Tom took a peek
behind the drapes to the stage and held back a breath. There were so many
people there! He could even make out the—

The wolf gasped
and closed the drapes. There was his university rector.

“Cheer up, loup!" Martin shouted from behind him. He turned his head and slowly walked to
the backstage.

The wolf took a
deep inhale, then exhaled.

“Mon pote, écoute-moi." Martin put his hand
around Tom's shoulders, pulling him close. “You can do this. You've done your
all for this, and this is how it will end. You will walk over there, you will
give all those fuckers your bestest best presentation. And you will amaze them. Give the rest to the
universe to decide."

Looking at the
fox, Tom couldn't fight a chuckle. “Did you just call your rector a fucker?"

“I don't care.
And you shouldn't, too. Remember, those are just people, and the stage is all
yours."

“The stage is
all mine." He glanced at the podium where the host was opening the event. “The
stage is all bloody mine."

“That's the
spirit!" Martin gripped his back in encouragement. “You can do it, loup! Even if you don't make it, your name's
still going to be hung on the wall where they list those who made the
nomination."

“I can do it."
Tom sighed in determination. He then walked to where the finalists are sitting
and sat down, Martin next to him.

His phone
beeped. He took it out of his pocket and read a new text.

Max Kleinschmidt: Sorry dude, I probably won't make it to campus today.

He deflated a
little. Max wasn't coming.

Max Kleinschmidt: I believe you can do it! Trust yourself! It's all about you.

That didn't
make him feel any better. Max wasn't coming, and the dog was the one he was
trying to impress, that Tom wasn't just some no-one who took advantage of the large
dog because of his popularity.

He heard the
whispers. Of course the news travelled fast; even the next day after he went
home from the library with Max, he heard people whispering behind him. Who is he? Why was he so close to Max? Is he
gay? How disgraceful.

He never told
Max about that, but he was sure Max knew. If not from the whispers, then from some
of his friends.

No matter how
much he ignored them, they kept coming. But ignoring was one of Tom's brightest
points. So he kept walking with his head up and not caring about them because
he knew he wasn't doing what people think he did.

Was he doing
what people think he did?

He wasn't
taking advantage of Max, right? While it was true that he was attracted to him,
he didn't actively coax Max into helping him climb the social ladder. And it
seemed that Max honestly enjoyed his company, which should make him careful not
to break whatever small relationship they had.

The music
started in the background as the traditional dances began. He glanced at his
hands. Max's hand was… soft, warm. He still remembered that feeling, those soft
paw pads caressing his own.

And he truly, truly felt sorry for Max. He didn't mean
to freak him out like that. While he quickly covered his trembling hands and
feet after he regained consciousness, he was sure Max was worried. And really, it wasn't supposed to happen. Max now
definitely thought he was a weirdo. Lain was quick to take over, but he did a
bad job of that.

Max's paw pads were
nice. Strong, yet soft.

Did his muscles
feel that way too? The dog's fur looked quite short compared to his own, and
his muscles seemed hard. How did his fur feel like? Was it soft or coarse? How did
the muscles underneath feel like?

“…first
contestant, Thomas Luis Purnama!"

“Dude, it's
your turn." Martin shoved him and stood up. Tom followed suit.

The wolf took a
deep breath. “Gua bisa."

Mart gave his
shoulder a pat. “That's the spirit! Now get on stage!"

Tom nodded,
determined, and walked to the podium.

Upon taking his
first step, he nearly turned back. There were just so many people! The claps
nearly deafened him. The conference auditorium was simply enormous,
there were colours as far as the eye could see. The podium seemed like a
kilometre away.

Tom took
another deep breath and continued walking. As soon as he reached the podium,
the clapping stopped.

He glanced over
the first few rows and regretted that.

Okay, I can
do it.

“Good morning,
everyone." He started, everyone responded. “My name is Thomas Luis Purnama, a
fifth-semester student on Public Relations from the University of Barrowisle.
Today I will be discussing multiculturalism in the campus environment and its
effects on students."

Behind him, his
presentation file opened, and he took a small controller for the projector.

He took a deep
breath and started.

“As we know,
everyone has a culture. Culture defines every one of us..."

The hallway was
too crowded for him, so he decided to slip into a corner and drink his tea in silence. The paper cup he was holding was warm, and Tom gripped it to ease his
freezing hands. Even after his speech and all the contestants, his hands were still
ice cold.

He glanced around
and made it into a small pantry near the stairs. There were some snacks,
cookies, and biscuits. The wolf took one biscuit and munched it.

It tasted
heavenly.

Tom hummed in
appreciation, then took a sip from his beverage. The biscuit really went well
with the tea. His tail wagged and nearly knocked an empty chair behind him.

He chuckled and
moved the chair.

The
presentation part of the conference was over. Now, they were having cultural
performances, and there was a cultural fair outside. It would be later in the
evening they announced who was the winner. He didn't have his hopes up too high
this time; he made it to the final, yet he also saw the other finalists'
presentations were awesome.

He was positive
that Max wasn't coming, so he stopped hoping he'd magically appear. Although he
was kind of sort of wishing that.

Okay, whatever.
He should control his attraction towards the shepherd. It would hurt him later,
he knew it.

Tom finished
his biscuit and took another sip of his beverage in enjoyment. The juries hadn't
been deadly back there, they just asked some rather easy questions and he
answered those smoothly. Even his dean asked a question and he could answer her
question without a hiccup.

Maybe he really
explained his topic clearly, so there wasn't much to be asked.

Wanting to take
more of the biscuits, Tom exited the small corner to find a plate. He was only
passing the doorframe when he hit someone, bumping at them on their chest.

“What the fuck!"

The wolf
stumbled a bit, then looked at the one he'd run into. “I'm sorry, are you
o…kay?"

“Watch it!" The
stranger grumbled and gripped his face. Tom was breathless again. If it weren't
for the red fur on the stranger's outer face, he'd thought he ran into Max. But
this stranger appeared to be a wolf, instead of a German Shepherd. The stranger
was equally as tall, as big, but even more intimidating compared to Max.

Maybe because
Max never loomed, despite his large figure.

But this
stranger, he seemed to mean trouble.

The stranger
looked down at Tom with a rather menacing glare to his blue eyes. “Watch where
you're going, fucking asshole."

Tom just nodded
to cover his alarm. “Yeah, um." He took a step back, allowing the stranger to
enter the small space. “Sorry."

“Tch, whatever.
Fuck off." Stranger growled, then went inside the pantry. Before he was punched
into pulp, the grey wolf quickly apologised again, took his cup of tea, and ran
from there.

He just saved
his own life, yet for another time.

Now, where
could he find a plate for the biscuits?

He gazed over
the hallway. There were too many people, he couldn't make out the way. He was
just about to head back to the contestant's room before someone tapped his
shoulder.

 “Hey! Where've you been?"

The wolf turned
around. “Oh, hey Mart, hey El."

Martin was
grinning widely. “We've been looking for you, right Ellie?"

“Yeah, Tom."
Ellie nodded. “You okay? You look a bit pale."

“Everyone would
look pale after that thing." he gestured to the entrance to the auditorium. “My
hands are still freezing."

“Tom, calm
down," Ellie gripped his hand. “Wow, you are
freezing."

Tom sighed. “I
know, but it's just... really, I was just talking to more than a thousand
people."

“Nope. About
400." Said Martin.

“Yeah but that's
beside the point." Tom ran his fingers through his head fur in slight exasperation.
“Where's Lucy?"

“Off to get
some food with James."

“What time is
it anyway?"

“About 15,"
Martin answered. “You have anything to do?"

“Not really, it
means I have too much time to kill."

“How about we meet
up with Lucy and James? I'm hungry." The fox gripped his stomach.

“They have lots
of food here, you know."

“They're just
snacks." Martin took their hands. “Come on! I want real food."

“Wait! I'm
carrying a hot cup." Tom protested as the fox pulled him away.

The fox slowed
down and released his hand. “Oh, come on!" he held his hands up, exasperated.

Tom just
chuckled as Ellie kicked Martin. They walked slowly through the hallway and
made it outside to the main campus park where the cultural fair was being held.
There were a lot of booths, each having different flags on top of them.

“Okay, now that
we made it outside, which booth do you want to visit? Also, where are they?"

“How about that
one?" Martin pointed to a booth near the entrance, ignoring his question.

“Sure."

Tom was giddy.
Too giddy. He gripped the medal on his neck like a dog to a new bone. His tail
wiggled now and then. Sure, it was just silver, but it weighed even more than
all his efforts combined. However, when he thought about it, the essay he wrote
made him a little bit conflicted.

He tried so
hard not to make any implications to his past, even as far as writing about his
own story in the third person, and only in one paragraph. The wolf wasn't ready
to share his history; if he wasn't even ready to tell it to even his closest
friends, then there would be even less sense to sharing it through an essay.

“So, are we
going to have some dinner tonight?" Martin shoved his upper arm,
grinning.

“Bugger off."
Tom replied, trying to be snarky but it came out too playful. It wasn't that he
didn't want to buy them something, but it was too late in the night. Today had
been a very big day, and he was looking forward to getting a nice sleep.

Both Martin and
Ellie laughed.

When he was
announced to be the second-place winner, his heart leapt in joy. True, he wasn't
in the first place, but the juries said that his overall score was very close
to the first place. And he had to admit, the winner's topic was very
interesting.

Maybe if he had
included his own story and gotten the audience's empathy, he would've won it.

No, this was
enough. More than enough. Finally, he could tell the whole university that he
truly deserved a full scholarship, including 500 euros of allowance each month.
While it was very generous for the university to provide him with allowance, it
wasn't enough for his plans, so he decided to work part-time.

Besides, he was
looking forward to living in a small apartment or even a house, be it rented or
his own. He missed being able to cook again.

Now, with the 3.000-euro
prize, he was very looking forward to
it, but first, he had to replace his ageing laptop.

He smiled in
happiness.

“I can see you're
planning what to do with your money already." Ellie teased him.

“No, I'm not."

“Eh, sure, says
the one who was rubbing his medal."

“Piss. Off."
Tom pushed the two of them aside, making them laugh again.

When he was on
stage earlier, he saw some of the football team members in the crowd. He was a
bit glad that there was someone who saw that he was worthy of
being with Max, or at least on the way to be, that he wasn't only using him and
his popularity. He took the second place in a provincial championship, the
national was just another stair ahead.

Even if he didn't
make it to the first place, at least he reached the top.

International,
though, he was so underprepared.

Max still hadn't
arrived; he'd like him to see what was Tom capable of. Even, he personally
wanted to see Max being proud of him. Ugh, even when the dog wasn't coming he
still wished he could just pop out of nowhere.

Aside from
that, his classmates were obviously proud of him, from the way they hugged him
to death on the stage. His professors too, and he even saw Mr Beck giving him standing
applause with a very proud look on his face.

He was
definitely buying that pizza, first place or not.

The hallway was
lit, there were still people everywhere, but this time they looked at him and
smiled in respect as he passed by. Maybe they wouldn't do that tomorrow, so Tom
basked in the moment while it still lasted.

His rector even
congratulated him on the stage, and possibly stole his bad-mood bone so he was
so bloody happy right now.

When they
reached outside, the booths were finishing up and packed in for the night. It
was still going on until tomorrow, though, so Tom wasn't in a hurry to buy
anything he wanted. Not that he wanted much, anyway.

“Mart, what
time is it?"

The fox looked
at his watch and said. “Almost 22."

“Well, sorry
mates. It's late in the night and looks like it would be best for us t—ugh."

He staggered
backwards as someone ran into him. Martin and Ellie helped him up and he looked
up.

It was that red
wolf from earlier in the day.

Now, though, he
didn't seem annoyed. In fact, he helped Tom stand back up.

Tom just nodded
and let it go. “Sorry." Were he not the winner, maybe the red wolf wouldn't
even care to look at him. He shrugged and straightened up.

“I see that you're
the winner, hot stuff." The red wolf said, and upon hearing that, something
inside Tom jumped in giddiness. He glanced up and saw the red wolf grinning
wolfishly at him.

He nearly
blushed.

Bad pun aside,
was the red wolf chatting him up?

Okay brain, where did you even get that idea? “Um, thanks?"

“You look even
cuter up close." The stranger gave his shoulder a pat. “Sorry though, I gotta
go." Then he walked away.

Tom stared at
the large form of the red wolf, then turned his head as it became red. If that weren't one of the finest backsides
in campus…

“Loup, why do the strangest things on
campus always happen to you?" Martin asked him as they walked.

Ellie said.
“Seriously Tom, was he just hitting on you?"

“I have no
idea, mates." Tom stared at the road. The stranger was hot, damn hot. As hot as
Max, but waaay hotter because he actually returned the compliment. Maybe
the stranger was just using pick-up lines but really, what the heck?! “I have
no idea."

Notes:

Mon pote, écoute-moi = My bud, listen to me
Gua bisa = I can do it