A Prey Among Predators
Later...
The neighborhood streets are calm and empty, illuminated by the soft lampposts lined down the sidewalk. Behind the sidewalk are San Francisco-styled townhouses with steps leading up to the narrow doors and slim units. A four-door car pulls up to the townhouse on the corner of the street and dims its headlights.
Inside, Carter, who is behind the steering wheel, turns to Nolan. “Is this your place?”
“Yeah.”
Carter then turns off the engine and pulls out his keys as Nolan unbuckles his seatbelt, opens the door, and climbs off. Carter follows after him, rounding the front of the car with eyes on his friend.
Nolan opens the gate to his cute front yard, walks down the small walkway and makes his way up the short stairs.
Carter halts at the bottom of the stairs and gazes up at him. “It was nice meeting you today!”
Nolan halts on his porch. He turns to look down at him. “Likewise.”
“Uh—” Carter stumbles up two stair steps. “Do you-do you wanna hang out again? Maybe...breakfast tomorrow? Before we hit the rink?”
Nolan blinks at him before he musters up a warm smile. “Yeah.”
A smile springs onto his face, relaxing his tense posture. “Alright, great. I know this diner not too far—it’s named ‘Brown Bear Diner,’ so it’s like—” He shakes his hands by his head with a huge grin. “‘—our species represent’!” He drops his hands. “It’s pretty cool; you’ll like it! AND there’s salad there.”
All Nolan can do is giggle at his excitement.
“I’ll pick you up at nine?”
He nods with pressed lips. “Yeah.”
“Okay, see you then.”
Carter then turns around and rushes to his car. Nolan turns around, unlocks his door, and pushes inside.
His townhouse’s main room is warm and cozy. It’s made up of the foyer, living room, kitchen, and hallway. To the right are the living room and kitchen. The foyer and hallway are to the left. Aligned on the left wall are the doors to the coat closet, bedroom, and bathroom. At the end of the hallway is the closet door.
Nolan closes the door and places his keys on the end table. He steps deeper into the room, soaking up the calmness his mind has been yearning for all day.
He halts in the middle of the living room’s rug, gazes around, and sighs with content. He hitches up his pants, revealing his apparent ball of white as a tail to be longer: A slim, short tail pops out from his jeans’ tailhole; its top displays patches of taupe, brown, and black while the bottom is a pure white with more fur. His tail hangs to show only brown.
He then flips down his hoodie to reveal a gray beanie, which he pulls off as well. Instantly, a pair of long, roughly diamond-shaped ears rise into view. The backsides of the ears are lined with thin, taupe-colored fur with the tips sprayed with black.
With his ears facing backward, Nolan brushes his fingers through them, tending to the soreness that came with having them pressed down all day long. His ears lower into a relaxed state. He closes his eyes as his hands run against the fur, focusing on the relieving sensations sprouting out from his fingers’ trail.
THUD!
Instantly, Nolan’s ears snap up and face the front; his tail flies up to reveal its fluffy white side, imitating a cotton ball.
“Pat, you forgot your—!”
Nolan snaps his eyes open. He sharply looks behind his shoulder.
Standing in front of the opened door is Carter. His mouth hangs open in shock. His eyes are wide. In his outstretched arm is Nolan’s jacket.
Nolan keeps his eyes on him, frozen in fright.
Carter lowers his extended arm as a sad realization floods his face.
With panic gripping him and seeing that Carter is not advancing, Nolan bolts across the living room, opens one of the doors in the hallway, and slams the door behind him.
Carter dips his head. With droopy eyes, he gazes down at the jacket of his friend. He then places the jacket on the end table, turns around, and lumbers through the doorway, before closing the front door behind him.
