Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Ahhh…" I breathed deeply as I plopped down on my bed. Sure, it may have been pretty lumpy, but it was a welcome comfort after what I had just been through. Even after I finished the whole save-the-alternate-dimension thingy, I STILL had a…eh…problem. I had to get home stark naked. I was forced to take the woodland route, or else be arrested for public nudity. My bad luck strikes again.

"Vulpix," Desire hopped on my bed, then curled up into a little ball. As small as my bed was, this would not do. I sat up (with some effort, might I add.) "You…" I pointed, "you need your own bed."

"Vul!" Desire's ears perked up. She looked at me with that "I-know-something-you-don't-know" look. Whatever it was that she knew, I would find out sooner or later. But from the information I already had, I could deduct that…I would definitely be finding out later. Much later.

I sighed and flung open my closet. Admittedly, I had very few clothes, most of which were too small. Frowning, I selected a thin flannel shirt and an old pair of blue jeans. "This is all I have. You'll have to make due." I laid the clothes in a heap on the floor.

"Vulpix," she yipped in gratitude, turning around a few times before settling down to rest.

I stretched out on my bed, massaging my sore muscles against the loose spring on the right side. It felt so good…

All of a sudden a door slammed, and heavy footsteps creaked on the peeling linoleum. "Robin, get in here and do the dishes!" Mom screamed.

"Hide!" Without a second thought, I shoved Desire under my bed. "Vulpix!" came her muffled reply. "Shhh…" I whispered. "Mom can't find out about you. If she does…well, that's not important. Just stay out of trouble." I darted out of the room.

"ROBIN!" she screamed again in a slur, and I sighed. A drunk Mom equals a probable beating. I raised my eyebrows innocently and walked over to the sink, then picked up a dirty dish and began scrubbing it. She scowled at me, then stumbled into the living room. She would pass out in about an hour.

I grabbed the filthy dishrag and scrubbed a plate. I hate doing dishes, it's so…dirty. Well, it's not as dirty as some things, but the water is just NASTY. And scrubbing is hard. And time consuming. And I hate it!

It took me a whole hour to finish those dishes. My mom is such a slob, she doesn't even rinse her plate off before putting it in the sink. Which leaves ME to clean HER garbage off the plate. Doing the dishes makes me soooo mad…

I could hear snoring and angry shouts from the living room. I pushed the last plate into its spot in the cabinet and peered through the doorway to see what the commotion was. The snoring was coming from my mom, who was asleep on the couch, and the shouts were coming from the television. It was tuned to The Jerry Springer Show, my mom's favorite program. The pervert. But wait…Jerry Springer came on at midnight, did it not? I glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall. Shit, it WAS midnight! I cursed and climbed up the creaky stairs. I opened the door to my room only to find Desire curled up in plain sight. "Desire!" I hissed. She awoke with a start, her large ears perking up. "Vul vul pix!" she sneezed.

I understood. It was too dusty under the bed. "Hang on…" I sighed, pulling out a bottle of Windex and a dishrag. I squirted out a bit of the cleaner, and scrubbed away at the bottom of my bed. I gave the floor a thorough rub with my damp rag, being careful not to get it too wet so as not to upset Desire. I straightened her makeshift bed and fluffed it up a bit to make it more comfy. "Better?" I asked. "Vul," she replied, and crawled underneath my bed. She settled down peacefully without complaint. I took this as meaning that things were okay, and turned out the light.

"VULPIX VULPIX!" Desire screamed.

I turned the light back on. "Shut up! You'll wake up mom!" I whispered, and turned it off again.

"VULPIX!" she shouted.

"Shut up," I gritted my teeth. "Oh wait…don't tell me. You're afraid of the dark, aren't you?"

Desire nodded.

"Great…just great," I mumbled. I was tired after washing the dishes and all I wanted to do was go to bed. But I couldn't do that with this little pest keeping me up all night! "Hold on…" I rummaged through my drawers and produced a small candle. "Here!"

Desire blew out a small flame, igniting the wick. I set the candle on my dresser and moved toward the light switch. "Now, I don't want to hear any more complaints from you. Understood?"

"Vulpix," came the reply. I breathed a sigh of relief and flicked the switch off.

"VUL VULPIX!"

"What is it now…?" I moaned. I would never get to sleep…

The next morning I was a zombie. I had literally gotten no sleep. Desire kept me up for hours last night, making me clean out my closet, reorganize my dresser drawer, and a number of other silly tasks I couldn't remember due to my sleep-deprived brain. Oh, how I would hurt that little thing…how I would…

Oh wait. I couldn't do that; she was worth too much. Very helpful in nasty situations. I wouldn't ditch her…at least, not until the save-the-universe thing was over. Boy, that sounded weird. Save the universe. Heh…

Oh crap. I'm rambling again. Stuff like this happens when you're half-asleep…

"DING! DING! DING! DI-" the bell rang, signaling us to take out our books and prepare for class. I had forgot mine and left it in my locker. But that was okay, we had five minutes between classes to get our stuff. My chair scraped on the tile floor as I left the room.

Upon entering the hall, people rudely shoved me out of the way, but I was too sleepy to respond. It was all I could do to stumble down the crowded aisle. I was slammed against my locker by luck, and I reached out to enter my combination. I was so tired, it took me three tries before I got it right. The door swing open with a click, and I removed my algebra book and pushed the locker back shut. I didn't have any strength this morning…a long yawn escaped my throat.

I wandered back down the hall, constantly snapping my head up to stay awake. I made it back to the door.

"DING! DING! DING! DI-" announced the bell. I was late! But…I had my hand on the door…oh yeah, you have to go INSIDE. How smart of me. I pulled open the door.

"YOU'RE LATE! YOU'RE LATE!" jeered the kids. "YOU'RE LATE! YOU'RE LATE!" they continued the childlike chant. "YOU'RE LATE! YOU'RE LA-"

"I think she gets the point," said the teacher tartly. I jumped at the unfamiliar voice, then lifted my head. Sitting right there at the desk was a thin brunette woman in a long blue dress. This wasn't our teacher…what was going on? A substitute maybe?

"Please take your seat," she instructed. I nodded, and sat down in my desk. A few kids snickered, but I was so brain-dead I didn't even notice.

"Now, I regret to inform you that your former teacher has…passed away." Cheers erupted from the room, and spitwads shot through the air in celebration. The teacher's face suddenly tuned cold. "Don't you understand? She is DEAD." They had been too stupid to understand the first wording, and it took a while for the second to sink in. But as soon as it did, they resumed cheering. The teacher stared straight ahead at the class with a hard expression, as if she couldn't believe what her eyes were showing her.

I raised my hand slowly, and the teacher stared down at me. "Yes?" she asked.

"How- how did she die?" I stuttered.

"A blow to the head," the teacher replied. "So terrible…someone hit her in the head and killed her. She was too old to take it…" she looked down sorrowfully.

Oh my….

I KILLED MY TEACHER. Sure, I meant to hit her, but just to knock her out. I didn't mean to kill her…really, I didn't!

The shock must have shown on my face, because then she asked, "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "I'm fine." But I still couldn't believe I…I…

The teacher clapped her hands twice. "Alright! It's time to start class!" she turned around and wrote something on the board. When she moved away, I could see the words "Mrs. Brown."

"You will all be receiving new schedules starting today," she announced. "Unlike your former teacher, I cannot teach every subject in one class, so you'll have to use the period system like everyone else."

Now that sucked. Our old teacher…the one that I killed…she insisted on teaching all subjects in the same class. The principal didn't like the standard middle school system and allowed her to do this. But now…I would have to go to different periods for ach subject. I mumbled something under my breath.

"Okay! Settle down!" shouted Mrs. Brown. The class paid her no mind. "CLASS!" she yelled louder. They didn't even bat an eye. "BE QUIET SO WE CAN START THE DAY'S LESSON!" A few people stopped talking then, but most just ignored her. "BE QUIET OR I'LL GIVE DETENTION TO THE LOT OF YOU!" That got their attention. Everyone turned around to face her with innocent expressions. "Better," she sighed. "Now, today we will learn about…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"DING! DING! DING! DI-"

"Wha?" My head shot up. The bell rang, and everyone grabbed their backpacks and left the room. "Uh…" I said groggily. I had fallen asleep during class. Straining to lift my own backpack over my shoulder, I ran after the crowd.

I don't remember what happened the rest of the day, but I think I slept through it. All I can recall is that the bell rang a the end of seventh period, and I got on the bus, and then I fell asleep again.

I was in for quite a shock when I awoke. The bus had driven off into the woods again, and the navy woman was shaking me fiercely, screaming for me to wake up. "I'M AWAKE!" I shouted.

"Good," she smiled. "Ready for your next task?"

"Uhh….what?" I blinked.

Her smile faded. "Remember? You have to help us again today."

Slow realization crossed my face. "Oh yeah…" I said sleepily. "But…I'm way too tired. Desire kept me up all night." I yawned. "Speaking of Desire, where is she?"

"Vulpix!" she hopped into my lap. She had been in the bus seat beside me. "But how did she get here?" I asked.

"We stopped by to get her from your house," she added sharply, "you were asleep."

"Um, yeah."

"Well…" she sighed, "whether you're ready or not, you have to help. NOW." She waved her hands, making the hole in the air appear again. "Step in."