Alex

As I get dressed for school I hear Zac leave followed by my mother. Getting dressed has come to be a hard job to do considering I have to cover almost my whole body so that none of Zac's abuse can be seen. Today I go with a black long sleeve under a white striped polo over black jeans. The marks on my face is what I need to come up with an excuse for. One time when Zac punched me in the eye, my eye was swollen and extremely discolored. Mom had to help me put make-up on it so that if would look like an allergic reaction to a cat. I use the "cat" for quite a few excuses, such as "The cat scratched me," or "I tripped over the cat." Today, my face isn't to bad a few scratches here and there but I don't expect any questions for them except from maybe some of my friends.

"Eve, you almost ready?" I call up to my sister as I run downstairs to grab my bag. "Eve?" Still no answer. I run back up the steps in record timing. She's not in my parents room or her own bed room. That's when I hear a noise from the bathroom. I open the door slowly and see my sister leaning over the toilet puking her guts out.

"Eve, what's wrong?," I ask frantically.

"It was the oat meal," she mumbles. I shoot back down the steps and grab the box that had contained her oat meal. The expiration date tells me that it's 8 1/2 weeks old. I run back upstairs and hold my sister's hair as she heaves.

"We have to leave now or we'll be late and you know how Zac hates us being late," I tell her once she stops. "Do you think you can make it?"
"
I don't really have a choice now do I?" Eve mumbles has she cleans her mouth and changes her shirt.

"I'll carry your bag okay," I say. "You can ride my bike and I'll run behind you."

"Thanks Alex," Eve says, tears streaming down her face.

I take her hand and squeeze it. "Now come on, isn't your class going on a field trip today, to the 'Please Touch Museum' I remember going there, it was a blast." Eve smiles and follows me.

After I drop Eve off at her class, I rush to my class but miss the bell by about 30 seconds. I'm late and I know the consequences. Unless I can talk my teacher out of it.

"Mr. Brizz.." I start off.

"Your late, Alex," he says in some monotone voice.

"Umm yeah, I know but, only by 30 seconds and my younger sister was really sick"

"Late is late Alex"

"Sir, please, my dad hates when I'm late, there's got to be something I can do for you, some kind of work like you would give for extra credit or something"

"Fine Alex, if you hand me in a one page essay on your pet cat by the end of class, you won't be counted late, I want it typed and printed, you may use the computer in the back."

"But this is homeroom, I only have 10 minutes,"

"Well, according to all the things you tell me happened with your cat, I'm sure you can do it," Mr. Brizz says with a smile. I slowly turn around and head to the PC in the back of the room. I open up a new document and start to type an essay on my fake real cat. I think it came out pretty good.

FELIX
By: Alex Reece

I have a pet cat. His name is Felix. He is a mixture of shades of brown, orange, black, and white. When my family got him, we had no idea of how much of a handful he would be.
Felix enjoys laying in the sun. My mom says that he enjoys getting a tan. He also likes to try to catch birds. When he is about to pounce on one, he crouches, like a tiger, and wiggles his little cat butt. Then he runs and springs into the air. he has yet to catch on but he still keeps trying. He once pounced on my face when one particular bird landed on my head. We were all fascinated by how fearless this bird was that we didn't realize Felix until he was shredding my face.

Felix loves to fall asleep in the strangest places/ One time he fell asleep at the top of the stairs. I was watching where I was going and I tripped over him. Silly me, for not noticing. Another time, Felix actually fell asleep on top of the refrigerator, next to our stove. When my dad came in and opened the fridge, Felix got frightened and jumped off the fridge. Unfortunately he landed right on top of the pot I was using on the stove. Boiling hot water got all over me, but, thankfully, my dad quickly helped get it all off.

Felix has alot of energy and doesn't always watch where he goes. One time he was running
around chasing a fly, when he jumped and pushed into my chest. I fell back and hit my head against the wall. Another time, he ran into my legs causing me to fall, face first, into a table. It hurt alot.

Sadly, my family is constantly busy so we can't always find time to play with him. Sometimes he has to wait for weeks to get played with. This why I would like to give Felix a better home. I love him, but he sucks that he has to be a part-time pet.

I turned in my paper just as the bell for first period rang. I wasn't late, this time.
As I rush to my locker, I feel like a liar. I don't have a pet cat, yet I wrote a whole essay on him. I feel so vulnerable, like anyone can do anything to me. Why do I let Zac pick on me? Fear an inside voice tells me and I know it's true. It is then that I decide that I would give him the pleasure of seeing me hurt or beg for mercy. Not anymore.

After school, I pick up Eve from her classroom.

"How you feeling?" I ask her sympathetically.

"Horrible," she mumbles.

"How was your day?" I ask sweetly.

"Fine, someone asked me about my purple face, I said I opened a door and smacked myself with it and everyone laughed," she cried.

"Good thinking and don't worry, Eve, I'll get us out of this, ok," I promise.

"Don't do anything stupid Alex," she says with a smirk. I pick her up in a big hug and twirl her around. "But really, Alex, don't do anything that will get you killed."

"If it means freeing you.."

"No, I'm not free unless your free with me, got it?" she interrupts.

"Got it" I sighed.