Hunter
I want to be a tiger again! After fighting Joe and transforming the first time, I try to force myself back into a tiger but it never works. I don’t tell anyone. I am known for lying a lot and no one would believe me. I always feel exhausted and weary. I’ve also hit a growth spurt. I’ve gotten taller faster and my voice is beginning to change. My parents think it’s puberty but I think it has to do with my transformation. In the corner of my mind, I wonder if Katy noticed. But I mostly think about turning into a tiger. I don’t know what happened that day or why Joe was fighting me. I think of reasons why he’d attack me. We both hate each other. We fight a lot and insult each other all the time. We never went in an all-out brawl though. But now we have. I’m thinking about all this with Steve. I invited him over to my house to hang out. My parents were at work and I was bored. “I’m hungry.” I whine. “Yeah. Me too.” Steve groans. “Do you want curly fries?” he offers. “What? Where would we get curly fries?” I ask sitting up. “We could buy some from that new restaurant. It’s called Le Café or something.” Steve suggests. “I don’t have any money. My parents never pay me. They hate me.” I slouch down defeated. “Do you have money?” I ask hopefully. Steve shakes his head. “But I do have an idea of how we get them for free.”
I sit and watch Steve as he hacks into Le Café’s server. As he does it, he explains his plan. “So I’ll make it look like we ordered and paid for curly fries and they didn’t bring them,” He explains frantically typing. “Then you call and tell them to bring them.” He finishes. I grin. Steve is really techy but in a mischievous way, not a nerdy way. He hands me his cell phone. The number is already dialed. “Now call them. And use that deep after-puberty voice.” He adds. I blush wondering if everyone noticed that. “Hello. I ordered curly fries about an hour ago and they still haven’t arrived.” I say with a deep voice. “What’s your name?” a man asks. I look over to Steve. “Say your dad’s name.” he whispers. “Uh . . . my name is Bob.” I say quickly giggling. It’s not even my dad’s name it’s just the first name that came to my head. “Okay, Bob. Can you come and pick up your fries?” the man asks. “Sure. Thank you.” I say between giggles. I hang up the phone and start putting on my sweatshirt. “Where are you going? Did it work?” Steve asks eagerly. “Yep. They said to come pick them up. I fooled them so good.” I inform him. He laughs and licks his lips. “Great I’m starving.” He grabs his stomach and doubles over faking hunger pains. “C’mon let’s go.”
“So how’s May?” I ask as we walk over to Le Café. “Oh . . .” he blushes. “She’s good,” He looks around nervously like he expects her to jump out of a bush. “I really like her.” He whispers. “Are you official yet?” I demand wanting every detail. I had asked Krys to come with me and spy on their first date. She ended up leaving me in the bathroom. “I dunno. We never even held hands so I doubt it. I think we’re just friends.” He explains. “Why does it all have to be so complex?” The same guy who can hack into a computer doesn’t know if he has a girlfriend. I burst out laughing. Before he can scold me, we arrive at Le Café. It’s a cute place with bright neon colors and smiley faces. We exchange glances and walk in. When we do, I see there’s only one waitress and it’s a girl from our school. “Hey.” She mumbles. The restaurant is empty so she’s sweeping the floor. “Hi. I was talking to a man on the phone before. Do you know where he is?” I ask eagerly. “Probably in the back room.” She explains gesturing to a gray door that says Employees Only.
“I don’t think we can go in there.” Steve points out. The girl shrugs. I decide to just go forward and open the door. Before I do I turn to the girl. “How old are you anyway?” I ask. She looks pretty young to be working. “Sixteen.” She replies blushing. She looks younger than that and she knows it. “Well then.” I say pushing the door open. I look inside to see someone I know. I gawk. It’s the school nurse! Steve comes into the room behind me. “Hello . . .” I begin with a squeak. I wasn’t that scared of the nurse. He was just intimidating. “Hello. You must be the hackers.” He says coolly. Me and Steve exchange glances. “Shit.” I mutter. “If you wanted curly fries then you should’ve just paid for them to be delivered. It’s less work anyway.” He insists. “I thought you were a nurse. What are you doing here?” I ask. “What? A person has to be restricted to one job their entire life?” He glares at us. “Good point.” Steve mumbles. I wonder if he was going to call the police on two 12 year olds. Before he can decide the waitress comes bursting into the room. She sees me and Steve and hesitates. “B.B,” She begins. “Yes?” The man asks. “Um . . . Joe’s here.” She mutters to B.B. A gunshot rings out. I gasp. Joe! He must be looking for me. “Wait here.” B.B says dashing out of the room followed by the girl.
I know I have to fight Joe again so I follow them leaving Steve behind. I don’t see B.B anywhere but I see the waitress running out the back door. I follow her into a grassy area behind the building. She turns and sees me. “Go back inside!” she commands. “I can’t!” I shout angrily. “Oh look who it is.” A voice teases. I look up to see Joe. Red and glowing and big ears. He’s floating in the air. At this point I don’t have time for shock. “Go!” she yells. I stand firmly. “Sorry B.B.” She whispers pulling out a pink gem. She lifts it over her head. A pink glittery glow surrounds her. When it fades, everything about her has changed. She has two big, furry cat ears and a tail. She has pink streaks in her hair with lighter and darker highlights of brown. She wears a striped pink and green dress. She has pink boots and gloves. I gawk at her. I realize she looks the same way I did when I fought Joe. I had tiger ears and a tail. I’m astonished. “You’re one too?” I ask shocked. “One what? What are you talking about?” She asks studying me carefully. “I can do that too! I have tiger ears and a tail and I was beating the shit out of Joe! It was so cool. I was a freakin’ tiger! Or at least I was.” I mumble. I wish I could do it all again. Battle Joe with my epic tiger powers. Joe flies down in front of us.
“You can try to fight me. But I doubt you’ll beat me this time.” He taunts the unnamed cat girl. She fought him too? I still don’t understand anything. He turns to me. “What’s the matter? Don’t remember how to use your pathetic powers?” he mocks. I scowl at him. Powers or not I can beat the crap out of him. I kick him in the balls. He doubles over but quickly stands back up. He swings at my head and I duck. He topples over when he misses. “Why are you fighting us?” the girl demands. Joe looks up from the ground sadly. He doesn’t answer. He just pulls out his gun and stands up. He points his gun at me. “No!” the girl yells. She holds out her hand and a beam of pink light shoots out of it. It hits Joe and he falls to the ground. She looks as shocked as I am. “How’d you do that?” I ask with huge eyes. “I dunno. I just . . . did.” She says in shock. “What the fuck is that?” Joe groans sitting up. The girl shrugs. “Fuck this.” He says. The familiar ripple of air surrounds him and he disappears.
“So you claim to have the same powers as Rose.” The nurse begins. We had gone back inside Le Café and the girl, Rose, told him what happened. I also learned the nurse’s name is B.B. “Well then. Take this.” He says handing me a gem. It’s identical to Rose’s but orange. “Lift it up.” he instructs. So I lift the gem over my head. An orange glow surrounds me. When it fades, I’m a tiger again. I grin happily in all my confusion. Maybe I can impress Katy with my tiger skills. “Alright Hunter,” B.B begins. “Take a seat. I have a lot to explain to you.”
