C4 4. Crestview High

After school, we walked the first half of the route and ran part of the second half.

After we got back from the run, Santana was unusually happy.

“Helix, let’s go shopping!”

“What for?”

“For you, of course! Tomorrow’s your first day of school and you need something to wear other than the hoodie and joggers.”

“Alright. What’s the budget?”

“$200”

“Alright, let’s go.”

I brought him to a Fallas clothing store and got about 6 outfits worth of clothes. In total, it was $100.

He didn’t want to accept it. The clothes were on average $4 per bottoms and $3 for tops. And a pair of shoes.

I could not ask him to spend more than that. It was making me sink deeper in his debt.

Somehow he read my expression.

“It would be more money to get a trainer, but you’re doing it for shelter. I want to help you as much as you’re helping me.”

“Thank you.”

Later that night, we all showered, had dinner, and went to sleep.

I woke up early, as usual, and went outside. It was Saturday, so there was no school. But that also means that the siblings would

want to sleep in.

‘I have to go back for today and tomorrow.’

I put a stopper in the front door so when I left, I won’t need to be a human. In addition to that, I unlocked the balcony door, so I

could get in easily.

I went back inside and wrote on a sticky note, ‘I’ll be gone for the weekend. I’ve got somewhere to go. Santana, don’t run today or

tomorrow. You need to rest your muscles.’

I undressed myself and folded my clothes in a neat pile next to where I slept.

After that, I transformed back into a black cat with black eyes. The collar that was under the blanket I slept under, was now around

my neck after I slid it on.

I went to the door and pulled the stopper with my mouth once I was in the hallway. The door closed shut and I left for Melody’s

house.

When I arrived at her house, I went through the window that was left open in the kitchen. After a couple of hours, Melody’s

mother and Mark woke up. They looked at me in their half-awake state and continued their morning activities.

Then they turned back around, after suddenly realizing that I was really there. They instantly woke up completely and ran to

Melody’s bedroom. I followed them and went through the door. They closed it behind me, and I jumped on Melody’s bed.

When she woke up, she hugged me tight like she hadn’t seen me for a long time.

Half a week isn’t that long..

After a nice reunion, we spent time with each other for the weekend.

On Sunday, Melody was in the kitchen and the back door was closed. Mom and Mark were upstairs. I pawed the food, and Melody

noticed. She opened the door for me and I went into the yard. She followed me, and I pawed the back gate.

“You want to go?”

I nodded my head and pawed the gate again. I then looked at Melody with pleading eyes.

“Alright then. Come back soon. I’ll leave food for you out here.”

Thankful, I walked towards her and rubbed on her leg. My tail wrapped around her leg and unwrapped as I circled her once.

As soon as I gave my thanks, I hopped over the gate and went to the apartment. It was about 10 PM and I had reached the balcony

of their apartment.

I transformed back into a human, after sliding my collar off, and was a bit dirty. Gosh, cat fur gets really dirty in such a short

amount of time.

I entered the apartment and changed into my sleeping clothes.

The next morning, I woke up about an hour before I had to leave, so I took a shower and changed into my new clothes. I put on a

black shirt, a black jacket, black joggers, and black shoes.

I then rummaged the fridge and found ingredients to make 3 omelettes.

Before cooking, I woke Sarah and Santana up. They both were mad, but changed their attitude as soon as they saw the things on the kitchen counter.

Get ready for school, and then you’re done, you can tell me how my cooking is, deal?

““Deal!”” they both answered at the same time.

After 10 minutes, they were sitting at the counter and had plates in front of them. When I finished making their omelettes, I made

mine. They immediately dug in.

“MMM!!! This is SHO GUUD!” (This is so good!)

“Agweeed! Cam we eee yor breakfisht ebay dai?” (Agreed! Can we eat your breakfast every day?)

“Sure.”

I then ate my omelette and cleaned before we ran out the door for school.

We made it early for school and I had to go to the administration building to receive my class schedule and take my ID picture so

they could print my ID.

When we arrived at school, Sarah went over to her friends and told us to pretend not to know her.

After I came out from the administrative building, the courtyard was filled with about a hundred people moving about the school.

Since the school didn’t have me academic records, they assumed I was as smart as Santana, so they put me in all of his advanced

classes and put me in two elective classes at random. One of them was gym class.

To gain a better understanding of my schedule, this is it:

(FY = Full Year)

Period 1. AP Statistics FY

Period 2. AP Chemistry FY

Period 3. AP US History FY

Period 4. AP English Literature and Composition FY

Period 5. Gym FY

Period 6. FREE FY

Period 7. Art FY

I showed my schedule to Santana.

“Hey! Your first 4 periods are with me.”

“That’s good. Let’s get going to our first class.”

I started walking when Santana stopped me.

“Wait, let me show you around the school first and explain the bell schedule.”

There was a schedule for the bell?

“Okay.”

“I’ll explain it simply. We have a block schedule today. It’s an odd day. Your classes are numbered from 1-7. On odd days, you

only go to the classes with odd numbers, excluding #5. The class which has #5 is your homeroom and you have it every day. All

of your classes are 2 hours each, except for your 5th period, which is only an hour. To fill up the second hour, there’s lunch break.”

I somewhat got the gist of what he was trying to say. That means, I’ve got to go to period one, three, five, and seven. Simple

enough.

Santana showed me around the campus until we arrived at our first period class.

The bell had yet to ring for everyone to go to class, so we arrived early. The teacher was in the room, and we knocked on the door.

The door opened and we entered the room.

“Good morning Mr. Murphy. This is my brother, Helix. He was homeschooled, and decided to come to school for his last year of

high school.”

“Oh! Why, hello Santana, and Mr. Helix.”

“Hello.”

I observed the teacher. He was tall. He was my height and had a strong build. Obviously he worked out. He looked to be 28 so he

was young. He had black hair and stunning blue eyes. He’s definitely a lady killer. He wore specs, but the lenses had a very small

distortion, so I’m assuming he sees perfectly fine without his glasses. He had no facial hair, and his eyebrows were thick and dark,

just like his hair.

He noticed me scrutinizing him and stood there silently, doing the same to me.

He was basically saying, “Take a look all you want, but don’t expect me to not return the favor.”

After one minute, the bell rang and we both snapped out of our pensive states.

“Helix, you go sit next to your brother. I think it’ll be easier for you to learn when you’re next to him.”

“Yes sir.”

“Oi, don’t call me sir. It makes me feel old. Call me Mr. Murphy.”

“Yes, Mr. Murphy.”

I went and sat down next to Santana.

The class flooded with children. When everyone sat down, Mr. Murphy waited until the class was silent to begin his lecture on

statistics.

He didn’t introduce me because he could tell I didn’t like the attention. How perceptive. He clapped his hands twice and began to

teach.

Statistics was just hell. I had taken this class 33 years ago in college. The class was statistics I. It’s the exact same. Thank

goodness for my amazing memory. This shit is hard.

At the end of the class, I found myself lifeless as the bell rang. I looked at Santana and his face was lit up like a tree.

‘He must really like to learn.’

Santana packed up his things and pulled me out of the classroom to go to the next class. I was already half dead, there more of this

complex learning??

While rushing to the next classroom, he told me that there is a 6 minute class change. So basically you need to get to your next

class in 6 minutes or less.

When we arrived, we told the AP US History teacher the same thing we told our first period teacher and she made me sit next to a

girl named Clara. She asked Clara to show me where she sat. When the girl named Clara got up, she was really tall. Her height

reached 5’11 and she was eccentric.

She had long orange hair that reached her hips and a beautiful smile with pearly white teeth. She was gorgeous. I wouldn’t be

surprised if she modeled. When we sat down, the bell rang for class to begin.

Class droned on and on about history. The teacher talked about the wars that happened, and told us to write an essay on the

Mexican-American war.

I groaned internally and started writing my essay. It took me about an hour before I completed it.

By the time I turned in my paper, Half the class turned theirs in before me.

When I returned to my seat, I rested my head on my arms and pulled my hood over.

I was about to fall asleep when I felt a poke at my side.

“Hey, you didn’t say what your name was, new kid.”

“Helix.”

My voice is deep, so it wouldn’t be heard by others if I didn’t speak loud enough.

“Nice to meet you Helix; I’m Clara, as you know.”

“Mmh.”

I groaned in acknowledgement because I didn’t have the energy to answer her properly.

I apologized internally.

I soon fell asleep and was woken up by the bell. I had regained some of my energy, so I asked Clara where the Gymnasium was.

“When you exit the classroom, turn right, go down the stairs, take a right and go out the Atrium doors, continue to go straight, and

you’ll see a huge sign on a building that says ‘gymnasium’”

“Thank you.”

I found the gym and asked one of the girls where the coaches were.

“They’re usually in the locker rooms.”

“Then, do you know where the locker rooms are?”

“Yeah. The boys’ locker room is down that hall and to the right.”

“Alright, thank you!”

I found the locker room and met with the coach. He welcomed me to the school and gave me a locker and gym clothes. He told me

to change into them and be ready to leave the locker room in a few minutes.

A simple task. I went to my locker, which was in a corner, and unlocked it. I took my backpack off and put it in the locker. I then

changed clothes and waited by the door with everyone else.

The locker room was noisy. Boys are so loud. I didn’t know anyone in this class, so I was left by myself. Not that I’m

complaining.

The bell rang and we went out into the gym. The gym classes were separated between grades. 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th. The guys

in my grade were tall and short. Someone was 6’2, and this other guy was 5’7. It varied.

The uniform everyone wore were gym shorts and a cotton shirt.

The girls also came out and everyone sat in their assigned spot on the bleachers. Since I was new, the coach made me stand up in

front of the class and wait until he rearranged everyone. I was in one of the last rows because on the register, my last name was

Prince.

After I got my assigned seat, the coach led us to the track. It was Mile Monday, or so the students called it.

He picked 8 people at random. I sat down and stretched while waiting for my turn. Their mile times were between 7:03 minutes

and 15:21 minutes. The fastest was a small girl. She’s small, but freakishly agile and fast. I was surprised because she didn’t even

look tired.

The next 8 people, I spotted someone familiar. This girl had mid-length brown hair and brown eyes. It was Melody!

My interest was suddenly piqued, so I decided to watch the race.

The whistle sounded and everyone took off. Four laps around the track was one mile.

Just as my interest was piqued, the race was pretty boring. I felt like a cat watching a ball roll around in a circle. How ironic.

The times ranged from 6 to 18 minutes. The one who was the fastest was one of the taller guys. He was 6’2 and had long strides.

Having long strides lets the runner breathe easier, rather than huffing and puffing.

The last group was my group. There were 32 people in this class, including me. I was in the fifth lane. The gym teacher’s eyes

were on me. He’d seen what everyone in this class was capable of, but not me. Everyone else also focused on me.

‘What a pain.’

The whistle sounded and Everyone took off. I assumed that if I wanted to run one mile, I would run at 6 mph.

Between the fastest times, 10 minutes for a mile would be perfect. I ran at my own pace, and so did everyone else. There were

people ahead of me, and a couple behind me. I honestly don’t care about mile time, I just want to not stand out.

When I finished the mile, the coach stopped the timer at exactly 10 minutes and recorded my time.

“Mediocre.”

“Coach, that was hard.” I complained.

“Then run more often to get faster and build your stamina.”

I don’t think he actually understood my meaning. I was talking about the complete opposite of what he was thinking. It was hard

controlling my speed. It wastes so much energy.

When we finished the miles, there was about 10 minutes left of class. The coach took pity on us and let us go in early to change.

When the bell rang, I was ready to go to lunch.

That’s not entirely true. I was ready to sneak away to a quiet place and sleep. When the bell rang and the doors opened, I happened

to spot Melody. I needed to know where my last class was, so I asked her if she could help me.

“Art? Uh, it’s down the hall and to the left. You’ll know it once you see it. There’s some things in a case on display in front of the

room.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem. What’s your name?”

“Helix.”

As I was leaving, someone walked behind Melody and she yelped in surprise. I turned around only to find her boyfriend, Jack with

an arm around her shoulders. He was looking me up and down, trying to see if I was a threat.

Apparently I was because there was some hostility flickering in his eyes.

I turned and left again. Now I know where my classroom is, I’m going to find a small place that is quiet, to sleep.

I wandered and found a landing on one of the staircases. It was perfect because my next class was right around the corner.

I pulled my hoodie over my head, leaned against the wall, and soon dozed off to sleep.

About an hour later, I was awakened by the sound of the bell. I lazily got up and dragged my last two brain cells to art class.

I think art was the hardest class out of all of them. It looks easy, but that is complete and utter bullshit.

It’s nothing like how it looks. Do you know how hard it is to draw a circle? A FUCKING CIRCLE!!!

I was practically pulling out my hair the entire class. I can’t. The bell rang and announced the end of school, so I’m going to drag

my last brain cell to a forest and change my scenery.

I packed my bag and left quickly.

Once I left, I ran to the apartment and waited for Sarah or Santana to open the door, since I didn’t have a key.

Sarah came first and opened the door for me. I asked her for a spare key and told her that I was going to get some air.

“Why? What got you so worked up?”

“Art class.”

“HAHAHAHAHA Art class. HAHAHAHAHAHA I can’t hold it in!! I can’t breathe!!! AAHAHAHA. Oh. I’m going to die from

laughter!”

She laughed herself to tears while I watched.

“Oh, man. That was great. I’ll get you a spare key.”

“Thank you.”

I picked up an empty drawstring bag and left.

***

I walked towards the back of the fast food restaurant where I transformed into my human form. I found the corner I was in and I

took off my clothes.

I then put them inside the bag and transformed into a bird. I was now a bald eagle. I was pitch black, so I looked more like a

supersized vulture.

I picked up the bag with my clothes and flew to a tall building. I put the bag on the roof of the tallest building in the city, so I

could find it easily.

After I left it and made sure that no one could get it, I took off and started my people watching journey. I basically flew in a circle

in the sky and observed the people below.

There were people of all types. Some people were going out to eat, others strolling on the sidewalks, kids playing outside, and

more. There were also shady things going on down below, such as smoking, vaping, drinking, and fighting.

The school was somewhat close to the school, so I could see students hanging out with each other. Because I was a bald eagle, and

my vision was now 8 times better than a human’s, I could see further and clearer. My field of vision was also 360 degrees,

compared to the 180 degrees humans have, and I could see about 2 miles into the distance.

I saw Melody walking back to her house. She was walking with her boyfriend, Jack. They looked happy. He kept glancing at her.

More specifically, he kept staring at her breasts and face.

Ugh. Is this what male humans think about all the time?

I flew over to them and landed on a wire on a lamppost. They didn’t see me, but I could hear everything they were talking about.

“Babe, so do you want to go to a party with me? It’ll be really fun and you can meet new people there.” Jack asked.

“I don’t know. My mom’s really strict about everything recently.”

“But all of your friends are going. Please, it’ll be fun! I know you’ll never forget it.”

Wow, he’s really pushing and pressuring her into going to this party.

“Alright, fine, you win.”

“Yay!!” Jack was super excited, “I’ll pick you up on Friday at your house at 9 PM. Be ready and bring a bathing suit. There’s a

pool.”

“Alright! I can’t wait to see you.”

“You make it sound like I won’t see you at school. We’ll see each other tomorrow.”

“Oh, alright. Thanks babe. I’m glad you invited me.”

“Of course! My baby deserves some fun time.”

As they finished their conversation, they arrived at Melody’s house.

“Bye baby! See you tomorrow at school!”

“Bye!”

And they went separate ways.

What an entertaining conversation. Since Melody will be at the party, I will need to get myself an invitation as well.

I’m not stalking her, I’m just making sure that she doesn’t get into unnecessary trouble that’ll give her PTSD or something.

I had my relaxing time, so I flew back to the building and picked up the bag of clothes I left. I then flew to my changing spot and

turned back into a human.

After dressing myself, I went back to the apartment and made dinner for the 3 of us.