Vedica hates her new school until she unwillingly becomes the muse of a photographer who hides his identity via the student's magazine. The real trouble starts when she sets out to unveil him, only to find herself falling for the Senior who helps he...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"That's his name," I said to my father as I cradled the bathed and cleaned kitten. "Mr. Fluffernutter."
"What does flutter-nutter mean?"
The air around me felt thick as Dad peered down at my kitten and me. Heavier was the burden of his unspoken accusation – You'd not be able to manage this additional responsibility.
I placed the kitten over the pristine marble floor. The flurry creature coiled himself into a ball, his ears standing at attention to our conversation.
"Dad, it's Mr. Fluffernutter. He's our new pet who'll stay with us."
My dad was a simple man who loved simple things. Since our move to the new city, he had come to terms with newer concepts like Friday pizza night and Thursday movie rituals.
But I had yet to convince him on the 'pet for Vedica' topic, which according to my mother would have been a cakewalk if I'd secured good grades.
"No, Vedi." Dad waved his arms around. "We talked about this. I don't like animals in the house. They shed-"
"I shed."
Dad rolled his eyes, scratching his stubbly French beard which made him look more of a goon than a professor.
"They make a mess."
"I make a mess."
"They poop everywhere."
"I po..." I bit my tongue. "I used to poop everywhere as a child but you didn't throw me out."
"Because you are my child," he said, his intonated voice carrying a hint of annoyance. "People don't throw away their children."
"In that case, Mr. Fluffernutter is my child." I dragged the sleeping ball of fur close to my chest, adoring his pink cat beanies. "He was so scared, Dad. The kids at school were throwing rocks at him. His mother died, defending him. It was almost like a Batman bloodbath scene. You won't believe what I saw."
Trust me, exaggeration worked.
"Really!" Dad crossed his arms across his chest. His small potbelly jutted out while he inhaled deeply. "Where did all this happen?"
"There was a garbage thingy." I drew a square in the air. "Dumpster, I think that's what it's called. And Fluffernutter was hiding there. He ran to me and fell at my fee. Begging for mercy from those kids with stones who killed his ailing mother."
"Vedi, when did this happen?" Dad moved closer, towering over me. "Was it before you left the school premise or after?"
Crap.
I forgot an important part.
Dad dropped me at school and picked me up. As soon as I entered the car after my classes ended, he met the kitten. There was no time in that duration to fit the dumpster scene.
