Everyone, Meet Chira

"Whoa, girl, it's okay." Tristan rubbed Chira's shoulder, trying to calm her. She yipped at the roof again, straining at the leash so hard Tristan was afraid she'd snap it. "Chira--"

Jared walked out. "Try rubbing her belly." Tristan obeyed, and Chira forgot her agitation to purr and nuzzle his shoulder. "Cool, it worked."

Tristan stared. "You mean you weren't sure?"

"What the heck is that?" someone else demanded. Tristan turned. Megan stood in the doorway, staring at the pink marsupial.

"This is Chira, my pet." Tristan scratched the animal's shoulder. "She just kind of attached herself to me during lunch. Ow! Chira, no biting!"

Jared frowned. "Wait, everyone can see her?"

Kyle stepped out, saw Chira, and went back inside. Tristan smirked. "Apparently."

"Then what can I do?"

"The only way I can really describe it is charm and persuasion. Though if I wanted to go to extremes, I could call it emotional mind-control."

Jared thought for a moment. "Let's go with persuasion."

Tristan shrugged. "Your ability, your name."

Allison stepped outside and blinked. "Tristan? What's that?"

"This is Chira. For some reason, we are the only people who can see or hear her."

Allison frowned. "Was she in the lunchroom today?"

"Yeah. And before you ask, yes, she was the one who sent those chairs flying."

She thought on that, then shrugged. "Okay."

He frowned, puzzled. "Just okay?"

"Yeah. It's obvious she's not going to hurt anyone on purpose, so why worry?" She shrugged again. "So are we going to do homework or not? I wasn't kidding about that geometry test."