Tough Love

Chapter 1: My Beginnings

The day was sunny and pleasant, especially being the last day of school for me since I was a senior. I sat in my teacher's classroom, zoning off and staring into the distance with the thoughts of not being a senior anymore on my mind.

"Kapi, are you paying attention? It may be the last day but you're still in school young man." My teacher, Dr. Whitmore said sternly while looking at me through his spectacles. He was giving a lecture about responsibilities or whatever, but I had my mom to tell me about that so I didn't care much.

"Oh, heh yeah sorry professor! I'm just looking forward to the ceremony later, I'm hoping to see all my friends there." I reply, by 'friends' I mainly meant my friend Wocky. Speaking of Wocky, where was he? He's supposed to be in class by now.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and Dr. Whitmore opened it to reveal Wocky running late. He was out of breath and looked to be all wet, it had been raining.

"Wocky, you're late on the last day of school?" Whitmore scoffed and returned to his desk, looking disappointed.

"Oh give him a break, it's the last day of school!" I look at the wolf with a reassuring smile, directing Wocky to sit next to me. He looked nervous and sat down, I could tell he didn't like being confronted. Poor dude.

"Yeah sorry.. My mom wasn't feeling good, I would've been here sooner but I was taking care of her." Wocky explained to me, I felt bad and patted him on the back to comfort him. I felt him sigh in relief.

"No worries! Are you looking forward to the ceremony? That's something positive to be excited for!" I tried to lighten the mood and saw the wolf's face brighten up, his tail wagging. He was one of my best friends, but truth be told, I had a crush on him... I didn't tell anyone about that though, and I wasn't sure when to confess. But that's besides the point.

"Yeah, I'm happy to finally be out of school after all this! Oh by the way, I saw there was a new arcade opening up downtown, I thought you might be interested. Maybe we could run there later?" Wocky answered, and I instantly became intrigued.

"Oooh? That sounds fun, maybe I can swing by with my DDR pad!" I was a bit of a DDR junky, it was one of the games I was really good at. Some say I'm the best, but that's what I like to think.

The day went by pretty fast. Most of my teachers just let us do what we wanted within reason. Eventually, the ceremony was prepared and we were all standing in our gowns on the campus's football field. One by one, we went on the stage as our names were called up.

"Next is... Kapi Anders! Come on up, congratulations!" I smiled at my name being called and walked up to the stage, but nervous as all hell. I shook hands with the administration and grabbed my diploma then walked down for Wocky to go up next. After sitting down, I clapped for the wolf. The whole ceremony continued like this, and it was nice to see all of my classmates so excited to graduate. Now we were on our own path for the rest of our lives, done with our education unless we went off to college. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my career quite yet, but the question always came up once in a while.

As soon as the ceremony was finished, me and Wocky took off our graduation robes since we planned on heading to the arcade. I took my mom's car and followed him there behind his dad's jeep, it was surprisingly close to my house. Maybe close enough to walk in case my mom didn't want me to take the car at times.

"Hey, sorry Kapi but I've got to go. Something is up with my mom again and my sisters want me home to help." I was a bit saddened by Wocky needing to leave but we hugged and congratulated each other before he left.

"Welp looks like it's just me then..." I headed over to the back of my mom's car, my DDR pad conveniently in the trunk because we were cleaning out my room. It was difficult to get it out since it was heavy and slightly bigger than I was. Apparently my sounds of struggling were loud, because a beautiful cat came around the corner. It was a stranger but their beauty had me starstruck at first sight.

"Howdy kid, you need some help?" She asked politely and offered to lend a hand.

"Oh sure, I'm just tryna take this inside!" The orange cat helped me carry the DDR pad into the arcade. It was hard but we got it done together, so I shook her hand and thanked her.

"Ah thank you, sorry I'm new here. The name's Kapi, and you are?"

"I'm Sophie, I work as maintenance and on the counter. I'm guessing you want this hunk of metal hooked up?" She said, referencing my DDR pad. I nodded and watched her go into one of the back rooms, then walking out with another employee.

"This is Rocket, he'll help us set this up." The german shepherd nodded, leading us over to a spot for the pad with a monitor. After a few minutes of connecting it, it lit up and worked. I smiled, happy to use my game after it's been so long. I'm surprised it even worked, I was worried it might've been too old.

"There you go, cutie. Have fun! Here's my number if you need any help~" Sophie winked at me, causing my cheeks to turn bright red. I took the paper she handed me with a slight smile and stuffed it into my pocket. Was she flirting with me? I wasn't sure but I was happy to meet her, she was sweet.

"Let's get this party on!" I stepped on the pad and instantly felt satisfaction. It was almost like a present for my graduation today. I cracked my knuckles and smirked, ready to show off. A crowd surrounded me as I started to play, my paws dancing and tapping away with ease. I was swift and played every note perfectly, not missing any.

"Wooo! Go kitty!" The crowd cheered as I continued, songs got faster and I only got better. I played with a big smirk on my face, feeling like a pro. I could see Sophie watching from the counter, she looked rather impressed and that gave me confidence to continue.

I broke a sweat, and suddenly I saw Wocky enter the crowd to watch me on my DDR pad. I was surprised he made it back but I was happy to see him, while my dancing was coming to a finish. As I slowed and finished, the crowd cheered and clapped. They were easily impressed but I still enjoyed the attention. Sophie noticed my sweat and threw me a rag, allowing me to wipe my face off with it.

"Wow Kapi, you're basically a master at this!" Wocky said in pure amazement. We high fived and I giggled.

"Thanks man, maybe you could try it out with me sometime!" I would be more than happy to teach my best friend, and maybe finally confess my feelings...

"Yeah good job Kapi!" Sophie came up and hugged me randomly, causing me to blush but I did hug her back. I caught a glimpse of Wocky's reaction, was he jealous? I wasn't sure but I decided to not find out.

"Thank you Soph!" The nickname was random but I think she liked it because she gave me a good pat on the back.

"Anytime kid! We are about to close pretty soon, want some help with putting that thing away?" The ginger cat asked while Rocket came over to unhook it, then Wocky butted in.

"I think I can help him, we were about to head home together anyway! Right?" He looked at me while I thought for a second. Together? What was he on about? I think he was trying to make Sophie back off, which made me smile and giggle.

"I'm ok with Wocky helping, but thanks anyway Sophie! It was lovely to meet you!" We exchanged smiles before Wocky and I picked up the DDR pad, bringing it out to the back of my mom's car, struggling to lift it above the high profile tires. But we managed, shoving the pad in and closing the trunk.

"Thank you for introducing me to this arcade dude, it was great here! Everyone loved my dancing, did you see that sick crowd?!" I exclaimed, both of us laughing.

"Yeah Kapi, I was crazy impressed! Keep in touch with me aight? We should hang out more!" We fist bumped and that was it. He hopped in his own car while I hopped in mine, parting our ways. Today was good, I felt free and contempt with my life.