Kitty

12

By the time we have to head back to the high school, my bathing suit is damp and my dog bites hurt so much I want to jump out the bus window.

But... but... but swimming was totally worth all this pain. Seeing Jay swim with his gorgeous arms, his tan body rippling through the waves... he's a literal god.

I sigh happily from recalling such a heavenly scene, temporarily forgetting about my painful situation.

"Still drooling over Bird Boy?"

"Spam. Let me bask in my memories, please. And his name is Jay, not 'Bird Boy'."

"Sooo you admit to having a crush on him? You better. You are so in love with him, you are not allowed to deny it." Spam states, tucking a strand of nicely dyed blonde hair behind her ear. She's got quite pretty hair, I realize. It sits about halfway down her back and she takes great care of it. It shines.

"Spam, what conditioner do you use?"

We have stupid conversations after that brilliant question until the school bus pulls up to school. I wave goodbye to Spam, promising I'll text her later.

I stand out in front of the high school, waiting for my mom to pick me up. I'm gonna be in huge trouble when she sees my bruised face and damp clothes.

It takes about five minutes for her to pull up, and when she locks her eyes on mine, I realize I should've snuck home and hidden until Jay's sleepover.

I slink carefully in the car, mainly due to the look my mother is giving me and a small part of it is so my sides don't hurt more than they need to.

"I let you go on a field trip under two conditions and you manage to break both of them. LEO. LENNY. HUDGINS. WOULD YOU MIND EXPLAINING TO ME WHY YOU CAME BACK IN WORSE CONDITION THAN I LEFT YOU IN???"

"... can I go to Jay's house tonight?"

She sighs heavily, then puts the car in drive and heads home. I chew on my bottom lip, staring down at my lap nervously. My mom almost never yells. Which I appreciate deeply. When she does yell, I know it's for a good reason.

And she's right. I shouldn't have swam or gotten in a fight. So do I feel bad for making my mom upset? Yeah.

When we're home, she sends me to my room to think about what my consequence should be. I leave the door cracked and can hear my parents talking downstairs.

I decide to pack for Jay's house, picking out three changes of clothes. I have no idea how long he wants me to stay. I make sure to add a toothbrush and toothpaste and a hair brush to prevent future bedhead.

After packing, I shift into my cat form, trying to minimize how much of my floor I get water and sand on. I sit on the floor in the middle of my room, slightly shivering.

So. My mother wants me to think of a punishment for my stupid actions. Fair enough. I ponder the options for a while, barely hearing the knock on my door that signals me to quickly shift back.

"Leo?" My mom says softly, coming in and sitting on my bed. I stand up, resulting in me standing next to her awkwardly, not wanting to get my bed dirty by sitting on it with sandy clothes.

"I've decided to let you go without punishment since you've probably suffered enough, but if you ever get yourself hurt like this again, we'll have a major conversation about your social life."

"Really?" I say excitedly, "So can I go to Jay's house?"

"Fine. You come back looking worse like you did today, no more field trips or sleepovers for a long while," she says, sighing.

"Thanks so much, mom! I'll stay out of trouble this time, I swear," I say, reaching down to hug her then realize I'm sandy and slightly wet.

"Ok, Leo, go shower then call me after you get some pants on so I can patch you up again. I'm sure your bandages are soggy by now."

After my shower, mom fixes my bandages, treating my face as well. I tell her the bruises on my face came from me tripping and falling and she doesn't question it, although she's smart enough to know it's a lie.

Finally, at 6:45, my parents drove me to Jay's house, determined to meet him and his mom. I sit in the back of the car, my sleepover bag beside me.

At Jay's house, Jay welcomes us in, no Peanut there to harass us. I slink in behind my parents, wary that Peanut could be hiding behind a corner, waiting for the right time to finish off what she started.

Jay scares the hell out of me when he appears beside me, which causes me to let out a strangled hiss sound.

"Woah, calm down there, tiger," he says, hands up in mock submission.

I look down, immediately blushing in embarrassment. "Don't scare me like that," I say, glaring at him.

He laughs then grabs my wrist, guiding me to his room. As soon as we enter his room and he shuts the door, my heart is beating so loud I'm afraid he can hear it. I slap his hand off my wrist, still mad at him for scaring me and my feelings making it difficult to focus when he does things like this.

"Our parents will probably be talking for a while so I thought we'd hang out till they wanna say bye to you." He says.

"Hmph, fair enough." I say, sitting on the edge of his bed.

He bends down under his bed, which surprises me, and pulls out a board game.

"Pictionary? Don't we need more than two people to play that?"

"Mhm," he says, combing a hand through his hair, "We'll just ask my sister to play with us."

"You have a sister???" I say, raising my eyebrows at him.

"Uh, yeah? Oh, I guess you didn't see her last time. She's always hiding in her room."

Jay grabs his phone from the back pocket of his jeans and types something in. I sit still at the edge of the bed, waiting for him to go get his sister. He puts his phone back in his pocket, then sits down on the ground and starts getting the game set up.

I look towards the door when it opens, surprised to see a Jay look-alike. She's got his dark chocolate hair that's cut at about chin length, tan skin, his height, and her eyes look like his except for being a shade darker.

"You texted?" She says, cocking an eyebrow and looking at Jay. Oh. I'm not sure why I would think siblings don't just text each other. I'm an idiot.

Jay looks up at his sister, slightly frowning when seeing her. "So, do you wanna play or not?"

"You fucking dumbass, you can't play with only three people."

Although Jay doesn't seem to want to admit it, she proves a point.

He looks down, frowning completely, and seems to think long and hard. While he's seemingly forming a plan, his sister finally sees me.

"Is this the Leo you won't shut up about?"

Jay blushes, turning to her and giving her a special glare. My ears turn very pink, and I look away and examine his dresser very carefully.

"Hi, Leo, I'm Lola. I do go to your high school, you know."

"Really? I've never seen you before..."

"Bruh. I'm literally in the same Art class as you."

"Oh." I mutter, trying to recall seeing her there. I draw a blank.

She snorts in amusement, then turns to Jay. "I'm outta here, brat. The next time you text me, you better have a good reason for it."

Lola leaves, shutting the door behind her.

"Well so much for that idea," I say, flopping back on his bed. I stare at his ceiling, waiting for him to say something.

"...wanna go for a walk?"