I couldn't remember if I ever gave Fritz a first name. I browsed through both stories to see if I mentioned one anywhere and couldn't find it. If I did, please feel free to correct me. I didn't feel like re-reading the last 13 chapters. This one's a little short. I'm building up to something else. Jake will find himself getting into quite a bit of trouble in the future. Hey... even vigilante boy-geniuses are subject to peer-pressure.
Jake wasn't in the mood to hear Miranda's "I told you so" speech, so when she approached him that first day back with her smug grin, it was all he could do not to punch her.
"So how's Becky?" She purred.
"Can it, Miranda," Jake snorted. "Unless you have something important to say, I don't want to hear it."
Miranda shrugged. "Nope. Just wanted to see how it feels to be wrong." She smirked. "Good luck explaining to people that your girlfriend cheated on you."
Jake ignored her and walked into the boys room, praying she'd be gone when he came back out.
"Heard your new friends stabbed you in the back."
Jake turned slowly. "Jason?" The black furred teen looked even thinner and was dressed in torn jeans with a studded belt and a black t-shirt. "You look awful."
"And you look depressed." Jason snorted.
"Yeah well..." Jake trailed off. "How've you been?
Jason shrugged. "Stuck at home. Heard you have Mr. Lyon. You probably don't want to be late."
"Yeah," Jake frowned. "Maybe I'll see you at lunch."
"Yeah," Jason said on his way out. "Maybe."
Jake was starting his day with Advanced English II, which also meant he was starting his day with a huge exam. Mr. Lyon was every bit the bastard Jake feared he would be. "Good thing I studied," Jake thought. For once, he wasn't finished before everyone else. In fact, Jake worked right up until the bell. As he was finishing the test, Mr Lyon was issuing an assignment on verb conjugation and a novel they were to begin reading. A couple of girls were whispering nearby.
"Cute and smart," one giggled. "I heard he's on the football team."
"He's the one that got that cheerleader pregnant," the other whispered.
Jake's eyes widened and he turned. The young she-kat that had said it was a mousey pale white kitty with fine blonde hair and glasses. She blushed when she realized Jake had heard her. "Where did you hear that?" He hissed.
"Well," the girl ducked her head shyly, suddenly nervous. "B-Becky, she was telling someone she was pregnant and... I overheard her say your name."
Jake clenched his jaw and glowered.
"You are her boyfriend, aren't you?" She asked.
"I was." Jake looked away. "Not anymore."
"Jacob, Alyssa, would you liked to share your discussion with the rest of the class?" Mr. Lyon issued a fiery glare that immediately silenced the conversation. The bell rang soon after and Jake grabbed his books and rushed out. He had time to find Becky before his Government and Economics class.
Becky was at her locker, trading out books. For once, her friends weren't around. Jake slammed his paw against the neighboring locker loudly. Becky shot him a startled look.
"What do you want?" She asked in a tired voice.
"What are you telling kats?" Jake hissed. "Because I keep hearing whispers about how I got you pregnant."
"Well you are my boyfriend. What do you think kats are going to say?"
Jake frowned. "Was. I was. And you have a responsibility to tell the truth."
"I have a responsibility?" Becky choked. "You wanna know who's telling lies, talk to Fritz. As for you, I have no problems telling everyone that you're an innocent little virgin." She slammed her locker and stalked off.
Jake could barely focus throughout second period. He was furious. Wasn't Fritz supposed to be his friend? Instead he steals his girl, gets her pregnant, and then denies it. Jake drummed his pencil anxiously on his notebook as Miss Shen went over the syllabus for the new semester. When the bell rant, he went straight to Advanced Geometry, hoping the day would just end.
Geometry promised to be his easiest class. It was a type of math he used often in his weapons designs. Angles and trajectories were important. As Mrs. Tomlin went over the course outline, however, Jake felt a sudden knot in his gut, a feeling of having forgotten more than what his peers had yet to learn.
When the lunch bell rang, Jake let out a sigh of relief. Opting for just an apple and a small carton of milk, he went outside. It was cold, but sunny... and vacant. Everyone else had opted for the warm interior of the cafeteria rather than the chilly picnic area. Jake shuddered and sat down on the cement steps, silently enjoying his apple. The doors opened behind him and someone sat down beside him.
"So you ditched your old friends for your new friends only to have no friends at all."
Jake's ears fell flat against his head. "I never ditched you, Jason. You ditched me. Remember?"
Jason shrugged. "I have my issues, Jake, but what that Fritz kat did to you was just dirty. I wouldn't ever think of doing something like that, even if I was into she-kats."
Jake let out a long sigh but said nothing else.
"I'm surprised you haven't kicked his ass yet." Jason kept on. "I figured that would have been your first move."
"I haven't even seen him." Jake said quietly.
"So are you still going to play next year?" Jason asked.
"Was thinking about it."
Jason huffed. "After all this?"
"Regardless of the character flaws some of the other kats might have," Jake looked at Jason. "I actually enjoy the sport. I was never doing it for friends or to be popular. I just like it."
Jason shook his head. "I can accept that. I'm still not going to your games. They're boring."
Jake laughed halfheartedly. The bell rang and he stood up, tossing the apple core into a distant trash can with ease.
"Fritz hangs out by the senior parking lot after school." Jason said as he got up.
"Why are you telling me this?" Jake asked.
"Figured you'd want to know where you could find him. You know, so you can put an end to his rumor spreading." Jason shrugged. "I'll see you around."
Jake furrowed his brow in thought as he walked back to class. Chance said he'd be about ten minutes late picking him up today. He had time to find Fritz and speak his mind. That's all that was going to happen anyway... he was just going to speak his mind, get it off his chest and walk away.
As third period ended and fourth began, Jake could feel his temper rising. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He was so distracted that Mr. Spieker had to correct him three times during simple practice scales. Finally, the day came to a close and Jake left the classroom. For a moment, he hesitated. Did he forget about Fritz and just go wait on Chance like he was expected to do? Jake furrowed his brow. Chance wouldn't stand for some jerk pulling this kind of shit on him. Renewed, the teen turned and went the other way, towards the senior parking lot.
"I'm just going to talk to him," Jake said as he walked outside, coaching himself. But as he neared Fritz, who was laughing and talking to some of the varsity players, talking seemed like such an absurd idea.
"Hey Furlong!" TL shouted. "Where ya been?"
Jake ignored TL and LaCroix and went straight for Fritz.
"Jake," Fritz offered a flimsy smile. "What's u..."
Before he could finish the question, Jake swung his fist with as much force as he could muster into Fritz's mouth. Blood splashed out of his busted lips.
"What the fuck?" Fritz stumbled backwards and spat out a glob of saliva and blood.
"Like you don't know." Jake hissed. "Why don't you tell people the truth about Becky?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Fritz replied with a smirk. "She's your girlfriend."
"Yeah. Until you slept with her and got her pregnant." Jake hissed, drawing out gasps and mumbles from the crowd.
"Like you weren't hitting that." Fritz growled.
"Actually," Jake snarled. "I wasn't."
"That's not what she said." Fritz shook his head.
"You sure she said that?" Jake clenched his fists again. "Or did you? Because I'm starting to get the impression that you're just one big flaky liar."
Flustered and embarrassed, Fritz swung at Jake, but missed when the smaller kat ducked and retaliated. What was supposed to have just been a verbal confrontation immediately turned into a full fledged brawl between the two teens.
"Jake's going to be so surprised to see that you decided to stay in the city," Chance grinned at William as he started to pull into the school parking lot.
"I'm not so sure he was too thrilled to see me in th' first place," Jake's grandfather said with a soft chuckle. "But there ain't much for me in Ireland. Jacob is me only kin left."
Chance started to respond but his cell phone started to ring. "Speak of the devil, huh?" He chuckled as he answered. "Where are you? You're supposed to be waiting for me."
"About that," Jake said. "There's been... an incident. You're gonna have to come inside."
"What kind of incident?" Chance's tone darkened.
Jake chuckled nervously. "The kind that might have gotten me suspended."
Chance ended the call without another word. "It seems Jake has gotten in some kind of trouble. Do you mind staying here?"
"Not at all." William shrugged with a smirk. "Lad's got a bit o'the devil in him after all," he chuckled.
Chance left the the elderly kat with the car running and went into the school. To be honest, he wasn't at all surprised to see Fritz was somehow involved in the skirmish. What was shocking, however, was the amount of bloodshed and fur-loss. Also a surprise, were the two uniformed officers who had each of the boys in cuffs. Chance had to swallow back the immediate urge to start shouting. "What," he asked calmly, "in God's name happened?"
Jake opened and closed his mouth as he tried to find the most convincing way to explain why he shouldn't be in trouble for defending his reputation.
"No. Never mind. I'm sure this has something to do with Becky and Fritz." Chance dragged a paw down his face. "Why is he handcuffed?"
Mrs. Catsby sighed. "The fight between the two was so violent, we had to call the authorities to separate them. An incident report has been filed and they have both been suspended for two weeks. The officers will release them to their parents." She sighed again. "Mr. Furlong, since Jacob has admitted to starting the fight, Fritz... er.. Michael's parents may decide to press assault charges."
"Assault charges?" Chance nearly choked. "And what about Fritz slandering Jake's name by claiming he's the one who got that little girl pregnant? Can I file charges against Fritz for that? Because by now I'm sure the whole school thinks Jake's the one responsible."
"That's something you will have to take up with the Enforcers." Mrs. Catsby replied. "You will need to sign for his release, and also for your understanding of Jacob's suspension."
Jake was quiet until they reached the exit. "Hey Chance." His guardian didn't respond. "How did you know Fritz was telling everyone that it was me who did that to Becky?"
Chance turned to give him an icy glare, but softened his expression. "Because it's the only thing I could think of to make you do something so stupid." He shook his head. "At least you managed to avoid getting hit in the mouth. But that eye needs some ice, and it's going to take a while for all that fur to grow back. Did he get you anywhere else?"
Jake blinked. "Besides clawing the shit out of my arms and blacking my eye?" He thought. "No. He got the worst of it." He paused as the car came into view and he could see in the passenger seat. "What's he doing here?"
"He's decided to stay." Chance smirked.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Jake looked frantic. "What about...?" He left the question open-ended.
"Relax." Chance said. "He's staying with Ma."
"Why?" Jake frowned.
"Until he can find a place of his own." Chance replied matter-of-factly.
Jake rolled his eyes. "Why is he here, Chance?"
Chance shrugged. "Because he wants to be. Because you're his only living family." He shook his head. "He's old, Jake. He wants to be near family. Give him a chance."
"Yeah whatever." Jake huffed and got into the car.
William let out a low whistle. "I sure hope the other tom looks worse."
"Yeah," Jake said quietly.
"When I was yer age there was only one thing that could cause a skirmish like that." William gave a sly smile in the mirror. "A she-kat."
Jake rolled his eyes. He didn't want to talk about it.
"You bet your tail it was a she-kat." Chance said as he got in. He slammed the door. "Jake, I swear to God, you better hope Fritz's parents don't press charges. In the meantime, you can count on not doing anything or going anywhere for the next two weeks unless it's work related or to help Ma."
Jake folded his arms over his chest and glared out the window. "I'm not sorry," he mumbled.