Chapter 1- The Friday
#2 of Soul
1
Psychology, the study of the mind. This was Kayden's favorite class. Probably because of his secret power. He never told anyone this, but he has an ability that no fur has ever seen. But every fur has felt. Kayden has the power to change people's Auras and therefore changing their moods. Simply put: emotion control.
But he never used his power to do bad things, only good ones. His most common mood he changed people to was green, the color of happiness. As for what he changes them from usually varies.
There's red for anger, like the wolf, Kaleb, that he met last night. Black means fear like the time a kitten his age was too afraid to jump off the high dive at the pool. When his sister was sad that her new toy broke, he saw blue meaning sadness.
One color that he never ever changes is pink. Not only is it his favorite color, but it mean the person is affectionate or loving. Kayden doesn't see pink in people often but when he does it always puts a smile on his muzzle.
2
Kayden walks in his psychology class. There's only about ten or eleven other people in this class alone. He takes his seat at the back and puts his bag down. The white board only has three words written on it. Chapter three test. It doesn't come as a shock that Kayden is well prepared for it.
As he waits for the bell to ring, he closes his eyes and catches only a glimpse of a few other Auras. From what he can tell, most appear almost purplish, the color of nervousness. Maybe they forgot to study, Kayden thinks, or maybe they did and they still don't understand it. The way his power works it that he can see pretty much small patches of everyone, but if he wants to change one or see one's full Aura, he has to concentrate real hard on just the one.
Ever since he discovered his power in the 6th grade, he swore to never use it during school, the sudden behavior change might raise questions. He only did it once when his favorite teacher Mrs. Ackerman was stressed out.
Stress has a weird effect on Auras. Kayden will mostly see red when someone is feeling stressed but he'll also see little spots of blue and purple. Mixed emotions is what he calls them.
"Hey man, how's it going?" A paw with golden fur pats Kayden on the back. He looks up and sees Don, his best friend. A golden Labrador with perfect brown eyes. Kayden has secretly always had a crush on Don, but never got the guts to tell him. Even when Don found himself a girlfriend from Alaska, Kayden couldn't say anything.
"I'm doing ok," Kayden says. "How are you?" The question was a bit silly. He could simply see Don's Aura to see how he's doing but again, he didn't want to raise questions and look suspicious.
"I'm doing alright," Don says. Kayden could tell from the green his friend was giving off. "I'm not ready for this test though."
"I wouldn't sweat it," Kayden says.
"Says the guy who never gotten lower than a 100 on any psychology assignment. How are you so good at this stuff, man?"
"I've always liked this class." Is the best reason he could give at the moment. It's not like it's false, Kayden thinks. His tail swishes back and forth after thinking of last night, that encounter with Kaleb. He's always happy to make other people happy. Although he did not ever find out why Kaleb was mad in the first place.
3
"That test was not hard," Kayden says. Him and Don walk down together to their next classes.
"Of course you would say that," Don says jokingly. Billmore High School is like a web; one giant circle in the middle where the cafeteria lies, with its smells of food and waxed floors, with 6 hallways leading to another building.
Each building is labeled with one or two letters. Every one of them is two stories high. The M building is for mathematics like Algebra, Geometry, and Calculus. E building is for English, advanced or not. S is for sciences like Biology, Physics, and Chemistry. H means history and that would mean World History, American History, or Government.
The two other buildings are for extra classes. The A building, which is for art, is for classes like Ceramics, Painting, Drawing, Computer Design. Some artistic classes are more on a cultural level like Drama. Lastly, there's building X for extra classes or electives. This is where Kayden's psychology class is.
Kayden's next class is in M while Don's is in S. "Well, I've got to go." Kayden says when they get to the center, or cafeteria.
"That's fine." Don says. "See you at lunch." Kayden watches his friend go into the science building, the one that points towards the south. He walks the other direction, north, which is where the math building points.
For every building, regular classes are downstairs while advanced or enriched classes are upstairs. In Kayden's case, every class is upstairs. He's not the smartest kid in the school but his father insisted upon it; at least he's passing each class with a straight B. Except psychology, of course.
When Kayden makes it upstairs, he walks into the first room on the right. This is his Enriched Pre-Calculus class. The only color he really ever senses in this room is grey, the most neutral mood, meaning bored.
"Well, if it isn't KayKay." The most sour voice to Kayden's ears is that of Manny Rigardo, the quarterback of the football team. Somehow he got stuck with three other jocks at his table.
"Hi." Kayden says shyly as he takes his seat. As he does, the detects a shift from grey to yellow in the three of them. Yellow means silliness or in their case, teasing.
Manny is a tiger, standing at six-foot even. The other two tablemates being Cody, a five-foot-nine wolf, and Dave, a five-foot-eight-and-a-half fox. All three of them wear their varsity jacket with the school's colors on it: burgundy and yellow.
"So, how's it going, buddy?" Dave asks, wrapping his arm around Kayden like they were pals. Kayden wasn't exactly friends with these guys; but they certainly weren't enemies. He never detected hate in their Auras, which, by the way, is orange. And not just any orange, fiery orange.
"I'm fine." Kayden says. "How about you?"
"Great. What sucks is that we have a problem."
"You see, our grades are starting to slip," Cody says, "and you know the school rules."
"Of course I do." Kayden says. Any jock who doesn't have a seventy percent or higher in all classes cannot participate in any school sport activity. "You guys need help again?"
"Yeah. We were wondering if you could help us out some," Manny says. Those jocks on TV where they force someone else to do their work isn't these guys at all. Unlike TV characters, they have some dignity and they ask for help when needed. And although Kayden was always happy to help, math was never his best subject.
"Of course," Kayden says, "what do you need help with?"
4
Boy did Kayden think that class was never going to end. His next class is American History with Don. The two sit at the back of the class, where it's usually the darkest. Literally, light bulb go out in that classroom more than any other room in the school. No one knows why.
When Kayden takes a seat, Don sits next to him the usual way he does, one leg over the other and leaning all the way back. Kayden finds his tail wagging again when he sees his friend. "How was science?" He asks.
"Boring," Don says, "and what's ironic is that my girlfriend is in that class." Melanie. She's a Siberian husky with blue fur and black paws. Kayden has met her a couple times and they were fast friends.
"Well, this is the last period of the day," Kayden points out, "at least we get to go home after this."
"It's about time," Don yawns a little, "and what's great is that it's Friday."
"Yep." The bell rings and their history teacher, Ms. Fielder walks in. She's a cat with orange, yellow, and black stripes. Today she wears plain khakis and a red shirt with the Amazing Race logo on it (Kayden recalls having watched Cody and Dave on that show last year).
Kayden notices something shining in his eye as she walks to her desk in the back. It looks a little like a diamond ring. That's weird, Kayden thinks, she isn't married. He looks at her Aura. She gives off a whole bunch of green.
As he's asking what got her so happy (she's usually indigo, the color of being mellow), Ms Fielder goes to the front of the room. "I'm guessing you're all wondering why I'm so happy." She says, Joy clear in her voice. Murmurs of "Why?" and "What's going on?" and even one "Is this a free day?" go around the room.
Kayden is the one most curious. "Why?" He joins in the voices.
"Well, last night... I got engaged!" She shows off her ring on her left paw. Everyone applauds and things like "That's awesome!" or "Nice!" or "Really? To whom?" get asked.
"That's pretty awesome," Don says.
"I know," Kayden says, "I don't think she's ever been this happy before." He slowly stops reading her but still sees a glimpse of green as she walks back to her desk and gets on her computer.
Kayden gets out his notebook for history and suddenly a PowerPoint labeled "Civil Right Movement" is projected on the whiteboard.
5
"See you tomorrow!" Ms. Fielder says as the final bell rings. Kayden and Don get up and, as usual, they're the last ones to leave the room as the hall gets crowded quickly.
"Let's just go out this way!" Don points to the doors at the end of the building other than the ones in the cafeteria.
"Good idea," Kayden says. The two boys huddle close to the wall and walk to the other doors. They get shoulder checked quite a few times but they eventually make it. They leave the building and all of a sudden it's an open area with barely anyone around.
"C'mon," Don says. The two walk clockwise around the school. They pass the English building and then the Math building before making it to the front doors of the school, where a bunch of students are crowding out. Kayden and Don walk up to the bike rack where Don usually parks his bike.
"So," Kayden says, "wanna head to my place? I could use some company."
"I really would," Don says, sounding sympathetic, "but Mel and I have a date tonight. Her and I are getting pretty serious."
"Yeah?" Kayden knows the two of them have been dating for almost two years now.
"Yeah. I think her and I might take it to the next level soon," Don gets his key out and unchained his bike from the rack, "let's go." The two of them walk southwest where their homes are. As they walk, Kayden looks long and hard at Don's Aura. It's green with some purple in there. He's excited, Kayden thinks.
"Can I ask you something?" Kayden asks.
"Of course," Don says, "what is it?"
"Do you believe in special powers?"
"Special powers? Like what?" The question makes Don's ears perk up.
"I don't know. Stuff like telekinesis or mind control." The last one is so close to his power that it makes Kayden shudder a little.
"Hmmmm... Well, I'm sure it exists out there. Otherwise this world would be boring. But if you're asking if I have any, the answer is no. Why? Do you have any special powers?"
"No." It hurts Kayden to lie, but it's for the best that no one discovers what he has. Not even his best friend can know.
However, he's torn right now. There's purple in his friend's Aura and it hurts Kayden inside knowing Don is a little nervous about his date. "You nervous?" Kayden asks. "About your date?"
"Of course I am," Don says, "wouldn't you be if you were with someone?"
"Probably." Kayden has never come out of the closet. However, when he got his ears dyed rainbow, there was no need as it was pretty much obvious at that point. Kayden has never had a boyfriend once in his entire life. His eyes have only ever been on Don.
They walk down Drew Street and then turn west onto Billmore Street, where Don lives. They go up to his house. It's tan with green windows and a red front door. The structure stands two stories high, the roof pointed like it's reaching for the sky. The front door is off to the side.
Don opens the screen door and then takes out his keys. "So, since it's the weekend, how's about you and I hang out tomorrow?" He asks.
"Sure," Kayden says. His tail wags again at the thought of hanging out with Don.
"See you, man," Don unlocks opens the door and goes inside.
6
Kayden lies in his bed, eyes closed and blanket wrapped around himself. His fox arms wrapped around a huge stuffed dog. He slightly dreams of colors, soft fur, and smiles.
"Mmmmmmmmm," Kayden murrs when he starts dreaming of the unlikely event of Don kissing him. I wonder what it will be like if it ever happens.
"Kayden! There's someone here for you!" His mother yells upstairs. Kayden opens his eyes, stretches and yawns. He looks over at his clock. Who would be here for him at nine o'clock at night? He puts on his fuzzy slippers and walks downstairs.
"What going on?" Kayden asks when he opens the door to the living room. He sees his mom and dad on the couch, watching TV.
"Your friend is at the door," His mother, Caroline, says. Kayden leaves the room and takes the three swift steps over to his front door. When he opens it, he gets a blast of cold air and shivers. His mind immediately detects blue, especially when he sees Don standing there, arms around himself and tears streaming down his face.
"Don? What's wrong?" Kayden asks.
"Melanie broke up with me."