Phantom Janitor, Chapter One!

(As promised! Here is chapter one of my rewrite of The Phantom Janitor. Enjoy! And let me know what you think!)

Derrick Hilman’s sound sleep was interrupted as the opening notes of The Phantom of the Opera played from his now vibrating phone. He blinked away the remnants of sleep as it tried to take him back to dreamland. He slowly sat up and stretched, letting out a loud yawn as he sleepily listened to the music coming from his phone, nodding his head to the music.

Fwomp!

A pillow hit the timber wolf right in the schnoz.
“Turn off your alarm!” Derrick’s roommate, Franklyn (better known as Frankie,) grumbled from the bed on the other side of the room.

Derrick grabbed the pillow and threw it back over to Frankie’s side of the room. “Good morning to you too.” He took his phone off his bedside table, turning the alarm off.

Frankie took the pillow and put it over his face, groaning into the pillow. He sat up abruptly, glaring across the room at Derrick, the snow leopard’s fur was frizzed on his neck and head. “No, it’s not! I swear, you woken up to the same damn song every morning for the past two years! There are other showtunes you could wake up to!”

Derrick slid off his bed, yawning again. “Yeah. But I love Phantom.”

“I know, I know.” Frankie grumbled, also getting up from his bed. He moved to start rooting through his drawers. “But I love getting a full eight hours of sleep.”

“Ah, is that why you were on your phone till midnight last night? You knew it was a school morning.” Derrick put his cellphone back on his bedside table, then stood to go to his dresser.

Frankie grabbed some clothes and draped them over his shoulder. “Yes. And?” He turned, flicking his tail as he left their bedroom. “I’m going to shower.”

Derrick chuckled and grabbed his own clothes. “Just be quick about it. It’s the first day of the new school year. New year, new teachers. Maybe even some new classmates. Maybe some new girls who won’t think you’re a weirdo?” He teased his friend.

“Hah!” Frankie stuck his tongue out at the timber wolf as he peeked back into the room. “You and Rowley used that excuse on me last year! It won’t work again.”

Derrick checked his phone, then grinned. “You know Rowley is already there. He says there’s this foreign exchange girl there you’d love.” His eyes flicked to the doorway as Frankie’s head disappeared again. “She’s a dingo.”

“A dingo?” Frankie stepped back into the doorway, eyes narrowed as he looked at Derrick.

“Yep. That’s what he said.” Derrick watched the leopard size him up, trying to determine if he was being honest. Then he groaned, stomping back into the bedroom. “Dammit, now I have to rethink my entire outfit.”

Derrick grinned and took the opportunity to slink out of their room, “And that,” He clicks his tongue, “is how you get first dibs on the shower.”

“How dare you!” Frankie yelled as Derrick hurried down the hallway to the restroom, closing the door. That cat was so gullible.

Twenty minutes later, Derrick was sitting in the kitchen eating a warm strawberry pop-tart.

Frankie’s parents, Frank and Evelyn Christopher, milled around the kitchen getting ready for their own days. Derrick smiled as he watched them. For the past two years, they’d basically stepped in as his parents, which was a godsend. His family life had gotten complicated over the last seven years, with his dad’s death, his new step-dad, and the accident that had landed his mother in assisted living. It had been a lot for Derrick. And two years ago, it had gotten to be too much for Derrick to handle. He wasn’t able to live with his step-family anymore. His step-dad and two step-siblings were awful to him, and he was happy that the Christophers had swooped in to take him in after everything that happened.

“Derrick?”

He jumped, then smiled up at the snow leopard before him. “Yes, ma’am?”

Evelyn looked down at him, then at the pop-tart on his plate. “You didn’t take that from Frankie’s stash, did you?” She chuckled to herself, like she already knew the answer.

Derrick gave her an awkward grin, picking it up and taking another bite. “How mad do you think he’ll be if he finds out it was the last one?”

Evelyn winced. “Oooh. You’re going to be in trouble, that’s for sure.”

Frank came up behind his wife, kissing her cheek. “Who’s in trouble? Not me, right?”

Evelyn chuckled, “Derrick didn’t learn his lesson from last week and swiped another one of Frankie’s pop-tarts.”

“Oho!” Frank chuckled. “Get ready for an earful.” He waved his paw. “Gotta go, fam.” He chuckled. “I am so hip with the kids.”

Derrick rolled his eyes, grinning at the older leopard’s goofy expression as he left the kitchen.

As he took another bite of the pop-tart, he heard an angry gasp. “Derrick Matthew Hilman!”

Derrick swallowed his bite of pop-tart and grinned at the fuming snep who’d just entered the kitchen. “Yes, mom?”

Frankie growled. “Don’t call me that.”

“Don’t use my middle name!” Derrick wiggled his eyebrows as he finished off the pop-tart and licked his fingers.

“Don’t eat my pop-tarts, you douche!”

Evelyn choked on her sip of coffee and glared at her son. “Franklyn!”

“Sorry!” He walked to the cabinet, opening the doors. “At least you didn’t eat…” His voice trailed off as he looked into the cabinet. His slowly turned his fiery gaze to Derrick. “I take it back. I’m not sorry.” He snatched a new box from the cabinet, ripping the fresh box open.

Evelyn chuckled as she picked up her keys from the kitchen counter. “Behave, you two. I’ve got to go. Make sure you get to school on time, m’kay?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Derrick smiled, getting up to put his plate in the sink.

Frankie muttered as he unwrapped his pop-tarts and put them in the toaster.

Evelyn raised her eyebrows. “What was that?”

“I said have a good day, mom.” Frankie raised his voice a little.

“Mmhm.” She chuckled, going over to him and ruffling his fur. “You too. Both of you.” She pointed at them as she left the kitchen. “Have great days.”

“Thanks, mom!” Frankie called after her, turning to look at Derrick.

Derrick grinned back, being the little pot-stirrer he was.

Frankie cracked a small smile. “Jokes on you. Exposing the cracks in my armor will only make me smarter.”

“Oh?” Derrick grinned. “So will you be moving your stash back to your sock drawer? Or will you be putting it with your stash under the bathroom sink?”

Frankie’s smile disappeared. “You sneaky…” His ears perked up, and he looked toward the kitchen door before mouthing the word he wanted to say.

Derrick chuckled, “What was that?” He cupped a paw by his ear. “I couldn’t hear you.” As he did this, his phone dinged and he looked at the screen.

Ernesto…

While he didn’t live with his step-dad, he still had the misfortune of being employed by him. His eyes scanned the text. “Shift starts at 3:30. Don’t be late. Theatre Crew there till 7 tonite.”

“Is it the jackal?”
His face must have reflected his mood. He swiped the text away and looked up at Frankie. “Yeah.” He stood from the table, then went to retrieve his backpack. “He was letting me know what time work starts today.”

“Does it start later today? Or earlier?” Frankie followed Derrick to the front door, grabbing his own backpack.

“Nope. Starts the same time as it usually does. Ernesto just doesn’t trust me.” Derrick sighed, slipping one of his backpack straps over his shoulder. “Can’t really blame him.”

Frankie didn’t say anything.

Derrick turned around to look at Frankie, who was playing with his keys. “Frankie?”

Frankie looked up at Derrick. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. I mean, it’s been two years. You can’t beat yourself up like this.” He walked around Derrick and opened the front door, holding it open for his friend. “I don’t understand why you still tolerate working for him after all the stuff you had to put up with.”

“You know why… The theater is important to my mom.” Derrick turned and walked past Frankie, out onto the front porch. He started walking down the porch steps, looking at Frankie’s truck.

“So are you.” Frankie closed the door, following Derrick down the steps.
Derrick kept walking, stopping in front of the passenger’s side of Frankie’s truck. “I can’t afford to make things worse… She’s been through enough.” He opened the door, climbed inside, and buckled himself in.

He could see Frankie looking at him through the windshield. He did his best to avoid the feline’s beady eyes. He looked down at his phone, pretending to answer a text. He knew exactly what Frankie wanted him to do… What he needed to do… But he couldn’t. Not yet. His mom was making such positive strides in her rehab. He couldn’t ruin it.

The door opened, and Frankie climbed in.

Derrick looked over as the leopard put the key into the ignition and started the engine.

“So,” Frankie sighed, then flashed a grin at Derrick. “We have about thirty minutes till first bell.”

Derrick looked down at his phone again, checking the time to confirm this. “Uh… Yeah. We do.”

Frankie wiggled his brows. “Think there’ll be any hot new girls on campus?”

Derrick stifled a small chuckle. “Frankie, I lied about the dingo.”

Frankie nodded, “Yeah, you did. But you know me. I am not very picky. As long as she identifies as a girl, breathes oxygen, and isn’t repulsed by my presence,” He taps his fingers as he lists each quality. “I will most likely find her attractive.”

Derrick’s small smile stretched into a wide grin. “Too bad you can never check all three.” He stuck his tongue out.

Frankie returned the gesture, then turned to start backing down the driveway. “Tease all you want, dude. It’s senior year. I think it’ll be a good one.” As the car backed all the way down the driveway and onto the asphalt, Frankie shot Derrick a soft smile. “For both of us.”

Derrick smiled back, but he felt a sinking feeling in his chest. He could only hope that his friend was right. He really needed it to be a good year.

(EEEE! Thank you for reading! I worked really hard at this, so I really do hope you like it. Any feedback you have for me is welcomed with open arms!)