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The Pet Club at Hieron High School was run by RJ or Red Jack. No one in school knew what RJ was supposed to stand for but everyone started calling him Red Jack after he started working at the local McDonald's and wearing his red uniform shirt around everywhere he went. The name stuck and it stuck because he quite liked being called that. Red Jack could definitely put a stop to whatever bullshit he'd want to put a stop to with his intimidating height and booming voice.
The Pet Club met Thursday afternoons and most Thursdays it would just be Red Jack alone, waiting for someone to come and talk to him about his beloved pet horse, Ace, and share about their favorite pets as well. When it wasn't JUST RJ, it would be him and Fero Feritas, who didn't even have a pet anyway so it was always quite strange. And sometimes Adaire Ducarte would show up with her pet goose even though animals weren't allowed at school – it was after all a club for the DISCUSSION of pets – and her goose was incredibly mean and didn't like RJ much at all. Now, this might have discouraged other people... other high schoolers have put an end to their club for much less. But the chronic lack of attendance actually energized Red Jack into trying to get people to join. He put up posters around the school, he made announcements in every class, and he tried to get some of the cool kids to officially endorse his club. That last one just led to Adaire siccing her pet goose on him to get him to leave her and her girlfriend, Hella, alone and the others didn't lead to a sudden uptick in membership either.
A few lonely Thursdays later, Red Jack was pleasantly surprised when someone who wasn't Fero or Adaire or her asshole goose walked through the door to come to pet club. His name was Throndir and he had just transferred from Auniq Academy and he was cute as hell. Most importantly, however, was the fact that he had a pet and wanted to talk about his pet just as much as RJ wanted to talk about Ace. Throndir pulled out his wallet and pulled out a long string of photos of his big fluffy dog, Kodiak. The two of them spent a wonderful time sharing pictures and stories of their two best friends. As they got up to leave and head home for the day, RJ was hit with a sudden thought. What if he and Throndir met up outside of school some time so they could bring their pets with them and all four of them could hang out? Strictly for Pet reasons of course.... there was no other potential reason he'd want to have a nice afternoon with the cute new kid outside of school. Just Pets of course.
So RJ gave Throndir a fist bump and offered "Hey, buddy. I uhh work at the McDonald's across the street" and gestured to the logo and name tag on the bright red polo shirt he wore "and I uh get off work at 6 tonight and I was wondering if you would like to come by when I get off so you and me and Kodiak and Ace can all get together?" The words came out in an awkward rush but he finished it off with a big, toothy grin.
Throndir blushed up a miniature storm and gave Red Jack another fist bump and responded "Sure! Sounds great. We'll meet you there" then promptly ran off down the hall. RJ could see the blush reach the very tips of his ears as he left.
RJ was pretty distracted through his whole shift with the memory of Throndir's smile and all the really cute pictures of Kodiak he had shared. The end of the shift came as an absolute blessing and RJ grabbed some leftover food to bring as a snack for him and Throndir. Right as he exited the building he heard a loud boof and then caught sight of Kodiak as he made a beeline for him. Kodiak slid to a stop right at RJ's feet and then behind him came Throndir who was looking a little disheveled and had clearly had the leash pulled through his hands. The three of them took a walk to the stable a few blocks over where Ace lived.
Ace and Kodiak took to each other immediately in the same fashion their owners had and started a complex chasing game across the fields as Red Jack and Throndir plunked down in the grass to share their treats. The two of them started a long meandering conversation about all sorts of things as they worked their way through the burgers and fries. The sun was starting to set as they got to their apple pie pockets and it was becoming clear that it was time to go.
"Thanks so much for coming and for being such a great new member of Pet Club," RJ said as he extended a hand to help pull Throndir up to standing.
"Thank you for inviting me! But... if I'm being honest, I didn't just come for Pet Club" Throndir replied as he popped up and waved Kodiak to his side to get ready to leave.
RJ looked a bit crestfallen. This always happened. None of the other members were ever as excited about Pet Club as he was and it was looking like Throndir was the same way. His voice came out uncharacteristically quiet as he steeled himself for disappointment and asked, "Well, what did you come for then?".
Throndir smiled and replied, "RJ, I really like you". Then he popped up on his tiptoes to give RJ a kiss. The kiss was a bit awkward at first – RJ's braces were an obstacle that felt almost like kissing around tusks – but the two melted into it and it tasted like sweet apple pie filling and the start of something wonderful.