There was something magical about the first day of school.
Skye Frost wasn't sure what it was, or why this year would be different from the rest. But there was something about walking through the double doors of P.S. 23 of Savanna Central that made her heart beat a little faster and the butterflies in her tummy go crazy.
Maybe it was because she finally had her braces off. Maybe it was because her stupid, older sister Marie was now in middle school. Or maybe for the first time in a long time, her father's sales numbers were good enough to catch up on their bills and then some, the 'then some' being brand new clothes for all three of his children.
And not just Paw-mart, either!
Today, Skye wore a brand new Fur-stice dress, with brand new butterfly clips in her head fur. Her snow white fur really made the pink butterflies pop and the flowers on the dress complimented her bright blue eyes. Added to that, she was starting to lose her baby weight and she had grown TWO INCHES this past summer.
Now, sitting one row behind the front (lest she appear too eager), with a new backpack at her feet and pencil case in front of her, she could just picture herself at the popular table. To her utter delight, it didn't take that long at all before she soared up the school's social ladder.
It was a dream come true!
Her teacher put her on the honor roll; her classmates enjoyed her wit and humor; the school seemed charmed by her upbeat, can-do attitude. Walking into the lunch room was enough to have different kits eagerly make space at nearly every table. And while she felt guilty for the looks of disappointment when she sat with the cool crowd, she was also tickled that they made room for her.
Life in the fourth grade was perfect!
It was not without its challenges. Being popular was exhausting and she was always having to watch what she did or said, just to make sure she didn't lose all her progress. But some things just are not meant to last. Which, if she had been older, would have made her more wary of the day it would all end.
Such a thing happened a bit over a month after the school year had started. Skye had entered the classroom with her new BFF Kimberly, a pretty skunk who had been the queen bee since kindergarten, unaware the rest of her life would change that day. The pair sat at their shared table, still giggling at whatever joke they had heard, paws going to pull out last night's homework, when , the beaver who taught them, called everyone to order.
"Okay, class," she chirped in her usual happy voice, "settle down! Today we have a new friend joining us." She turned to beam at the long figure left by the door and gestured happily for him to join her at the front. "This is Jack Savage and he comes to us all the way from Podunk! Jack, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself."
Skye looked up from her homework to see a bunny buck move towards their teacher with hesitance. His eyes were cast down; his ears and backpack were nearly the size of the small rabbit and both lay draped down his back, nearly brushing his calves. Had there not been an air of defeat surrounding him, Skye would have thought it comical. The red and white striped shirt and blue jeans he wore were well maintained but the vixen knew second paw clothing when she saw them.
He finally reached , with his paws shoved into his pockets and shoulders hunched, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. He finally looked up at his new class.
"I… ummmm… uhhhhhh…." Jack's voice was soft and hesitant, but it was the size and shade of his eyes that had Skye tilting her head and holding back an 'aww' of admiration.
He was adorable, as all young bunnies were, but there was something about those big eyes that made him stand out. She remembered last year when she was feeling low about her looks, her mother had assured her she would grow into them. As all children did. With that in mind, Skye was pretty positive Jack was going to be very attractive in the near future. For a bunny, that is.
"He looks like someone forgot what a zebra is supposed to look like," came Kimberly's snide comment, just loud enough for everyone to hear without knowing the culprit. All except the teacher and Skye giggled.
She gave her friend a look of confusion before turning back to the bunny up front. His head was down again, but his paws had gone to his cheeks, trying to cover up the rows of dark, prominent stripes that framed both sides of his face. All it did was show off the stripes running down his arms and paws. Skye hadn't noticed, but judging by his reaction, Kimberly's comment was not alien to the buck. She could see the crimson tips of his ears from where she sat.
Giving the class a stern look before kindly putting her arm around his tiny shoulders, she gave him an encouraging push towards his new peers. His paws reluctantly moved back into his pockets.
"Why don't you find a seat, Jack, and then we can begin our day."
Jack kept his eyes on the floor as he nodded and trudged towards the brightly decorated tables of his classmates. First he moved to an empty, undecorated seat, a bunny doe sitting beside it, only for her eyes to widen in horror and throw her backpack onto it as he reached for the chair.
"My desk partner's absent! You can't sit here," she explained harshly. Skye felt herself glare at the doe as the buck gulped before moving on with a nod.
Twice more it happened, each time the class (sans Skye) giggling, before - who was very nice, albeit oblivious- paused her lesson to choose for him. Skye turned to get another look at the hapless rabbit before she was nudged by Kimberly and passed a note. A very unflattering caricature of the bunny with stink lines coming off him and the caption 'Clearance Rack Zebra' greeted her.
That moment would have Skye looking back for years to come. She would have loved to say she had said something witty, or put her bully of a friend in her place. The former outcast that she was felt hurt outrage on Jack's behalf. It was, truely, a defining moment for the vixen. But now that she was finally part of the In Crowd….
"That's so funny," she whispered, hoping Kimberly would buy her fake laugh and strained smile.
Judging by the look of accomplishment and smug glance at Jack behind them, it worked. And giving him another look herself, Skye had never felt worse.
….….
Jack, his litter and their older sister had been four and six when their mother sat them down and told them their dad was gone forever. Emily Savage had explained it to them with a patience even his young age could appreciate. He, Rose, Mary, Josie, and Tammy had blinked up at their mother and asked her where Jacob Savage had gone. Their sister, Elizabeth, had thrown herself on to the couch and sobbed. Emily had only given them a watery smile and said maybe one day, they would find out.
For a while, it had been just the seven of them. And while it was tough being the only buck in a house full of does, Jack was more than happy with his only surviving parent. Emily worked endlessly to provide for them while balancing all their schedules AND spending quality time any chance she got. If she found she had no time for her children, she made time. Even at her own expense. His sisters had each other to lean on and Liz, while very dramatic, stepped up and helped him as best she could. She and Jack did all they could to keep their mother sane and not make any more demands on her then necessary.
And then he came along.
Trent Eiars and his stupid, fancy car. Trent Eiars and his stupid, fancy fur. Trent Eiars and his stupid, perfect smile, who made his mother and sisters laugh and took a good chunk of the burden off Emily's shoulders. Who had gotten down on Jack's level with that horrid smile of his and held out a paw for the bunny kit to shake, buck to buck, promising to never replace his father.
Yet here Jack was.
In Zootopia, miles away from the school where kits were finally coming around to him and getting used to his stripes and oversized ears. Finally, FINALLY, he was working his way out of the sidelines, towards acceptance, only to be thrown right back into the role of outcast. Not only was he the only one of his siblings to inherit his father's stripes, but now he had to deal with Mr. Perfect taking him and his family and moving them away from the home his father had carved out for them.
Now, instead of sharing a lunch table with his fellow outcasts, Jack sat by himself at the furthest table in the lunchroom as his sisters sat with new friends and classmates. Not one of them had made it into his class, even though there were only three fourth grade teachers. And they seemed happy to pretend they didn't know their brother. It had made him feel even more melancholy. And knowing his mother and…. *sigh* Trent….. they would tell him to keep a stiff upper lip and this phase in life would pass.
Easy for them to say. They already lived through the fourth grade and every grade after. It was easy for them to look at his problem and dismiss it as kid drama. He would like to paint stripes on their faces and glue extra long ears to their heads and see how well they did!
It was enough to keep him from enjoying the chickpea salad sandwich his mother had made especially for him. After lunch was P.E. Dodgeball to be specific, where his large ears, oversized front teeth, too big clothing, and meek demeanor made him a favorite target. Every ball in his reach was suddenly in the paws of more aggressive kits and it was all he could do to keep from getting pummeled.
The only highlight of the day was math class, Jack's best subject. He was the first to finish and the petty side of him even took the liberty to correct the teacher's mistakes. It was a small victory. But it at least made him feel less down about himself.
His wonderful first day was topped off by the sight of Trent at the foot of the school steps, a big, happy smile on his face when he spotted Jack and sisters heading down the steps. The does squealed in excitement and rushed over while Jack trudged behind them at a significantly less enthusiastic pace.
"How was school, everyone?" Trent asked good naturedly, hugging as many of them as he could. His face dropped a bit when Jack moved out of reach of him. But he covered his disappointment with a kind smile down at his step-son. "Did you have fun, Jack?"
It was an exercise in restraint when the young buck refrained from eye rolling.
"Yeah," he answered flatly, starting to walk in the direction of their home, moving ahead of his family. "It was super fun."
"I heard you got hit in the face with a dodgeball!" Rose taunted. Mary laughed while Josie and Tammy swung off Trent's paws and chatted to each other about their day.
The older bunny looked at Jack with concern.
"I heard you escaped from the freak show and are really in hiding so's you don't get sent back!" Mary added with a grin.
Jack turned to protest, his ears shot up in indignation, just as some of his classmates ran by, smacking him on the ears as they did.
"FREAK SHOW!" they shouted, laughing as they vanished down the street.
Mary and Rose giggled only to be silenced by a stern look from their step father. Josie and Tammy stayed silent with a look of pity in their eyes. Jack wasn't sure which was worse.
"You okay, buddy?" Trent asked, his brow furrowed with concern and freeing a paw to reach for the younger buck's shoulder.
This time, Jack did roll his eyes, turning his back on Trent and his attempt to parent him.
"Yeah," he snipped back sarcastically, "great, fine, just freaking peachy." Not waiting, he stormed off. "I just love this stupid city and it's stupid schools!"
The group came home, Jack in the lead and stomping off to be alone. Since he was the only buck, it made sense to put him in the smallest bedroom in the apartment. Emily stepped out of the kitchen and smiled at her son, opening her mouth to greet him. Only to be ignored as the bedroom door slammed shut. She looked to her husband who shrugged sadly before the couple set about their evening, taking care of their daughters and trying to figure out how to help their son. The older doe knew it was best her son was left alone to cool off before she could speak to him.
Any sooner and it would just make things worse.
….…..
No matter how much she loved her day out, for Skye nothing really beat the feeling of being back home. The quiet stillness of the house and coolness of the air conditioning after the late summer heat of Savanna Central made her sigh in relief. And there would be at least another half hour before her big sister came home. Her mother would be picking up their youngest sister from her after school playgroup, leaving only Skye to her own devices.
Out of habit, she ran to the phone and got ready to dial Kimberly's phone number. She would spend a half hour talking to her before her father came home with Marie, then he would take her to soccer or swim practice (depending on the day), followed by piano, then dinner, then homework. It was a routine she had been perfectly happy with.
But that was before Jack; before the mean note; before she had held a dodgeball in her paws and decided it was better to sit that game out rather than kick a mammal while they were down.
She must have been standing by the phone longer than she thought. The front door opened, Daniel and Marie Frost entering, the former holding a grocery bag containing dinner stuff. Marie gabbed away to him about who knew what before she changed tracks and made a beeline for the phone. Daniel went to put the food in the kitchen.
"Hey!" Skye protested as she was pushed aside. Though there was no real annoyance in her voice. She was never going to call Kimberly that afternoon.
"Phone is for non losers, geek," Marie chirped. Her paw dialed her friend's number only to have Daniel stop the call.
"Speak to your sisters like that again and you lose phone privileges for a week." Marie nodded and redialed, saving her eye roll for when their father's back was turned. "Soccer time, Skye! Let's get a move on!"
Skye followed her father but stayed silent until they were in the car.
"Daddy?" she asked in a quiet voice. Daniel looked over at her as he put on his blinker. "What would you do if a friend was being really mean to someone who was different?"
He gave her a patient look before continuing the drive. "Is this a hypothetical?"
Her eyebrows quirked at him.
"A what?"
"Meaning is this something that is not happening but could." Her look of comprehension made him smile before her face fell. She shook her head and averted her gaze.
"We have a new kit in our class. His name is Jack and everyone's been calling him names and picking on him," Skye explained. "Kimberly and a couple of others have been really, REALLY mean to him. I laughed at one of their jokes, even though it wasn't funny. And at a mean note. I feel really bad about it but I don't know what to do."
Daniel clicked his teeth and shook his head as he pulled into a parking space at the Savanna Central Rec Center.
"Well," he began after turning the car off, "your grandad used to tell me, 'The mark of a mammal lies not in how we treat our superiors, but how we treat those with less than us'. I know you like her, honey, but do you think Kimberly would have been nice to you if you were in the same class last year?"
Skye remembered how the other kits used to tease her for her braces and chubby legs and belly. It was a miserable time for her. Even though she did have a small group of friends to lean on, none of them had been Kimberly or her other new friends. Her father's words gave her a lot to consider. She took her duffle bag from the back seat and headed towards the rec doors. Daniel followed before veering off to the attached cafe to wait out his daughter's practice. The hour and a half was a blur, the young vixen barely registering when practice had ended and piano began. It wasn't until she and her family were sitting down at the dinner table before she decided what she was going to do.
Now, it was just a matter of follow through.
…
Later that night, freshly showered and laying on his bed, the young buck thought of ways to get out of school. Or ways to get back to Podunk. He had an aunt on his mom's side who would be happy to take him in. She was a bit older and last time they met she had tried to give them vaseline sandwiches, but he was smart and capable. Maybe he and Great Aunt Glady could help each other!
His thoughts were interrupted by a light knock on his door. He looked up to see Emily smiling at him, waiting for permission to enter his closet of a room. Which he granted even though he was sorely tempted not to.
"Hey, sweetheart," she began, moving to squat by his bedside. She stroked his head lovingly before continuing. "Trent says you had a rough first day. Wanna talk about it?"
Jack closed his eyes and enjoyed his mother's touch before shaking his head.
"I just wanna go home," he muttered.
Emily wiped the tears from his eyes and gave him a kiss on the forehead.
"We are home, my love. This is where home is now." She stood up and gave him a sad smile he didn't return. "But I promise, it will get better."
"Your mother's a wise doe," Trent's voice came from behind her, the buck's brown eyes soft and kind when they met Jack's. "She's right. Soon those kits will come around. And then you're going to have so many friends you won't know what to do with yourself. " He moved further into the small room, Emily moving to let her husband in. "What do you say I walk you to school tomorrow? Have some guy time?"
"No, thank you."
Trent smiled with disappointed eyes, Jack letting him pat his head to ease the guilt. Watching as both grown ups carefully left the room, he gave his mom a small smile when she blew him a kiss and closed the door.
With a sigh, Jack turned over to switch the bedside lamp off, plunging the rim into darkness.
Nowhere to go but up, right? He thought before falling into a restless sleep.
…...
Jack really wished his mother or Trent had bought his stomach ache excuse this morning. Standing at the steps of the school, other students (his sisters among them) rushing by with their friends towards their classes. His step-dad had offered again to walk him to school, as his litter had already rushed ahead to meet up with friends. Elizabeth was being dropped off by their mother, since she was two grades ahead of them in another school. Once again, the younger buck refused. The last thing he needed was for someone to think he required an adult for something as trivial as going to school.
He spotted Rose and Mary by the flagpole in animated conversation with another doe and a quartet of rabbit bucks about his age. Jack guessed they were in her class and the way his sisters twirled with their ear tips and batted their eyelashes, the pair had a crush on the big, brown one. Swinging his backpack to his front, Jack dug out Rose's notebook that had been left on the breakfast table and marched over to her, fixing his bag as he did.
"Here, Rose," he held it out to her and tried to not let nerves make his ears fall. She and Mary gave him horrified looks, matched by the doe they were talking with. Irritation filled him when she still didn't take her notebook. "Do you want it or not? I'm pretty sure it has your homework in it."
"Ugh!" It was snatched from his paws. "Please don't ever address me in public again."
Without another word, the trio flounced off, the bucks following with parting looks of distaste.
"Freak show," the big brown one called back, earning a laugh from his friends and a few of the surrounding students.
"I can't catch a break, can I?" Jack muttered to himself.
A reassuring pat on his back had him looking towards his sister Josie as she passed with Tammy. Both does gave him a smile, Tammy adding an encouraging punch to the shoulder before they rushed off. He sighed and headed for class. At least two of his sisters weren't treating him like a social piraya. He waited patiently for his turn to enter the room, trying to ignore the fresh wave of whispers and giggles aimed at him as he reached his desk and set his bag on the floor.
Glancing up after digging out his homework, he caught sight of the vixen who sat at the table in front of him. Pretty and popular and obviously best friends with her skunk desk partner, whom he assumed was the school's top trend setter. Exactly the type to perpetuate the miserable existence he lived in at school. And to his utter amazement, she smiled at him. It was a brief smile, sure, but a smile nonetheless. Aimed RIGHT. AT. HIM (he knew that because he double checked the surrounding desks). It made him think that maybe Trent had a point. As small as the interaction was, it was enough to have him smile back. She turned from him to take her seat, leaving the young buck with a light blush, his smile still present.
"Alright, class!" came into the room as the last student found their seat, pulling a stack of papers from her bag. "I graded all of the math tests, and I'm sorry to say, only one of you got higher than an eighty percent. Actually, he got one hundred and ten percent, because he found a mistake of mine in one the problems." She flipped through the stack and pulled one from the pile. "Jack Savage, everyone!"
The beaver clapped happily, a few classmates half-heartedly joining in. The vixen turned and gave him another smile and clapped politely. Everyone else either gave him looks of hatred or annoyance. passed out the tests, giving him a happy pat on the shoulder as she maneuvered by him. He smiled at the gold star and 'Good Job!' she had scrawled at the top.
His spirits elevated quite a bit.
When morning break came around and his class was led to the playground, there were fewer taunts and whispers about him. In fact, only two students had shouted "Freak Show" as he passed. And they were caught and properly punished. The vixen from his class even made to come towards him, only to be stopped by the skunk she shared a desk with. So as far as second days went, it was shaping up to be pretty okay. At least it was survivable.
But there was one dark spot on the otherwise good day.
When they had been dismissed for lunch and Jack followed his class towards the lunchroom, he found himself suddenly stopped by the bucks Rose and Mary had been talking with.
"Hey, Freak Show!" the brown one greeted. "Looking for a circus to join?"
His posse snickered. Jack could only sigh and cross his arms.
"Wow, another circus joke," he replied drolly, "however do you manage such witty and original insults? Such deep thinking must really exhaust your only brain cell." He put a paw on his chest and looked apologetically to white buck next to the ring leader. "Oh, sorry for the big words. A brain is something most mammals have, that your parents knew to not expect in you."
"Hey!" the white one protested, "I know what a brain is!"
"That's the spirit!" Jack gave them a fake smile before it was dropped. He tried to move past them only to be grabbed by his arms. "Hey! Let me go!"
A small crowd stopped to watch, some looking dismayed, others gleeful. Mary and Rose looked uncertain as they passed by with their friends before rushing off. Josie and Tammy looked outraged, but were stopped from marching over by their friends; no doubt reminding them the trouble they could get into for fighting.
"Guess your big brain doesn't come in handy now, does it!" Brownie sneered as he and his cronies started to drag him towards the male bathroom. "You know, circus life makes you pretty smelly. How about we do the school a favor and rinse you off?"
They laughed as Jack fought and struggled to get free. Only to be halted by the last mammal any of them expected.
"Problem, guys?"
The snow white vixen from his class. She stood in front of the door, hips cocked, blue eyes ablaze, casually filing her nails and smiling wide. So wide, nearly every one of her pearly white teeth were showing. Even though she was wearing white flower print jeans and a bright pink tank top with a metallic silver flower on the front, he was convinced she was a superhero.
Brownie got over his shock fairly quickly. "None of your business, pelt." The slur had even his friends looking at him in shock.
She, however, merely smiled wider and tucked the file away in her pocket. Stepping closer, she stood to her full height and leaned in. Brownie's ears dropped and he looked terrified.
"Shoo!" The simple word was accompanied by her fully extended claws and a snap of her jaws. And that was more than enough for the group to drop Jack and run.
The ache in his rear was easily dismissed as he looked up at his savior. She smiled down at him in return and reached to help him to his feet.
"Don't let those guys get you down," she encouraged with another smile. "They're just jerks who're going to realize they have nothing going on for them later in life. Anyway, gotta go! See you back in class!"
With a final smile and wave, his hero was gone. But the skipped heart beat she gave him would be a lifetime feature.
…
Her paws were still shaking. She was vaguely aware there were way too many eyes on her when she entered the lunchroom and joined the hot lunch line, but her adrenaline was still going and made it easy to ignore. A meal choice was selected with no real consideration and her tray carried towards her normal table. Only to be stalled when Kimberly and Madison- a grey wolf who sat next to them in class- squeezed together to keep her from sitting.
"Sorry, Skye," Kimberly said in a sing-song voice, "table's full."
The pair gave her looks of mocking sadness that made their table laugh before turning back to their conversations. Skye looked at them in disbelief before shaking her head and looking around. A few others noticed her searching and scrunched together to make sure she stayed away. Her ears went crimson with embarrassment as she wandered the room looking for a spot to sit.
Without warning, someone bumped her. Hard. Her lunch tray went flying from her paws and clattered to the floor.
"Oops!" Came a familiar voice. Infuriated blue eyes looked up to see Brownie and his gang strut away amid the laughter of the lunchroom.
Tears filled her eyes as she bent to scoop everything up.
"I got this, darlin'." , the old todd janitor, got to work and waved her away with a smile. "No good deed goes unpunished, but that doesn't mean it can't be recognized." He picked up her apple and gave it a critical once over before passing it to her, along with the unscathed milk box. "Keep sticking up for others. It helps make the world a better place."
"Thank you," she muttered, wiping her eyes and spotting an unoccupied table in the corner. Sitting with her back to the room, she considered her pitiful meal. Only to be joined by a familiar face.
Jack sat next to her without a word, a brown lunch bag in his paws. She watched curiously as he emptied it's contents. A pudding cup was placed in front of her along with half a sandwich.
"Mom always forgets I don't like carrot cake pudding, and she makes my sandwiches too big," he explained with a shrug. "I'll trade you for your apple!"
His bright expression had her smiling and crying. A small hicupped laugh escaped her as she nodded, passing the fruit to him and accepting the spoon. He grinned back and dug into his lunch, Skye right behind him, thinking how well his smile suited him. She wondered vaguely how to get him to do it more. Cautiously pulling the foil of the cup back, the vixen gave a tentative sniff before dipping in the spoon. The taste of carrot cake exploded in her mouth and her eyes widened in delight. It made the buck next to her laugh around his mouthful of apple.
"How could you not like this?" she asked in amazement before going for another bite. "Carrot cake is soooo good!"
Jack shrugged. "I've never been a carrot fan." He explained. Skye gave him an incredulous look. "They taste like dirt with sugar mixed in. I prefer bananas. I love, love, love bananas!"
She smiled at him, observing the way his nose twitched before each bite of his lunch. And the way he nodded his head as he chewed. As if he was agreeing with the flavors of his meal. He really was very cute.
"A bunny who doesn't like carrots." He looked up at her with a curious look of his own. She grinned at him. "You're a very strange mammal."
"A fox who stands up for a bunny is pretty strange, too," he countered.
"Well, we can't have two weirdos wandering around alone, now can we?" She was still smiling as he shook his head and smiled back at her. "Then we may as well stick together."
Lunch practically flew by, the pair never once stopped chatting, realizing how much they had in common. They both loved the same books, movies, and t.v. shows; they played tag on the playground and raced each other on the jungle gym. When they made it back to the classroom, they were still laughing and chit chatting like they had known each other for years. And when they got closer to their seats, Skye realized she felt more like herself than she had felt for a long time. Somehow, this felt better than popularity ever did. She felt considerably less exhausted from not having to watch her every move around him. Jack moved to take his spot, the chair beside him vacant as his desk mate didn't want to sit next 'Freak Show'. Skye gave him a parting smile before turning to her chair. Only to be greeted by Kimberly's snide sneer.
"Did you have fun at your loser convention?" she asked sweetly. Kimberly waited for her response, but Skye could only stare at her blankly.
"I'm sorry, I can't be friends with someone who thinks perfume is a good replacement for a shower!" Skye made sure her voice was loud enough to be heard without being totally obvious. The skunk's jaw dropped and Skye picked her backpack up and moved to sit next to the buck.
The admiration in his eyes was plain as she settled in. Her posture was perfect and paws neatly folded in front of her while she sat with her eyes towards the front and a smug smile on her muzzle. Jack's smile grew as he stared, not realizing he was doing so. His heart did that weird thing again, something he found he didn't mind in the least.
"Stop that." She commanded in a friendly tone, not looking at him.
He obeyed but kept his smile in place as he followed her example and turned to the front.
The rest of the day was relatively uneventful. Skye and Jack became attached to the hip, picking each other for partners on a science project, staying together for their afternoon break; Skye helping Jack with his spelling and grammar. Jack, in turn, helped Skye with her science and math. When the last bell rang, the pair left side by side, never stopping their conversation. His sisters were once again the first to reach Trent and stared with open amazement at the odd duo walking towards them.
Even Trent looked less vile as the older buck beamed down at his step son.
"So," he began, once Jack and Skye had reached them, "how was your day, buddy?"
Forgetting his resentment for his step father, Jack gave him a bigger smile than Trent was used to.
"It was good," he answered. "This is Skye. She sits next to me in class."
"Nice to meet you," Skye greeted politely, holding out her paw to the older bunny.
Trent smiled back and accepted her pawshake. "Nice to meet you too, Skye. Care to walk with us? We can take a detour to your place on the way home."
She gave Jack a quick look to make sure he was on board with the idea (he was) and grinned with a happy nod. The group went on their way, the new friends falling back slightly to continue the conversation. His sisters kept looking back at them and whispering amongst themselves. Trent looked back to make sure both kits were still behind him but kept silent. Though he did so with a knowing smile on his face.
All too soon, they were in front of Skye's building, Jack realizing she was only a block away from the rabbit warren. The others moved up a ways to give the pair a moment to say goodbye on top of the building's steps.
"Thanks for today, Skye," he said, still smiling. "It was my first good day in a long time."
"Thanks for sharing your lunch and your table with me, Jack," she responded, grinning back. "I'll see again tomorrow, right?"
"Oh, definitely! I'll talk to you later!" He waved as he hopped down her steps towards his waiting family, only to be stopped by her calling out to him.
"Jack, wait!" His blue eyes found her with a scrap of paper in her paws and a phone number scrawled on it. "Call me later and we can talk about our project."
Accepting it, he looked at the collection of numbers and held it reverently to his chest. "Okay. I'll talk to you tonight."
"Is six okay? I have piano and swim tonight."
"I can do that!"
Both kits beamed at each other for a moment longer before Trent politely cleared his throat. They blushed while looking over at him, parting ways with happy grins on the muzzles. The older buck grinned to himself as the group continued, though it fell in amazement when a small paw slipped into his own. His brown eyes looked down to Jack holding his paw and walking in silence beside him.
It was a moment he would hold dear in his heart. Watching that young, awkward kit grow into a handsome buck in his wedding tux, sitting next to the gorgeous vixen, her cream colored gown a perfect contrast with her white fur. Trent felt his eyes mist over as the newlyweds shared a kiss.
Giving his bride a loving look, Jack stood and lightly tapped his champagne glass, getting the reception hall's attention.
"Skye and I would like to thank you all for coming out tonight and helping us celebrate the second best day of my life." There was a small pause filled with speculation when Jack turned to smile down at his bride. "The first being nearly twenty six years ago, in the fourth grade. When the most beautiful mammal in the world smiled and chose me, of all mammals, to be her best friend." He turned back to the room. "But this toast isn't for my gorgeous wife, or the wonderful life she has given me and we'll continue sharing together. It's for my mother, Emily and my step dad, Trent. Nearly twenty six years ago, you told me things would be better. And the next day, I met Skye. So thank you, Mom and Dad. Thank you for everything you did for me. On behalf of Skye and I, thank you for making all of this possible." Jack raised his glass, followed by Skye, who stood to join her new husband. "To family."
The hall raised their glasses and followed suit.
"To family!"