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Chapter II

Thirteen

I would've been lying if I said I was looking forward to school. Isn't that what most seniors my age thought? School was the definition of boring and dreadful. It wasn't exactly my idea of a way to get out of the house; it was more like a place to go torture yourself for eight hours a day.

Drake was sure pumped though, which only made him even weirder to me. As I followed him to his Mustang, he ranted on and on about how he said he was looking forward to the end of the year so he could go on ahead to college. Sure, high school--the final speed bump before you get to torture your mind even more with a crap-load of stuff that would give you a headache. Eh, I could see him going places, earning a degree in...whatever he was going to try and major in. He seemed like the scholarly type and it made me a bit sad that I couldn't remember everything about him, even though I thought I had back half an hour ago.

He buckled himself into the driver's seat while I took dictatorship of the passenger seat, claiming it as mine. The sun was already beginning to shine its true radiance on us, illuminating the streets and homes close and far away. Drake quickly backed out of the driveway, causing me to grip on the seat with my claws as I dug them into the leather. Strangely enough, there were already holes where my claws were which soon told me that I had done this once before, yet I still couldn't remember when I had done it. But, I don't really think I needed to think too hard about it.

Drake made me remember but doing nothing but drive. He sped down the streets way over the speed limit, having me shaking in my clothes as he drove like a maniac from Grand Theft Auto. He slid at corners like a professional speed racer, the sound of skidding tires sending chills up my spine before he got onto the main road.

That was when I wanted Jesus in the back seat, or at least a Bible or some sort. He went even faster down the road, no officers around to even bat an eye at his reckless driving, so he was vanilla. We passed convenient stores and small business buildings as he drove towards the school (or to a race track). He rounded each corner with a skid of his tires, staying calm and composed throughout the entire ride, his face never deterring from its relaxed and cool look.

Something told me he had done this a million times, but I couldn't just assume he had done this on a daily basis. (That was a lie, I knew for a fact he did. No one could drive this cool without practice.). Ten minutes of fast paced, energetic driving later had me wanting a barf bag which sadly wasn't around for my convenience. Good part was that we were finally at the high school (thank God!) and he was actually starting to slow down his speed. He was still going pretty fast but compared to what he was doing previously, I took what I got as a saving grace.

A dozen or more cars were already parked in the large parking lot with many upper and lower classmen hanging out before classes started. Drake quickly parked in the number spot 206 and finally turned off the speedy vehicle. He still looked relaxed and cool despite all of the G-forces he put me through and stepped out of the car like it was an average day. Me? I had that wobble you get after you ride a roller coaster that spins you around about a million times.

Good thing was that I wasn't puking...yet.

My friend waited for me while I grabbed my bag from my seat and slung it over my shoulder. "Do you always drive like you're trying to get away from a bank robbery?" I asked him, walking on ahead to the front door.

He only laughed, following close beside me. "Yep. It gets my brain working properly in the morning." The dragon chuckled then looked at my queasy expression and lightened up. "Hey, sorry about that. I kinda forgot that you may not remember the feeling of driving with me, you know, with my style of driving."

I waved my hand aside and gave him a reassuring smile, finally reaching the front door, which was covered by a large stone arch. "Don't worry your horns off, man. I'll...get used to it again, I hope." I added that last bit in a slight mumble.

His smile came back while we walked through the front doors and down the entrance hall. "Alright. I think you'll probably need to see the counselor or something, you know, your memory and all..." he trailed off.

"I know, I know," I replied. "Um, do you think you could help me find where the hell the counselor's office is?" I asked him.

He chuckled. "'Course not! I'm not letting a blind man walk through the school without a cane!" He joked, the joke actually reaching its point.

"Oh, ha-ha," I mocked him while he led me down the right wing of the school. As we walked and past students, they all looked at me like I had just killed someone. Conversations died at an instant, eyes were locked on me, and things were almost dead silent until we were a long way gone.

Okay...this was starting to get weird.

Drake didn't even pay any mind to them. He held his head up high and continued to lead me on to the counselor's office. Once were inside, the chatter outside the room restarted and everyone seemed to go back on their merry way like nothing had happened.

This was even weirder.

At least the office was warm yet cold at the same time. The room was open for the public to see, the walls around the entrance made of glass until they reached a different room. There seemed to be two rooms, with the other one seeming to be a back room for the counselor herself/himself. The light was bright and there was only a maple wood coffee table in the center of the room, along with three brown leather seats and an office desk for the helper I was guessing.

"Wait here," Drake told me, walking towards the helper's desk. I did was he said and stood there like a statue.

He knocked a few times on the wooden desk. "Mrs. Embers?" he asked, getting a loud thump coming from underneath the work space. I made a soft hissing noise, saying that that had to have hurt.

Just after the thump, a vixen popped up from behind the counter. She looked young to me with neatly brushed fur, long brown hair that curled at her shoulders, and emerald green eyes that almost sparkled. She wore a set of black jeans with a white button-up shirt over her torso with the sleeves rolled up, along with a black vest over the button-up. She then blushed and completed her outfit, grabbing a pair of librarian-style glasses off of the desk before shaking Drake's hand.

"You should know better not to sneak up on me like that, Drake," the fox named Mrs. Ember's scolded, waving her finger in front of Drake's face, playfully I might add.

The dragon must've blushed while rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry about that, Mrs. Embers, but this is a little important."

She smiled, rubbing the top of her head. "Aw, I can't be mad at you, Drake." She gave him a gentle smile before looking over his shoulder to meet my gaze. She gasped. "Kaleb!"

Before I could even react, she went around Drake and locked me in a death hug, nearly squeezing the air out of my lungs. I seriously had no clue who she was or why she was hugging me, but she sure did have strength. I coughed, gasping for air while looking at Drake for some aid. With a quick nod from him, he helped pry the fox from nearly choking me to death.

I quickly took in a huge gulp of air. "What...was...that for?" I choked out, coughing while trying to get air back into my lungs.

Mrs. Embers gasped as well. "Oh, dear! I'm so sorry about that! Please forgive me! I...I just heard that you've been in the hospital for a while because of a bad wreck! Drake told me you might not be the same old you for a while..." she trailed off, folding her ears while looking down.

Drake finally butt in. "Yeah, sorry about that Mrs. Embers. Kaleb isn't exactly...up to his old self again. Not yet. He has some sort of, um, I think memory-loss?"

"Amnesia?" the fox guessed, looking at us. We nodded before she continued. "Hmm..." She was about to say something but Drake spoke first.

"The thing is though, he seems to remember things if they're pointed out to him clearly. You know, in detail." Drake explained, putting it blunt and short.

Mrs. Embers put her hand on her chin, pondering this over. She stared at me the entire time, her eyes never losing my gaze, which forced me to look at her for the next few minutes. This was really awkward for me, but if it could help solve my memory problems then I really didn't have much to lose, besides more of my memory.

"I think he needs to go to class and learn," she stated, after waiting so long. "But if what you say is true, then I'm going to have to detail a few things to him before he can go back to his regular classes." She looked at me again. "The recovery process shouldn't take too long. I only need to catch you up on your school classes, and then Drake can catch you up on your regular life memories."

Drake nodded. "That sounds like it might work, but I'm still unsure whether or not that my explanation even works. I mean, he did remember me after I pointed out myself and name and he did seem to remember how the car crashed, but that doesn't tell us whether or not it actually works."

Just before Mrs. Embers could even respond to that, this loud BEEP! On the intercom went off for about three seconds before turning off. The sound rang in my ears but apparently had no effect on the two of them.

"Damn, class is starting," Drake grumbled, folding his arms in defeat.

Mrs. Embers sighed. "You go on ahead to class, Drake." She looked at my friend with a gentle smile then looked at me. "You however are staying with me. If what Drake says is...hopefully true then maybe we can jog that memory of yours in a jiffy! Come on!" She grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the back room.

I turned to look at Drake, who was chuckling. "See ya soon, man!" He laughed out, walking out of the counselor's door.

Leaving me to fend for myself.

This was literally the worst day of my life. Okay, that was a complete lie. I think being in an actual car crash, having my memory scattered inside my head, and then being forced to go to school with a hyper dragon who drove like Speed Racer was worse.

The "recovering" process, which was Mrs. Embers' method to regain some of my locked memories, wasn't any better however. I literally spent three hours on lying down on a leather couch while she tried to jog my memory with signs, books, visual aids, and detailed explanations. Truth was however, some of the methods actually worked. Even little by little, math, science, literature, and history finally started coming back to me, but only at a small rate, which was better than nothing at all in my opinion.

As the time dragged on, more and more of my memories of school and school life started coming back to me. Though, not enough to tell me where I fit in, I still had a pretty good grasp on where I stood. Apparently, I was shy (kinda figured as much) and I was a straight A student (pretty hard to believe, huh?). Anything else I probably needed to know was most likely going to have to come from Drake and his "absolute knowledge of everything from my past".

While going through the process of jogging my memory, some memories of Mrs. Embers came back to me as well. I believe she was my...elementary school counselor, middle school counselor, and high school counselor. She moved up every few years or so and became the newest counselor since the previous ones couldn't exactly do their job right (which sounds about right, don't you think?). Underneath all that fur and good looks was a sweet and kind fox who honestly took her job seriously, with occasional jokes, and aided students in need at any possible time she had. She was married, had one child, and was only in her late twenties.

Besides her and the light memories on my school subjects, that was it. Even as she showed me more and more flash cards with vocabulary, historical events, and scientific formulas, my mind felt like it was done for the day. Yet, the hours dragged on and on...and on for quite some time. She didn't let up on me until lunch then after that she picked up the pace and crammed as much knowledge she could into my brain with the few hours she had left.

She showed me another flashcard with the word with the word masochist on the front. "Can you define this word, Kaleb?"

I looked at it and squinted my eyes. "Its...a type of person who does pain to himself or herself?"

She nodded. "Correct, and what would this word's counterpart be?"

"A sadist?" I asked, getting a nod from her in response. "Don't sadist's do pain on someone else?"

She nodded. "Correct as well. I was just about to ask you that." She flashed me a sweet smile before standing up, finally putting down her flash cards since the end of lunch. She then rubbed her eyes and stretched. "I think I'll call that a day, Kaleb. I have a feeling that we're both tired, and, just to be honest, my mind is pooped."

She made me chuckle lightly while I sat up after hours on my back (weird way to put that) trying to remember some things. I also stretched out my arms and legs, getting a few pops from my bones in the process, as I stood up.

"Thanks, Mrs. Embers," I gratefully thanked her, yawning. "Ugh...what time is it?" I asked.

She looked at the watch on her wrist and frowned. "It's fifteen past three, which means the bell telling you to go home is about to ring." She then sighed. "And I still have a handful of papers to print out and file by tomorrow morning, sadly."

"I could help you actually," I assured her.

The vulpine shook her head. "You're sweet Kaleb, but you need your rest. After spending an entire school day with me, I'll bet anything that you wanna hit that bed of yours and go to sleep." She giggled. "Don't worry, sweetie. I'll be fine, but thank you for the offer."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive, so don't worry, okay?" She smiled towards me. "My daughter is supposed to have company over at my house anyway, so I can just do the papers while they have their fun."

"You wouldn't be distracted at all by them?" I asked.

She waved her hand aside. "Pfft, please, when I was her age, the things I did at parties was much worse compared to how tame things are now." The fox giggled. "Now, run along and get to your car." She ordered just as the bell beeped its annoying sound that made my ears twitch violently. "Meet me early before school tomorrow so I can give you your schedule and the things you'll need for your classes."

"Wait, I don't think I know everything I need to know for class!" I protested while we walked for her door, sweat beginning to form at the base of my forehead.

"Don't worry about it. I've caught you up on the things you're learning right now, but make sure to meet me thirty minutes before school so I can help you remember lessons from previous grades, okay?"

"O-okay," I replied just as I opened the door and walked out. Her door shut right from behind me and I just stood there while students and teachers past me on their way to the front door of the school.

Sighing, I followed them. In only seconds, I was shoulder to shoulder with dozens of students ranging from freshmen to seniors like me. The freshmen looked tiny and young, completely innocent but hard workers, with the occasional dick here and there. The sophomores looked slightly older than the freshies, with the guys having some ragged fur and longer hair...more mature was what I was going for. The juniors looked a good half foot taller than the sophmore class, clearer facial distinguishment and neater fur and a light walking pattern. Finally came the seniors--neatly trimmed fur, long, healthy hair, excellent clothing style, and adult looking.

Whether or not I described them well was up for debate. Truth was that I was only going off of hunches and assumptions. The freshmen were the youngest and the seniors were the dominant force out of all the classes. Best way to put it without going into much detail.

I had no clue if I was happy to be a senior or not. While I walked with a few of the students from my class out of the front door, there was something inside me telling me that I didn't belong here. That feeling told me I really didn't fit in with them or something, even though I was the same age as ninety-five percent of them. I had no clue what that feeling was though, my stomach felt sick to its stomach and I was starting to feel a little light headed.

I leaned against one of the legs of the giant stone arch that was over the front entrance, placing a hand on my head in slight pain. My mind felt like it was swimming, like a certain part of my brain was totally derping out on me. The voices of all the students around me started to blur together into this gigantic mass of conversation, causing me to groan out in even more pain.

"Kaleb?" a voice called out, making me jump.

I yelped as I turned to be face to face with Drake and a cheetah standing next to him. Sweat coated my forehead and temples but somehow I managed to only let out a long, drawn out sigh of relief. Literally, my heart was beating like a racehorse once again, yet this time I wasn't in his car (yet) and he wasn't driving around like a maniac who had just robbed a bank.

"Jeez, Drake," I groaned, running my stubby claws through my head. "You scared the shit out of me." I gave him the death glare, which he laughed at.

"Good!" he joked. "A good scare gets everyone on their toes!" He patted my back like some feral puppy, messing up what little (or none) head-fur I had in the process.

I swatted his hand away playfully then used my claws to brush the fur back into place. Once done, I looked at the cheetah with a curious glance. "Um...who are you exactly?" I asked, sounding like a complete douche.

Drake face-palmed himself, groaning. "That's right, my bad! Kaleb, meet Sonya. Sonya, you already know Kaleb."

The cheetah named Sonya nodded then walked over to me, holding out a hand. She wore knee-high black running track shorts and a red hoodie with the hood hanging off of her head in a very relaxed form. Her eyes were ocean blue, looking intently at me, and gave me a kind smile that went well with her smooth fur and long blonde hair. She definitely had that effeminate look yet she also looked athletic, telling me she had to be a part of some sort of sports activity or something.

I shook my head then looked her in the eyes again. I then brought my hand forth and shook hers. "Um, nice to meet you...again, Sonya."

She giggled. "Don't worry about it, Kaleb. It's not your fault. Just let me remind you about me before we go on. My name is Sonya Jackson, I'm Drake's girlfriend," She turned around and waved at Drake, who blushed and waved back, smiling like crazy at her. "and I've known you for about six years now. I'm also a straight A student who--"

"--likes to play softball, soccer, and volleyball. You hang out with Drake and I most days of the week and you invite us to your home on certain days to have crazy parties." I cut her off. "You're the oldest of three siblings, your father is a doctor while your mother is a fashion designer for 'Victoria's Secret', and your brother is second oldest in the ninth grade while your sister is in the eighth."

If I had a phone to capture their reactions, I would've. Sadly I didn't. Their jaws dropped all the way to the ground, which was an over exaggeration but it was a pretty good description. They both stared at me with big eyes while I stood there in embarrassment, covering my mouth with my hand.

Where had that come from? I didn't intentionally do that! Once she started explaining her life I just started to remember instantly, each and every memory we had with each other and Drake. I was pretty sure though that A) I had just scared the crap out of her and B) Both of them were in shock at what I had just did. Okay, I had to admit that it had spooked me out too and there was no doubt in my mind that they were questioning whether I was some sort of robot or regular person.

Drake was the first to shake his head, getting back into the conversation. "O-okay then, I guess you do remember Sonya after all." He sounded a little unsure of his own words, causing me to fold my ears until they pressed flat against my head.

Sonya was the next to return to reality, blinking a few times before responding. "Uh...yeah. Sorry, zoned out. Yep, you sure do remember everything that there is to know about me, but did you really have to blurt it out for everyone to hear?" She leaned forward and whispered.

I meeped, feeling a blush form across my nose and cheeks. With a quick glance, I noticed a few of the underclassmen staring at me, batting their eyes while shaking their heads. Some of them were actually laughing like hyenas, making it clear that I had fucked up in front of everyone.

Drake scanned over the audience before frowning. "How about you underclassmen grow a pair and go back to sexting your boyfriends or girlfriends?" He asked while staring around the group, making sure his death glare was notice by all. He then turned to the seniors of the group. "And last I checked Chad, I didn't ask for a bunch of dicks to join in on it. So, how about you grow a pair yourself and get back to your practice? I bet coach won't be too happy if you're late...again."

It took me a minute to figure out who he was talking to, but then I saw him. Well, _them_actually. It was a half dozen sized group of beefed up guys, all of them wearing the dreadful varsity letterman jacket I knew for a fact I hated. The leader, who I guessed was Chad, was a cougar with his pals I took it, a stallion, a dragon, a bear, a lion, and a cheetah like Sonya. Most of them snorted at Drake but they didn't make a move on him, not even Chad who I suspected as the tough guy--the "boss"--of the group.

Chad lowly growled and went face to face with Drake, revealing his emerald green eyes. "You best be careful what comes out of that mouth, Reflection. You might have the school behind you, but I have a football team."

Drake snorted, chuckling. "Yeah, shame since the football team is smaller than the school, huh?" Drake returned to his frown and stood his ground. "Now get out of here, or do you want a rematch? Remember how that turned out last time?"

Chad gritted his teeth and glared back at Drake. I could see the fury in his eyes but there was also that restraint that told me he didn't want to tango with Drake in the position he was in. He took a step back and spat on the ground, looking at me with a smirk before walking away, beckoning his cronies to follow him. Once the pack had departed, conversations around the arch returned and the place was filled with the sound of humming cars and chatting students.

What was that about?

Drake had come back over, leaning against one of the arches. He was rubbing his eyes with his right hand, groaning painfully. I heard him sigh and walked over to him to find out what was wrong.

"Dude, you okay?" I asked, tilting my head.

He sighed again and nodded, looking at me. "Yeah, don't worry about it. I just hate it when I have to do that, and now I'm probably going to have to fight that guy sometime this week or next, or whenever he decides is a good day. Either way, he's going to get his ass handed to him."

I managed a chuckle. "I didn't know you were so tough, or maybe I did know and it's just coming back to me right now." I said, crossing my arms.

He shrugged, smiling back at me. "Only when I have to be. My father was a professional boxer in his early years, so you can only guess he was tough on me about being strong and never backing down from a fight. Just reminding you." He weakly smiled.

Sonya came over to us. "When do you think he's gonna fight you?" She asked, feeling concerned for her boyfriend.

He shrugged then looked at the sky. "My guess: either Thursday or Friday, since they don't have afternoon practice either of those days."

"Is he going to fight fair?"

"Guarantee it. His family is all about honor and a good, clean, fair fight and I know for a fact that he wouldn't dare let word go around saying he fought an opponent on uneven odds, otherwise I'm sure his parents wouldn't...like that. It is how I won last time though, so I should have nothing to worry about."

Sonya walked over to him and leaned against him, intertwining her arm with his until they were holding each other's hands. Drake seemed to relax once the feline nuzzle into his chin. He then smiled and looked at her, giving her a peck on the nose, which I found honestly cute.

Under normal circumstances would I probably just walk away and wait for Drake to come and find me, but I didn't remember anything so I just stood there and shuffled from one leg to another. Only seconds later did they finally notice me and embarrassingly blush dark crimson. Yep, and I saw the white scales on Drake's face turn to a dark shade of red.

"Sorry about that, man," he apologized, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

I waved my hand aside. "Don't worry about it. Just get me home, I have a tub of ice cream, I think, and it's calling to my aching brain." I stuck my tongue out.

He chuckled. "Fine, fine, fine. But I get first scoop."

"Only if you go the speed limit, Speed Racer," Sonya mocked, laughing at the both of us.

Drake turned to her, looking horrified. "You vile she-witch!" He spoke in a very sarcastic voice, telling us he was joking. "I go the speed limit!"

"On what? " I asked. "The Indie Five-Hundred?"

He turned to me and stuck his tongue out. "The speed limit is soo boring though!" The dragon groaned, whining. Sonya and I just couldn't help but laugh at him, knowing we were only playing around with him.

She patted his head. "The one time in your life you actually have to follow the rules of the road, hon. Just do it." She said, taking his wrist while fully dragging the dragon towards his expensive car. He made no effort to stop her and hung his head down like a puppy, following her to his car.

I could only laugh until my side hurt. Honestly, I didn't even care if there were people staring us down like we were freaks either. I didn't give them any looks when they were laughing at me, but Drake sure as hell made it clear he didn't mess around when he showed his death stare at everyone.

Something out of the corner of my eye made me stop, not in the middle of the lanes thank God. I turned, only to find it was a man in a white coat. He wore a hood over his head with his arms folded behind his back. I could also see that he wore black pants with black dress shoes but nothing else. Not even a tail to get a species name. I could tell it was a guy due to the...well, no boobs he had.

There was something about him that threw me off, and I had no clue why. He just stared at me and only me. Cars passed by him without even taking notice of his presence, even people from the school just walked by and didn't notice him. He just stood there and stared at me intently, and I returned being creepy and stared right back at him but puzzlingly in my case.

_ We are watching, Thirteen._

That voice in my mind sent chills up and down my spine. The long hairs on the back of my neck just stood on end. I couldn't even tell if I was shaking because I was so focused on the guy. I had actually forgotten to blink a few times, only taking a spilt second to catch one before looking back at him.

"Yo, Kaleb!" Drake shouted all the way from his car, getting my attention instantly. "You want that tub or what?" He asked.

"But the guy..." I turned back to where the guy was standing only to have the hairs on the back of my neck, my forearms, and legs stand on end. "But...but...he was just right..." I was at a loss for words.

The man was gone.