked slightly away.
"Ehh.." Durham sighed and turned to me with a slight smile. "Sorry bud, I'll try and hurry if this FLUFFY DICK WOULD MOVE HIS ASS!" He shouted at the bathroom. Voss and Jack laughed. "I promise I'll be quick so we can get out of here." Durham said to me. He looked at my makeup and outfit. "Woah dude you look nuts!" He gleamed.
I laughed and scratched the side of my head. "Yeah" I said.
"The shows not for a few hours, won't it get messed up?" Voss asked.
"I figured if it gets fucked up it will only add to my look." I smiled.
"Well you look awesome." Durham said. I lightly blushed. The shower stopped. "Finally." He said, picking up his towel and walking back to the door. I looked at my watch. "3:34, we might need to leave soon." I announced as a slightly damp Collot made his way into the room.
"Nice to see you too." Collot said as he gave a glare to Durham as he passed. Durham shut the door and after a moment the shower started again. Jack looked at me and furrowed his brow. I blushed and then grinned as I discreetly raised my middle finger at him. Collot reached into his bed behind the curtain and pulled out a bag of chips. He loudly reached into the crinkly bag and brought a chip to his mouth. It made a stale sounding "Crack" as he bit into it.
"Ugh... are those still good?" Jack said with a slight sneer.
"I like them like this." Collot said, placing another old chip into his maw.
"It's a miracle we don't have ants." The lab said, returning to the manga.
"Legoshi gets to have bugs in his bed, so why can't I?" Collot giggled. Me and Voss chuckled and Jack sighed and shrugged.
"Where is that wolf anyway?" Voss said dipping behind the curtains of his bed.
"I think he's getting some equipment from the art department." Jack replied. We heard a clumsy knock at the door. A moment later we heard a low voice from the other side.
"Hey can someone let me in?" Legoshi asked. Jack dashed over to the door and opened it. The large, lanky wolf shuffled inside with a slightly heavy looking contraption. He also had a few looped cables hung over his neck. "Uh Miguno, Jack told me that you wanted to borrow a smoke machine so I got you one from the art department." Jack winked at me and I spoke.
"Oh hell yeah, this is awesome." I smiled as he placed it on the floor. He loosened his tie.
"Hey Legoshi, we might need to roll out of here somewhat soon." Jack said. The shower stopped and we all heard Durham moving in the bathroom.
"Uh, did everyone already take a shower." The wolf asked.
"Yeah, everyone kinda already used the hot water." I said, feeling a little bad. If it makes you feel any better, me and Voss didn't so you can be in our stinky company." I playfully said.
"Huh, well I guess I'd rather be a little musky than cold." He said with a shrug he began to unbutton his shirt. Voss reappeared from behind the curtain. Wearing a little hoodie. Legoshi unbuttoned his dress shirt and removed it leaving him in a white under shirt. Durham then exited the shower, a little burst of heat and steam accompanied him. He shook his head quickly and a few residual drops of water were cast off of him.
"Hey Lego, I'm sorry but I don't think there's much hot water left." Durham said as he dried his lightly damp fur with the towel. He walked past me in nothing but boxers. I caught Jack stifling his laughter. I looked up at the ceiling and gulped. Legoshi pulled off his undershirt and then stepped out of his pants. The muscular wolf turned his back to me and unintentionally showed off the scars on his back. Durham walked over to the drawer and stood near Legoshi and also showed off his well defined back. Jack quietly snorted and held his mouth shut.
I had always hated the stereotypes that surrounded gay men. The insistence that gays were always lusting over every guy that came into their range of vision, was always the dumbest thing I had ever heard. That being said, I was doing exactly that. I watched as the two canines' fur shined in the dim sunlight. Their toned bodies moving in smooth, strong motions. I could see their muscles extending and contracting beneath the rugged fur. I had been so stressed for the first part of the day. It was nice to take this moment for myself and let my mind wander into some lovely places.
"Hey Migu, do you know if there are any more of those Leftovers shirts around here?" Durham asked. Looking over his shoulder at me. I flashed back to the real world.
"Uh, yeah in the closet." I stepped over to the closet and pulled out a little wrinkled cardboard box. I opened it up and pulled out a black shirt, tossing it to the coyote.
"Can I get one too?" Legoshi asked. I reached in and tossed another one.
"How many more do you have?" Collot asked.
"Like 30, and we'll have to pretty much sell out to break even after having them produced and paying Jack for the art." I said packing up and setting the box next to the smoke machine.
"Thanks for that by the way." Jack said looking at his watch. "3:48, damn we better be ready to get on the road" he put the manga down and tossed it into his bag. Upon hearing this, I reached down to the little flip phone. I opened it and began texting the Sin.
"Hey we're on our way out, we'll meet you down by the front entrance." I typed out. "Alright boys, we gotta move soon so I guess piss now or whatever you have to do." I said moving quickly to my guitar case and picking it up. Jack picked up his bag and moved to the door. I went to the box of shirts and Durham rushed over to it.
"I got that dude." He said as he picked up the cardboard box. I grinned a little and followed him out the door. Voss leaped from the bed to the sheepdog's backpack as Collot helped Legoshi carry the cables and smoke machine.
My phone dinged. I opened it up and read the message. "We'll be there in 10, be ready." Sin wrote. I continued walking with my roommates.
"So what's our plan once your bandmates get here." Legoshi asked as he stumbled behind us.
"Well once we're on the road we'll hall ass to Port City which is about a two hour drive. Then once we get there we'll find the venue called Tooth and Nail. Hopefully we make it by 6:30, load our gear in and then we play at 8." I called behind my shoulder, loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Geez not a lot of time to dick around before that." Durham replied. I laughed.
"You'd be surprised how stingy punk shows can be, these venues are usually tight ships. We actually had to convince them to let us load in an hour before the show. Ideally they would have had us loading in right about now."
"Geez who would have thought." Jack chimed in.
"I don't know if I've ever driven that far anywhere, aside from riding a train." Voss said from atop his friends head.
"Same." I said. "Never needed to but supposedly my band has a vehicle that can get us there with our gear and everything. Which reminds me, can everyone help pitch in a little gas money?"
I heard various groans but then a loose collection of yeahs.
"And with load in? I figure that labor will work off the cost of entry that you would have had to pay." I said.
"That's fair." Said Jack
"We've carried stuff this far, why stop now?" Voss said. Collot looked up at the fox.
"What do you mean? We've carried everything." The dog asked.
"And you're doing a great job." Voss said cheerfully as he patted his friend's shaggy head. We all walked and laughed to leave campus.