Chapter 3
I woke up to a furry butt in my face. At first I did not know what was going on,but then I remembered. Solar.
“Solar,what the heck are you doing?” I asked him in pure shock.
“Wha? Oh!” Solar jumped off and landed on the hard wooden floor. “I’m sorry,It wa cold. You were warm. I don’t know why I did it. I don’t know you.You don’t know me. Please don’t kick me out!” Solar went into tornado mode, talking way too fast. Everything jumbling together, but I got the gist.
“What? I’m not going to kick you out! You just shocked me thats all. Lets go and find something to eat.” I walked out of my small room with solar following behind me. When we go to my even smaller kitchen I started to look for something that a cat would eat.
“I have no cat food. Sorry,never had a cat before.” I said apologetically. Solar looked at me and said,
“Cat food? You mean rabbit pellet tasting stuff? Almost every cat loathes that stuff. Taste terrible.”
“Okay then.” I kept looking through the cabinets and I found nothing. I went over to the fridge,my sneakers squeaking on the dirty wooden floor, and looked in there. There was milk and a little bit of canned meat. I pulled both out and grabbed a bowl. I gave him the canned meat and a little bit of the milk. I pulled out a box of Peanut Butter Captain Crunch, and served myself a bowl. As I ate I began to wonder what happened to Melanie. Maybe I should pay her a visit... last time she had a fight with the head
master there was a lot of screaming and maybe some plate throwing. Hopefully she didn’t transform. She never was polite to the headmaster, she’s always saying she knows she does not belong. She may look like us but she’s not.
“What are you thinking about?” Solar asked now looking at me
“Nothing...how about we take a little trip to a friend’s house?”
Solar tilted his head to the left. “Okay”
Once we finished breakfast Solar and I walked outside, the sun blinding our eyes. Kids were playing with chalk while their parents did the morning chores. Once I reached Mel’s house I knocked on the door.
“WHO IS IT?” I heard her yell
“Ronald…” I called back
She opened the door. She seem brand new, like yesterday never happened. Her short hair was pulled back into a ponytail.
“Hey!” She smiled then looked at Solar “Who’s this little guy?”
“Uhh,That is Solar” I responded.
“Hi, Ronald’s friend!” Solar said to Mel.
“Solar,Mel does not understand cat.” I told solar. “He said “Hi”,Mel”
“He’s so cute” Melanie pet Solar “Come in dads at work...wherever that is.” Mel made a face.
“Nice!” I motioned for Solar to follow us in the house. As we walked in Solar looked around.
“So I asked him again. To go to a real school beyond the walls… He said no. If I wanted to go to a school it would have to be an all girls one. I told him I wanted to do normal things. Get hurt, go to prom. You know...but that just made him yell more. He also told me to stay away from you.” Melanie shrugged “But we know that’s not going to happen.”
“He’s gonna try his hardest though.” Solar’s ears perked and he said,
“RONALD,RONALD,RONALD!DOG!DOG! THERE ‘S A DOG!” Solar jumped up and ran across the room,and ran up the stairs. I looked at Mel,but she was watching Solar run up the stairs. Suddenly,as if waking up from a dream, Mel ran to the other room and went for the dog. As she went into the other room,Jacob shot out of the room. Knocking Mel onto the floor,Mel jumped back up like she was shocked and ran after him. I stood there like an idiot for a second,then I ran after them.Things were falling down causing a mess. Just as I turned a corner Mel and I bumped into each other.
“You go that way I go this way” She said rubbing her head.
“Sounds like a plan!” I said running to the left.
After running around as if the house was on fire, we manage to catch them. Melanie locked her dog in her room. I looked around, the place was a wreck.
Melanie giggled “That was fun!”
“I’m sorry about the mess…” Is all I managed to say, then I looked at Solar “Got something to say Mr.?”
“Sorry. The dog just scared me”
“I’ll help you clean up.” We began to pick things up in silence.
“Yeah I can’t do this we need to have a little more fun” Melanie turned to a small stereo and made music blast out of it playing “Our song” aka Secrets by Onerepublic. She picked up the broom singing and dancing to the song as she swept the floor. As she did that I looked at all of the expensive things, laying on the ground. Tossed aside, as if a tornado came through. I walked over to a vase and bent over to pick it up,but when I got there I looked out of the window the Headmaster was pulling up in his shiny black car. The wheels crunching the gravel on the ground.
“Mel?!? Headmaster’s here!
Melanie turned towards the window “Crap! Why is he here early. Okay you need to hide or something.” She said worried
“I’m not letting you get into trouble because of me.”
“Don’t worry about me” She said trying to push me into a closet “He won’t do nothing to me. It’s you I am worried about” She closed the door once Solar and I were in.
I heard the key slide and click into the lock. I could see the headmaster entering the house with shock.
“Your home early….” Mel said quietly.
“Yes, they canceled the meeting. What happened here?”
“Uh...Jacob went insane...Yeah. He saw one of those pesky squirrels and began running like a wild animal.”
“Well are you okay?”
“Yes I am fine. You don’t need to go get Erica this time”
The headmaster looked as though he was about to hug Melanie, but she stepped back. There was silence.
“After I am done here I have nothing to do, maybe can you get me some ingredients?”
“Sure”
Melanie quickly wrote things down on a piece of paper and pushed him out the door. She watched out the window as he left.
“All clear. You can come out”
“That went smoothly” I said opening the door. Solar peaked his head out and said,
“Where is the dog?”
“Uhhh,I don’t know. Mel, Solar wants to know where Jacob is.”
“Upstairs in my room.”
“Is the door shut?”
“Yep, that little rascal won't be able to leave” Mel smiled a little.
We quickly finished cleaning. Once we were done we sat on the couch.
“Can I ask you something?” I said looking at Melanie.
“Yeah sure.”
“When your dad came you said you are worried about me...why?”
“I told you. He doesn’t want me talking to you. If I do that can probably ‘cause some problems.Everyone is scared of him. That must mean he did something...I don’t know what, but I won’t let him hurt you.”
I nodded. “Can I ask something else?”
“Sure.”
“I saw he was about to hug you. Why did you back away?”
“He’s normal. That idiot sometimes forgets that he can’t hug me. Though sometimes I think he does it just to annoy me. He probably makes me transform about five times a day. Half my time in this house is spent as a small panda. You know how boring that is? All I can really do is just roll around.”
I began to laugh.
“It’s not funny!” She smiled then playfully punched my arm. “Come on let’s leave this place I will just write a note saying I went for a walk.”
Melanie Stood up. She walked up to her room leaving me sitting with Solar.
“So what’s the story?” Solar asked
“What do you mean?” I replied
“What is it about her that you're friends with her? You’re risking a lot it seems when you're with her”
“She didn’t always have that little smile, or that laugh. She was alone, and sad. The reason she smiles is because of me.It feels good that I am the one who put it there.I don’t see her as the headmasters daughter. I see her as just some crazy, fun girl to hang with.”
Suddenly Mel came back down wearing jeans and a crop top. She let her hair fall. “Ready to go?”
“Yep!”
We spent the rest of the day walking around with endless laughs. Now we were in my house watching some movies. Well it’s more like I was watching it with Solar because in the first twenty minutes into it she fell asleep on the recliner part of the couch. I gently placed a blanket on her. I turned the tv off. All i could hear were Mel’s slow, gentle breaths.
I walked to the kitchen, pouring some milk for Solar. I leaned on the side of the window watching the sun set slowly. The pink and orange color slowly changing to black, revealing twinkling stars. I looked at my watch, it was nine-thirty two.
Suddenly there was a loud knock on the front door. I quickly walked to it and opened it. My heart began to beat rapidly.
“Is she here?” The headmaster said
“Um...yeah.”
He pushed me to the side and walked in. He saw Melanie sleeping on the couch. Slowly he began to pick her up.
“Sir I wouldn't do….” I was too late. Melanie transformed into a small panda, making her wake up. Her clothes fell to the side.
“Dad? What are you doing?” Mel said groggy.
“You are coming home! I told you to stay away from him!”
Melanie hopped off the headmasters arms. Her little panda body plopped down next to my foot. “I am staying here tonight!”
“Melanie! Do not argue with me! Or I will….”
“You’ll what? Take me out of school or wait I don't go to school!Oooo I know maybe you’ll make all my friends stay away from me...oops can’t do that either since I only have one friend! What more can you do!?” The headmaster just stared down at her. Then he looked at me. I couldn’t read his face. Was he angry?Sad? He turned towards the door and left.
“You may want to go to the bathroom. You don’t want to transform here. I picked her small body and her cloths. I slowly placed her into the bathroom her clothes next to her, then I closed the door.
“Told you she was trouble.” Solar said
About ten minutes later Melanie came out, not as a panda. She leaned on the counter.
“Sorry about that...I hope you don’t mind me staying.”
“No worries.”
“I’m really sorry about that, he’s just stubborn. He never knows when to stop.”
“It’s okay.” I said with a small smile. “You can sleep on my bed tonight.” Mel’s head snapped up.
“Oh,because I’m a girl I can’t sleep on a couch?” She said with a mischievous glint in her eye. I sighed and said,
“You know thats not what I meant.” Mel just picked up a pillow and plopped onto the couch. She looked at me, as if waiting for me to start doing tricks. After a second she said,
“What are you doing? Go to bed! It’s almost midnight,if you don’t sleep you won’t be ready for tomorrow. Well, technically later today.” I looked at her confused,and asked,
“What do you have planned for tomorrow?”
“You’ll see.” She had a crazy look in her eye, so I decided to just ignore what she was saying and hope she forgets this “Plan” in her sleep.
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