\n I woke up the morning, throwing a shoe at my alarm clock. Shut up you stupid... I grumbled lightly. I was too tired to really care about going to school that day. I looked at the ceiling and sighed deeply. Why do we have to have school? Why can't we just... get the knowledge some other way? I groggily stood and shut my alarm off. I put my glasses on and clearly could see my way to the bathroom.

\n I stepped into the water and let it seep and soak my fur completely. I wasn't really a fan of water, but it was nice to just get clean. I used the fur soap and got myself cleaned off pretty well. I got out and dried myself off. It wasn't easy, towels weren't meant for the amount of fur that I had... I shook myself vigorously, getting a lot of water off my body. I spent a little while, combing my fur, just trying to get it to all lie down properly. Or at least to the point where it didn't look like shit.

\n I went up and quietly had breakfast. Sophie came down and joined me, today being my day to take her. We were usually out the door before Mom or Dad were even up. Sophie was asking me questions about boys, why they did this or that, and at one point, it became pretty clear that there was one Wolf that she really liked. She had so many questions about the species as a whole. I thought it was a little cute actually. Her naivety towards the subject.
\n We got into the Doomsday and I drove Sophie to school. She turned the tables on me, asking me about the party, knowing about Haley somehow.

\n "How did you know?"

\n "Jake." Jake liked to tell Sophie about all my little secrets, provided they were appropriate.

\n "Nice..."

\n "So, how'd it go?"

\n "Not much to say, we did a lot of kissing, and just hung around."

\n "And you spent the night over there?"

\n "Yeah... not by choice, I hit my head and wasn't able to drive home apparently." Sophie giggled at this as we pulled up to her school. "Alright, I'll pick you up later today."

\n "Ok."

\n "Have a good day." I said, hugging her, she hopped out of the car and took off.

\n *****

\n I walked out of Econ irritated with Mr. Roberts. He had the audacity to imply that Furs were single handedly dragging down the economy. I was still steaming in English as we wrote our papers. I wrote with the passion that I had only when I was furious. My ideas were radical, frightening, and well-written. I wished that I could have written like that every day.

\n During my off period, I was reading this book I'd been waiting for. It was the last in the series and I poured through it with immense care. It was about an assassin named Sophia and how she balanced raising her small child with you know, murdering people. The worst was how they left off. Her child was just kidnapped and she was revenge filled. I got about a hundred pages into it before people started to leave the library and head to class. Nooo!!! I wanna read it! The book had reached a place where Sophia was torturing a former lover for information. God I loved this book.

\n I sat distracted through my last class before lunch, pondering over all the ways the book could throw me through a loop next. I got called on several times, I never once knew the answer, and was chided for it. But... but... the book! The book! I know it's a terrible reason, but you'd be distracted by it too if you were waiting for it for nine months. Cliff hangers are not a nice way to end a book. It's mean and I don't like it.

\n Lunch finally rolled by and I stopped by my locker before heading to the caf, needing some books for my next class. I was equally looking forward to, and dreading math. I mean, her dad could have made her transfer or something. And that'd be really fucking great... I finally get a class with my dream girl, who actually likes me, and she gets taken awa- I collapsed as someone who weighed as much as me jumped on my back, and forced me down. I hit the ground hard and looked at who was stupid enough to-

\n "Jake. What the hell was that?"

\n "Surprise attack." He had this huge goofy smile on his face. I punched him in the arm.

\n "Not funny dude..."

\n "You know you liked it." He stood and brushed himself off. He offered a hand and I took it. We went off to lunch and waited in life for a while. They were serving food from one of our favorite fast food places, which was a nice little rarity. We were joking around in line, talking about Econ, classes, Jake was checking out this one vixen who had a reputation of being a slut. I thought of the conversation we had the other day and what he said... But I didn't bring it up. It'd be easier to just ignore it for the time being.

\n "Oh, I never told you what happened at work."

\n "What?"

\n "Mr. Arnold came in."

\n "So?"

\n "He sat down with me and pretty much straight up told me not to go near Haley ever again. He said if I did, he'd kill me."

\n "Empty threats." Jake said, getting his food in front of me.

\n "Still I mean, it's scary to think about."

\n "Why? He's nothing."

\n "He broke my snout."

\n "Not that hard to do." He said giving the cashier a ten. I growled at him. "Fine fine, whatever." He said, walking away for a seat. We sat together at a table near the end of the caf.

\n "But I called Haley last night, and he's like, totally freaking out on her. She's been grounded, phone taken away. He's totally paranoid about the whole thing."

\n "Sounds... fun."

\n "It is, it means I'm getting to him. He's totally hating it. I mean, I'm making out with his daughter right under his nose."

\n "Can you really call it that when You've only done anything once?"

\n "I can call it whatever I want."

\n "Doesn't make it true."

\n "Says you." I shot him a look. He just laughed.

\n "Whatever man."

\n "You gonna do anything... fun in math?"

\n "Um... dude, it'd be the middle of class."

\n "Your point?"

\n "Not exactly a place to be sucking face."

\n "Or snout." He mumbled taking a drink. I threw a wrapper at him. He retaliated by taking his water bottle and hitting my arm with it playfully. A teacher shot us a look, pretty steamed, but we just played it off like we were being totally innocent.

\n *****

\n Haley was sitting next to me in math, playfully poking my sides. I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but I'm very ticklish... in the right spots. Unfortunately, she knew all the right spots. I yelped once and people looked at me, but I played it off that I had sneezed. But they all knew. My sneeze, does not sound like a yelp.

\n "So, I was thinking we should hang out more often." She said a few minutes after Mr. Ferguson's lecture was over and we were able to work on the homework.

\n "Like what? I mean, we don't exactly mix crowds that often..."

\n "Well... I dunno. It'd be nice to just hang out more."

\n "Do you mean hang out or other stuff?" I teased her. Haley just rolled her eyes at me.

\n "You know very well what I mean." Her voice was smooth honey.

\n "No, I don't, please tell me." She looked around quickly to make sure no one was watching. We were in the back of the class, so we were safe for the most part. She kissed me quickly and then went back to her problems. My tail was a dead give away of how happy I was. "I like that." I joked.

\n "That's nothing." She teased.

\n "Oh don't even..." I shut up when Mr. Ferguson walked by. She giggled to herself and I found myself so happy. Just being around her, was invigorating, but when she kissed me... Holy. Fucking. Shit. Yes!

\n I finished my homework and took out my mp3, sharing an earbud with Haley. We shared a similar taste in music. We both had a thing for a type of music that was popular 2010, called Indie. Twenty years later though, the music scene is just terrible. Class let out, and Haley and I said our goodbyes. Goodbyes normally don't involve that much tongue though...

\n Science was fairly boring. I mean, nothing really happened. Okay, that's not true, the teacher, Mr Coleridge poured mixed sugar and water together then poured Hydrochloric acid on it. The resulting black tar that came about was really cool to watch. It bubbled up and spilled out on a pan. That was really cool to see. But other than that, yeah... it was pretty boring. Chinese.... well... I don't really like the class. It's lame that it's a requirement.

\n School let out, and I got into the Doomsday. I was distracted and a little love-drunk from Haley. Haley Arnold. Even her name sounded beautiful. It made me think of an old show tune that my Dad liked. "Say it loud and there's music playing. Say it softly it's almost like praying." Was it cheesy? Yeah... Was it ridiculous? Yeah. Was it true? Yeah...
\n Sophie was in a great mood the whole ride home. She was blushing, and giggly and bubbly. It was a little unnerving to the extent of which she was giggling.

\n "Sophie... what happened when you were at school?"

\n "Nothing..." She swayed a little in her seat.

\n "Riiight." I said. "Does this have anything to do with Andy?" I could tell that she was blushing by the way she looked away from me.

\n "Maybe." She said in a sing-song way.

\n "You really like him don't you?' She just nodded.

\n "Yeah. He's really cute and nice and he's always saying that I look pretty." I smiled.

\n "Sounds like he really likes you." Sophie perked up.

\n "You really think so?"

\n "Yeah I do."

\n "Hey Brent..."

\n "Yeah?"

\n "You know that day when Andy was in that fight?"

\n "Yeah?"

\n "He was only in it because he was defending me."

\n "What do you mean?"

\n "Well... those fifth graders were picking on me and Andy came up to them and told them to stop. They got angry, and pushed him. He pushed back, and then they started hitting each other. A teacher stopped them, but the boys said they'd meet him after school." That actually made a lot of sense. It explained why Sophie was so scared of him getting hurt. I pondered this some more as we pulled into the driveway.

\n I tried my best to ignore the homework I had by doing the normal stuff. I grabbed a snack, watched TV, lurked around on the Internet. Then I realized it wouldn't work for long. So I just buckled down and did it. I didn't really have that much homework... but what I did have was pretty hard. It took me a while to get any kind of progress done. By the time it was done, Mom was home and preparing dinner. My stomach complained that it wasn't being stuffed with the chicken she was making. I went upstairs, actually feeling a little weak.

\n "Mom... I'm hungry."

\n "Brent, calm down, it's almost ready."

\n "Not soon enough." I opened the oven as a joke and she punched me in the arm. "Ow!"

\n "Brent get out of here!"

\n "Alright alright!" I probably shouldn't have done that, she'll have to get me back for that... but you know what? It was worth it.

\n *****

\n I sat down on the couch and felt bloated. I ate way too much chicken, but then Sophie challenged me to an ice cream eating contest. Worst. Decision. Of. My. Life. Well... I wouldn't really say worst, I mean, there have been a lot more stupid things I've done. I had brain freeze really bad and was feeling sick. Sophie was just hopping all over the place on a sugar high. Mom and Dad were sitting in their chairs, chiding me for letting her have so much sugar. I just groaned and closed my eyes.

\n *****

\n I woke up a little later and realized that it had to be pretty late. When I went to sleep, the sun was still in the sky, but now it was dark. Completely dark. I felt for my phone and pulled it out, using it to light up the room a little bit, and tell me the time. 10:20. Mom and Dad would be in bed by now, and Sophie would be fast asleep. I yawned and felt stiff. I stretched and felt the popping in my joints and spine. The release of pressure that was oh so freeing. I smiled contently, and walked downstairs where I passed out on my bed, happy that it was comfortable.

\n So... I kinda broke one of my rules without realizing it. I mentioned one of my other stories... in this... And I gave away what time period the story takes place in, for those of you who looked closely enough.