Sanctuarium

Chapter 4

     The next day, a slight breeze shook the leaves of Chrissy's tree outside her window as she ate her cereal. She sighed as she realized that today was Monday. That meant she had to go to school. On Sanctuarium, anthros were able to leave their parents' homes at age sixteen, but they had to stay in school until seventeen years old at the very earliest. There were many academies dotting the island to make sure that everyone was able to go to school. Chrissy, being sixteen years old, had left her parents' house not long ago, but was still required to take one more year of school, although she planned to take more.
     So, Chrissy changed into a loose purple shirt and a pair of caprees, she took her book bag, and she left her treehouse to head towards town. A faded foot trail led through the thick, island trees, and into a more main road. Since there no vehicles on Sanctuarium, all travel was done on foot, by flight, or by boat.
     As Chrissy walked, she saw some other anthros headed to the academy, among them, her older brother, Lee. Lee was eighteen and didn't care for school, but Chrissy had convinced him to take a couple more years.
     Chrissy smiled when she spotted him and ran to him, jumping on his back.
     "Ow! What the- Hey, Chris!" Lee exclaimed as he saw who it was.
     Lee linked his elbows with her knees and gave her a piggyback ride.
     "So watcha been up to?" Chrissy asked. "Did you hang out with any friends this weekend?"
     Lee snort-laughed. "That's a good one, Chris. You know my only friends are you, mom, and dad," he said.
     "Pleaaase at least try to make an effort to find some friends, Lee! Be happy!" Chrissy pleaded.
     "And how do you suppose I do that?" Lee said sarcastically.
     "Be yourself. And quit being so quiet around everyone else!"
     "What do you mean 'be myself'?"
     "I mean just be how you are when you're around me."
     Lee laughed. "Heck no! My piggyback rides are sister access only," he told her.
     "You know what I mean, doofus!"
     Lee gave a playful laugh as he set his sister down to go to opposite sides of the academy.
     "See ya, Chris!" he said.
     "Bye, Lee!" replied Chrissy before she entered the building.
     The first thing Chrissy heard when she walked in was yelling. She looked down the hall and saw Tommy in what looked to be a fierce argument with Louis the Deer, who by the way, was normally very shy, calm and collected. What could Tommy possibly have done to make him so angry? He looked ready to rip Tommy's head off. They were yelling over each other so much that Chrissy couldn't make out what either was saying. Finally, the teachers were able to pull them away, but not before Louis yelled, "Learn to stay out of other people's business, you stupid lizard!" and stormed off.
     "Oh yeah, because that was business!" Tommy hollered back.
     Tommy snorted angrily and turned around to stomp down the hall when he saw Chrissy with her mouth open in shock.
     It turned to a glare when he looked at her.
     "I- I-," Tommy stammered.
     But Chrissy turned and left before he could finish. Did he seriously have to go and throw a fit after being turned down? He really had gone too far.
     Little did Chrissy know that the look she'd given him had caused the very first crack in his heart to form.