Living High School to the Fullest (Completed)

Chapter 17: Fluffy

**Recap**

What was going on?

Most of my classmates had formed a half circle back in one corner. I went over there as well, craned my neck and looked over Ethan’s shoulder in order to see for myself what had created this commotion.

I heard Josh gasp beside me.

Then I realized what all that ruckus was about.

And it hit me like a sledge hammer: I would have to be the one to fix this.

 

Chapter 17

“Fluffy!” I cried out with surprise. Now I knew what Brad had been up to and why he had wanted to talk to me. But why would he endanger the well-being of his precious pet? Only for the sake of a stupid prank?

“Fluffy?” Josh repeated bewildered at my side.

Before I could answer him, I heard a determined, deep voice say: “Let me through, I have a mop!”

I watched Rick, a sturdy guy wearing combat boots, shouldering a mop and marching through the throng of curious and slightly scared onlookers who backed off as soon as they saw him approach.

Immediately I pushed away Ethan, trying to get to poor frightened Fluffy in the very corner of the classroom as fast as possible. I ignored Dan, who apologized for Ethan being in my way, as well as the flurry of voices surrounding us, dead set on stopping Rick from hitting Fluffy with the mop he was carrying. Where did he get the mop from, anyway?

“Do you think it’s poisonous?” – “It’s huge! 40 inches, at least!” – “How the hell did it get in here?”

Mr. Winston was still trying to get the situation under control to no avail, Trish sobbing loudly. Gosh, that girl was way overreacting.

Little brother of mine, you will owe me big time!

“No, Rick, stop! You’re gonna hurt her,” I called out and yanked his black shirt from behind.

“Back off,” he grumbled and took a big step forward towards Fluffy, holding the mop in a spear-like position in front of him. “Drastic times call for drastic measures.”

“No, man, you back off,” Josh said in a threatening tone and took away Rick’s menacing cleaning utensil without further ado. “What do you wanna do? Mop it to death?”

Relieved that the immediate danger of mopster Rick hurting Fluffy existed no longer, I left the two boys staring daggers at each other behind and slowly made my way to the corner.

“Careful, Sarah! Don’t let it bite you,” a fearful girl whose voice I didn’t recognize warned me. “Don’t go any further! It’s poisonous! All red ones are poisonous!“

„Fluffy is perfectly harmless,“ I said as I bent down and slowly put my hands on her. Thankfully, she remained put. If she had decided to make a break for it, I would have lost it for sure. Chasing after Fluffy through the classroom or, even worse, outside to the pond – no fun.

“See? Nothing to worry about,“ I reassured my classmates as I lifted up Brad’s beloved pet snake, turning her a little for closer inspection. No injuries on her beautiful tricolor bands. The red, black and white coat was as flawless as ever.

“Can I touch it?” A bold Ethan asked me as he was eyeing Fluffy with a mix of genuine curiosity and awe.

„Sure, why not,“ I replied with a friendly smile. And only seconds later, I was surrounded by most of the students who had kept a fair distance to Fluffy in their little half circle before. It seemed like everyone wanted to at least admire the colorful snake from up close, some of them even touching her with a due amount of respect. Fluffy didn’t seem to mind at all. It’s really hard to tell with snakes, but I think she was enjoying the attention.

“She’s so smooth.” – “What kind of snake is it?” – “Is it yours?” – “Why did you call it Fluffy?”