The Werecat; The Story of Ronnie

Thirteen

Since Ronnie found what made him special, he didn't have a class with Lulu anymore. Instead, he had that class replaced with Transformation. It was supposed to help him control when and where and how he changed, but, remembering Madame Camille's words, he knew that it was just a load of bullshit. Still, he went, and he took the empty next to a sandy haired boy named Phillip Peters.

Phillip was a sweet boy, with sandy hair that fell in his eyes and light coloured skin. Ronnie knew the kid was built, but he hid it underneath sweaters all the time. The most remarkable thing about him, however, were his eyes. They were a bright, piercing gray, and from what he heard, they were hereditary. His father had them, his grandfather, so on and so forth. He always seemed to leave a girl speechless with those eyes and his shy and innocent demeanour, especially his blonde-haired-blue-eyed girlfriend, Charlotte Spence. Together, they were the type of couple you'd only see pictures of online, cute and perfect and never unhappy.

The boy looked up when Ronnie sat and gave him a soft smile. Phillip was here because he could shift into a panther at will, but had a hard time controlling it. He'd gotten better in the past years, but once in a while, he'd be seen walking around with whiskers or a tail. Ronnie returned his smile and sat, tucking his bag under his desk.

From the back of the room, a calico cat came trotting in, tail held high. Ronnie raised an eyebrow and watch curiously as the cat trotted confidently up to the front of the room, leaped onto the professor's desk, and sat down. It's amber eye scanned the small crowd of students with a blank expression, then, with a soft mrow, it started to groom itself.

Ronnie leaned sideways and whispered in Phillip's ear, "Where's the teacher?"

"Right there," Phillip whispered back, and pointed at the grooming cat. Ronnie's eyebrows shot up into his hairline, surprised. He slowly sat back up and waited patiently.

The cat finished grooming, then jumped off the desk. In the second it was in the air, it shifted and changed into a tall, lean man with shaggy blonde hair and friendly blue eyes. He smiled and folded his arms across his chest, looking them each in the eye.

"Today," the man announced, his hands moving into his pants pockets, "we'll be going straight to practical work. But first, we have a new student, Ronnie Macmillan." Their eyes met, and Ronnie gave a stiff nod.

"Hullo, Professor Masters," Ronnie said. Professor Masters smiled, his eyes crinkling a little at the corners, and he walked behind his desk.

"Now," he started, placing his hands on his desk top, "Let's get started! I want all the desks moved to the walls."

As one, the class stood and started pushing desks and chairs out of the way, the legs scraping noisily against the floor. Ronnie helped out, glad to be doing practical instead of theory work. He placed his bag on top of one of the desks once the room was clear and turned to the wide open floor space. He didn't realize how big the classroom really was.

Professor Masters stepped into the centre of the floor, rolled the sleeves of his button down up to his sleeves, then spread his arms wide. "Make a circle," he asked, and the students surrounded him in a wide circle. Ronnie couldn't help but notice how everyone listened without arguing. Clearly, this teacher had gained the respect of all of his students. How, he didn't know, but it was impressive.

First, he pointed at a girl with pointed ears and bleach-blonde hair. Ronnie knew her name was April, and he knew how freaky she was between the sheets. April stepped forward, winked when she caught Ronnie's eye, and turned into a large grey wolf. She shook out her fur and sat on her haunches, looking quite pleased with herself. The class applauded her, Ronnie laughing internally. That explained why she was such a beast in bed.

Next up was a scrawny boy with webbed fingers, who tried to turn himself into a frog, but ended up with human feet instead of frog feet. Student after student went, some completing their transformations, some turning halfway or only parts of the way, and some failing altogether. Phillip went halfway through and successfully turned into a small panther cub, to which the girls simultaneously went 'Awwwww'.

Last was Ronnie. They all looked expectantly at him, some with fear, most with excitement. Not many had seen his werecat form, but those who had were the ones who were terrified. Ronnie stepped forward, frowning. He had no idea whatsoever to how he was supposed to just... Change. He stood in silence for almost five minutes, then shrugged and said, "I can't."

Relief spread across the faces of the scared, and a couple soft snickers could be hear. Professor Masters, however, just raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why not?"

"Because," Ronnie stated simply, "Lulu's not in danger." It sounded like a bullshit excuse, but it was the truth. Lulu wasn't in harm's way, wasn't in a life or death situation, so he couldn't change. Professor Masters just nodded, deep in thought.

"And what if she were?" he asked in a low tone. It hinted at a plan to put her in harm's way, and Ronnie wasn't happy. His eyes narrowed in return.

"Then I'd take her out of danger," he growled, crossing his arms tight. Whatever his professor was planning, he wanted no part of it. They stood staring at each other for a long time, tension building in the room around them. He was vaguely aware of Phillip stepping away from him and out of his line of sight.

"What if," Professor Masters said slowly, "she was in danger right now, and you didn't know it?"

That caught him off-guard. What if she was? What if someone was trying to hurt her right now, and he wasn't there to help her? No, he would feel her pain. They were connected. Weren't they?

As his mind raced with possibilities, building every scenario possible, Professor Aaron Masters' face grew more and more satisfied. Students moved away from Ronnie, huddling in groups against the walls. Ronnie let out a low growl, his mind closing off to everything but the thought of Lulu. Lulu being kidnapped; Lulu being tortured; Lulu being raped; Lulu being beaten. A snarl slipped passed his lips and he found himself on the ground, standing on all fours, his lips curled back to reveal abnormally long canines. A couple girls screamed, and the boys made a line in front of them, trying to be brave. Professor Masters, however, didn't flinch, didn't back away. And, surprisingly, neither did Phillip.

"There we are, " Professor Masters said calmly, like Ronnie just turned into a fluffy bunny rather than a massive jaguar. "Now, get out of it." Phillip's eyes were full of wonder and he stepped forward, hand outstretched. Ronnie's snarl relaxed to a low growl, relaxing muscles he didn't know were tensed. He let the boy run a hand through his fur, down his front leg to his paw. Phillip placed his hand flat on the floor, next to his paw, and smiled softly. Next to Ronnie's massive front paw, his hand looked like a child's.

"That's so cool, Ronnie," Phillip said softly in his ear, and Ronnie's growl turned into a purr. The boy was feeding his pride, which calmed his mind. He sat on his haunches and watched as Phillip wrapped his arms around his neck in a hug, smiling all the while. The other students were brought out of their stupor, their courage boosted by Phillip's bravery, and, one by one, they inched closer to Ronnie. His purring increased with the attention, and he licked the faces of some of the girls he used to sleep with. Whatever fear they had earlier was quickly replaced with awe, and they all took turns running their hands through his silky fur or scratching him behind his ears or under his chin. He closed his eyes and stretched his neck out, purring loudly.

They spent the rest of the class practicing shifting from their human forms to their animal forms, each taking a turn playing with Ronnie. None of their forms could compare to Ronnie's large and majestic form, not even April in her wolf form, or sweet little Angela in her swan form.  But they all mingled and played as animals, with Professor Masters sitting cross-legged on his desk, watching over them with a smile.

The end of class bell came too quickly, and Ronnie had managed to shift back into his human form. Like last time, his clothes had ripped during the change, and he was left in his plaid boxer shorts. It got him a few giggles, but everyone was so impressed with his cat form that nothing serious was said. As the class filed out into the hall, Ronnie was stopped by Professor Masters' voice.

"Yes, sir?" he asked, turning and slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Great job today," he complimented him, smiling. "Tonight's homework; Figure out how to shift without losing your clothes."

Ronnie smiled, gave the man a salute, and headed out to his next class.