Hidden Hearts

09 - Reflection

Max

It's been a bit of a quiet week for the most part. Between assignments, I try to get to know Josh a bit more. Sometimes I meet him after a class or if I'm a bit busy, we would just send texts to each other for a bit until one of use has to go offline.

Currently, I'm in my room just trying to finish up some of the assignments. I could live it till later since it's not due until next week but I don't really like having unfinished work on the back of my mind. I don't know really, it just really bugs me constantly until I finally do it so I just decide to finish it once I've already gotten it. It's not that hard anyway, just takes a bit of time to do.

As for Josh, he's currently hanging out with a group of friends he made at lunch around Monday. It's nice that he at least has other friends to rely on other than just me. I don't have friends mostly cause it's not difficult to see the motive that some furs try to hide when they want to be friends with me. I may call myself average but I'm not blind or deaf.

They talk and I know they only want me cause I'm, by their definition, attractive and cool. It's not like there aren't other popular furs but it seems I may have attracted too much attention from the crowd.

I just hope the husky's friends aren't just friends with him so they can get close to me. It doesn't take a genius to notice the fact that I've been spending an abnormal amount of time with someone, let alone repeatedly. After all, I've been branded the loner by everyone since I never made friends with anyone up till now.

Now that someone has changed that, I'm afraid of what they'd do to Josh just so they can get close to me. He's a nice guy who doesn't use my apparent popularity to his advantage. He listens and responds to me without trying to oversell himself.

Speaking of Josh, when I think back about high school, that blurred fur had always eluded me since I just couldn't pinpoint exactly who they were.

Lately, I'm starting to see bits and pieces of what this stranger looks like. One thing I remember now is how their tail was curly, much like a husky's tail. Their ears were triangular-shaped and looked pretty fluffy. The weren't tall but weren't short, only just a head shorter than me. I try to connect that with Josh but each time, it always felt slightly off. Like, I'm missing something that should be pretty obvious.  I also tried to match it with other huskies, whether alaskan or malamute, to see if they could match the description of this mysterious fur.

In the end, I just kinda gave up cause I ran out of huskies I could examine. It seems I'm never gonna ever be able to remember who that boy was.

Wait, boy?

It's kinda vague but yeah, I do remember him being a male. But, that doesn't exactly rule out a lot of huskies and even if it did, I'd still not be any closer to finding out who he is.

Suddenly, a voice echoes through my mind. A memory from a while ago resurfacing, as if helping me in this ordeal. It sounded like Josh's voice.

"Though, I always wanted to make friends with this other lonely kid but I never had the courage to ask."

Other lonely...kid?

Now that I think of it, high school was just such a nightmare from freshman till junior year. I had been bullied a lot back then cause I was rich and was pretty small so I was a pretty easy target for bullies. Despite the fact that we were rich, mum didn't want me to go to a private school and instead enrolled me into a public school. It was hell.

Until one day during my junior year, I told my mum I wanted to change. I wanted to be like how Dad was. Big and strong. She just smiled when I said it but she did find me help in the regards of me getting big and strong.

When I got back to school after break, I could see that everyone was a bit confused. Probably thinking a new student had joined after the break. I did look bigger but only a month of training didn't get me to my dad's level of big. Still, it was satisfying to see the reactions of the others when they found out who I was.

At first, they ignored me. I mean, at the time, I was still a bit smaller. When senior year reached, I had started to achieved the same body my dad once had, albeit we look different in regards to fur colour. I looked intimidating and maybe a little part of me relished the fact that furs were scared of me. Even those who bullied me wanted to try and make friends with me but I brushed them off.

I didn't have friends back then cause I didn't want to be friends with those who only saw me for what I am on the outside. Though, I do remember taking a special interest in someone way back then. No, it wasn't a romantic interest. Though, I'm not adverse to dating since I'm bi.

He never really did much. Just tried to hide away from the crowd. Much like how I tried yet failed to do so back when I was smaller.

So, I talked to him, only really hanging out with him for a few minutes after school let out. He was a nice guy, just extremely shy. He always looked red in the face, which contrasted heavily on his sandy brown fur. His emerald green eyes could barely maintain eye contact with me.

I also remember once when he tripped trying to get to me, his books went all over the place. I helped pick them up for him and couldn't help but be amused by the little sticker that he had pasted on one of his books that you can write your name on. A sticker...with...the name...

Wait, Josh...

The name written on that sticker was Josh Tetherway.