[Whoop, I'm on a roll! Not going to talk much, just the usual - comment! And thanks to all the people who've fanned me so far! Happy Reading! ^_^]
"Keith, get up!"
Keith groaned not wanting to get up. He couldn't ignore the pounding on the door though, so he rolled out of his bed and staggered towards the door. He wrenched it open, to find Maggie on the other side. He looked groggily at his clock before turning back to her.
"Mags, it's five o' clock. What the hell?"
"I- I'm used to Belinda being up now, so I woke up. But then I thought I heard something, and I didn't want to be awake on my own. Anyway," she said as casually as she could, still darting glances up and down the hallway. "You've got to be up soon anyway." When he looked at her blankly she rolled her eyes. "School? Or did you forget?"
He had. He groaned again, opening the door wider. He ushered her inside, stifling a yawn. Seriously, five o' clock? How bloody early did Belinda need to get up? He turned his phone on, wondering if it was too early to call the hospital and check if Belinda had woken up yet. He was pondering this when he thought he heard a noise as well. His eyes flickered toward the door and then to Maggie. Her eyes were a little wide as well, which is how he knew he hadn't just imagined it.
He held a finger to his lips as he crept forward and out of his room. He prayed it was his mother, up and about earlier than usual, but he felt the heat gathering near his fingers anyway. He could still hear the noise, and he thought it was coming from the kitchen. It sounded like whoever was there was rummaging through everything. Keith tried to think - what do we keep in the kitchen?
He slipped his foot into the gap where the door didn't quite meet the frame. His mother evidently hadn't closed it properly, if the person who was in the kitchen hadn't opened the door. Keith doubted it somehow - nobody would go into the kitchen looking for valuables. As he edged the door open, he let the heat in his fingertips flare. Whoever it was, they were about to get a very nasty surprise. He couldn't see anyone but he could definitely hear them. They were rummaging around in the-
"Maggie, did you open a window?" Keith shouted.
"Um," Maggie called back, obviously thinking about it. "I might've done. It was really warm this morning. Why?"
"Because," Keith laughed, "our intruder is a cat. Congratulations, you've managed to get a stray in here. And it's made a mess of the bin. Jeez," he said, turning as she came in. "I suppose you expect me to clean that up, don't you?"
Maggie rushed forward, cooing at the cat. She was great with animals, always trying to get their mother to let them in the house. She let the cat come towards her before meeting it halfway, petting it and tickling it under the chin. She sat there while Keith cleaned up the bin the cat had knocked over. When he was finally done, it was about quarter to six. He decided he might as well have breakfast.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed as the cat started winding its way around his feet. "It better not expect me to feed it," he told Maggie sternly, while she sat there giggling. "You know mum doesn't like having cats in the house."
"Yeah, but..." Maggie said, biting down on her lip. "I'm going to get lonely without Belinda here. Do you think she might, maybe, let me keep her in my room? I'll clean up after her and everything."
"It's not me you've got to convince. But, I suppose you are getting older..."
"And I've got my savings, I could pay for her! I really could, she's only little."
Just then, Gina walked into the kitchen, looking distracted. She stopped when she heard the miaowing, and the little bundle of fur rubbed herself against Gina's legs. She looked pointedly at Maggie before picking the cat up.
