Free A Fox's Family by Brandon Varnell

Christine’s
eyes had widened in horror. The yuki-onna stared at Juan like he was
an eldritch horror born from the transient nightmares of HP
Lovecraft.
    “You
have no idea how much I’ve missed you,”
Juan
continued. “Every day since last we met, you have been all that
I can think about.”
    Lilian’s
face turned green. “Um. Ew. That’s just creepy.”
    “My
heart, it has ached without your presence to fill it with your sweet apetecer .”
Juan
held both hands to his chest.
    “Yeah,
well, my heart hasn’t been aching at all. Not until you showed
up at least.”
    Lindsay
watched, partially amused but mostly creeped out, as this strange guy
continued spewing corny lines that sounded like something from a
Harlequin romance novel. Actually, thinking about it, those lines
might have been even worse than the corniest, trashiest romance novel
around.
    Juan
sighed, looking ready to swoon as he stared at Lilian. “Ah, you
are like a ray of bright sunshine caressing my skin, ma
hermosa de flor. ”
    That
seemed to be the final straw for Lilian. Her already green face
turned even greener and, before anyone could say another word, the
beautiful vixen rushed off.
    “Scuse
me.”
    Lindsay
watched as Lilian shoved her way through the crowd and jumped off the
bleachers, heedless of the nearly fifteen foot drop. She, Christine
and Juan all rushed over to the railing, and were just time to see
the redhead run into the women’s restroom.
    “I
wonder why she was in such a hurry?”
Juan
pondered out loud, causing both Lindsay and Christine to stare at the
boy like he’d just offered them a packet of used condoms. The
young man turned to them, his hair bouncing with the motion. “Do
you think it was something I said?”
    ***
    “Hey
man, good job today.”
    “Nice
work, Kevin.”
    “Man,
you were fast, dude.”
    Ever
since the track meet had come to an end, Kevin had been congratulated
by just about everyone on his team. He would admit that it felt nice
to have so many people appreciate and respect the effort he put into
running, but it also made him feel more than a little awkward. His
head seemed almost ready to burst, and there was this inexplicable
feeling in his chest, a most bizarre warmth that caused him to feel
elated and uncomfortable.
    “Ha
ha! You should see how red your face is!”
    As
Chase pointed and laughed at him, Kevin felt his face, which had
already been fit to fry eggs on, burn hot enough to put the sun to
shame.
    “Be
quiet,”
Kevin
snapped. “You’re just jealous because I beat you in both
the one-hundred and two-hundred meter dash.”
    “Hmph!
Whatever.”
Kasey
Chase crossed his arms over his chest and looked away. “All
that means is I have to work harder to beat you next time. Nothing
more.”
    “Keep
thinking that. Maybe one day it will come true.”
    Chase
scowled at Kevin, who pulled down his eyelid and blew the older boy a
raspberry.
    After
taking a shower, Kevin donned his normal clothes; faded blue jeans
and a dark orange T-shirt. He laced up his sneakers and was about to
make his way outside, when several members of the track team
intercepted him.
    “Hey
man, we’re all about to head over to Katherine’s house to
celebrate,”
one
of them, a tall guy Kevin thought was named Ian, said. “You
wanna come?”
    Kevin
was startled for a moment. Although he got along well enough with the
other track members, they were all older than him. He and his friends
were the only sophomores on the entire team, so while everyone was
nice, the older members tended to exclude them from their after track
activities.
    “Uh,
thanks, but Lilian and I actually made plans tonight. Sorry.”
    Ian
chuckled. “Spending some time with your girl? I completely
understand. Your girlfriend’s a fox.”
    Kevin
felt wry amusement at that comment, even as his cheeks heated up.
“You’ve got no idea.”
    Heading
outside after saying goodbye to his friends and the other track
members, Kevin went to meet up with