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Sparks of Bucking Bronco - 8
7 years ago
General
Chapter 8: Reality is Fake
Buck woke up to knocking on the door. He laid on his bed staring at the ceiling as the sun shined through the window curtains covering the window. He didn’t move from his spot on the bed, making whoever was beyond the door knock again, only this time slightly more aggressive.
The voice was muffled through the wooden door,
“Buck? You up yet mate? We are going to be late for school.”
He slowly turned his head towards the voice, still not responding,
“Okay, I’m coming in. Make sure you’re covered and all yeah?”
The door slowly slid across the carpet that covered the floor in the room. Buck wasn’t used to that. He usually heard the scraping of a wooden door on a grainy wooden floor. Sitting up quickly, making sure his blanket was covering his lower half, Buck faced the monkey smirking back at him.
“Ah, so you are awake. My mom says that she made breakfast and wanted you to get dressed and all, alright? Don’t wanna miss the bus mate.”
“...Okay.”
Buck nodded and watched Ghozt leave the room, the door quietly shutting behind him. He watched the door slide silently along the carpet. His ears flicked upon hearing the click of the door setting into place within the frame. He sighed and threw the blanket from his body, standing up slowly, his wings unfurling from his back. Rubbing his eyes with one hoof, he adjusted himself in his briefs. His hooves were silent as they walked towards the dresser that held a reflection of Buck in the mirror. He looked away quickly, not wanted to see the face that stared back at him. Instead, he went to the closet that held his normal clothes. His hooves rummaged through the items being presented, his brow furrowing from some of the unfamiliar articles of clothing within the closet.
“They must’ve went shopping and stocked my…” he took a breath slowly as he chose his next words, “...the closet while I wasn’t here.”
He chose to wear something comfy. He grabbed a black fuzzy hoodie from the hangar as well as some gray sweatpants to accompany it. He left the hoodie down while he was inside the house, since he didn’t want to be rude to Ghozt and his family. While he was adjusting the strings on the hoodie, he paused.
This was Ghozt’s house.
He didn’t have a home anymore.
It had been months since the incident. Months for him to cope with the fact that he wouldn’t be able to give his mother a hug one more time. Months for him to realize that he couldn’t keep plunging that blade into… He stopped himself from following through in that thought and sighed heavily. He turned quickly, the black strings hanging from his hoodie flicking sideways as he opened his door to exit into the hallway, leaving the bedroom door open. Turning right, he headed down the stairs, his footsteps silenced by the carpeting for each step. The smell of pancakes hit his snout, making him mentally drool. His ears perked and twitched hearing the now familiar sounds of chatter being given from the primates sitting at the table with pancakes on each of their plates.
“… And yes dad, I got all my homework done. What do you take me for? A dumb monkey?”
A soft spoken voice was heard after,
“You’re my dumb monkey...”
“Ahh! Don’t pinch my face like that… It hurts ya know...”
A deeper yet gentle voice was heard which made Buck stop just around the corner, his hooves timidly placed on the now wooden floor,
“Where is Buck? You did wake him up didn’t you Ghozt?”
“Yeah… He was getting dressed I think.”
The mother spoke up again,
“You just waltzed into our guest’s room? I thought I taught you better than that Ghozt. Where are you manners?”
Buck’s ears flattened on his head as he listened to Ghozt’s mom speak. She probably didn’t mean it to be offensive, but Buck heard the same word repeat into his head.
Guest.
It wasn’t like he asked to be taken in for a while after the courts sorted out the works on how he was to get handled now that his parents were… “unavailable” as the detective put it. A guest was temporary, and not meant to cause a hassle for whomever graciously allowed him to stay at their home. Buck flashed back and remembered the words spoken to him as he stand outside his home, the lights flashing a blue and red hue on his house.
“We are going to find you a better home than this okay? Your parents are just unavailable at the moment. But don’t worry, the people who will take care of you will be better than what you had before, okay champ?”
Buck tuned his thoughts out and shook his head, his mane flopping back and forth as he turned and began heading back up the stairs. He suddenly didn’t feel like eating anymore. He took the first silent step up the flight before his ears twitched upon hearing his friends voice through a mouthful of pancakes,
“Mom… Buck isn’t a guest. He is my friend. Might even be my best friend. I know him like the back of my hand and he knows a lot about me too. If anything he is like a brother to me… So can you please not call him a guest? We also don’t care how long he stays right?”
There was a stunned silence before Buck heard Ghozt’s father scoot back in his chair, the wooden legs scraping against the wooden floor. Footsteps were heard and his father spoke up,
“No, we don’t mind him staying with us… But when did our son get so old at such a young age?”
“Hehe… When you and mom told me that I wouldn’t get to have my own brother. I had to make my own arrangements. And can you stop rubbing my head? You’re going to ruin my already messy hair.”
Buck held a hoof to his muzzle as he stifled a quiet sniffle as he listened to Ghozt’s words. No one had been so considerate to what he felt before. Not even his own family, besides his mother. He looked up, not letting the tears forming in the corners of his eyes fall down. He quickly, yet silently, made his way back up the stairs. He rubbed his nose and eyes as he calmed himself down and closed his bedroom door, causing it to echo with a loud click. He heard a slight pause in conversation downstairs as he walked back down again. He took a deep breath before smiling for the first time in a couple months. It was smile that wasn’t hindered by any regret beside the feeling of doubt of himself being able to fit in with the people that actually cared about him.
“Morning every-”
He huffed out loud as he took a step backwards from the monkey almost tackling him into a hug.
“Morning Buck!”
He wouldn’t fallen backwards had he not reacted immediately and regained his balance, thanks to his training in his old basement. He held his hooves around Ghozt’s slightly smaller frame to keep him from falling as the monkey grinned wildly up at him.
“And there is the kid we thought we had. Ghozt, let the boy breathe will ya?”
“Fine...”
Ghozt released the hug, letting Buck have his personal space. Buck chuckled at the primate’s actions and shook his head. The mother spoke up, her voice warming and welcoming,
“I’ve made pancakes. And the bus is going to be here in about 35 minutes, so both of you eat up and get ready for the day. Brushing those teeth, fixing you hair…”
She playfully glared at Ghozt, who blushed lightly and smiled sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.
“… and making sure your packs are all set for the day.”
Buck looked surprised,
“School?”
Ghozt turned around and walked backwards to his seat, sliding into it gracefully,
“Well yeah. All kids go to school. Well... now all kids go to school hehe… Don’t worry I’ll show you around. Noah and Liam will be on our bus too so you’ll have 3 people to sit by and talk too!”
Buck walked to a seat with a plate of food sitting in front of it, looking at the father,
“But I’ve never been to school before sir...”
“Never?”
“No sir.”
“Home schooled?”
Buck shook his head slowly, picking up a fork and knife and cutting into his pancakes.
“Well… uh...” He coughed into a paw, “Ghozt here can show you how things work around the place. And I’ll be there too so if you have any problems just let me know...”
“You’re going to be there, sir?”
Ghozt piped up with a mouthful of food,
“Yeah! Dad is the principal at DayView Elementary!”
“Really?”
“Mhmm… But that also means that having our work done is our top priority unless we want to get into trouble...”
Buck ate his food at a moderate speed, listening to the father and mother talk among themselves as well as Ghozt. He smiled as he saw how a family was supposed to work. He even chuckled at some of the banter that was exchanged in friendly manners. At the back of his mind, his mother’s image was being repeated. He was glad that he had some people that wanted him for him and not his past or his family history. He wished he could be with his mother though. She was the one person that would show unconditional love despite all of Buck’s mistakes.
Ghozt’s mother started clearing the plates as Ghozt scooted his seat back, getting up quickly,
“Buck, the bus will be here in 10 minutes. We’ve gotta get ready...”
“O-oh yeah…”
Buck followed his routine and felt his chair scrape lightly across the wooden floor from his hooves pushing against the edge of the table. He stood up and followed Ghozt to the bathroom upstairs, amused by how excited Ghozt’s tail was flicking with each step. He also blinked realizing he was staring and looked away quickly as they entered the bathroom. He jumped at the sight of the toothbrush being pushed into his face and took his with one paw as he watched Ghozt drop his paw and grab his own teeth cleaner. They both brushed their teeth in the mirror and took turns using the sink to rinse their muzzles clean of the toothpaste residue. Buck wondered why Ghozt hadn’t just used a different bathroom, but he decided to not question it. The primate looked like he was having a blast after all.
Buck grabbed some gel from the container on the counter and ran it through his mane, giving it volume besides it being slicked back. Ghozt just ruffled his hair with a paw and let his head fur run wild. They both ran from the bathroom and entered their rooms. Ghozt came out of his room with a satchel across his chest, but Buck exited with nothing in his hand. He didn’t have a bag yet so he was planning on winging it for his first day.
“Oh yeah. You didn’t get a bag yet… I think my dad actually got your pack ready though. Maybe mom did… One of them hehe… Come on, we’ve got only 5 lousy minutes yeah?”
Buck nodded and followed him down the stairs to where Ghozt’s mother was holding a nice backpack in her paws by the top handle.
“Here hun, this is for your first day. We picked it out for you especially.”
Buck took the black strap into his hoof and smiled gently, feeling the smooth leather of the modern bag in his fingers. He put it on behind him and felt the weight of items inside. Before he could even question what it was, the Ghozt’s dad spoke with his gentle yet intimidating voice,
“We’ve already gotten your daily items stowed away in there Buck. All you need to do is get to class on time and join in on any of the subjects being learned today yeah?”
“Yes sir. And thank you both so much. I really don’t have a way to repay all of you for being so kind to me.”
He felt an arm around his neck and looked to his side to see a Ghozt smiling softly,
“Don’t worry about it mate. We love having ya around. Wouldn’t trade ya for the world...”
Buck blinked away a single tear that threatened to form in his eyes. He shook his head lightly and shrugged, making the backpack on his back slide upwards as he tightened the straps hanging slightly from the sides of the bag.
“Now, off to the bus you two… If ya miss it, you’re both walking to school...”
They both spoke in unison, Buck holding the door open for Ghozt to exit through as the monkey double checked his satchel so nothing would fall out.
“Yes sir.”
They made their way to the bus stop to see Noah and Liam waving at them as the bus was seen pulling up near the bus stop. They both started jogging to catch it on time and Buck chuckled as he felt his school items being jostled around inside the pack. He smiled and let Ghozt on before stepping onto the bus himself, his eyes wandering around, seeing the almost empty bus. He didn’t know that most other students weren’t already picked up yet. They were one of the first stops so they got first dibs on seats. He looked down the road to see his house. Then, upon realization, he waved.
He wasn’t looking at the house he grew up in for 7 years.
He was looking at the house that welcomed him with open arms.
He was looking at what he now called, his house.
Buck woke up to knocking on the door. He laid on his bed staring at the ceiling as the sun shined through the window curtains covering the window. He didn’t move from his spot on the bed, making whoever was beyond the door knock again, only this time slightly more aggressive.
The voice was muffled through the wooden door,
“Buck? You up yet mate? We are going to be late for school.”
He slowly turned his head towards the voice, still not responding,
“Okay, I’m coming in. Make sure you’re covered and all yeah?”
The door slowly slid across the carpet that covered the floor in the room. Buck wasn’t used to that. He usually heard the scraping of a wooden door on a grainy wooden floor. Sitting up quickly, making sure his blanket was covering his lower half, Buck faced the monkey smirking back at him.
“Ah, so you are awake. My mom says that she made breakfast and wanted you to get dressed and all, alright? Don’t wanna miss the bus mate.”
“...Okay.”
Buck nodded and watched Ghozt leave the room, the door quietly shutting behind him. He watched the door slide silently along the carpet. His ears flicked upon hearing the click of the door setting into place within the frame. He sighed and threw the blanket from his body, standing up slowly, his wings unfurling from his back. Rubbing his eyes with one hoof, he adjusted himself in his briefs. His hooves were silent as they walked towards the dresser that held a reflection of Buck in the mirror. He looked away quickly, not wanted to see the face that stared back at him. Instead, he went to the closet that held his normal clothes. His hooves rummaged through the items being presented, his brow furrowing from some of the unfamiliar articles of clothing within the closet.
“They must’ve went shopping and stocked my…” he took a breath slowly as he chose his next words, “...the closet while I wasn’t here.”
He chose to wear something comfy. He grabbed a black fuzzy hoodie from the hangar as well as some gray sweatpants to accompany it. He left the hoodie down while he was inside the house, since he didn’t want to be rude to Ghozt and his family. While he was adjusting the strings on the hoodie, he paused.
This was Ghozt’s house.
He didn’t have a home anymore.
It had been months since the incident. Months for him to cope with the fact that he wouldn’t be able to give his mother a hug one more time. Months for him to realize that he couldn’t keep plunging that blade into… He stopped himself from following through in that thought and sighed heavily. He turned quickly, the black strings hanging from his hoodie flicking sideways as he opened his door to exit into the hallway, leaving the bedroom door open. Turning right, he headed down the stairs, his footsteps silenced by the carpeting for each step. The smell of pancakes hit his snout, making him mentally drool. His ears perked and twitched hearing the now familiar sounds of chatter being given from the primates sitting at the table with pancakes on each of their plates.
“… And yes dad, I got all my homework done. What do you take me for? A dumb monkey?”
A soft spoken voice was heard after,
“You’re my dumb monkey...”
“Ahh! Don’t pinch my face like that… It hurts ya know...”
A deeper yet gentle voice was heard which made Buck stop just around the corner, his hooves timidly placed on the now wooden floor,
“Where is Buck? You did wake him up didn’t you Ghozt?”
“Yeah… He was getting dressed I think.”
The mother spoke up again,
“You just waltzed into our guest’s room? I thought I taught you better than that Ghozt. Where are you manners?”
Buck’s ears flattened on his head as he listened to Ghozt’s mom speak. She probably didn’t mean it to be offensive, but Buck heard the same word repeat into his head.
Guest.
It wasn’t like he asked to be taken in for a while after the courts sorted out the works on how he was to get handled now that his parents were… “unavailable” as the detective put it. A guest was temporary, and not meant to cause a hassle for whomever graciously allowed him to stay at their home. Buck flashed back and remembered the words spoken to him as he stand outside his home, the lights flashing a blue and red hue on his house.
“We are going to find you a better home than this okay? Your parents are just unavailable at the moment. But don’t worry, the people who will take care of you will be better than what you had before, okay champ?”
Buck tuned his thoughts out and shook his head, his mane flopping back and forth as he turned and began heading back up the stairs. He suddenly didn’t feel like eating anymore. He took the first silent step up the flight before his ears twitched upon hearing his friends voice through a mouthful of pancakes,
“Mom… Buck isn’t a guest. He is my friend. Might even be my best friend. I know him like the back of my hand and he knows a lot about me too. If anything he is like a brother to me… So can you please not call him a guest? We also don’t care how long he stays right?”
There was a stunned silence before Buck heard Ghozt’s father scoot back in his chair, the wooden legs scraping against the wooden floor. Footsteps were heard and his father spoke up,
“No, we don’t mind him staying with us… But when did our son get so old at such a young age?”
“Hehe… When you and mom told me that I wouldn’t get to have my own brother. I had to make my own arrangements. And can you stop rubbing my head? You’re going to ruin my already messy hair.”
Buck held a hoof to his muzzle as he stifled a quiet sniffle as he listened to Ghozt’s words. No one had been so considerate to what he felt before. Not even his own family, besides his mother. He looked up, not letting the tears forming in the corners of his eyes fall down. He quickly, yet silently, made his way back up the stairs. He rubbed his nose and eyes as he calmed himself down and closed his bedroom door, causing it to echo with a loud click. He heard a slight pause in conversation downstairs as he walked back down again. He took a deep breath before smiling for the first time in a couple months. It was smile that wasn’t hindered by any regret beside the feeling of doubt of himself being able to fit in with the people that actually cared about him.
“Morning every-”
He huffed out loud as he took a step backwards from the monkey almost tackling him into a hug.
“Morning Buck!”
He wouldn’t fallen backwards had he not reacted immediately and regained his balance, thanks to his training in his old basement. He held his hooves around Ghozt’s slightly smaller frame to keep him from falling as the monkey grinned wildly up at him.
“And there is the kid we thought we had. Ghozt, let the boy breathe will ya?”
“Fine...”
Ghozt released the hug, letting Buck have his personal space. Buck chuckled at the primate’s actions and shook his head. The mother spoke up, her voice warming and welcoming,
“I’ve made pancakes. And the bus is going to be here in about 35 minutes, so both of you eat up and get ready for the day. Brushing those teeth, fixing you hair…”
She playfully glared at Ghozt, who blushed lightly and smiled sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.
“… and making sure your packs are all set for the day.”
Buck looked surprised,
“School?”
Ghozt turned around and walked backwards to his seat, sliding into it gracefully,
“Well yeah. All kids go to school. Well... now all kids go to school hehe… Don’t worry I’ll show you around. Noah and Liam will be on our bus too so you’ll have 3 people to sit by and talk too!”
Buck walked to a seat with a plate of food sitting in front of it, looking at the father,
“But I’ve never been to school before sir...”
“Never?”
“No sir.”
“Home schooled?”
Buck shook his head slowly, picking up a fork and knife and cutting into his pancakes.
“Well… uh...” He coughed into a paw, “Ghozt here can show you how things work around the place. And I’ll be there too so if you have any problems just let me know...”
“You’re going to be there, sir?”
Ghozt piped up with a mouthful of food,
“Yeah! Dad is the principal at DayView Elementary!”
“Really?”
“Mhmm… But that also means that having our work done is our top priority unless we want to get into trouble...”
Buck ate his food at a moderate speed, listening to the father and mother talk among themselves as well as Ghozt. He smiled as he saw how a family was supposed to work. He even chuckled at some of the banter that was exchanged in friendly manners. At the back of his mind, his mother’s image was being repeated. He was glad that he had some people that wanted him for him and not his past or his family history. He wished he could be with his mother though. She was the one person that would show unconditional love despite all of Buck’s mistakes.
Ghozt’s mother started clearing the plates as Ghozt scooted his seat back, getting up quickly,
“Buck, the bus will be here in 10 minutes. We’ve gotta get ready...”
“O-oh yeah…”
Buck followed his routine and felt his chair scrape lightly across the wooden floor from his hooves pushing against the edge of the table. He stood up and followed Ghozt to the bathroom upstairs, amused by how excited Ghozt’s tail was flicking with each step. He also blinked realizing he was staring and looked away quickly as they entered the bathroom. He jumped at the sight of the toothbrush being pushed into his face and took his with one paw as he watched Ghozt drop his paw and grab his own teeth cleaner. They both brushed their teeth in the mirror and took turns using the sink to rinse their muzzles clean of the toothpaste residue. Buck wondered why Ghozt hadn’t just used a different bathroom, but he decided to not question it. The primate looked like he was having a blast after all.
Buck grabbed some gel from the container on the counter and ran it through his mane, giving it volume besides it being slicked back. Ghozt just ruffled his hair with a paw and let his head fur run wild. They both ran from the bathroom and entered their rooms. Ghozt came out of his room with a satchel across his chest, but Buck exited with nothing in his hand. He didn’t have a bag yet so he was planning on winging it for his first day.
“Oh yeah. You didn’t get a bag yet… I think my dad actually got your pack ready though. Maybe mom did… One of them hehe… Come on, we’ve got only 5 lousy minutes yeah?”
Buck nodded and followed him down the stairs to where Ghozt’s mother was holding a nice backpack in her paws by the top handle.
“Here hun, this is for your first day. We picked it out for you especially.”
Buck took the black strap into his hoof and smiled gently, feeling the smooth leather of the modern bag in his fingers. He put it on behind him and felt the weight of items inside. Before he could even question what it was, the Ghozt’s dad spoke with his gentle yet intimidating voice,
“We’ve already gotten your daily items stowed away in there Buck. All you need to do is get to class on time and join in on any of the subjects being learned today yeah?”
“Yes sir. And thank you both so much. I really don’t have a way to repay all of you for being so kind to me.”
He felt an arm around his neck and looked to his side to see a Ghozt smiling softly,
“Don’t worry about it mate. We love having ya around. Wouldn’t trade ya for the world...”
Buck blinked away a single tear that threatened to form in his eyes. He shook his head lightly and shrugged, making the backpack on his back slide upwards as he tightened the straps hanging slightly from the sides of the bag.
“Now, off to the bus you two… If ya miss it, you’re both walking to school...”
They both spoke in unison, Buck holding the door open for Ghozt to exit through as the monkey double checked his satchel so nothing would fall out.
“Yes sir.”
They made their way to the bus stop to see Noah and Liam waving at them as the bus was seen pulling up near the bus stop. They both started jogging to catch it on time and Buck chuckled as he felt his school items being jostled around inside the pack. He smiled and let Ghozt on before stepping onto the bus himself, his eyes wandering around, seeing the almost empty bus. He didn’t know that most other students weren’t already picked up yet. They were one of the first stops so they got first dibs on seats. He looked down the road to see his house. Then, upon realization, he waved.
He wasn’t looking at the house he grew up in for 7 years.
He was looking at the house that welcomed him with open arms.
He was looking at what he now called, his house.
