Chapter 10: A Stressed Out Bunny
Judy and Nick walked into the bustling cafeteria, parting ways as soon as they entered in order to not draw any suspicion. Having two of the most devious mammals in school know about their secret was frightening enough. Especially when hiding the fact that she was pregnant as well. If both secrets got out, there's no telling what would happen to their reputation in BunnyBurrow. Or Willowbrook for that matter.
Judy made a beeline to Sharla once seeing her standing in line.
"Judy! Here I save you a spot." The ewe smiled while referring to the empty area behind her. The doe happily walked up to her friend and promptly grabbed a tray from the large piles beside them.
The lines moved fast and the mammals behind Judy kept pushing and shoving their way through it. She stepped carefully as her classmates continued their chaos, while also eyeing the lunch items of the day.
Normally, Judy would go for her usual. Some sliced up pears and a bowl of basil and oregano on the side. Maybe something sweet here and there, depending on how she was feeling. But with all the new-found pregnancy cravings Judy has found herself trying a variety of different unusual foods and enjoying them. So today she felt adventurous and grabbed some bell peppers with a pairing of honeysuckles.
Sharla eyed her plate skeptically as they sat down at their table.
"Since when did you start eating bell peppers?" She asked, confused. Judy's nose twitched in fear for a split second but she quickly played it off as a bad smell before her friend noticed.
"I don't know! Maybe a while now…" She mumbled, not exactly wanting to full-on lie to her best friend.
"Ughh I hate that we haven't had time to talk to each other lately!" Sharla whined, plopping her head against the table sadly.
"What are you talking about? We spoke last week." Judy exclaimed.
"Yeah, only before you left for the long weekend! Speaking of which, how did it go? You still haven't told me anything about the big city!" She pressed intrigued.
"Well..it was nice," Judy responded.
"Nice? Just that! Judy, you went to Zootopia! Your dream city! It's the only place in the world you've ever wanted to see and all you can say is nice !" Her friend proclaimed.
"It was great! Is that what you want me to say?" She sighed.
"Judy...is everything alright?" Sharla asked, surprised by her outburst. She looked at her tiredly but composed herself before giving anything away.
"Yeah, yeah...I'm just...a bit nervous with my campaign and everything." Judy mumbled in an attempt to play off her nervous behavior.
"Oh! Well, why didn't you say so? I'm always here to help you girl!" Sharla reassured. "But why haven't you even begun to spread the word yet? Dawn and Neve have already put up posters…"
Judy had noticed this earlier in the day when walking into the school. Almost every single hallway was plastered from top to bottom in big bright posters either saying
What do you want? Neve for Student Council President! When do you want it? Now!
Or
Forget the rest. Vote for the best! Dawn Bellwether for your next Student Council President!
She had to admit to herself that they both really stepped up their game. Judy saw Neve canvassing around the school and giving out tiny ribbons with her name on them. Whilst on Dawn's side, she preferred to put on an angelic appearance in front of the teachers. But once she was alone she decided to go full-on maniac, sending her Prey Posse, (a group consisting of her prey classmates dedicating their time and resources to Dawn AKA their leader ), out to secure more votes through blackmailing and even more evil acts.
Judy's initial plan was to focus her time on the minorities of her school, mammals being misunderstood or blamed for the wrong thing due to their species. She had gotten the idea from Jack after one of their lengthy conversations after their dinner together. Judy thought it would be nice to keep in touch, to have a friend in the city to lean on and what-not. So after many calls and messaging he'd suggested Judy focus her campaign on those who aren't heard, the mammals who need to be focused on in the first place.
Unfortunately, due to Dawn and her upper hand on the doe, she hadn't been able to do anything of the sort.
Just then, Bellwether walked into the cafeteria stepping onto a small wooden platform her Prey Posse had set up for her. Everyone looked at the ewe expectantly, interested or afraid of what she was about to do next. Someone from her group of "supporters" put up a tall enough microphone right in front of her. Dawn turned on the microphone only to send out an ear-piercing shriek through the speakers beside her. The animals in the room covered their ears instantly and she quickly fixed the problem by making one of the mammals in the P.P do it for her.
The sound terminated shortly after and a flustered Dawn cleared her throat, addressing everyone in the cafeteria with a bright and oddly white smile.
"Good afternoon everyone!" Her voice echoed throughout the building and Judy felt pressured to pay attention.
"Just giving everyone a friendly reminder that the big presidential debate will be held next week in the auditorium early in the morning on Friday! So don't forget and don't be late!" Dawn quirked while sending a suffocating stare as if forcing them to abide by her warning. She promptly got off the stand and walked back into the hallway with the rest of her group.
The room was left still for a few more seconds until bursting into an explosion of murmurs and whispers amongst classmates. Judy gulped in fear listening to those around their table, her name floated around from one mammal to the other.
"Dawn's so scary when she's pretending to be nice…"
"Who do guys think is going to win? I bet it'll be Neve"
"I thought Judy was also campaigning?" All the voices around her whispered her name.
Judy…
Judy…
"JUDY!"
She broke off from her trance surprised and looked up to see Jasmine standing by the table with an annoyed look on her face.
"Oh! U-Um, w-what?" Judy stuttered, confused, and still slightly dazed.
"I've been calling your name for 5 minutes now! Come on, I have to talk to you!" Jasmine urged. She looked hesitantly at Sharla but she nodded encouragingly.
"Go, it's fine! We can start talking about your debate strategy later." Her friend said, smiling.
"Y-Yeah...later." Judy chuckled awkwardly and followed her sister out of the cafeteria reluctantly. But as they both left the room only one thought clouded her mind.
How in the world would she get past Dawn without risking herself and Nick in the process?
The answer is...she wouldn't.
When the two left the cafeteria and entered the now empty hallways Judy looked at her sister in anticipation, wondering if what she had to speak to her about was due to the events from last night.
"So? What happened after I left?" Judy questioned immediately. Jasmine looked askance rubbing her neck.
"Well…" She replied, trailing off. "It wasn't that good…"
"Oh my god, I knew it! Did someone already suspect something?" She asked fearfully, already thinking back to the phone call with her mother that morning.
"No! Not yet at least...Julie's grounded." Jasmine sighed leaning against a nearby locker.
"Oh...that's fair I guess," Judy mumbled. In her opinion, that backstabbing sister of hers should have been more than grounded. She should have been exposed some more at least. But the thought of Julie having her secrets exposed by herself as well confused Judy's thoughts.
Would she be just as bad as Bellwether if she'd done it?
She wouldn't wish the worst for her sister, even after last night's dinner. Yet the idea of making Julie feel the same way she did made her feel conflicted. As if Judy wanted the worst and best for her at the same time.
Why does drama within your family always have to be the worst?
"What should I do?" Jasmine said breaking her train of thought.
"Hmm? About what?" Judy answered confused.
"When I go home after school." She explained. "Should I just tell mom and dad you're staying here late for a project or went to Sharla? Anything else besides running away with your boyfriend really."
"I don't know…" Judy groaned in response. "Maybe I can just turn off my phone and ignore them."
"Judy you know you can't do that! I know what they said and did was unforgivable. Crazy even! But you can't disappear off the face of the world without giving them any information." Jasmine scolded.
"You saw what they said to me! The things they suggested." She cried slumping against the lockers beside her.
"I know...it wasn't right. What dad tried to make you do...but is it really better if you ignore them forever?" Her sister inquired.
"Sure feels like it," Judy said, rolling her eyes.
"How about this…" Jasmine began. "I can tell mom and dad that there has been a slight mix-up today and you have to stay after school to help set up for the debate or whatever. That way if they get mad they won't be able to do anything about it because you're not there." She finished with a smile.
"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea!" Judy chuckled sarcastically. "How do you expect me to avoid them when they'll expect me home before curfew!?"
"It was only a suggestion," Jasmine exclaimed, putting her paws up. Judy sighed and looked at her sister apologetically.
"I know...you're just trying to help. Do you think if you said that I spent the night at Sharla's studying they'd believe it?" She asked.
"I suppose so. They'd be mad at first for you blowing them off but I guess they'd get over it by tomorrow." Jasmine stated.
"And then what? I keep lying?" Judy mumbled sorrowly, thinking about the future.
"Let's just focus on today and figure out the rest from there. Ok?" Her sister said caringly.
"Ok…" She responded. Jasmine got off the lockers and lent her hand out to Judy.
"Come on, your boyfriend's probably looking for you." Judy looked up at her sister and giggled rolling her eyes yet again. The two walked back down the hallway and she could feel the stress fade away from her body.
Who knows? Maybe with Jasmine helping her, Judy could somehow stall enough to figure the right time to tell her parents. That she wasn't getting an abortion even if it meant having to leave them all behind.
Throughout the rest of the day, the only thing spreading from classroom to classroom was the anticipation of next week's debate. And a few breakups here and there. Of course, those only started surfacing due to *Cough* Sluty *Cough* Simone. But saying that could compare badly with Judy's campaign. That is if she still even had one.
After lunch, she decided it would be better to speak with Dawn herself. Maybe because she felt newfound confidence surging through her. Judy thought that maybe she would be able to find a way around her blackmailing. She could threaten to expose her to the police or plead and beg. Whatever left Judy with a slight chance of even campaigning at all.
She thought the best time to speak with Dawn would be during their independent study together. Because thankfully, it was the one class Judy knew her Prey Posse wouldn't be in alongside her. Unfortunately, she wouldn't have that class until the very end of the day so she had to push through the others while waiting for it to come.
Her English and Math classes were uneventful. Just everyday equations and essays. With the exception of a few stolen glances from Nick as well. But she still had just one more class until the independent study. However, with Judy's luck that day, her second to last class just happened to be theater.
So in honesty, her day hadn't been going that great. And now Judy had to deal with one more hour alongside two people she despised very much.
Xena and Slu-Simone…
Oh yeah! Since Simone's unfortunate transfer a few weeks ago the vixen had decided to be placed inside the theater class with her and Nick. She also decided to pick every other class with Nick as well. Which only made both of them even more irritated with her.
Judy walked into the auditorium, already seeing the three podiums begun to be set up by some maintenance workers. The day was approaching fast even if Judy didn't want it to happen. But if the debate was just between her and Neve she wouldn't have been worried.
Neve had always been sweet and accepting. Even if some mammals in the school still kept her at a reasonable distance due to her heritage.
An arctic fox…
It wasn't common to meet any of them but her family had decided to move to BunnyBurrow a while ago due to her father's promotion or something. Yet everyone continued to act skeptical. Foxes have always had a bad rep, so why not keep implementing it.
The idea of that sent Judy's nose on a twitching rampage but she calmed down once seeing Nick. Only to get racked up again when seeing Jackie alongside him. Her ears flared up in surprise and she ducked down behind one of the long rows of seats in the room.
Judy, however, still kept her ears perked up in order to hear what her sister had to say. Last night's dinner played through her mind, and she distinctly remembered Jackie being confused about the whole ordeal. In the litter, she had been the youngest right after Jeanette. But Jackie always refrained from coming off as an airhead or dim-witted.
Everyone may assume bunnies to be dumb and frail. But they were actually quite good at multiplying. (Not that way you pervs)
Judy cowered behind the seats anxiously. The thought of seeing Jack after everything from last night felt awkward. Stressful even! She hid there for a few more seconds until someone called out her name.
"Judy? What are you doing crouching by the seats?"
She looked up to see Simone and Xena standing side by side like a pair of partners ready to hurt anyone in their way. The two stood tall and menacing and Judy just wanted for the ground to swallow her right now. She stood up nervously and glanced across the room, Jackie and Nick were looking at her as well.
"U-Um, I-I was just…" Judy's mind blanked from trying to think up a good excuse. But everyone was looking at her! She could feel the twitching come back and her ears flicking back and forth from both pairs. Finally, Judy thought of a lie that seemed believable enough for no one to suspect her.
"I dropped my pen! And I was just um...trying to find it?" She explained somewhat convincingly.
"Oh! Well, let us help you." Simone suggested deviously, all while keeping the world's most innocent smile. Judy glanced at Nick in fear and he shook his head in protest but she knew she had to agree. Both of these girls knew her secret. At least, she thought they did. The entire ordeal might be another evil plan to get Nick back together with one of them. Judy just didn't know who would try to get him alone in the end.
Simone and Xena crouched on either side of her and she never knew that two female foxes could be so threatening. Maybe it was their confidence or feminine ways. Foxes have always been beautiful mammals while rabbits were always represented as cute and approachable. Judy hated this kind of misrepresentation towards animals but there wasn't anything she could do about it at the moment.
Because now, she had to deal with two sneaky vixens who weren't about to let her win.
"So...what's been going on between you and your siblings?" Xena asked out of the blue.
"W-What!?" Judy exclaimed, confused.
"Oh well, Simone and I noticed that there was some tension between you guys today and we were worried." She said sympathetically, putting a paw on her shoulder. Judy flinched at the sudden movement by her classmate and glanced at Xena suspiciously.
Never, in the entire time had she known that fox for her to give a shit about her family life. Even in her own words, Judy wasn't anything more than some weird farmer girl. That only meant one thing, Simone spilled the beans about her and Nick.
Sweet cheese and crackers could this day get any worse?!
After the entire oh-I-dropped-my-pen scene the rest of the theater students made their way in the room and sat respectively spaced out in the rows of seats.
Judy ended up choosing a seat that was far away from Xena and Simone but also conveniently a few seats in front of Nick. That didn't stop the two girls from glazing at her almost every 5 minutes then proceeding to whisper to each other warily. And since Judy wasn't close enough to hear them she had no idea what they were talking about.
Various ways to embarrass her.
Planning a grand event where they ridicule and humiliate Judy by exposing her secret.
Or even just messing with her by pretending to whisper with each other.
Judy's mind ached at the millions of different possibilities and she tried her hardest to focus on what her drama teacher was trying to say. To possibly ease her mind or whatever.
"Alright class, with the big debate happening next week we'll have to give up our stage space for a few days." Mrs. Sanchez sighed. Some students around her collectively groaned and whined.
"Can't they had the debate in the gym?" One voice shouted
"Or just not have one at all?!" Another exclaimed back. More of her classmates laughed at the outburst until Mrs. Sanchez scolded them.
"That's enough now! We've always held the Student Council debates in the auditorium so you're all going to have to deal with it." She chastised. "And instead of complaining, you should all be congratulating Miss Hopps on applying as one of the candidates!"
Everyone turned their heads to face Judy and she fumbled with her skirt nervously.
"H-Heh...Thanks, Mrs. Sanchez." She laughed awkwardly. Out of her eye, she could see Nick give a small thumbs up in support and it helped make Judy feel less anxious. She smiled at him before breaking eye contact in case of anyone else looking at the two of them. Specifically, the two vixens who were most likely planning her funeral that very second.
Judy returned her attention to the front of the room where Mr.s Sanchez continued her speech.
"Anyway, I hope you've all been reading the script suggestions I've assigned because today we're going to go over some of the scenes!" She said happily.
Judy sank into her seat groaning. This was exactly the fact why she had hated theater in the first place. Actually going up and doing some ridiculous scene terrified her! Sure, Judy had her own fair share of public speaking through Student Council and Debate but this was different!
This was theater. And in theater, anyone could be anything. Yet that scared her the most. She thrived on equality and diversity among species. Always believing that she could be more than some carrot farmer. But going up on stage and physically speaking about it made her want to barf. And not in a pregnancy-related way.
Judy could feel herself going lightheaded and she reached a paw towards her forward in discomfort. All of this stress was becoming too much for her.
Miss Sanchez walked up to her fold up desk and picked up a cup of various popsicle sticks with each student's names on them. Her paw rummaged through the can and Judy felt the suspense in the room grew larger and quicker each second her paw spent in that cup. She fumbled around the sticks for a few more seconds until finally picking one out causing Judy's heart to miss a beat.
"Our first mammal participating will be Simone!" Mrs. Sanchez revealed enthusiastically. Simone gracefully walked to the front of the room and stood next to her poised and perfect. Judy gagged at the sight but promptly focused on the fact that she thankfully hadn't gotten her name picked. Unfortunately, that still left the chance for it to happen next.
"And her partner for the scene will be...Nick!" Mrs. Sanchez added.
Judy let out a sigh of relief but it quickly replaced with a surging feeling of jealousy seeing Simone bat her flirtatious eyelashes at her boyfriend. Part of her was ecstatic to not be the first mammal to go up and perform a scene alongside Simone. But the other part of her just wanted to slap that snobby vixen in the muzzle for thinking that she still had a chance with Nick.
The two had to perform a romance scene from one of the previous plays they had read and Judy could swear she saw red. It wasn't anything provocative enough for her to get out of her seat and go full-on savage on Simone. But it was still irritable enough that she wanted no part in watching it. Nick, being the amazing boyfriend he was, acted distant to her and intentionally sabotaged the entire thing by "forgetting" his lines.
Judy saw that halfway through the scene Jackie had sent multiple looks of sympathy her way.
Now she pitied her? Wow...was everyone in her family a hypocrite? Had it become a genetic thing. Acting as they cared at first, then backstabbing her, only to act as they care again. It was just one big endless cycle of lies. And for the first time since the dinner yesterday, Judy felt happy about her decision to leave.
The rest of her classmates had gotten their names called as well, each one going in front of the group to perform some random scene from the piles of scripts on Mrs. Sanchez's desk. Judy still hadn't been called and it only eased and confused her mind.
She glanced at the clock anxiously, wishing the class would end already when her name was called out.
"And Judy will be acting alongside Bobby!" Mrs. Sanchez proclaimed. Her head swung around so fast she could've twisted it clear of right there. She begrudgingly walked up to the front of the room and stood next to Bobby awkwardly.
Mrs. Sanchez gave them two scripts with one of the pages marked near the middle.
"You two will be acting out the climax scene of The Secret where Caitlyn, Judy, had just found out what her best friend Zach, Bobby, was hiding from her." She explained sitting in the front row in order to take notes. The scene itself would be ironic really if the roles of Zach and Caitlyn were played by herself and Jackie. Now that would be dramatic.
Judy walked over to her starting spot, still fidgeting with just about anything she could get her hands on.
The funny story from this is that Judy had once acted in front of an audience before. Long ago, when she was just in elementary. A small bunny with a big dream. A dream to become something more than a farmer. She performed during the town's annual Carrot Days Fair where she acted out a student-written scene describing the amazing city of Zootopia.
It was cute, maybe a little embarrassing thinking about it now, but after that day Judy never performed again. It wasn't because people made fun of her at school or the fact that she was afraid of being humiliated again. But it was because after the fair her parents sat down and talked with her about how it would be "impractical" to move to the city. They continued on with their lecture, saying things like, It's dangerous, you should stick to what you're good at, carrot farming's safe!
Judy lied to her parents for the first time that night, pretending to agree to their terms. But in reality, she ignored them and proceeded to follow her dream. Only in secret now, of course.
I guess it just goes to show her parents have always been trying to make Judy do things she never wanted to. She just tried spending years telling herself they weren't.
Judy felt the feeling of lightheadedness come back to her and she spaced out while waiting for Bobby to finish his line
"I'm sorry ok. But did you really expect to sit ideally by and let it all happen?" He said, already getting into character. Bobby had always been a great actor, Judy had seen almost all of his shows and he managed to get really good parts for all of them.
She, on the other hand, was mediocre at best. And with the growing feeling of stress in her entire body, Judy couldn't seem to focus on the words of the page. Thankfully, she had known this scene, almost memorized the entirety of it. Because even if she hated theater with almost as much passion as she did Simone and her family she still put the effort where it counts for her assignments.
"So you decided to do this? Zach...after everything we've been through, the people you've pushed away because of this, do you really think it's your best option to keep it all up?" Judy recited dramatically. Surprisingly, a dramatic scene was just her style since her life right now was one big jumble of them anyway.
"Well what would you have done?!" Bobby screamed as it says in the book. "How do you expect me to believe that you wouldn't have done the same thing. That if you were in my shoes nothing would have been done differently. Tell me, Caitlyn, are you criticizing me for my choices only because your hiding from your own "
Judy was about to say her next line when she was overcome with excruciating pain from her lower abdomen. She doubled over in discomfort, clutching her sides.
"Oh god, Judy are you ok?" Bobby exclaimed, breaking from his character.
The pain grew and she could feel the room spinning before her. Everything hurt, every single aspect of her body was in dreadful agony. Judy's head span with the room and the next thing she knew was her body falling onto the floor and her eyes slowly closing. The only thing she saw was the room blinding out and the multitude of voices around her.
From there, she blacked out.
Judy awoke to a bright enough light that she had to shield her eyes when she opened them. She groaned tiredly and looked around from where she was. Judy wasn't in the theater building, but she wasn't even in the school either.
She recognized the room from the last time she was there weeks ago. Judy was at the medical clinic. But why? Surely she would have been taken to nurse. It was only a blackout after all.
Unless someone had been worried for her...someone like Nick.
Her question was immediately answered when Nick then walked into the room with two water bottles in his paws. He promptly dropped them when seeing Judy awake and well and rushed instantly to her side.
"Oh my god, Judy! Are you alright?" Nick exclaimed frantically.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Judy asked.
"Because you blacked out in the middle of class Carrots! You can't expect me not to be worried." He cried.
"But I'm fine." She repeated. "Seriously can we just go back to school now?" Just then, Karla walked into the room, stepping over the fallen water bottles and breaking into an angry rant.
"You are not going anywhere until we find out what happened," Karla stated while placing pictures on the board beside her. The pictures were of her ultrasounds, but these were slightly different.
The three amigos, Nick's name for the kits, have gotten a tiny bit bigger and their heartbeat was more visible on the paper. They must have gotten taken when Judy was still unconscious.
"They all look fine, for now. Virginia says they look healthy as well but she's agreed with me that the reason behind this was due to your growing stress levels Judy." Karla explained.
"What!" Judy exclaimed. "I've always been stressed since finding out about the kits so why would I pass out now?"
"It's possible you could be adding to your stress due to the pregnancy. Has anything else out of the ordinary happened that might contribute?" She asked.
Judy thought long and hard about every single stressful event that has happened to her the last month. Strangely enough, there were more than a few.
1. Finding out she was pregnant
2. Telling her parents she was dating Nick
3. Dawn discovering her secret then using it to blackmail her
4. Simone arriving at BunnyBurrow
5. Finding out she's eating for four now
6. Meeting Nick's family
7. The dinner…
8. Julie breaking her trust
9. Her father breaking her trust
10. And last but not least, running away from home to live with her boyfriend.
"Maybe some things here and there…" Judy mumbled.
"Ok, that's it. I'm putting you on strict bed rest until you can learn to calm yourself down." Karla demanded.
"B-But-" Judy stuttered but was cut off by Nick.
"Now Fluff you can't go against your doctor's orders. And if you keep getting worked up something could happen to the babies or you." He said with a sincere look in his eyes.
Judy looked up to him to retaliate but knew that if she kept overexerting herself like this something could happen to the babies. And that was the last thing they wanted to happen.
"Fine…" She grumbled reluctantly.
"Good, now you are to stay home for the next 5 days so you can get some relaxation in you before potentially hurting yourself and my future god-children." Karla wrote down a small note saying, Stay home for 5 days or else, and gave Judy a tight hug before leaving the room to return to her other patients.
Judy got off the bed and leaned against Nick's arm while walking out of the clinic. While leaving she managed to get one look at the clock above the secretaries desk and much to her demise it read 4:15. Unfortunately meaning that the independent study ended a while ago and Dawn most likely wasn't even there.
Judy sighed in defeat while getting into Nick's car, thinking that she had failed her plan and would never get the chance to talk to Dawn before the debate in order to salvage her campaign.
But then something dawned on her (Pun not intended), she would go back to her daily workload after 5 days. Which meant that she wouldn't be able to head back to school until Monday, the day of the debate.
With such little time, her possibility of even making a campaign sounded impossible. Yet somehow Sharla's words from today played themselves through her mind. She would help figure out their strategy...together.
Judy got an idea. A really foolish and impulsive idea. But if everything went well and she went back to school on Monday as planned. Then she might just be able to beat Bellwether for Student Council President after all.
Lookout Dawn, because Judy was about to fight fire with fire.
To be continued…