WUNDERHEIN ACADEMY: BOOK 1- AWAKENING

Chapter 38

"You ok?" A cute face with a freckled nose and over-large front teeth popped into Kitten's view, forcing her back to reality.

"Huh?" Kitten blinked, forgetting for a moment where she was.

"Class is over and you're still sitting here." Boris grabbed a seat in one of the empty chairs next to her. "Did you do that badly?"

"Failed my ass off." Kitten admitted reluctantly. "Lexie is going to have me on punishment for a week."

"Me too. I missed by a point." Boris grimaced. "I hate lugging food."

"I just hope it's not dish-washing duty." Kitten gave him a weak smile before plopping her face back on her hand. "I hate washing up. Even if Ivan does feed us when we do it, the water still feels so icky."

"Nah I like it. The bubbles feel good." Boris giggled.

"Hey Boris, can I ask something weird?"

"Sure?"

"You have to promise not to tell anyone I asked though." She shot up to stare into his eyes. "Promise, promise."

"I promise." He spat in his hand and held it out to her. She copied the action before shaking his hand. "So what do you want to know? It's about how Dmitri drank that stuff we gave him the other morning right?" Boris grinned, almost laughing softly almost to himself.

"Huh? You mean that time when we mixed the salt with sugar?" She paused. "Why does he mix salt in his water anyway?"

"Dunno." Boris shrugged. "He just likes it like that."

"Ivan was really upset about that prank." Kitten giggled before shaking herself. "Wait, that wasn't what I wanted to ask."

"Oh?" The young rats' eyes blinked.

"Did you notice everyone looking at me weirdly this morning?" She slumped back on the desk she was sitting at. "It began in the wash-room but even in all the classrooms, they were all just... I don't know how to put this... Checking me out."

"Cause you took out Balco. It was amazing." Boris grinned. "I can't even take him and I've been here longer than you."

"He's that strong?"

"He's supposed to be but he moved stupidly today." Boris replied thoughtfully. "He normally doesn't fight like he did this morning.

"I don't know. He was still scary to me this morning." Kitten shivered.

"They're always scary when they're that big." She felt Boris pat her shoulder. "Hey, why don't we go celebrate your win? We have the afternoon off, remember?"

"We do?" Kitten's brow knitted as she tried to recall why they weren't training that afternoon. Aleksei always made them train or study.

"Captain has that meeting with the Grunts today."

"What about?" She bolted up. "Am I in trouble?"

"Nah." Boris giggled. "Every now and then all the captains gotta meet up with the Grunts to get special training or hand in reports. It's the only time they're allowed on floor five. Otherwise, that's for the adults only. You know," he leaned closer towards her and lowered his voice. "For the Teachers and the Grunts that watch over us and the island."

"Now that you mention it, what about the medical guys?" Kitten asked as her mind raced back to her stay on the island. "Do they stay on that floor too? I never see them go there."

"The Coats? They got their own floor five at the medical center. The Grunts and them can't stand each other." Boris touched his nose for a moment. "I heard someone say once that we were all muscle and the medical guys were all brain."