Two Halves Make a Whole (Straight Furry Story)

1.2 - Waking Up

Echo noticed the pizza on the counter and went straight to it. He opened it, which contained a small pepperoni dish with stuffed crust. He marveled at it as if it were the best thing to ever happen to him.

He had already devoured one piece by the time I walked back to the kitchen from my room to get the backpacks. "Echo, you're gonna choke on that if you don't slow down."

"That's just humbug." He shooed me off, almost having finished another piece.

"What did I tell you about respecting your elders?"

"Fiiiiiine. But you're barely even older than me."

"Yeah, six years is nothing," I smirked at him and he stuck out his tongue as I ruffled the hair on his head. I gave him two more slices of pizza for lunch and I grabbed two for myself. He looked really tempted to eat it now, but when I gave him a knowing look he suppressed his urge.

It was about 7:15 now—nearly time to head to school, which started at 8:00. I could walk Echo to his school and go to mine right after with some time to spare. I wasn't too worried about him when he goes to the new school. Sure, people may make fun of him because of how he speaks compared to everybody else, but knowing him, he wouldn't let that make him feel down. He has, after all, always been good at quickly making friends. I'm sure it will be no problem for him.

Now with me, making friends wasn't hard. I could become friends with pretty much anyone I met and decided wasn't a dumb mammal. Now, when it comes to close friends, that's where I struggled.

Ever since my mom and dad were abusing me, I stopped telling people a lot about myself and only went into minimalistic detail. I wouldn't even mention anything about my home life. I would always block people out when it comes to that stuff. I couldn't risk losing a friend if they thought I was weird for the stuff I had to deal with, and I didn't want those who were fine with it to get involved. I found that the best solution to this was to just convince people that I was fine and that I was happy. It was hard at first, but it became easier and easier as I got older. Now that I don't have to deal with my parents, it might be easier to make close friends. I won't tell them about my past, but I will tell them about myself. I'll be a good friend and try to actually be happy. Echo was the only person who knew about my past, and I'd like to keep it that way. I don't want others to have to hear what I've gone through.

At 7:25, I double- and triple-checked that everything was all packed up and that we were both ready to go.

I will admit, I was little nervous. What if I chose the wrong classes? What if somebody tries to bully me? I mean, I'll stand up for myself, but what if somebody else is being bullied and I can't stop it? What if-?

"Jackie?"

"Yeah, Echo?"

"You look nervous. What's wrong?"

Oh my gosh, he was so kind and silly. He may just be the most perfect mammal ever. "Don't worry, I'm not nervous. The question is, are you nervous?"

He puffed his chest. "Of course not! I am never nervous!"

"Hmm, that's good. So does that mean you're ready to go?"

"WAIT!!!" He ran into his room. And came running out a second later, DSi in hand. "Got it."

I doubted that he would be able to play it during school, but I'd let him bring it anyway. He'd probably get a free pass because he's never been to an American school anyway.

I made sure my hair looked good and that I could make a good first impression one last time and then grabbed Echo's hand. "Let's do it!"

As we were walking—or in Echo's case, skipping—I noticed a few students entering the school. They were still about 100 meters off though.

"Woah!" Echo said, eyed wide, "Is that my school?"

"Yep. Mine's on the right of it. Pretty big, right?"

"They're massive! Look! Yours even has two stories!" He started running to the school, so I followed after him. I could probably ask someone to show him around while I made my way to my school.

He eventually ran over to a girl I assumed was the same age as him. She was a tall fox with primarily green and black fur. They started talking, so I waved him goodbye. He waved back and smiled brightly, looking really animated. "Don't do anything dumb!" I shouted as I turned around and began walking the last thirty meters or so.

Yeah, this chapter didn't really introduce anything too crazy. It'll definitely get better next chapter, so stay tuned for that. Any feedback is great—don't be shy. Updates should be weekly or bi-weekly. It's finals week right now, so I might get pretty busy. Wish me luck!

~ JaxX