Worth it

Show and Tell

Lars was pretty sure he was going to be the coolest kid in fourth grade the morning he walked in with a snake resting along his shoulders. The first person who had caught sight of the reptile had gasped, "Woah!", which then caught the attention of other kids, and soon, the whole class, except for Ronnie, was whispering and taking notice of the animal.

"Is that real?", one girl whispered.

"It can't be!", another murmured.

"Oh, she's real," Lars grinned proudly, glad he was getting attention, and relaxed in his seat. He was going to play it cool until he was called up to present.

Ronnie leaned over from behind Lars and whispered, "Where's Sugar's cage?"

"It was too heavy," he whispered back, "She can just sit on my shoulder all day."

"What if she tries to escape?"

"She can't get very far," Lars snickered, tapping her snout gently with his finger.

Once the teacher had walked in, she took notice of the animal, looking more than a little surprised, "Er...Lars, is this yours?"

"Yes, m'am," he nodded, "Show and tell."

"Oh right..." she smiled nervously, obviously not a big fan of snakes, "Well, now that class has begun, would you like to er...tell us about your pet?"

He nodded eagerly, and got up, walking in front of the class, lifting Sugar off his shoulders, balancing her in both hands, "This is Sugar, my pet corn snake. I got her when I was six years old on my birthday, and picked her out myself!"

When Sugar opted to keep trying to slither forward, Lars would maneuver his hands to keep her relatively still, "She uh...likes to play in my hands a lot."

"Why's her name Sugar?", one child piped up.

"Because she's white and sweet," Lars shrugged, giving the short answer he usually did for that question. When a handful of kids laughed at that, his ears turned red, and he stuttered, "A-Also uh...she didn't come when I called her 'Killer'..." and the somewhat teasing laughs turned to amused giggles. OK, that was better.

Lars then bragged, "When I first got her, she was no bigger than a pencil. Now she's almost as long as the length of my arms!"

Ronnie giggled a little, knowing Lars was exaggerating a bit. Sugar was small when he adopted her, but not as small as Lars had suggested. But he did have to give his friend credit for having taken such good care of the animal, she was quite lively, and growing bigger than the man at the pet store said she would.

"What does she eat?", another student asked.

"Mice!", Lars grinned.

"Eww!", a few children yelped.

"Hey, snakes have to eat too!", Ronnie defended his godsnake.

The teacher laughed, "Well, you certainly have an interesting pet, Lars."

"Thank you," the boy smiled, holding Sugar close to his chest, giggling when she poked his nose with her snout.

A few kids were still staring at the animal in awe, and once Lars went back to his seat, one of them asked to pet Sugar, and Lars was more than happy to allow it. All at once, half the class was surrounding his desk, showering the snake in attention, and crowding out Ronnie, who was trying to get in on the action, or at least high five his best friend.

Once the kids were told to go back to their seats, the teacher then asked Lars to put Sugar back in her cage, and Lars gulped.

"U-Uh...I didn't bring it."