ANOTHER SIDE

Chapter 4: School again...blah!

Monday arrived a bit gray and cloudy which fit Garrett's mood. After such an incredible last three days, going to school was one great blah!

When he came down with his backpack over his shoulder, he paused to dump it on the couch then headed to the kitchen but he could already smell breakfast cooking. Surprised he stepped through the archway and found Jake fixing the meal.

"Hi, thought I'd give you a good power breakfast to start the morning right. Didn't know if you liked a heavy breakfast so went with light one instead, just bacon, toast, and cereal."

"Wow, thanks. And, yeah, I don't like to heavy a meal before school so this is great. Seems funny and nice to have someone else get it ready, lets me watch a bit more TV before leaving," Garrett told the slim tom as he sat down at the table.

"What time do you leave, by the way?"

"Oh, the bus gets here around eight."

"You're great with your time management then since you have an hour to relax," Jake complimented him, placing the plate of bacon on the table and joining the teen.

"Thanks."

They ate companionably and were just finishing when Chance strolled in, yawning as usual.

"Good morning all. Hey, Garrett, want an after school pick up?" He asked as he sat down and began to gather his breakfast in front of him.

"Sure, that would be great, if its not too much trouble. I get out at three but don't make this a habit. You do have a garage to run you know," Garrett said, pulling Chance's chain.

Chance ruffled the kitten's hair as punishment, Garrett growled and straighten it, while the tabby laughed. "It's no trouble and no, I won't do it unless you ask, deal?"

"Yeah, deal. I'm going to watch some TV now," the teen said, putting his dishes in the sink then going to the living room.

Chance and Jake finished their meal and did the dishes before going out to the living area where Garrett was just turning off the TV. Out the window, the guys saw a big yellow school bus stop at the gate.

"Have a good day!" Chance shouted at Garrett's backside as it hurried down the stairs.

"Have a great first day!" Garrett shouted back then he was gone through the shop, across the yard and climbing aboard the bus.

Jake turned away from the window to see Chance about to go downstairs to the garage. "Uh, Chance hold up a minute."

Chance stopped and turned, giving his friend a puzzled look.

"I've got something I want to feel you out about. Let's have a seat on the couch." Jake went to the couch and waited for Chance to sit beside him.

"What's up?"

"Ever since I saw this set up and the cool hidden hangar underneath us, I've gotten this really great idea how to get back at Feral and get us back in the air again."

"Huh? What do you mean get in the air again and do what?"

"Take care of the criminals the enforcers can't handle. Protect the city the way Feral isn't able to from the big guys that are destroying it," Jake said passionately.

"You're joking? Be vigilantes...we can't do that. We swore to serve and protect not break the laws which being a vigilante would be," Chance said, shaking his head. He was shocked Jake even suggested such a thing.

Jake was stunned by Chance's outright dismissal of his idea. "You're kidding me right? What part of 'we got screwed' aren't you getting? You know the ins and outs of a fighter jet better then anyone and I can build and invent any weapon we'd need from all this salvage. Come on, Chance you can't tell me you wouldn't jump at the chance to protect the city? You saw for yourself that the big criminals are running rings around the enforcers. If we do this right, we can take them out finally before anymore innocents are harmed," he argued persuasively.

Chance sighed and squeezed his eyes shut. "I still don't like it, Jake but let me think about it. If we can really build a jet and have more superior weaponry, then I might be up for it," he said cautiously.

Jake nodded, sighing mentally. It felt strange for his normally 'leap before he looked' partner to suddenly develop a sense of caution. It was actually a good thing but the timing was all wrong as far as the slim tom was concerned. Oh well, he would just have to prove to the tabby they could do this but it would take months of work before they were ready.

Leaving the subject there for now, the pair went down into the garage and opened it up for business. It wasn't long before they got some calls for towing and went out to pick them up. One step toward building their own client base.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

While his new co-workers began their day, Garrett was walking across the quad and into the school. Gripping the strap of his backpack, he stared down the long hallway filled with teens talking loudly, throwing a football around, females gossiping in groups near the lockers...a typical day at high school.

Sighing he threaded his way through the crowds that were unwilling to go to their classrooms until the very last minute and entered his first period room.

French was the start of his day and one of his favorites. He especially liked his teacher, Ms. Tirana. She was already hard at work at her desk and looked up when he entered giving him a warm smile.

He was always early and she appreciated how much he enjoyed being in her class. "Good morning, Garrett."

"Good morning, Ms. Tirana, have a nice weekend?" he asked as he went to his desk at the back of the room situated near a window. He pulled out his work from his backpack, put it on his desk, then slung the pack on the back of his seat before sitting down.

"I did indeed. Was it busy at the yard?" She asked, politely. She was slim built and petite, handsome rather than pretty, and had a short, brown colored fur. Light brown hair fell to just below her shoulders and on her face was a pair of tortishell glasses. Today she wore a light blue blouse covered by a dark blue jacket and slacks to match, with black pumps on her feet.

"Two new workers have come to work in the yard and I really like them both. They are nice guys and they took me to the Megakat Amusement Park on Sunday so you could say I had a great weekend," he said grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh, new workers, eh? They live with you?" She wasn't aware that Garrett lived alone, just assumed his guardian was there as well.

"Yeah, they are the two ex-enforcers who got into trouble recently and are required to work off their punishment at the yard."

"Oh my, so they are the pair in the news I heard about?" she asked concerned. He nodded. "I wouldn't see how that would be safe for you to have them around. Disobeying an order is a serious offense."

"They weren't guilty," Garrett stoutly defended the pair. "They already had the tag locked in on their control board and I checked their jet when it was brought in. It clearly shows they were hit by another jet that caused the accident. It wasn't right they were put out for that."

"Oh...I did hear there were some questions as to what really went on in the cockpit..." she said thoughtfully.

She knew just how smart Garrett was and didn't disbelieve him when he said he'd checked the damage and understood what he was seeing. The teachers that taught him were always sharing news about just how intelligent the teen was and how sorry they were he wasn't in some advanced school rather than here. They clearly could see just how bored he was. It wasn't a good thing to allow a genius vegetate...that could lead to some bad behavior but they didn't know what to do about it.

Her attention returned to the teen and she sighed. "I believe you, Garrett. I swear, it's always about glory these days instead of saving people's lives and I think Commander Feral should be ashamed of himself. Anyway, I'm glad Furlong and Clawson have taken a liking to you and gave you such a good time yesterday. I relieves my mind to know they are such good toms but its sad such a bad thing happened to them." She shook her head.

"Yeah, I know. I like them and am glad they are around," he grinned. At that moment, the bell rang for class to begin.

"Have a good day, Garrett," she said, smiling warmly before standing to greet her students.

He ignored the rowdy students pouring in and taking their seats. He opened his notebook and prepared to listen.

History was next and bored him to tears. His classmates struggled with the day's lesson but he had finished within fifteen minutes and spent the rest of the time reading the next few lessons. English was just as tedious and it was hard for him to even show an interest.

Gym class was next and he sighed with relief. He like the class as it afforded him time to burn off his frustrations at being a loner and bored with his classes. The physical exertion made him feel good too.

By lunch, he wasn't very hungry, so settled for a salad and a bottle of sprite. He took it to a private corner and began drawing. He loved drawing just about anything and even developed some characters of his own, making little comics with them.

Geometry was next and he breezed through that, already several lessons ahead of the class. The teacher has asked him to tutor some of the slower students but he bowed out, too shy to interact with others well.

Finally, it was his last class of the day. The lessons they had to sit through were screamingly easy and boring. He was majorly frustrated because he had already been driving for a couple of years, though only around the yard and never on the street. They hadn't graduated to actually driving yet and Garrett chafed at the delay.

When the bell rung for the end of the day, he was relieved to get out of there. Honestly, except for French and Gym, he hated attending school. Without any friends, it was just a boring and tedious place to spend ones day. He worked alright with project partners but had nothing to do with them outside the classroom. Surprisingly, it really didn't bother him that he hadn't made friends except for adult ones. He just didn't have any patience for all the high school drama of his peers and they thought him too much of a geek to bother knowing so he remained an outsider.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

It was two-forty when Chance got into the tow truck and drove to the high school. He wanted to get their early enough to get a parking spot.

Even this early, he had to wend his way through all the parents and busses waiting for their kittens to leave the school. He finally reached the spot where he and Garrett agreed they'd meet and parked.

He heard the bell ring and in minutes, kittens came pouring out of the school like a wound hemorrhaging. As he watched the students pour out, he felt a bit nostalgic about his days in high school. Unlike Garrett, he had a great time and made lots of friends and was in sports.

His eyes roved restlessly over the sea of heads until he finally spotted Garrett coming across the grounds toward him. Moments later, the kitten climbed into the seat and put on his seatbelt.

"How was your day?" Chance asked, pulling out of the school parking area and heading back to the yard.

Garrett shrugged. "Same as usual."

Chance couldn't help but grin. "You mean boring?"

A small smile tugged at Garrett's lips. "Yeah, it is."

"I barely kept my grades up but you're probably more like Jake, breeze through and be bored," Chance chuckled at the memory of what Jake had described of his schooling. Bet you don't have any homework either?"

"Nope, always get it done in class then just sit and vegetate," Garrett quipped, pleased to talk to someone who actually understood. Not because it happened to him but because he of his partner.

"So how was your first day in the garage?"

"Well it was boring at first but then we got some tows. And there was one special tow I got of a very pretty she-kat."

"Really, what makes her so special."

"She is the deputy mayor and a real knockout."

Garrett's ears flicked up with interest. "Really?"

"Oh yeah, seems her water pump had gone out on her. Gotta tell ya, if I thought she looked hot on TV, in person she's smokin'...damn!"

Garrett couldn't help but chuckle.

"High point of my day," Chance asserted, smirking.

"I bet."

They made it back to the salvage yard and Garrett was the first to step out of the truck. He and Chance entered the garage where Jake was bent over working on a sedan. The slim tom heard them and looked up.

"Hey there, how was school?" He asked, placing his wrench on the bench behind him.

"It was fine." Garrett said blandly, moving past Jake and heading upstairs to put his backpack away and change clothes.

Jake glanced over at Chance, a question in his eyes.

"Think he's a lot like you were...bored with school and alone...at least I didn't see anyone who even gave him a second look," Chance told him.

"Hmm, perhaps I should speak with him..." Jake said thoughtfully. Chance just shrugged and went into the break area to get something to drink.

Minutes later, Garrett came back down and set to work. There were about five cars there which pleased him because it meant money.

They worked companionably until quitting time, finishing the vehicles in time for people to pick them up. Garrett got to see Ms. Briggs and had to admit Chance was right, she was really fine to look at close up and was truly a nice person. He was thrilled when she said she would use them from now on for her car.

When they closed the garage, Garrett announced, "I'm making chicken for dinner, how's that sound?"

"Wow, sounds delicious. We'll clean up here and do the lock up while you go fix the chow, okay?" Chance asked.

"Perfect, see you in a bit," the teen said, smiling then went upstairs to clean up.

The two adults came up later and took showers. Jake was the first to appear in the kitchen. Garrett was wearing a set of headphones and his head was bobbing to something he was listening to.

That made Jake smile but he needed to talk to him so tapped the teen on the shoulder.

"Hmm, oh, hi...dinner is almost ready," Garrett said, cheerily.

"Great, want me to set the table?"

"That would be good."

Jake set about doing his task. "Garrett?"

"Hmm?"

"I wanted to speak to you about school and how it truly is for you. If you're anything like I was, you're terribly bored...am I right?"

Garrett frowned but nodded.

"Well, I found the best way to beat that was to tutor students and join clubs that interested me. I also took advanced placement classes that allowed me to accelerate ahead of my peers to graduate early. I'm betting you already have sufficient points to do this, hmm?"

"Yeah, I do but I never thought about trying to get out of there early and I'm far too shy to tutor."

Jake frowned. "You don't have any friends?"

Garrett ducked his head and returned his attention to the food he was making, the conversation was uncomfortable for him. "No, I just can't talk to teens...adults no problem...but teens ... their conversations are just so much drama and annoying for me to listen to much less join in.

Jake hid a smile. "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean but you know, I finally did make some amazing friends that helped me see that you just because you're a genius, you don't have to lonely. Friends help you see outside yourself. Good ones are there when you need a shoulder or to have fun with. That's why I suggested you join some clubs that interest you. It's the best way to make friends than in a social setting. Give it a try at least. It's not perfect by any means as I still had difficulty fitting in until I joined the enforcers."

Garrett grew thoughtful. "There were a few clubs that I thought were interesting and they have sign ups going on right now, looking for members. I guess I could check them out."

Jake grinned, "That's the spirit!"

The teen could only smile at Jake's honest enthusiasm. "Dinner's ready, want to call in Chance?"

"Sure, smells great." Jake went out to the living room where Chance stayed to allow Jake some time with Garrett. "Dinner!"

"Great, my stomach was growling," Chance said getting up and walking toward his partner. In a low voice, he asked, "every thing okay?"

"I think so, we'll have to wait and see," Jake responded. Chance nodded and went on into the kitchen.

Garrett served up the food, smiled and blushed at the compliments from the guys, then dug into his food. I really like these guys. They are almost like having my parents back, he thought warmly.