Upside Down

(12) Oh! That Cat ...

Chapter 12

Home : Good :: School : Bad

I was late to first period, there was no way around it. My teacher, Mrs. Wilsburn, gave me a long lecture in front of the whole class about tardiness and seriousness and responsiblity and not going any where in my life and yada, yada, yada but I wasn't really listening. I was too worried about Kriss and that thing about Ms. Lacen. What had she seen? Did that 'monster' get Kriss?

I inwardly snorted. There was no such thing as monsters ...

This coming from a werewolf.

I was fidgety in my seat and when the girl next to me (Charmaine I think her name was) asked me for a pencil I nearly jumped out of my chair. She was a nice girl, I remembered, her father owned a small auto shop and was one of my father's most loyal pack members. She was pretty with blonde hair and a subtle tan, one of my little sister's icons. But that's all I knew except for she wasn't a stuck up bitch.

"Uh, yeah," I answered finally. "They're in my bag."

"Transcend," Mrs. Wilsburn droned T-R-A-N-S-C-E-N-D, meaning that it allows light through but only blurs-"

"Omg, that's so cute!" I was distracted when Charmaine suddenly whisper-exclaimed to me. "Why did you bring her to school?"

What? I looked down at what she was looking at, the inside of my bag which I hadn't opened this morning and there lay a small black kitten sleeping soundly. I almost cursed out loud. Hell, I almost screamed! What the hell was she doing in my school bag? Then again she probably didn't know what the bag was for. And at least something bad didn't happen to her like being eaten or killed or kidnapped.

"I didn't know she came with me." I told Charmaine honestly.

"Mr. James and Ms. Jones," I looked up to Mrs. Wilsburn in the front of the class, scowling at us. "is there something you'd like to share with the class?"

"Yes!" Charmaine exclaimed the same time I said, "No." The other students snickered as I scowled at Charmaine and shook her head. Charmaine sighed, slumping in her seat. "No." She pouted looking away from me.

"Then pay attention," Mrs. Wilsburn huffed, turning back to the board.

Whoosh.

A pink paper ball landed on my desk. I looked like it came from Charmaine but when I looked at her, she was starring at Mrs. Wilsburn. I unfolded it slowly as to not make much noise. 'That was mean', is what it said.

'I didn't want her taken up or something', I wrote back angerly. Why was that mean? Was it mean because I didn't let her tell the whole class that I had a kitten in my bag? Yeah, I'm so mean I could be a vilian, trying to keep my 'kitten' from being taken away. So evil.

Wow, sarcasm overload there.

I tossed the wad of pink paper back and imediately I heard uncrumbling. I looked down into my back pack again. Kriss was still sound asleep, her chest going up and down regularly. I had to hold back my smile.

The note thumped back on my desk reading: 'Omg, I'm so sorry :( She's really cute! XD!' which annoyed me because I hate 'text talk' and the fact she was acting stupid. Just because she was pretty, nice, and a part of my pack didn't mean I liked her, she annoyed me.

"Mr. James," I looked up at Mrs. Wilsburn. What did I do now? Did she see me passing notes? "Why is there a cat on your shoulder?"

If anyone in the class wasn't looking at me before, they were now. I turned my head and sure enough, Kriss sat on my shoulder with her head cocked to the side and looking happy ... while I was about to be sent to hell.

So stupidly, I played stupid ... which wasn't hard. "What cat?"

"That one." Mrs. Wilsburn pointed at my right shoulder. "It's black."

"Racist." I muttered under my breath and I could hear snickering.

"Mr. James," Mrs. Wilsburn growled. "Tell me why you have a cat on your shoulder this instant!"

Murmurs of "It's so cute!" and "Why does he have a cat?" And "Where did it come from?" went through the room while the other students starred.

"Oh!" I pretended to look surprized. "That cat ... it's a stuffed animal."

"Murrrrr ow." Kriss meowed.

"A ... talking stuff animal." I explained looking as serious as possible while Kriss batted at my hair and purred. "A talking, moving, breathing stuffed animal."

Mrs. Wilsburn was fuming now. You could see her face getting more and more red and steam was practically pouring out of her ear. Her eyes matched her face in their own shade of crimson and her hair stood on end. Quite a sight to see indeed.

"Funny how realistic they make toys nowadays, huh?"

"To the principal's office, now!" Mrs. Wilsburn shouted.

Aw, shit.