Chapter 7.
A yawning Fox McCloud trudged into his bedroom and, with a limp hand, pressed the door shut. A faint bluish light, reflecting off the smallest of Corneria's three moons, pierced the darkness and fell upon his robe. Beyond the shutters, a towering tree swayed in the wind, its leaves murmuring in confused response to a sudden gust. Fox trudged toward the window and pulled a single cord on the shutters, closing them with a high-pitched clack.
"Fox? Krystal?!"
"What the hell?! Dad?"
"Mr. McCloud!"
Fox shook his head and returned alone underneath his sheets, the scene inside his mind replaying without a pause.
If only she sensed that he was coming! Then I wouldn't be in this freakin' mess!
The words inside his mind spoke to him in a ghostly tone. Every time he tried to block them out, he tossed in his bed, as if to fight the onslaught. Soon, sweat built up and soaked into the corners of his nightshirt, and he lost count of the number of times he shifted position in bed.
"Fox, if it weren't for you, I'd be feeling very different about you. I feel like you took my youth away from me. What we did turned us into adults."
"I know, Krystal," Fox droned, clutching his pillow.
"I knew you began to regret it after Slippy came into your dorm."
"I'm not--regretting anything, Krys."
"Fox, would you mind? You're not listening!"
"What the--? Krystal, you didn't say that to me!"
Fox's eyes sprang open, and his gaze dashed across the room. After a moment, a disappointed sigh fell from his lips. Nothing but darkness remained.
He buried his head into his pillow and glanced at his alarm clock, the glowing green numerals around its face staring into his restless eyes. As Fox drifted in and out of his dozes, the minute hand chased the hour hand in a sluggish race, only to be lapsed time and again by the relentless second hand. Before Fox realized it, the hour hand passed the 11 andheadeden route to the 12.
As Fox eyelids sagged further, his breathing fell into the slow rhythm of the clock's soft ticking. He tried to look at the clock, but his eyes resisted the urge. Without warning, he passed from his surroundings and drifted into a deep sleep.
The next thing he heard was his alarm clock screaming.
A deep groan and a soft curse came from the depths of his throat. A moment later, a swift hand plowed from the covers, its protruding knuckles clobbering the clock in its thin face. The timekeeper's jarring call ceased with a loud CHUNG as the device careened into the side of an unyielding bookshelf.
Fox's eyelids rose little by little, growing accustomed to the cheery light of the new day. The white wooden shutters flung open with a jerk of a muscular arm. On cue, light poured into the room and flooded his eyes, driving an overwhelmed moan from his throat.
As a limp hand slid down his face, an energetic tune sprang from his nightstand. With a deep yawn, Fox scooped up his cellphone and mouthed the words to the ringtone. As the music continued, he opened his phone and squinted at the name beneath the number shown on the screen.
"Krystal," he read. How did she manage to call me? I thought Principal Hare would've holed her up in her room.
"Heya, Krys. What's going on?"
An unsettling voice replied, "Fox, we need to talk. Are you alone?"
"Yeah. My dad won't be able to hear me. What's up? What time is it?"
"A little after eleven--not that it matters now, Fox."
"Krys, what's going on? You don't sound good."
"I'm not. Look, let me just get to the point."
Fox nodded, his pulse beginning to beat in his ears. "Go ahead."
With a weighty sigh, Krystal uttered two words that sent Fox's face collapsing.
"I'm pregnant."
To be continued...
