Once Doesn't Mean Always (Straight Furry Story)

4: (Un) Welcome

Smoke

After School

Finally, the moment I wait for, the school day is finally ending. I feel a little happy as I walked out of my class, listening to Breaking Benjamin as I walk around a corner. I suddenly get picked up by my collar and slammed against a wall, causing my ear buds to fall out from the impact.

I see that the cheetah and jackal from earlier stand before me, with the former keeping his grip on me. James holds me with an evil grin on his face

"told you to watch your back, you asshole" he scoffs. I stare at him as he holds me up, but after a few moments, James's eyes fill with rage 

"why aren't you scared!" he yells, holding his fist.

I just sigh

"do it" I say, unphased by the whole event. James gets ready to throw his punch but I interrupt

"but" I say, stopping James to listen for a little longer

"you should know, you throw that first punch, I can't guarantee you will be happy with the results" I state, trying to warn him

James and Anthony laugh

"you think I'm scared of you, fleabag?" the feline asks as our eyes lock onto eachother's

"I put a kid in hospital, I beat him till he was close to death, so ask yourself this, do you really think it's a good idea to make that move?" I warn, holding my blank expression, causing James and Anthony to laugh more.

"anyone can say that, unless I see you do it, I think I can sleep easy" he says before throwing punches at me repeatedly for a whole minute and a half.

After being beaten by James, I get up, wiping the blood from my nose and grabbing my bag, staggering as I try to walk to the bus stop. I hope that I don't  end up missing the bus because of the beating I took. Luckily, the bus arrives a moment after I arrive at my stop, no one really cares about the bad, beaten state i don, they instead just avoid me and whisper to each other.

After arriving home

I walk through the front door to my house, instantly greeted with a massive hug from a blonde haired, yellow and white wolf.

"Smokey!" she yells as I try to regain my balance from her huge hug

"Sandra, please get off" I say as I try to break free, feeling embarrassment. She lets go and looks at me but her face changes from a loving smile to an open frown of disbelief

"Smoke?" she says as she grabs my face and examines the dried blood that leaks from my nose "who did this to you?"She asks sounding extremely worried.

I break from her grip 

"just some kid, don't worry about it" I say, Sandra gives me a sad look as she calms down a little, I walk up stairs to my bathroom and I lock the door, getting a flannel and putting it under some warm water before starting to wash the blood out of my fur. The dried blood takes some time to wash out but my face is finally cleaned of blood, only showing faint views of bruises from under my fur. I guess I should of just taken the chance and stood up for myself  I think as I look in the mirror, disappointed with everything about myself, wishing I could punch my reflection.

Before continuing these thoughts further, I leave the bathroom and walk down the stairs to see that Sandra, cooking some food. A familiar scent fills the air, steak, one of my favourite foods and I especially love the way that Sandra cooks it with various seasonings, causing the synthetic meat to just explode with an amazing taste. I walk and sit down at our table that sits at the far corner of the kitchen

"so what's for dinner?" I ask, Sandra drops a plate of food in front of me

"Steak and chips" she says, getting me a knife and fork.

I thank her and begin to eat my food, marking this as the only highlight of my day, the only thing for me to smile about. After dinner, I wash the dishes and headed up to my room, I guess Sandra knows it wasn't really going to be that easy to get an answer on how my day has gone, although my face is a clear enough indication. When I get to my room, I take off my jacket, shirt and pants and make my way to examine myself in a mirror that leans in a corner of my room.

I stand staring at something in my white chest fur, stationed directly over my heart. 

I stare as painful memories come flooding through my head, memories of me carving an X over my heart with a knife, of the beatings I took when I was younger, and even memories of my family. I am brought back to reality by a knock on my door,  I look to see the door opening

"Smoke? Are- wait, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Sandra asks me,I rub my paw across my cheek, finding that she's right, I was crying. I wipe my face with my arm as Sandra sits on my bed. I look back at her as she motions for me to sit next to her.

I sit down next to Sandra, knowing what she wanted to talk about

"you don't have to tell me anything, and I assume Mr Sarem spoke to you about the conditions, I'm sorry I didn't tell you" she says to me as my gaze is fixed on the floor, I drop my ears a little before I reply

"it's OK" I say "I just ... I just need to accept everything" Sandra looks at me again and wraps me in a warm hug, I fall close to tears as she holds me

"I know you had a bad start, but I promise you, things will get better" she says, kissing me on my forehead before getting up 

"goodnight, Smokey" she says as she walks out my room. Those words rattle around in my mind. I go to turn off my light before making my way to my bed in the dark. I lay down and slowly drift off to sleep with those words etching themselves into my head.

I promise you, things will get better

Yeah, I hope so I think as I drift into sleep.