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The White Cub series.

By

Daniel Field a.k.a Kendo

Chapter Two : Is it me?

It was the sound of the morning music that woke the children up every morning. The buildings bell system still worked, but it had been years since the bell had rung for classes. The speakers projected the radio at exactly seven a.m. every morning for ten minutes, then again at seven - thirty for anyone who slept in.

Kenra never figured out why, but he always woke up before the music started. After he woke up, he would huddle under the blankets with the covers covering as much of him as possible while he held his doll to him.

The morning after the fiasco at the open day, Kenra woke up like normal, and huddled under the blankets like normal, but, there was a hollow feeling inside of him. Although his dream made him feel so happy and warm, the aches of the teasing, and the painful things that were thrown at him always remained longer than the dreams effects.

He lay there under the blankets, with just a small window between the blankets and the mattress to show anything that was on the outside.

The music suddenly broke the spell of silence and Kenra immediately got out of bed. Being quick, he hurriedly pulled his blankets back and then went to Travis' desk and put his doll away before anyone woke up to the sounds of Shannon Noll.

Once he made sure that the lid of the desk clicked shut to indicate it was locked, Kenra hurried out of the room.

The locker rooms of the building were still intact, as were the showers. Nothing much had changed in that area, except that every time you walked in you were likely to find a pair of underpants lying around, or a discarded toothbrush.

Kenra preferred to shower alone. Mostly because of the fact that being naked caused the other kids, even with Travis around, to make fun of him even more. Kenra was so thin that you could almost see his ribs, and because he was still a little kid, the older boys liked to make fun of him in that department.

Every shower stall had a towel and a bar of soap to go with it. Kenra chose one closest to the door and turned the taps one. He got out of his clothes and quickly stepped into the water.

"Why doesn't anyone want me?" he said to himself as he let the water wash over him. "Maybe Mrs. Gail is right. Maybe I am just a waste of money," he added sadly as he washed himself with the soap.

As he washed, he thought he heard someone outside in the locker area, and what sounded like muffled laughter. Turning off the water, Kenra grabbed the towel and dried himself off as quickly as he could. If the other boys were coming in, he didn't want to stick around.

He grabbed his pyjamas after wrapping the towel around his waist and hurried over to his locker. He didn't see anyone else there, and he sighed with relief. He reached up for the handle and opened the door to his locker.

It was most likely because the door was so battered and dented that the door never stayed shut properly when you closed it. In any case, it was easy to get into.

Kenra screamed when he opened the door and saw what was inside. His pants and shorts were stacked neatly on the shelves, and his shirts hung from the clothes pegs like normal, but sitting on top of his clothes was a large dead bird, already half decomposed and covered in maggots. Mud and dirt had been smeared on every single t-shirt and jumper that hand been hung up.

There was the sound of laughter and Malcolm and his friends stepped around the corner, each with a bucket in their hands. Kenra backed up against the wall and whimpered. He was never happy to see them.

"Aww, I thought you liked our little present" Malcolm said with a sneer on his face. The others laughed. "Well, did you?" he demanded. Kenra whimpered, tears brimming in his eyes as he said nothing. Why were they so mean to him?

"Awww, that's too bad" Malcolm said with another sneer. "Lets' give him another one" he said, and they started to advance on the poor cub, each raising their buckets.

"What the hell is going on here?" a voice rang out.

"Bail" Malcolm said and he and his mates stopped what they were doing and ran out the back door of the locker room that lead outside. Kenra slid to the floor, tears streaming down his face as his heart hammered in his chest.

"Kenra? Oh my god, what did they do to you?" Travis said as he hurried over to his friend and quickly wrapped his arms around the trembling kid.

Kenra merely started sobbing and pointed to his locker with a trembling hand. Travis looked over and saw the damage. "Those bastards" he swore angrily. "Oh, they're so gonna pay for this" he seethed, growling angrily.

"Why did they do it?" Kenra whimpered, tears streaming down his face. "I didn't do anything to them. Why do they do it?" he asked, starting to choke slightly.

Travis rubbed his back until Kenra calmed down a little. He was sick of this happening. All this emotional abuse was destroying his best friend.

"They're just idiots" he said, wrapping his arms around Kenra and helping the cub to stand up. "Come on. We'll go to Mrs. Gail and we'll tell her what happened. She'll do something about this" Travis said as he helped Kenra out of the locker room.

"I hope" he added, more to himself than to his best friend.

The car that pulled up outside of the orphanage was something that obviously must've come out of a motor show room. It was a stretch limousine, sleek and white with tinted black windows. It gleamed as it came to a stop at the front of the building, the sun reflecting off of the cars shine.

The driver who got out was a female Siamese cat in her late twenties, wearing a pale blue suite that hugged at her slim figure. She was a creamy colour with brown tinted ears and a brown area around her face. Her hair was fashionably styled and she was carrying a manilla folder.

She stepped up to the passenger side of the vehicle and held the door open as the owner of the car stepped out.

He was a tall red fox, dressed in a black suit that looked tailor made. Not a hair on his head was out of place, and he literally screamed wealthy just by his appearance.

"Now, are you sure we have everything Miss Knight?" the fox asked as the cat shut the door.

"Yes Mr. Tatterson" Rebecca Knight said with a nod. "I have all the necessary adoption papers and forms with me, signed and in triplicate" she said. Ray Tatterson nodded with a smile.

"You are quite the efficient one" he said with a smile.

"It's my job" she said, with a small smile. The two of them then walked up the path to the orphange and Rebecca pressed the doorbell.

There was no answer for a minute or so, but then the door unlocked and a teenage lion in pyjamas looked at them.

"Something I can do for ya?" he asked, not asking who they were.

Rebecca smiled politely as she spoke.

"We're here to see Mrs. Gail. We had an appointment" she said politely.

"What, at this time?" the teenager asked, looking surprised.

"Yes. We agreed on this time" Rebecca said.

"Fair 'nuff" the lion said, opening the door and letting them in. "Her office is this way" he added, leading the two of them through the building.

"Quite the friendly little bloke isn't here?" Ray said out of the corner of his mouth. Rebecca smiled, but didn't say anything.

The kid left them outside of Mrs. Gails office and ran off to do something else. There was only one other kid sitting outside the office, and they way he was sitting clearly showed he was not having a good morning.

Ray couldn't help but look at him. He obviously a fox, although no species he had ever seen. Most likely he as a hybrid, a cross species child. And he looked so sad. Ray had never seen a more defeated looking kid. The boy was sitting on the seat in nothing but a towel, and his face was streaked with tears. And he looked like he would start crying at any moment.

Rebecca went up to the office door and knocked sharply. She could hear voices inside, presumably arguing from their volumes.

"Who is it?" a female voice, Mrs. Gails obviously, rang out, sounding irritable.

"Rebecca Knight. I'm here with Ray Tatterson. We had an appointment" Rebecca said at once.

There was a jumble of voices, presumably Mrs. Gail was telling whoever else was in there to get out, because a moment later the door opened by a young cheetah, who looked back at Mrs. Gail and said

"You can be such a bitch sometimes"

"There's really no need for language like that" Rebecca said, shocked to hear a kid that young speak to his elders like that.

"She deserves it" the cheetah said sharply.

"How dare you speak to me like that" Mrs. Gail said, coming up to the door. "And when we have company as well" she said angrily. "I'm so sorry" she said quickly to Rebecca. "He doesn't know any better."

"What are you going to do about what I told you?" the cheetah demanded at Mrs. Gail.

"I told you I would settle it later" the cougaress said sharply.

"Like hell you will" the cheetah shouted. "Malcolm does everything he can to hurt Kenra, and all you ever do is sit by and let him get away with it."

"Are you talking about Malcolm Hendrick?" Rebecca asked, looking surprised.

"I assure you, he is not. Malcolm is a fine boy. Never any trouble" Mrs. Gail insisted.

"He is NOT" the kid shouted. "He's a bully who makes Kenra miserable every chance he gets, doesn't he?" the cheetah directed the question at the other boy.

Ray watched as the smaller boy slowly lifted his head and nodded. His face was streaked with tears, and he was obviously scared of what was happening.

"This is interesting" Rebecca said, looking at Mrs. Gail. "We were under the impression that Malcolm was a fine young lad. You obviously forgot to mention this when we discussed Malcolms adoption" she said.

The cheetah went quiet and the cub cringed. They were going to adopt Malcolm? Mrs. Gail, for once, didn't have anything to say.

"Kenra, were going" the cheetah said, walking over to the younger cub and helping him to his feet. "It's no use arguing with her" he said as the two of them began to walk off, Kenra holding onto the cheetah as hard as he could.

Ray finally tore his eyes off of the sad looking cub and looked at Mrs. Gail.

"Mrs. Gail, I made it quite clear to you that I did not want to adopt a boy who, to put it bluntly, is a bad egg" he said briskly. He hadn't met Malcolm yet, but he had made up his mind.

"Furthermore, you will need to draw up two new adoption papers" he added. The cheetah and Kenra stopped when they heard this, and Rebecca stared at her boss with surprise.

"What are you talking about?" Mrs. Gail said in surprise.

"What I am talking about is that I wish to adopt the two young furs who are just over there" Ray said firmly. "I have just met them and I already prefer them over Malcolm Hendrick."

Kenra felt his heart stop for a moment. Was this really happening? Was this fox really considering adopting him and Travis?

"You can't be serious" Mrs. Gail said, suddenly taking on a more serious tone. "You do not want boys like them. Travis is a rude little child who has absolutely no manners. And as for Kenra, he is a waste of money and time" she said.

Kenra felt his heart plunge to the bottom of his feet when he heard Mrs. Gail say that. He felt more tears brim in his eyes. For a brief moment, he had thought that he finally would have a home, and now Mrs. Gail had ruined it.

"Don't tell me what I want or don't want" Ray said sharply, narrowing his eyes at Mrs. Gail. "Ms. Knight, please assist Mrs. Gail in making the adoption official. I don't want to have to stay here a moment longer than we do" he said sharply.

"Right away sir" Rebecca said at once, not questioning what her boss said as she turned and made her way into the office.

"As for you two" Ray said, looking at Travis and Kenra, who remained silent the whole time "I'd like you to go and pack your clothes and your things. We'll be leaving soon" he said in a soft tone of voice.

"But...sir...Kenra doesn't have any clothes. Malcolm ruined them all this morning" Travis said, not quite sure if this was happening or not.

Ray nodded.

"Then just take only what you need. And come back down here" he said.

Silent, the two boys hurried upstairs, neither of them sure what was happening.

"Is this really happening?" Kenra asked softly, looking completely surprised at what was going on.

"I think it is" Travis said with a small smile as they walked into the bedroom, every other kid either at the showers or having their breakfast. But he was starting to regret shouting at the two adults.

Kenra finally let it sink in as he got dressed in his pyjamas, which were the only clothes he had left that were decently clean. He was finally going to have a home, and a family.

He found himself smiling as he watched Travis pack his things into a pillowcase. Travis was going to be his brother, the kind of brother who would always be there for him and protect him.

And his father was going to be that fox, and he was going to be the kind of father who would tuck him in at night and be there when he was afraid of monsters in the closet.

And his mother...Kenra didn't know what his mother would be like, because it was obviously not the cat. But he pictured a mother who would sing in the kitchen and make cookies, and fuss over him every single day with a smile on her face.

"Is there anything you want to take?" Travis asked, looking at Kenra. He had a pillow case ready for him.

The only things that Kenra had in his desk was school work that he had gotten pretty stickers for because he did well enough, and some pictures he had drawn. A few marbles that looked like small crystal balls, some pencils, and a couple of pictures he had cut out from magazines.

"just my pirate" he said when he shut his desk. Travis nodded and handed the doll to him, which Kenra clutched tightly in his arms.

"This is it buddy. We're finally going to have a home to go too" Travis said, smiling brightly. "And I can't think of anyone better to be my brother than you" he said, bending over and hugging Kenra tightly in his arms.

"Thank you Travis" Kenra said, feeling tears brim his eyes as he hugged Travis as tightly as he could. He was happy now. It wasn't because of what Mrs. Gail said that stopped him from going home with someone. He knew that because someone was finally taking him home. And he would have a family at last.

As Kenra and Travis walked back down the steps without a backward glance at the room that had been theirs for a good number of years, they had no idea of what lay in store for them.

Travis, as he held onto Kenras' hand tightly as they walked, had no idea that soon, he would forget all about his brother and no longer have any time for him.

And Kenra had no idea, that despite how happy he was as he walked down the steps, each one bringing him closer to his new life, he would lose everything and everyone.