"Boys, I'll be in the car. Cooper, we do not bleat, gag, or cry when Noah eats. He has a different diet, but we love him because he's our friend." A lovely white-tailed deer placed a few dollars on the boy's table.

"Mom, I'm twelve. I can take it. I've seen him eat like, a dozen times." Cooper, embarrassed, gestured to his antlers. They just started to sprout from his head. He was very proud.

"Yes, yes, you're very grown." The doe gently pressed her black nose to his cheek. "Love you, baby. Now, you boys have fun. This money is for the tip. It's what you give to the waiter."

"Thanks Mrs. Cooper's mom!" Noah's wildly-gelled fur was just as flamboyant as his smile.

When the doe walked off, Noah threw a paw toward his friend. "You want the Greek salad, and the fruit bowl." He closed the menu, with a smirk.

Cooper, pleased, looked down at the carnivore-diet side of the menu. "You want the bison loin with venison blood as your sauce." He already knew he was right, based on the grin on his friend's face.

It was a game they played, whenever they went out to eat. They would guess what the other wanted, and see how right they were after they ordered the food. It was a fun game, for a rare set of friends.

The waiter came by, took their orders, and all was well. Then something better than food took Noah's eye.

"Whoa, look at those pretty girls!" Noah practically leapt out of his seat. Cooper glanced over his shoulder. Not far from them, there was another table. There must've also been a friendship date with them. The interesting thing was, these girls were from school. One was an okapi, and the other was a cougar. "Go on, man!" Noah urged. His paws waved wildly at his friend.

"W-what? Why m- why me?" Cooper nervously fiddled with his hooves. He didn't want to talk to the girls! "They don't even know my name."

"Sure they do. They've been in your class for like, ever!" Noah reached across the table, and pressed a paw pad against the bone coming out of the fawn's head. "Plus, your first set of antlers is coming in! You'll totally impress her!" If only the panther knew how to lower his voice, it wouldn't have been so embarrassing for the deer!

"I- I dunno, Noah. I don't think felines are into antl-lers." Cooper stuttered anytime he was nervous. He froze up as soon as he realized what he'd said. He stared at the girls, now because he was too scared to look at Noah.

"Pssh, yeah we are! Don't be a wussy!" Noah quickly made the same frozen expression. "Uhh, I mean... don't you think the deer girl is pretty?" He nervously chuckled. His paw pads started to sweat.

"I mean, yeah, I guess." Cooper's eyes honed in on the cougar. She had such a nice sundress on, and a bow by her ear. She was dainty, yet powerful. She was enchanting for someone his age.

At the same time, Noah focused on the okapi. Her beautiful patterns, her long ears, her sharp hooves, her tiny body, she was precious. He would treasure her and treat her right the way his mama taught him to love a girl. He could protect her. She would be safe from all the dangers of the world with him there. He could be her hero. He wanted to be her hero.

By now, both the boys knew they sought different prey. Neither of them minded, as long as they weren't alone. "Come on." Noah grabbed Cooper's scrawny arm, and yanked him onto his hooves. "Hey ladies!" The panther introduced himself with a smile. "We're in your class! Whatcha doing here?"

The girls looked surprised, confused, then amused. "Hey Noah. She's my study-buddy." The cougar girl took a sip of her milkshake. They both had one. "We're dividing variables and fractions." She licked her muzzle. Cooper was amazed by the size of her teeth. Noah's were bigger, but that was to be expected from a jaguar.

"I like your face." The deer, half-hidden behind Noah, spoke more to open air than the girls. They both started to giggle. The okapi girl toyed with the straw of her milkshake, and rolled her eyes. "I have a boyfriend, actually. But thanks." Neither of the boys got a response from the girl they wanted to talk to, but at least they were acknowledged.

Defeated by awkwardness, the tweens were about to retreat. Then the waiter came by. He lowered a wing, the food on their plates. "Do you sirs not want to sit down anymore?" He wanted to laugh, they could tell. "Come and sit down. You boys need a wing-man." The stork snickered at his own joke.

The girls looked at the plates, horrified. "You're eating meat in front of your herbivore friend?" The girls both exclaimed together. They scooted to the back of the booth, eyes wide. They were scared for different reasons. The cougar was amazed at the recklessness that Noah displayed with his diet. The okapi thought she'd be next on the menu. They both thought the panther would be a killer when he grew up. They both forgot about the deer entirely.

Cooper shook the image from his mind. He rummaged through the old box under his bed. He dropped his old baseball aside, dusted off some old rewards, and placed everything back in an orderly manner.

The memory had been brought on because his parents had saved his first set of antlers, and one of them was in the box. They were so small, he would've been embarrassed of them if he hadn't been in middle school.

"He always took the limelight. I always stayed in the background." The deer stared down at the awards. He'd noticed that most of them were Noah's, for athletics. There was one medal in there that Cooper had earned. It was second place, for public speaking. Noah had earned first. Being extroverted helped the panther. So did being a giant carnivore that everybody feared. Their mothers had both told Cooper that it was more impressive for a shy, skittish animal to earn second than it had been for Noah to earn first. That was one of the reasons Cooper had gone into debate in the first place. He wanted to excel somewhere where Noah didn't. He wasn't jealous of his friend, he just wanted some public attention, too. Now that he finally had it, though? He had no idea what to do with it. It wasn't as grand as he used to imagine. It wasn't bad, either. "All that matters is the cause. Help prevent carnivores from going feral." 

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