Mr. Who started class, talking about the first human attack on Vlad Tempest’s castle.
Bogden slid a folded up piece of paper from his desk to mine.
I glared at him and refused to take it, then faced Mr. Who again.
Bogden wrote something else and slid it again, bumping the piece of paper against my hand.
Mr. Who turned around, and I put my hand over the piece of paper so he wouldn’t see it. The last thing I wanted was for him to read the note to the class.
When Mr. Who turned back to the board where he wrote down notes, I unfolded Bogden’s note.
* * *
What do you get when you mix a cow and a goat?
Mr. Who & Ms. Felinas’s child.
* * *
A laugh escaped my lips before I could stop it, and I quickly crumpled the note up in my hand as Mr. Who turned around.
He glared at me. “Already, Ms. Reaper? Outside with you. I’ll not have you disturbing my class today.”
I sighed, gathered my bag, and walked outside.
I sat in the hallway, against the wall of my classroom, and closed my eyes.
The chupacabra looked at me when I first walked out, but quickly focused on the people walking by, since he knew I was no threat to Tsukiko.
A few minutes later, just as I was dozing off, Bogden walked out of the classroom with his bag and sat beside me, so close our arms touched.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey,” I replied.
“Sorry I keep getting you kicked out.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, well, what did you do to get sent out?”
“I made myself laugh,” he said and leaned back, arms behind his head. He looked over at me and smiled. “I didn’t want you to be alone again.”
I looked pointedly at the Chupacabra. “Not really alone.”
Bogden scowled. “He here for you?”
I shook my head. “Tsukiko.”
He relaxed. “I see.”
I relaxed beside him and closed my eyes, imagining what it could be like if we were a couple.
If we held hands while sitting together.
If he put his arm around me.
“You okay?” Bogden asked. “Your cheeks are a bit red.”
I rubbed them and turned away from him, letting my hair fall over my face. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
“So, what are you doing Saturday? I hear there is going to be a killer party,” he whispered in my ear, his nose bumping against my hair as he spoke.
“I don’t think I can make it,” I whispered. “Guards and all.”
He sighed. “Yeah, I was afraid of that.” He leaned back.
“I’m sure there will be lots of people for you to hang out with,” I added quickly. “You won’t even notice I’m not there.”
“Why isn’t your dad sending guards for you?” He asked.
“I don’t need guards,” I whispered. “Plus, he knows I’ll just try to ditch the guards every chance I can get. So, there really is no point to assigning someone to me.”
Bogden laughed and I felt myself smile. I loved the way his laugh sounded.
We lapsed into silence and I closed my eyes, resting with a smile on my face with Bogden beside me, our arms touching and our breaths in sync.
If only every day could be like this.
Ten
LORALIE
Tsukiko skipped towards the club room, her tail high and ears perked.
I didn’t really understand why she was so excited about preparing for prom, but if it made my friend happy, I’d help her.
Frances seemed quieter than usual, but I attributed that to Dr. Frankenstein’s weird curse comment and the human attacks.
Tsukiko’s chupacabra guard sauntered behind us, his gait slow and purposeful and his long and furry arms swinging beside him with his back slightly hunched.
I knew chupacabras loved human flesh, so it made sense that with a human threat, her dad sent one to guard her. They could smell a human ten miles away.
Honestly, if they weren’t so difficult to control, they would make great guards for all creature villages.
We entered the classroom, and as I expected, it was full of the prissiest girls in the school.
Malaria gave Tsukiko a glare and whispered to the two gorgons beside her, no doubt talking crap about Tsukiko.
Had we been on break, I would have fought her right then and there, but I had to limit my fighting during the school year. Dad would forgive me for a few scuffles, but more than that and he’d punish me. His punishments were nothing to stick your nose up at. One time, he’d made me pick up hell hound puppy poop for five hours straight.
Hell hounds were adorable, but their poop was toxic.
There were several groups of tables and chairs, and already the cliques were forming. Tsukiko found an empty one for us to sit at and despite all the strange or angry looks we were receiving, she continued smiling.
Her chupacabra waited until Tsukiko was seated and then went out into the hallway.
“Is he really necessary?” Malaria asked.
“No,” Tsukiko said, “but have you ever tried telling an alpha no? It’s better to just deal with his presence than try to fight my father.” She shrugged. “I pick my battles well, and that battle isn’t worth it.”
“Alright,” Ainsley said, clapping her hands together. Her wings were folded against her back, but today she was shoeless and had her talons on full display.
That wasn’t common for her. Had something happened?
“You’ve all joined the prom planning committee. This club is going to focus on fundraising and then preparing for the prom. As you know, prom happens on Winter Solstice, so we only have a few months! Let’s start with theme suggestions.”
“We do the same theme every year,” the gorgon beside Malaria with silver and black snakes for hair said.
“What if we did a human theme this year?” Tsukiko suggested.
“Human theme?” Malaria asked with a sneer. “We going to kill each other?”
“We could get human items and decorate with them. Make it brighter than our prom usually is,” Tsukiko continued, ignoring her.
Ainsley wrote it down on the white board behind her. “Okay. Any other suggestions?”
“I like the theme we always use,” a female satyr I didn’t know said.
Ainsley wrote that down on the board, too, and asked, “Any others?”
“What about a heaven and hell theme?” Rathik asked as he came into the room.
Frances’s and my head whipped around to look at him and then back at each other.
Oh, this made so much more sense now! That little brat!
“Heaven!” At least five of those gathered shouted.
“Are you insane?” Malaria asked. “Lucifer would be so mad.”
“No one wants to celebrate that crappy place,” the satyr female said.
Ainsley wrote it down. “There are no wrong options when we’re brainstorming. We will write down every suggestion and then we will vote anonymously. Thank you for coming, Rathik. Please take a seat.”
Rathik smiled at her and then shifted his tail into legs and sat at our table, facing Tsukiko.
Tsukiko smiled at us and dipped her head.