So here we are. Chapter 6.
Hope you still enjoy this story a little.
Big thanks to RedLiteAlexi for the cute little part he added and his help with the correction!
Beastars – Into the spotlight 2.0
Chapter 6 – Of losers and losers
POV Lucy
When I woke up, I was just wearing underwear. I usually just wore underwear during the night, I liked how airy and free it made me feel, but right now I was feeling slightly hot and bothered nevertheless.
Something right next to me was moving from time to time. It hadn't just been a funny dream of mine, all that truly happened last night.
Leon was lying beside me and he was just wearing underwear as well.
His chest was heaving up and down with his calm breathing, he still was deeply asleep as it seemed like.
The sunlight that crashed through the blinds illuminated the slumbering wolf quite well, I could see all of his features. It was that very sunlight that had woken me up in the first place, it was really bright and powerful.
I still felt really tired though and I had a slight headache.
Normally I would have just turned around and tried to fall asleep again, but that would not be possible right now. I just remembered where I was and that alone made it too exciting and unnerving to relax.
When I tried to get up from his giant matrass, I just noticed that I couldn´t move as easily as I had expected. There was something kinda heavy laying on top of me, and when I tried to move it, I noticed that it was one of Leon´s arms which he had wrapped around me.
This made me smile a little bit. He probably didn´t even notice it in his sleep, but it was really cute nevertheless. He had a little smile on his face, even in his deep slumber he seemed somewhat content.
I lifted his arm and the blanket off of me nevertheless, I needed to get out of this room right now. Finding a bathroom and then a breath of fresh air were my top priorities at the moment, no matter how exciting the last night had been.
I found the clothes Juno lend me yesterday still lying here on the floor, my own stuff was still hanging somewhere else to dry I assumed. Not having any alternatives, I put on that pretty black dress again and tried to leave the room without making too much noise.
On my way downstairs I tried to be as quiet as possible. It was quite early in the morning, one of the clocks in the hallways told me it was not even 8am yet, and I didn´t want to wake anybody up of course.
Having reached the big living room downstairs, it didn´t look a whole lot different than I remembered it from last night. The buffet was still there, the bar looked well used, open bottles and glasses stood around everywhere and there were still a whole lot of different smells in the air.
The room was brightly lit by the morning sun that crashed through the glass-front by the porch, one of the sliding doors stood open I just noticed. Outside I noticed somebody moving around, when I took a closer look, I recognized that bunny lady I had met for the first time when Legoshi was in my restaurant earlier this week.
She had a black plastic garbage-bag with her right now, collecting everything that had been left outside on the tables last night. It seemed like she didn´t have as much of a hangover as I was having.
She smiled when she noticed me, I carefully took a step outside and wished her a good morning.
"You´re up early" she mentioned in amusement, "Hope you didn´t feel too uncomfortable here?"
"N-no no!" I said, shaking my hands, "I´m still just a bit too excited I guess."
"I hope you had a fun night" she told me with a little wink, "Even though you´ve ended up in the pool."
"Yeah…" I said with a laugh, "That was a bit unexpected."
She nodded with a smile, putting the plastic bag onto a chair for a moment.
"You´re a little early for breakfast I´m afraid" she informed me, "…but there are still leftovers from the buffet if you´re really hungry."
"N-no, actually…" I said, "…sorry…I don't want to sound insulting or ungrateful…but I feel a little overwhelmed and wiped out right now. And I need to work this afternoon and evening. I think I should get home and get some more sleep."
To a little bit of my surprise, she just nodded understandingly.
"Oh, you don't have to feel bad!" she said, "You don't have to stay if you don't feel like it."
I nodded with a grateful smile, I was glad she understood.
I took another look around the garden, it actually looked really peaceful and quiet right now. The light breeze made little wavelets on the surface of the pool, the roses opened their leaves to the sunlight and showed off their vibrant colors.
Now that there were no people blocking the view and everything was lit in bright daylight, I just noticed the sheer beauty of this place. This was the house of a famous celebrity after all. And I had been allowed to spend a night here.
Then I suddenly saw something move. There was a gray wolf lying on one of the sun-loungers I just noticed, turning his body around in his peaceful slumber. He still wore his white shirt and his grey pants from last night, apparently feeling really comfortable in the sun right now.
"Oh…oh my god" I stuttered lowly, having noticed who it was, "Did he sleep the entire night out here?"
"No, I don't think so" the bunny giggled, "He was awake earlier already. But it seems like right now it´s more comfortable out here than in his bedroom. He likes the cold morning air."
I couldn't help but look at him a little longer. He was just so adorable.
"…uhm" I tried to change the topic as inconspicuous as possible, "How do I get to the nearest train station from here?"
"There is a bus that takes you to it down the road. But I don't know how often it comes on a Sunday…" she explained, taking a short look around the garden as well.
"…but if you want, I can bring you home with the car, I wanted to get some breakfast from the bakery anyway."
"Really?" I asked joyfully, "Oh that would be so kind of you!"
"That´s really no problem" she told me with a smile, "Tell me when you´re ready to go and we´ll set off."
"Yeah, of course!" I said, "Let me just grab my backpack from upstairs!"
POV Julian
This exercise was the one I liked the least. By a great margin. Especially this early in the morning. Running around in circles on the rubber track was just as boring as it was exhausting, but sadly it is a great way to burn calories and reduce body-fat as well.
I joined Ronnie because he said it was cooler this early and because I couldn´t sleep anymore anyway, but this pace we were going at felt really crushing already, even though it has just been about twenty minutes.
I tried my best not to show it, but I wasn´t sure how much longer I could keep up with him in the end. He had already changed to the outside lane as it seemed like I was going slower than what his usual speed was, and he also seemed a little impatient in the meanwhile.
I was beginning to wonder why I said yes to this in the first place, running was all he did in his spare time.
"Are you…" he asked me all of a sudden, "…are you doing okay?"
"Wh-what?" I panted, feeling very out of breath. I had a side stab already and talking only made it worse.
"I…I mean you´ve been in the gym all week…" he said, "Don't you think your muscles deserve a rest day after all?"
I rolled my eyes at that nonsense. "I´m resting my arms and torso today. Why do you think I went running?"
We arrived at the straight bit of the circuit again and I had to go even faster to keep up with him. This really just seemed like a warm-up to the whippet dog from my dorm. He wasn´t exceeding at much, but this just was his life. I was on the verge of collapsing in the meanwhile.
"You´re…" he said, "You´re stressing yourself too much man. This can´t be good for you."
I just hated this so much. I hated when people tried to teach me anything about fitness. Especially coming from a wimp like Ronnie.
"Oh shut up" I muttered under my breath, "What do you know?"
"I…I…" he stuttered slowing down a little bit now, "I didn´t want to insult you in any way. I think you´re doing really good and your training results are very impressive…but…"
"So…" I panted, trying to change the topic, "…so you´re looking too when I change my clothes in the dorm?"
Luckily, Ronnie was more on the reluctant side when it came to conversations, so this worked rather effectively. I just wanted him to shut up about the superior stamina he had over me.
"Uh…" he said, "…I mean…"
The side stab was getting a little bit better now, his stuttering gave me back a bit of confidence and therefore valuable energy.
"…it´s not like you´re trying to hide it."
I felt a little called out on that statement of his though. It was not like he was telling lies here, and it also wasn´t as satisfying of an answer as I somehow had been expecting to hear right now.
A satisfying answer would probably have given me even a little more confidence, but this just made me want to just give up on the challenge right now. There wasn't a whole lot of energy and willpower left at this point. But I also didn´t want to give up without having tried, so I pushed myself into one last little sprint.
"End of the straight" I panted, picking up the pace one last time, "Let´s go!"
It took him a short moment, but then he actually matched my pace and began sprinting down the straight bit of the runway with me.
My pulse was becoming faster, my breathing became even heavier on the last few meters. Ronnie still kept in pushing the pace, I now just tried to not collapse.
I was completely done for today. My steps quickly became shorter, with the last energy I had I stumbled off the track and then laid myself down into the wet grass besides it.
A few moments later I heard Ronnies voice beside me again.
"Everything okay?" he asked, sounding really out of breath as well.
I just nodded slightly.
"Okay. …I´m gonna do a few more laps" he informed me then, "See you later."
And with that he went back onto the track and continued at the same pace as earlier just like that.
"Am I really that overworked? Should I have done a rest day today maybe?"
I felt so small and weak and tired out right now. Somehow, everything felt ten times harder and more exhausting today.
"Maybe I skip swimming this afternoon."
The wet grass below me felt nice and cool right now. My shoulder-blades pushed onto the cold earth below me, the underside of my ears got slightly moist from the morning dew.
I shortly lifted my head as Ronnie ran past me once again, then I let it fall back down.
"Whatever. You´re better at running. Big deal." I tried to lift my own spirits, but it didn´t really help either.
I lost something and it beat me down. It always did. I should be better than this.
Sometimes it felt like I wasn´t good at anything. Maybe my parents were right about me after all. Sometimes I had the feeling nobody could ever respect me for anything.
I wasn't talented at anything, I don't have a lot of money, I don't have the best grates, I didn´t have any interesting stories to tell, there wasn´t really anything I had to offer. Some people would probably even call me a giant failure. I was a loser after all, no matter how hard I tried to push myself.
POV Haru (by RedLiteAlexi)
I yawned and stretched my arms above my head as I led the maned wolf girl down Legoshi's driveway. I felt the warmth of the early morning sun glow on my fur. I felt rather relaxed all things considered. My impromptu rendezvous with Sebastian had been fun and pleasant. As Juno once told me, I tended to look the most comfortable after I spent the night in bed with another animal. I looked up at Lucy. She wore the black dress from Juno's closet. I'm sure that she wouldn't mind if the girl wore it home.
"So you ended up spending the night, how did you sleep?" I asked with an awkward giggle. Lucy looked down at me.
"Well, good enough. Leon let me sleep on the couch." She said nervously.
"You know it's a pull out right?" I said.
"What!?" Lucy shrieked. I started laughing and blushed. I suspected that something had happened between those two and I couldn't help but tease.
"The couch I mean, it pulls out into a little bed and it's more comfy than the couch." I smiled as I looked at her cheeks flush redder. Ahead of us, I saw my compact delivery truck. A white vehicle with some pink and yellow flower stencils on the side. Despite being small enough for me to handle, my truck had a passenger seat and quite a bit of storage room in the back.
"Do you work at that little plant nursery?" Lucy asked me.
"Own actually." I giggled as I looked for my keys. "Have you ever been?"
"I've walked past it a couple times on my way to work."
"Oh that's right, you were our waitress when we went out for dinner. Crazy coincidence that you ended up in the drama-club alongside Leon." I said as I walked around to my door.
I crawled onto my specialized seat that let me see over the dashboard. Lucy crawled in and I could see seat and pedal configuration that allowed me to drive the larger vehicle. One of the more expensive pieces of equipment that Legoshi helped me afford.
"So you want to head back to the campus?" I asked as I looked for my keys.
"Oh yeah, that'd be really nice."
The wolf was nervously shy. I also noticed her nose twitching as she sensed the scents of the enclosed truck. She probably could smell the musk of the fox I had spent the night with. Couldn't hide much from a damn canine's nose.
I looked at her as she seemed like she wanted to speak.
"It's okay to ask questions you know." I giggled as I started up the truck.
The engine turned over and we sat in silence as my words lingered. She opened her mouth before I spoke again. "But I get to ask a few questions of my own." I said with a smirk.
I pressed a button to put it in drive and the truck began to crawl across the driveway. I reached my feet to press the extended pedals and coasted towards the gate.
"So you guys at the restaurant, are you all like… together?" She slowly asked. I blushed a little and giggled.
"It's cliche to say it's complicated but it's complicated. I've been so close with Juno and Legoshi for a very long time. I knew that goofy wolf when he was a shy perverted dork and Juno when she was a loud mouth brat. I used to live with them and we had kind of an open relationship. Even if I live on my own, they are my family and I love them. That night just happened to be a special occasion when we had the house to ourselves."
I smiled with a blush.
"Oh wow…" she shifted in her seat. "So you smell like a fox…"
I blushed. "Uh yeah… it's yeah…anything else you wanna know?" I said as I pulled onto the street.
"So you're close with Leon?" She asked.
"Obviously, he's my baby boy. I was with that pup since before he was born, and I've been a part of his life more than anyone aside from his parents. I've watched him grow and I love that wolf with all my heart. So please treat him kindly." I said. The maned wolf blushed harder and looked awestruck.
"Wh…what are you…?" She looked down defeated. "I… I guess we're still gonna have to figure that out." She said. I giggled.
"It's somewhat hypocritical of me to say much, I wasn't any better at your age. I just hope you guys are smart and safe." Lucy looked like she wanted to speak but I cut her off. "That's all I'm gonna say, and please come to us if you ever need help."
"You…uh don't have to worry about us. Everything is okay." She replied as I came to a stop sign. A few other cars puttered about as the Sunday morning businesses slowly opened.
"Well I'll always worry, Leon's my baby. I'm sure your family will as well." I said.
"Actually, I grew up in a group home before enrolling in boarding school." She said slowly. I saw her twiddling with her hands, obviously I hit a sore spot.
"Oh god, I'm sorry…I"
"Don't worry it's fine." She smiled. "That's why last night was so much fun. I got to meet so many people and Juno and Legoshi were such good hosts. They introduced me to a lot of people and made me feel welcome."
I chuckled. "Well most canines love to greet others and they are no exception. I'm glad you had a good time. I think everyone was very excited to finally see Leon was making some friends and being more present."
Lucy smirked. "Has he always been so distant?"
I sighed.
"Leon is a complicated wolf, I feel like he inherited that from his father. He's not spoiled but I think he overcompensates for people thinking he is by being standoffish. I mean I'm sure you've noticed he can be impatient and rude."
"Yeah, I certainly have seen that side of him." Lucy said.
"But he was a very sweet pup. I think he's trying to figure out what he wants to do, when everyone expects a lot from him. He has great parents but I don't think Legoshi and especially Juno, don't really understand him. I also moved out around the time he started taking that turn and I wish I would have been more present then. Maybe I could have helped him adapt to growing up." I said solemnly.
Lucy just stared.
"Sorry to unload all of that on you." I said.
"No, honestly that's really nice to know. I guess it helps me consider my feelings and how I view him as well."
"We'll last night I think I saw a whole new Leon. He usually just slinks off to his room and doesn't hang out. I couldn't help but notice that he was pretty much with you the whole night wagging his tail."
Lucy blushed. "I'm sure he was just being a good host."
"Leon isn't the type to just be a good host." I smirked. I passed through the main streets and was closing in on the school. "I think he really wanted to impress you."
"I had a lot of fun, I hope I can visit again." Lucy said with a smile.
"So we can expect to see you more in the future?" I asked.
"Well… I think so." She smiled. I pulled into the driveway just outside of the campus.
"I was very nice to meet you more formally Lucy. I hope you can help get that dumb pup out of his shell." We both giggled as she excited the truck.
"I'll do my best." She said as she turned and walked towards the gate. I watched her as she walked away. She really was beautiful but she also had a very nice personality, she wasn't a pushover and maybe she would be good for Leon.
"Alright baby boy, don't mess this up." I muttered to myself as I drove away.
POV Julian
I had been lying in the wet grass for quite a little while. The morning sun was warm and kinda nice, and also it took me a few minutes until I had caught my breath anyway.
When I finally decided to get up and head back towards the dorms, Ronnie was still running around in circles as if he had just started.
The park still was almost completely empty at this hour, most students who stayed in the dorms during the weekends tended to sleep in quite long.
But then I did see one other person walking through the park on my way back to the building, and she immediately caught my attention.
From afar I could already tell she was a pretty maned wolf, and as there were not a lot of maned wolves at this school, I was pretty certain it could only be Lucy.
I was walking into the same direction just by chance, and when our paths got closer to each other´s, I noticed that it indeed was her.
The first thing I noticed was the black dress she wore. It looked fancy and high quality, almost a little formal. I´ve never seen her wear anything of that choice, so I was naturally curious about the event she was coming from, especially this early in the morning.
"Hey" I greeted her so she would notice me.
"Oh…" she said, seemingly a little surprised to see me here, "…hey Julian."
"What are you up this early for?"
"Oh…" she said, seemingly a little overwhelmed by that question, "Just came back from a birthday party."
"Must have been one fancy event" I commented with an interested chuckle, "I´ve never seen you wearing anything this nice before. Looks good!"
That complement of mine made her smile a little bit. "Thanks!"
It seemed she was not very interested in what I was doing out here though, it seemed she preferred to stay quiet right now.
She looked tired and pretty wiped out, maybe that was why she wasn´t all that willing to chat.
As my dorm was in roughly the same direction as hers, I followed her silently.
There was something weird going on. It wasn´t just her scent I had in my nose, there was a different one as well, and it seemed kinda familiar too.
"Did she spend the night with Leon?! Was it his birthday party? Why does she smell like that wolf prick?"
Just the thought of this immediately ruined my mood even more. I was pretty certain it was his scent, but I didn´t know that it was his birthday or that he was having a party. But then it suddenly came to me.
"She wanted to see Legoshi! That´s why she´s dressed up like this! That´s why she followed his invitation!"
All this made so much sense all over sudden. There was a reason she didn´t want to talk about where she had been.
We just kept walking next to each other until we reached the dormitory buildings. Nobody said a word, I just couldn´t think of anything to start the conversation again.
I wasn´t enjoying this situation. My legs hurt, I still felt very out of breath and a slight headache was creeping up on me as well. Getting ignored like that right now was not helping either, she could at least have asked how I was doing in my opinion.
Earlier I had the thought of asking her out to the may-day ball on my mind. I always had the feeling the two of us had a good chemistry whenever we were chatting, and I always thought she was very pretty and unique in her style. She was light-hearted and fun, unlike many of the other princesses walking around here.
But it seemed like she didn't really want to see me right now, it almost felt like she wanted me to take some distance. Like she didn´t even want to be regular friends anymore.
"I guess you´re tired as well" I said lowly, just before our paths separated towards different buildings.
"W-what?" she asked, still not very aware I wanted to chat a little as it seemed like, "Oh…yeah. Sorry Julian, I really need to go to bed again. I gotta go to work later."
"What, really?" I asked in surprise, "You have a job?"
This seemed to be really uncomfortable for her all of a sudden, I didn´t know why she was ashamed about that but she just waved it off and then quickly went on her way again.
"Uhm…yeah. I gotta go, see you around!"
And just like that we seemed to be done with our conversation. I had made her feel so uncomfortable that she didn´t even want to stay for a little chat.
"Is there something going on between Leon and her? Did she seriously fall for the rich kid just because of his dad´s fame and money?"
On my way back to my own dorm, this thought just ate itself deeper and deeper into my mind. I was probably way out of her league and just failed to notice it the entire time. This life was just so unfair.
"That rich son of a bitch probably didn´t even like her the same way I did, he just wants to rub it into all our faces how good he has it."
Having arrived back at the dorm, I slammed the door shut behind me harder than I intended to. They all still had their curtains closed, I assumed they were still asleep. Or probably just waking up because of me. But I didn´t even feel too bad for them right now, I felt bad enough for myself already. It was a mixture of rage and sadness, and it wasn´t helping that every muscle in my body felt really over-worked.
I just felt like crying right now, this meeting with Lucy had hit me way harder than I first wanted to admit.
I heard somebody move behind their curtain.
Not wanting to face or talk to anyone right now, I quickly got myself a fresh pair of boxer shorts and headed for the bathroom before anyone could stop me. My nerves where shook enough already.
POV Leon
When I woke up, she was nowhere to be seen. I took a look around the room, she wasn´t here. Her handbag and her script weren't here anymore either, it seemed like she had left the house altogether already. At first that just confused me a little, then realization kicked in and it began to feel worse and worse by the minute.
"Did I do something wrong last night? Were we just too drunk to realize what we were doing? Was it something I said?"
Not getting any answers out of my own thoughts, I crawled out of my bed a few minutes later and headed for the bathroom first of all.
I looked at myself in the mirror and something felt different since the last time I´ve done that. I thought I looked stronger, more manly than before. I was just in boxers, like always at night, bit it somehow felt even more refreshing.
"Did she really touch me down there last night?"
I smiled a little.
"Did she really kiss me?"
Back in my room I searched my drawer for something comfortable to wear, then I went on my way downstairs to see if anybody else was awake yet.
There was, and I was really grateful to see her right now.
"You made breakfast?" I asked happily as the smell of fresh bakery came into my nose.
Haru had put all the remains from yesterday´s buffet into the middle of the big living room table, set plates all around it and just came from the kitchen with a big pot of fresh coffee in her hands.
There were some people sitting around the table already, among them Jack and his family, my dad and that fox guy Haru had been talking with all evening yesterday.
They all looked rather tired as well; with the exception for Leah and Grayson who were joyfully snacking away already; but I could really tell where they all were coming from.
"Good morning Romeo" Haru greeted me back with a little smile, "Help yourself while it´s fresh, okay? Just got it from the bakery."
"It´s really good by the way" Jack told her joyfully, "Thank you for taking such good care of us Haru!"
She now went on her way around the table with a little smile, beginning to serve coffee to everybody who held their mugs out.
I took a seat at the table as well and grabbed myself one of the vanilla croissants.
"Where is Lucy?" Jack wanted to know from me now, "Is she still asleep?"
I had been aware somebody would ask me about this eventually, but I still didn´t have a confident-sounding answer ready for that yet, sadly. I had no idea where she was and why she had left already.
"I…uh…I don't know…"
"She woke up way before you" Haru now told us with a little smile, "She felt a little hungover and wanted to go home. She said she didn´t want to disturb us here any longer."
"Oh what?" Jack asked in slight disbelief, "Who was feeling disturbed by her?"
"I guess yesterday was quite a lot to take in for her" Haru said in her defense, "But I think she was very grateful that she was allowed to be here in the first place."
I couldn't even remember how often I´ve heard something like that before. This was just the sad story of my life. People just were afraid if this place and who it belonged to, no matter how nice they all were.
While I was continuing to eat my croissant, another person joined the breakfast table. Kai the bartender slouched through the living room, looking tired but still rather well-spirited.
"Good morning everyone" he greeted us with a content smirk, it seemed like he liked what he saw on the table before him.
"Morning Kai" my dad greeted him in slight amusement, waving him with the coffee pot Haru had just reached him, "You had a good night?"
He now smirked a little. "Very good. What about you, Romeo?"
Legoshi just raised an eyebrow to that, handing the coffee pot over to him while the mongoose took a seat on the empty chair next to him.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed somebody else sneaking down the stairs. She wasn´t trying to gain too much attention, but we all noticed anyway. She was the raccoon lady from the catering firm, I didn´t even know that she spent the night here as well.
I just noticed that Haru had already stacked up all the big trays that came with the catering, the raccon-lady already looked like she wanted to get back to work again as well.
She gave us a little smile when she went past the table, my dad already pointed at the food.
"You´re very welcome to have some breakfast and coffee as well" he told her with an inviting smile, "Only if your schedule allows it of course. But there is more than enough!"
"Oh…" she said with a grateful smile, "…yeah, a cup of coffee would be really nice actually."
"Just help yourself to anything you want" my dad offered her when she swiftly took a seat at the table as well.
When she went past me, I could smell a little bit of the Kai´s scent coming from her. I was pretty sure they had shared more than just that spot behind the bar yesterday.
But they were not the only ones.
Haru had a whiff of that red fox guy´s smell on her too, she wasn´t all that innocent either.
It really seemed like I was the only unloved loser sitting at this table right now.
"No, wait! I must smell like Lucy a little bit as well!"
But that didn´t leave me with a whole lot of confidence either. It was not just about the smell in the end. There would be more uncomfortable questions about me spending the night with her, and I could already feel how they were thinking of something to bring that topic up again.
"Where is the pretty maned wolf lady?" Kai asked after taking his few sips of his coffee and turning towards me, just like I had predicted, "She sleeping late?"
I just shook my head, trying to look not too annoyed about that question.
"I brought her back home" Haru informed him, having my back yet once again, "She woke up early and felt a little overwhelmed this morning."
The mongoose nodded understandingly, letting go of the topic with that, thankfully.
"What about Juno?" Jack asked, helping me to avert the subject as well, "Is she still in bed?"
"That´s very likely" Legoshi affirmed with a nod and a little smile, "I think she stayed up the longest yesterday…"
While the others started talking about something else, I kinda zoned out once again, thinking about what she actually was doing right now.
She was probably talking to her dormmates, telling them how awesome it was to meet my dad and other famous people like Miguno or Aoba. Maybe she also was gossiping about me, telling them how I didn't have the guts to go all in with her last night.
I had considered texting her for a moment, but then I thought she could use everything I wrote as fuel for that gossip as well, and that averted me from that idea rather quickly.
There was nothing I could do to change my situation right now, and I found it really unnerving. At least I had good breakfast and aunt Haru was there for me. I knew I could always count on her.
POV Lucy
When I finally reached my dorm, I was hoping that the others were still asleep at this hour. Or at the cafeteria for some breakfast. But they were all awake and here. Getting in there unnoticed was impossible therefore, even more with how I was looking right now.
"Good Morning Lucy" Kana greeted me excitedly, "There you are! …what are you wearing? I haven't seen you leave with that dress before!"
I had expected to hear that right now, even Julian had asked about my fancy appearance.
It seemed like keeping my secrets would not be easy today, I already failed at that when I met the hotshot red fox on my way to the dorm just now.
"Have I really told him I had to work today?" I asked myself once again, "Is the entire school gonna talk about me having a job now? Are rumors about to spread soon?"
The girls from my dorm I trusted with this, but I wasn't sure about Julian in that regard. He seemed cool with a lot of people and really open about himself, I had a feeling he would casually mention it in front of others.
Since Kana had asked me about the black dress I had on me right now, they of course all showed their interested in my weekend story and came a step closer to examine my current appearance.
"I ended up in a pool yesterday and my outfit got completely soaked" I summed it up in once sentence for them, "Leon´s mom was so nice and lend me something I could wear for the rest of the night."
Their reactions about this had been just as predictable as their interest in this subject in the first place.
"Wow, really? It looks so beautiful and expensive!"
"It was actually one of the most casual looking dresses I had found in her wardrobe" I told them with a little chuckle, "I felt a little overwhelmed yesterday."
"Oh I bet! Did you have fun at the party?" Bailey asked, "It was Legoshi´s birthday, right?"
"Wait…" Lupe asked in great disbelief, "The Legoshi? The movie-star Legoshi, the one you´ve met in your restaurant?"
I had totally forgotten that they all didn´t even know about that yet. About Leon being his son.
Bailey was the only one I´ve talked about this with before.
"Yeah…" I said slowly, "The Legoshi. Leon is his son, he´s in my drama-club and we were rehearsing together all afternoon yesterday."
Talking about all this felt really uncomfortable right now. I didn´t want to blurt it all out like that and I really had to be careful with what I shared. Especially after this talk I´ve had with Haru just now.
I really didn´t want to make too big of a topic out of him and I, and I also didn´t want any negative rumors to spread.
But I also couldn't leave them in the dark forever. They would have found out about it eventually anyway.
"W-what?!" Kana asked in great surprise, "He´s Legoshi´s son!? Oh my god, did you meet him? Where they nice to you? You have to tell me everything!"
POV Leon
This whole day felt like a giant waste of time somehow. I wasn´t motivated to do anything.
I didn´t feel like gaming, I didn´t feel like studying the drama-club script, I was just lying around on the couch watching stupid videos on my phone.
Zootube recommended videos that were getting weirdly specific into topics I´ve never even heard about, but I still kept on clicking and watching them for some reason. I was just killing time in the end, waiting for anything to happen.
The party guests had all left in the meanwhile. There hadn´t been a lunch since we´ve had a late and quite excessive breakfast, the afternoon hours were just very slowly passing by.
I had already prepared my fresh clothes and things I needed during the week for school and stuffed it into my big sports-bag. Lucy´s clothes I had neatly folded up and put into a separate plastic bag so I could return it to her when I would meet her again on campus. Juno had express-washed and dried it for her, she told me there was no rush for Lucy to give back what she borrowed from her yesterday.
I opened up our chat on my phone yet once again. We haven't had exchanged a whole lot of messages so far, but I was desperately waiting for her to write something again.
Countless times I had thought about texting her myself already, but I just couldn´t think of anything that wouldn´t sound totally desperate and like a means to an end.
"Why has she left so early this morning? Have I been snoring too loud, maybe? Nobody in my dorm had complained about my snoring so far."
"Maybe my breath was bad? We hadn't brushed our teeth after the party after all."
"Did my parents order her to leave before breakfast? No. Why would they?"
"Maybe she was just very drunk from that cocktail yesterday and regrets what she did with me?"
This wasn´t getting me anywhere. I either needed answers or I needed a distraction, and since the first of those two options wasn´t really available, I tried my hardest to think of anything that could make at least the second one work.
After a whole lot of thinking and browsing through stupid videos, I finally found something. Zootube recommended a video of somebody filming himself doing different exercises in a gym, and even though I didn´t click on it, it at least gave me the inspiration of doing a little workout myself.
Carefully making sure nobody saw me on my way down, I went towards the gym-room in the basement and began with the routine I had thought of last time I was down here. I set the weights a little higher this time though, I was certain that I must have made some progress since the last time. No use in running on the spot.
POV Gerard (Striped Jackal, Leon´s dorm)
"Hey…what´s up with you?" I asked him carefully, "Bad workout?"
The red fox had been asleep for quite a while; and since he had woken up he either just stared at his phone or at the ceiling.
He very slowly turned his head towards me now, but it didn´t seem like that question of mine was worth to be answered.
But I thought I could see a deep sadness in his eyes, it almost looked like he had been shedding a few tears even.
I knew he didn't enjoy my company too much usually, but I just couldn´t help myself. He was just such an interesting creature, there was some complexity and rawness to his emotions that just fascinated me. Whether he was angry, cocky, proud or sad, I always had a hard time looking at anything else when he was in the room and his curtain wasn´t closed.
Mark, Yuma and Ronnie had left the dorm to see a movie in the cinema this afternoon. They wanted to ask Julian if he wanted to join them, and they had asked me to come with them as well of course, but as the fox was still asleep when they had to leave, and I wasn´t very impressed by that movie-trailer in the first place, we both didn´t join them and had the dorm all to ourselves.
I pretended to be reading in one of the exercise books from biology class, but in reality, I was just eyeing the cute and right now rather sad looking red fox all this time. I didn´t even know what page I was on, let alone the topic it was about, my dorm mate was by far more interesting.
His strong, sexy stomach heaved up and down slightly as he breathed, his ears were bent upwards slightly as he was pushing his head into the pillow behind him.
To make matters even worse on the thirsty forefront of my mind, he was just wearing boxer shorts ever since he left the shower after his run this morning.
I wanted to touch him. I wanted to get physical with someone ever since I woke up this morning, today even more than usually.
I was in this horny mood very often, and I was known to be pretty open about it; but right now I saw myself in a rather convenient position to actually get him that far this time.
Having this much privacy here was a really rare occasion after all.
"Is everything alright?" I slowly tried to begin a conversation again, "You seem a little bummed out. Is this because you overslept and couldn´t come to the cinema?"
"Nah, I didn't feel like seeing a movie anyway" he sighed.
I looked at him again, he still stared into his phone which he held above his face.
"Maybe it´s about a girl you like?"
"What…?" he asked in slight disbelief, "No!"
I couldn´t quite tell if he reacted that way because he felt caught or if it really was just genuine annoyance.
"Sorry" I muttered.
I still kept on spectating him from time to time, I had the feeling he was breathing a little heavier ever since I´ve asked that last question. I could tell that he felt surveilled, but I also couldn´t help myself still taking a look every now and again.
Then it happened. He caught me looking when he was turning his gaze towards me once more.
"What do you want from me?" he asked with a deep sigh, "What´s your deal?"
"I…I was just trying to help out" I said lowly, "It´s really nothing malicious, is that so hard to believe?"
He now rolled his eyes a little bit.
"It feels like you´re trying to mock me. You always make these weird jokes when the others are around."
That was another thing that I really liked about him. He always got straight to the point with his statements, never being one to beat around the bush.
"I like to tease people from time to time" I confessed lowly, "…but I guess that´s more of a coping mechanism than me wanting to be a dick."
To a little bit of my surprise, he now turned towards me once again. "Coping for what?"
"Oh…" I said, regretting that I brought that up a little bit right now, "…don't know, a bunch of weird reasons I suppose."
He just nodded to that, apparently not fully understanding what I meant but also not wanting to get into that topic any deeper.
I took another look at his flat, white furred and well-defined stomach, I still couldn't shake of those horny thoughts. Foxes were just such beautiful creatures, especially the red ones.
"Are you not getting cold like this?" I asked him now, still not giving up on my plan though.
"Not really" he chuckled to that, "…do you have a problem with that?"
"Not at all" I told him with a slight grin.
"Yeah, yeah" he said with a smirk, "I´ve seen you staring earlier, don't worry. You perv."
"Do you mind me staring?"
"Pfff…" he chuckled, "Do what you want. As long as you don't to any creepy shit."
This was getting more and more interesting by the minute.
"…what do you consider ´creepy´?" I asked after a moment of silence.
"I don't know" he said with a shrug of his shoulders, "…if you would start touching me while I´m asleep or something like that?"
I couldn't help but grin about that statement. "Oh, just when you´re asleep?"
He looked a little dumbfounded right now.
"Dude…" he sighed, "…are you for real right now?"
He still seemed a little uneasy about this topic.
"…you should take it as a compliment if anything" I told him, "I wouldn´t say something like that if I wasn´t somewhat attracted to you."
"I´m sorry, but I´m not into guys. Not at all, so forget it."
"You do not have to be gay to accept a sexual favor in my opinion" I told him quite plainly, "But I won´t force you into anything. …or judge you for it."
He now looked at me again, apparently still trying to figure out if I was serious about that or not.
Then he began chuckling with a nervous smirk, "Are you actually trying to suck my dick right now?"
I couldn't help but smile in amusement.
"Yeah…" I told him just as plainly as he asked that, "I´m pretty sure it would make you feel better. We´re alone right now and the others won´t come back within the next two hours anyway. I bet they´re still watching the pre-movie commercials right now..."
He just kept on staring at me in disbelief. I believed he slowly but surely realized that I was not kidding about this.
He still was genuinely speechless right now though. I just raised an eyebrow with a little smile.
"I…I mean…I figured you could be a horny slut sometimes" he said slowly, "…but…fuck…I didn´t think…"
"You look kinda interested all over sudden" I told him with a sly grin.
He apparently still didn´t quite know what to think of this. He surely was a little curious, but I couldn´t tell if he actually had the guts to take my offer.
"I…I mean…have you actually sucked some guy´s dick before?"
"Would you believe me if I said no?" I asked while cocking an eyebrow.
"I…I mean…I don't know…yes? …no? …probably?"
"You look kinda curious to be honest" I told him with an unforgiving smirk, "What are you so nervous about?"
"I´m…I…I guess I´m just trying to figure out why somebody would voluntarily do this for another man…"
"Oh, …maybe because it´s fun?" I told him with a shameless grin.
"You have fun getting a dick stuffed in your mouth?"
I just smiled a little wider at him now. It seemed like he didn´t have a whole lot of walls of defense left at this point. I couldn´t be much clearer about it anyway.
I wanted him to take advantage of me, I wanted to see his reaction and I wanted to see if that part of his body was just as handsome as the rest of it.
"My offer still stands" I reminded him as he was clearly considering it in the meanwhile.
He still kept on thinking about it for a long minute.
"…will you…" he then suddenly asked, "…will you keep your mouth shut about it?"
I nodded with an honest smile.
"In front of everyone?"
"Nobody will hear a word. I promise."
His smile went even a little bit wider and also friendlier now. He just couldn´t hide it anymore. He was interested after all.
It was really contagious to see him smile though. I wordlessly closed the biology book in my hands and put it aside now. I was pretty sure there were no further words needed at this point.
POV Leon
Halfway through my second set of crunches, the door to the gym-room suddenly opened and my dad came in. He seemed a little surprised about the lights being on at first, so I assumed he really hadn´t noticed me coming down here earlier.
"Hey Leon" he greeted me lowly, "You´re hard at work I see?"
"Yeah…" I panted, "What are you doing down here?"
"Well…" he chuckled, pointing at the machines, "…an old man like me needs to stay in shape as well you know?"
"Yeah, yeah" I sighed, trying to force a little smile.
I wasn't quite sure if I really wanted what was about to come though. There was this deep talk-vibe already, and I wasn't sure if I could dodge it this time.
"Everything alright?" he asked, taking a seat on one of the other machines, "Your mood seemed a little…gloomy…at breakfast."
"I…" I sighed, "I just don't know what´s going on right now."
"You mean with Lucy?"
I was aware he wouldn't beat around the bush with that topic, so I wasn´t surprised he asked about that so directly.
I let the weights of the crunch-machine back down onto their original position and relaxed the muscles in my stomach again.
"She was so…full of energy last night. I thought she was feeling just like at home. And then she just left this morning without saying a word."
"She put on quite a show yesterday" he chuckled, "Gotta give her that. But I think Haru was right, she probably needed some time alone after this quite exciting night."
"I keep thinking I did something wrong…but I can´t really tell what she wanted from me."
My dad finished his first set of the butterfly exercise, then he looked at me again.
"To be honest" he said while exhaling strongly, "Juno and I were pretty sure she was waiting for you to make a move."
"What?! She probably thinks I´m the greatest, most uncool loser of the entire school!"
"She doesn't think that" he said with a smile, "Why would she think that?"
"She even knew the names of cocktails! She…she immediately made friends with Suki and Polly! She´s cool!"
"And?" he said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"And I didn´t even know what a pina colada without any alcohol was called! I didn´t even know what a pina colada was!"
This suddenly made him grin for a short moment as well, but then he quickly tried to pull himself together.
"I don't think she would be teasing you like that if she wasn't at all interested in you. To me it seemed she had a lot of fun here last night."
"Yeah, she had fun because it was your birthday party. And then she was gone in the morning without saying anything."
This really got to me right now. He just didn´t understand my struggles.
He rested his hands on his knees for a moment, then he looked at me again. "Just give her a little bit of time."
I now picked up the weights for a third time and did some more crunches, as many as my sore muscles allowed me to.
"I was thinking…" I began slowly, "…maybe she was a little drunk from those cocktails and now regrets what she did with me."
He now just tilted his head a little bit.
"Well…" he said, "…what did you do? I can´t help you if you don't talk to me. I hope you used protection…"
"What, no!" I stuttered, "I…I mean…we didn´t really do…that."
He just cocked one of his eyebrows now.
"…we practiced the kissing scene of our play…and then we…touched each other a little bit. But nothing more than that!"
He nodded understandingly.
"I was kinda confused about what she wanted from me exactly."
"And that´s okay" he told me, "There is no need to rush into anything. You should feel ready and in full control of your mind and body. And you both need to have each other´s consent, that goes without saying."
I just nodded to that lecture of his. I wasn't quite sure what to think of that right now, but I was kinda glad he stayed serious about this.
"Also, don't let anyone get to you if they should make fun of you for ´still´ being a virgin, okay?"
"W-what?" I asked in surprise, "Why are you bringing that up?"
"A pina colada without any rum is a virgin colada" he told me with a smirk, "I was pretty sure she was giving you signals with that yesterday."
This sadly made a lot of sense all over sudden. That was why they were all smiling when initially hearing it.
"Was it that normal to casually have sex at this age already? Did Lucy really want to have sex with me last night?"
I asked myself that yet once again. I didn´t say anything, but I was pretty sure my dad noticed how that made sense to me now anyway.
"Was it really me who had the stick up their ass?"
I felt even dumber right now than I did yesterday already. I thought my dad was weird and lame, but it turned out he was not as innocent as I always thought he was.
Trying to get a little break from this conversation, I now changed to a different training machine and started with that exercise.
When my dad was finished with his next set as well, I turned towards him again and decided to turn the tables on him a little bit.
"So what about the dents in the drama-club lockers?" I asked him, "Both Kai and Aoba asked me about that yesterday, so there must be some truth to the story."
He now sighed a little bit, but he couldn´t hide a little smirk nevertheless.
"We had sex in there" he then told me, "Your mom and I. And two other friends of ours…"
"Who? Do I know them?"
"Yes…you know them" he sighed with a chuckle, apparently not wanting to tell me more though. "…anyway, we weren't all that careful, and that´s how those dents got into those locker doors. Apparently, nobody had changed them in all these years."
I just shook my head in pure disbelief.
"How could my dad be such a badass and hide it from me for so long? He had literal sex-orgies back in Highschool? Even causing property damage in the process?"
I didn´t know why, but this actually lifted my mood a little bit right now. It was kinda relaxing that my dad wasn´t that completely perfect and innocent person either.
"And what was that story about Bill´s girlfriend now? How can he still be friends with you today if you had sex with his girlfriend?"
"That was a really dumb and senseless revenge-story" he waved it off, seemingly not wanting to talk about that any further at all. I apparently had hit a sore spot here.
"Revenge for what?" I asked nevertheless.
"I´m really not proud of that whole thing. We all regret it today, there is no need to bring it up again. I really just hope you´re smarter than I have been at that age."
That statement could be interpreted in a lot of ways. I wasn´t sure what he meant with that exactly.
"…what…you don't want to become a grandpa?" I asked with an ironic grin. "I don't think this is quite fair to be honest."
He rolled his eyes for a moment, but he wasn´t actually mad about me bringing that up again.
"Of course I would want to become a grandpa one day" he sighed, "…when the time is right."
I still grinned at him a little bit, I figured he deserved it for what he did to me yesterday, but then I nodded understandingly.
"So who was with you in the locker room?" I changed back to the earlier topic, "Must have been Jack and Anita, right?"
He now just raised an eyebrow but couldn't actually hide a little smirk. That really wasn´t too hard to figure out. They were best friends back then already and he trusted nobody as much as he trusted uncle Jack.
"…why would you go in the locker room for that in the first place though?" I wondered.
"It was one of the very few places where we could be alone and unbothered at the time" he explained with a chuckle.
That seemed to be the only reason, apparently.
I had never thought about it like that before. When things should get real between Lucy and I someday, this indeed could become a little bit of a challenge.
"But how did Aoba and Kai know it was you?"
"I guess you can never control how and how fast rumors are spreading. I think the one with the dent even was Aoba´s locker. They were both from the drama-club after all."
He somehow sounded so casual when he talked about all this right now. I was beginning to feel more and more overwhelmed slowly but surely.
"Damn. This whole drama-club thing honestly freaks me out a little bit. I´m not sure if I could handle being the number one topic of the entire school."
"No matter what happens" he told me with a confident little smirk, "I´m sure you´ll be fine in the end. I was feeling just like you back then. School can be a tough and scary place sometimes."
POV Julian
Against all my expectations, I actually felt quite contented right now. My day had started shitty, but now it was quite alright all over sudden. That turn of events had been just as exciting as it had been unexpected. Having taken another shower after that very enlightening encounter with the horny Jackal from my dorm, I now was full of newly found energy and confidence.
Maybe I´ve just been a little too nosy when I met her earlier. She came back from a party, probably had a bit of a hangover or lack of sleep, and I had been kinda forcing myself onto her with my small-talk. Maybe she also had a somewhat bad time with Leon when she noticed how much of a spoiled rich dick he is.
I now went in search for her dorm-room with the intention of apologizing, just in case I really had pissed her off earlier, and I wanted to ask her if she wanted to go out and get some dinner with me tonight. Maybe I would even ask her if she wanted to go to the May-Day ball with me. I had even put on my best clothes for this.
Having knocked on two wrong doors already and apologized for the disturbance, I now finally had some reliable information.
I knocked at the door and waited for a response. Steps where coming closer, the door was opened from the inside, and my mood immediately got even a little better.
"Oh, hey Julian" Bailey greeted me with a happy smile, "How can I help you?"
I immediately and instinctively smiled back at the cute, chocolate brown Labrador girl in front of me. Her happy mood was always just so contagious.
"I…" I stuttered nervously, "I was in search of Lucy´s dorm…she´s in the same dorm as you, right?"
She nodded. "Yeah, she lives here too."
"C-cool, is she here? I…wanted to talk to her."
"She´s…not in right now I´m afraid" she said with an apologizing expression, "But can I tell her something?"
"Oh…" I remembered, "…yeah, she mentioned something about having to work when I met her this morning."
She smiled a little. "I can let her know you asked for her if you want…" she offered.
"N-no, thank you. I just wanted to apologize in case I had been a little nosy this morning. She was coming back from a party and seemed like she just wanted to go back to sleep again."
"Yeah, she looked a little tired this morning" she chuckled "I guess she hadn´t gotten a whole lot of sleep last night."
I nodded understandingly.
Bailey looked really pretty like this. I just noticed that I´ve never seen her without her school uniform before. She just wore black jogging pants and a white shirt right now, I thought it really suited her sporty shape, her slightly thick hips and muscular legs. I was slightly distracted by her appearance for a moment, she still smiled at me patiently.
"I uh…do you know when she´ll be back?"
"Probably not before 10:30pm" she said, "I´m sorry."
I nodded again, it seemed like my plans wouldn't work out for me tonight. I wasn't too bummed about it though, I was glad I could at least talk to somebody about it.
"Uhm…" she chuckled, seemingly a little impatient, "…should I tell her something now or not?"
"No, I think I need to tell her that myself. Thank you." I told her with a smile, "I wanted to ask her if she wanted to go for dinner maybe. And if she wants to go to the May-Day ball with me."
"W-what, really?" she asked in slight surprise, "You´re asking her out?"
"You think I have a chance?" I asked her casually.
I believed Bailey and I were good enough friends already that I could ask her something like that.
She seemed a little uncertain about that question though. I couldn´t quite tell if she actually was excited about hearing it or if she faked it a little, it seemed to be more surprise than actual excitement.
"I…" she stated after a short break and with a little shrug of her shoulders, "I don´t see why not."
I wasn't sure if she knew about Leon and the drama club or not, I had a feeling she wasn´t totally unaware of it. She was from her dorm after all.
"I mean…" I chuckled nervously, "…it couldn´t hurt to ask, right?"
"Uhm…sure" she said with a little smile, "…I guess you´re gonna see her in class tomorrow anyway?"
"Yeah" I said with a shrug of my shoulders, "I guess."
I gave her one last little smile, then I slowly turned to leave. "Thanks Bailey! Have a nice evening!"
"You too, Julian!" she said. Then she closed the door behind her and I was alone in the hallway once again.
"What job could she have that she comes home later than 10pm at night?"
Having nowhere else to be and feeling a little lost, I headed back towards my own dorm for now. My mood still wasn´t as bad as it had been this morning, but her not being here tonight downed my spirits quite a bit nevertheless. At least I got to chat with Bailey a little bit.
POV Leon
After snacking on a few more of the remaining buffet food bits from the day before, I decided to head back to my dorm in the early evening. I had lessons very early tomorrow, and I could ensure at least half an hour more sleep in the morning if I didn´t have to go all the way from home. Also, I wouldn´t have to go back home after school to get my stuff tomorrow.
When I entered the room, the entire group was present. Some of them were studying for different subjects we had ahead of us next week, Yuma as usual was drawing something on his tablet, Julian was just lying there on his matrass watching me unpack my clothes and stuff I needed for the week.
It was somewhat of a weird vibe in here, it felt kinda weird that we were all sitting here in silence.
I didn´t want to be the one to start a conversation though, so I just kept sorting my stuff until I was done and laid myself down onto my matrass for a moment as well.
"Oh, hey Leon" Mark addressed me after a little while, "…what were you doing all weekend?"
Julian looked rather curious about that as well, but I somehow had then feeling not in a good way. I wasn't quite sure why, but that fox hated my guts no matter what I did. I hadn't even said anything to him yet.
"Eh…" I waved it off, "Not much. What about you?"
"We just watched the new Fast & Furious in the theatre" he chuckled.
"And?"
"Just as unrealistic as the last three movies" Yuma commented dryly, "…but get this: This time it was about ...wait for it…Family! It was about Family!"
"No way!" I grinned at him, "It´s never been about that before!"
We chuckled about that ironic comment for a moment, but then the conversation died down once again. There wasn´t much to talk about, nobody seemed in the mood for a little banter.
I looked at some newly posted memes on my phone, but that got boring rather quickly as well.
Then I decided I could return Lucy´s clothes to her, I felt like I´ve been patient about that long enough in the meanwhile. I wanted to see her again, maybe invite her to a quick stroll through the park or something like that. Talk about everything that happened last night, maybe make it a little less awkward that way.
I removed the plastic bag with her clothes from the drawer I had put it in earlier and checked it again if there still was everything inside it.
"What´s that?" Mark now asked me, looking up from his book somewhat interested.
"Oh, a friend of mine fell into the pool by accident" I explained, "My mom washed and dried it for her and I just wanted to return it."
"Wait…" he chuckled, "By accident?"
"What friend?" Julian wanted to know.
"A friend from drama-club" I told him dryly. This greediness was getting on my nerves already. I knew why he asked that, we´ve had this topic before.
Not wanting to answer any more questions, I now went on my way towards the door with the bag in my hands.
"Imma go see if I can find her."
"Good luck with that" somebody dryly yelled after me, I was pretty sure it was Julian.
I just wordlessly left the room and went on my way now.
I didn´t even know where I was supposed to go at first, I just figured she must be in the girl´s dormitory building. After knocking on a door and asking another grey wolf girl for directions, I thought I had found the right dorm, but it turned out it was one door to the left of that one. I apologized again and tried my luck once more. Then I finally seemed to have arrived at the right place.
POV Bailey
This was a weird afternoon. My mood had been slightly gloomy and melancholic ever since the talk I´ve had with Julian. It wasn´t something personal about him, I rather bothered me that he wanted to go to the May Ball with Lucy for some reason.
I liked him ever since I´ve first gotten to know him. We chatted in almost every little break we had between lessons. He was cute and kind and I liked his direct style. He spoke up about what was on his mind, and I was somewhat fascinated by that. And I was fascinated by his body, I couldn´t deny that either. Having seen him just in swimming trunks the other day had activated something inside me. I´ve been thinking back to that moment a couple of times already, especially at night when my curtain was closed. I liked him, and I wanted to go out with him myself.
Him wanting to ask Lucy out somehow came a little unexpected for me though. I thought he must know about her and Leon, he told us the biggest secret about him even. And he was from his dorm on top of that.
"Does he know more than me. Isn´t there anything serious going on between Lucy and Leon after all? Maybe this is some sort of fight for dominance?"
I had so many questions right now, and waiting for Lucy to come back and answer them felt like an eternity already.
But then suddenly, something else that was interesting happened. Someone knocked at the door again.
My dorm-mates still didn´t seem in the mood to get the door, so I went for it yet once again, and I didn´t regret it in the end.
"Hey…" a grey wolf greeted me, seemingly a little out of breath, "Is this Lucy´s dorm?"
I couldn´t hide a little smile when he asked that. He looked pretty similar to Legoshi, and since he asked for Lucy as well I guessed he was the guy from the drama-club she had been talking about. He had a plastic bag with what appeared to be clothing inside it with him, I had a slight foreboding about it already.
"Yeah, it is" I affirmed, "But she´s not here right now."
"N-no?" he asked in slight puzzlement.
"You´re Leon, right?" I asked boldly.
He nodded. Then he reached the plastic bag over to me. "These belong to Lucy, it´s all washed and dried. Would you give this to her when she comes back, please?"
"Yeah…uhm…" I said slightly perplexed, "Sure!"
"Thanks!" he said, already being on his way back as it seemed like. He didn´t even ask why she wasn´t in, it seemed like he either was too shy to ask or he knew about it already.
"Wait" I stopped him by some weird reflex, "…was she really at your house last night?"
He stopped in his tracks and turned back towards me. "Uhm…yeah" he said with a little smile.
"I…" I stuttered, "I didn´t quite believe her when she told us about it to be honest."
He seemed a little uncomfortable about this. "…why would you not believe her?"
"Oh…it´s just…she told me you two didn´t start out as the best of friends…"
He now tilted his head a little bit.
"Well…" he then explained, "We were rehearsing for the drama-club…and my dad´s birthday party started in the evening."
"Your…dad´s birthday?" I acted clueless.
"My…" he sighed now, "My dad is John Wick. I was pretty sure she would have told you about that?"
I couldn´t hide a little smile now. "Y-yes, she did…" I confessed with a nervous chuckle, "…but we didn´t quite believe that either."
He now just shrugged his shoulders with a forced little smile. This seemed to be a common reaction for him. "…anyway, have a nice evening!"
"Y-yeah" I told him, waving after him shortly, "You too!"
So it was true. Legoshi really was his Father, Lucy had not been lying to us. That would explain that really fancy dress as well. It must have been a very fancy party at an even fancier house. In my head I just imagined the highest standard luxuries, I had a slight suspicion that Lucy might even have come there a little too underdressed and that´s why she borrowed a dress like that.
But on the other hand, Leon hadn´t been wearing anything too high quality just now either. It looked quite normal, even for a boy´s standard.
"Dammit" I cursed in my head, "Why haven't I asked him if he wanted to ask her out to the ball? They would look so good together!"
But there actually was a far more important reason why I wanted to ask him that. The very moment he had left, I was thinking about that red fox again. I always had fun when he was around, I thought we had a really good chemistry, and on top of that he was nice to me. I had always been a little shy around boys, but he somehow made me feel save and special. I wanted Lucy to go with Leon and I wanted to go out with Julian myself.
"Why did Lucy tell him about her job?" it then came to me again.
She once told me she didn´t want everybody to know. I assumed she only told it to people she liked and trusted.
"Did she really trust Julian like that. Do they really have that good of a connection?"
This was eating me up on the inside. I wanted answers and I wanted them now. Why was this life just so unfair sometimes? Why couldn´t I be seen as pretty and as desirable as Lucy?
POV Julian
He came back just barely ten minutes after he had left with the plastic bag in his hands, now he didn´t have it with him anymore. But he must have found out the same thing as me earlier, Lucy was still at work.
I kinda wanted to ask him if he even cared enough to know that she had a job or if he even knew what a job was in general, but I also would sound like the biggest hypocrite in the world if I did that.
I didn´t have a job yet either and I had a pretty busy schedule with school and my work-out anyway.
I couldn't help but glare at him hatefully whenever he was in my sight. I just hated this guy with every fiber of my body.
"Stupid rich kid thinks he can do everything he wants."
He laid himself down onto his matrass now, I pretended to be looking at my phone again.
"Well, that was quick" Mark commented.
"She wasn´t in for some reason" he said with a shrug of his shoulders, "I gave it to her dorm-mate."
"Where could she be on a Sunday evening?" the hyena wondered, "You think she´s out partying again?"
"She´s at work" I couldn´t stop my tongue, "You can´t just afford fancy dresses like the one she wore this morning just from saving up your allowance. …unless your parents are swimming in money and have a pool at home."
Leon just rolled his eyes with a little sigh. There wasn´t anything he wanted to reply to that, probably because he couldn't.
"Wow, must be tough going to work on a Sunday" Mark commented, trying to keep the subject somewhat peaceful.
"I mean" Yuma said, "Look at me, I´m basically working all the time."
"You´re drawing anime boobs on your tablet" Gerard commented, "That´s not work."
I chuckled about that a little bit as well. The jackal did have a point with there, that was pretty much all he did.
"…but I guess it´s kinda cool to make some extra money" the hyena from above me mentioned, "I wouldn´t say no to some extra cash to buy clothes or other cool stuff."
"My mom borrowed her that dress by the way" Leon now told us, "She just didn't want her to run around all wet at the party."
"You invited her to a party but not us?" Mark asked in slight disbelief.
"I invited her over so we could do some drama-club rehearsing" he sighed, "And it just so happened that my dad celebrated his birthday at that day. Can you get off my back now?"
"Sorry for asking" Mark retorted lowly.
"Yeah, yeah" I commented coldly, "Lured her to your place with the promise that she could meet your movie-start daddy. Congratulations."
I just hated this dumb wolf so much. Trying to act all innocent but bragging with his pool and his party and his lifestyle in the same breath.
"What? No! Dude, we´re in the same club, we needed to practice for our performance! What do you want from me? Are you in love with her or what? Leave me alone already!"
I just shook my head angrily. It wasn´t that, not just that at least. What annoyed me the most was that he didn´t even have to do anything for it.
"Do you even know her as a person?" I growled at him.
"Do you?" he asked back harshly.
"Does she even see you as more than just the brat-kid of a movie star?"
"Fuck you!" he yelled back at me now, "I never brought it up, I never even told her about it! I never told anybody about it!"
He was getting really loud with his tone right now, this seemed to be a really sore spot.
"…I can´t change who I am, I can´t hinder people from finding out! What am I supposed to do you genius?"
"Guys!" Mark interrupted us now, "Can we all chill, please?"
"I was chill!" Leon yelled, "I don't know what his fucking problem is! Dude has major complexes…"
There was a moment of loaded silence.
"Guys" Gerard interrupted him now, "We´re not five years old anymore. We´re gonna have to spend quite a while in this dorm together, why don't you try to settle your differences like adults and stop screaming at each other?"
Normally, I would have just told the striped jackal to shut his mouth in this situation, but somehow, I had a lot more respect for what he had to say all of a sudden. I did owe him that respect for what he did for me earlier.
"I mean…" the grey wolf still muttered in anger, "…I get that it seems unfair, but what am I supposed to do about it? Quit the drama-club? Quit trying to fit in?"
Nobody said a word to that statement, we just were left with another weird silence. For a moment I even felt at least a little bit bad for him in that respect, but then he just proved again how much of a spoiled prick he was.
"What do you want me to do about it, fox? Should I maybe quit showering so you have a chance at her as well?"
"Oh fuck off you rich asshole" I told him, "Go suck my dick."
"Ha" he said with a bitter tone, "You wish anybody would ever suck your dick. Why don't you go work out some more and leave me alone you little freak?"
He now closed the curtain of his bed with that, apparently being done with that argument for now.
His voice had been a little higher pitched than usual, I had the feeling he was on the verge of crying in the meanwhile.
I however couldn't help myself but smirk a little bit right now. Partly because I had brought my point across, but mostly because of how Gerard was looking at me right now. He knew it wasn't true what Leon said, he knew I wasn´t at all chanceless. And just that dirty little smile of him gave me back so much confidence.
Leon wasn't anything better than me, no matter who his dad is, no matter if he´s in the drama-club.
Maybe I felt like a little bit of a loser today, but at least I was not the only one.
POV Leon
Now that I learned that Lucy was at work, my evening was pretty much ruined. I remembered my parents telling me that they´ve met her in the restaurant she worked at, they told me she was a waitress there. This also was a good explanation to me why she knew the names of cocktails, she probably served them to customers every now and then.
I didn´t really understand why somebody would voluntarily be working at that age already though. There were just so many layers to her that I didn´t understand yet, but it only made me more curious.
I barely knew anyone my age who had a job like this already. Mark had told me he was delivering newspapers in his hometown sometimes to make a bit of extra cash, but he said himself that that wasn't really a job. When I helped out on my dad´s filmsets sometimes, I got a bit of cash for that as well, but that was just very occasional and when I was in the mood.
But there were by far more important and by far scarier questions on my mind right now.
"Why did Julian know she´s at work right now? Did she tell him? Has he met her earlier? Why didn´t she tell me about her Job yet?"
All these questions on my mind made it even harder to keep my cool about this. For the first time I was really glad about that curtain our beds were equipped with. Usually, I really liked the sunlight that came through the windows in the morning, that´s why I normally never closed them, but I had shut it earlier because I didn´t want to see any of my dorm-mates right now, especially that mean dick of a fox.
"What´s his deal with Lucy? Does he really like her as well or does he just want to annoy me? Is he just trying to brag with his body and how much the girls like it? Was Lucy impressed by something like that? Was there something going on between them that I just never noticed?"
I didn´t want to be here right now, I didn´t want to be in this dumb situation.
I grabbed my phone again to find anything that could distract me. Watching Zootube videos would require me to get my headphones first, I would have to open my curtain for that.
I browsed a few other social media platforms for a little while, but there hasn´t really changed a whole lot since the last time I´ve checked.
I had this great urge to cry right now, I couldn't really deny it. Hearing all these accusations hurt, even though I didn´t want to admit it in front of them. This just felt awful.
"Rich kid. Spoiled brat. The futile son of his superstar-daddy."
My life wasn´t all that perfect either, and they just had no idea. It seemed like I couldn´t convince him of anything else, he never even gave me a chance. They just hated my guts for who I was.
I just kept on lying there, thinking about how miserable I was feeling right now and how unfair everything was, when something incredibly hope-restoring happened all of a sudden.
Someone had sent me a message, the pop-up window on my screen immediately informed me that it was from Lucy.
I smiled in great relief and anticipation when I opened the app.
It was just one word she sent, but it immediately sounded promising and she was typing a second message already.
"Hey"
(…)
it just said, and I already took that as a good start. The wait was finally over.
"Sorry I just left this morning, I was feeling very tired and overwhelmed. Haru offered to take me back quite kindly, she´s a real sweetheart."
"I had a lot of fun last night, wanna meet up for a little talk tomorrow maybe?"
This just made me so happy. This was everything I ever hoped for, I´ve been waiting the whole day for a message from her.
Hell yes I wanted to go for a little talk! This offer of her excited me so much I physically began shaking a little bit.
My thumbs already wanted to start typing, I was still trying to think of a good answer.
"Stay cool" I told myself, "She messaged you first, you´re not a hopeless loser! Don't mess this up again!"
"Yeah, sounds nice!"
I typed back, still not able to stop smiling,
"I had fun too! Just tell me when and where!"
Jesus Christ this was difficult to write. I´m still not perfectly happy with it, but this has to be good enough.
Tell me what you think, I´d be really glad for some feedback! ;)
Stay safe, see you all later!
~furr