The Journal: Chapter II
This is the first chapter where our coyote and lynx friends take a look into the journal and gleam some unknown information of their happy-go-lucky teacher.
Chapter II: Entry One
Andrew stared at the clock whit his bright blue eyes as his raccoon face slumped against the fist that was propping it up upon the desk. His expression was that of complete vacancy, his mind having long since left the afternoon lull of math class for more interesting ventures, an act that the eighteen year old had become quite fond of. His fluffy grey tail started to twitch against his black jeans as a particularly entertaining thought entered his head. Whenever these kinds of scenes flashed into his mind he would imagine himself with a well defined frame, muscular and strong. In contrast to reality Andrew was as slim as any of the cheerleaders at Downshore High School. That's not to say he went on diets for he ate whatever he wanted to most of the time. He just did not have much muscular definition. That was not a concern in his head though. He reached out with both arms, preparing to wrap his lover in an embrace.
"Mr. Clemmons?" Andrew was forced to snap back to reality having his name called. "Yes?" Andrew answered somewhat nervously. "Do you or do you not understand today's lesson?" asked his teacher in a joking tone. Andrew grinned embarrassed "Oh yes sir."
Andrew watched as his teacher turned around and could not help but stare at his ass. It was a well known fact among the students that Mr. Books had previously participated in photo shoots during college, though nothing too risqué. On top of that, the twenty-five year old otter was practically a genius. It was too bad he was teaching Andrew's math class. It was already his worst subject and now he had to be distracted by an amazing body as well.
Once class ended Andrew shuffled out with the rest of the students until a an arm wrapped around his neck in a friendly embrace. He immediately saw his friend by his side and what a sexy friend he was. A black panther well toned and always wearing a mischievous smile on his face. His right ear was covered in four golden earring loops that matched perfectly with yellow eyes. Andrew smiled. "Hey Alex, how's it going?" The panther grinned back as they walked down the hall. "Oh you know me Ands, I'm always fine." Alex giggled a bit and leaned in closer to his friend's ear. "But ya know, for somebody who doesn't want the whole school to know he's gay, you sure do make it obvious the way you stare at Mr. Books like that."
Alex saw Andrew start to blush and poked him in the ribs. "You do know that there is a Mrs. Books right? That man is as straight as an arrow."
The two made it outside the school and leaned against the wall as they waited for some other friends to join them. Alex looked up at the sky and then closed his eyes as the warm sun hit his face, sending him into absolute peace. He opened one eye just a bit so he could see his friend. "So Ands, its Friday. Got any plans this weekend?" Andrew shook his head. "Not really. I was just going to get caught up on some things." Alex couldn't help but just laugh. "I swear man if you didn't know me, your life would be so lame." Andrew laughed and pushed his friend jokingly into the wall. "Oh thanks!"
"Hey you two. Getting into another fight?" asked the third member of the little group. He was a porcupine, dressed in black with fur the color of mud. His quills had been filed down to fit under all his black clothes and there was always that 'no sharp objects in school' thing. He didn't mind too much providing the other students complied as well with their claws but with cats it was so easy to hide and Alex was no exception.
The panther picked up the shorter raccoon and lifted him on his shoulders and watched the porcupine draw near. "Since when do we get into fights Jay? You know I don't waste my time on weaklings like Ands here." The boy on his shoulders tugged on the panther's ears hard. "I'm right here you know!" Alex just laughed. "Ha-ha, that's what I'm talking about, no strength at all. Your cute though so its ok." Andrew blushed and then got down from his friend's shoulder and waved at Jay. "How ya been Mr. Porcupine?"
Jay reached into his pocket and put on his black sunglasses before giving a big yawn. "Oh its Friday so I suppose I'm good. Alex, is it still going on this weekend?" The panther shot a 'don't you even dare look at Jay and quickly stammered, "Where is Breaker?" Jay leaned against the lone tree that stood in front of the building. "He said to meet him at Blue Urchin later and that we should all just head home for now. From the sound of it, its going to be a long night." Alex groaned, "That place again?" Andrew looked confused, "Blue Urchin, what's that?" Alex folded his arms and leaned against the wall again. "It's a surf shop." Andrew shook his head, "Wait. You said something about a long night. How can you spend that long in a store?" Jay sighed and lowered his sunglasses, revealing his eyes to the curious Raccoon. "You'll just have to see for yourself. You'll enjoy it I think."
With nothing else to do, Andrew hopped on the city bus and began his trip back home. He looked out he window and became lost in the scenery. There was not in a cloud in the sky and the sun's warm rays shone right through the window, coating his fur in warmth. He saw Hillside Park where the high school baseball team was practicing and tried to make out the faces of anyone he knew. He didn't have much luck as the bus did not exist simply for his sightseeing pleasures and turned the corner. Squinting his eyes, Andrew could see the beach in between the gaps of the buildings that lined the streets. Sometimes Andrew wished he didn't live downtown. He would dream of living in a house that sat by itself on a hill over looking the ocean. In the morning, just before dawn, he would be able to walk out and catch the smell of the morning dew of the grass mixing with the rich saltiness of the ocean. He would take his morning tea and just walk alone to the beach and soak in the day without care or worry and be at peace.
There was a jerking motion as the bus came to a standstill, letting Andrew know that it was his stop. He gathered his backpack and walked down the aisle of the bus, smiling at the old lioness that he saw everyday on the ride. Stepping away from the mechanical transport and watching it roll away, the boy began walking home. It was just another block to his house and his thoughts remained hooked on the beach all the way home.
Once he made it inside, he locked the door behind him and threw his bag on the floor. It was an average size house but it seemed a lot smaller with all the paintings scattered all over the walls. His mom was an avid art collector and amateur painter herself. She was the kind of women you would expect to see laying in the flowers outside in the rain, prattling on about how beautiful nature was at all times. His father wasn't much different except he was more into poetry and music, writing mesmerizing sonnets for his wife. Andrew recalled of the day that his parents had met. From what he was told, they were at an art festival and were both enamored by a sculpture of two raccoons holding each other in embrace. They talked of the onyx raccoons being forever solidified in that position, their lips forever touching and theirs arms forever wrapped around each other in eternal love. In truth, Andrew found the whole thing very romantic but found himself embarrassed whenever he told that story to a friend. The two of them were probably at yet another art showing.
The raccoon slipped off his sandals and stretched his paws on the hardwood floor, letting the cool touch bring him to a higher level a happiness. The air conditioner may have been broken yet again but at least the floor was still cold. Stripping off his shirt, he padded over to the couch laid down face first and closed his eyes. It had been a long week at high school and his friends were not helping.
A friend very close to him, Darren Locke, had dropped out of high school at eighteen and joined the army. The guy was a bull and very strong but wasn't the type to hurt a fly, a true gentle giant. Andrew could not understand why somebody like him would join the army. Darren had told him 'I need the money for college. Don't worry, I'll get out when I can and go to college and we can get back to our lives ok?' Stupid. That's what Andrew had told him. He was an idiot for thinking that was the only was for him to get an education. The army is a great route for some people, but not Darren. Jay and Alex were even less keen to the idea. When they had found what Darren was doing, they let him have it. Andrew had left the room but he could still hear the two yelling at him. They told him that he didn't know what it was like to have a gun pointed at his head or to have to point a gun at another's. He remembered them beating Darren up and the bull not even fighting back. Then the two of them left, asking Andrew to tend to the bull's wounds.
Even now, whenever the subject of Darren was brought up, it was met with anger and wrath. Andrew knew it was because the two really cared for Darren but it didn't help the situation. He just wished things could go back to the way they were before but that was impossible. Life only moves in one direction and no matter how much Andrew wished for it, he could not turn back time. He could only continue to hope for the best.
Against his desire to continue laying there on the couch, Andrew stood up and started heading upstairs. It had been another hot day and he was covered in sweat which matted down his fur and looked rather gross to him. He figured he would have time to take a shower before he had to catch the bus again. Heading up the stairs, his thoughts returned to the beach and his yearning to be there to oversee it all from that hill top and just absorb the serenity of it all. Instead he felt like a grain of sand trapped on the breaker line of the shore. A grain of sand that was forever tossed back and forth as the tide came and went, continuously thrown around in utter confusion. Yeah, that pretty much summed up his life then.
The raccoon walked into the bathroom and opened the cabinet just to make sure there were towels in there. His parents would randomly go on environmental crusades and talk about air drying instead of having to use the washing machine to clean the towels and waste water and electricity. Andrew figured today it was just too hot and the house would quickly get humid if the family air dried. Lucky for him.
He stripped off his shorts and then his briefs, happy to be free of the sweat drenched clothing. He stretched and looked at himself in the mirror. Not a single bulging muscle on his body but that was fine with him. He was happy with his body. He was healthy and that was enough for him. He tugged on both ears, enjoying the ticking as his fingers went around the smooth ends of both ear. His head shook from the feeling and he laughed to himself as he hopped into the shower and turned on the water.
As the hot water hit him, he closed his eyes and let it run over his body. The water hit his head and ran down his face, past his neck to his shoulders. It then diverged and went down his back, tail, and ass. It also went down his chest and stomach, past his privates before the water rejoined at the legs and continued the journey before becoming one big mass on the shower floor and headed down the drain.
Andrew always found the shower very relaxing, the continuing rat-at-tat-tat of the water reminded him of a steady rain, something that calmed him. He ran his paws through his fur, rubbing in the clean water and rubbing away the sweat. He rubbed his paws all over his body, from head to toe and even made sure to get the insides of his ears. Feeling nice and clean, the soaking wet raccoon stepped out of the shower and started to dry off. He threw the towel into the basket and walked his naked body into his room, where he put on clean clothing.
In his room there was another mirror and he looked at himself mischievously. He got onto the floor and crawled under his bed. Tied to the underside of the mattress was, among other things, a bottle of hair cream. He grabbed it and rolled back under his bed, stood up and squeezed some into his hand. He set the bottle on his bed and walked back in front of the mirror an rubbed the cream into the fur on his head, spiking it and just making it really messy. He thought he looked sexy when he was finished and even did a little air guitar while head banging.
"Shit!" yelled a panicked Andrew when he saw the time the clock on his dresser displayed. He quickly tucked the bottle back under his bead. His parents would freak if they saw something like that. He grabbed his wallet and keys and ran out the door, praying to catch the bus in time.
It was evening when Andrew hopped off the bus and stood before The Blue Urchin. The shop was right near the beach, it even looked like a tourist shop from the outside at least. The building structure was exactly the same to every other shop on the street. There was a blue sea urchin caught on the crest of a wave as a logo just below the name on the store. He decided that his friends were probably already inside and headed in himself.
He was greeted with a cool breeze as he stepped inside. All around him were towels, clothes, and souvenirs. Yep, it was defiantly tourist shop. It even smelled like freshly washed clothing.
"Yar!" was all Andrew heard before he was tackled to a ground, forced to stare into the face of his panther friend. "About time you showed up Ands! Jay and I though you might have been lost in one of your weird thinking moods again and forgotten all about us." Austin gave his friend an annoyed look before saying "Well hi to you to. Now, get off of me!" Alex picked himself up off his friend and offered a hand, pulling Austin to his feet.
Jay was standing beside them, still in the same outfit he had been in before and motioned 'sup' with his head, "Nice hair Andrew." Andrew blushed, "Thanks Jay. So uh, what's supposed to be going on tonight?"
"So this this is the young bra you were talking about the other day." Andrew almost jumped at close the older voice sounded and turned around to see a tall black rabbit with long ears that stood straight up smiling at him. "Ah, you're a young dude aren't cha? Well aloha new bro and welcome to the Blue Urchin. Any bro of Whiskers and Quills is a bro mine. Well don't just stand there, give me five!" The rabbit grabbed Austin's hand and slapped it with his own. "Alright little man, so what's your name?"
"His name is Ands" piped in Alex, "We were hoping that he could stay a little late if that's ok?" Alex looked into the rabbit's dark greens eyes with how own pleading yellow orbs. "Oh please Breaker! He's not going to do anything bad, I promise. The guy is as shy as mess!" Breaker rubbed the back of his head and ears in thought, "Is that so? Well, alright but, even if he is one of your bros, if the guy isn't totally necter this will the only time. Eh, looks like I got some shoobies at the register. I swear the next bra who tries to inform me of how epic their vacation is, is going to get bent. I'll be seeing you three later." Breaker the rabbit walked off toward the register and Andrew once again caught himself watching the ass of another hot guy.
"So, what do you think?" asked Alex. Andrew blinked, "I think I only understood half of that." Alex laughed, wrapping his arm around the raccoon, "Yeah Breaker is like that. He's a surfer boy, heart and soul and only twenty-two if you can believe that!" Andrew blushed a little and tried to shift the subject a bit, "So I'm assuming you two are Whiskers and Quills?" Jay nodded and added "If everything goes well, you'll have your own name by the end of the night."
The next few hours went by rather fast. Jay, Alex, and Andrew talked about the last week of school and how glad they were that it was finally the weekend. Everything was completely normal. Alex was talking up a storm and controlling the conversation, allowing Jay to sneak in a short comment every once in a while. Andrew again lost focus in what the actual conversation was about as his thoughts drifted back to the beach. He imagined himself laying on the sand and watching the waves listening to them as a surfboard fell from the sky- wait what?
"Watch out" yelled a voice as surfboard falling from the second floor smacked Andrew in the head, causing him to grab it in pain. Alex looked up angrily but sighed after seeing who it was. Andrew threw the board off him and looked up at well. It was Jake Weaver, an ocelot that attended highs school with the boys. Andrew didn't really know much about the boy except he was a star basketball player. His fur was golden and covered with many black spots. Andrew had to admit that guy did look sexy for some dumb jock.
Jake came running down the stairs and grabbed the board from the ground. "I'm sooo sorry man! I don't know what happened. One second I was holding it and the next it just flew out of my hand. Is your head ok?" Andrew nodded "Yeah, I'll live. I didn't know you surfed." Jake set the board down on a clothing stand next to him. "Oh I don't." An awkward silence followed so Jake grabbed the board, smiled and headed to the register to speak with Breaker.
Both Breaker and Jake came walking over to Andrew and the rabbit gave a long sigh after seeing the raccoon's head bleeding a bit.. "Whoa dude, doesn't look like we'll be able to do that tonight. Better get home and get some ice on that." Jake looked really guilty and sighed as well "I'm really sorry Andrew. I'd stay but I have to go home and get things ready for tomorrow." Without warning the ocelot bent down and kissed Andrew on the cheek and stood back up blushing. "Kisses always made me fell better when I was hurt..." After that Jake laughed nervously and walked rather quickly out the door leaving Andrew turning red, even through his grey fur.
"Well well, seems like you're the little shadow face that Spots has been going on and on about for the past few weeks" spoke Breaker while breaking into a wide grin. Andrew blinked and looked confused. The black rabbit just laughed. "Of yes Shadowface, Spots there has been talking about some shy little raccoon he's been crushing on and it turns out its you. Not my kind of ride to be honest, but hey. We all need to have a babe to hang on two as we ride the wave of life." Breaker thought for a moment. "Ya know dudes, if ya want you can come and watch me catch some gnarly air at the competition tomorrow. I even think Jake will be filming tomorrow and I could used the support."
Andrew rubbed his cheek in a tender way. "That was...my first kiss." Though it didn't seem like much to the others, to the shy raccoon that kiss caused his heart to beat faster and in a way it had not done before. It had caused him to sweat and blush and get just a tad bit excited of what that kiss could lead too and for the first time he had somebody he wanted to pursue. His stomach became a forest of butterflies and he felt sick and happy at the same time. Looking up at Breaker, with a blushing grin on his face , the raccoon laughed, "we'll be there."