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Bad Connections

Written by Snow

Chapter 1

A cool breeze hit his face. Slowly, he raised his head, awaking to the singular fan in the room directed toward him. How had it managed to come on? His brother Rob probably flipped it on when he got home last night. That's how it usually went. He curled his toes, sensitive to the freezing waves of air being directed toward him. 'How does a room ever get to be this COLD?' was his second question. He shut his eyes, attempting to go back to sleep, but in the back of his mind knew that such a feat was impossible at this point. He opened his eyes again, glancing at the clock. 11:43 AM. 'Jesus, I slept in...I had wanted to wake up earlier.' he thought. Slowly and calmly, he moved to the side of his bed, letting his feet hit the floor. He had never felt more tired in his life. He sat there, hanging his head down into his palms, as if he were trying to process the fact that he actually had to wake up. He got up and stretched, glancing about the bedroom, his brother's side of the bedroom a complete mess, of course. It's hard for someone who keeps things mostly tidy to share a room with someone who hasn't a care in the world about what's on his "floor", let alone the ability of actually seeing it.

He trudged out of the room, shuffling his feet across the carpet as he walked, slowly making his way to the bathroom. When he entered, he noticed something different. HE was different. Not only did he feel tired emotionally, but physically he was too. You could see it in every portion of his body. The way his arms slumped at his sides, his hair atop his head a complete and utter mess. Even his tail, usually bushy, was a mess. Hairs were clumped together. Different areas stuck out in multiple directions. It was terrible! He HAD to take a shower. He grabbed his towel and a washrag, simply tossing the towel in the sink. He reached for the knobs on the bathtub, slowly turning as they let out a deafening, unlubricated screech. He undressed slowly, and entered the shower, letting the hot water simply flow down his back. Never had a shower felt this good in his life. He leaned against the wall in front of him, resting his forehead against his arm. The hot water seeped through his fur, making contact with the skin below, sending goose bumps throughout his body. This is a shower where you never want to leave. This is a shower to clear your mind, and cleanse yourself free of any worries. THUMP THUMP THUMP!

"Hurry up, kid you're gonna use all the hot water!" shouted a tired and irritated voice from outside the door.

It was his father. A great guy once you got to know him. He is funny, loves to talk to people, and has a strange fascination with cars. He's the kind of guy that you take to the bar with you, and you know he'll drive you home and cover the tab when you're too drunk to see straight. THUMP THUMP! "Let's move it, dude!" he shouted. Also a bit impatient. He turned the knobs of the shower, and wrapped the towel around him after drying off. He opened the door and walked to his room. Upon opening the door, he realized that the environment had definitely changed. The curtains were drawn, and the blinds opened. Thin rays of sunshine peeked through each large gap. No loud, ear-piercing snore was present either. His brother wasn't there. 'Strange...' he thought to himself, 'who could've opened th-'

"BOO!" shouted his sister, jumping out from beside the dresser, hidden from sight until Jermi walked in.

"AHAHAHAHAHA! I got you SO good little bro!" said his sister, clutching her stomach as she laughed.

"You really gotta learn to start expecting these things, dude. It's almost getting old now..." she trailed off as she walked from the room.

"You're acting like that's my fault!" he shouted out the door.

Being the youngest fox out of 3 siblings can be hard at times. For a 16 year old, he was very mature for his age. He mostly stayed quiet, keeping to himself about things, but at school and around friends, he is very vocal, and very silly. He is creative, drawing most of the time, but does everything best when listening to music. Music was his life. It blocked the bad things out from the world from his perspective.

Catherine, his sister, is very different. She is always loud and always vocal. She treats Jermi as if he is 5 at times, but it's almost always playfully to tick him off. She's 17, a year old than Jermi, but at times seems like she's 13. She usually spends most of her time with friends, leaving Jermi to do her chores.

Rob, Jermi and Catherine's older brother, is a mystery. Rob is 19 and used to be a friendly and very likeable guy. But now, he's changed. Jermi knows it. There's something going on in head that he refuses to tell anyone. Trying to figure Rob out at this point, is like trying to piece together a puzzle where the pieces have no inward curves to connect the pieces. There's just no point, and it's too complicated. Even whenever Rob does communicate with you, he usually has something negative to say.

After throwing on some clothes, Jermi headed downstairs. He opened the fridge, the cold air rushing at his face instantaneously. The fridge was amazing. The fridge was welcoming. The fridge meant breakfast. He took out the grape jelly and butter and bumped the fridge door shut with his hip. Walking over to the pantry, he quickly grabbed a knife from the dish tray on top of the counter. Inside the pantry he found the bread and peanut butter. Oh, was breakfast gonna be good. He took down a small cast iron skillet and set the heat to low. Carefully, he spread the peanut butter and jelly across the bread and slapped a piece of bread on top. Then, he spread butter on top of each piece of exposed bread on the sandwich, and, holding it by the crust, flopped it into the skillet. The sizzle of the butter meeting the skillet nearly brought tears to his eyes. He smiled with delight as he flipped it until it was done. As he sat down, he took a bite. The warm jelly seemed to melt across his tongue. A fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"Never will there be a better breakfast!" he said aloud to himself. It was indeed amazing! Suddenly, he noticed the clock out of the corner of his eye. 12:38 PM.

"Oh no..." he said aloud with dread. He was supposed to meet Alli at the mall at 12:30! He ran to his room grabbed his wallet, ran out the door. He turned the corner around the house and almost tripped, as if skidding on a small turn. He ran to his bike, grabbed his lock from the garage, and pedaled intensely down the street. North 5th. North 6th. 'I'm getting closer', he thought. Indeed he was. He sped up even more, passing though 2 intersections without a care in the world. He could see the huge, multifaceted building looming ahead. He stopped at the red light ahead, and felt his phone vibrating as the light turned green. He pulled into the parking lot and found the bike racks, providing the perfect opportunity to answer.

"Hey! Where are you!?" said a worried female voice through the phone.

"You by the movie theatre like you should be?" said Jermi, hinting a joking tone in his voice.

"Yeah....why?" the girl said, sounding suspicious and impatient.

"Look outside." He said, smiling as the girl inside looked up suddenly.

She jogged out of the doors to him. She was beautiful! Jermi had never seen a more beautiful young fox in his life. She had a slim body but kept it healthy and fit. Her eyes were two windows into her soul, each one a beautiful sky blue. She was wearing a short sleeve 'Rolling Stones' t-shirt, leggings, and a short skirt on. She wore a beanie on top of her head, a handmade one that her grandmother had made just 2 years before. She had a thin pair of glasses that almost seemed invisible, but made her eyes bigger, and more vivid, when you looked at her. Unfortunately, Jermi hasn't had the opportunity to create a relationship with her yet. He has always longed for her. He always will. He just hasn't had the guts to stand up and propose a relationship with her. But they both knew secretly that the other was interested in them. It is clearly visible when they speak.

"Awww...you waited for me honey?" said Jermi jokingly.

"I don't know...maybe I was!" said Alli, seeing the look on his face go to a slick smile.

"Or maybe I was observing what they have new in the concession booth at the movie theatre. You know how interesting that is!" she said, hinting sarcasm.

"Indeed...indeed." He said smiling.