Leaves, Seasons, and Dead Trees (BxB)

13. - Bedrooms Are Not Always the Best Sanctuary

"Can you shake it up
Just once for me
Your little globe just so we can see
The snow blowing 'round your hands"

- "Master & a Hound" by Gregory Alan Isakov -

*****

The gymnasium echoes with keen applause as names are called, each graduate receiving a reserved acknowledgment. Samuel sits among them, a solitary figure cloaked in the unspoken judgment of his peers. But minutes later, when the name "Samuel" finally reverberates through the hall, the claps turn hesitant and muted, rippling through the weighing air.

It's no secret that the Birman cat has an association with the reputation he earned during his freshman year, the boy who tore his senior best friend's varsity jacket. Because of envy. Because of his desire for betrayal. But most importantly? Because of a lie that took root and Samuel not caring care enough to resolve it.

He used to wonder why Tyson chose to believe the other students, but considering everything, Samuel no longer wonders why; now, he just wants to get the hell out of this graduation ceremony. Out of this forsaken town.

Samuel walks onto the stage, feeling the eyes boring on his back. It makes him uncomfortable, but he tells himself to get over it. So, Samuel moves mechanically through the ritual of the ABCs, his mind detached from the moment. He is on autopilot as he walks back to his seat and waits for the ceremony to end. Graduation feels like a distant memory until it even concludes out of nowhere.

As the audience disperses into other enthusiastic relatives waiting patiently to finally celebrate the day when kids grow up and gradually separate themselves from their loved ones, Samuel quietly slips away.

The wide-open exit beckons, an escape route from a town that has relentlessly etched scars into his soul. Someday, he will leave this town. Besides, Samuel has not applied for any scholarship yet. But he knows he will. He knows he must escape this town with all his might. Besides, today, the supposed day when parents are expected to show up doesn't apply when it comes to Samuel's, and that's enough motive among other bigger motives. Today, his father remains a phantom, probably in someone else's bed. Today, his mother is a casualty of her own self-inflicted stupor from the previous night's revelry.

And every day, they are a pain in his ass.

In the silence of his departure, an unexpected warmth pierces through Samuel's furs when a lithe, overenergetic wolf wraps her arms around Samuel, squealing and overjoyed at the day she finally graduates, or at least the ulterior motive that may have been hidden beyond her countenance.

At first, Samuel recoils, but the longer the embrace, the better it feels on Samuel's furs that he practically melts into the girl. For a brief moment, the loneliness that clings to Samuel like a second skin dissipates. Amid the sensation, the Birman cat finds himself reciprocating the same gesture at the nameless wolf girl, surprising her.

When the wolf girl feels a paw bringing her closer to the person she's hugging, she looks down and finds Samuel lost in the moment, his breaths so structured and steady. It doesn't take long for the discomfort plastered on her face to crumble away, changing into a smile.

So, she lets him.

When they part ways, the nameless wolf girl runs around searching for other unknown strangers to hug, while Samuel returns to a home that is devoid of the things that make it a home. Maybe Samuel isn't exactly the best person to ask what a home is, but after that hug with the wolf girl, he knows enough that it has to be home.