Food, Cats, and Being Lazy

Five

Since my mom's party was pretty much over, I was allowed to stay in my room for the rest of the night. I changed out of the ruffly lilac dress and put my pajamas on. Then I crawled into my bed with Reggie and turned on the TV to watch the Food Network. My mom hated that I watched it so much. She said it did nothing but make me hungry, and that's why I ate so much. But really, it was the only thing that kept my interest. Plus, I figured it was educational programming. It would make me smarter in the long run.

I could hear my mom downstairs when she was saying goodbye to the Denver family. I sunk lower into my pile of fluffy pillows as if I could disappear entirely. I hated that she'd invited them over for Easter dinner. I hated that Paige called me out when I was staring at Collin. I hated that Collin probably knew I existed now, but only as "the girl who stared at me when I was at Paige's house."

A few minutes later, there were two sets of footsteps on the stairs. I could hear Paige's snarky voice and Vincent's quick retorts. One thing I liked about him is that he never let my sister bully him. I did, but he always defended himself. I had no idea why they were even still together because she was only nice to him in front of other people.

Their argument carried up into her room, which was next to mine. I could hear them getting louder and louder until I yelled, "SHUT UP!" at the top of my lungs. I heard Paige yell back, but that was apparently enough for Vincent. He gave one last unheard retort and left, slamming the door behind himself.

"Ugh, thank God," I said to myself. It was a good thing, too, because my show was back on, and Reggie was getting comfortable on my legs.

And then I heard Paige again. She was quieter this time, but she was definitely crying. I sighed deeply and closed my eyes. Please stop crying? Please don't make me feel obligated to check on you? She kept crying. I hit the back of my head against the headboard a few times. Then I shoved Reggie off my legs and slumped to the door, groaning and dragging my feet.

I knocked on Paige's door.

"Paige?"

"Go away," she said from inside.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm crying for no reason."

"Did you and Vincent break up?"

"No, we did not break up! Will you just go away?"

"I'm trying to help."

"You're getting on my nerves. Go away!"

"Jerk." Then I went back to my room. At least she couldn't say I didn't try.

The next day was Monday, and we finally had to go back to school after spring break. There were pros and cons to this. The pros being that I didn't have to sit at home with my mother and her candle sales any longer. The cons being that I couldn't sleep in late, and I'd take my mother's candle-selling business over high school any day.

I only had one friend in the entire world besides my cat. Her name was Laura. We didn't have each other's phone numbers, and we never hung out outside of school. But she was a loner like me, and we somehow found each other.

It started the first day of Freshman year. I didn't have anyone to sit with at lunch. I'd been a complete loner all through middle school. I did have friends in elementary school before then, but the only one that mattered moved away, and the other one got boobs. So when freshman year came along, I didn't know anyone but Paige, and she was definitely too busy with her new boyfriend to hang out with me. Oh yeah, and also too pretty and popular.

So I wandered outside to the bleachers to eat my lunch alone. Then Laura came out to do the same thing. She took the bench a few yards away, and we didn't talk, but we kind of nodded to each other in acknowledgment. The next day, it happened again. And then we sat closer and closer until we became kind of friends.

When the weather got cold, we headed inside and began sitting in an empty stairwell every day. Then we never went outside ever again, even when it was warm. One day we actually started talking. I'd tell her my problems, and she'd tell me hers, and it felt normal and right. I wanted to hang out with her outside of school, but I didn't want to come off as too needy. So I decided to wait until she asked first. She never did. But that was okay because the alternative is that I had to sit alone.

So at lunch, I headed to our usual spot to wait for her. She showed up a few minutes later, and we sat down to eat together.

"How was your spring break?" I asked as I dug through my lunchbox. She shrugged her shoulders. She was kind of quiet. She wasn't exactly the obnoxious nerd like I was, but she didn't seem like the kind of person who went out and made friends. She was really shy, and her biggest issue is that her mom controlled her wardrobe and was really churchy. So everything she owned was really modest and outdated, and she had to wear her hair in a long, never cut, braid.

I always suspected she had a secret wild side just because her sister had basically disowned the entire family, except for her, and became a hairstylist who always had funky hair colors. She got in constant fights with their parents over letting Lauren express herself more. I only knew this because it caused ongoing family drama, and she'd sometimes tell me about it.

"It was fine," she said quietly. "We didn't really do anything." I nodded.

"Same here. My mom threw a stupid Easter dinner party and invited Collin's family." She knew all about my crush. So when she looked at me with wide eyes, I knew she was sympathetic.

"How did that go?" I sighed dramatically.

"My sister caught me staring at him and then informed the whole table."

"Ouch."

"Yep."

"Well, at least now he knows who you are."

"Yeah, right. I doubt it. Anyway, I was thinking about getting my hair cut," I said to change the subject.

"Why would you do that?" she asked.

"I want to dye it pink, but my mom won't let me. So I decided to just chop it off. Like a pixie cut. It's really irritating like this. I look like a twelve-year-old."

"My sister works at that salon on Rose Avenue. You could probably get it done there." I nodded.

"Cool. I'll ask my mom."

And we were quiet for the rest of the period. That was one of the things I liked about her. There wasn't a need for a lot of words. Of course, this also annoyed me to no end because when the only person you have to talk to is a cat, you get kind of lonely. But I wasn't going to push her because she was the only friend I had who wasn't a feline.