Bruce - The Reincarnation

My name is Katherine. My friends call me Kat. Yes, I have friends. I didn't used to. Then a year ago, Bruce taught me everything (about life, being a friend, and being yourself, even if you are different, are the tallest girl in 10th grade and have a very smart cat). Now things are different. I have my boyfriend, Justin, who is a junior, and my best friend, Hannah to help me with stuff. Life is good. And it's even better now because something amazing happened - something I didn't expect since the time Birdy and I buried Bruce outside his cave after our bat friend died in a fight with a wolf.

I slammed my locker and turned around. I bumped right into Justin. I fell and my books scattered to the floor.

"I guess this means you're falling for me," he said as he helped me gather my books.

"Ha, ha," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Actually, what I wanted to do was remind you that the dance is tomorrow. You ready?" Justin asked.

"Yeah," I lied. "It'll be great!"

Justin gave me a quick kiss and we parted to go to our homerooms.

I had forgotten completely about the dance. I had too many other things on my mind. It would be okay, though. It wasn't that important. I walked into my homeroom, just before the bell rang.

"Please sit down, class," said Mr. Piena. "Today, we welcome our newest student, Tim Cioni. Tim is an exchange student from New Mexico. We will need someone to help him get accustomed to our school. Any volunteers?"

I studied Tim. He was short, with black hair and brown eyes. He squinted, as though he needed glasses. Tim looked like he was uncomfortable in his own skin. He looked like a nervous child on their first day of kindergarten. I raised my hand, along with several others.

"Let's see. All right, Katherine, you can show Tim around," said Mr. Piena. "Tim, you can sit over there by Katherine."

Tim walked over awkwardly and sat by me. "Hi, Katherine," he said quietly.

"Call me Kat," I whispered back.

"Kat," repeated Tim, blushing.

That day and the next I thought about Tim. He was different, somehow, from everyone else. He felt like someone I knew from long ago. I pushed him out of my mind and concentrated on the dance. It was that day.

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"You look great!" Justin greeted me at my door.

"Thanks. You're looking pretty handsome yourself," I replied smiling. He held out his arm and I took it. We walked off to his car and drove to the dance. It was fun. All my questions about Tim evaporated for the evening.

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I was in Study Hall helping Tim with advanced algebra. As I was explaining to him, he exclaimed, "Wow, you're really good at this Kat. I just get confused too easily."

I thought a minute. "Hey, I'm not busy this afternoon. You can come over and we can study together."

"Great. I'll take the bus home with you, okay?" Tim said, smiling.

Tim came over my house and we did homework together. Near the middle, I excused myself to use the bathroom. When I was going back to where we were working, I heard Tim say, "Hi, Birdy. Do you remember me?"

"Bruce?" my cat Birdy replied in wonder.

I nearly laughed out loud. Of course! I took a deep breath and walked into the living room. There was Tim/Bruce sitting on the floor with Birdy on his lap. He was barefoot, and it looked like he had some sort of a toenail fungus. But I knew better - it was his claws. I sat down beside Bruce. Birdy began to say, "Kat, this is." I patted her head. "I know," I said, then turning to Bruce. "Hi, Bruce." He smiled warmly and we showed each other our claws (my reminder of my own transformation).

"Hi, Kat." Bruce replied.

I hugged him hard, tears in my eyes.

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The next day at lunch, I was in the library with Hannah and Justin. Hannah and I were choosing subjects for our next projects. I found some books on reincarnation. I sat down with the others.

"Reincarnation? Cool!" exclaimed Hannah.

I nodded and buried my nose in the first book. I was looking for something about animals turning into humans, starting out in an older body. At first I could only find things about babies being born, dying and being born again. But later at home, I found what I was looking for. Another theory is that a creature dies and its spirit can find a new body. A dead body in good condition makes a new home for the spirit. That made sense, because it had been a while since Bruce had died. But where had he lived? I prayed he had a safe, warm place to sleep.

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Bruce and I became more open with each other. I guess he had been waiting for me to find out his identity. I called him Tim when other people were around, and Bruce when we were alone. Everything was great. I helped Bruce with his work, as he had helped me. But then Justin got suspicious.

Justin and I were sitting together in an empty classroom.

"I heard you have been hanging out with this guy a lot lately," he said casually. But I could tell what he was thinking.

"Bru.. Tim is new here. I was helping him out. Plus, I knew him a long time ago and he moved away. We had been best friends."

Justin appeared to be waiting of something else. I sighed. "Sweetie, nothing is going on between Tim and me. I swear."

Justin studied my face intently. "I believe you." He sighed. "I was just so worried. I don't want to lose you. I really love you."

I ruffled his hair and held him close. "I know. I love you too."

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I was lucky Justin believed me. Otherwise, I may have lost him forever. I had sort of lied to him, but how could I explain about Bruce? I could tell him anything, but not that.

Sunday, Justin, Hannah and I were going to the movies. I decided to set Bruce up with Hannah. "You'll like her. She likes all animals. Even bats," I told him.

At the movies, Justin and I sat together. Hannah and Bruce were somewhere else a few rows behind us. I turned around to see Bruce putting his arm around Hannah. "Go, Bruce!" I cheered silently.

AN: That's all of it I could find. There's a lot more though.