Not So Purrfect Test Score

(I come across an ad on Craigslist. Someone has found a kitten in their backyard but isn’t able to take care of it. I have prior experience with bottle-feeding, so I contact the person and pick it up that morning. Since it is on my way to class, and I won’t have time to go back home, I take the kitten with me inside a lunchbox. We have a test that day, so I pray the tiny creature will stay quiet long enough for nobody to notice. I am the first or second person to class and I sit in my usual spot. The teacher hands out our tests and we begin working. It isn’t long after we begin that a tiny “mew” breaks the silence. I ignore it, and hope that will be the only cry. The kitten meows a couple more times, and my face becomes hot with embarrassment.)

Me: “I’m sorry. That’s a kitten I just rescued. I didn’t have time to run it back home. I can finish the test in the hallway if you want, and leave immediately after.”

Teacher: “Oh! I thought that was somebody’s ringtone! No, you’re fine. Just finish the test in here.”

(I hurried through it and scrambled out of the classroom, with several people giving me strange looks.)