Hello there, dear readers! I am happy to bring to you the newest chapter of Hairball! Once again, this chapter was proofread by the wonderfully cuddly Trismegistus Shandy, whom I thank! Please, enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hairball (Chapter 11)

 

by

 

Elite Shade

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, I'm willing to admit when I am wrong. Today isn't going as horribly as I had expected. Sure, yeah, people are staring, and so far, each time I've been outside, shuffling from class to class, the reporters near the school have been filming me, just like they're doing right now; but I was expecting much worse. I mea--

My head rocks back, colors blossoming before my eyes, and now I'm on the ground. I hear voices, but they're all jumbled. I look up to try and make sense of what I'm seeing. There's someone standing over me. It's Adam, and he looks mad. He's screaming at me, I think. I still can't quite understand what's happening, but I think he just slugged me in the face. He's pointing a finger at me accusingly.

"--aggot, furry, FREAK! I never knew you would ever have the balls to do something like this to me, and then you go and wish those away too!" I think that he thinks that I'm to blame for something but what... oh... his sudden on air confession... and so he thinks I did this to myself? Really? Ben's standing there, white as a sheet, standing like a statue with a horrified look on his face. Adam leans down closer to me; okay, I am officially revising my view of today back to my original one.

"I always knew that you were a fuckin' pussy," he emphasizes the word with a hiss, making me wince, "and it looks like deep down, you always knew it yourself." Time seems to slow down as he rears his left leg back to kick me with, before Ben's fist collides right with Adam's perfect nose. There is an audible and sickening crunch, and Adam, now off balance, flails around as his eyes water, and blood starts pouring from his nose. Ben then hurls himself into Adam, and the two go down, with Ben on top. He looks as surprised as I feel. Adam is quickly recovering, but now school security is here, and they're separating them both.

"Ohmygodsohmygodsohmygods!" Jenny's face is now in my line of sight. She looks pretty worried about me. She helps me to my feet just as Kendra arrives. She takes one look at me before turning and striding right up to Adam, who is trying to get out of the security guard's grip. She stands there for a second, and then in one fluid motion, kicks him right in the balls as hard as she can. And down goes Adam. It is now official, Kendra is awesome.

Things are getting kinda blurry; oh, damnit, why the hell am I crying. Jenny's saying something, but I can't really follow what she's saying. She puts her arms around me and starts to shepherd me through the crowd. I can make out some phones, but I'm still kinda out of it. I really hope that Ben and Kendra don't get into trouble. My shoulders hitch as Jenny continues to hold me close, something I used to wish would happen, and I continue to cry.

I'm starting to calm down... was I hyperventilating? I don't think that I've ever done that before. I'm sitting down, with Jenny right next to me. I notice that the twins are here with us, sitting on the same bench inside the hall. Is one of them petting me? My ears are splaying flat as a hand gently runs from the top of my head all the way to the back of my neck. I'm not exactly comfortable with that, but I think I should wait until later to bring it up. I look around and realize that we're sitting outside the principal's office.

My ears perk up and turn towards the sound of footsteps quickly approaching. I turn to see Rebecca... wow... she looks really mad. I cringe a little as she approaches, but her expression softens when she sees me. She leans down and gives me a hug and a kiss on my forehead.

"Everything's going to be okay, honey," she says before straightening up. Her expression hardens, and she barges right into the principal's office without knocking. The door shuts, and I can already hear her going off. I've heard her use her stern voice a few times at ho-- at their home, but she sounds like she's biting Mrs. Blumpkis' head off. It's a bit muffled, but it has something to do with demanding to know just what in the hell Adam was doing back on school property after his cheating on the CAT test as well as his threats against me. Wait... Adam made threats against me?! Why am I only now learning about it, after getting slugged in the face by Adam himself?

I heard the principal mention something about zero tolerance fighting policy, but all that did was make things worse. I'm not entirely sure of just what Rebecca said next, it was low and quiet and I imagine involving some very scary legalese. And something about cameras. Hopefully, with everyone having their phones out to film what had happened, according to the stereotype, maybe that'll help... oh crap, they're talking about Ben and Kendra! Oh shit!

A whimper escapes my lips, the left side of which is already swelling, as I realize that they both just got into a lot of trouble because of me. I didn't want that to happen! Even after what he did to me, I don't want Ben to get expelled! And Kendra! Oh gods, this is all my fault! I should have asked for a tutor to homeschool me, or at least just agreed to go to another school! Who cares if my credits wouldn't transfer! I let out a shuddering breath as tears start to well up in my eyes.

"Alex," Jenny says as she squeezes me, "don't worry. Your mom's got this!" And the hand has resumed the petting,

Hazel and Maeve both agree. I hear more footsteps and around the corner come Ben and Kendra, being escorted by a single security guard. He stands next to the two of them as they take a seat on the bench opposite us. I try to get myself under control and face them, expecting the worst. Kendra smiles at me and shoots me a wink while Ben looks at me and blushes.

"A-are you okay, Alex?" he asks. I nod. Oh, if you're wondering why I wasn't taken to see the school nurse, the reason for that is that there's a big strike going on. I had no idea that school nurses even had their own union, but apparently they do. And apparently they're fed up.

Anyways, not much longer after that, the door opens and out Rebecca strides. She looks... confident.

"Alex, Benjamin, let's go. Also, Kendra, I spoke to your father on the phone, and he's stuck in court, would you like a ride?" But... wait, what?

"Sure, thanks Mrs. Ferguson." Kendra hops up, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. The security guard looks like he's about to say something, but I spot Mrs. Blumpkis poke her head out and motion for him to keep quiet. Ben stands up, looking down guiltily, hugging his backpack to his front. The two start to head towards the exit while Rebecca helps me to my feet, taking my backpack herself. She hugs me close, and puts an arm around my shoulder. She thanks Jenny and the twins for looking out for me before she guides me towards the front exit. Holy crap! Is school really over? Oh, yeah, I was on my way to sixth period...

The air is warm, but thankfully it's not hot enough for people to burst into flames yet. I see Rebecca's car, with Ben and Kendra standing beside it. I feel eyes on me and spot the reporters across the street. Rebecca unlocks the car, and Ben and Kendra are quick to pile in the back. I sit up front, Ben offering to take my backpack. I have no idea why. We start to drive away, and I stare out the window as we go.

"Alex," Rebecca starts, making me cringe a little, "would you like to talk about what happened?"

"N-no," I say. Rebecca nods, seemingly satisfied for now.

"Benjamin..." I can see Ben now cringing out of the corner of my eye, he's probably expecting to be scolded. "I've already seen the video, and I want you to know that you are not in trouble."

Ben relaxes a little, looking surprised.

"I'm not?" he asks.

"Nope. Despite the zero tolerance fighting policy, you were just defending poor Alex. And, while I can't say that I'm thrilled that you got into a fight at school, I am very proud of you."

"That was really cool, Benji," Kendra chimes in, lightly punching Ben on the arm. Ben looks startled, making Kendra quirk an amused eyebrow.

"Th-thanks... uhm... Kendra," Ben says. Kendra looks at him a little confusedly, but seems to just shrug it off.

"And Kendra," Rebecca says as we came to a red light, "while I also appreciate, very much, you also coming to Alex's aid, you should know that you especially could have gotten into a lot of trouble. The fight had already been broken up by then."

Rebecca says this gently to her, but Kendra still seems to sink in her seat a little as though she's being reprimanded. We are now driving through a very nice residential neighborhood.

"However, I believe that the school is going to be letting that one slide this time," Rebecca says with a knowing smile. Kendra perks right back up.

"Thanks, Mrs. Ferguson."

"Well, don't thank me yet. Your father hasn't seen the video, but I don't think that Richard's going to be happy with you when he gets home." Kendra just shrugs and nods as we pull up to a house. Instead of a manicured front lawn, there is red gravel. The only plant life that's in the front yard is a very well-tended cactus garden. Smart. Not wasting as much water like you do with a lawn, and still looks nice. The red gravel kinda makes it look like a Martian cactus garden, but still very nice.

"I can see that," Kendra admits while opening her door and grabbing her backpack, "but I think he'll understand. Besides, it was worth it to see my boyfriend break that prick's nose." She leans in closer to Ben and kisses him, his eyes going wide. Kendra then climbs out and thanks Rebecca for the lift, shutting the door behind herself. The three of us sit there in a stunned silence, all thinking the exact same thing. And that is that Ben doesn't, and never had, a girlfriend. Well, at least as far as I know, and from the shocked expressions on Ben's and his mom's faces, I think that I can confirm that.

"Di--" Ben splutters as we pull forward, "Did that just really happen?!"

"Yep," I say, my throat having gone dry. The three of us lapse into an uncomfortable silence. We pull into the driveway of... the Ferguson's home, the gates closing behind us, and simply continue to sit there in the car.

"Well," Rebecca says, breaking Ben and me out of our stupor, "I think that it's safe to assume that there have been some other consequences of that wishing stone's use."

I find that I have to agree.

"That does explain something," Ben replies, still looking a bit shell shocked.

"Like what?" I ask; my curiosity is certainly piqued now.

"Well... on my first day back... after the wish," Ben says, "Kendra, and a few others, started asking me to hang out, and stuff. I was surprised, but I just figured that they wanted to ask me about being framed for cheating or something like that. So I told everyone that I had to deal with stuff at home. And then Alex got filmed for the first time and, well, that sorta seemed to eclipse everything, I guess." Wow... it was almost a full month before Ben learned that he had a girlfriend? Is Kendra really that patient to not have said anything? Or maybe Ben was more or less clueless about some hints and social cues being dropped his way? Wow... just, wow!

We all get out of the car and make our way inside. Rebecca says something that I don't really catch, and I squeak as she pulls us both into a hug.

"I'm so sorry that this happened to you, Alex. But, don't you worry, I'll make sure that Adam never comes anywhere near you again," Rebecca says, rubbing my back with one hand. I see Nick over her shoulder. He's standing there in his hospital scrubs, holding a first aid kit. He smiles lightly at me, looking worried. I am guided over to the couch where Nick looks me over.

"Don't worry, sweetie." I wince as he says this, but if he notices, he's probably attributing it to my swollen lip. When did he start calling me sweetie? And why? I thought that that was Rebecca's thing, well, that and honey. He heads into the kitchen real quick and comes back out with an ice pack. He has me hold it up to my face. He then pulls out a tiny flashlight and shines it in my eyes. He has me stand up and walk around a bit while asking me random questions. He's asking me if I was disoriented after I got punched. I don't think that I was. I was confused as to what the hell had just happened, but I attribute that to Adam blind-siding me.

"I don't believe that you have a concussion," oh, that's what he was checking for, "and the swelling should be gone if not by tomorrow, then the next day." Nick ruffles the fur on top of my head and smiles at my unamused expression. Once my examination is over, I politely ask to go to my room. Rebecca hugs me again before escorting me up. She's acting like I'm about to break down crying. I'm fine. It was a shock, but I'm fine. Really. It's not like I haven't been punched in the face before. Not at school because of Ad--... just not at school. But at my old foster home, oh yeah. I just foolishly thought that I was done with that crap. That's all. I'm fine. That's what I tell Rebecca... but she's not looking too convinced.

Alone, I spy myself in my mirror. I see myself in my uniform; it sill weirds me out that I'm wearing a skirt... and a catgirl. I lift the cold compress away, and can make out my swollen lip. I sigh as I put the compress back, and make my way over to my bed. I take a seat on it.
This all just seems so surreal, sometimes. Where I was and where I am now. Who I was and who I am now. What I was and what I am now. I'm fine. Even if I'm not, if I tell myself that enough times, I will be. That always worked before.

I let out a yawn, the day having really been a lot for me, I guess. Lying down on my side and curling up a bit, I hug my knees to my chest and close my eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

There you have it, readers! Sorry for the shorter chapter. Please feel free to let me know what you think!