𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃, jeremiah fisher

fourteen. conversations in the dark

STEP ONE: COMPLETE.

I'm friends with Jeremiah.

I am friends with Jeremiah Fisher.

I. Am. Friends. With. Jeremiah. Fisher.

Fuck. It doesn't matter how many times I repeat the phrase to myself. I smile like an idiot every single time, giggling like a damn maniac.

It's becoming a problem.

Salem, my cat, steps onto my feet and sits down on them like I'm the one in his way. Rolling my eyes, I bend down to pick him up. He lets me without complaint and stretches into my arms, happy that I got the memo.

I step further into my closet. With one arm around Salem, I reach with my other hand to grab the hanger holding the rose gold dress that's been sitting in my closet for weeks. I hang it up on the rack at the top of my closet door and then head back to my closet to grab the heels I'm planning on wearing tonight.

It's my grandma's eightieth birthday party, and she's pretty big on celebrating, well, herself. She'll take any chance she can get to throw a party. Especially one dedicated to herself.

I'm not really close to anyone in the family apart from her. I've always just kind of been an outcast with all my cousins and aunts and uncles because of the fact that I was adopted. Dad isn't really close with anyone except for his mom either. How can he be when they all mock him for never getting married again after his wife's death?

I don't really remember her much—at least not like Rey does. Most of my memories of her are after the cancer really started taking a toll on her body. The only things I remember before that are her sweet smile and her laugh that sometimes still echoes in my ears when I'm alone at night. I like to think she's watching over me even though we never really got the chance to bond.

Dad tells me she really loved me, though. That makes me sad. I wish I could have gotten the chance to get to know her.

Exiting my closet, I look up and nearly scream when I find a figure climbing into my room through my window. I get so startled that I accidentally drop Salem. He screeches and walks over to my desk chair to climb on top of it.

"Hey."

My heart hiccups in my chest as my brown eyes meet those pale blue ones. He wears a grin, dropping his feet to the floor of my room and walking toward me. His eyes flick to Salem sitting on the chair.

"You have a cat," he muses, making his way toward him and reaching out his hand.

"I wouldn't touch him if I were you. The only people he likes are me and Van."

He narrows his eyes. He slowly extends his hand out to Salem who glares up at him. Then, he jumps up and would have clawed out Jeremiah's eyes if he hadn't moved away so quickly.

I get in front of him, blocking the black cat's path.

"Calm down, Salem. He's not an asshole, I promise. Well, at least most of the time he isn't."

Jeremiah scoffs.

"You named your cat Salem?" is what he chooses to focus on. "Like...the Salem Witch Trials?"

I snort, turning around to face him. "Salem as in the cat from Sabrina the Teenage Witch."

He hums, jumping onto my bed and placing his head on his hand as he stares at me. I hate to admit that the action makes me gulp and think some not-so-PG thoughts.

"Like the new live-action one or the animated one?"

"Animated obviously. That show was my entire childhood."