Something Right

The sky was perfectly clear that day. It had been storming for weeks before so all the clouds had finally moved on. Dampness still clung to most of the concrete streets on the college campus, but the plants seemed to be perking up in the spring sun. The air had been washed by the downpour, leaving the whole city smelling fresh and clean. Walking through the brisk morning was a hunched-over coyote dog. His steps were pointed and focused like he was on a time-crunch, but not too urgent as to break into a run. Books were clutched close to his chest with one hand while the other pressed his glasses to his face. Fellow students moved out of his way as he marched to his destination.

Can't believe Vivi made me sit and watch YouTube videos for ten minutes. I can't believe I let her do it! Now I'm going to get there right on the dot. I wanted to have time to set up the lab equipment before it got there, but nooo! I just had to let her sit me down and watch My Little Pony. Sometimes I wish I could just-

But his inner rant was cut short as a bear teen, blissfully unaware of the world as he listened to his headphones, smacked head-on into the diligent boy. He fell hard onto his lower back, dropping every book onto the damp ground.

"Dammit..." He growled and snapped up to the bear with a fierce glare. "Hey, man! Watch where you're going next time! Now I'm gonna be late, son of a..." But he didn't have time to bother with the guilty-faced teen. The coyote dog franticly scraped books off the pavement instead.

"I-I'm sorry, bro. Won't happen again." Apologetically, he crouched down and offered one of the fallen books which was speedily taken.

"It's fine..." The student mumbled in reply before speed-walking into the closest building. He sat down quickly and pulled out everything he needed for anatomy class. Grey's Anatomy, Basics of BioChemistry, Diseases and Disorders. .... where was his essay? He had an essay due today, where was it? He breathed deeply and closed his eyes. Where did he least see it? He'd printed it out the night before, put it on the coffee table on top of his books, grabbed the books in the morning, was stopped by Vivi to watch videos, and set the books... on the dinning table. He smacked his palm to his forehead. I must have blown off the top when he was distracted by Vivi!

After a quick glance around the classroom, the student whipped out his cellphone and texted his roommate in a frenzy.

Vivi, bring anatomy essay to building 4Ac, room 16. It should be sitting on the tab

Suddenly there was a shadow covering his phone. For a moment, he didn't want to look up to see who it was, but as a stack of printer paper slipped between his eyes and the screen, he was forced to look. His sunken-in golden eyes met with deep red ones set in a brown rat face.

"Hey Xel-Xel! You left this on the table this morning and since the date on the top was today, I thought it might be important." The speaker was Vivi, the dangerously thin and obnoxiously chipper roommate of Xeln. The coyote dog exhaled so deeply, his whole body slumped forward.

"Thank you, Vivi. I was about to have a panic attack."

"No problem~" The rat girl giggled and twirled on her heel. Xeln could feel more eyes turning in their direction the longer she lingered in class.

"Um, Vivi, don't you have your own classes to be getting to?"

"Classes... Oh yea! I have English Literature in... Like two minutes, geez! I should get hoppin'! See ya at home, Xel-Xel!"

"Bye." He replied and immediately looked down to his books to avoid the stares. But out of sight out of mind wasn't enough. His ears hummed with the various conversations going on around him; some of which he caught his and the rat girl's name in. They were probably wondering why he hadn't snapped at her for catching him off guard or his usual lack of contact with anyone. The mumbled words burned in his head, he just wanted it to stop.

So he preoccupied himself. Anything to distract his mind from the cloud of conversations. He fingered through his essay. Scanning for grammatical errors or something spellcheck had missed. But he soon found his eyes wandering across the table to another pile of printer paper. It was thinner and had the title "Analysis of the Role of Women in Macbeth" on the top.

Dammit, Vivi.

That was her mid-term paper. Reflecting on it, he'd never seen the girl hunched over a computer, single fingering keys for so long before. This must be the pay-load. Xeln's head cocked to the direction of the professor's voice, announcing that class was starting. He rubbed a hand to his temple. Vivi was already not doing well in most of her classes, so this paper was a big deal. But he hadn't missed a single lecture all year. But she was the closest person to a friend Xeln had at the college. But he couldn't skip class, it was an important lesson today.  

Defeatedly, the coyote dog swiveled his chair towards the teacher who was busy marking up the white board with a foul smelling expo marker. Everything was getting to him. The smell, the tapping of the pen on the board, the whispering, the guilt, the slight squeaking his chair made when it moved. It made him clutch his pencil harder, grit his teeth tighter. The professors words weren't even registering anymore. His undivided attention was on Vivi's mid-term paper sitting in his peripheral vision.

Finally his restraint snapped.

Xeln snatched the paper in his hand and leapt out of the desk. Being in the front row, everyone in the class saw him vault over chairs and burst out the door with a loud crash. He didn't even bother adjusting his glasses as he careened down the hallways. Other rushed students flew passed him, but they were going the other way. Then he was outside. The humanities building shouldn't be far. It was due west from the science building. After calculating his direction, the student was off, kicking up mist from the damp asphalt in his wake.

The grey building finally appeared around the corner, proudly displaying "Humanities Studies" sign over the entrance. Xeln shoved the door open and entered unfamiliar halls. He'd only been in the building once or twice since he'd gotten onto the campus. Still, he remembered enough to know Vivi's class was on the second floor. Desperately, he jammed the elevator's up button, but it was still on the third floor was indicated by the glowing numbers above the doors. He slammed his fists into the button again, but the elevator still wouldn't lower. Hesitantly, the coyote dog looked towards the nearby staircase. His breathing was heavy by now and the crisp air contracting his lungs wasn't helping.

The longer the elevator creaked down the shaft, the more efficient the stairs looked. A resounding 'clunk' affirmed the elevator had arrived, but the doors wouldn't open. Xeln slammed the door, but it refused to budge. With a huff, the coyote dog dashed to the staircase and up to the second floor. His lungs were on fire as he stepped into the hallway. He gave the area a sweeping glance and found the English literature room at the end of the hall. Wheezing now, the student clumsily ran to the door, shoving it open with all the strength left in his arms.

The class stared at the sudden intruder, panting and shaking, doubled over in fatigue. Papers were stacked on the professor's desk so Xeln hobbled over in that direction. His voice was ragged and hoarse.

"I have... Vivi... Kyker's paper... ma'am. It's not... late..." He slammed the wrinkled paper on top of the others before giving a dry heave.

"Xel-Xel!" His pet-name rang in his ear as the rat girl came into view. "You ran all the way here?

"You left... your paper..." Xeln was getting dizzy now and his body rocked back and forth. Vivi placed a hand on his shoulder, which he weakly tried to get off.

"Xel, are you okay?"

"Just don't... let it... happen..." But he couldn't finish his sentence. Darkness swallowed his conscious and his body fell limp.

-----

When the student came to, he was in a warm room. A murky figure was on his right, leaning over him. It seemed to speak and usher over another figure who approached him from the left and placed a hand on his forehead. Xeln twitched as it touched his face, clearing up a bit of his thoughts.

"Wh-what happened? Where am I?"

"You're in the medical wing, Xel-Xel. They said you passed out from all that running and in-som-ne-ah. That's how it's pronunced right? Yea." The speaker was undeniably Vivi.

"How long?" The coyote dog propped himself on his elbows and stretched.

"Hmmm, about a good three hours. You were out for a while."

"Three hours!? Dammit! I missed the whole damn class!" Xeln dully scraped his face. "Can't believe it, now I have to get the notes from someone, re-read the entire book-"

"Xel-Xel?"

"What?"

Vivi smiled at him softly. "Thanks for going through all that. For me." Xeln sighed and leaned against the back of the bed.

"You're welcome. Was my fault anyway."

"No, it wasn't, it was me. I forgot about my paper. You didn't have to go through all of that." She replied with another one of her bright smiles. It wasn't a rarity, but it brought a slight curl to Xeln's lips, if only for a second.

"Yea, it's not was I normally would have done. Guess I'm getting soft."

A knock came from the door and the teacher from the anatomy class peeked in. "Is he alright?"

"Professor Leigh!" The coyote dog perked up. "I'm so sorry I ran out of your class like that, I swear I'll catch up! Just give me the subject and I'll-"

"Xeln, Xeln, It's alright. This young lady informed me of what you did for her, and I'm very proud of you." The teacher handed a thick packet to the student who took it with some tepidity. "It's today's lesson plan. That should help you catch up."

Dumbly, the mutt flipped through the papers and looked back up to his superior. "Thank you sir, I won't let you down."

"I know you won't." He replied with a grin and turned to Vivi. "You must be one special gal to make Xeln skip class for you."

"We're roomies!" The rat girl squeaked and bounced in her seat a little. With a laugh, the doctor pat the girl's back.

"Well, you must have done something right, then." Afterwards he made his leave. Vivi beamed back to Xeln.

"Is that true?"

"What's true?"

"That I did something right?"

The coyote dog stifled a chuckle. "The odds that someone like you would end up with someone like me are just... Yes, Vivi. You must've done something right."