This work is copyright Andrew Tripp, aka BlueNinja. While Albert is slightly like me in high school, everyone else is a figment of my imagination, and any relation to people I knew in real life is simply coincidence. Several locations, which I shall endevour not to name, are based on real locations. This story is part of a larger storyline, which at the moment in my head is called Deep Down.
Thanks to my great high school for giving me some of the great years of my life.
If you want to contact me with feedback about this story, or you found spelling mistakes, etc, drop a line to the_blue_ninja@yahoo.com.
The alarm clock clicked, and country music started blaring from the radio. Albert groaned, levering himself out of bed and crossing the room to turn down the volume. Garth Brooks was fine, but not at five in the morning. After a moment of adjusting the volume, he started to sing quietly along while he got dressed for school. He dragged on jeans, and a shirt he bought at the Ren Faire earlier that year, then turned off the radio and crept silently from his room.
The main reason he moved silently was to avoid waking his mother. She wasn’t a bad parent, mind you, just … he wanted to get breakfast and off to school without waking her up. Reaching the kitchen, he turned on the dimmest light. Albert probably could have fixed, eaten, and cleaned the dishes in total darkness, but just in case, he turned on the light. A pair of frozen waffles went into the toaster, and some sausage on a plate in the microwave.
It beeped, louder than he wanted, and he winced as he stabbed the button to open it. He gulped his food down, then drank a quick glass of grape juice. He was just reaching to turn off the light when he heard his mom’s voice. “Albert, is that you?”
Inwardly, he groaned. Almost every morning, he could get off to school without his mom bugging him. He just hated the occasional morning when he couldn’t. “Yeah, mom?” he answered, his hand still on the light switch.
“Did you already eat?” Her voice sounded hesitant. Then again, it had been for a while now, since his brother had gone to live with his dad in Nebraska.
“Yeah mom. I got my lunch too.” He held up the insulated plastic container. “I’m heading for school now.”
“Do you want me to pick you up from school? Don’t forget, you have to work tonight.” She was still standing at the door to his room, dressed in a long flannel nightgown.
In his mind, Albert was yelling, No dammit, I want you to leave me alone like a normal parent does with their normal kid and stop hovering around me like I’m five and can’t handle myself! But out loud, he just said, “No mom, I’ll take the bus home so I can talk with my friends.”
He watched his mom turn and go silently back into her room before he turned off the light, crossing back through the living room to his bedroom in the darkness. Hurriedly, he tossed his things into his backpack, put on a jacket, and picked up his violin. It might have only been November in Las Vegas, but at five thirty am, it was still pretty darn cold outside.
He reached his bus stop ten minutes early, as usual, and sat on the curb. In the early morning silence, he sat there, watching a cat across the street stalking something through uncut grass. Then behind him, he heard a scuffing of someone’s shoes. Startled, he whirled around.
Just sitting down on the wall behind Albert was a furry. A fox actually, with his fur practically bright orange. They stared at each other for a minute. Furries weren’t real common in the US. The first furries had started appearing back in the sixties, result of some bioengineering experiment that went wrong. It had taken ten years before every state had laws even classifying them as human, and most places still didn’t treat them as full citizens. Some countries still didn’t consider them human, and Albert remembered seeing some documentary on China, where couples were going childless rather than have furry children. But with every year, the mutagenic virus that caused parents to give birth to furry children spread around a little more.
He nodded carefully at the fox. “Hey.” The guy stared at him a moment, then nodded back. “Nice weather, huh?”
The fox was still dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, but he put his paws over his ears. “I didn’t think it got this cold in the desert.”
Albert laughed, despite himself. He didn’t usually get along with the furries at his school. “Wait until January or so. You’ll need a hat or something by then.” The fox nodded, and they were both content to let the conversation die.
Other teenagers started drifting up as the time for the bus got closer. Albert couldn’t remember seeing the fox before, but Vegas was a pretty mobile town. One news station said that half the population changed every two years. He’d lived there his whole life though.
The bus arrived, pulling up to the curb, right where Albert had been sitting. He grabbed his violin and backpack, climbing aboard and jumping into the first empty seat. If you sat near the bus driver, you were less likely to get beat up or teased by other kids. He’d learned that the first week taking the bus. The fox apparently thought the same, sliding into the seat behind him.
Three stops later, trouble boarded the bus. He recognized Patrick, a big senior who only rode the bus when his dad grounded him. Albert was only a junior, and he had no idea what grade the fox was in. Sure enough, Patrick took the seat opposite the fox, ejecting the freshman girl who had been sitting there. Surprisingly, though, the bully remained silent until they stopped at the last stop. There, another furry got on, this one a black and gray striped cat girl. She was the last student on, as usual, and surveyed the bus for a moment before sitting down next to the fox.
Albert felt her tail brush his arm as she stepped past him, but did his best to ignore it. He didn’t really care about furries one way or another, honestly. He’d even let her sit by him once or twice, when she hesitated too long at the front. But showing compassion, or even friendship, for a furry was almost guaranteed to get you a beating after school. The bus started again, the driver anxious to get to the transfer point for the magnet school bus.
They reached the high school, and three quarters of the bus filed off, switching buses to get to the right magnet school. Albert stayed in his seat, just daydreaming until they could get going and reach the computer magnet school. To his surprise, the fox didn’t get off. Neither did the cat, or Patrick. Other people filed onto the bus, all human.
In the US, there was about one furry out of every twenty people. Back in the sixties, when they had first started appearing, doctors regularly killed the children, marking them down as “deformed” births. Once abortion had been legalized, women who were pregnant with furries were half the clients. Public opinion had changed very slowly to allow furries legal rights, once they discovered the viruses that caused the change in adults, to pass the change along to their children.
Once the bus had started again, Patrick started taunting the two behind him, almost as usual. The extra target just seemed to get him going. Once or twice, Albert had heard the girl, facing the window, crying almost silently. To his surprise, after a minute of insults, the fox turned. “Shut up, Patrick.”
Albert turned slightly, his attention peaked. The fox knew that bully by name? Patrick stuttered. “Who the fuck are you, you walking fur coat?”
The fox laughed, almost menacingly. “You don’t know me. But my dad knows your dad, and you. So I know things about you.”
Albert smiled, and couldn’t resist getting in a dig at Patrick. His mom worked for a survey company, and he usually had to help her with anything related to the internet. So he had found out a few things about Patrick too. “I don’t know his dad, but I do know his sister,” Albert said, poking his head above the seat slightly.
Patrick paled a little, turning angry and scared. “Tell anyone, you little squirt, I’ll take that instrument and bury it up your ass so far it’ll twang when you swallow,” he threatened. Albert scoffed at him, trying to keep up a brave front.
Shortly, the bully turned away, his fun spoiled. Albert started to sink below the seat, but to his surprise, the fox stuck his hand over the seat. “My name’s Ralph Creedy.”
Albert stared at it for a moment, then shrugged and shook his hand. “Albert Jones.” Then the name penetrated. “Wait, Creedy? Is your dad that famous heart surgeon?”
Ralph laughed quietly, this time with a little bitterness behind it. “Yeah, that’s him. The famous doctor and outspoken furry rights activist.” He shook his head, then leaned closer. “I know Patrick because the brain-dead idiot almost totaled my dad’s car this weekend when we were moving in.”
Albert grinned nastily. “I wondered why he was grounded this time. Last time was for beating up someone over a football bet at school. Almost got him expelled to a normal school.” He leaned closer, whispering conspiratorially. “I happen to know that he’s ashamed, because his younger sister is a wolf.” The cat girl’s ears swiveled, taking in that with only a small look of surprise.
The fox chuckled. “So, is your social life now forever ruined because you talked to me?”
Albert shrugged. “What social life?” he asked, almost angrily. “I seem to be the only person in the school who can play a damn instrument properly, but trust me, that doesn’t count for much.”
Ralph sighed. “Yeah, my dad looked into the school orchestra. One class for everybody.”
“And they suck.” Both of them chuckled. “Why, what instrument do you play?”
“Well, the cello, actually.” Ralph almost seemed embarrassed. “Been playing it for years, but not every school would let me in the orchestra. Especially not after I proved to be the best player.”
The bus turned, pulling into the school parking lot. Albert picked up his violin. “So, you going to be playing in ours?”
The fox grinned. “I will tomorrow.” Before he could say more, students started piling off the bus. Albert made it inside, almost vaulting the stairs to the second floor, and the biology room where orchestra was held. For a minute, he forgot about Ralph, too used to habit taking him back into seclusion around school. But after he set down his violin and backpack, he stepped back into the hallway, looking down on the open area where most of the lockers were.
There was the fox, talking with the few other furry students. Out of about a thousand students, there were about sixty furries. A higher percentage than other schools, but then again, any kid born a furry usually ended up either very self-confidant and driven – or dead. The first bell rang, and he saw the orchestra teacher, climbing the stairs with her briefcase, almost late as usual. With a sigh, he went back inside, pulling a music stand out of the storage room next door and starting to tune.
Almost at the end of class, Principal Strauss came into the classroom, followed by Ralph. The students were all putting up their instruments, folding the music stands and putting them back into the storage room, next to the school bass. “Miss Oralski, this is a new student, Ralph Creedy. He’s going to be in your orchestra starting tomorrow. He plays the cello.”
She quizzed him for a moment, then shrugged. “Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow, be in here, with your instrument, set up by the second bell. You can leave your instrument in there until the end of the school day, the principal unlocks it then.” Tucking the piles of sheet music back into her briefcase, she dashed out the door almost as fast as the students. Then again, she had to teach classes at three schools.
To Albert’s surprise, Ralph came up, holding a schedule. “Hey, Albert.” He nodded carefully. “Just wondering if I have any classes with you.”
The teen took the paper, glancing over it. “Well, this one obviously. And English with Mr. Brand. He’s an asshole to everyone, get used to it. Hey, and physics with Mr. Wulfe. He’s about the best teacher here.” At Ralph’s raised eyebrow, he chuckled. “Non-furry. No kids either, as far as I know.”
Ralph took his schedule back. “Well, I’d better dash off to room 109 before my three minutes run out.” They went out into the hallway. To Albert’s surprise, most of the humans – or the girls anyway, which is what mattered to him – were quite friendly with the fox already. Shaking his head in surprise, he fought his way down the hall to history. “This is going to be an interesting rest of the year,” he whispered to himself, dropping into his usual seat.
Lunch was right after Albert’s English class. As usual, Mr. Brand was rude to everyone but two brown-nosers who were in some school club with him. To his surprise, Ralph was placed at his table, not with the other two furry students closer to the back of the room. When the bell rang, Albert almost rushed out, but hesitated to glance back at Ralph.
The fox had stopped to talk to the other two furs though, a brown horse filly and another fox with darker brown fur. Albert shrugged, heading for the cafeteria, and finding the few people he talked with at school. Mark was pulling his dice out of a pocket, setting them down next to his school pizza. “What game are we playing today, anyway?”
Brad snickered, popping open a can of Pepsi. “Monday, goofball. That means today is Battletech.”
Mark laughed back at him. “You shouldn’t be so confidant when I’m the GM, you know.” They all pulled out their character sheets, rehashing the last game session between mouthfuls. As they were just starting, Ralph walked up to the table. Mark looked up in surprise as the fox stood by the empty chair. “What the hell do you want?”
Ralph grinned, but somehow the fox managed to make it look friendly, not predatory. “I noticed you guys were playing Battletech. Can I sit and watch?”
Albert looked at his friends in surprise, before shrugging. “Doesn’t matter to me. Just don’t expect to waltz right into the middle of the action.” The fox grinned, sitting down in the empty chair. They played through lunch, and Mark and Brad seemed impressed with his knowledge of the game, even if not completely friendly.
A few minutes before the bell, they wrapped up the game, putting away dice and papers. Before he could get up from the table, Ralph stopped him. “Hey, Albert, I had a question about Brand’s class.”
He hesitated, then set his backpack back on the floor. “Yeah, what about it?”
The fox grimaced. “You were right, he’s an asshole.” Mark and Brad sniggered; they had him too, though different periods. “He said I had to do all the assignments from the last two weeks to have everything caught up for the quarter.”
“Oh. That figures.” Albert hesitated for a minute. “I have everything at home. I can get it to you tomorrow.”
Ralph waited a moment for Mark and Brad to finish walking away, and lowered his voice. “Can I call you, or you call me, or something? I want to get this done now, so I don’t have to worry about it later.”
The human drummed his fingers on the table for a minute. He wants my phone number? he thought in surprise. But he’s a furry. What would mom say if he called? Wait, it’s a phone call, she won’t know he’s a furry unless he shows up at my house. “Sure.” He opened up his backpack, tearing off a corner from a physics assignment and scribbling his name and phone number on it. “If my mom answers, make sure to say you’re calling for me, or she’ll think it’s about one of the surveys she does.”
Ralph grinned, almost leaping to his feet as he pocketed the paper. “Thanks, Albert. Here I thought nobody at this school was going to talk to me.”
He shrugged, embarrassed. “Las Vegas may be a liberal city in some regards, but I don’t think furry rights is one of them. I’d just rather hang out with you than Patrick.”
One laughing, the other silent, they left the cafeteria together, heading for their next class, physics.
That afternoon, Albert sat in his room, typing up an essay for history on the computer. He had arranged his room so he could sit on the foot of his bed and reach the desk comfortably. It drove his mom crazy, which of course was half of why he did it. He glanced at the clock-radio, right now on commercials, and swore. “Shit, I’m going to be late for work!”
He punched the keyboard to save, and flipped the power switch as soon as it finished, not even worrying about shutting down. He pulled his shoes back on, and almost dashed out of his room before he remembered about Ralph. Swearing again, he threw open his closet, sorting through the papers on the bookshelf he kept in there, finding his log of English assignments and stuffing it into his pocket.
At the front door, he stopped, calling out into the house, “Mom, if someone named Ralph calls for me, tell him I’m at the library!” As soon as he heard her call out an ok, he was out the door, slamming it behind him as he ran for work.
The library was just over a mile away, and Albert staggered through the front doors, gasping for breath and looking at the clock over the main desk. 5:13. He couldn’t have cut it much closer. He turned, running past the bathrooms to the employee lounge, banging on the door. To his relief, someone opened it, and he slid to his knees by his locker, somehow managing the combination on the first try. He yanked his badge out, jumping back up to the time clock and swiping it.
It beeped at him. 5:15. Andrea laughed at him, sipping her mug of coffee at the small table. He gave the grandmotherly woman a small bow as he swung his locker shut again. “Thank you, my personal savior. I would have been late.”
She snorted, waving a hand to shoo him towards his job. “Get moving, kid, there are books to be shelved.” He grinned, ducking out of the lounge and walking back towards the main part of the library. But just coming out of the bathroom was a young fox girl, maybe nine years old and not paying attention.
As she ran into his leg, he managed to keep her from falling over just barely. “Careful, kid.” She nodded quietly, as a bearded man came out of the other bathroom.
“Is there a problem?” he asked, taking in Albert’s badge, and his hand still on the girl’s arm.
Realizing what it could look like, he shook his head quickly. “No sir, she just bumped into me and almost fell over. ‘Scuse me.” He ducked past them, and walked quickly behind the circulation desk, into the sorting room. Grabbing an empty cart, he pulled it over and started sorting books. Once the cart was full, he slowly pushed it out onto the library floor and over to the fiction shelves, replacing books as he went.
As he put up a whole stack of horror novels, he felt someone tug on his shirt. When he turned, it was the young fox girl. He waited a moment, looking down at her. “Did you need something?” he asked, somewhat confused.
“I’m trying to find my brother,” she said quietly, looking scared.
I frowned. “Your brother? What’s he look like?”
“He looks like me. But bigger. ‘s name’s Ralph.” The girl picked at the hem of her shirt, looking at the carpet.
Albert chuckled. “Ralph, huh? I’ll go look for him. You,” he took her hand, placing it on the cart, “stay right here, ok? I’ll be right back.” The girl looked up at him, wide-eyed, and nodded. He quickly walked to the end of the row, and started walking down, looking through the rows. To his surprise, he found Ralph in the science fiction section, reading a book jacket. “I ran into your sister,” he said, almost impishly.
The fox jumped, whirling around in surprise. “Albert? What are you doing here?” he asked, confused, before he saw the employee badge around his neck. “Oh. My sister’s looking for me, huh?”
Albert waved, and they walked back to his cart. Ralph’s sister was still there, swaying back and forth to some imaginary song. Chuckling, he picked up his little sister. “My brother’s around here somewhere too, though he’s wolf, not fox. And there’s my dad.”
Coming towards them was the bearded man from the bathroom, obviously Mr. Creedy. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Creedy. I’m Albert, I go to school with Ralph. We’re in orchestra together.” The man’s eyes widened, and they shook hands. “Oh, before I forget, here’s that list of assignments you needed, Ralph.” He dug the crumpled paper out of his pocket. “Sorry it looks like this, I had to run to work.”
Ralph grinned, juggling his sister to put it away. “Don’t worry about it.” He glanced at it briefly before stuffing it in his pocket. “All the assignments are in the textbook, right?”
Albert nodded. “Yeah, everything that was already due. You’ve also got to pick a book from a list for a writing assignment.” He made a face. “I hate the choices.”
Ralph shook his head. “They always suck. No wonder so many people hate reading.” He shrugged. “Anyway, thanks. See you around school.”
The Creedys walked away, and Albert watched after them for a moment before returning to shelving books.
After work, he walked home as usual. His mom was on the phone with someone, doing another survey, and he was happy to go straight to his room and finish his homework without being bothered.
With homework done, and an hour of running around shooting demons in Doom, Albert finally turned off the computer again and got ready for bed. He could hear the old TV in his mom’s room on some late-night talk show, so he hoped that she would just forget about looking in on him before she went to sleep. He pulled the covers up to his chin, and faded off to sleep.