Strange imaginations by Bridget Kathleen (philippa perry book .TXT) 📕

my stomach started to turn. "You going to be ok?" my friend, Grace, put a hand on my shoulder. "You look sick all of a sudden." Grace is a Teltos, and so it's natural for her to be concerned and know when something is wrong with a friend or family member. I guess Teltos' can just sense that sort of thing.
I finished up my leg stretches and said, "Yeah, I'll be fine. Just hungry."
She laughed a little. "Good thing lunch is next." I nodded and glanced over at Zalor. He noticed I was staring at him and he turned his head away from me. Was he looking at me first? I was so confused and wished this feeling in my stomach would go away. I lined myself up later on with a few other girls in my class and did a practice run around the track. I kept up with them for about half the track until I started to get tired. Ah dang! I didn't pace myself, so now I was making up for it and quickly becoming last in place and I did end up finishing last. This was an on-going thing so I was used to it. I was a sprinter, not a long term runner. As I was catching my breath I looked over at the boys who seemed to be doing better than us girls and Zalor was on his own. That's when I noticed how big his feet really were as he stood there in shorts rather than long jeans to cover up most of his big feet. He looked over at me and this time I was staring at him first. His long monkey tail moved from side-to-side and he smirked at me. I felt my tail get stiff and my ears perk up. My stomach rolled again and I bent over to hold it.
     "Are you sure you will be ok?" Grace handed me a bottle of water.
I gladly took the water and drank half it. I wiped my mouth with my arm and handed the water back to Grace. "That helps...a little."
     "I think you should just stick to stretching today." Grace suggested.
I laughed. "Nah! I got this. I feel that water working through me already. I'll be fine." I went back to start another lap and this time reminded myself to pace.

 

As I ran around the track at a regular pace, keeping my breathing level and steady I looked over to the boys side and some of them were just starting to line up on the track, one of which was Zalor. He got on his mark like the rest of them did and one student stood off to the side to let them know when to go. The boys always took it to the next level; always pushing themselves. As the boy gave them the go they took off fast. They would be coming up on me fast seeing how I was only half way around the track on my third and last round. Zalor was keeping up really well with the guys, in fact he was tying first place with one other student. It looked like he wasn't going to go down so easily and surprisingly enough he was passing the boy he was running beside. Zalor came up behind me fast on the track next to me, I felt the wind rush past me. Dang was he fast! The boy he ran beside passed me just seconds later and then all the rest came running by me in a bunch. Zalor's first place victory was short-lived though and the boy he was racing with walked right up to him and punched him right in the face. I stopped running and held my hands to my mouth. "Stop!" I surprised myself when I heard my voice yelling to stop. It grabbed the rest of the attention of the class including the teacher. The boys who just got done running circled Zalor and the other boy. I found myself running again to the group of boys and so did the rest of the class. The teacher was yelling, telling everyone to step aside, but I didn't and tried to break the circle apart. I was shoved back and fell right on my butt. I saw Zalor pick himself up and throw a punch at the kid. Ooh...bad move on his part. The teacher made her way inside the circle and broke the two boys apart. I knew what was going to happen next and Zalor would be taking the full blame for it.
     "What are two thinking?" Mrs. Greystone yelled. "Just because we are outside it does not give you a reason to knock each other out. This is still school and this is still a classroom!" Everyone went silent. She turned to the boy who hit Zalor first. "What reason do you have to be in this fight, Norman?"
The boy, Norman, touched his lower lip, which was bleeding now and glared at Zalor. "He punched me...for no reason at all."
Zalor got a pissed and annoyed look on his face. He was about to say something but Mrs. Greystone stopped him. "Is this true?"
     "Well...yeah, I did punch him, but he punched-"
     "Enough!" she yelled. "I've heard enough." She pointed a finger at Zalor. "Go get yourself cleaned up and take yourself to the office." she then turned to Norman and said, "As for you...I want ten laps around this track before you can leave." she blew her whistle and everyone went off to practice again.

 

I watched Zalor leave, his shoulders slumped. I felt so bad for him and I knew what was waiting for him in that office and it wasn't pretty. My stomach pintched in pain again and I bent over. "Oh ouch!" I said. I walked over to Mrs. Greystone and told her what was happening and she allowed me leave to the restroom. This was all going better than I had planned. I wasn't sure if what I was doing was such a good idea, but it was the right thing to do. I ran right pass the girls locker room where the toilet was and headed straight to the office. I could hear Zalor starting the shower in the boys locker room as I ran passed it. I only had a few minutes to explain myself to the principle what really happened and then get back to class.

 

When I came rushing into the office the principle was busy on the phone but he saw my worried and tired expression he told whoever he was talking to over the phone that he would call them back. "Mr. Robertson!" I began.
     "Calm down and take a seat." he brushed his white hair back and itched one of his long bunny ears. I couldn't though and I continued to stand.
     "Something happened in gym class just now and the boy that is about to see you is not the one who started it. I saw the whole thing. It's Norman Pierce who is to blame. He got mad because Zalor Kain got first place on the track." I paced the room from side-to-side as I explained everything to him. He sat there quietly and listened to me and nodded, understanding.
     "I will see to this mess is cleared up. Please, Anya, return to class now." I bowed and turned to open the door. When I did Zalor was standing there, his hand reached out to open the door. He was just as surprised to see me as I was to see him. I felt my cheeks flaring up and I walked past him quickly, returning to class.

 

When lunch came around I found myself more hungry than ever. My tray was stock piled high with taco salad and two chocolate cakes, a chocolate and white milk and some apple sauce. Grace took a seat next to me and gave me a weird look when she saw my tray. "Hungry much?" she commented.
I shoved half of my first piece of cake into my mouth with one bite and then drank some chocolate milk to wash it down. "Ah! Yep! Sure am." I smiled and finished the rest of my cake. I looked up suddenly, feeling like someone was watching me and sure enough someone was. My mouth was full of cake when Zalor walked passed me with his tray of food. He was looking right at me, no question about that. I had a feeling he knew what I told Mr. Robertson.
     "Anya?" Grace said. "You have cake all over the side of your mouth." she laughed and handed me a napkin. I stopped looking at Zalor and wiped my mouth. After taking her first bite of food Grace turned to me again and asked, "What do you think of that new kid? What was his name again? Zavor? Zator?"
I shook my head. "No, it's Zalor."Grace shrugged her shoulders.
     "Oh. So that's his name? I was kind of close. So, what do you think of him? I mean, he is...you know..."
     "A monkey?" I said.
Grace nodded slowly. "The last time we had a monkey come to this school it was ten years ago. It was a girl and I heard she was picked on until she was forced to leave because it got so bad."
I started digging into my taco salad now. "What happened in gym class today was not Zalor's fault." I started.
Grace seemed surprised. "Oh really? Why do you think that?"
     "Because I saw the whole thing with my own two eyes, that's why."
Grace took another bite of her taco salad. "Hmm. Well, if you ask me, I think he's hiding something." she glaced behind her shoulder where he was sitting.
I rolled my eyes and finished my chocolate milk. "We're all hiding something." I stated. Grace didn't have much to say after that and we finished our lunch in silence.

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Later on that same day I sat in the library working on some assignments during my last hour of school which was basically like another homeroom only it was forty minutes instead of twenty. I tapped the end of my pencil on the table where I sat, away from the others so I could concentrate better on my work. I was working on history, learning about the time when they were fighting to end the separation of mixed races and monkeys and us pure breds. They built an entirely new region for them during that time so that they would have a place to live. Gratos is only a few miles from there, where Zalor is from. His background is so much different from mine and the other kids here. I can't even begin to imagine how life was for him growing up in such a place. Perhaps Gratos and the neighboring city's are not as bad as some say it is? But now a days you see more mixed races walking about the city these days because of that fight to end the separation, Zalor is the first monkey I have ever personally laid eyes on. I've only ever seen pictures or videos of them, but never in person. Perhaps that's why I find myself so attractive towards him. He's so different and I really can't see the bad in him...if there is any. I sighed and sat back in my chair. I was at a stopping point and stood up to look for a book on the separation. There were only ever a few books printed about it and they usually lied somewhere in the far back of any book store or library. Some of us still think that the separation never happened and refuse to believe that they are living among the mixed. The real face of society is truly ugly indeed and I hope I never become one of them.

 

The back of the library is full of dusty books that have been sitting there for who knows how