Tame

  Tame

  by

  India Marshall

  Copyright © 2014 India Marshall

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored, in any form or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical without the express written permission of the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  KINDLE edition

  PublishNation, London

  www.publishnation.co.uk

  Chapter 1

  "Rolo, no, Rolo come here! Sit still! Rolo! Ughhhh!" I groaned, as I got splashed multiple times with water and bubbles- courtesy of my massive chow chow, Rolo. He was sat, or rather now, stood, in our bathtub, bubbles everywhere, brown, furry coat drenched, barking at my black bombay cat, Milly. She was sat on the toilet seat, teasing the poor dog. I swore I saw her smile at his attempts to eat her.

  "Rollllllllo!" I cried, struggling to restrain him from leaping at the tiny cat meowing at him. I managed to push him back in, and he landed with a thump in the tub. Milly hissed at him, jumped off of the toilet and sauntered out, leaving nothing but wet pawprints and a crazy, angry, barking dog behind. I loved all my pets, but Milly was the one who annoyed me most.

  *

  I continued to cover my dog in bubbles, which he seemed to enjoy. One was on the end of his nose, and he was going cross-eyed, staring at it. I wondered if he was trying to pop it with just his sight.

  "You can lick it off you know." I told Rolo, using the shower head to pour warm water over his soapy body. He made a wheezy sound in reply, before licking his nose. He then hiccuped and I laughed. "Awww, you're so sweet Rolo. Unlike that mean kitty cat who was teasing you."

  As if on cue, Milly came strolling back into the upstairs bathroom, her eyes glinting evilly as she eyed the big brown blob in front of me. I swatted at her to get out- I did not need any more water on my arms. I was wearing a short-sleeved, orange tee, and the sleeves were damp, meaning my armpits felt like they were sweating waterfalls. The reality was, when Rolo tried attacking Milly, he soaked my arms, and shoulders, and armpits. Oh, the joys of bathing a dog.

  "Meeeeeeeow." Milly meowed slyly.

  "Away! Go away!" I prodded her skinny black torso. She rolled her eyes at me, no joke, she does that, and leapt onto the side of the bathtub. Uh-oh.

  It was as if it happened in slow motion. My big chow chow's head turned ever so slowly, like he was watching a snail slime it's way through mid-air somehow. As soon as his chocolate brown eyes landed on Milly, he was off.

  "No! No! No! Rolo, no! Milly! Get out! No, not you Rolo, get back in!" I tried desperately. As much as I tried to get the daft dog back in the tub, he pushed me right over, with his gigantic, soaking paws, so I was lying on the bathroom floor, with two pawprints on my boobs. Great.

  I leapt up from my position and followed the two mad animals into the hallway, through my bedroom, back out of my bedroom, down the stairs, into the living room, until I saw my Mom holding Rolo by his collar. He was barking loudly at Milly, who was perched on the window ledge, looking ever so smug.

  "Will you stop moving, mutt!" My Mom ordered. She tugged on his collar, but he ignored her requests and continued to behave badly. "You're soaking my floors!" She whined.

  "Keep him there. I'll take Milly-" I began. But no, no. My pets couldn't let me be in control. They were off once more. Mom stumbled backwards, and luckily I caught her. She looked at me the same time I looked at her, before we both darted off after them.

  "Troy! Do not let Cookie out of the house!" Mom yelled before she exited the front door. Knowing my older brother, he would have had his music up so loud he wouldn't have heard it anyway.

  "Bad dog. Bad. You do not do that again, okay?" I scolded Rolo, who had finally calmed down. He lie on the sidewalk outside our house, his head in his paws glumly. He liked a good chase- this one must've been exhilarating. Our cats were supposedly house cats, so he only ever got to chase them up and down the stairs or through the hallways. But seeing as my Mother and I had to chase both my dog and cat down two streets before Rolo decided he was out of breath, I think this adventure was the highlight of his life living with us.

  "Rooooo." Rolo yawned. He made that noise a lot. He generally did it when he knew he was being punished. It was so cute, and he knew we would soften. Clever mutt.

  "Good boy. Now go back to the house and let Mom finish giving you a bath." I told him. Mom shook her head and smiled at how easily I let him off. She tugged at his collar until he retreated back to the front door. I straightened up from my crouched position, and set off to find pet number two. Mom was closing the front door, telling me not to chase her or she'll run away for good, and not to run across the roads to get her. Honestly, I wasn't five.

  I adjusted my feet in my red slip-ons before walking, because our street was filled with random holes in the ground, gum on the floor, shattered glass from where drunks had dropped them on the way home, and dog poo. When I had reassured myself my shoes could take it again, I re-traced my steps as to where Milly had first ran off. It wasn't long until I recognised the dull gray street ahead, that me and my Mom had chased Rolo down. I dodged mess and litter on the ground, probably looking like I was doing ballet. I noticed something on the corner of the street, sitting and watching me. This thing was small, black, skinny, with big green eyes, filled with amusement.

  "You are the little troublemaker." I said loudly as my feet picked up the pace to get to her. My brain began singing 'Troublemaker' by Olly Murs to me, and I smiled at my thoughts. It wasn't until I got to the chorus I realised I had stopped moving, was swaying my hips and clicking my fingers in the street, and that Milly was gone.

  "Ugggh!" I exclaimed noisily. "Now where d'ya go?"

  I turned the corner she had been sitting at, and saw my little cat venturing around the street, sniffing the floor every now and again, once peeing on some weeds poking out of a long, thin, brown fence. I sped up again to make sure I caught her, when she jumped up high, landing neatly and expertly on the fence. It looked painful, but Milly didn't seem to mind. I stopped underneath her, so she was looking down on me. I really hoped she wouldn't suddenly leap at me. Luck was on my side for once, and she didn't. Instead, she danced along the fence, then dived over the other side, probably ruining the grass. I face-palmed and realised I was stuck. I couldn't very well climb over the fence and get the damn cat- that would be breaking and entering someone's backyard, sorta. But on the other hand, I couldn't stand here calling her name, looking like a weirdo talking to a line of wood that hid the yard, and my cat, from public view. It was one or the other, and it looked as if to be the former.

  "I hate you, cat." I grumbled under my breath and I hitched myself up, pulling my tiny person up so I could at least see over the fence. I was so short, and I hated it. I wasn't even as tall as the God damn wall hiding my cat from me. I probably scuffed up the outer side of the fence and I kicked at it to pull myself higher. When I finally did get high enough to see over, I was amazed.

  This backyard was perfectly mowed, and flower beds neatly lined up the sides. There were no weeds anywhere, no trees stumps or nettles or shrubs. Just a perfect green, healthy, backyard, with a miniature fountain in the middle. The fountain was stone, and a naked baby holding an arrow was carved on top of the running water. I found it a bit disturbing that the belly button of the baby was pouring water. That was a tad creepy- but it was beautiful other than that. Except my rude cat was delicately lapping water from the feet
of the baby, which I assumed was Cupid.

  "Milly!" I hissed. "Milly! Come out! Milly, stop it! Stop drinking the water! Milly!"

  She ignored me and carried on, making me fume.

  "God dammit! Cat, get out of there now! I cannot, and am not, coming in to get you! You're suppose to be a house cat! Get out of there! It's not your personal water bowl! This is someone's house! If they come out and find me, and you, here, we'll both die! Die! This house obviously belongs to someone rich! Honestly will you-MILLY!" I rattled on and on until I saw her, not so discreetly, peeing on the fountain. When I took that cat in, she was a baby, a kitten. She was so sweet and well behaved- all three of my pets were. She must have gotten these awful manners from her previous owners. They did just abandon her in a scrapyard.

  Milly, Cookie and Rolo were all adopted. My Aunt ran an animal shelter, that rescued abandoned or injured animals. I worked there after school to get some money, and because I was a total animal lover- I hated seeing animals get hurt. My three pets were the first animals I saved, and after a while, a long while, (and some begging, pleading and more begging!), Aunt Tessie let me keep them. I loved them all, but maybe Milly would have been better off staying at the shelter. Obviously I was joking- I loved Milly. But not just then.

  "Excuse me?" A voice asked.

  "Milly?" I gasped. She could talk?! Holy shit! This was awesome! I had a talking cat! I would be get paid loads for people to come and see her...

  "Hello?" The voice interrupted my thoughts. I came back to reality, and saw a pair of black, All Star converse, stood in front of me. I yelped as I realised two things. One- I was leaning over someone's backyard fence, my top sliding up, my feet dangling in the air, looking like I was trying to eat grass, like a cow. Two- Milly couldn't talk. It was a human. Damn my luck and dreams.

  "Uh...hi." I replied, not looking up. It wasn't because I was stuck. No. Well, maybe a little. Sorta. Well, I was stuck. But I couldn't face looking at the person whose yard I was breaking into. Correction, looked like I was breaking into.

  "Wanna tell me why you're hanging pretty much upside down from my fence talking to the fountain?" The voice asked, laughing. My cheeks reddened and even more so when I realised I was in the prescence of a male, and they sounded young. And by the looks of those legs, they were fit.

  "Hm...not really." I answered.

  "Well I think I deserve an answer." He chuckled. He let out a louder chuckle and I frowned. Oh God, what else was there to laugh at? "Are you stuck?"

  "Not at all!" I declared. "I'm just...taking my time getting down. If I go too fast...I'll, uh, get dizzy and faint."

  "Really? Uh-huh, okay then." I could see this person rolling his eyes. Even though I didn't know who he was, what he looked like, or what his eyes looked like. I felt something grab me, and screamed as I was sent flying forwards, flipping over and landing on the grass below me. My legs thrashed around, not under order from my brain.

  "Ow..."

  I sat up, dusting bits of grass out of my hair, prodding the scratch on my leg. Ouch. It hurt.

  "Sorry, I was only trying to help. You okay?" The guy crouched down in front of me. I lifted my head and what I saw filled me with panic.

  Cameron.

  Cameron Carter.

  The Cameron Carter. The player, popular, bad-ass, Cameron Carter.

  Holy shit. On toast.

  "I-I..." I stammered.

  "It's all right, most ladies tend to get coughed up in my presence. I know I have charming good looks, but please, we've only just met. Not even that. What's your name?" He laughed cockily. My mouth hung open in shock. Not only did Cameron go to my school, and would probably tell everyone about this, but he was a bully too. He would make fun of me for the rest of my life now. Oh, holy shit on toast, burned by the toaster because this was so embarassing!

  "Hello? It's rude not to answer when someone is talking to you." Cameron waved his hand in front of my face.

  "Um...Farrah?" It came out more of a question. Then I realised my mistake. I had just told him my name! Why? Why fate, why?

  "Farrah. Hm, interesting name." He grinned. He stood up and extended a hand out. I took it shakily, still not believing I was in Cameron Carter's backyard, holding his hand, talking to him. "Now tell me Farrah, what are you doing here?"

  My crazy cat ran away and I chased her to only fall into your back yard where she was peeing on your fountain? Hm, I didn't think that would go down well.

  "My cat..." I started. I stopped straight away, not sure how to explain.

  "Yes? Go on." Cameron nudged me.

  "My cat ran away...I chased her and she ended up here. I was trying to get her to come back over the fence. I didn't mean to break in or anything!" I gabbled quickly.

  "Right." Cameron didn't look as if he believed me one bit. "Where's your cat now?"

  I looked up and around, but Milly was no where to be seen. Stupid cat!

  "I'm not sure!" I cried, generally surprised. "She was here a second ago...you must have scared her away."

  I cringed, realising how impolite that was. But I didn't think manners meant much to Cameron Carter.

  "Okay then. You go to my school, don't you? I've seen you around. You're in my grade? Twelfth?" Cameron asked me.

  I nodded slowly. Fate hated me- hated me! It had ruined my school life completely! I'd never live this down. Never...

  "Cool." He shrugged, jamming his hands into his pockets. "Most girls leave a note in my locker, or take a picture of me. This is a new extreme..."

  "Say what now?" I choked. "I didn't intend on coming here, you know! I didn't know you lived here! You just appeared! I honestly wish it was anyone else that lived here!"

  There I went again with bad manners. I blamed the television.

  "Aw thanks." Cameron replied sarcastically. "So you didn't come here to stalk me, you came to look for your cat? You climbed the fence to get it out, and then I come in. Somehow, none of that makes sense to me. If I saw the cat however..."

  "You want to perve on my cat?" I said stupidly, thinking aloud. It was the first thing that came to my head. Troy, being the dirty minded, creepy, perverted older brother he was, had turned my mind to the dark side. Damn him.

  "What?" Cameron bellowed. He was laughing so hard, I feared he would post this online right away. I knew he would at some point. "P-perve your cat? That," he wiped a tear from his eyes, from where he had been laughing, "is classic."

  "Sorry. Blame my brother. He has a dirty mind." I mumbled.

  "Your brother? Do I know him?" Cameron asked, all serious again.

  "I don't know. I don't know you." I pointed out. I looked at the fence and headed towards it.

  "Where are you going?" Cameron inquired.

  "Uh, home?" I told him. "I need to find my cat, remember? Whatever you may believe, I do have a cat, she is a house cat that escaped, and I need to find her. Goodbye."

  "Wait, what's your brother's name? What's your last name?" Cameron quizzed.

  "Now you're perving on my family." I grinned, dangling my legs over the fence, not wanting to jump down. Being so short, it would result in me falling- hard.

  "Shut up. I am not. Look, why don't you just come through the house? We do have a door, you know." Cameron tried.

  "Nope, I'm good. Though good for you to have a door." I smirked at my stupid answer. I didn't quite know what gave me the courage to talk to him, let alone cheek him. But seeing as I was already going to be publicly humiliated for the rest of my high school life, I might as well have made the best of it.

  "Hey, Farrah, come back! What's your last name?"

  I rolled my eyes. I was the only Farrah at school, I was sure of it. He'd find out anyway. I sighed. "Chambers. Farrah Chambers."

  "Awesome." He smirked, pulling out his phone. Typical, unsurprising, rude boy.

  "Yeah, sure. Awesome." I repeated, hopping down with my eyes closed, hoping I wouldn't get injured. It wasn't even that high up. I was just tiny. I landed with ease, no d
amage done- thank God. I began to walk away, when Cameron smirked at me over his fence, and my phone buzzed in my soaking pocket. I reached for it, hating the soggy material. I gasped and looked down at myself, hoping my bra and underwear weren't showing through my clothes. I also remembered that I currently had two paw prints on my chest. But luckily, they seemed to have faded. And as for my underwear? They weren't showing- it was all under control.

  "See you later, Farrah Chambers. Good luck finding your cat." Cameron waved a little with his fingers and he ambled back to his house. "Say hi to Troy for me."

  I paused. What? How did he know I was related to Troy? I certainly wasn't going to ask him. I carried on walking, slower, more scared. I plucked my phone out and saw I had a Facebook notification. I opened Facebook and my eyes fell out of their sockets as I saw what it was. Cameron had requested to be my friend on Facebook. Holy shit...on toast.

  Chapter 2

  At least I knew how he knew I was related to Troy. He must have seen my profile picture on Facebook. It was of me and Troy, much to my older sibling's disgust, last Summer, sitting on a sandy beach in California. My Mom took the photo, and refused to send it to me unless I added her on Facebook. Pushy parent much? But it didn't matter too much, I deleted her after she sent it. I loved my Mom, but it wasn't very cool to have her as a friend on Facebook. I was already the lowest of the low at our school in popularity. Troy however, was the popular boy before he graduated last year. No one picked on me while he was there. The people that actually knew me anyway. He had each and every student under his control, and some of the teachers as well. People didn't pick on me much now either, but I got the occasional comment about how I, 'smelt like dog' or people asking if I was 'half hamster, half girl' because of my height. Nothing I couldn't deal with myself.