Like You More Than a Friend

chapter 7

It was Monday. A new day, a new sober Kara. Spencer, Irina, and Kara met up at their usual spot by the oak tree next to the parking lot.

Spencer, with his tall self, saw Sarah before the rest of them did.

"Sarah! Over here!" He called.

Sarah, getting closer now, waved to them. There was a green lump on her arm.

"What the hell is that?" Kara asked, pointing to Sarah's arm.

"Are you still drunk or something? That's a chameleon." Irina pointed out.

"Um, hi, guys. This is Rainbow," Sarah said as she approached the group.

"Rainbow Sunshine Sparkles," Spencer corrected.

"Ew." Kara made a face. Sarah stared at her blankly. Kara backtracked. "I mean, no, no, not ew."

"Are you sure you're allowed to bring a chameleon to school?" Irina asked.

"Nope," Sarah answered.

"What's that?" Kelly asked, walking towards them.

"Oh, hi." Irina blushed.

"It's a chameleon," Spencer said. "Rainbow Sunshine Sparkles."

"Oh. Cool! I remember you saying you had one of those. Irina, can I talk to you for a sec?" Kelly motioned away from everyone else.

"Oh, sure," Irina answered, and left to talk with Kelly.

"Anyways, how are you supposed to keep that thing alive in a school full of kids?" Kara asked.

"Um, I don't know." Sarah thought for a moment. "I guess I just keep him with me the whole time?"

The bell rang and they all parted ways. Sarah headed to history class for first period.

-----

"Hi, Mr. Henault," Sarah greeted the teacher as she sat down.

"Hey, Sarah." He looked down at Sarah's arm and raised an eyebrow. "What is that?"

"Umm, don't tell anyone, okay? It's my chameleon, Rainbow."

"Oh. Sure. Yeah, that's definitely not allowed, but I don't get paid enough to do this anyways. Can I hold it?" Sarah smiled. There's a reason why Mr. Henault's one of the most respected and well-liked teachers at Beckman High. Sarah carefully placed Rainbow on Mr. Henault's shoulder and he immediately seemed very comfortable sitting there.

As more students trickled into the classroom, they became fascinated with Rainbow. After he explained that it was Sarah's pet, the students agreed to not tell anyone about the little rule-breaking going on in the classroom.

Mr Henault proceeded to teach the rest of the class with Rainbow undisturbed on his shoulder. As first period ended, students chattered about Rainbow's presence in the classroom.

"Thanks for that, Sarah," Mr. Henault said, leaning down so that Sarah could take Rainbow off. Rainbow seemed reluctant to leave his tall warm perch. "That was quite the memorable class."

-----

In second period, Mrs. Dakota droned on about sentence clauses as Sarah desperately tried to sit still. She had to go to the bathroom, but she couldn't take Rainbow with her.

"Hey," Sarah whispered to the tall boy sitting next to her. His hoodie, which read Beckman Athletics, seemed big enough to hide a chameleon. "Can you help me hide this?"

"Umm, sure..." He reached out, took Rainbow, and slipped him under his hoodie.

She whispered thanks, then raised her hand. Mrs. Dakota, spotting her, looked very annoyed.

"Yes?" Mrs. Dakota called on her.

"Can I go to the bathroom?" Sarah asked.

"It's 'May I'. Fine. Go quick," Mrs. Dakota huffed, then resumed teaching.

Sarah left the classroom as quickly as she could while still being polite.

-----

Sarah slipped back into her seat as Mrs. Dakota re-explained what a predicate was for the fifth time.

"Thanks," Sarah whispered as she reached her hand out to the tall boy.

He reached a hand into his hoodie to retrieve Rainbow. Suddenly, his eyes went wide as his hands scrambled all over his hoodie. Sarah caught on to what he was doing.

"Where is he?" Sarah half-whispered, half-yelled. He gave an apologetic look and shrugged.

Sarah was absolutely fuming. Lucky for her, class let out five minutes after.

Her next class, science, included Spencer as one of her classmates.

"Where's Rainbow Sunshine Sparkles?" Spencer asked jokingly.

"I... I lost him. I don't know where he went." Sarah started tearing up at the mention of him.

"Wait, what?"

"I gave him to this guy that sits next to me in class so I could go to the bathroom and when I came back, he was gone."

"Oh, damn. Who was the guy?"

"Um... kinda big and tall? And darkish brown hair... green eyes, I think? And he had a long neck."

Spencer immediately knew who she was describing. "Marcus Travek?"

"Maybe?"

"Well, shit. Um, alright. During lunch, we'll go look for him, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you."