An excerpt from In a Dog’s World. If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead to the next chapter.
When the bus got them back to campus, the Intro to Isleywood students were taken to the recreation center to take showers and wash the week’s worth of dirt out of their fur. Then they were met by Bruce, the overweight Mastiff who was Dean of Admissions. He gave the group a speech about how proud he was that each of them had accepted the challenge of coming to Isleywood. He was sure that each and every one of them would do well, because he’d picked all their applications out with his own paws. “Besides, how hard can a few science classes be after a strenuous week of mountain climbing?” he woofed.
Katasha flattened one ear. Had Bruce ever taken a science class? She was beginning to wonder exactly what Bruce’s background had been before he became the Dean of Admissions. Fortunately, rather than dragging his speech on any longer, Bruce handed a packet of room assignments and keys to Mirabelle.
“I’m sure you all want to start settling in right away,” he said in his booming voice. “So, I won’t keep you any longer.”
Mirabelle handed out the papers and keys to all the Intro to Isleywood students, and everyone scattered toward their own personal little pieces of campus.
Katasha’s papers included a half sheet that said, “GREENE DORM, RM 205,” with a key taped to it and a black-and-white printout of a campus map. Greene Dorm was circled on it in red ink. Katasha sighed; the air of her breath passed between her sharp teeth.
“Hey, which dorm are you in, Katasha?” Jimothy asked.
Katasha held up the paper for him to see. She still didn’t especially feel like talking to Jimothy, though she figured she’d better get over that soon. It was better to have a good friend than not.
“Turtle and I are out in Delaney,” he said. “It looks like it’s the dorm farthest from the rest of campus…” He was staring at his own copy of the campus map, tracing the pathways between the buildings with a blunt claw. “Yeah, Delaney is way out on the far side of the quad.” He pointed to the big square on the map that must represent the large grassy expanse in front of the college recreation center where the whole Intro to Isleywood hike began. “It looks like Greene Dorm is nice and close to the dining hall, though!”
“You’re in Greene?” Claire asked, overhearing Jimothy. “I’m in Greene, too.” According to the slip of paper in her paws, however, Claire’s room was on the first floor.
Greene Dorm was a giant C-shaped building with a courtyard in the middle, shaded by a single, leaning elm tree. There was a dorm lounge in the back of the C, and student rooms lined the hallways running down each arm. The main entrance led to the dorm lounge, but there were entrances at the end of each of the two long hallways too.
Since Claire’s room was on the first floor, the two girls stopped off there first. “It’s kind of exciting,” Claire said, pulling the tape off of her key. “This’ll be my room for the next year.” She turned the key and opened the door.
The room was small. The walls were white and bare, but there was a large, curtained window looking out on the courtyard. The only furniture was two beds, bunked above desks with a chair at each desk. Simple. Spartan. “I guess, I get to pick which side of the room I want,” Claire said. “Do you think Ivy will mind if I take the bunk on the side with the door to the bathroom?”
Katasha peeked into the bathroom. It had a second door inside it, linking it to another dorm room.
“Which side do you think you’ll take?” Claire asked. “Your room will probably be shaped the same.”
“My room will probably already have a roommate in it,” Katasha said.
Claire tilted her head questioningly.
“The Pathways Program for Cats,” Katasha said. “My roommate is probably in it. From what I understand, most new cats are, and they’ve been on campus all week while we were camping.”
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Claire said, suddenly excited. “I won’t get to meet my roommate for another day or two, but we can go meet yours right now!”
As they walked upstairs, Claire talked about how roommates in college must be kind of like littermates at home. “If you’re close to your roommate, then you can kind of look out for each other,” she said.
Katasha couldn’t help thinking that Claire already had someone who’d be looking out for her on campus. Before Jimothy and Turtle had left them at the entrance to Greene, heading on to Delaney, Turtle had made sure that the four of them would all meet up for dinner later that night. He’d included Katasha as well, but he’d mostly been looking at Claire with his sweet, eager, puppy eyes.
Nonetheless, Katasha was glad to be part of a small group already. Most of the new students hadn’t made it to campus yet. She hadn’t even met her roommate. But, she already had a small circle of friends. Mirabelle had been right about the value of the Intro to Isleywood hike. She tried to encircle herself with that thought as she tread the last few steps toward the door to her own room in Greene Dorm.
She tried the door handle with her paw. It was unlocked, and she was torn between knocking and simply entering. It was her room after all. Still, she didn’t want her first impression to be a bad one, and she had no idea what Daria would be like, what might upset her. So, Katasha compromised, rapping her paw lightly on the door twice, before slowly opening it.
“Hello?” she said, peering around the door. The first side of the room she saw was empty. Then, as the door opened further, she saw that the bunk on the other side was made up with a pink comforter. There was a computer on the desk, a gilt-edged frame housed a photo of five white-furred kittens and two proud looking white-furred cats, and a poster of Alanna, the indie feline pop star, was tacked up on the wall. A small bookshelf had been crammed in beside the desk. In addition to books, the shelves held small, glass figurines, mostly blown glass cats, edged in gold and silver, wearing ball gowns and dancing. On the top shelf, there was a large snow globe featuring a carousel.
But Daria wasn’t there.
“You don’t need to worry about your roommate being messy,” Claire said. “That’s good.” She was right. Everything on Daria’s side of the room was immaculately arranged.
Katasha stood in the center of the room, trying to imagine it being her home. She felt hugely disconnected from her past, the room she’d lived in with Corina, and the house she’d shared with her parents. Yet, she couldn’t truly picture her future here. It was an upsetting experience.
Then she heard a voice like her own from a minute ago echoed behind her. “Hello?” the voice meowed.
Turning, Katasha saw a white cat with long fur flowing over the v-neck of her tunic. The fur around her ears was orange, and the skin inside them, as well as her nose, was bright pink. She had golden, inquisitive eyes.
“Are you my roommate?” Daria said. Her mewing voice was much higher than Katasha’s. She recognized that now. However, when Daria first spoke, it was simply so surprising to hear another cat’s voice after an entire week surrounded by dogs that the overriding quality of it was felinity.
“Katasha?” Daria asked, consuming her with those golden eyes.
“Yes,” Katasha said. “That’s me. You must be Daria?” Katasha held out a paw, but Daria looked at her for a moment and instead of accepting the paw, threw her arms around Katasha, embracing her. Then, suddenly looking embarrassed, Daria pulled away. Her ears flickered, nervously in different directions, and she stepped backwards until she was firmly on her own side of the room. Nonetheless, her wide, gold eyes stayed focused on Katasha.
“You’re here early,” Daria said. “I didn’t expect you until tomorrow at the earliest.”
“I’m with the hiking group,” Katasha said.
“We got back today,” Claire said. “I’m Claire. We were in the same hiking group.”
Daria’s eyes flicked briefly to Claire, but her glance gravitated back to Katasha before Claire was even done speaking.
“You must have been the only cat on the hike,” Daria said.
“Yes,” Katasha answered. “I was.”
“I figured,” Daria said. “Because I think you’re the only cat in the incoming class who wasn’t in the Pathways Program this week. We’ve all been looking forward to meeting you!”
Katasha cringed inside. Even in absence, apparently, she’d been a part of the Pathways Program. This was exactly what she didn’t want. Besides, why did Daria keep staring at her while barely acknowledging Claire? She’d known cats who were prejudiced against dogs before, but simply failing to acknowledge Claire was pretty extreme.
“Actually,” Daria said, rushing on in her musical mew of a voice, “Blue says that he, Leon, and Rover already met you last fall. At a mixer for new students? They have a suite in the other arm of Greene dorm, on the first floor. Hey, would you like to come to dinner with the Pathways cats? We’ve all written essays as our final project for Pathways, and we’re going to read them to each other while eating at the Persian restaurant down in Old Town.”
Katasha started to demur, but Claire spoke up first. “Wow, that sounds great,” she said. “I can tell Turtle and Jimothy that you’re busy tonight. I’m sure they won’t mind.”
In fact, Katasha thought, Jimothy would probably be jealous. He’d love to spend the evening hanging out with all the new cats at Isleywood. She, however, was less than thrilled. She wanted to hang out with her new friends, not be drawn into a cultish feline sub-culture. She didn’t want to isolate herself that way.
Nonetheless, Daria was her new roommate, and she was going to have to get along with her, or else life would be miserable. “Sure,” Katasha said. “I can change my plans and join you.”
Daria clapped her paws together happily and bounced on her toes. Claire excused herself, saying that her father would be arriving soon with all her things, and she should really head out to meet him.
“Will your family be coming today?” Daria asked Katasha.
“My brother Dominic is coming tomorrow,” Katasha said. She looked over at her side of the room. Daria must have seen her looking at the bare mattress, because she quickly offered to lend Katasha a quilt and pillow for the night.
“Now, come on!” she said, taking Katasha by the the arm in much the way that Corina often had. “I want to introduce you to everyone.”
And, of course, as far as Daria was concerned, everyone was cats.
Continue on to Chapter 19…