Lions and Tigers and Boys

by Tawny Stokes

  Since I was feeling joyous and relaxed I thought I’d be the bigger person. I took a soda over to her and thrust it into her hand. “Why don’t you stay and have some pizza with us?”

  She looked down her nose at the soda and me, then handed it unopened to Nia. “I have other plans. ”

  “Okay, suit yourself. I was just trying to be nice.”

  “I’m going into town for lunch with Dean Vasilev.”

  “Great. Have a nice time.”

  “I will. And you have fun at your little kiddie party.” She gave me one of her smug smiles.

  Not hearing what had transpired, Anna came bouncing up, all smiles and fun. “Are you staying, Maggie? It would be nice if you joined us. You would have fun.”

  Maggie looked Anna up and down and sniffed, “Not likely. There’s no one here I want to talk to.” Then she pulled on gloves and turned to go to the door.

  Anna’s face fell, and she looked absolutely crushed. I knew all term she’d been trying to get into Maggie’s good graces, while I constantly told her that Maggie didn’t possess them. But I hated that she looked so dejected. She was the most loving, charming person I’d ever met, and anyone would be lucky to be her friend.

  Rage spilled through me like hot lava. My hands clenched into fists. I’d had enough. Maggie could treat me with disdain or contempt or whatever it was she held for me, but by God she couldn’t treat Anna like that. Not on my watch.

  I marched right out of the dorm and into the cold to see Maggie smiling and flirting with one of the senior boys on the steps. They both turned around, surprised that I came storming out.

  “You know what, Maggie? You are one of the worst people I have ever met.”

  “And I care why?” She cocked her hip and her eyebrow.

  “You have been nothing but rotten to me, and to everyone around you. I don’t know how Nia and Shelby stand you.” She went to open her mouth, but I wasn’t even close to done. Now that I had started, I couldn’t stop. “You are snotty, arrogant, stupid, and mean. You’re only here because of your mother and as far as I can tell, she’s as horrid as you are. You are not all that. You are average at best.” That got a few gasps from the people I knew had crowded in behind me. “No one really likes you. Everyone talks shit about you behind your back.” I took in a final breath. “And your feet stink so bad, you are kidding yourself thinking that your perfume masks it. Because it doesn’t!”

  There was a wave of snickers, giggles, and gasps of “Oh my God!” behind me. I didn’t need to turn to know that every girl in our dorm had gathered outside on the steps. Beside her, the boy had his hand over his mouth, and I knew he was trying to stifle a laugh. Beyond them, I spotted Cai standing in the snow watching the debacle, and I remembered our conversation we had in the special spot near the stream he’d taken me to. The time when I had told him about Maggie’s stinky feet. And a pang of regret stabbed me in the gut. It nearly made me double over.

  For one moment, Maggie’s mask slipped off; I could see the hurt of my remarks in her eyes. And for one brief second I was ashamed of myself for making them and resorting to her level. But I’d had enough. No one had ever stood up to her before. I knew that now. But then her mask was back in place just as quickly.

  “Honey, jealousy is never pretty.” She tossed her scarf over her shoulder and smirked at me. “And from what I heard, you were rejected at the Montreal school, and you had to have your silly old aunt, who used to be somebody ages ago, beg the dean to take you. It’s all quite sad, really. I almost feel sorry for you.”

  She turned to the boy. “Shall we go? I’m starving.” She wrapped her hand around his arm, and they left together.

  I looked for Cai again, but he had turned and was walking away.

  Anna stepped down beside me. “Are you okay?”

  I nodded, then looked at her with a smile. “Yup. Ducky.”

  “Then let’s go in and get some pizza before it’s all gone.”

  “Sounds good.” I followed Anna back into the dorm and into the common room. Everyone was a bit more subdued now. Some girls glanced furtively at me, then looked away when I caught them. I grabbed a piece of Hawaiian and settled into the big comfy chair. I’d thought I would feel better after unloading on Maggie. She deserved every little jab I landed, but in the end, I felt worse. It was not the happy occasion I had expected. Because ultimately what I did was not about making a stand against her bully tactics, it was about hurting her personally.

  The rest of the day went by in a muted blur. We ate all the pizza, drank all the soda, danced to everything anyone could find to put on, laughed, and goofed around. At around seven, I wrapped up warm in my coat, scarf, hat, mittens, and boots and decided to go for a quiet walk over the grounds.

  I walked around our dorm to stand at the edge of the tree line, then glanced back to see my window, the one I always looked out at night. Turning back to the trees, I noticed a print in the snow. It wasn’t a shoe print, but a huge paw print. It was right by the bush I had seen Cai walk out of months earlier. Crouching, I put my gloved hand inside.

  A sudden image of Cai laughing while ruffling Ozzy’s fur flashed in my mind, startling me, and I fell back and landed in the snow on my butt. I sat there for a moment, wondering where that image had come from. I didn’t have any real memory of that occurring. But still it lingered in my brain like one, giving me tactile responses. I could smell the air, hear Cai’s laugh and Ozzy’s chuff of pleasure, and my fingertips tingled with the remembrance of touching soft fur. And my lips. Oh God, my lips tingled, as if they’d been kissed for an hour.

  Then like a mirage, I watched as Cai walked out of the woods toward me, stern and determined, his unruly ginger hair fluttering around his face.

  “What are you doing here?” My heartbeat had picked up a few beats.

  He offered his hand to help me to my feet. I took it, and he pulled me up but didn’t let go of my hand. Funny thing was, I didn’t want him to.

  “I have something I want to tell you,” he said.

  “What?”

  He tugged me forward, cupped my cheek gently with his hand, and kissed me.

  At first, I was too stunned to react, but then images, thoughts, and feelings all came flooding into my head, into my body. My knees gave out, but Cai had me, kept me from falling. Again? He’d caught me before, hadn’t he?

  “What’s happening?” I touched my head. I felt faint. “I…I don’t understand. Why does this, you, feel so familiar?”

  “Remember, Dani. Remember us.” He wrapped me tight in his arms and kissed me again. This time I melted into him.

  As we melded together, I remembered everything.

  Following him into the woods, his hands around my waist, his laugh when we shared stories, the kindness and compassion he’d shown me on the bank of the stream, our first kiss in the cat enclosure, our date, and the evil thing that tried to attack me. The thing Cai had saved me from.

  I pulled back. “Oh my God, I remember everything.”

  He cupped my face again. “I’m so sorry, Dani. I’m sorry I didn’t stop Marvel from erasing your memories.”

  I took in a ragged breath as the feeling of powerlessness surged through me again. But I remembered Cai’s face. I remembered the touch of his hand on mine as he tried to soothe and console me through it. I remembered his words. “I’m in love with you.” I didn’t blame him. He had been as helpless as I had been to stop it.

  “I’m sorry I betrayed you.”

  I looked deep into his eyes and saw pain and remorse in the vivid blue depths. “You didn’t, Cai. You stood up to Professor Marvel and literally lifted me up to be better than I could’ve ever been without you.”

  “You are a wonder, Dani Gale.”

  I chuckled. “Says the shape-shifting tiger.”

  Laughing, he gathered me in his arms. I snuggled into him, sapping the warmth he seemed to have an abundance of. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath of him, reveling in the scent of nature and fresh
warm candy. I realized now Cai’s energy had helped me through the entire audition. It had been our combined strength that propelled me forward.

  “Can we stay like this forever?” I murmured into his chest.

  He smoothed a hand over my hair. “I would love that.”

  “But?” I looked up at his face.

  “But, you know we can’t. We have to keep us a secret.”

  “I don’t want to. I want to tell everyone around me how much I’ve—” I pressed my lips together, afraid of saying anything more.

  “How much you’ve what?”

  “Fallen for you. I’m in love with you, Cai.”

  He smiled and leaned in to brush his lips against mine. “I’m in love with you, too. And have been for a while, I think.”

  I parted my lips for him, and wrapping a hand around his neck, I kissed him hard. My head swam with the thought of him, and my belly fluttered from the sweet taste of his lips. Who knew that the boy I tripped over at the beginning of the year would become my soul mate?

  When we parted, I rested my head against his chest, too warm and secure to push out of his arms. “What do we do now? It’s going to be hard training with you without kissing you all the damn time.”

  Chuckling, he nuzzled his face against my temple. “I know. Fancy going for long, secret runs through the grounds every night?”

  “Hell yeah. Let’s start now.” I moved out of his arms and grabbed his hand, tugging him into the woods.

  He looked me over and smiled. “Aren’t you cold?”

  “Not when I’m around you.” And I wasn’t. Cai filled me with so much warmth that I could’ve gone without a coat and hat. I could’ve taken off my boots and walked barefoot through the snow and ice.

  “Okay,” he said as he linked his fingers with mine. “Let’s stop by the cat enclosure and tell Ozzy the good news. He’s been bugging me about you for weeks.”

  “He has, has he?”

  He nodded, a grin on his beautiful face.

  “Do you think he can keep a secret?”

  “Yeah I think so.”

  I laughed, as we walked hand in hand along the pathway into the woods. We knew we wouldn’t run into anyone along the way. Most of the students stayed out of the trees at night. I was okay with having to keep us secret. It didn’t matter whether anyone else knew how we felt about each other. All that was important was I loved Cai, and he loved me. Everything else we would figure out eventually. But for now, I squeezed his hand and looked up into his face and knew I was happy.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Dani

  In the morning the auditorium was buzzing with excitement. Everyone was packed into the room like they had been on the first day. I spotted my dad and Great Aunt Dottie in one of the back rows and waved to them as I took my seat. Aunt Dottie was impossible to miss with her colorful head wrap and matching shawl. This time I didn’t stumble in late and trip on some boy, embarrassing myself. Instead I sat in the front row with Anna and the rest of the high-wire students. Maggie sat about seven seats away, and I tried to avoid looking at her.

  Dean Vasilev walked out onto the stage to applause. “We have come to the end of the term.” There was more applause and some triumphant whoops. “Yes, yes, Leander, we know how excited you are to not have to work for fourteen days.” There was some laughter at that. I looked back to see Leander getting head rubs from his buddies. My gaze briefly met Cai’s, and I tried to look away before my grin gave me away.

  “Before you are released for the winter break, we have some special awards to give out to some very worthy students.” She looked at the first certificate in her hands. “The first one is for exemplary academics during the first term. This student has scored honor marks in all her classes. The award goes to Maggie West.”

  I rolled my eyes, wondering who else she had blackmailed into doing her schoolwork for her. I gave a couple golf claps as Maggie ran up on stage to accept her certificate. They shook hands, Maggie’s smile on high beam, acting as if she’d just been crowned Miss America or something, then she came back down to her seat. She had the nerve to look over at me and grin.

  “This next award is for outstanding citizenship during the first term. This student has shown great leadership, community service, and volunteer work teaming up with the staff and with fellow students to make this school an exemplary place to study. The award goes to Anna Hunter.”

  I screamed and hugged Anna tight. She was shaking, she was so surprised. There was thunderous applause as she went up onto the stage. She was well-liked in the school, and I was the luckiest to call her friend and roommate. She had tears in her eyes when she returned to her seat. I hugged her again.

  “As you know, we had several spots open for the annual charity show. After three months of hard work and training, and tough auditions, the committee, with help from the professors, have made their selections. So without further ado.” Dean Vasilev opened up the first envelope. “For German wheel, the part and scholarship goes to, Jacob Reid.”

  There was much applause as a short, stocky second year that I didn’t know well jumped onto the stage to accept his award. The dean announced for Chinese pole, which went to Kim Woo, a senior who everyone said was the best they’d ever seen on the apparatus. Next came straps. That went to a second-year girl named Zoya Balan. The next discipline to be announced was contortion.

  Anna grabbed my hand as the dean opened the envelope. I was sad that she never went for the spot. She told me she didn’t think she was even remotely good enough to try out. I’d told her she wouldn’t know until she tried, but by the time she considered it, it had been too late to throw her name into the running. So, the part went to a third-year girl named Amy Chung.

  “The last spot for the annual show, for the high wire goes to…” The dean opened the envelope but didn’t really look at it.

  I sucked in a breath and squeezed my eyes shut.

  “Ma…er, Danielle Gale?”

  I couldn’t believe it. I opened my eyes and gaped up at the stage. Miss Gisele was holding open the envelope, and she glanced at the dean, as if she couldn’t believe it. I blinked around numbly as Anna jumped up and down and pulled me to my feet. She hugged me and then pushed me toward the stage. I took the stairs carefully, scared I was going to trip and embarrass myself once more. But I simply crossed the stage and stood beside Miss Gisele and the dean. I stared out at the exuberant crowd in disbelief.

  Miss Gisele hugged me, then looked deep into my eyes. I don’t know why, but the intensity of it made my shiver. She honestly didn’t look happy about the outcome. “Well done, Dani. You were perfect during the audition. I couldn’t be prouder of you.”

  “Thank you,” I managed to mumble breathlessly.

  Dean Vasilev shook my hand. “Good job, Danielle.” She pulled me a little closer and bent to my ear. “Be careful, dear girl. You don’t want to know what goes on behind the curtain.” Then she pulled back, turned me to face the crowd, and smiled for the many cameras snapping pictures as she continued to shake my now sweaty hand.

  I left the stage in a fog and was pounced on immediately by Anna and some of the other girls from the dorm. There were lots of hugs, and congrats, and see you after Christmas break exclamations, then I stumbled around trying to locate my dad and Aunt Dottie. They found me, and I introduced them to Anna. Aunt Dottie took to her immediately and hugged her tight. I thought Anna’s eyes were going to bulge out from the fierceness of the hug. Then she bounded away to find her mom.

  “I’m so proud of you, Dani,” my dad said as we made our way over to my dorm so I could get my bags for the trip home. “Mom would be proud.”

  I saw the tears in his eyes, and I hugged him tight. “She’d be proud of us both. You’re a big reason why I’m here, Dad.”

  He nodded and sucked his tears back in.

  I still couldn’t believe I had made the show. It didn’t quite feel real yet.

  “I never had a doubt,” Aunt Dottie said. “You are
a Gale after all. You have talent on both sides of your family.”

  “You don’t mind waiting here while I get my bags, do you?”

  Aunt Dottie waved her hand around, the metallic gloss on her nails glinting in the sunlight. “Of course not, my dear. Your father and I will be fine. Go do what you need to do.”

  “Thanks.” I ran inside to grab my stuff. I said bye to the girls I passed on the stairs and in the hall. When I got to my room, Anna was there with her mom and little sister, Tanis.

  “Oh yay, you haven’t left yet.” She pulled me over and introduced me to her mom. “Mom, this is the most awesome person in the world, Dani.”

  “I’m pleased to meet you, Mrs. Hunter. Anna’s my most favorite, awesome person in the world.”

  Mrs. Hunter chuckled. “That’s good to hear. It’s nice to meet you, Dani. Anna talks about you all the time.”

  “Yeah, I do.” Anna hugged me again. “Will miss you. Text me every day.”

  “I will. Have a great Christmas.” I grabbed my two bags, and with a last goodbye, I left my room to find my dad and aunt waiting outside.

  When I stepped out of the door, Cai was there leaning against the wall. I tried to keep my grin from breaking my face in half. It proved difficult especially when he smiled at me. Both my dad and aunt whipped around to see who the heck I was making eyes at.

  “Congrats on getting into the show,” Cai said.

  “Thanks.” It took everything I had not to run into his arms and kiss him so hard his head would burst.

  “I knew you would.”

  “Are you going to introduce us, Dani?” Aunt Dottie asked, her sculpted eyebrows raised high.

  “Dad, Aunt Dottie, this is Cai. We trained together. He’s the reason I won the spot.”

  My dad’s eyebrows joined my aunt’s in question. “Really?”