Tuesday, Oct. 6th, before classes

Classroom 2-C

I was late getting to fencing practice, and Kai wasn’t there. Cory and Mina were, but I didn’t know either of them that well. In Cory’s case, I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to ask for anything after her reaction to the whole “unprepared for lab” incident.

Tuesday morning, Joel and I were still talking about how to tackle the cumulative exams. On our way into homeroom, Joel pointed out, “You should ask Mina what she’s doing about last year’s English books.”

“Huh?”

“She’s a transfer student, too. World history is probably the same in her country, but are they going to read the same literature?”

“Ah, good point,” I muttered. I guess I wasted an opportunity last night.

Jack and Kai were already at their desks early, as usual. After we settled in, I decided to give a shot asking Jack about it, as he sat nearer than Kai did.

“Hey, Jack,” I called to him. “Got a minute?"

Jack turned around towards Joel and I, and asked, "What's up?"

“Um, do you think I could borrow some of your notes from last year? Ms. Calliot gave us a good scare about the comprehensive exams.”

Jack chuckled. "Man, I'd help if I could, but Tika's got all my notes. She's using them for her classes this year."

Kai turned around at this point and asked, “Which classes were you looking for?”

Joel, who was nearer, answered, “Anything really, but world history and English from last year especially.”

“Ah,” said Kai. “For those two classes I don’t think mine would help.” He held up a page from the notebook he had in front of him; it was in a shorthand that mixed recognizable words with what looked like Japanese characters. He shrugged, and said, “My math notes might be useful, though.”

“Thanks, we should take you up on that,” I said.

“No problem,” Kai said, and then to Jack, “what about borrowing the notes back from Tika long enough for these guys to make photocopies?”

“That could work,” Jack said, sounding a little skeptical, but after a pause his eyes lit up. “But you know who you really should ask? Elise. She’s one of the best humanities students in our year, and she’s super-organized.”

After Kai nodded in agreement, I asked, “You really think she wouldn’t mind helping us?”

Jack shrugged slightly, then smiled. “I don’t think she’d mind; she let me borrow some of her notes last year. Besides, she’s a class officer, right? She’s supposed to help.”

Mr. Kirill would arrive at any minute to start homeroom; there was no way for one of us to talk to Elise right now. Joel glanced repeatedly towards Elise's desk – not exactly subtle – but while just go over and ask her sounded simple enough, the thought of walking up to a girl I didn't know made my stomach sink. Joel was better with people than I was, but she was the girl he had a crush on, so it would probably be equally hard for him.

"Hey Joel," I said, keeping my voice low. "Let's try to talk to her over lunch." At least then, I’d have some time to psych myself up.

The two periods—English, then Math—between homeroom and lunch dragged on, and by the time the lunch bell rang, Elise had hurried out before either Joel or I could speak to her. We had a free period that afternoon, usually spent in PE if you weren’t in a sports club, and I’d been spending it in the library lately, trying to finish my paper.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“I don’t think Elise’s in a sports club,” Joel said when I suggested we try catching her then, “but it’s worth a shot.”

Luckily, Elise stayed in the classroom, head down and focused on her notebook. I glanced at Joel and asked, “Think this would be a good time?”

Joel nodded and we stood up. As I led the way over, I could almost feel Joel hesitating behind me. When we reached her desk, he stayed quiet. Guess it’s on me, then, I thought, and after steadying myself a moment said, “Hi, Elise. Uh, sorry—do you have a moment?”

Elise looked up, a little surprised, and set her pen down. “Oh—sure, Mark, what’s up?”

“Thanks! You know Joel and I just transferred this year, right?” When she nodded, I went on. “Since we missed last year, we’re kind of worried about a couple of the comprehensives. I was hoping you might loan us some of your notes from last year —Jack mentioned you were really strong in humanities.”

Elise smiled a little and nodded. “Of course! I can do that. I know it’s a lot to catch up on.” She thought for a moment. “Do you want to borrow my notes for English or history?"

"Both," said Joel, "if it's not too much trouble."

"It's no trouble. I can bring my notebooks tomorrow," she said. She looked like she wanted to say something more, and before Joel or I could say thanks, she went on to ask, “Since you’re both in physics, you must be better than OK in science, right?”

I shrugged, and Joel nodded.

Elise’s smile faded slightly, and she glanced down, fiddling with the corner of her notebook. “I... um, actually haven’t been doing that well in chemistry this year. I don’t know if science is the same at your old school but would either of you have notes from last year I could borrow?”

I hadn’t taken chemistry yet, but Joel had. “I didn’t bring any of my notes from last year,” he said, “but I did well in chemistry. Maybe I could help you review?”

Elise’s expression softened, her shoulders relaxing slightly. “Really? I mean… that’d be great, actually.”

“Awesome,” Joel said, leaning forward a bit. “I’ll grab your notes tomorrow, and maybe we can figure out a good time for the review then?”

Elise nodded, smiling. “Sounds like a plan. Thanks, Joel.”

When we got back to our seats, I couldn’t help but rib Joel a bit about it. “Look at you getting game now! Straight to offering to help her study?”

“Dude! It’s not like that,” Joel said, and then after a beat, he grinned, “but you know, I wouldn’t mind if it did work out that way.”

I snorted. “Thought so. Good luck – really.”

That evening

Our apartment

Fencing practice flew by, and I started the ride home under a sky that grew darker with each mile. Just as I reached our block, the first drops splattered down, and by the time I walked my bike around to the back door, the rain was pouring. Unlocking the door, I was glad for the cover of the porch roof as thunder crashed nearby, rattling the windows.

As I stepped inside, I heard a scrabbling on the stairs behind me. Turning, I saw the cat—soaked, scowling, and sitting just at the threshold. It let out a long, demanding meow and fixed its gaze on me.

“Hold on, I’ll get you some food in just a second,” I said.

It let out a low, unhappy meow. For a second, it looked like it shook its head, but... eh, whatever. “OK, not food. You don’t want to come in, do you?”

It gave a short, much happier-sounding meow and looked at me expectantly. Damn, Dormer is not going to like this, I thought. But technically Hull’s our landlord, and isn’t it supposed to be easier to ask for forgiveness than permission?

“Fine, come in if you want to.”

The cat gave another approving meow and padded inside. I set down a bowl of food in the laundry room, then went to the kitchen to see if I had any ham for it. I didn’t, and realized I was almost out of anything I’d want for dinner—or for my lunches. What are the odds that this cat is litter box trained? I shrugged. If it was this comfortable around me, it had to be someone’s lost pet… or, if it really was a talking cat, it should be smart enough to figure out the litter box instead of peeing on the floor.

So, despite the rain, I ended up running back out to the little local supermarket – Super Jordi’s – to stock up on groceries and grab a bag of cat litter. They didn’t have dedicated litter boxes, but they did have a large dishpan, which would have to do.

By the time I got home, Joel was back—soccer practice must have ended early because of the rain. As I unpacked the groceries, he raised an eyebrow. “Why’d you get kitty litter?”

“Remember that cat I told you about?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen you feeding it a few times.”

“It decided to follow me in when it started pouring.”

Joel shook his head and chuckled. “That’s just like you, man. Where is it now?”

I shrugged. Probably hiding with all the noise we’re making. When I set up its makeshift litter box in the laundry room, I found it asleep on top of a basket of dirty laundry. The cat opened one eye, stretched, and went right back to sleep.