Cat up a tree
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After I excaped from the classroom, I wandered the campus for a bit, looking for a spot to be alone.  I found a treeline at the top of the bluff separating the upper campus, where all the academic buildings were, and the lower campus, where the dormitories were.  I looked over my shoulder to make sure no one was looking, then ducked into the bushes.  

Near the top of the bluff, I found what I was looking for.  It was a mid-sized tree with smooth bark, and limbs that could hold me about ten feet up.  Most people would need a ladder, but it was an easy leap for me, even in human shape.  I jumped, caught the limb and climbed up.  Sitting with my back to the tree trunk was comfortable. It had a view overlooking the lower campus and the city skyline, and there was even the stub of a broken branch to hang my bookbag from.  

I leaned back, closed my eyes, and allowed myself to sink into the here-and-now of the cougar brain for a while.  I ignored the sounds and scents of people in the distance, and listened to the breeze rustle the leaves, the scampering squirrels and flitting birds.  I may have even dozed off for a bit.  

My repose was interrupted by a tiny little sound.  The cougar part of me recognized it as something that didn't fit.  I heard it again, once more, then it stopped.  It was the sound of quiet, careful footsteps.  I slowly opened my eyes and looked down.  Below and about ten feet in front of me stood the mystery girl.  Her nostrils flared as she breathed, trying to catch a scent.  My scent.  She must have lost my trail where I jumped into the tree.

"Hey," I said softly. "Up here."

She turned around, looked up and smiled.  "There you are!  How'd you get up there?"  

"Jumped."  I patted the limb next to the one I sat on.  "Would you like to join me, or should I come down?"

"I'm not sure I could jump that high."

"I'll come down, then."  I grabbed my book bag and slid off the tree limb.  I flexed my knees as I landed, then stood up facing her.  "Hi, I'm Zach."

"Pleased to meet you, Zach. I'm Tendy."

"Tendy? Is that short for something?"

"Yeah. Tendeleo.  It means "early evening."  My parents are Kenyan."

"A pretty name for a pretty girl." I said  Seeing her up close for the first time, she was pretty, with full lips and large eyes set at a slight slant in an oval face.  The late afternoon sun was slanting through the branches, adding warmth to her dark skin.

"Pretty flat-chested and skinny, you mean!"

"No, I mean pretty." While she was slender, I couldn't call her skinny.  She had curves that fit her frame.

"Thanks," she said, looking slightly embarrassed.  "I remember you from last year.  I think we had a class together."  I admitted I didn't remember her.  "Well, I sat in the back. You weren't one of us last year, though, were you"  

I told her the story of my calculus test, losing my scholarship and my roommate's solution, meeting Ashley, and becoming a were-cougar.  "How about you? I know you're feline, but I don't know what kind."

"I'm a cheetah.  Both my parents are, too.  I was born this way."

"Cheetah? I can see that."

"What do you mean?"

"You have a natural elegance and grace.  Like a cheetah."

"If you keep saying stuff like that, I might start to think you're flirting."

Instantly, i reverted from confident male puma to geeky engineering nerd.  My cellphone rang at that moment.  I wasn't sure whether I was relieved or annoyed by the distraction. Assuming it was Ashley calling, I said, "Sorry," as I dug my cheap TracFone out of my bag and looked at the screen.  I didn't recognize the number.   I hesitated between answering and muting it until Tendy asked, "Are you going to answer that?"  I looked at her, looked at the phone, hit the button, and raised it to my ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, Zach! It's Julie!  You are hard to get in touch with.  I had to lean on your roomate to get your number.  Are you coming with us to the RIverwalk?"

"I don't know.  Who is 'us?'"

"Me, Sue, Rudy, and a few others."

I looked at Tendy, and raised an eyebrow and tilted my head to ask if she wanted to.  She nodded no.  "Not tonight. Go on ahead"

"Are you sure?" Julie asked.  

"Yeah. I need some quiet tonight,"

"Your loss!"

Given a choice between going to noisy bars and getting hit on by a woman I could't respond to, or spending time with the intriguing cheetah girl in front of me,  I didn't think it was much of a loss at all.   "I don't know about that." I said. "Y'all have a good time!" 

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