7 Days in November, Part 13 (Monday)

The thing is, Farly never walked to school. He used to, back in elementary school, and a little ways into middle school. That stopped after a couple of run in with some of his classmates, ones that were in no way interested in being his friend. So, that morning, when he pulled on his bookbag and stepped, head down, into the cold November wind, he knew enough to start out early. He slipped out while it was still dark, before Ty or Bourbon has woken up, and sat outside the garage until the sun peeked over the horizon. He wasn’t looking for a fight; he wanted time to think.

That hadn’t gone exactly to plan. Farly was well aware that Bourbon was catching up to him, despite Farly’s long, forceful stride. Farly shifted his bag on his shoulders and hunched against the weight.

When Bourbon finally caught up to Farly, he was out of breath, shivering, his eyes tired, his cobalt headfur deflated. “Farly…” he said, trying to keep even with the mutt.

Farly pushed forward, his eyes on the sidewalk.

“Farly, please wait.”

He shot a glance at Bourbon. “What?”

“I want to talk.” Bourbon fell behind a little.

“This isn’t a good time.”

“We didn’t get to last night.”

“I know.”

Bourbon pushed into a jog, moving in front of Farly. He shoved his hands down into his pockets and walked backwards, making Farly slow down a little. “Farly…”

“It’s not the time.” Farly dropped his eyes, his headfur flopping down over them — he hadn’t taken the time to brush it out that morning.

Bourbon stopped and dug his hands deeper into his pockets, slumping over a little.

Farly walked a little further, sighed, and turned back to Bourbon. He looked him over. “Where’s your bag?”

“At home.”

“You’re not going today?”

Bourbon shook his head. “I think I’m going to take the week off.”

“Aren’t you worried the school will call home looking for you?”

“They’ve never missed me before. That’s the advantage of being a disappointment, I guess.”

Farly sighed and turned away. “You should go home.”

“Farly, please don’t be mad at me.”

“Go home, Bourbon.”

Bourbon watched Farly disappear over a hill, not moving from where he had stopped. When he got tired of fighting the cold, he turned and started back home.