Do I Love My Bully? [Rewrite]

[CHPT. 3] It Gets Rough

     The final bell chimed out to the relief of everyone in the school building. Soon, the hallways were crowed with students trying to get back home at last. Douglas was among the chaos, swerving and scooting through groups of students to get to the entrance and meet his friends. He was excited for Jonas to meet his best friend, Oliver, a friendly cheetah boy he'd been hanging with for 4 whole years now. Douglas just knew they'd get along great.

    He managed to make his way out to the entrance of the school, stepping outside and down the brick stairs that lead to the parking lot. It was already bustling with kids who were either driving themselves home or waiting for parents. Douglas simply walked away from the parking lot and to the left where he and Oliver liked to meet. There was a tree that hung over a short brick wall that framed the front of the school. Douglas stretched out his tight limbs and plopped down onto the wall with a happy sigh. Now, he just has to wait for his friends.

     Douglas pulled his phone out and began texting a good few others. First he wanted to remind Vannah to return his math textbook that she was using to study with, then he texted Garrett a meme he knew he'd love, a quick reply in a group chat, and lastly he texted Oliver to tell him he was all ready to go. Oliver's reply was a quick "righto!", how cute. Earlier that day, right after lunch, Douglas had texted Oliver about everything that had happened. Oliver sent him a series of angry cat faces before texting a paragraph about how shitty Dean's crew was. Douglas couldn't agree more, but he had to get that out of his mind for now.

     Douglas was busying himself with scrolling through his Youtube feed when loud laughing startled him, making him glance up. Dean and the assholes™ were walking down the stairs and stopping at the curb of the pick-up lane. They were chattering noisily and gesturing around, obviously telling each other annoying jokes of some sort. Douglas shook his head with a sneer. He'd never be able to live down that scene in the lunchroom! When he'd gotten back to class, his classmates were already instigating a fight, constantly asking Douglas when and where he was going to knock Wilbur's lights out. As if.

     "Doug?" The canine nearly jumped out of his fur when a paw landed on his shoulder lightly. He even let out a small yelp, which he'd never admit to.

     He looked up, meeting the amused eyes of his best friend. The cheetah was wearing shorts and a school sweatshirt. The volleyball team's to be exact.

     "Ya'...didn't hear me calling you?" Oliver's tone was pleased. "I said hi."

     "N-no, sorry." Douglas sat up straighter as Oliver sat down beside him. "I was just..."

     Oliver blinked at Douglas once before looking up towards the parking lot. He nodded knowingly.

     "Don't pay them any mind." The cheetah sat back hands behind him to hold him up. "That shit at lunch was just the usual for those pricks."

     Somehow Douglas still couldn't get his mind off of it. The way those three had stomped up and targeted Jonas made his fur prickle. The poor kid has only been here one day! He didn't deserve their shit already, or ever for that matter! It wasn't fair that they were already up his ass just because he was new. Douglas turned his gaze away from the trio to look towards the entrance. Jonas should be arriving any moment too. Douglas hated to think about what would happen if they caught the fox trying to leave. There's no way they'd let him go without starting something.

     Just then, the red-furred fox came nervously stumbling out the door, shooting an apology to the canine he'd bumped into. He came rushing down the stairs, looking from side to side.

     Douglas stood up and waved. "Jonas!" He called, trying to get his attention before he bumped into the wrong crowd.

     Jonas spotted him easily, hurriedly padding over with a cheery smile on his face. Oliver stood up as well.