MikasBlackCougar

by Marisa Chenery

  I picked up the sandwich baggie of cookies Mom had given me for lunch. I then noticed Trent didn’t have anything to eat. “Where’s your lunch?”

  “I ate already. I have a spare just before lunch so I ate then.”

  “Oh.” I felt a bit self-conscious eating in front of Trent when he didn’t have anything of his own. I held the bag out to him. “Do you want one?”

  “Thanks. They smell good.”

  I sniffed the air, but I couldn’t smell the cookies through the plastic baggie. Obviously, Trent had a better sense of smell than I had. I opened the bag, and once he’d taken one, I put the baggie down on the table between us and took a cookie for myself. We munched in silence. I pushed the baggie closer to Trent when he finished his. He smiled and took another. I watched him as he ate. He had his long, straight, black hair pulled back in a pony tail. I’d always admired it. There’d been many times when I wanted to run my fingers through it just to see if it was as soft as it looked. Today happened to be one of those days.

  “What?” Trent asked with humor in his voice.

  My face flushed at getting caught staring. “Nothing.” I gathered up the remnants of my lunch. “I better go. I have to stop at my locker before next period.”

  I stood and slung my backpack over my shoulder. Trent came to his feet as well and waited for me. As we walked out of the cafeteria together I took a second to look behind us. More than one person watched us leave. My gaze skipped over to Silvia, who looked more than a little pissed off.

  Just outside the cafeteria Trent stopped me. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow first thing in math.” He paused for a second before he added, “I’ll save a table for us tomorrow at lunch.”

  I watched Trent turn and walk away. All the way to my locker I wore a stupid grin on my face. It looked as if I wouldn’t be quite so alone at school, after all.

  Chapter Four

  I didn’t see Trent again for the rest of the day. By the time school had ended I’d replayed what we’d said to each other over and over again in my mind.

  When I got home from school I went in search of Mom before going upstairs to my room. I found her in the family room on the computer. She smiled when she saw me. “So how did school go today, kiddo?”

  I grinned. “Good. Is it okay if I call Cathy on the phone today instead of only emailing her?”

  “Your day went that good, huh? Sure. Just don’t talk for too long. Your dad’ll have a fit if you run up a big long-distance phone bill.”

  “I promise to keep it as short as I can.”

  I practically ran up the stairs to my room. After I securely closed the door behind me, I picked up my cordless phone and dialed Cathy’s new phone number. Her mom picked up after the third ring.

  “Hi, Mrs. Evans, is Cathy there?”

  “Hi, Mika. She just got in. I’ll call her for you.”

  I heard Cathy’s mom call her name. Cathy took no time picking up the other extension and telling her mom she had it. She waited until her mom had hung up before she said anything else.

  “What happened?”

  I chuckled. “Why do you think something happened?”

  “Why else would you phone me instead of emailing me or something?”

  “So I have to have a reason to talk to you on the phone? Maybe I just wanted to hear your voice for a change.” I easily pictured Cathy rolling her eyes on the other end of the phone.

  “Yeah, right. Come on, Mika, don’t leave me in suspense. Spill.”

  “I kind of had an interesting day at school today. At first, I thought it would turn out to be crappy, especially after Silvia decided to have another go at me.”

  “I wish she’d just leave you alone. If I’d been there I’d have told her to back off. Was it really bad without me there to tell her to get lost?”

  “Well, not really. She didn’t get much of a chance to insult me. Someone else stepped in and stopped her.”

  “Who?”

  “Trent.”

  I had to pull the phone away from my ear when Cathy let out a loud whoop. “You have got to be kidding me! Trent stood up for you?”

  “Yes.” Cathy whooped again. “Can you stop yelling in my ear before I go deaf?”

  Cathy took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m calm now. No more yelling. What did Trent say to Silvia?”

  “He basically told her to leave me alone and stop being such a witch.”

  “No way!”

  “You said you wouldn’t yell again.”

  “Sorry. I just got a little excited there. I now have myself back under control. Did he say anything to you?”

  “You could say that. We talked a bit when he sat next to me during math, but we talked a lot more during lunch. Trent sat at my table.”

  “Holy crap. What did you two talk about?”

  “Not too much really, except for one thing. Do you remember the Brad incident?”

  “How could I forget? I was ready to sock him one before someone beat me to it.”

  “Yeah, that would have been Trent. He gave Brad the black eye.”

  “Ahh. Why did I have to move away now that everything has started to get interesting?”

  “You can’t tell me you haven’t found someone as interesting as Trent in your new school.”

  “Well, there is this one boy in my geography class, but nope, I’m not going to talk about him. I want to hear more about Trent. I bet Silvia turned green with envy when she saw the two of you together during lunch.”

  “If looks could kill I’d be dead right now. I can’t see her being able to let this go without getting back at me in some way.”

  “Let Trent take care of her.”

  I sighed. “I don’t know, Cathy. Even though he said he’d save a table for me to sit with him during lunch tomorrow, I can’t help but feel he won’t follow through.”

  “Mika. Stop. If he said he will sit with you tomorrow, he’ll sit with you. You have to stop thinking so negative.”

  “It’s just hard to think the school weirdo could end up with a boy like Trent.”

  “Stop calling yourself that. You’re not a weirdo. So you like to have your nose stuck in a book. That doesn’t make you weird. I think you and Trent would be perfect together. Trent’s always been a loner, just like you are in a lot of ways. He obviously doesn’t think you’re strange or he wouldn’t have watched you for the last couple of years. And he had to have been interested to have taken care of Brad for you.”

  “I don’t want to get my hopes up too much.”

  “Take it one day at a time, Mika. You never know what could happen. Just don’t do anything to blow it.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “You know what I mean. Don’t push Trent away.”

  “I’d be crazy to do that.”

  “Then you should be fine. I’m going to hang up now. Having to call long distance to talk to each other sucks.”

  I groaned. “Tell me about it. I’ll email you tomorrow, and you’d better email me with details about that boy in your geography class.”

  “Will do. Next time I’ll call you. Bye, Mika.”

  “Bye, Cathy.”

  I hung up the phone and went to boot up my laptop. I checked my emails, then launched my internet browser. I pulled up my favorite search engine and typed in Okanagan Indian Band. I knew Trent and his family were members of the Okanagan Indian Band, and that they didn’t live on the reservation. After the time I spent with Trent today I wanted to learn more about his culture.

  It turned out the Okanagan Indian Band had their own website. I figured that had to be the best one to go. I clicked on the link and spent some time going through the site. It had more than enough information to satisfy my curiosity. I learned the Okanagan Indian Band was just one of seven Indian Bands that made up the Okanagan Nation. The other six comprised of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band, Upper Similkameen Indian Band, Osoyoos Indian Band, Penticton Indian Band, Westbank First Nation and the Upper Nicola Indian Band. Trent’s ban
d was situated at the head of Okanagan Lake here in Vernon.

  I went back to the search engine page. I skimmed down it where something caught my eye. The word Okanagan had picked up something else other than what I had been searching for. I clicked on the link. The web page was about the one sighting of a black cougar that had taken place several years ago in North Okanagan. There didn’t seem to be much information, but one section stated the black cougar in British Columbia could very well be nothing more than a myth. Being a lover of all big cats, I would have loved to be able to actually see the elusive black cougar out in the wild. But the chances of that happening were very slim. I’m not much of an outdoors person, and I highly doubted I’d ever see one in Vernon anytime soon.

  * * * *

  The next morning I closed my locker and then started with surprise when I found Trent standing on the other side of it. I hadn’t heard him come up.

  I put my hand on my chest. “Thanks for giving me a heart attack so early in the morning.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.” Trent gave me a crooked smile. “I thought we could walk to math together.”

  I smiled back. “Okay.”

  As we walked side by side down the hall, I tried to get rid of the goofy smile I just knew had to be on my face. Of course I failed miserably. I couldn’t describe how pleased I felt that Trent had sought me out to walk to class with. I also told myself not to read too much into it. There could be a good possibility he just wanted to be nothing more than friends. It could be all one-sided on my part.

  Trent took hold of my upper arm and pulled me to a stop. At the questioning look I gave him, he said in a low voice, “Don’t look now, but Silvia is headed this way. I just had an idea. Do you want to get back at her for all the times she’s bothered you?”

  I glanced down the hall. Sure enough, Silvia and her group of friends were walking toward us. “Sure. What do you have in mind?”

  “Nothing you can’t handle. Just follow my lead, okay?”

  I nodded, then my breath left my lungs in a whoosh as Trent slung his arm across my shoulders and pulled me up against his side.

  “Put your arm around my waist. Quick!” he whispered.

  I couldn’t believe what I heard—what I was doing. My arm snaked around his waist almost as though I wasn’t in control of it. At this point my brain stopped functioning. Everything and everybody suddenly ceased to exist. My entire being centered on Trent and how it felt to be this close to him. Pressed to his side, the heat that came off his body soaked into mine. Each breath I took, I filled my lungs with the musky, clean scent that was all his own. Trent also seemed taller now that he had me tucked under his arm. The top of my head just barely reached his shoulder.

  Out of the side of his mouth, Trent said, “Try and act natural, Mika. She just spotted us.”

  “Who? Oh, Silvia. Right.” How he expected me to act like myself let alone have the capacity to walk without tripping over my feet, I had no idea.

  Just as Silvia passed us, Trent yanked me even closer. My gaze shot over to Silvia’s face. Her lips were pressed into a thin, angry line as she gave both Trent and I a scathing look. I swore I heard her teeth grind together as she walked by.

  Trent chuckled. “I don’t think I’ve seen Silvia that angry before.”

  “Your plan definitely seemed to work.” I tried to take my arm from around his waist, but Trent didn’t allow it. He pulled it back where it had been. I looked up at him. “Silvia’s gone, you know.”

  He looked down at me. “I know.”

  “You do realize the more people who see us walking like this the more they’ll think we’re together.”

  The crooked smile I now associated with Trent appeared on his lips. “Together?”

  I felt my face go red. “You know, ‘together’ as in ‘going out.’” When he didn’t say anything in return, I added, “As in ‘boyfriend and girlfriend.’” His crooked smile broadened. I suddenly got the feeling he knew perfectly well what I’d meant in the first place and had only waited for me to say the words out loud.

  “Would that bother you, Mika? If they thought we were a couple.”

  “No…no.”

  “Good, because it doesn’t bother me.”

  Trent kept me held against his side all the way to homeroom and didn’t let go until we reached my desk. As Trent sat in the one across from mine, I heard some loud whispering from the back of the classroom. I knew by lunch most of the school would have heard about Trent and I. That didn’t bother me. But it did make me wonder if Trent only did it to piss Silvia off or if he really did like me in that way.

  Chapter Five

  After the bell rang at the end of the period, Trent left the classroom at my side. We didn’t get much time to talk during class. The teacher had decided to surprise us with a short quiz to see how much math we’d remembered from last year. I, of course, found the quiz a bit on the hard side, unlike Trent who finished his a good ten minutes before I did.

  Outside in the hallway I turned to Trent. “I guess I’ll see you at lunch then.”

  Trent took a step closer and leaned in slightly. “I’ll save a table for us.”

  I held my breath as he stared intently into my eyes. He seemed to lean in even closer. I thought at first he was about to kiss me right there in the hall for everyone to see, but he only reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear. He then straightened to his full height and left for his next class. I released the breath I’d been holding in a rush before I too headed for mine.

  The time seemed to drag. I couldn’t wait for lunch to get here so I could see Trent again. During the last half of English the teacher gave us time to read the chapters assigned to us to finish by tomorrow. I’d just started when someone poked me in the back. I turned halfway around in my chair to see who sat behind me. I groaned to myself when I saw it was one of Silvia’s friends, Rachel.

  Rachel whispered, “So, how did you manage it, loser?”

  Through gritted teeth, I whispered back, “How did I manage what?”

  “How did you manage to land Trent as a boyfriend? I thought he had better taste than that.”

  I chose to ignore Rachel and turned back around. I wasn’t about to get sucked into that discussion. But that didn’t seem to put Rachel off any.

  To my back, she said, “Silvia won’t let you get away with this, you know. Trent’s hers, everyone knows that. So don’t expect to hang on to him for too long.”

  Mr. Brown, the English teacher, loudly cleared his throat. “Mika, Rachel, if you two aren’t discussing the assigned chapters I suggest you wait until after class to talk to one another.”

  I ducked my head and focused my attention on the book open on my desk. Just what I needed. Now apparently I’d have one of Silvia’s minions harassing me as well. I had to be thankful I didn’t have any more of her friends in my other classes.

  I escaped English as soon as the bell rang. I didn’t want Rachel cornering me. It only took me a few minutes to reach the cafeteria. I smiled when I spotted Trent at the same table we’d used the day before. He returned my smile as I crossed the cafeteria, then sat in the chair across from him.

  “I see you managed to get our table again,” I said as I pulled my lunch out of my backpack.

  “I figured you’d want to sit here.”

  I noticed Trent didn’t have any lunch of his own again. “Did you eat already?”

  “Yeah.”

  I pushed my baggie full of crackers across the table. “You can help yourself if you want.”

  Trent pushed them back. “You don’t have to feed me, Mika. I already ate, remember?”

  “I know, but I feel bad that I have to eat in front of you when you aren’t.”

  “Relax, Mika.” Trent chuckled. “Eat your lunch. If it’ll make you feel any better I won’t eat during my spare. Will that make you happy?”

  “Don’t feel as if you have to do that just for me.”

  “I don’t want to make you f
eel uncomfortable.”

  I took a bite of my sandwich and pushed the crackers over to Trent once again. He shook his head, but this time he opened the baggie and took some of them.

  “No romance novel today?” Trent asked just before he popped a cracker into his mouth.

  It was in my backpack. I’d brought it just in case Trent hadn’t ended up eating with me, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. “It would be kinda rude on my part if I read with you sitting here.”

  Trent winked. “It could be fun if you read it to me instead.”

  I chuckled and shook my head. “Yeah, right. I’m sorry, but I’m not reading from a romance novel out loud, especially to you.”

  “Why? Would you get embarrassed?”

  “Yeah.”

  I happened to look over Trent’s shoulder and caught sight of Silvia. She sat a couple of tables away with her friends. Both she and Rachel sat together as they looked in my direction with scowls on their faces. When they noticed I looked their way, Rachel mouthed the word loser as she held her index finger and thumb in front of her forehead in the shape of an L. I jerked my gaze away and found Trent watching me.

  “What’s the matter?”

  I gave him a small smile. “Nothing.”

  He didn’t seem reassured. He turned in his seat to look behind him. He must have spotted Silvia and her crew since he made a small sound under his breath that I swore sounded like a cat’s growl. “What did Silvia do this time?”

  “It wasn’t Silvia. It was Rachel. Don’t worry about it, Trent. It’s nothing. Really.”

  I glanced over in Silvia’s direction again and saw she’d gotten up. With a large smile on her face, she walked over to our table. If I’d been alone, I would have left the cafeteria. I didn’t need any of her harassment today.

  Silvia came to stand next to Trent’s chair. She continued to smile as she stared down at him. “Why don’t you come and sit with me, Trent? I’m sure I’m much better company than the freak here. You don’t have to lower yourself to her standards.”