>School rushes by in an orange blur, and really, you do mean an orange blur
>As the administration preps for the Spooktober Fest, everything gets a fresh coat of orange and black plastic varnish
>Fake jack-o-lanterns line the hallways (where they remain upright and not filled with trash by the students for a good hour)
>Streamers hang from rafters
>Someone set up a scarecrow outside the front entrance, complete with a smiling pumpkin face that certainly doesn't broadcast terror or fear
>You have to remind yourself that this is a public school function
>Its been neutered of any true culture and color
>The only really scary things are the budget cuts this time of the year
>The custodial staff (really, just Stella) hauls tables into the gym while volunteer students and teachers and haul 'sp00ky' supplies from the equipment room, which include a few gigantic fog machines, some fake gravestones, and even a faux skeleton
>Yep, it was going to be a major suckfest, and be about as fun as a school-sanctioned event can be
>Though while you're tailing Sam (again) the whole day, you do overhear a convenient little piece of information outside of Sam's class
>Four preps, humans and neatly dressed with clean sweater and sharp haircut to match their even sharper tongues, are loudly discussing the one thing that high school kids care more about than getting the FUCK out of their hometown: where to acquire tons of alcohol for tonight's costume party at one of their fancy suburban homes
>And this ain't like your house, no, the homes where the preps come from makes your house look like Sam's
>The idea of a party intrigues you
>You've never been to one before, at least, put on by kids your own age
>Were they as full of debauchery as the movies say they are?
>Also, you have nothing really going on tonight other than get costumes…
>God, it's your last year in high school EVER
>Why shouldn't you show up, get plastered and make an anonymous ass out of yourself?
>You'll bring the whole gang
>Especially Sam, who has probably NEVER been to party in his life
>…Yeah, you'll do it for him, you lie to yourself
>You pen down the address on your hand, and then later transfer it to your phone right as the bell kicks itself and students saturate the hallways
>Sam is the last out the door (as usual), lagging behind a particularly mean looking panther jock, buttoned up in his letterman's jacket that screams 'I peaked in high school!'
>But the large feline pays no attention to you, and instead directs a death glare at the four assembled preps
>Ah yes, the two natural enemies of high school life — preps and jocks
>One group had money, the other group had brawn
>You're not sure why any of that really matters, but people are superficial
>And in a less-than-superficial gesture, the preps fire back at the panther with a few raised middle fingers
>"Oh fuck off, cunts," the panther directs a rolling growl in their direction
>You casually step to the side and fold yourself against a locker
>You pull Sam against you and shimmy away as fast as you can
>This could get ugly very quickly
>Everyone is at each other's throats this week, thanks to Vanessa
>One of the preps steps forward
>"What are you going to do about it, razor mouth?"
>This does enough to spike the Panther's blood pressure
>Yep, time for you to go
>You've endured enough supernaturally prompted aggression for the rest of your life
>With Sam trailing closely behind you (not like he has much choice), you steer your way down the hallway, nudging past students who (appropriately) nudge back
>With all the strength your skelly body can muster, you manage to stay upright as you're jostled to and fro by bodies in motion
>Sam seems to have plenty of experience getting knocked around, so he's a lot better at staying on his feet and dodging wayward elbows
>When you look behind you, you see the crowds parting for a teacher and school resource officer (and really, they're just cops) sprinting down the hall, shoving through throngs of teenagers, heading back to where the panther and the preps were
>Guess you were right
>It did get ugly
>Battered plenty, you're able to make it down the stairs, to the lunchroom, and then out to the parking lot where the kiss of cold air against your skin is a relief from the sweltering heat inside
>Sam seems to agree, as he tugs at the collar of his hoodie with his one free hand, letting out some trapped heat
>Strangely enough, you don't see anyone you need to avoid other than angry students
>No goths
>No Sam's Dad
>No Stella
>Just cars in motion, kids cutting each other off, clusters of teenagers strutting around, looking for something to sate their boredom
>On the way to your car, you steer clear of a group of punks, but they only offer 'fuck you looking at?' glances from behind the curling cigarette smoke trailing off their lips
>You see Mike waiting on the hood of your car like he owns it
>Jenna is at his side, talking to him
>Neither of them notice your approach
>Mike must have cracked a joke, because Jenna slouches in her ordinarily rigid and prim stance
>She throws her vulpine head back and laughs from her belly
>You think that's called gekkering for foxes? But you're not sure
>And when she recovers, she absent-mindedly runs her fingers through the fur on the top of her head, twisting it earnestly while Mike prattles on about something you can't hear
>As you approach, Mike throws a quick glance at you and the bun
>His cheer seems to drain to a half-smile, as if he were glad to see you, but you had interrupted something important
>"There's the chauffeur and his sidekick," he says with a weak laugh
>He seems… in good cheer
“Nice to see you too, Edward."
>"Edward?" Mike tilts his head
“Nevermind, you don't read," you fire back quickly
>Jenna giggles. “Well probably not those types of books."
>She puts a lot of stress on the word 'those,' drawing your curiosity
“So you read trashy young adult fiction too?" You prod
>"I live for it. I'd get The Deathly Hallows tattooed on my arm if I could… you know… see it under all of this fur."
>You internally wince
>You can hear your inner elitist yelling:
>'Who, past the age of 12, reads Harry Potter?'
>Thankfully Mike silences your inner critic counters by calling you both 'book reading morons,' promptly ending the discussion
>"Guess we're just waiting on Comrade Alexi," Mike observes from the back seat
>He's sitting in the middle seat, squeezed up close to Jenna, who doesn't seem to mind
>Sam is in the passenger seat, as usual
“Guess so…" you observe, drawing out the last syllable so you can ease your transition into your next request
>Smooth like butter, you can taste the transition on your tongue
“….Hey, wouldn't it be fun if we… I don't know… went to a costume party?" You propose, your voice stumbling into a pathetic whisper
>So much for your initial success with the transition
>Mike seems to hear it well enough, though
>"A costume party? Like at the school? Fuck no-"
“Not at the school," you interject, before he kills your idea. “At someone's house. I think it's happening at Braydon Smith's place tonight."
>The car is silent, and the sudden guilt you feel burdens you like a millstone around your neck
>Really, it's a selfish request
>You just want to go to the party because you've never been to one
>And because Sam needs to have an experience! A good one! Something that reminds him Halloween isn't just trick-or-treating and fake fog machines and happy scarecrows
>"Will there be booze?" Mike asks
>"What? Hell no, count me out if there's underage drinking." Jenna crosses her arms across her chest in a pout
>Mike issues a snort of laughter. “So you'll steal a shopping cart and five pounds of garlic, but you won't drink with us?"
>Jenna reddens. “I-I left a $20 at the counter, so it's alright."
>"Whatever. If there's booze I'm in. Not like we had any plans tonight."
>Your eyes shift from Jenna to Mike
>She frowns
>"Well, I'm not drinking."
>"PERFECT!" Mike practically jumps in his seat. “You can be the driver. Anon, Sam, Alex and I will make sure we handle most of the liquor. I'll drink enough for the both of us."
>You pass a look down at Sam, who seems apprehensive, given that he's thoughtfully stroking his ears, threatening to tug on them
>You do your best attempt at a reassuring smile
“It'll be fun. I want you to have something close to a normal Halloween experience. Okay?"
>He flashes a nervous smile
>"O-Okay," he says, but you can hear the mistrust, which sounds like little silvery knives in your heart
>Alex arrives well after the rest of the cars are gone
>His light brown hair curls down in uneven tangles from his golden beanie — disheveled from exhaustion
>And the rest of him is a sweaty mess
>His ordinarily pale cheeks look flush with color and exhaustion, and as he limps across the blacktop, you can see that he's wearing damp sweat stains underneath his long maroon shirt
>He throws open the door without a word and grunts his way next to Mike
>"Where the hell have you been?" Mike asks
>Jenna and Sam both pinch their nose in unison, as if they were following lines from a script
>"Ghrisd," Jenna says, her voice a high, nasally whine. “Ydou reeg,"
>"Huh?" Alex says, barely perceiving anything as he throws his head back against the seat
>His chest heaves
>The vixen unplugs her sensitive nose. “I said you REEK."
>"Oh."
>Alex hears the complaint, but doesn't seem to register it
>You snap your fingers at the poor kid in some attempt to bring him back to reality
>It seems to reel him back in enough for an exhausted explanation
>"Coach Griswald made me run an extra mile today for calling him a fascist." His voice comes out in tired puffs
>"Nice one, dude." Mike says
>"Ygou woudnd gnow whad fagscism is iv id pud ids bood on ur negg." Jenna says
>Alex rolls against the door panel and shuts his eyes. “Fascist," he whispers to the door panel, who whispers nothing back but the cold rattle of loose metal as you twist your keys into the ignition
>You've wasted enough time here
The Leaves of Fall Act 3: Something That Matters (Part 6)
You've never really 'fit in' with the heavily divided Ranchview High School crowd. Jock, Goth, Prep, Cheerleader, Nerd... you were never any of these. But as Halloween approaches, strange things start happening, and a dark ritual begins with the finding of a curious red book. It's a race against time for you and your friends to stop a group of students from ushering in an age of darkness, and to also figure out just what the hell is wrong with that rabbit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About this version: originally, The Leaves of Fall was split into two pastebins to compensate for the length of the story. Given that pastebin has chosen to censor this story for ambiguous reasons, it will forever be stored here and on AO3. This new version contains spelling, grammar and content fixes. Please understand that the content is all the same as the earlier versions minus some sentences being changed and fixed up. I cannot stress this enough: no new content has been added. It's my hope that this is a cleaner, easier-to-read version of the story.
Cover: https://imgur.com/a/vZS4Q
Sam (drawn by Akella of /hmofa/) https://imgur.com/a/nk3t1wT
Fan art collection: https://imgur.com/a/SCCSIQv
Accompanying playlist (WIP): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9aXlzDRA49QKxgYsOV2JuDd410_nI-0J
Alternative link: https://www.sofurry.com/view/1479078
Total word count: 147,552 words
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About this version: originally, The Leaves of Fall was split into two pastebins to compensate for the length of the story. Given that pastebin has chosen to censor this story for ambiguous reasons, it will forever be stored here and on AO3. This new version contains spelling, grammar and content fixes. Please understand that the content is all the same as the earlier versions minus some sentences being changed and fixed up. I cannot stress this enough: no new content has been added. It's my hope that this is a cleaner, easier-to-read version of the story.
Cover: https://imgur.com/a/vZS4Q
Sam (drawn by Akella of /hmofa/) https://imgur.com/a/nk3t1wT
Fan art collection: https://imgur.com/a/SCCSIQv
Accompanying playlist (WIP): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9aXlzDRA49QKxgYsOV2JuDd410_nI-0J
Alternative link: https://www.sofurry.com/view/1479078
Total word count: 147,552 words
4 years ago
77 Views
0 Likes
Estimated reading time
8 Minutes
Supporters of SoFurry
No comments yet. Be the first!