Before anyone realized the passage of time, dawn had shown itself. The sun barely peeked up over the edge of the horizon and began to illuminate the neighborhood. A few birds chirped outdoors as they began to stir from their slumber.
(Humphreys Pov)
"Oww '' I mumbled as I opened my eyes, before shutting them quickly and grabbing my head. It felt like it was going to explode. This didn't even feel like a headache, it hurt so much more. I continued to keep my eyes closed as the pain persisted. Not moving from my spot I noticed a noise outside the room towards the kitchen. I could barely make out what the sound was, everyone being louder and quieter making the job of identifying quite difficult. I did manage to make out a distinctive ring of a glass being hit against something, which meant that I was right in thinking it was coming from the kitchen.
It was probably Eve making food or something, but I paid it no mind. I pulled the blanket that had been given to me over my face, allowing me to open my eyes without the fear of being blinded to death. After giving my eyes ample time to adjust to the ambient light that showed through the blanket, I pulled it back down exposing my face back to the room. I winced at the pain the light caused my head but it subsided after a moment or two. I looked at the table that was in front of the couch where my glass had been, but seemed to be missing. "Weird" I thought as I looked around the room, looking for where I might have put my glass.
"I know i had brought it in here with me last night" i said carefully sitting up. I let out a small grunt as the sudden pressure applied to my wound caused it to send a nice shot of pain up my whole side. I lifted my shirt and looked down at the cut that had been cleanly stitched together, this surrounding skin showing discoloration and irritation. I sighed and dropped my shirt not wanting to look at the ugly mark any longer. I took another look around the room now that I was fully sitting up and could see better, but to my dismay and original assessment, my glass was indeed not here.
Realizing this I carefully stood up and made my way to the door of the room, carefully cracking it open to peek outside the room. I glanced down the hall which was still dark and kind of ominous looking. I turned my attention to the stairs, looking up at them for any signs of life but I didn't see anything. Out of the blue to the left I heard a voice that made me jump, accidentally pushing the door closed with my head still between it and the frame. It smacked me with a solid thud, bouncing off my skull and opening again. I quickly rubbed my head trying to dull the pain, looking in the voice's direction.
Standing at the entrance to the kitchen was Kate's mother holding a glass and a towel, which she was using to dry the glass. She just seemed to stare at me for a second as if I had just put on a performance for her. "You okay there honey?" she said, walking a little closer and reaching up to turn my head to the side to examine me. I pulled away from her and weakly smiled. "Just fine" I said , still rubbing the small bump that had now started forming. She just eyed me as she made her way back to the kitchen with me following her.
"Eve, if you don't mind and it wouldn't be a bother, do you have some medicine for a headache? My head is killing me." I said stopping at the table as she continued to the sink. She turned and paused, like she was thinking for a second . " Absolutely dear, just a sec.." she said as she opened the pantry door and reached onto one of the shelfs towards the bottom. I heard the rattle of a bottle that had pills in it, as she pulled it out and closed the door. She turned and handed me the bottle of medicine. I nodded and accepted the bottle, looking down to read it.
"Ibuprofen tablets 800mg each " was printed across the front in big blue letters. I normally made it a habit not to take ibuprofen but I wasn't going to complain right now. Eve walked over and handed me a glass of water and continued over to the table, where she took a seat in Lillys chair.
I walked over and joined her at the table, sitting down in her normal seat since I didn't really want to sit on the same side as her. I figured that would be awkward. I placed the glass down and opened the bottle of painkillers, dumping two of them into my hand and resealing the bottle. As I was about to throw them in my mouth I was stopped by Eve. "Woah there killer take it easy. One of those is plenty for a headache.." she said, staring at me as i held the two pills in my palm. I looked at the pills and then back at her confused "You think? I always take this much..`` I said. I didn't seem to understand the problem. I mean I've taken twice that before and it was okay, and when something hurts enough, you tend to do whatever you have too for it to stop.
"Honey, that's too much for any common problem. Why would you ever take so much at once? Normally that would be reserved for after major surgery or operations." she said reaching over and taking one of the pills and placing it back into the bottle. I'd never really thought about it to be honest. But I knew that 800mg would work on me, especially since I've taken so much pain medicine in my life. I feel like I've got a tolerance for the stuff. I threw the pill in my mouth and lifted the glass, drinking the entire glass of water.
"Now what would you like to eat dear?" she said putting both of her hands on the table like she was about to get up. I just shook my head and looked down. "I'm not really hungry at the moment, so please don't worry about it."
"You can't take medicine and not eat Humphrey, it will tear up your stomach." she looked at me with an expression that just said "are you crazy?". But i was being honest, I wasn't hungry in the least bit. There was no need for her to go out of her way for me anyways. I didn't look up at her as I continued to sit in the silence and protest the offer. A few moments passed before she sighed and stood up and walked back into the kitchen and opened the fridge. She grabbed something and brought it over to me, setting it down beside me. I looked over at the dish that contained some scrambled eggs and hashbrowns.
"That's the leftovers from yesterday's breakfast. Will you at least eat that?" she asked, gesturing to the dish. I looked back at the dish and studied the contents for a moment. I really didn't feel like eating but I knew it would hurt her feelings if I tried to ignore it. "I'll try to eat as much as I can" I said, picking it up and moving it in front of me.
"Do you want me to heat it up for you? It won't take but a sec dear." i had already felt bad that she was helping, i didn't want her doing more. " It's fine" I said as I took the wrap off the plate and began to eat.
She just smiled and continued to watch me as I nibbled my way slowly through the food in front of me trying to eat my fill, but not even a third of the way into the plate I was done. I did not want anymore and didn't want to force it down. I guess she noticed my internal conflict and gave a soft sigh. "Don't force yourself Humphrey. As long as you ate something, then it should be fine. But you need to learn to eat more. It's not healthy to skip full meals.." she said, picking up the plate and rubbing my shoulder before taking it back to the kitchen.
I mean I never really ate much food to begin with, since James never really let me have anything from the house. So I really only ate when I went to school. I stopped for a moment to think about school. Man it was gonna suck going back to that place. I mean I had just started and my school life was already over. I could feel my stomach turn at the thought making me shake my head, getting rid of it. I stood up from the table and made my way back to the living room where I took a seat on the couch. You know I never really liked my phone, but now that I don't have one anymore I am unbelievably bored all the time. Maybe I could get a job to pay for another one.
(Skip 3 hours)
I heard some noises upstairs through the ceiling above me. Judging by the ruff location I was assuming it to be Lilly and Stormy in her room. I guess they had woken up and started to get ready to go into town with Kate's parents. I'm glad that they were taking care of Stormy and that she was happy, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't suck being left behind. James never let me go anywhere with them either, like ever. I could feel my teeth grit as I thought about him. God, I hated that man so much.
I heard a knock on the door that brought my attention to it. I looked over to the door to see even standing in it looking over. "Hey dear, we are going to leave here in a bit. Kate will be here so ask her if you need anything. She can call us if need be and we will come right back home." she said with a straight face. It kinda scared me a little. She looked so serious when she normally seemed happy and soft. I just gave a small nod and nuzzled back into my blanket. I heard the door close and her footsteps walking away. "Well now what do I do" I thought to myself as I pondered the boring day ahead of me.
After about thirty minutes I heard some compassion upstairs followed by a thunderous boom of steps down the stairs. There was no doubt that it was Stormy and Lilly coming down. The door to the room flew open as Stormy burst in and ran over to me. She flopped down on me and squeezed me, taking my breath away from the unexpected weight thrown upon me.
"Morning bro" she said as she continued to squeeze me. I swear she was trying to kill me with this death grip. "Well morning to you too" I squeaked out due to lack of air. She laughed at me, letting up on her grip a little and allowing me to breathe again.
"Stormy get off him dear, you're gonna hurt him" Eve said walking into the room and pulling her off me. She just let out a discontent whine as she did. I pushed myself back up to a sitting position and looked at Stormy.
"Please behave today and don't cause them any trouble" I said in a stern voice. She knew when I got serious, that I meant it. She just nodded and ran out the room, probably to go find Lilly. Winston poked his head into the door as she was running out, looking at Eve then to me.
"Morning there bud, sleep well?" he said, still looking at me with a smile. I just nodded in response. "Well that's good, Hon you ready to go?" he continued, looking over to Eve.
"Yea let me go make sure Kate is up and grab my purse and jacket" she said quickly walking out of the room and up the stairs. Winston just walked back to the kitchen where I could hear the two girls chatting about how excited they were, and what they wanted to buy. After a few minutes Eve came back down the stairs and waved at me before continuing into the kitchen. Not soon after I heard the front door open and close, followed by the sound of a vehicle starting up. The sound soon faded as they left the driveway and pulled away, leaving me by myself. It was the same house but it suddenly felt so empty and quiet. Well not completely empty but it was close.
I spent a few minutes trying to decide what I wanted to do before I heard a set of footsteps coming down the stairs. I knew there was only one set of footsteps it could be, and soon enough Kate came into view at the base of the stairs. She was wearing some form of pajamas that looked more like sweats than pajamas. She looked over and noticed me staring at her, which I quickly looked away to avoid the awkward eye contact. I mean I still dont think I'd be able to look her in the eyes. I figured that she would go to the kitchen but instead she walked into the living room with me.
I could feel my heart rate rise a little as she got closer to me. Luckily for me she stopped just inside the door of the room, but she was still looking at me. "Morning Humphrey" she said, breaking the empty silence that had been filling the room. I looked over at her but didn't look her in the eyes. "Oh..uh morning Kate, sleep well?" she let out a yawn and stretched a little, causing the bottom of her shirt to rise, exposing her belly some. Her bright tan fur contrasted heavily against the pure black cloth that made up her clothes. I wanted to look away but I felt myself continuing to stair at the patch of fur exposing itself. It was so smooth and soft looking , compared to my more rugged fur. Soon enough the fur was hidden again as she dropped her arms back down to her side. "Yea i slept well enough i suppose". I wasn't sure why but I felt like I shouldn't have been looking at her.
She walked out of the room headed for the kitchen to get a drink. "Do you want anything to drink Humphrey?" her voice echoing off the walls of the house back to the room. "Please '' I yelled back a lot quieter than she had. I was almost worried it was too quiet but that was dismissed as she walked back carrying two glasses of orange juice, setting one down in front of me. "Thanks" I said , reaching over and picking up the glass. I quietly sipped on my drink, while she did the same a few feet away.
"You didnt turn on the tv?" she asked, gesturing to the flat screen tv in front of me. I had thought about it last night but decided not to. James never wanted me using the tv in the living room, since it was where he watched his shows as he drank his beer. Normally I just watch stuff on my phone or laptop.
"No, I didn't want to bother anyone, '' I said, looking down at my cup. I mean it would be annoying if you had someone staying at your house watching tv while you tried to sleep. She just looked at me puzzled for a moment, not saying anything.
"You know you're not gonna bother anyone here. Don't worry about stuff like that and just make yourself comfortable" she sat in the chair that was closest to the tv , turning it to face me. She tucked her lugs under her butt and set her glass in her lap getting comfortable. I just watched in silence as she did so. "So what do you have planned for the day?".
Honestly I didn't know how to answer that. I mean I was at a stranger's house, by myself. I didn't have any of my stuff and her mom said I couldn't leave because I have to rest and recover. My options of stuff to do were basically, stare at the wall to the left, or the wall to the right. Not a lot to choose from, is it? "I uh..I hadn't really thought about it i guess" i said glancing up at her eyes. I felt a wave of awe wash over me as I did. Her eyes were reflecting the sunlight from the room, fully illuminating the golden accents that lined her iris. They almost seemed to glow in the sunlight.
I hadn't even noticed that I was staring at her for too long as she blushed a little while looking away. I blinked and realized I was also looking away from her. I didn't mean to make things feel awkward or anything. I just don't know what happens when I look into her eyes. They're so inviting, so warm and gentle.
"Well mom left me to watch over you, and I'm not going to just ignore your presence. So we will have to find something to do, now won't we?" she said, giving a smile, showing her sparkly white teeth. I just looked back to my glass, taking another sip. The medicine from earlier had kicked a little while ago and my head didn't hurt near as bad as it did. I could still feel it a little but it was manageable. Still I didn't make a plan for doing anything and i didnt want her to waste hers on me.
"Dont worry about me, you can just enjoy your day" I said softly to myself. I really didn't like that we were already intruding on their lives. I would feel horrible if they had to change their days to deal with me.
She didn't say anything in response and just sat quietly in the chair. It felt like you would hear a feather falling. It was so quiet. After about a minute or so she finally spoke up. "I know. I've got a lot of homework to finish. You seemed to be pretty smart in class, would you mind helping me with my homework?" she said looking back at me.
The gods had to hate me or something. Out of everything that we could do, she picks homework. Sure I was good at school work, especially the stuff they give us here. It's all super easy stuff that i feel my sister could do..well..maybe not her but a normal twelve year old could. But I hated doing homework, it's basically all I was allowed to do at home. I looked up at Kate who was still just smiling away at me. How was I supposed to say no to a face like that? This was an unfair situation where I would lose either way.
"Uh, yea sure" I said weakly. I hated homework, sure, but I'd hate myself if I made her sad. "Yay" she squealed as she jumped up walking towards the door heading for the stairs. "I'll be right back" she said and then disappeared. I just sighed and put my face into my hands in defeat. Who knew girls' faces could sway over my hatred for homework. After a few minutes she returned with a binder and sat down on the floor across the table from me, opening it and pulling out the work.
I sat up and moved closer to the table so I could see better. She spread out the papers one by one, pulling more and more out. Some homework would be an understatement, it's like she hasn't done any of it for the week. I just sighed, preparing myself for the task at hand.
She would work on it and ask me a question when she got stuck, where I'd then spend time breaking down the entire problem and showing her how to solve it so she would fully understand it. This persisted for longer than I would have liked. She was definitely a looker, but her smarts were slightly lacking. I had to help with almost every question on every paper.
(Skip 2 hours)
After an exhausting amount of time and effort we finally finished the last page and I laid back on the couch with a deflated sigh. Who knew teaching someone how to do something was so much harder then actually doing the said problem. She proceeded to clean up the assortment of papers, organizing them into stacks and placing them back into the binder and closing it.
"Thanks so much for the help Humphrey, I feel like I actually understand most of it now. You'd make a great teacher" she said, standing up and grabbing the binder. I looked over at her and smiled a little. It was a nice gesture but there was absolutely no possibility I'd ever want to do that again for other kids. My brain felt fried from just helping one person, I would never manage to do that with multiple people.
She walked out of the room for a moment, presumably to put up her stuff. I sat back up, catching a small whiff of my smell as I did. I didn't smell bad but it was time for a shower. The last thing I wanted was to smell bad in front of a cute girl. "Wait, cute?" I thought to myself. Since when did I think that about her? I stopped when she returned to the room and sat back down on the floor where she had been before.
"Hey Kate, do you mind if I take a quick shower?" I asked. She stopped to study my appearance as if to say "You look fine" but just nodded instead. "You remember where it's at right?" she said. I gave a nod as I stood up and made my way to the stairs and over to the bathroom. It would be nice to relax in a hot shower. I walked in and closed the door, starting the water and getting undressed. I looked in the mirror at myself while I waited for the water to heat up. My bruising on my face was pretty much gone now, what was left was easily hidden by my dark fur. The cut from the locker was healing up nicely as well, it didn't seem like it would leave a big scar thankfully.
The cut on my side still looked as gross and bruised as it did this morning. I'm not sure what I was expecting to change in such a short time. I rolled my eyes at the thought as I stuck my hand into the water to test the temp. Once it was at an acceptable level of hot, I stepped in and let the water comb through my fur. I could feel my mussels relaxing as the hot water soaked through my fur reaching my skin. I loved hot showers so much, they just feel so good. I leaned against the tiles of the shower as I just let the water wash over me for a bit, letting my body fully relax.
(Kate's Pov)
I was sitting in the living room, while I waited for Humphrey to finish his shower. I lost myself in thought about random stuff and decided that I would make a snack real quick. I walked in the kitchen and pulled out the peanut butter and the jelly. I turned a grabbed the bread and placed two slices on the plate. As I was closing the bag it occurred to me that Humphrey was here too. It would be rude not to make him one as well, right? I reached up and grabbed another plate, bringing it down to the counter and putting two pieces of bread on it as well. I grabbed a knife and spread the peanut butter across the slices of bread and followed it with the jelly. I gave the knife a small lick before washing it off in the sink and setting it down. I put the pieces of bread together and grabbed the plates, walking back to the living room and setting Humphreys down on the table in front of the couch.
I walked over to sit in my chair, but right as I did I heard the doorbell ring. I set the plate down and turned to head to the front door wondering who would be here at this time of day. I peeked through the eye whole and saw Jane on the other side. I rolled my eyes and smiled as i opened the door, greeted with a "Hey Girl!" from Jane as well as Alex and Beth who i didn't see out here.
I jumped a little seeing the other two, not expecting them to be there as well. I smiled and walked out giving Jane a quick hug. "What are you guys doing here?" I asked, stepping back from them towards the doorway. I mean it was friday afternoon and had to be close to like 2pm. They should be at school right about now.
"See girl you miss everything when you're not at school" Jane said as she gestured to come inside. I stepped inside allowing the girls to come in as we all walked over to the kitchen table. Jane sat down at the end , followed by Beth to her right. Alex stayed standing and just kind of leaned on the table. I took a seat at the opposite side of the table from Jane in what was normally dad's chair.
"So?.." I said, trying to figure out what they were here for. I mean don't get me wrong I loved them and always wanted to spend time with them, but this was just random. I mean with everything going on right–. My heart froze as the realization that Humphrey was here hit me. How did I forget that? What am I supposed to do, I can't just ask them to leave as soon as they get here? I felt a small bit of panic building up in me. They still didn't know that I had him staying here, and he probably wants it that way.
"So. we stopped by since school let out.." Jane said, looking at me. "We were released early since it was the first week of school and the teachers were all done with class". I honestly wasn't too surprised by this, since Jasper High was known for early release on Fridays and mondays at random. It's why most of the parties thrown by students were on mondays or fridays.
"Well aren't you guys lucky" I said snickering with a just laughed and nodded in unison. Alex finally decided to sit down at the table,pulled out the chair to the left of me and sat down in it.
"Did we interrupt your meal?" Beth asked, pointing over to the open bag of bread and jar of peanut butter on the counter.i just smiled and stood up walking over to put them up. "Oh no, i just forgot to put the stuff up" i said remembering my sandwich sitting in the other room, that i still wanted. I put the peanut butter back in the cabinet and sealed the bread bag, placing it back on top of the fridge with the other bread. "Anyone thirsty?" I asked opening the fridge.
"Yea, I'll take a soda if you don't mind," Beth said, raising her hand like a student in class,Jane raising her hand as well. I looked over to Alex and she just nodded. I grabbed three cans out of the fridge and brought them over to the girls, setting them down on the table. I went back into the kitchen and grabbed a glass for me for water. Right as I was about to set it on the table there was a loud noise followed by a yelp from upstairs. I immediately set the glass down and ran up the stairs to the bathroom, knocking on it a few times.
"Humphrey, are you okay in there?" I asked quietly but I didn't get a response. I looked around nervously trying to think of what I should do. I knocked again a little harder and spoke up some more. My effort was rewarded by a voice on the other side of the door.
"Yea…im fine, i just slipped" he said in a wavering voice. He sounded like he was choked up or something. Either way it didn't sound very reassuring in the least. "Are you sure?". I wanted to open the door to check on him but I knew that was definitely not something he wanted me to do. But his safety was more of a concern than his pride to me.
"im..Okay" he said again, his voice sounding a little clearer this time. That was a little more reassuring but I still felt worried. "Alright well i'll be downstairs, just call me up if you need me for anything" i said turning to face the stairs. I didn't get a response so I just went back down to the kitchen.
When I made it to the bottom the girls were all standing up and looking at me, confusion and curiosity plastered to their faces. I facepalmed myself in my head as I just walked over and took a seat at my chair, making sure to leave enough room to get up quickly should he need me.
"Everything okay up there?" Jane asked, staring at me blankly. I just nodded a few times and picked up my glass while taking a sip. She didn't move an inch as she just watched me. Our attention was broken when I heard the upstairs bathroom door open, letting me know Humphrey was coming down. I didn't know what to do at that moment, because I couldn't tell him not to come down since they knew someone was up there, and I could tell them to leave because they would find it suspicious. None of it mattered as I heard Beth gasp, the other girls following suit. I turned around and found a damp sad looking Humphrey standing at the bottom of the stairs, wide eyed and staring back.