The Cat on the Balcony

3- Frick

I ran over into the Joseph's yard until I was right in front of the balcony. Jenna looked down at me and meowed, almost like she was taunting me, like she knew just who was on the otherside of the doors behind her.

"Jenna! Get down here!" I whisper-shouted. She just started rubbing her head against the wooden column, purring.

"Jenna, do you want a treat? I've got treats! C'mere!" She continued to just blankly stare down at me. Damn cat knew I was bluffing.

I ran my hand through my hair, what can I do? I looked around and saw that the Joseph's had little pebbles in their garden bed.

Maybe I could throw one up there and spook her? I was pretty good at baseball and basketball... it was worth a shot. I've got nothing else.

I grabbed a few and looked back up. I threw the first one; it hit the column right next to her, but she did nothing.

This time I aimed for one of the metal poles underneath the wooden rail. I missed the pole; it went through and hit Tyler's window. Oh God.

"Frick, frick, frick..." I muttered under my breath.

I waited a minute to see if a pissed off Tyler was going to come out onto the balcony and yell at me. Thankfully, that didn't happen. I heaved out a heavy sigh of relief and ran my hand through my hair.

Well, spooking her wasn't going to work. Stupid Jenna, I should've listened to Dad and got a dog instead.

Dogs can't climb on balconies.

I could just leave her out, but Mom would kill me. Last time Jenna got out I almost got grounded. Mom is overly paranoid about her getting hit by a car or getting hurt some other way.

I looked around and saw a ladder propped against the side of their house.

No.

I refuse.

No, no, no.

Damn it.

I huffed out another sigh, looks like I'm climbing up to get her.

I walked over and picked up the ladder, telling it to hush anytime it made any noise even though it was pointless. I gingerly propped it against the balcony before climbing up it as quietly as I could.

I couldn't help but think how many times something like this has happened in cheesy romance books or movies.

Except in those, the guy is normally going to proclaim his love or some shit, not grab his stupid cat.

When I got to the top, just as I was starting to reach out to grab Jenna, the sliding glass door opened up.

Shit.

There was Tyler Joseph in sweatpants and a tank top, staring at me in confusion.

I froze, looking at him with wide eyes.

Jenna jumped off the rail and started weaving in and out of Tyler's legs. He continued to stare questioningly at me, ignoring the cat playing with the hem of his sweatpants.

Finally, I spoke up.

"Uh...salutations."

Really Josh? Out of all the ways to say hello, you say freaking salutations?!

"What does that mean?" Tyler asked, his voice slightly rough with sleep.

"Uh, um, it means...it means hello."

"Oh. It kind of makes me want crackers." He leaned down and picked up Jenna, who meowed happily.

"I assume you're her to get, uh," he paused to look at the tag on her blue collar, "Jenna?"

"Ha, yeah you would assume correctly. Stupid cat, heh." I was internally cringing at how awkward I was sounding.

What is wrong with me?

He gave me a little smile before handing me Jenna and turning around to go back inside.

"Put the ladder back when you're done. I'll see you later, yeah?" He said.

I just nodded a little bit, still too embarrassed to speak properly.

He gave me another small smile before sliding the door shut and pulling his curtains back over the window.

I grumbled under my breath the whole climb down, and awkwardly tried to prop the ladder back against the side of his house; it was hard to do one handed.

I went back over to my house and quietly slipped through the door. Stopping to shut the window in the living room, I kept grumbling under my breath at the dumb cat tucked under my arm. 

I tiptoed up the stairs, and didn't set Jenna down until I was safely in my room with the door shut.

Dropping her down on the end of my bed, I crossed my arms over my chest while I glared at her.

She mewled at me and raised her her paw up at me, he signal that she wants me to pet her.

"No, you're in trouble. You made me look stupid in front of him. Again! Well, the first two times weren't your fault. But still."

Great, now I'm talking to my cat.

She slightly tilted her head to the side as she listened to me speak, and, damn it, she's just too cute.

I scooped her back into my arms and sat down on the bed.

"This better help me out some way in the future, or I'm going to hold this against you for the rest of your life." I mumbled into the top of her head before setting her down to go turn off the lights.

I climbed under my blankets, and laid there in silence for a moment before what just happened really hit me.

I woke Tyler up at two in the morning by climbing up to his balcony to catch my stupid cat, all while in nothing but a pair of gym shorts.

I groaned and rolled over to face the wall.

Stuff like this never happened to me in LA.

It better not become routine, because if it does then I definitely won't have any friends here, just like back home.