Thursday – 2:00 PM
"Guys, he's not gonna kiss me! It's the first date!"
Judy was getting exasperated with her friends.
The day had started out wonderfully, they had returned to the mall for another shopping mission, and Judy had successfully talked them out of buying a pair of ridiculously huge earrings, four overpriced rings, and a broach that had cost more than she made in a month.
They (or rather, Judy) had settled on a lovely silver necklace with a single spinel stone embedded in its center. It matched Judy's fur color and her violet eyes beautifully. Jenny and Kate had tried to convince her to shop for more, but Judy had firmly decided not to go overboard. She wasn't much for frivolous spending nor flashy jewelry.
Sadly, the day had only gone downhill from there.
The girls had spent the next several hours drilling endless dating advice into Judy. How to flirt, what subjects to avoid, how to answer questions to make him intrigued, eye contact, how to laugh, how to bat her eyelashes, questions to ask him, what to order, how to eat…
The list went on and on.
To her credit, Judy kept pace with everything they said. Though she didn't intend to use most of it, she figured any information could potentially be helpful.
But then they went too far.
"Judy, I'd be surprised if he didn't ask you to come back to his place for coffee after dinner." Jenny said.
The trio were eating outside a small sandwich shop situated in the back of the mall. It had an entrance inside the mall, and one on the outside wall as well. They were currently seated in a small patio area that was part of the shop.
"Coffee? Who drinks coffee at night? It would keep you up for hours." Judy said, confused.
Kate choked on her lemonade, coughing for several seconds before responding.
"Um, no, Judy, when a guy asks you back for coffee, he doesn't really mean coffee."
"…What? Then what does he mean?"
Jenny and Kate looked at each other. Clearly, neither had expected to have to explain this.
Jenny looked away as she scratched the back of her head. "Uhh, well, when a guy asks you back to his place for coffee, he, uh, wants to spend the night with you."
Judy processed this for a moment.
Then she caught up.
Her eyes went wide, and she practically shouted, "WHAT!? No way! We only just met Tuesday! We can't just – I mean, I couldn't – No, there's no way he would ever ask that. Not on the first [And probably ONLY, she thought to herself.] date!"
Kate fiddled with her lemonade and chuckled before she said, "Trust me Judy, he's gonna ask."
"What makes you guys so sure?"
"Judy, we're speaking from experience here. They aren't always super forward about it, some are even bashful. But every buck we've ever been out with, without exception, has always suggested it one way or another. If you ask your sisters, they'll tell you the same thing." Jenny responded, sipping her tea.
"It's not really that big a deal," Kate said, a look of sympathy on her face, "You're just not used to it. I mean, you're a bunny, but you really don't act like one. You spent so much time investing yourself into preparing for the academy that you kinda missed out on the best parts of being a rabbit!"
Jenny raised an eyebrow at Judy, "Is it because it'll be your first time? Cause that's-"
Judy held up her hands to stop them both.
"Guys, I am not having this conversation. I appreciate all the help you've given me so far; I don't know what I would've done without you guys. But I am not going to worry about this. I'm not even going to consider it."
"Judy," Kate began, "Whether he's a gentlemammal or not, he's still a rabbit. A city buck at that! We have a reputation for a reason." She said sheepishly.
Jenny interjected, "It's not that he thinks you're easy, it's just that rabbits-"
"This won't come up!"
"Judy, it will!"
"It won't!"
"Why not?"
"Because he's not a rabbit!"
Judy's shout echoed off the side of the mall, carrying her voice out across the parking lot. Thankfully, on a Thursday afternoon, there were few mammals there to witness Judy's outburst.
Her friends however, were dumbstruck.
Judy stared back at them, her stubborn anger warring with her growing worry at their lack of response.
Then Kate's face relaxed, and she sighed. "Oh, Judy, no wonder you've been so cagey and anxious about this. You didn't want anyone to get all uptight about you 'dating outside the lines.'"
Jenny followed Kate's lead, saying, "Sure, it's not a really common thing, but no one gets real fidgety about it unless it's pred-prey stuff. Admittedly, I don't know how that even works. It seems like the differences would be too much. How do you even kiss a pred? Wouldn't their teeth get in the way?"
"And their claws too," Kate added, "Some preds have retractable claws, but what about the rest? I wouldn't want to always have to be worried I was gonna get scratched when he hugged me. And what about holding paws? The whole thing honestly sounds kinda dangerous."
"And creepy," Jenny added, "Don't get me wrong, but I feel like there's something really weird about any pred that wants to have a prey partner. I've never heard of any of those relationships lasting, and there's always rumors about the awful things the preds do to them."
The two turned to look at Judy, and only then noticed her fuming expression.
It seemed that stubborn anger had not only won, but elevated to indignant hurt.
"He's a fox." Judy said it like it was a threat, her eyes moistening.
Jenny and Kate's ears dropped.
Kate covered her mouth with a paw, and Jenny bit her lip in distress. The two looked at each other as though they had just discovered themselves in the middle of a mine field. Both opened their mouths a few times, trying to find something to say, but there was no taking back what had already been said. For tortuously long minutes, none of the three looked at each other, the only sounds nearby birds, and Judy's furiously thumping foot.
"Judy," Kate began, reaching to touch Judy's arm.
Judy drew back from her and stood up.
"No." She said firmly. "No, I'm sorry, it's not ok. You guys have never met him before, and you're making all these terrible judgments about him. You want to know how I actually met him? I met him in a back lot in the slums at two in the morning. I saw him holding a teenage girl in his arms who was tied up and gagged, and he had another even younger one clinging to his leg bawling her eyes out." She jabbed her finger at them as she continued. "And I thought exactly what you guys are thinking now, 'Clearly the big bad fox is doing something horrible and nasty! He needs to be stopped!' So I tased him until he collapsed into the dirt." She looked away, her own embarrassment and regret returning to her once more. "It wasn't until I started untying the girls that I noticed the three unconscious thugs he had dealt with all by himself. The girls, who he had just single-pawedly rescued, told me how he had come out of nowhere and saved them. Saved them from a fate that's too wretched to even think about." She threw her hands up, and turned to face the parking lot. "And to top it all off, when he collapsed, he ended up landing on his own knife, which he was using to cut the girls free!" Her head dropped and she sighed before continuing. "He had just done my job. The one I had specifically asked to be assigned to the slums to do. I wanted to make the world a better place. And the first time I really had the chance to take a meaningful step towards that goal, I let prejudice guide my actions. If it weren't for him, those girls might never have been seen again. I tased a mammal who did more in a few minutes than I've done in three months." She whirled to face her friends. "And I am not going to sit here and listen to you two bad mouth a hero! This isn't just about him helping me keep my job! I think he's amazing, and I just want to show him that I'm more than some stupid country bunny that only sees a shifty fox!"
After her tirade was over, she stood there panting for a moment. Her friends simply stared at her, wide-eyed. Neither knew what to say. They both deeply regretted their earlier words. It had never entered their minds that Judy's mystery date could have possibly been a fox.
They both desperately wanted to say something. But Judy was right. They hadn't known, and in the absence of any knowledge, they had made unfair and specist assumptions.
Before either of them could work up the nerve to apologize, or even open their mouths, Judy opened her wallet and slammed enough money down on to the table to cover the entire meal and the tip.
"I appreciate all that you guys have done for me these past couple of days." She hefted her bags. "I'm going home."
Judy walked away without saying another word.
After a few minutes, Kate buried her face in her paws and began crying.