Mindful Secrets

Chapter 4 - Midnight Messages

Jasper

I unlock the door to my house as I announced my arrival to my family. "Welcome home, sweetheart", my mum said. "Welcome home, kiddo", my dad said. "Welcome home, bub", my little sister said. She runs up to me and gives me a big hug. I ruffle her hair as I made my way to my bedroom.

"Dinner will be ready in half an hour!", my mum said. "Okay!", I replied as I entered my bedroom. I closed the door as I placed my bag next to bed. I lay down on my bed and let out a sigh. Oh my god, today was an eventful day. Well, not really but you get the point. I can't believe I have a friend at school.

His name sounds similar to a friend I had during elementary school. We were friends because we actually had the same eye condition. What's cooler was that we had the same eye colour too. That's like so rare. Sadly, he had to move away and soon after, we lost contact. I was sad but I moved on, knowing I can't just wallow in the past.

I grab my phone and unlock it. I went to my texting app to see his number. His profile picture was set to him, sitting on a chair with a book in hand. The lighting was really nice. I close out of the app and played some games until dinner time. It felt fun for the first few minutes but then, boredom struck me like a bullet train.

I turn off my phone and place it on the nightstand. I lay there and focus on a new idea for drawings. It's usually hard when the only things I can think of are guys. I've been openly gay to my family and they took it surprisingly well. I felt like my heart was going to stop when I finally uttered those words to my parents.

I tried brainstorming for ideas but all I could come up with was nothing, surprisingly. I want to draw something different, not the same thing I've been doing for the past year now. Well, I guess that drawing I made in the art club was different. I felt bad for Dakota since he was dragged in as the model for our drawings.

No, he did not get nude for the drawings. He had all his clothes on. "Dinner's ready!", I heard my mum yell. I quickly got up and practically ran down to the dining room to sit down. Everyone else sat down too while mum served everyone a plate. The good smelled delicious as always and I knew it would taste just as good as it smelled.

We all dug in once mum sat down and let me tell you, we all have different eating styles. My sister ate like she never ate for a whole week. My father is the same but a bit more polite while my mum ate slowly. I was the same like mum but I usually shove big chunks of food into my mouth rather than small ones.

Of course, what type of dinner would it be without conversation? "How was your first day at school, sweetheart?", mum asked. "It was okay", I replied. "Did anyone bully you?", she asked, this time, worry was very prominent in her voice. "Aside from a few insults, not really", I replied. To be honest, I really don't care what they say about me.

"How about friends? Made any friends, kiddo?", dad asked. "Yeah, only one though", I said. "Ah, that's great. What's their name?", he asked. "His name's Dakota", I replied. I did not even need to look at them to know what they were thinking. "Just so you know, we're only friends. I'm not interested in him", I said.

"We never said anything", dad said defensively. "I can already sense what you were about to say", I said. "Well, you're not fun then", dad said. Excuse me? I give him a "What the hell" type face before continuing to eat. "Do you think we can meet with Dakota anytime soon?", mum asked.

I swear, it feels like she's trying to get me to date someone rather than stopping me from it. Everytime any of my guy friends come over, she always tries to 'subtly' hint them to date me. Yeah, right. That happened the last time and it didn't go well at all. Needless to say, when I do bring him over, introductions will be cut to name, house address and interests for my parents.

I don't need them scaring Dakota with their 'subtle' hints and infinite questions. I swear, they're like a vessel of questions because I remember the last time they asked a fur questions and it ended up being an hour of them asking about 129 questions. Yes, I counted because I had nothing to do back then.

I finish my dinner and excused myself to go to my room. Once I did, I flopped onto the bed and grabbed my phone. I turned it on to see a message from Dakota. It was a short message that was sent about 10 minutes ago. He asked, "Hey, have you had dinner?"

Jasper: Yeah, just had dinner. How about you?

Dakota: I'm having dinner right now. Eating out at a restaurant.

Jasper: Oh, cool. Also, I want to thank you for being my friend :)

Dakota: No problem. To be honest, I wanted to become friends with you because you were really different from the others.

Jasper: Oh, haha. Yeah, my eyes are different xD

Dakota: No, I mean personality wise. You don't seem to care what others think and you just do your own stuff.

Jasper: Oh, wow. I...wasn't expecting that :I

Dakota: I know but when you're the supposed popular, you get tired of it.

Jasper: Supposed? Dude, you're literally everyone's idol.

Dakota: I don't see it. I'm just average, not some god they have to worship

Jasper: Are you kidding? Look at yourself. You're literally every guys dream look! You can't tell me you're just average.

Dakota: Really? I still don't see what the fuss is all about. You can literally find anyone like me on the Internet though. :/

Jasper: That's true but you're physically there, in front of them. You can find hot furs on the Internet but it's harder to meet them, let alone on a daily basis!

Dakota: I'm still not what they think I am. I'm just, well, me. Nothing special about myself really.

Jasper: I feel very concern for you but at the same time, I just think this will be what's in store for future messages though.

Dakota: You're very smart :)

Jasper: Well, sure. Anyway, can I ask you something?

Dakota: Sure

Jasper: Do you have time to, well, hang out at my house?

Dakota: Yeah, sure. But not on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays though

Jasper: Why?

Dakota: I have work during those days

Jasper: Oh, sure. How about this Saturday?

Dakota: Sounds good

Jasper: I'm gonna go to sleep now so good night.

Dakota: Well, good night then

I turn off my phone and place it onto the nightstand. I got up and went to get changed into my pyjamas before brushing me teeth. Once all that was done I went to my bed and flopped down onto it. I slowly close my eyes as I drift off to sleep. Thank god, I don't have homework on the first day of school.