Ruthie's Misadventures

                My life in general is normal, well, normal in the sense that I eat, breathe, sleep like a human, among other things, but there is one thing that you’d consider not human, I shape-shift. Yeah, I’m an oddity alright.

                I often dream of swooping through the air, surprising unsuspecting foes and hearing them scream as I fly away…dream is the keyword here. As it is I shift into a field mouse. Grand.

                Oh, I still get the screams, but it’s the leaving or escaping part that I can never do well.  So, I don’t shift often, only when necessary, which brings me to my story.

                Because of my oddness, I don’t have many friends.  I don’t know why, but I have a hunch−I smell mousey, I think.  Why do I think that? Well, for several reasons, 1. No one will sit next to me in class, 2. I never get picked for anyone's team in P.E. and 3. The most obvious, they pinch and scrunch their noses at me. I feel like a walking stink bomb that keeps exploding.

                One day I overheard Pamela Turner whisper to her friend that they were going to play a prank on me. This is what my life has become, life of pranks and this time I wasn't haven't it anymore.

                I don’t know why everyone thinks that if you don’t fit in their category of coolness you automatically are a geek.  Ok, so my clothes aren’t designer, but they’re clean and my hair may not always look pristine, but it's not a mess either.  Face it, I am what I am and I guess for all purposes I’m a geek in their eyes.

                Back to the jest of the story. Being pranked on was stressful and I thought I’d do my own pranking, lunch time seemed like a great opportunity to start.

                Third period is my lunch, the first of the day, perfect.  While everyone was in line getting their food, I went into the nearest bathroom to shift.  I chose this particular bathroom because no one went in it because of a field mouse, not me, was seen in there last week, so all the girls stayed out now.  Brilliant and smiled.

                Once in form, I squeezed under the door and made my way toward the cafeteria.  I kept to the wall, I figured I’d be less seen there and less likely to get stepped on.  I couldn’t believe how dirty our school floors were though and made a mental note to thoroughly wash my hands before I ate my lunch.

                As I entered, I scanned the room looking for Pamela and her group.  They weren’t hard to find, I just followed the loud, high pitched voices and voila, there they were!  Bitches. If my mother knew how bad I spoke, my mouth would have a bar of soap in it right now. As it were, no bubbles were escaping out my mouth yet.

                “ok, here goes nothing! It’s howdy duty time!” I climbed up the leg of their table, quick like.  Thank God Pamela decided to sit at the end.  Going across the table, unseen would have been tricky if not insanely dangerous. I felt exhilarated knowing that finally I’d have my payback.

                Pamela had no idea that I had crawled onto her tray.  I hadn’t thought about what repercussions would take place once she spotted me−I soon found out.  It wasn’t even five minutes that she looked down to grab her sandwich when−

                “A mouse!”

                Her scream filled the room and echoed out into the hall.  As for me, the tray I was on went sailing across the room. Now, I didn’t vision that happening, poor planning on my part, but I did feel justified.

                I clung tight to the sandwich, or so I thought I was, until I soon discovered that it wasn’t a sandwich but a small piece of bread and it was heading for the wall. Oh crap, I tried my best to get under it, but I was too late. Smack!

                I felt as if−I don’t know how I felt, I only knew that I hurt in many places and I was going to be sore for a longtime. I moaned.

                “Kill that mouse!”  Someone yelled in the distance. 

                Good lord, I’m a goner!  I had to hightail it out of there, but the room wouldn’t stop spinning! I’ve−got−to−move−or−else! I told myself, but my legs, not to mention the room, weren’t letting me do so.  I focused, or least tried.  The door was three feet away, being a mouse it seemed like a hundred miles, but it was either stay and die or move and live.  I chose the latter. 

                I looked like a deranged mouse on drugs, going everywhere but straight. God just get me out please! I begged. Girls were screaming and I felt like I was in a war where food was the ammo. Pizza, sandwiches, trays− deadly as all get out, so were the apples, flew passed me. It was a regular smorgasbord  war going on and I was leading the way. 

                I still had some distance between me and the door and when panic took hold of my tiny body. I didn’t know how I did it, but I propelled myself into high gear and out the door I went.  Headed now toward my sanctuary, the bathroom, I had a hard time of slipping under the door.  My body, badly bruised, let me know exactly where each hurt was. Excruciating.

                “It went into the bathroom, go kill it!”

                Kill it, is that what I heard? Shit.  They wouldn’t, would they? I questioned myself.  Yeah they would, I’m a mouse. I had to shift-shape back or else, but time was not on my side, so I ran to the last stall and hunkered down behind the toilet. Yuck. The thought of germs and disease ran through my mind as I waited out my fate. Then another thought surfaced, I just realized how rough mice had it. It’s not a life I’d wish on my worst enemy−well, maybe on Pamela Turner.

                Feet, two to be exact  came tromping in. I wasn’t sure who they belonged too and then, if memory served me well, I knew who those shoes belonged too, Tommy Bookman.  What is Tommy doing in the girl’s bathroom? I thought.  I stuck my head out a bit more, but it was hard to see anything being this small, so I got out from my hidey hole and as painful as it was I shifted back to being human.  Now, I have to tell you, shifting can be hard not only on your body, but on your clothes as well.  So, it’s always best to wear something baggy, today I was not.  My jeans had rips in them, but that was the style, so yay for me, my shirt on the other hand did not weather as well. Crap.

                Wham!

                The door to my stall slammed open and there stood Tommy.  Now Tommy was a jock, quarterback of our school football team, tall, blonde hair and blue eyes.  He’s what you would call, eye candy. Girls drooled over him like he was the only male left on earth, even I was struck with such a fever, but right now I wasn’t gazing at him like I wanted him.  It was more on the level of, what are you doing here? He gave me his self-absorbed I’m important look, but I could tell past that tough exterior, he was just as surprised as I was.  Time for action, so I screamed loud, Tommy looked as if he was going to pee his pants.

                “Tommy Bookman you get the hell out of the girl’s bathroom right now! What do you mean coming in here?  Are you trying to get your jollies?  Well, are you?”  This I believe was the first time that I saw Tommy clam up. I let him have it and good too! All the while my mouth was jabbering, I was walking right toward him and he, walking like someone had pulled a wedgie on him was going backwards.  His mouth kept opening, trying to say anything in his defense, but I wouldn’t let him, not until the Principal came over and interjected.

                “What’s going on here?”  In a clear and authoritative voice, that’s when Tommy spoke up.

                “I-I don’t know! I was just walking, minding my own business when she started in on me! She’s nuts I tell you!” His beady eyes caught mine and without the Principals knowledge, gave me a smirk.

                He flat out lied!  I wasn’t going to take the blame on this one.  This was the straw that broke the camels back in my book. My hands clenched into two tight fists, just itching to punch his lights out when opportunity would come a knocking.

                “I have a name! It’s Ruth Lockner and you walked in on me!” I looked at Mr. Crenshaw to see if he believed me or not, and it seemed that he did, but I had to make sure that I would win this case.

                “I believe you came in for a free show and your groupies, Pamela Turner and friends, put you up to it!  I’m tired of your pranks−all of you!” I pointed to the lot of them and they stood there as if I had sprouted wings and jeered.

                “Whoa, slow down Miss Lockner, are you sure he was in the bathroom and that…”

                Was I sure?  What load of crap was that,  I didn’t let him continue, I was fit to be tied right then.

                “Are you serious? Why would I or anyone for that matter walk out of a bathroom and start yelling at the first person they see? Does that make any sense to you? No! So to answer your question, yes, he was in here and yes, I backed him out yelling. So are you going to do something about it or not?” I know I had overstepped my boundaries, but I didn’t care anymore, it was high time the school backed victims, like me, up.  If my glare were daggers, Tommy would probably have about fifty stuck in him right now.

                “I think this was all just a misunderstanding. Tommy is our most upstanding student here at Wayfield High. I seriously doubt he’d do anything to damage that.  So, let’s just let bygones be bygones and make up shall we?”

                I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  This was no accident, he, on his own admission walked in. My blood boiled just beneath the surface and I felt betrayed. . . again.

                “So, Tommy what do you say to Miss Lockner?”

                He took a deep breath, as if saying the words would bring death upon him and smiled.

                “I’m sorry, it’ll never happen again.” And held out his hand for me to shake. 

                “Bite me.”

                I wasn’t having any of this and held fast to my conviction, this would not go unheeded.  I would get my revenge.  I turned on my heels and walked away. Whispers with laughter echoed behind me as I kept my focus on the front door just down the hall.