Chapter Text
Will’s eyes fluttered open, the sunlight that slipped through the gaps in his blinds shining directly on his face.
He groaned, and rolled over to the opposite direction of the source of light. He pulled his ears over his eyes, attempting to fall back asleep.
Just as he was drifting back into another peaceful dream, he heard a voice distant call out for him. It was Joyce, his mother.
“Will, honey! Breakfast is ready!”
Her voice cut through the silence abruptly, making him jump a bit. He slowly began to sit up in bed, scratching behind his ear.
He threw his legs over to the side of the bed, putting on his brown, fluffy, bunny slippers his mom had gotten him last Christmas.Suddenly, Will heard a knock at the door. He stretched, letting out a small yawn, then walked over to open the door.
“Hey bud, mom told me to come see if you were up. Are you gonna brush your teeth before you eat?”
It was Jonathan, his older brother. He was significantly taller, and his ears stood upright, instead of flopping down like his mother and brother. He smelled like coconut, and mint. A scent Will would always find comfort in.
He gave him a smile and a nod, Jonathan reciprocating it and closing the door.
Will was nonverbal, but he still knew how to speak English. He knew basic phrases like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and more, but he never said them unless they were necessary, or he felt safe enough to say them.
Lonnie, his father, was an alcoholic. So when he was drunk, which he mostly was all the time, he would turn to physical or verbal abuse.
His family tried to not even interact with him in his intoxicated state, but if you unfortunately did, it wouldn’t end well.
One unlucky day, Lonnie stumbled home late at night to find Jonathan and Will watching a movie on the couch. He sat down on a chair in the living room next to them, cracking open a beer and talking a swig.
Lonnie was a fox, he had grey fur, sharp fangs, and long claws. He was naturally intimidating, but his family tried not to acknowledge that side of him and look at the better side of him
Jonathan and Will fell into silence for a bit, but quickly picked their conversation back up.
After a while, their father seemed to fall asleep, softly snoring. Will and his brother started giggling and whispering to each other about it.
Lonnie’s ear flicked suddenly, as he woke up, he heard the tail-end of their conversation. It was some sort of playful insult, but since he always had to push things to an extreme level, he snapped.
“What did you just say about me?” Lonnie suddenly said, startling the two siblings.
“Oh uhm, you were awake?” Jonathan said, his ears slowly lowering back.
“That’s not answering my question.”
“Oh, uh nothing dad! We were talking about someone from.. uh.. the movie.” Will chimed in, trying to get him off their backs.
Lonnie slowly stood up from the lounging chair, growling and approaching them. His pungent scent grew stronger, and his tail flicked side-to-side behind him.
Will looked into his brown eyes, not understanding why he felt so scared of his own father. Someone who was supposed to love him unconditionally,
From there, it quickly escalated to a huge argument. Jonathan tried to get Will to go into the other room, but Lonnie grabbed him by the collar, his claws puncturing through the fabric of his pajama shirt.
Joyce was out working a night shift, so when she opened the door to see pillows and other objects torn up and broken, strewn around the room, she immediately knew the events that occurred while she was away. She shut the door and sniffed the air, it smelled strongly of sour fruit, and alcohol. She sighed and began to walk towards Jonathan’s room.
Will sighed, turning around and walking to his dresser. Today was his first day of Kindergarten, so naturally, he wanted to wear something nice. He felt nervous, but tried to be optimistic and hoped that it wouldn’t be as bad as he made it out to be.
He rummaged through one one the drawers, looking for his favorite shirt. He pulled out a long sleeve yellow and blue shirt, two of his favorite colors. He then grabbed a pair of jeans, also his favorite, and laid them out on his bed.
He smiled, satisfied with his outfit choice and walked out of his room to the bathroom.
He brushed his teeth, then his hair, jumping up a few times to try and see his reflection in the mirror. ‘Still not tall enough’ he thought to himself, accepting defeat.
After his usual morning routine, he walked out into the kitchen to greet his family.
“Good morning honey!” Joyce said, crouching in front of him and extending her arms out for a hug.
Will smiled and skipped into her arms, embracing her. The scent of whipped cream and lilac enveloping him.
Still hugging his mother he saw his father, Lonnie, sitting behind them on a chair at the diner table. His silver-grey tail swishing behind him.
He had some sort of alcoholic beverage in hand, and an angry glint in his eye. He recognized that look from the other night. Will could also tell he was angry by his sour scent growing stronger. It smelled of rotting fruit, something completely unsettling.
Will pulled back from the hug, not wanting to keep any more eye contact with him.
“How did you sleep sweetie, any nightma-?” Joyce asked, cut off by an agitated voice in the background.
“He’s finally up?” Lonnie snarled, slightly baring his sharp yellow-ish, jagged, fangs.
Will jumped, trying to back away from him.
Joyce stood up fully now, turning to face her drunk husband.
“Yes, he’s up.” She said, thumping her foot once against the wooden floor. Will stood behind her, trying to stay hidden.
“Did you just give me attitude..?” He said, turning his attention to her and shooting up from his seat, the chair being pushed back with a screeching noise. His ears were pinned back as he gave a low growl at her.
“Not in front of Will.” Was all she had to say, trying to keep a brave face. Her own scent gave away that internally, she was terrified.
Lonnie scoffed, giving Will a dirty look and turning to walk out the front door. His tail swished angrily behind him as he opened the door, giving them one last glare before he slammed the door shut.
Joyce sighed, the tension in her shoulders dropping. She turned around to look down at her son who was trembling with fear, tears pricking at his eyes.
“Awh honey don’t cry, it’s okay now..” She said, attempting to calm him down.
Will reached up to grab her hand, as they walked over to the diner table.
He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, still sniffing a bit.
“Don’t cry anymore sweetie..” Joyce said, busying herself with serving Will’s breakfast.
She placed a plate of freshly made, fluffy pancakes topped with strawberries, and syrup in front of Will.
As soon as he laid his eyes on the food, he smiled from ear to ear. Pancakes have always been his favorite.
He looked at the clock on the wall, seeing as he only had about thirty minutes until he had to leave, he tried to quickly finish up his meal.
After a very delicious, and much needed breakfast he walked to his room to get dressed.
He took one last look in a mirror he had in his room, deciding he was satisfied with his choice of clothing, he grabbed his backpack and put it on.
“Ready to go?” Joyce asked, giving Will a comforting look.
He nodded, giving a toothy grin to his mother, a smile that showcased his two front teeth that were longer than the rest. Taking a deep breath, he slipped into his sneakers and stepped out of his house into the chilly, autumn morning.
The drive to school was long, and filled with nervous tension. Joyce kept looking in the rear view mirror at her son, who was seated in the backseat, who was nervously chewing on nails.
“No chewing, honey.”
Will’s hand shot back down to his lap, as he gave his mother a sheepish smile.
“Alright, we're here.” Joyce sighed, pulling up to the drop-off. Will’s leg was jumping nervously, as he fidgeted with his hands.
Joyce got out of the car, assisting her son with getting out of the vehicle.
Will hesitantly walked up to the door, holding his moms hand tightly. Joyce pushed the door open, pulling Will into the school with her.
Will was immediately greeted with a loud mix of voices and noises, making him want to turn around and run away.
He saw many new faces, two twin sisters who were parrots, their colorful wings flapping excitedly behind them as they chirped with happiness. He also saw tigers, deer, foxes, horses, and many others.
They all seemed happy, and excited to be there, but Will felt extremely out of place.
“Okay! Uh, I think your classroom should be somewhere around here… Let’s try this room.”
Joyce opened the door, having to gently push Will to go into the classroom.
“Hello!” A cheery voice said.
Will jumped back at the sudden voice, he slowly looked up at her. She was a slim, tall woman, white white long wispy hair. She had icy blue eyes, and freckles scattered throughout her face. She also smelled of orchids, and other floral fragrances. She was a cat, her white, fluffy tail waving calmly behind her.
“Oh hello, I’m Joyce Byers and this is my son, William Byers.”
The woman looked at her clipboard, skimming through the list of names.
“Ah! Yes, William Byers. I am going to be his homeroom teacher, my name is Ms. Angora!”
Joyce gave her a warm smile and shook her hand, trying to encourage Will to step forth.
She crouched down to his eye level, offering his a welcoming smile.
“It's very nice to meet you William. Or do you go by Will?”
Will looked down at his shoes and nodded, feeling embarrassed by the sudden attention.
She stood back up fully, brushing her bangs out of her face.
“Will, sweetheart, I need to go to work now okay? Joyce said, looking down at her son. She got down on her knees and pressed a kiss to his forehead.
“Have a good day, okay? I love you, see you soon.”
“I love you too.” Will said, hugging her.
After that, Joyce said her goodbyes and left. Will turned around to see all of his classmates talking loudly and running around the classroom.
This was going to be a long day.