Chapter 2- A Nasty Scar & A New Friend
It's official, I've made a second story! I hope you like it. Let me know what you think of this second chapter, and don't forget to comment if you wanna make any suggestions. Enjoy!
Chapter Two-
Yeah, I know right? It seemed crazy for me too, but the truth is, I think I had feelings for him for a long time before then, I just never admitted it to myself...and it would be a long time before I admitted it to him. I remember debating it in my head and thinking No way, Shay. You're crazy. You're not into guys, and you can't be into him! But I was.
The room went silent for a bit, but he still sat there by my side. I had a trillion things going on in my head. He must've noticed, because he gave me a worried look before he tried making conversation. "How are you feeling? Does it still hurt?" "No," I said, "it's just sore now." I lifted the sheet and revealed my torso, wrapped in a bandage and I had stitches underneath. "Ss," Max winced, "that sucks." "Yeah, but I'll be okay." I said. "Did you know that guy?" he asked. "No, not really," I replied. "Damn, Shay, that's scary. You gotta be careful. They found him you know?" he told me. "Thanks Mom, I know," I replied sarcastically. "Wait, they did?" I asked. "Yep, you guys have to go to court. You might be on probation now."Shit, just what I need.
Max and I eventually changed the subject, and we just continued to talk. I kept catching myself stare at him for too long. Max really is handsome though, even then I could admit that. He was tall, fit, and had these amazing amber eyes. He really is something. I had grown up with him, I knew everything about him, and we did everything together. Now he saved my life and I was quickly beginning to realize that I didn't just want him as my friend anymore. It didn't matter though, it's not like I was going to do anything about it. What? You wanted some kind of romantic twist? I hate to burst you bubble, but I couldn't admit it, I refused to. So instead, I bottled it up and ignored it. That turned out to be the worst idea ever, but I'll get to that later.
I was there in the hospital for about three weeks. I hated it, but if Max wasn't there staying with me, he would visit. Not one day passed that I didn't see him, and it meant the world to me. I honestly feel like his company helped me heal faster. He would occasionally bring me something to eat, or bring some of my other friends to visit. With him and them there, the situation almost felt more like a vacation. I can honestly say I was happy.
I remember the last day there, and it had been about a week since I was finally able to really move around again. I climbed out of the hospital bed and walked over to the bathroom to wash up a bit after saying "good morning" to my parents. I stood in front of the mirror, took off my shirt, and removed my bandages. I still have the scar to this day, but then it still looked pretty gnarly. It stood out there on my left side,and you could still kinda see the stitches. It was about 3 or 4 inches long, and was clearly visible in my caramel-colored fur. It didn't really hurt when I touched it, it was only sore if I moved too much. I knew the scar wouldn't go away anytime soon, it would just be a constant reminder of my stupid and rash decisions. When I finished looking at it, I continued to take the rest of my clothes off and step into the small shower.
I let the warm water run over me, and began to wash myself starting with my thick, black tail. I don't know about you, but I tend to do my most serious thinking in the shower, and that's what I did. I pondered about a bunch of stuff, mainly what would happen when I got out of there, but I was also thinking about Max. I tended to do that a lot, and it became a distracting habit, but I tried my best to just ignore it. I thought about how court was going to be, and honestly I was a little nervous, and I knew that I would basically lose my freedom until only God knew when because of the trouble I was in. I admit, I was actually really stressed about it.
I finished my washing and thinking quickly and got out. I walked over to the mirror again and wiped off some fog so I could see myself. I took my towel and started to dry my head, which made the fur between my pointy ears stick up. I like it a little messy, but I cleaned it up a bit before I dried the rest of myself off. I put my bandages back on and threw on a black tanktop and a pair of jeans. I hung up my towel and walked out, leaving a cloud of steam billowing behind me. My parents weren't there in the room anymore, but two furs walked in. That's when I met her.
"Heya Shay," Max said, "I thought I'd stop by before you and your parents took off." With my canine friend was a beautiful vixen. She was absolutely stunning to me. Her pretty amber eyes, her shape, her smile, even the things she was wearing just took my breath away. I took a good look at her before asking Max, "Who's your friend?" Max kindly gestured to her to step forward and said, "This is a new friend of ours, Elise Ricci. She's new around here, but we told her lot about you, and I thought I could take her along to visit." I stepped forward and held out my paw to greet her, "Shay Moretti, a pleasure meeting you." "The pleasure's all mine," she said with a glowing smile. "Max had a lot of good things to say about you." Though it's never really been my style, I blushed. I already liked this girl.
A few weeks had passed, and my lucky self got off with a warning. Yeah, I know, right? It was too good to be true, however, I couldn't be caught fighting again, or I wouldn't be so lucky next time. In those few weeks after my release from the hospital, I got myself a job working for my grandparents at their little Italian restaurant here in Antiguo, California. Yeah, my family's Italian. If the name didn't give that away, surely our habits would. My family's real proud of our heritage, and I have to admit, I have some pride in it as well. Now don't go thinking I'm some kind of Guido, but I do slip the occasional Italian cuss word and sometimes use some extreme hand gestures when I speak. Anyway, I liked working there, it was a lot of fun. When the place wasn't busy and we didn't have customers, I would sit myself at a booth and do my homework. Plus, Max and Elise would stop by from time-to-time to keep me company.
After Elise and I had met, we instantly hit it off. All three of us were an inseparable group of friends, but her and I had the same mind, the same personality. We grew really close really fast, and I was head-over-paws for her. She was a sassy fox with a whole lot of attitude. She had just as much fight in her as I did, and one day I decided to make her mine.
I remember that day well. I was just finishing up wiping down all the tables like my grandpa told me to. Once I finished, I put away everything and told him and my grandma that I'd see them for Mass on Sunday before I left. I sent Elise a text telling her that I'd come to pick her up to see a movie. I know, I know, it sounds like a date already right? Well we did this all the time together as friends, sometimes bringing Max along with us. But that night, it was going to be different, at least, that's what I hoped. You might be wondering what had happened with my affections toward Max. Well, the truth is, I still had them, a lot. Every time I saw the pup, I would be reminded of how I loved him, but I made Elise a distraction I guess.
I left the restaurant and drove over to her house, with a little nervousness in my gut. She hopped in and off we went. I kinda had a plan in my head on how it would go down, but I just thought it best to just ask casually. I was a little scared about how she would react, predicting that if the answer was a 'no,' she'd probably slap me or something. Nonetheless, I still wanted to do this. We had normal conversations during the movie until we started flirting, as we were both good at it, the whole time.
After the movie was over, we walked out of the theatre and admired the night sky. The sun was finally gone, and the downtown streets were lit up. There was a slight breeze that added a little dramatic effect to the question I was about to ask. Our conversation stopped a while, and Elise was turned, facing the street. I got her attention by calmly saying her name. "Elise?" She turned and faced me, looking me straight in the eyes. "Yes?" she asked. "What would you say if I told you that I like you. Like, like you like you?" She stepped forward and said with a smirk, "I'd say you better get to the point, Jackal boy." I took in a deep breath and said, "Fine, then. Would you be so kind as to be my girlfriend?" To my surprise, the fox didn't slap me. Instead, she stood on her toes and pecked my cheek. "You don't know how long I've been waiting to hear you ask," she said.
With that our relationship was born, but little did I know of the crazy shit that was going to follow.