Stained White

Chapter 29: Canine School

Students glared at Lisha as she made her way through them to her locker. Whispers of how she placed Lee in the hospital. Rumours told more of a broken nose. The students waited until they thought she was out of earshot.

“Did you hear? She punched Lee so hard his eye popped out. He had to be flown to Melbourne.”

Lisha screwed up her nose. And that was a mild rumour. One good outcome. She no longer required to drop her shoulder and push through the students. Each one removed themselves from her path upon recognition.

Home group was as good. She sat in one of her random chairs and begun to flick through a year 12 history book. Not one student pestered her. Even Chrissie chose another seat further from her position after announcing Lisha should be locked up to the class

The sound of the chairs plastic feet startled her from study. Someone had the guts to sit beside her. Any other book, she would have welcomed the distraction. But history, especially Australian history wasn’t her strong suit.

She looked up to find Craig, the chain from his jeans rattled across the chair. A new attempt to get out of school?

“Nice punch, what punishment did you gain?”

Lisha pushed her book aside. History can wait for English class. “Threats, I hope. My test is tomorrow.”

Craig smiled. “Really!”

“I need to pass, get out of this place and away from teenage dramas.”

“Well good luck with that.”

The bell signalled their next classes. Lisha closed her book and stood up with Craig.

“Craig, I want to speak to you,” Mr Fowler said as the pair made their way between the tables.

Lisha looked back the grinning student. He really enjoyed the rebel image. “Good luck to you too.”

He gave her the thumbs up before leaping the desk, landing before the teacher.

“What’s with the jeans?” was the last thing Lisha heard as she exited the sliding door.

Lisha’s day didn’t improve. With all the starring and smart comments behind her back, she felt it was her first day at school again. Her temper fumed by the lunch break. With only a day before her first gradings, she couldn’t risk sneaking off the school grounds for some relief.

The collar weighed down in her pocket. I know a way to escape these judgmental eyes. She made her way to the stadium. There she knew lay privacy. She wasted no time locating the locker rooms, stripping down to nothing but the dark collar around her neck and transforming into her animal side. It was time to test the collar’s power over people.

Ears laid back, she wondered out into the school yard. The students looked at her with a new expression. Some as if they were wondering why a dog was in the school grounds. Other, mainly females, squealed with delight and walked towards her.

Lisha stifled a growl as they approached. There behaviour a big surprise as they produced a hand for her to sniff.

One even reached out and rubbed her between the ears. With a whine, instead of a snarl, Lisha backed off. No way was she going to be their source of entertainment when they didn’t acknowledge her human side.

With a flick of her tail, she trotted off with her snout in the air. Where is that stranger from the oval?

More students approached her with caution, their hands out wanting to touch her fur. Maybe the stares and rumours were better. She avoided most by bounding out of their reach at the last second.

She interrupted a game of kick the ball as she moved across the oval and to the other side.

Cigarette smoke tickled her nose. There was a reason she didn’t cross the oval. Pointed her snout in another direction she turned to leave.

“Hey, doggy.” A familiar voice called.

Lisha fought her urge to lift her ears. She settled for turning her head.

“Come on, come here,” Craig said, patting his new grey slacks.

Lisha looked back towards the school filled with people who wanted to touch her. Maybe the cigarette smoke wasn’t too bad. She wagged her tail and approached her imaginary friend and his three other humans.

He didn’t bother with allowing her to sniff his hand. He ran it between her ears and down her back. Brent wasn’t the only one with the awesome touch.

“What kind of cross bred is that?” one female asked.

Lisha crinkled her nose, an action Brent warned her against.

“Whoa, looks like she’s gunna bite!” another male said.

 “No she’s not,” Craig said, rubbing underneath her neck. “You just don’t like being called a cross.”

Lisha lifted her ears. She couldn’t help the action. The students eased back, all of they staring at her round ears. Two actions in a matter of seconds that Brent warned her about. This whole domestic dog thing isn’t working too well.

“What kind of dog is she! I thought for a sec she must have been a Sheppard cross. Not with them round ears,” one of Craig’s friends said.

Too risky, she decided and turned tail.

“Hey, where’s she going,” she heard one call.

Back to my clothes before I get outed as a wild animal.

Back in the thick of people, Lisha weaved her way though the many legs. People still wanted to touch her fur, but most seemed uninterested in her appearance now. As if a coloured dog walking around the school grounds was old news.

Pawing her way to the shaded area, she changed her mind and sat beside the shade sail post. She watched the students and teachers walk by without giving her much more than a glance. Maybe I could do this every lunch.

She tilted her head to the side as Principal Lockton approached in his pin stripped pants and shiny shoes. I wonder what he would do if I licked them?

He stopped in front of her, as if to be begging her to try. She restrained herself and looked up at him with large doggy brown eyes.

“Go on. Shoo!” he said with a wave of his hand.

He continued the hand motion. Lisha stared. She even managed to move her eyelids closer to mimic what may look like a human frowning or at least narrowed eyes at the principal.

He stopped. Both of them frozen with unbroken eye contact. Principal Beady-eyes even looked a little afraid.

After a few seconds of uneasy staring, uneasy for the principal, he turned away muttering about the ranger.

That was Lisha’s queue. The ranger may know what she is if he got a good look at her, also Brent had asked him about African Wild Dogs. He might put two and two together. No way he’s going to figure out four. She also turned and darted off towards the sports stadium. With a quick glance of her shoulder, she spotted Principal Beady-eyes watching her. Yes, I’m going.

Shoving her clothes back on, she grabbed her bag and headed out of the stadium. As she navigated around the double doors, Principal Lockton crashed into her.

“Lisha!” he said with surprise.

Lisha regathered herself while containing a growl.

“What are you doing in her?”

She slid the history book from her bag. “Studying.”

He accepted her answer and looked through the double doors into the stadium. “Did you see a dog walk this way?”

Lisha put her study of human reactions to the test and pulled her eyebrows down. “Dog? No sir.”

“Your shirt in on inside out,” he said before stepping it to stadium to look for something that was long gone.

Lisha smirked as she hugged her bag and walked away.