“I will admit, I wasn’t the best person growing up. Actually, I was kind of an asshole back then. I had a lot of growing up to do.”
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“You can’t smoke here.” A woman called out, looking at the hyena teen hanging out around the liquor store. The hyena looked far too young to be smoking, much too young to be drinking as she saw her do a few times.
Brook stared at her, cigarette hanging loosely from her mouth. Her parents thought she was out studying with her friends, not out here killing her insides. She had no friends, bar one, but he had his own problems, she wasn’t going to bog his life down with her own. All she had to say was “It’s a booze and smoke shop, why the hell can’t I smoke here?”
The tabby owner signed, she didn’t have the time and patience to argue with this girl again. Instead, she just brought up her second reason for her to not be here: “You can’t loiter here,” she said, pointing to the No Loitering sign.
“Why not give me back my fake ID and then I’ll consider getting out of here?” Brook grinned, flicking her cigarette to the ground. “Y’know, what the fuck, I’ll leave. I got better things to do than hang out here.” So, she headed off, leaving the annoyed store owner behind. She had dealt with her from time to time. She had successfully bought booze from here before, when different staff were working there. This time she was caught and her fake ID taken away. If only she had known her parents or knew who to call, he’d get this brat of a teen out of her fur for good.
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“My parents? I never told them what I was up to. It wasn’t until I was an adult and ready to ready to lay things out that I told them. I didn’t want them to worry, I wanted them to think I was the good baby girl they wanted me to be, but that wasn’t me. Also, if you’re curious, me and that shop owner are on good terms today, funny enough. I apologized my heart out to her a few years back, telling her what I was going through at the time, and she accepted it.”
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The teen’s current destination was a small boarding house, where her friend lived. Going past the crummy streets of her home town of Palegreen. The place was in dire need of a refurbishment; whether it be to fix the cracked asphalt of the streets, the cracked cement of the sidewalks, or more jobs to fix the homeless crisis. Something had to be done to fix this poverty stricken city.
There he sat, dressed in a grey hoodie that hid his breasts; he was saving up to get the surgery, but that was for another time. “Ethan!” She waved to him.
The bat’s ears perked up, looking over. How did an opposite pair like them ever get along? No one could ever figure it out. At least he helped Brook’s parents think she was a good girl, hanging out with all the right people. It was about 10 years ago, no, it was 11 years ago, that they met at St. Mona’s Orphanage. She never understood why a family never took him in. In her eyes, he was such a brilliant person, all the people who didn’t adopt him were making a mistake. Now, here he lived, at a dingy little boarding house. Like an orphanage for adults.
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“Modern medicine is incredible. The Ethan back then was almost unrecognizable to the Ethan of today. Still the same personality wise.”
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Staring at her with them big old eyes, Ethan greeted the hyena. “Hey, Brook,” He gave a tired smile. “You staying out of trouble?”
“Of course I am? You make it sound like I’m always getting in trouble.” Yes, sure, a lot of the people in the boarding house didn’t like her hanging around here. Even if the residents liked Ethan, they, of course, didn’t like Brook
“Just teasing you,” he said, changing seats to the railing on the stairs, so he could be at level with the standing Brook. “Anyways, you free tonight?”
“I’d love to, but I have to focus on my classes tonight. Finals are coming up, y’know. How does tomorrow sound?” She smiled, leaning against the railing next to Ethan. “I know a good fishing spot down by the river, we could go there.”
“Sounds good to me,” Ethan nodded, “You really like fishing don’t you?” He had seen her looking into fishing rods and walking alongside the river. She was the only girl he knew that had any interest in fishing. He personally found it boring, unless she was talking about it. She always had an interesting way of talking about her loves.
“Eh,” She shrugged, “Wouldn’t say I love it. I find it relaxing, that’s about it.”
“You sure,” He jabbed, “You could really turn it into a career.”
“Naaaah,” she continued to deny it. “Seriously, think my parents are hoping I’ll be a nurse or a maid or some boring shit like that. Fishing is a hobby, so I don’t want to turn my hobby into a career, you get me?”
“Well, you know what they say, if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life?” He shrugged, “But I digress, do what you wanna do. Just stay out of trouble. Again, not that I think you’re gonna get in trouble.” He said, continuing to tease her.
“No promises.” Brook nodded, giving him a playful jab on the arm, before walking off, hands in her pockets.
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“No matter what, Ethan was always there for me. He had no reason to hang out with me. People didn’t like him because I was his friend. But no matter what, he was my friend and I was his. Two outcasts looking out for one another. I just wish I treated others the same way I treated him, maybe we wouldn’t have been such outcasts. Maybe I wouldn’t have done what I did that day.”
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Despite saying she’d be focusing on her classes, that wasn’t the case. Nah, she was going back to her dorm room. Even if she absolutely aced her test, even if she did everything 100 percent to the letter, extra credit and all, she wouldn’t be passing those finals.
A short walk later, she ended up back at her school. She was already getting a few stares from some of the other students.
“Hey, Brook, why haven’t you been to class lately? Where the hell have you been?”
“You weren’t in your dorm, where are you going during class?”
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Where are you going?”
Those were the things she thought were being shouted out at her, but no. No one said anything. Yeah, this was alright. Just the way she wanted it. Her heart raced as she went to the bathroom, not her dorm as she originally planned. If she was going to do this, she wanted to be found sooner rather than later. The only way out.
Ethan had his own problems, she didn’t want to bog him down with her own. She was sparing him from whatever crossfire that may follow from this; yeah, that’s what she was doing, that was the plan. That’s the best excuse she could think of, as she put the toilet seat down and sat down.
“It’s okay, Brook, you can do this… Just close your eyes and relax, just like every time you drink. Just think of it as a strong drink.”
So, she removed a can of strong alcohol from her bag, along with a plastic bag with a few sleeping pills that she had in her dorm. She was always too happy or too fucking sad to do anything with her life. Compiled with failing grades. Combined with her status as an outcast. She was ready to go through with it. “Sorry, Ethan,” She cried, “But I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
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“As you can probably tell, with me being here today, the suicide didn’t work. When you’re that low mentally, you don’t quite think straight. Things seem logical and you don’t think about the consequences. But I promise I’ll never do anything so stupid and selfish… It feels wrong to call something so serious stupid and selfish, yeah I know.”
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Soon, she woke up in the nurse’s office, gasping awake. Her mouth tasted of the lemon flavored booze she drank, along with a horrible bile taste; yep, that was vomit. Her head was throbbing, her fur was filthy, and she didn’t remember anything except from a few seconds ago; at least it was a few seconds ago for her. She had no idea how much time had passed. Through her groggy, tired eyes, she looked over to the digital clock sitting on a nearby counter, next to a tin of ear swabs; it had only been a few hours. The nurse was nowhere to be seen, must’ve been out. Brook sighed, sitting up, hugging her knees. “Fuck…” That was all she could say.
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“What happened next? Well, that’s when he walked in.”
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The only person in the room was a man standing by the entrance. A tall deep in a suit. The school principal. She knew him as Mr. Fulbar. Fulbar stared at her, the two of them locking their eyes, before the deep sighed. “Once you’re fit to walk around, meet me in my office. I would like to talk to you.” He began to walk out, “Don’t worry, this isn’t the end of the world, Brook.”
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“I’ll skip all the boring stuff that came directly after. Mostly me bumbling around, talking with the nurse, and thinking about what he could’ve wanted. Fulbar, well, he was a trusted man of the school. He was well liked by so many people. So I guess I trusted him, but always had some thought in the back of my mind that someone like him was too good to be true. Guess what? When I’m right, I’m fucking right.
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One short walk later and a little bit of waiting around, Brook found herself in Fulbar’s office, staring out the window at the school campus. A suicide attempt and everyone was going back with their day. Many people didn’t even know it happened. This was, in everyone’s mind including Brook’s, for the best. Looking back over to Fulbar, Brook stayed by the window as he talked with her.
“Alright, Brook…” He sighed, “Let’s get to the meat of things. Let me just put things out: You are always late to class, you put in the bare minimum of work into your projects, as a matter of fact, many of your teachers say that you don’t even show up half of the time. I’ve had reports of underaged drinking and smoking. Many would describe you, in their words, a delinquent. You’ve shown no drive for the future and no attempt to get involve in any of the clubs or job fairs… Not to mention, the war is over, so you can’t even fall back on working in a factory or a soldier, going off to die for your country isn’t an option any more…” Adjusting his classes, he locked eyes with Brook. The whole time she had the same vacant, apathetic stare. “So, what I want to know is: What do you want to do? That’s what I’m trying to understand. For someone with such lackadaisical attitude, you sure have no future. Did I get everything right?” Narrowing his eyes, he asked once more. “So, what do you want to do?”
Brook, gave a short response, “I want to do what I want to do.”
“Well, whatever you want to do is, I hope it doesn’t require a high school degree. Because you don’t look like you’re getting out of this.” He got up and walked over to the door, and made sure it was locked, made sure the blinds were closed, before looking back to Brook. “Well, there is one way you can pass. But, it will require doing a little favor for me.” He grinned, staying at arms length with Brook, a smirk on his face. “I’m sure you know what I want.”
She knew exactly what he wanted. Biting her lip, she always knew where way something suspicious about him.
“Come on,” he said, “Just one night with me. I’ve never done it with a hyena before. Just one night and I will ensure you pass all your classes.” He said, eyeing her up. He was old enough to be her father and she was nowhere near an adult.
Looking back to the window, Brook took a deep breath. “My answer…” She said, staring back out at the campus, seeing the beautiful sun in the sky, thinking that this would be the last time she would see it.
“Yes? Come on, this is a limited time offer.”
“My answer…” She put her foot on the window sill, to Fulbar’s surprise. Now, both feet on the window sill, she was small enough to crouch through the window. Swiveling on her feet, she turned around to face the now shocked Fulbar. Smiling through her tears, she gave her answer, “I’d rather die.” Then, jumped out.
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“I learned two things that day. That time seems to slow down when you’re falling from a supposedly fatal fall. Just long enough for you to reconsider your actions but can’t stop them. The other thing was that the impact is really fucking painful. All I felt was a sudden sharp pain, a loud crunching sound, and then everything was black. Actually, I learned 3 things: A fall from the 3rd floor wasn’t enough to kill me. I woke up about 2 days in the school infirmary… I wish that’s where it ended, but the tale isn’t over yet.”
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“Never pull a stunt like that again. Do you understand how much trouble the school would’ve been in? Seeing a student jump to her death?!” A faculty member shouted. “You’re already trouble enough! What the fuck is your problem?”
“Ivan, calm down,” Fulbar said, pushing the man aside, while two other ushered him into another room. Fulbar stayed behind, waiting for them to leave. This would be all over the news if they didn’t act quick. People were talking about it. It would be on social media in no time. The girl who jumped from the 3rd story window… From his office no less. There was just no way to spin this… Unless they didn’t know it was a suicide attempt. He groaned, rubbing his snout. “Anyways, Brook… What do you have to say for yourself.” He said, tapping her broken arm; her elbow and humerus bone had absorbed most of the impact, allowing her to live, but it would take some time to recover. She would live, much to her chagrin. Pulling up a chair, he waited for her response, but she didn’t give any, causing him to sigh. “Well, listen,” he said, “My offer from before still stands. We will pull strings so that both of us come out of this for the better.” He no longer used his coy tone from before, his tone was now completely blunt. He was no longer asking. He was demanding. “I will let you pass your classes and even change the story. How will your parents feel if they learned their sweet baby girl tried to kill herself? Twice! So… What do you say, Brook? Just one night in bed with me? You will pass your classes and no one other than I will know about this.”
That was all it took. She didn’t care about herself. She didn’t care what happened to her at this point. But for her parents to be sad? The hyena finally gave way. Through tears, no longer smiling, she nodded her head in agreement.
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“…What? I told you it was a sad story and you asked for it. That night I spent with him, still wearing my cast, was my first time. I have nightmares about it from time to time, but right now it’s just a burning painful memory that I have to live with. Because of this, I call myself a high school drop out even though he was true to his word and I passed all my classes. It was the next day I spent all day with Ethan, crying into his chest, finally breaking my strong facade. But… But in a weird way, this whole horrible series of events made me stronger and I fucking hate that I have to admit that. Those words I said to Ethan that day, I carry them with me to this day… and I hope that I can carry them to the fight tomorrow.”
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Sobbing into Ethan’s chest, Brook held him close. Usually the strong one in their relationship, she was now the one crying. “…I no longer want to die… I want to live… I… Want him to pay.”
Ethan nodded, rubbing her head. He stayed silent, letting her cry all she wanted.
“…I… Want to do what I want to do… Whatever that may be.”
“…And whatever it is,” Ethan spoke up, “I’ll be there with you. Just, please, stay alive for me. I don’t want anyone close to me to die.”
“I won’t…” Brook nodded, moving away from the wet spot she made in Ethan’s jacket, “…I…” She stopped, choking on her words. “Thank you, Ethan… I’m… I can’t believe I’m saying this but…”
“But?” Ethan asked, as Brook trailed off.
“I’m happy to be alive.” Brook said, finally able to admit it.