Chapter 4

Miss Muffin's Funeral

Part 1

Author's Note: I decided to write about how Emmie and Melissa met because one of my readers doesn't like her. It's true that characters are modeled after real life people, and Emmie is modeled after my sister. So while she is pushy she is an important character to the story. I am going to see if I can get a chapter out every week or two because it seems there are readers that are waiting to see the next chapter.

And for what is coming up it's going to be really interesting, maybe. Well, it will be a bit more philosophical (and romantic) in a few chapters, but the action will be turned up towards the end when C.J. returns and we find out how his home planet plans on reacting to the policy MNU established for the aliens. There will be explosions. So there is something for everyone, if you aren't of an intellectual bent just wait a bit.

OMG! Cornell has its own organic farm, resource ecology and management lab, an ecotoxicology unit, an orchard, and tons of gardens! I'm so jealous! Heh, but its $20k per semester, whoo!

Oh and WARNING: I'm mean to pets here, so if you love fuzzy things a lot and can't imagine mean things done to them just stop reading after the story of when Emmie and Melissa meet, skip the next chapter, and start on chapter six (which will be up someday) It will be funny too, in a wholesome sort of way.

2006

The day had passed away hours ago and the semester was lagging on somewhere in between midterms and finals. Several students were missing during the late evening class on microbiology, but Melissa remained after class was dismissed to review some points she was fuzzy on during the midterm. As the instructor discussed some detailed points she wrote them down in her notebook which she planned on transferring to her laptop as soon as she got home. After fifteen minutes she felt satisfied with her professor's explanation and she started walking to her dorm. As she walked along the path she noticed something strange, behind one of the bushes several feet away from the concrete path she saw an arm. The arm was such a pale contrast to the foliage around it that Melissa felt an eerie panic rise up her spine. She walked up to the shrub to get a closer look and found a girl lying in the dirt, unconscious.

She was young whoever she was, and a little too lean for her own good. The girl had platinum blonde hair and she looked like she should have been at a club dancing instead of on the ground of the most prestigious universities in the world. Melissa listened for her breathing, which was shallow and raspy. She checked her pulse, which was quick and erratic. Melissa started looking though the girls purse and scattered on the bottom were several bottles of prescriptions.

"911, what is the nature of the emergency?"

"I have a drug overdose case. The patient is unconscious, hyperventilating and has an elevated pulse. She has on her possession Dexedrine, Adderall, Xanax and some other assorted prescriptions"

"Where is she located?"

"In Cornell University in between Caldwell and Warren Hall, just to the right of the path."

"And do you know the name of the patient?"

Melissa dug through the purse and found the wallet of the girl she discovered. "It's Emily Bristiene."

"Okay, we're dispatching an ambulance now. Can you stay with her until arrival?"

"I will."

"They'll be there within five minutes."

Melissa stood on the path so that the ambulance could see her clearly and waited. She kept thinking that it wasn't too late and the medical team would save the young girl's life. There was still time. One thing was obvious which is Emily gained access to prescription drugs and was abusing them, everything else was a mystery. What was she doing there? Was she partying with some frat boys at a fraternity nearby? Was she a student? Did she feel some sort of pressure to perform that made her turn to drugs?

The ambulance arrived and Melissa pointed to where Emily was lying. Melissa asked what hospital they were going to so she could follow them. Melissa was very concerned, and had to make sure the girl was ok before she would be able to get a decent night of sleep. A half an hour later she was at the front desk asking for Emily Bristiene, trying to see if she had been stabilized yet, what her status was and met Emily's parents.

By the next morning Melissa knew the story of Emily's life, and became her honorary guardian. In many ways Emily and Melissa were on the same path: 21 year old college students working to earn an MD license. Emily's parents told Melissa that Emily used to be a problem in middle school, getting into fights, going to parties and making bad grades. But when she was 14 her 19 year old brother got into a car accident and died. He was going to college with the goal of becoming a biology teacher, but he never made it past freshman year. After that Emily's parents had a few problems with curfew, but Emily started getting more involved in school and started making top notch grades. Her parents thought it was to make up for the loss of her brother, and she pushed herself hard to achieve. What they didn't know is that Emily never stopped getting into fights or going to parties but would make sure the school never heard about it and that it did not interfere with her studying. But medical school was burning her out, and she started taking pills to keep up with the other students. She used her knowledge as a medical student to keep accurate track of what she was taking and to not mix medicines, and was able to strike a balance for three years. But the night Melissa found her was indeed the accumulation of years of living without compromise. Emily got careless and mixed her doses, and nearly died.

When Emily's parents talked to Melissa they were impressed. She was just as intense in her studies as Emily was, but was also very compassionate to others and took extra care to rest properly and study efficiently. Melissa had no interest in clubbing or partying with the sororities and was held in high regard by her professors and held the possibility of graduating from med school early. Emily's parents asked her to take care of their daughter and Melissa unwisely agreed to their proposal.

About two weeks later Emmie found Melissa's dorm room and went to thank her for getting her to the hospital. It was Monday evening and Melissa was busy reading her text and rereading it to make sure she absorbed all the relevant points. Melissa was laying on her bed, totally absorbed in her book, idly petting her cat who was lying on her shoulder and back. When Emmie knocked Melissa got up and her cat remained attached on her shoulder as she answered the door.

"Hi, are you Melissa? I got your information from my parents."

"Yeah, do you want to come in?"

"Sure. Is that a cat on your shoulder? Isn't that against dorm rules?"

"This is Miss Muffin, I've had her since I was a freshman. She's good for helping me study, we've studied microbiology together and I swear she knows this stuff as much as I do. Please don't tell anyone."

"Can I pet her?" Emmie started petting the black and brown ragamuffin cat, bringing the cat to purr, and it started kneading Melissa's shoulder. "How do you make her stay on your shoulder?"

"She just does it. I think she likes reading my books with me, or maybe she likes the warmth."

"What's her name?"

"She's a Ragamuffin breed so I named her Miss Muffin. She so loveable she would come to class with me if I didn't have to keep her secret. You want her to borrow your shoulder?" Melissa took Miss Muffin off her shoulder and transferred her to Emmie's shoulder. Miss Muffin crawled up and started rubbing Emmie's cheek with her own. "Oh, she likes you!" Melissa smiled.

"I want one!"

As the weeks went by Emmie and Melissa started hanging out, studying together since they had the same classes and requirements, and somehow Emmie convinced Melissa to go out in between semesters and relax more. Somehow even though they were opposites they complemented each other. Melissa was orderly and serious while Emily was chaotic and pushy, but because they were so different Emmie pushed Melissa to have fun and relax while Melissa's sense of order brought Emmie a sense of thinking ahead more. They ended up becoming best friends as college wore on.

OKAY, IT'S TIME TO STOP READING IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE....OK, I WARNED YOU.....

Alex was hungry, really hungry. He was able to hunt down a boar a few days ago that sustained himself and his son, but since he was ran over and stuck in the human's house he had not eaten. It had been over a day and he felt as though his stomach would fuse to his spine. He started looking around the house for something to eat. Soon he noticed an animal was in there, and he thought it was brilliant. The human must be raising an animal to maturity so she could eat it later! He knew that humans were just clever in some ways. He decided to hunt after the furry four footed creature and eat it. He knew that the humans would be a bit upset, but there would be plenty left over for them too. Besides, she hit him and left him here to starve! The animal let out a hissing sound and ran to the bedroom. Alex limped to the bedroom and knelt down to look under the bed. The little beast scratched his face and zipped past him to the living room.

Alex shut the bedroom door, the bathroom door, and trapped the little nasty bastard in the living room. The beast was huddled behind the entertainment system. Alex took a shower rod and poked it out, and the animal whisked out and hid behind the couch. After several minutes of chase Alex finally got a hold of the creature and snapped its neck.

7pm

"I can't believe I can only walk two miles a day for the next two weeks." Melissa scoffed.

Emmie and Melissa were driving back from the hospital where Melissa was examined for whiplash and finished up the last class for the day. The doctor concluded that nothing was broken, but her muscles could have been torn so he instructed Melissa to reduce her exercise to walking.

They had the materials for the surgery and stopped at a grocery store and got Alex some chicken and beef. They weren't sure what he preferred so they hoped he would be okay with basics. Melissa turned pale at the checkout stand. "Emily, we need to get to my apartment as soon as possible."

"We'll get there soon."

"You forgot.... my cat's in there!"

Emily turned pale.

Alex knew that humans were brilliant, the animal he caught was delicious. Alex was careful to put the fur and bones in the garbage can and put the leftover meat in a plastic bag next to the garbage can so Emmie and Melissa could have some when they got back. He even cleaned up the mess he left from butchering and after eating he felt so full he just went to sleep on the couch.

After a few hours the humans barged in, Melissa started calling out "Miss Muffin". She started making some clicking noises and went to the bedroom. Alex looked around groggily. Emily looked at him and glared, "I hope you didn't eat the cat or Melissa's going to kill you!"

Melissa went back to the living room. "She's not here. Maybe she went outside?" Melissa looked at the garbage can, and then noticed the bag next to it. A puddle of blood was congealing underneath it, and Melissa knew Miss Muffin was dead.

Melissa fainted and fell to the floor. At least she wasn't going to kill him.

End Note: I know I am so evil for doing this, but I thought it would definitely something a Poleepkwa would do and I wanted something that would break down the distrust Alex has against Emmie and Melissa. And it's funny in a twisted sort of way. There are some loose ends from this chapter which will be tied up in Miss Muffin's Funeral Part 2! Now feel free to express how much you hate me for animal cruelty!