College Life: Chapter One: Baby Steps
"Well why not? You're not gay are you?"
It was a question the Fennec had heard a thousand times before. Generally this question was raised in the least appropriate of situations. This time; for example; Piper had turned to kiss him; asking if he would want to join her for a movie later.
Living in small town USA; there were certain expectations that Jasper had learned to fold to; to make his own life easier; to keep money coming in from his parents; to keep his life from spinning any further out of control than it absolutely had to.
But this was college.
This was different.
There was less of a threat of his parents randomly coming to his school like they did all through high school and middle school; less of an expectation that was pressed upon him. This time however; this would be the first time that he answered it honestly.
It wasn't that the vixen wasn't attractive; Jasper was pretty sure she was if it was approached from the 'right' direction. Still; the conclusion everyone that asked him out jumped to was that he was gay... they never ever assumed that the Fennec was taken; just because he didn't spend a substantial amount of time with anyone alone.
The fox rolled his eyes; dodged the question and went back to fooling around with her; making increasingly blatant innuendoes when; finally; Pipers friend returned to find Jasper leaning on Pipers shoulder; both of them laughing.
Heather's response was priceless. "... Damn fox's... you work fast..." she muttered.
Piper gave Jasper a look; he shook his head and leaned up to whisper something in her ear. "Actually... I am..."
Piper looked like she had been punched. Turning to look at him shocked. "... wait... what?"
Jasper nodded; leaning back in his chair; looking smug; Piper looked at him; stunned; bemused; either way; her expression would have made a great picture.
Heather looked between the two. "What what? What did he say? Piper...? Jasper...? You do know she'll just tell me later so you should tell me now."
The fennec shrugged. Why not? What was the worst that could happen? "I'm gay." Two words really. Simple. He said it was a statement of fact; not a thing of remorse. There wasn't exactly a world rocking moment; still; there was a sense of freedom to it.
"... you sly dog... you knew exactly what we were talking about yesterday don't you? You slimy bastard..." She was; of course; referring to when boyfriends tried anal with them; along with various kinks that they had. Appropriate lunchroom conversation; of course.
The day went on after that as normal; class; chemistry lab; a few chemical burns into his fur... but; everything moved on as if he hadn't been outted. Until he got a text from Piper; telling him to meet her in her room. Jasper didn't suspect a thing; Grabbing his laptop bag and telling his roommate that he was going 'out' he hit the stairs; heading to the very bottom floor.
He knocked on the door; and; as if Piper was waiting for him; the door was open in seconds; she looked from side to side; grabbing the front of the Fennecs shirt and pulling him in; getting a small yip of surprise out of the fox.
"Woah! New shirt Piper!" Jasper warned playfully; stepping into her room. She and her roommate had; like his own room; bunked their beds. Other than that; it was just like his room upstairs; perhaps a bit cleaner; smelled less of bear and cheap beer; but the same layout; and the same big closet.
"You're screwing with me aren't you? You could have just said 'no I'm not interested; but no; you had to pull the 'I'm gay' thing didn't you? I can't even get mad at you properly!" Jasper took one step; then two back as she snapped at him unexpectedly. He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off. "Do you know what you put me through? Is it because I'm fat?" "You not f-" "Am I not sexy enough for you!?" "Really I'-" "God Damnit Jasper; why did you lead me on like that!?"
She seemed done; even so Jasper spoke quickly. "I didn't mean to lead you on!" Then... he looked stunned for a moment; the fact that he managed to get a word in edgewise hit him; and; curious about this he asked; "... so... you're done now..? Cool." His ears went back from pinning themselves to his head; back upright as he swallowed a few times. "Yes... I'm really gay; no; I'm not saying that to turn you down; no; you're not fat and I'm sure that guys find you attractive. If... that's all you wanted... I kinda got...-"
She was the one to cut him off. A small timid question. "... Are you sure? I mean... have you...?" Jasper actually laughed. "Of course not... do you ask straight guys if they are sure they are not gay? Just like they don't care to find out; I don't either." With that... the fennec turned to leave. He didn't apologize. There wasn't any need to. He wasn't sorry for who he was... just angry that people cared that much. One little thing about him; a preference; like vanilla or chocolate that rubbed people the wrong way. It wasn't like he admitted that he liked driving lawnmowers over infant children; but from her reaction; it might as well have been. That was what really cut him. He didn't want to talk about it. Not here.
"Jasper... I'm ... I didn't mean... I didn't know... I was... just and... go."
And he went. The Fennec took the stairs up; seeing his RA; a few friends from class; Ryan; the otter across the hall noticed that he seemed worn just a bit thin; and did the reasonable thing; and gave him his space. He always thought that Jasper was just a bit weird; with his long class schedule; his forwardness of opinion; his devil may care attitude; to seem him disturbed him somewhat.
He made it to his bed after a short struggle with a broken lock; and collapsed into his bed; barely taking the time to kick off his shoes. He didn't wake when his roommate came in; or when he was poked. He was just tired.
Doubts; questions... would it spread? Would people think of him differently than they did now? Only time could tell. And it would. But that was a different morning. Not his problem just now. Just now; he needed his sleep. After all; this was college. He had class in the morning.