The Animal Inside of Me

Chapter One - Passing Notes

            I was falling. But the funny thing was, I wasn’t afraid. Because, even after everything, I had no regrets. This wasn’t my first time falling. Unfortunately, I don’t believe Hunter would be there to catch me this time. And even more unfortunate thing was that James was sitting there, waiting for me at the bottom. And, suddenly, the fall seemed so much more terrifying. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Maybe I should go back. Back to the point-of-no-return.

Do you know what’s funny? When faced with a new situation, your mind has a tendency to flash back, searching your memories for a similar encounter. Or maybe that’s just me. Either way, when a situation is familiar enough, you get this feeling of de’ja’vu. My mind was going on overdrive, scanning every thought, hunting down every memory, and all I could think was: “He looks like Taylor Laughtner.” I think I blew a brain cell or something that morning.

“Class, this is an exciting day. Not only do we get a new student, we get two!” My teacher, Mrs. Marbles, said gleefully. Mrs. Marbles was a tiny woman with frizzy orange hair. No one could decide if this was her natural color or if she had dyed it. Her third hour History class currently had a bet going on how long it took her to comb it each morning. I had twenty bucks going on two hours.

Mrs. Marbles was grinning from ear-to-ear, looking like the principal had handed her free candy. And he may as well have, considering what was in front of me. I mean, all the girls in class put on their best flirting smiles and the class slut was muttering some very descriptive things under her breath. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the new eye candy!

Their names were James Smith and Hunter Carray. James was tall with wavy black hair and deep chocolate eyes. His luscious, kissable lips smiled at us, assuring every girl that there was no place he would rather be than with them. He scanned the room, making eye contact with every set of eyes. He wore a plain white T-shirt, a feat most guys weren’t able to pull off without looking dull or like slobs. But he managed to do it, matching it with a pair of faded blue denims. He defiantly worked out. The muscles rippling underneath the white cotton material was proof of that.

But James had some competition. Hunter wasn’t that bad looking himself. His hair was an unnatural shade of orange with black stripes running like lightning through it. His yellow eyes flashed brightly, constantly scanning the classroom, like he was searching for something, or someone. When his eyes landed on me, I felt a jolt run through my mind. And I got this strange feeling of De’Ja’Vu’. Hunter didn’t look as buff as James, though it was hard to tell. If he had any muscles, he concealed them carefully under a black T-shirt and dark jeans.

As I was sizing up my new classmates, Mrs. Marbles took it upon herself to assign the new kids their seats.

“Hunter you can take the seat behind Katharine.”  I perked up when I heard my name. “James you can sit behind Tina.” James walked down the isle of desks until he reached the seat behind the class slut, Tina, who was twisting her dyed blonde hair around her finger and giggling like a hyena. Hunter followed closely behind, moving gracefully around discarded books and bags until he reached the seat behind me.

“OK, class, let’s pick up where we left off. James, Hunter, if you have any questions, I’m sure your classmates will be happy to help you catch up.” Mrs. Marbles said. I suddenly became nervous. I couldn’t teach a fish how to swim, or an ameba to do…whatever amebas do naturally. If one of these guys asked me for help, I’d end up looking like a complete and utter blonde.

Mrs. Marbles began telling us about old, boring people from long ago that did a whole bunch of old, boring stuff that people now considered old, boring history. As Mrs. Marbles droned on, my mind went into a strange, but surprisingly comforting numbness. I was floating on cloud nine when I felt something bounce off my head and land with a soft “thump” on my desk. Looking down, I saw a tightly folded up piece of paper. I glanced around me for a clue as to who threw the paper. My eyes met James’s and he smirked. His eyes darted down to the piece of paper, then back up to me expectantly. Puzzled, I picked up the piece of paper and carefully unfolded it.