"Magnesium," requested Ash, holding out his hand.
"Magnesium," he requested again, more forcefully this time.
"Oh, sorry," said Agnes, handing Ash the compound. The lab experiment had only been underway a few minutes and already it was a disaster. Agnes, Ash's lab partner, seemed distracted.
"Pipet," said ash, holding out his paw again.
"Pipet!" he demanded with a snap of his fingers.
"Sorry," said Agnes again, handing over the dropper.
"Potassium Tr-, what are you looking at," asked Ash. "Oh, no," he grumbled. She and Kristofferson were staring at each other, and had been for what appeared to be quite a while.
=^.^=
Kristofferson could not take his eyes off of his cousin's lab partner. Agnes, he thought her name was. She kept looking over at him while she helped Ash during the chemistry experiment, and Kristofferson had nothing else to do but return her gaze as he waited on his own lab partner, who was late. No wonder why this guy had no one to be his partner, thought Kristofferson. As the new kid on his first day in class, he'd not had an opportunity to find a lab partner of his own, so the teacher had paired him with Beaver, the only other kid in the class without a partner. Kristofferson was beginning to see why.
Kristofferson jumped as Beaver announced his arrival by dropping his lab equipment on the table with a loud thud.
"Why is your cousin such a wet sandwich," he sneered at Kristofferson without so much as a 'hello'.
"I beg your pardon," replied Kristofferson.
"What's that mean," asked Beaver, obviously perplexed by Kristofferson's perfect English.
"It means I didn't understand what you said," said Kristofferson. "A wet sandwich?"
"Yeah, a wet sandwich," said Beaver in an abrasive and sneering tone. "He's too short, he dresses like a girl, he's…..different."
"Are you a bully," asked Kristofferson, who was already deciding he did not like Beaver very much. "You sound like a bully."
Kristofferson had experience with bullies. Early on in life, he'd been bullied. But then his father had taught him martial arts, and Kristofferson had never had a problem with bullies since. In fact, he often helped out other kids who were smaller and more vulnerable deal with bullies. Kristofferson did not dislike many people, but bullies were one type of person he could not stand.
"Watch this," said Beaver. The larger kid dumped a powder in the beaker containing the experiment, causing an explosion.
"That's…, you just destroyed the whole experiment," said Kristofferson, now mildly annoyed. "We'd better extinguish this magnesium," he said as he went to get the extinguisher.
"Stand back," he said. He aimed the extinguisher at the ruined assignment and put out the flaming magnesium. Though he did not show it on the outside, he was vexed about getting an "F" on his first day. If only the teacher had allowed him to conduct the experiment by himself. Once the magnesium was quelled, he looked over at Agnes, who was looking on in adoration.
"I like your ears," she said, with a hint of shyness in her voice.
"M- mine," stuttered Kristofferson. He was always nervous around girls.
"Mm hmm," affirmed Agnes.
"Well…thanks," said Kristofferson. "I like your spots."
"Really," asked Agnes. "I used to cover them up…but, y'know."
=^.^=
Ash scoffed. He'd heard enough. It was bad enough that Kristofferson had had to show off by extinguishing the magnesium, thus playing the hero. It was bad enough that Agnes had paid more attention to him than her own lab partner throughout the entire class. But this trading of awkward compliments was more than he could stand.
"Hmm?" Agnes looked over at him.
"You're supposed to be my lab partner," Ash said.
"I am."
"No you're not," said Ash. "You're disloyal."
Ash wished he could take solace in the fact that his cousin, Kristofferson the Great, would get an 'F' for the failed experiment on his first day, but he couldn't. Kristofferson had already ruined his day by taking away Agnes' attention from him. Today was supposed to be a good day, thought Ash as they left chemistry class. Agnes had volunteered to be his partner. She had sought him out to be partners, yet at the first sight of Kristofferson she'd forgotten Ash existed.
Fine. If that was the way she wanted to be, thought Ash, that was just fine with him. Everyone already hated him, it's not like he'd expected her to be any different. But it would have been nice if she'd just been honest with him. Instead, she had tried to say she was still his partner, even though it was painfully obvious she would have ditched Ash and teamed up with his cousin at the first opportunity. Well, at least now he knew for certain where her loyalty was.
=^.^=
Kristofferson had noticed that Ash had not said a single word to him after chemistry class earlier that day. Ash had ignored him when he'd tried to speak with him at lunch, and then had blown him off when he tried to talk to him on their way home, and since they had gotten home Ash had kept his nose buried in the latest White Cape comic, and had eaten supper in his room. Aunt Felicity had talked to her husband about Ash's behavior, and they had both agreed Ash was just going through a phase.
They wanted Kristofferson to speak with him but they didn't understand that Kristofferson was the problem. Kris knew that if he tried to talk to his older cousin it would just make matters worse. Plus, Mr. Fox had left soon after dinner and now it was bedtime and he still wasn't back; Kristofferson had a feeling that Foxie's behavior influenced Ash's bad moods.
Finally Felicity had sent Kristofferson to bed. Kris had been hanging out in the living room trying to avoid Ash, but once Felicity had kindly, but firmly, remarked on the time Kris knew he could delay no longer.
Kristofferson took as long as he could brushing his teeth and getting ready for bed. When he went in Ash's room the tiny fox was up in his bed reading by flashlight. Kristofferson crept to his bedroll under the train set and unfolded it.
"I guess you're happy with yourself, aren't you," said the small fox from his bed.
"I beg your pardon," replied Kristofferson.
"Agnes was my lab partner today, she sought me out to be my partner before you even showed up here. I had one friend at school, and you've taken her from me too."
Kristofferson was dumbfounded.
"I didn't know Agnes was your friend. I just noticed she was looking at me today in class."
"Bullshit Kristofferson. You take everything from me, you always have. The way you show me up all the time, the way my parents fawn over you. You think you're so perfect. Well, maybe you are. But it isn't fair and I just wish you'd go away."
"I was just being friendly Ash. It had nothing to with you. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get some sleep."
=^.^=
Ash lay awake long after Kristofferson began snoring gently down on the floor. What bothered Ash was not that Agnes had paid attention to Kristofferson. Okay, if he were honest with himself that did bother him, but something else bothered him even more. But he could not quite pinpoint what it was. It was something in the way Kristofferson had looked at Agnes.
Every time Kristofferson had come to visit, he had had nothing but eyes for Ash. The younger fox, though he was bigger and better at everything, had always idolized Ash. When they were younger he'd copied everything Ash had done.
When Kristofferson had ignored Ash and focused on Agnes, Ash had felt strangely jealous. Why would that be? Ash could not figure it out. He didn't want his younger cousin here. If it were up to him Kristofferson would be back across the river tomorrow. But yet, Ash had definitely felt jealous when Kristofferson had spoken to Agnes. Not jealous because Agnes was talking to his cousin, but rather because Kristofferson wasn't paying attention to him.
Ash's last thought that night was that he wanted to be the focus of Kristofferson's attention, not Agnes. He drifted off to sleep before he could figure out why that might be, or to entertain the thought that maybe he wished Kristofferson had looked at him the way he'd looked at Agnes.
~Author's note:
Well, it's starting to take shape. Kristofferson already has enjoyed reflecting on how 'cute' his older cousin is, and now Ash is beginning to realize he wants Kristofferson to only pay attention to him. Their innocent romance is starting to manifest itself ~.^
Also, I want to give a shout out to my first review and my first follower; many thanks! I am glad you have enjoyed this. I do this purely for the love of it, but it sure makes it easier knowing that there are good folks out there who enjoy reading it Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy this new chapters and the ones that are on their way :)