Sugarcane Chronicles Volume I: One and Lonely (ryden)

The Big Secret

When the smoke cleared, I saw Mr. Ki-Ryan standing in front of me. Wait... Did they name the animals after themselves because they were actually the animals? I felt dizzy.

"What's going on in-" Patrick said, walking in. "Oh, no."

"What's going on? Why did Ryan turn into a cat? Is this some kind of sick prank?" I threw all of my questions at Patrick.

Patrick called for Pete as I sat down on the bed. I was flabbergasted and couldn't believe it. It had to be a dream. Yeah, a dream. I started pinching myself all over to convince myself I was in a dream.

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow," I said with every pinch. Pete ran into the doorway with Spencer following. Spencer took one glance at the situation before saying, "I'll go get Jon," and going back down the stairs.

Pete cursed under his breath and picked up cat Ryan.

"What the hell is going on?!" I exclaimed, confused, scared and faint.

"Just come with me and Jon will explain everything," Pete said, motioning for me to get up and follow him. We walked down the hall and down the stairs with Patrick awkwardly following. I pulled at my hair anxiously until we got to the living room, where we all took our seats.

"So tell me exactly what happened," Jon said, walking in and sitting on the larger couch.

"Well, Ryan wouldn't look at me and then I made him look at me and then I made him turn into a cat and I'm sorry Ryan I turned you into a cat!" I said quickly. "I'm so confused!"

"It's completely understandable that you're confused," Jon started. "You just need to be explained a few things. First things first, this is all real, so you can stop pinching yourself."

I looked down at my arms to see that I was still pinching myself. I stopped.

"Secondly, we're all cursed and turn into some kind of animal." Jon said.

"Oh, okay," I said. "I'm still really confused. Why do you turn into animals?"

"As I said before; we're cursed. It seems to only happen to kids who are orphans, seeing as none of our parents are alive."

"Oh. I-I'm so sorry," I said slowly. "So how do you turn into animals?"

"We just kind of do. It happens whenever we're under a great deal of stress, quite embarrassed-which in Ryan's case is quite often-or hugged by a member of the opposite sex."

"So what animals are you guys?" I said, getting a bit used to the idea and looking at everyone. Ryan walked in and said, "Well you already know what animal I am."

"You'll have to figure that out for yourself, but I'm a tiger," Jon said, quite proudly. I looked over at Pete just to see... Pete?

"Take a wild guess," Pete said.

"He talks!" I exclaimed, pointing at dog Pete-Pete dog.

"Yeah, we all can when we transform. Except for Ryan; he just mews, meows, mows, et cetera," Jon said.

"S-So you guys can all control your 'transforming'?" I asked.

"No, that's just Pete. He's a special snowflake," Patrick said.

"So how about the rest of you? What are your animals?" I asked, looking around the room. I saw that Pete was back to human Pete.

"How often do you do that?" I said, placing my hand over my little heart that had been through so much today.

"Only when it's necessary," Pete said nonchalantly. "Spencer, why don't you spill the beans on what animal you are?"

"No," Spencer said. "You're gonna have to figure that out for yourself and none of you better tell him." He walked into the kitchen.

"So what animal is he?" I asked.

"Sorry man, we can't tell you that," Patrick said.

"Alright," I said. "So Patrick. What animal are you?"

"I'm not telling you," Patrick said.

"Awh c'mon Patrick," Pete said. "He's only the cutest little thing you'll see in your entire life."

"Well he's already the cutest thing I've seen in my entire life," I said, catching onto what Pete was trying to do.

"Guys, stop. You're embarrassing me," Patrick said, blushing.

"Awh, c'mon Pattycakes," Pete said, wrapping his arms around Patrick. Pete started to poke Patrick's face.

"Pete stop," Patrick made a weak attempt to get Pete to stop. "You're weird."

"C'mon Pattycakes," Pete said, poking Patrick's neck. There was a large poof of orange smoke where Patrick once was. When the smoke cleared, there was just a pile of Patrick's clothes and his hat.

"Where'd Pattycakes go?" I chuckled.

"Oh, that happens sometimes," Pete said, lifting Patrick's hat, revealing a small tan-orange rabbit.

"I hate all of you," he said.

"Awh!" I exclaimed, picking up Patrick. "He's so cute!"

"Put me down right now or I will poop in your hands," he said. I promptly put him in Pete's lap before going back to my seat.

"Hey, does anyone have the time?" I asked.

"Quarter after four," Ryan said, looking at his watch. "Why do you ask?"

"I gotta be home by five," I said, standing up.

"OK. I'll walk you," Ryan said, standing up. I smiled lightly at him as we walked out the front door. It was a silent walk to the end of the woods.

"Thanks, I think I can find my way from here," I said, smiling lightly.

"No problem. S-See you tomorrow," he said before turning to walk away.

"Wait," I said, placing my hand on his shoulder and leaning in quickly, placing my lips on his.

"See you tomorrow," I winked and walked off. I heard a 'poof' and a small meow before running across the street to my house.