Chapter 18 : Jealousy

Gideon observes the vixen. All he has to do is to wait for her to be on her own. He could go straight to her, after all, she did invite him… But… Well, he can't while there are people around.

It's weird to think that he had no qualm being an asshole to everyone so easily not so long ago, with a total disregard about whom paid attention, but is so hesitant to put himself on the spot about this invitation.

Is it weird that he's following the vixen ?

He isn't really following her… Simply, he follows her with his gaze, discreetly, waiting for an opportunity.

"Gotta go to my locker." She tells her friends. "I'll see you in class."

Yes ! She's leaving on her own. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, he trails her, tapping her shoulder when they find themselves in an empty hallway.

"Hey." He greets.

"Hey, Gideon." She smiles, batting her eyes, blushing a little. And he has to recognise that she's really beautiful, in her own way. Slender, with shiny russet fur and hazel eyes. She wears ripped jeans, and a weird shirt with transparent sleeves. It makes her look older than Judy, which she is, more mature too. But she isn't as cute. He face is more angular, when Judy's round and gentle. Overall, yes, the doe is more… More something, that he can't pin his finger on.

He feels calm. It's really simple now that there isn't anyone around. Somehow, he can't stop himself from imagining Judy in her place. It makes his heart race, his paws clammy, and his tail twitchy.

But when he refocuses on the vixen, he feels… Calmer, strangely.

"I read yer letter."

She keep smiling at him, which feels a bit weird, because mammals that don't really know him usually don't smile at him. They send him furtive glances, they keep neutral expressions, sometimes bordering on disdain.

"I'll go to prom wid' ya."

"Thanks, I- I can't wait !"

"Erh… Okay. Cool." Then he has a sudden realisation. "Erh… Am I supposed to pick you up, or… 'Cause I don't have a car."

The vixen takes out her phone. "Why don't you give me your number ? We can arrange this over text, I really need to to get stuff from my locker for the next class."

"Of course, here."

Judy wishes she had been there when Gideon went to talk to the vixen. She used to think it was stupid how her sisters and brothers could get jealous over that kind of stuff, but now that it's thrown in her face, it's a bit harder to take a step back.

Maybe instead of just wondering, she could just talk to him. Ask him what he thinks of the vixen. If he finds her pretty. She can be subtle about it.

Sitting with Sharla and Bobby on the bench at recess, she starts to feel nervous. The tod doesn't appear. "Do you know where Gideon is ?" She asks her friends.

"Erh… No." Answers the cougar. "Maybe he got caught up with a teacher. Where are you going ?" He asks when she gets up.

"To the toilets. I won't have for long." She adds when Sharla gets up.

She checks over her shoulders that the feline and caprine aren't looking at her and deviates her path toward the room where the tod had his last class. Maybe she'll find him.

Her gaze falls upon him as she turns at a corner. The tod is talking with someone. Someone with a russet fur, who is batting her eyes at him, and all around trying to be cute.

- 1 -

Gideon is exiting class, looking to make his way toward the other members of the Dork Squad. He kind of wish the name wouldn't stick, but Bobby constantly refers to them that way, so it's starting to regardless.

As he turns a corner, he hears light steps behind him and looks over his shoulder.

"Hey Gid." Hester smiles, coming up to him.

"Hey Hester. How are ya doin' ?"

"I'm great. You ?"

The tod shrugs. "Yeah. D'ya need somethin' ?"

"Not really. I just wanted to chat for a bit."

"Oh… Alright."

The vixen bites her lips as she realises the tod isn't going to initiate. "So… Uhm… What do you do on your free time ?" She asks, going for the first topic that comes to her mind.

"I..." Baking is the first thing he thinks about mentioning, but he isn't about to reveal that to a girl he knows so little about. "Erh, not much. Just takin' care of my sister 'n stuff."

"You have a sister ?"

"Yeah. Little. She's great." There's something in the way he says it that challenges her to say otherwise.

"What's her name ?"

"Hailey."

"Oh. It starts with an H, too." She states. "So it's obviously a nice name." The vixen adds with a feigned smugness, which pulls a chuckle from him.

"They chose it 'cuz H comes after G."

Hester emits a giggle. "Really ?"

"Yeah. Tha's as good a reason as any, I guess. Anyway, since you're there, I talked with my Ma', and she's okay to drive us."

"I'm sorry if it bothers her."

"Nah. It's fine. She says it's important."

The tod feels a bit surprised at how easy it is to talk to the vixen. He doesn't get angry, she doesn't get defensive. She doesn't make him feel like he's an idiot either.

Has everyone ever been that friendly, or is it just because she's a fox too, he can't tell.

- 2 -

The doe recoils as the bell rings, the two vulpines separating. Despite her ears, the noise and the distance made it hard to pick up everything. She's sure he talked about his sister, and about his mother picking her up. She quickly makes her way back toward Bobby and Sharla, grabbing her bag from near the bench.

"I thought you didn't have for long." Says the ewe. When Judy ignores her, she catches up to her. "Judy are you okay ? Are you c-"

"I'm fine." The doe rebukes, furiously wiping her eyes, cursing her specy's emotional oversensibility. "They were just talking."

"Who ?"

"Gideon and Hester."

"Oh. About wha-"

"I don't know." She hisses, before seeing the shock on Sharla's face. "Sorry, I… Sorry."

"It's okay. I'm here If you need to talk about it."

"There's nothing to talk about.

There's something weird going on.

Judy isn't her usual bubbly self. Her ears are droopy, she doesn't talk, her step isn't bouncy.

Her siblings have noticed it, her friends have noticed it.

And she knows they've noticed it. But what can she do ? Gideon has been texting Hester, and smiling at his phone, and it makes her crazy. She doesn't know what they're talking about. Are they dating ? Did they kiss ?

Simply picturing the vixen in his arms makes her want to cry.

What's worse, she's only now really figuring her feelings for the tod.

How come she isn't bouncing back ? She fell from her bike, she got made fun of for wanting to be a cop, she heard rumours about relationships and sexual life, but this…

It's worse.

Wallowing in her self pity, she hears a pair of light footsteps approaching her door.

"...need talk to her."

On the other side of the door, Stu's ears shoot up and swivel toward his wife.

"We ?"

"She's our kid. Not just mine."

The buck emits a low groan. "You know what happens when I'm part of the conversation."

"Honestly, I'd be fine with her shouting. Right now I'd take anything over all that moping."

Stu rubs his face. Teenagers. He used to be one, but it seems he totally forgot how it felt. "Okay. Alright."

Putting on a brave front, the buck knocks on the door.

"Yes." Comes a muffled voice.

Pushing the door, both her parents enter her room. As always it's neat and tidy, except her bed where the doe is lying, her face smushed in a pillow.

"Hey honey."

She rolls to the side and eyes them. Whatever this discussion will be, she's not sure she's up for it.

"Are you okay ?"

"Erh… Yeah." She lies.

"Because, you know, it's okay to talk about it if you don't feel okay." Says Stu.

What can she say ? That she feels jealous that Gideon is going to prom with someone else than her ? That she realised that she likes him more than as a friend ?

"I know." She mutters.

"Listen… Is it your grades ? If you're struggling-"

"It's not my grades."

"Did you fight with a friend ?"

"No."

"Is it a boy ?"

"Or a girl, it's okay too." Precises Stu.

Of course they would deduce that. "Maybe."

"Who-"

Bonnie swats Stu's shoulder, glancing at him in annoyance.

"What ?"

"That's her business." Turning toward her daughter, Bonnie goes to sit next to her. "Were you rejected ?"

The young doe shakes her head.

"Is he dating someone else ?"

She shrugs. Dating is a big word, but he's going to prom with someone else.

Feeling a little weird being the only one standing, her father imitates hi wife, sitting on the other side of his daughter and putting a paw on her shoulder.

"Did you tell him how you feel ?"

She shakes her head again.

"Listen… I won't pretend to know how you kids to that stuff now. Let's just say it was different where we were your age… But if you need to talk about it, we're here okay ? You know it'll stay between us."

Judy nods, but it's not as if she was going to say "Hey, guys, remember how I was not dating Gideon ? Well, I wish I was."

"Maybe it's not what you want to hear right now… But he might come around, or he might not. If he doesn't, well, he'll have missed his chance with someone that was interested in him, but at least you won't be dating someone that isn't interested in you."

It's not perfect, but it does, in fact, make her feel a little bit better. The hugs that follows her mother's words of wisdom helps with it too, even if it doesn't make everything suddenly perfect.