I woke up to someone growling.
New instincts made me leap to my feet, which proved to be a mistake. I somehow jumped too far and slammed face first into the wall. I stood there, plastered to the cold stone for a moment, then fell backwards back onto the floor.
Normally falling backwards wouldn't have been too bad, except for a sore head. But I had never had a tail before. It was sticking up as I fell, so when I hit the ground it was pinched and crushed between my body and the carpet. Yowling in agony, I rolled onto my side clutching my new appendage wondering if it would hurt less if I just ripped it off.
“Petra, stay down until you get a handle on your new strength,” Ella said, putting a pillow under my head.
“Why is she a cat?” Ivy demanded.
“Should we take her to the clinic?” Naomi asked. “That sounded and looked painful.”
“We need to get to the cafeteria and class soon,” Clarice said.
“Can I go back under the bed? There were cookies, and tea, and no pain there,” I whimpered.
Ella clapped her hands. “Ivy, Petra took a potion so she could get stronger and survive detention more easily. She'll be back to normal in a week, so please don't chase her. Everyone we still have a few minutes to get ready and grab a light breakfast. Get your things while I get Petra ready.”
Through my tears, I heard everyone leave. I could actually make out each girls footsteps, Naomi's were spaced out thanks to her long legs. Clarice clicked a little with each step probably because of the short heels she wore to look taller. Calci sounded like she was stomping, being almost solid muscle didn't make her a light walker. And Ivy was almost silent, moving like a predator on the hunt.
“All right, Petra, you'll need to wear a skirt today. It's the only thing that will work with your tail, at least your about the same size,” Ella said.
My new cat ears that sat oddly on top of my head moved a little, tracking her as she went to my wardrobe. It was a strange sensation. I could even smell the perfume from her soap, deodorant and skin cream, usually it was too faint to really notice, now it was intoxicating.
Slowly and painfully getting to my feet, I went to the mirror. My nose was bigger, pushed out by a tiny muzzle, with whiskers poking out from under it like a moustache. Black, velvety fur covered every inch of my body, and my big pointy ears stuck out of the thick fur on top of my head.
Flexing my arms, I could actually see some muscle definition. That was nice. I also had claws, poking myself proved they were razor sharp. Grinning I saw that my teeth were nice and sharp as well. Maybe I could finally win a fight.
Ella tossed underwear and the school dress uniform on my bed. Putting on the panties, the band rubbed annoyingly against the base of my tail. Frowning, I tried to adjust it to be more comfortable, but it didn't help. Sighing, I decided I'd just have to put up with it. The dress wasn't too bad, I didn't like how drafty it was, but it was better than the fancy red one I'd been forced to wear the other day. This one at least covered most of my skin.
Once I was dressed, I scratched at my sleeves and stockings. My fur was all messed up from the tight fabric. Too bad there wasn't anything else for me to wear, pants didn't work with the tail and they were tight too, so it would be just as uncomfortable.
“I think I'm ready,” I said.
“Great, I'm starving,” Ella said.
Heading for the door I heard Ella gasp. Turning to look at her, she was covering her mouth and looking really embarrassed. If she had paler skin she'd probably be blushing. “What?” I asked.
“Um. You need to remember to keep your tail down.”
Looking down, I saw my skirt was hiked up, showing my underwear off. “I'm calling in sick today! I'll be under the bed if anyone needs me!”
***
All eyes were on me as we entered the cafeteria. I was kind of used to it by now, but I still wanted to run away and hide. Heading for my usual seat, the cat woman at the counter yowled with joy and waved me over.
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Very cautiously, expecting the worst since I'd yet to have a good experience with the cafeteria staff, I made my way over, playing with my tail as I did. “Yes?”
“Aren't you a cute little kitten,” the cat woman said. She put a silver tray with a lid on the counter. “Here, on the house. It's our favourite.”
“Thank you,” I said. Taking the surprisingly heavy tray I headed to my table, and sat down beside Garth and Rocky, who were both looking at me oddly.
Rocky was holding his head, his eyes were bloodshot and it looked like he hadn't slept all night. I wanted to ask if he was all right, but he winced every time there was a loud noise, so I decided to stay quiet.
“Why are you a cat?” Garth asked.
“A new plan to survive detention,” I said. There wasn't much time to eat and I was starving, so I took the lid off of the platter, wondering what it could be.
I screeched, jumping back in fright. This time I didn't slam into a wall, but only because I got caught by the bench and ended up falling onto my back, with my legs in the air.
Scrambling back to my feet, I looked at the large, live rat that was hogtied on a plate, covered in tiny green leaves that smelled divine, with a small bowl of salt beside it. There was no way I could eat it. Putting the lid back on the tray, I pushed it away from me. “I think I'm going to be sick,” I said.
Ivy grabbed the platter, licking her lips. We all looked away, pointedly ignoring the little yips of joy coming from the werewolf, and the cut off squeak of fear from the rat.
Ella handed me a plate of scrambled dragon eggs, so I wouldn't starve.
***
We were nearly late getting to magic class, thanks to our late start, but Garth, Calci and I all made it before the door closed. Getting to our altars, Mage Malacoda took one look at me and shook his head. “Do I want to know what happened, Petra?” he asked.
“Probably not, sir,” I replied.
He nodded in understanding, and started class.
***
“Petra, why are you a cat woman?” professor Bob asked as he took attendance.
Sighing, I said, “It seemed like the best of a lot of bad options, sir.”
“Today class we were going to discuss the Art of Bending The Truth, by El Im G'rak, but I see we have a unique opportunity,” the Dwarf said. “Most intelligent species have similar physical cues to tell how they're feeling. Being relatively hairless and matching facial features, humans, dwarves, elves, orcs, giants, goblins, and others have somewhat similar reactions to emotions. But when you have furrier species, it can become both a challenge and easier to tell their emotions.”
I slumped down in my chair a little. I would have gone even further, but my tail got in the way. I had a really bad feeling about this.
“Petra come up here please.”
Making my way to the front of the class, Bob pulled a little spray bottle out of his pocket. “When most people are happy, they smile, some will blush, Orcs will grind their teeth while smiling, and Dwarves tend to clap. With cat people, while some will smile, what you really want to do is watch their tail.”
He then sprayed me with the bottle.
A huge rush of happiness filled me. I had never been so happy in my life. It was like happiness straight from the goddess of happiness had been collected, concentrated into a super strong happiness concoction and forced right into my veins.
“When dealing with any species that has a tail, always watch the tail. See how it's sticking straight up. It's very hard for them to control it, like trying to stop yourself from blushing. If you're dealing with werewolves, they'll wag their tails. You don't see them do that very often, unless they're about to rip someone's throat out. So always make sure you have someone fatter and tastier looking than you, when you have to deal with them.”
Bob pulled another bottle from his pocket. “Now lets see what it looks like when she experiences existential dread.”
***
“Are you OK?” Ella asked.
I sort of fell into my chair and pulled out my history notebook. “I don't know,” I said, giggling and sobbing at the same time.
“Uh... what happened?”
“I spent last class going through every emotion possible, and learned a few emotions I didn't know existed. Do you know what it feels like to go from hysterical joy, to fearing for your soul, to the most embarrassing thing you ever experienced, to being so filled with happiness you break into song?”
“... No. I can't say I do.”
“You're lucky. You're very lucky,” I muttered.
***
At lunch, I avoided the cafeteria ladies, and let my friends get my lunch for me. Rocky was still quietly holding his head, slowly eating his soup.
“Rocky are you OK?” I asked.
“Head hurts. I'm listening to everyone. It's noisy,” he said.
“Maybe you should go see the nurse.”
“She told me not to bother. It would hurt for a while, then get better.”
“OK. But let me know if it gets worse,” I said, patting his hand.
He nodded, then closed his eyes and kept eating.
“Hey look at that,” Gold said.
All of us looked at the door where Victor was coming in. Clarice gasped, and more than one jaw dropped. The psychic creep was covered in bright red warts, his clothes were stained a horrible mix of pink, yellowish-green and florescent orange, his arm was in a cast, and from the reaction of the people closest to him, he must have smelled really badly.
“What happened to him?” Calci asked.
“There was a competition to see who could get him first and then worst, all morning,” Gold said. “He's been to the nurses office twice already. I heard they're going for double or nothing this afternoon.”
I looked at Ella, she wasn't watching Victor. Instead she was eating quietly, smiling to herself without a care in the world, and she definitely wasn't gloating. I really liked my roommate, she was a good friend, and cute, but at that moment I swore an oath to never, ever, get on her bad side.