The school library, a place where students come to study, work on assignments, or just read. Many would consider it their home away from home with the amount of time they spend there. A few even used the place as an opportunity to catch up on sleep before their next class. Some wondered if libraries are still relevant when that same information can be found on the Internet. Others would argue their sentimental value and them being a place where one can access books for free, even if just temporarily.
In the Law School library, the study group was sitting at a long table but spread out a short distance from each other. Judy was at the computers preparing to send her outline to the others. Clawhauser was revising his Property outline, and the rest were working on their assignments.
Judy sighed in relief when she clicked the send button on her email and saw the confirmation. She took a moment to stretch her limbs when she heard Skye's voice.
"Finished?" The arctic vixen took a seat next to the doe.
Judy looked at her and nodded, "You?"
"Just finished revising the hard copy, and now I'm going to put it on the computer. I didn't want to hog a seat while working on the hard copy."
"I'd prefer doing that than the report for Bogo," Judy said while logging off her computer.
The vixen quietly chuckled as she logged onto hers. "At least he's not doing it out of spite."
"Things have been getting better between him and me since the first week. At least I think." Judy looked at the others at the table for a moment and then back at Skye. "Don't be too hard on Jack. We bunnies tend to be very organized and get a little ticked if our schedule goes crazy."
"We foxes feel the same in the morning from being nocturnal, but I understand your point. Though you have to admit he could be less uptight."
"True. It could be how he was raised. He reminds me of some of my siblings," Judy grabbed her bags and got off the chair. "Time to work on that report. Good luck on your outline."
Skye nodded and returned to her task while Judy joined the others at the table.
After claiming her seat, Judy went to retrieve a book for the report. Before working on her outline, she searched the library's database and wrote down the locations of the material needed such volumes on Contracts and city-state reports. While retrieving the first book, the doe realized that she needed help carrying the ones written by Bogo, given their large size. She would ask the library staff for assistance in retrieving them later. Judy returned to the table with the book and began working on the first draft.
Some time had passed before Jack packed his papers and books into his bag. He then whispered to the others. "I'm going to head to the gym to blow off some stress. Does anyone want to join me?"
The others shook their heads or whispered their decline.
"Alright then, see you all at lunch."
As they quietly said goodbye, Judy caught Jack approaching Skye and mentioning his offer. Even though the vixen quietly rejected his offer, she was happy to see what appeared to be no hostility between them. Judy made a mental note to ask Skye later.
After finishing a page, Clawhauser closed the book he was referencing for his outline and pushed the stack of papers aside. He got up and left to get another book. While Judy, Nick, and Fru Fru did their schoolwork, a library staff passed by their table to collect any unused books lying around. Judy and Fru Fru were left by themselves for a moment when Nick left the table but then came back shortly after.
Clawhauser returned with a new book and reached for his outline when he quickly noticed that it wasn't where it was supposed to be. The cheetah swore that was where he left the outline. He checked around his area to see if it might have been accidentally moved and also his bag if he put the papers in there and forgot about it. When neither location yielded the outline, panic began to overcome the cheetah.
Clawhauser saw Nick sitting before him and leaned forward to whisper. "Have you been here all this time?"
Nick lifted his head and looked at the cheetah. "What?"
"You didn't move from that seat at all while I was gone?"
"Only for a moment." Nick tried to return to his work. "Why?"
After hearing that, Clawhauser then turned to Fru Fru, "Did you see what happened to my outline?"
The arctic shrew shook her head. "No."
The cheetah started to hyperventilate as many worse case scenarios ran through his head. "You don't understand. My outline is gone!" He stood up from his chair as the panic was on full display. "Clawhauser on Property stolen!"
"Will you calm down, Ben?" Fru Fru whispered.
"Not until I find my outline!" Clawhauser whispered loudly. "You got to help me!" He started searching around his chair to cover all the grounds.
"Are you sure you didn't take it with you and left it on a shelf somewhere?" Nick said.
Clawhauser lightly banged his paw on the table for emphasis. "No, it was here! I saw it!" Unfortunately, his voice and behavior finally drew attention from students nearby.
Shh!
Clawhauser ignored the mammal shushing him and first went over to Skye, tapping her shoulder. The vixen turned around in her chair and saw the panicked cheetah. "Skye have you seen my outline! My Property outline"
The arctic vixen shook her head. "No."
"Are you sure?!"
"No, how would I know? I've been glued to the screen the entire time." She was also growing annoyed at his behavior and didn't want to get in trouble for it.
Shh! Came another mammal.
Clawhauser then went to Judy, thinking her hearing must have heard his outline being moved in the quiet environment, "Judy, have you seen my outline or heard anything happen to it?"
The doe shook her head. "No I haven't. Sorry."
"Quiet!" A third mammal whispered.
Thinking he had lost his outline, Clawhauser wandered forward in despair. "No. No. It's gone. It's gone…"
Judy quickly left her seat and tried to prevent the cheetah from getting into trouble because of his behavior. "Ben, will you calm down!"
"I'm as calm as I can be!" He snapped.
"Will you shut up?!"
"Quiet Ben!" Judy chastised.
"Excuse me," Judy and Clawhauser turned to see a library staff, a female giraffe, standing before them with an annoyed expression. "This is a library, and we have rules about noise. I'm afraid I'll have to ask the both of you to leave."
The cheetah waved his paw nonchalantly at the mammal and moved past her, "Get lost! We know it's a library." Ben's outburst shocked Judy and the giraffe as he went over to a nearby sleeping student and rudely woke him up. "Hey, have you seen my outline?"
The giraffe quickly motioned with her hoof for another staff to come help with the situation.
Judy quickly tried to reason with the giraffe, "I'm trying to calm him down."
"Will you get your things?" The giraffe said, not having any of it.
Irritated at being denied his search, Clawhauser walked up the giraffe and confronted her. "I'm not going to calm down! Someone stole my outline and that's burglary!"
"Will you get your things?!" The giraffe shouted, finally at her limit.
At that moment, a male elephant staff joined them and towered over everyone else but the giraffe. He glared down at the offending mammals. The display caught Judy off guard, but Clawhauser didn't flinch, matching the elephant's glare. They and the elephant continued to stare at each other until Judy and Clawhauser finally started moving toward their stuff.
"I can't believe this!" Judy said, exasperated at being dragged into Clawhauser's troubles and kicked out of the library as a result.
The two gathered their belongings and were escorted by the giraffe and elephant.
"Sorry, but you two are barred from the library until further notice." The giraffe said.
The consequence caused Judy to stumble momentarily but she managed to recover. On the inside, she was screaming in rage and wanted to strangle Clawhauser.
Being temporarily banned from the library didn't stop the cheetah from going on a tirade. "Some library! Some librarian! This isn't a school library! It's a prison library!"
Nick, Fru Fru, and Skye watched the scene unfold but were unable to get involved without facing punishment also. They could only feel anger at Clawhauser and pity for Judy as they disappeared from their sight. The library staff escorted Judy and Ben to the entrance where thankfully, the latter kept his mouth shut and didn't cause any further commotion. At the exit, the bunny and the cheetah stormed out of the building, angry and frustrated for different reasons.
"Have you lost your mind Ben?!" Judy cried.
"Not in the mood Judy!"
"You got us kicked out of the library! Do you realize how serious that is?!"
"You have to help me find my outline, Judy! It could be anywhere by now!"
Judy groaned in frustration from Ben's focus elsewhere. "Can you forget your outline for just one second, Ben! Do you have any idea what you've done to me?! I need to get this report for Bogo finished and now I'm banned from the library for who knows how long! I'll have to go to the public library to get my work done there and on top of that, I still have to work the lunch shift today!"
The two stopped at the bike racks where Judy began unlocking the chain to hers.
"But this is an emergency!" Clawhauser cried. "I need mammals to help find my outline!"
"Ben, I'll owe you. Make a post on the Internet or something! Right now I've got too much to do!" With that, Judy got on her bike and took off for the public library.
Whether he was aware or not, in his frantic state, the cheetah shouted the words one should never say to Judy. "You're crazy, Judy! You won't get that report done for Bogo!"
Despite the distance she put between him and herself, Judy's hearing still picked up Ben's shouting. This caused her to pedal faster in an effort to get to the library and get some research done. She also promised herself to make the mammal who stole the outline pay for causing all this later. In the midst of her determination, she failed to see the oncoming car when crossing the road. The last thing she remembered was hearing a loud car horn and tires screeching and then feeling the world spin.
The driver of the car, a white female rabbit with red eyes, quickly left the vehicle and went to the front where she saw Judy laying on the ground and being tended to by nearby students who witnessed the accident. The rabbit driver was thankful that it wasn't a larger mammal who hit the bunny or that she hadn't hit an even smaller mammal. Either could have led to a worse outcome.
"Oh I'm so sorry! Are you alright?!" The white rabbit exclaimed.
Judy managed to move and lift herself into a sitting position. "Ugh…yeah, it's nothing serious."
The other doe couldn't believe Judy's nonchalant response to the accident. "Nothing serious?! I just hit you with my car! You could have a concussion or broken bones! You need to get to the campus infirmary quick!"
Judy was able to stand on her feet and recover her bike which received only minor damages from the collision and was still operational. "I'm fine! Really! I don't feel hurt at all. Thanks for your concerns and don't worry about the bike. I'll pay for the repairs since it's my fault." She got back on and resumed riding but only made a few feet before falling over again.
The other doe cringed at the sight and from hearing Judy groan in pain. That was enough to make her decision regardless of Judy's protests.
I've always wondered how Clawhauser react if he witnessed someone destroying Gazelle merchandise. This is probably doesn't come anywhere near that but it scratches the surface.
I have no shame in admitting that I slept in the library between classes. Even going far as making it look like I'm doing work with an open notebook and pens lying around. Still do, but this semester has afford longer intervals.
