Some Pushover

I pulled my tangled auburn hair into a ponytail while shuffling through my drawers for a new shirt. Today wasn't what I would call, "A Good Day," but instead, "The-worst-day-of-my-life-Day".

My mom (without telling me) submitted an application for me to go to a boarding school. Now, let me tell you, boarding schools didn't quite work out for me. Not one bit. The first time I went to a boarding school, I discovered I had dyslexia. Expelled. The next school, I learned I had A.D.H.D. I was expelled from there too. Stuff like that just doesn't work for me.

"Amy!" My mother called, her voice sounded hoarse. I think she's getting a cold. "Time to go!" I groaned but shuffled out the door reluctantly. I grabbed my bag and hurried out of our apartment building. My mother had the car started already, trash piling over the dashboard. Then I saw him. In the driver's seat was Marty, my step-dad. My mom never told me who my real dad was. But I think I saw him once…

"What are you waiting around for, half-whit?" Marty called. I could hear the annoyance in his voice. I groaned. I shuffled into the car and brushed the piles of trash off the back seats. I settled down and swung my duffel bag on the ground. But not quite. I didn't want to get smashed French fry on my bag.

I guess I had fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew we were stopped in a parking lock.

"Get out, runt." Marty sneered. He turned with a smirk on his face. My mother politely opened the door. Before I could get out, Marty shoved me onto the ground. "Runt." He repeated.

My mother squeezed me tight and looked at me with her calm, green eyes. "Promise me, Ayala Johnson, you will stay in this school?" I nodded slowly. I allowed a smile to split across my face. We hugged. I pushed away and looked down. My mother pushed the loose pieces of hair out of my face and smooched my forehead. I groaned and shuffled away. Turning back, I waved. But the car was already gone. I blinked back the tears and pushed open the doors to the large building.

Inside, my best friend -Ariel- was waiting for me. She ran right to me and wrapped her arms around me, squealing exactly. I pushed her off and smiled. Her New York Yankees baseball cap was tilted to the side, exposing her curly brown hair. Quickly, she replaced it on her head. "AMY!" She squealed. I jumped and place my hand on her shoulder and smiled awkwardly. She hugged me again. I moaned a little. I moan a lot. "Come on!" She grabbed my hand and darted around in the lobby. For a girl with a walking problem, she could run pretty darn fast. While she was dragging me behind, she squealed again. "WE'RE ROOMIES!" I rolled my eyes and tried to keep up.

While Ariel and I were unpacking, she looked over to me. I guess she noticed my tar marks from earlier. She brushed my hair out of the way and winced. "Marty?" she asked. But she didn't have too. I nodded and turned away. She sniffled and returned to her bag. She mumbled something to herself as she pulled her reed pipes out of her bag. For the rest of the day, she stared wearily out the window.

It was midnight, but I wasn't asleep. I keep tossing and turning, slamming and fluffing my pillow. Something pushed me too look over to Ariel. Her pants (ew) were lying on the ground and so were…HER FEET? I panicked and rushed over, pulling off the covers. I saw curly, brown fur where her legs should be and… Hooves. Then everything went black.

"A-Amy?" I opened my eyes and saw Ariel towered over me. I scrambled to escape her grip, but then I realized she had feet. Everything was dizzy. I think I saw Ariel sniff the air. She did. She winced and backed away. "What is wrong with-Great." The door blasted open. I sighed heavily. Ariel was paralyzed, mumbling something softly. I looked up and saw a man - no, creature in the doorway. It snarled and headed towards me. I covered my head. Ariel jumped out in front of me as the monster stoke. I screamed, but Ariel got up unharmed. She pulled my hand and we headed to the window.

"NO! ARIEL, NO!" I screamed. But then I realized the monster was heading to us. My stomach rose into my throat and I was floating in the air. I looked down, the ground coming to me. The monster roared loudly, sending people running for their lives. I looked at Ariel, and she had a crooked smile. We landed safely, but I made the stupid decision of pounding my fist on the ground. I winced, but I didn't cry. But I felt like it.

The monster floated down next to us, roaring loudly. My heart was thumping. I felt a jolt of energy run through-out my body. Then I fell to the ground. My hair was morphing into my back, my skin turning to fur. My feet began to disappear and form into paws. I tried to scream, but all the came out was a roar of a fury. I just turned into a silver tiger.

When I woke up, I had a warm blanket wrapped around me. Ariel was next to me, petting me weirdly. The leather seats of a car were lined with silver animal fur. I looked around to see who the driver was. "Mom?" I choked up. I winced in pain. Ariel looked down and awkwardly pulled her hand away.

"Erm, um, eh," she stumbled. I raised an eyebrow. She seemed to be looking around to answers. "Err, well, Amy. You turned into a tiger and killed that monster." Well, she made that loud and clear.

"Where am I going?" I asked. I ignored the fact that I was chased by a monster, jumped out of a building, and turned into a tiger. All I cared about was where i was going.

"Long Island," Ariel chirped happily. Then she noticed something, she knew that I knew she was a goat. "Oh and um, I'm Satyr. Just to let you know." I shoved my head into the leather seat and sighed. What the hell was going on.