Fetch, Felix!

Chapter Five

The week before finals, I was walking home. It was Tuesday. Of course it was Tuesday.

I heard footsteps running behind me, and assumed it was just a jogger until I heard my name called out. "Sam! Sam, wait up!"

I groaned but slowed down, glancing carelessly behind me.

"What, Felix."

He caught up with me and moseyed along beside me, mindlessly hooking his thumbs on his backpack straps.

"How's your day been?" he asked, tilting his head to one side in a friendly manner that reminded me of his dog form.

I stared at him for a beat, confused as to why he cared, but answered with a sigh. "Fine. Why are you following me?"

His demeanor fell a bit, making me feel slightly bad, and he shrugged.

"Just didn't wanna go home. Would you mind if I crashed at your place for the night? My transformations have been irregular and I'm worried."

I knew the last sentence was a lie, but understood his home life was bothering him. "Of course you can stay the night, don't worry about it."

He smiled at me, his bright demeanor returning.

We talked about trivial school stuff until we reached my porch step, and I dug around in my back pocket for the house key. We usually left it unlocked because it was a safe neighborhood, but recent burglaries led to us locking the doors.

I fished out the key and let us in, Felix disappearing from my peripheral vision and a big dog barreled past me.

"You gotta stop doing that," I nagged, picking his clothes and backpack up off the floor. I threw it all but his precious jacket on my bed along with my backpack, then hung his jacket on the back of my door before returning to the kitchen.

"Guess you wouldn't mind dog food, hm, pooch?" I taunted, opening the cabinet where we stored it.

In an instant, he was back to being a human, arms crossed and a frown crossing his face. "Now that's just unfair."

I shrugged, closing the cabinet and fetching a mango from the fridge. "So you've figured out how to switch back and forth from dog to human?"

A sigh. I closed the fridge, opening a drawer for a peeler and grabbing a saucer. I took the mango to the sink and peeled it over our compost container, glancing over at Felix.

"I think so. I seem to be able to do it when experiencing a strong emotion or strong will," he says, a hand running absentmindedly through his rich and dark hair.

I hummed in response, agreeing with what he claims. I felt my eyes wandering from the fleshy mango to the muscular boy beside me who was leaning into the counter.

He had a pretty pale skin complexion, similar to mine, although my skin was much lighter. His jawline was very defined, and his muscles showed he took football seriously, like his counterpart, Kyle.

My eyes flicked back to the mango. Kyle. I hadn't thought about him as much recently. Now that was unusual.

Crunching beside me broke me out of my confused trance, and I looked over to see Felix shoveling popcorn into his mouth.

How mannerly.

I finished peeling and slicing my mango and brought it over to the dining table to eat, Felix following me.

"You're not allowed to sit down til you get some pants on."

Felix disappears to my room, coming back with clothes covering him.