Winning Skylinn

49

The next day at work, all the little girls wanted to ask about Denver. I may or may not have mentioned he was coming home soon...

"Is he cute?" Stacie wanted to know.

"I think boys are gross," Angee complained, sticking her tongue out.

"Well I think Denver is romantic!" Tiara gushed, clasping her hands together. (Yes, her real name is Tiara, and yes, it always reminds me of Tiara Gold from High School Musical 3.)

"He is pretty romantic," I told them. "And yes, Stacie, he's very cute."

"Boys are not cute," Angee insisted. "They're gross and they always pick their nose and steal your animal crackers!"

I laughed at that. "They're not like that once they're older. But it's okay to think boys are gross at your age."

"Boys are always gross, no matter how old they are!"

Tiara gave me a look like, 'Is she serious right now?' I burst out laughing. "You guys are funny. I promise I'll tell you all about Denver's trip, okay?"

"Okay!" Tiara and Stacie chirped. Angee just rolled her big brown eyes and gave a huff.

- - -

After work I went with Jonny to pick up his new cat. I could barely remember anything that happened the night before, because I'd been so tired, but I vaguely remembered reading something out of The Fault in Our Stars.

I felt weird asking, so I just left my questions unanswered and ignored them. "Where does this guy live, anyway?" I asked instead.

"Over on Celebration Avenue. (A/N: That's a real place; I've been there.) But he's moving to Georgia soon."

"Ah. What's his name?"

"Owen."

"Ha, that sounds like a cat-lover name."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, a little bit. Are you gonna keep the cat's name?" I asked.

"Yeah. I always liked the name Ollie. For a cat, anyway," Jonny replied.

"Me too. Plus it would be weird for him to have one name and then get it changed just a few months later."

"Yeah, he probably wouldn't catch on very fast."

When we got to Owen's house, Jonny knocked on the door twice before someone answered it. There was a guy with curly brown hair and deep brown eyes standing there.

"Hey, Owen. I'm here for Ollie."

"Right. Come on in. It's a bit messy, though."

He was right. When we stepped inside, about twelve cardboard boxes greeted us. I stepped over one, and Owen caught my arm before I could fall. "Watch your step there."

"Thanks," I mumbled.

Ollie looked a little bit like Mistletoe, but personally, I thought my cat was cuter. His fur was more charcoal than black, and instead of one white paw, he had a white stripe down his nose. He didn't look like an Ollie to me, but oh well.

I could tell that Jonny liked him right away, because he kept petting him and stuff. Owen gave him a bowl with Ollie's name on it, as well as some cat toys.

"Thanks for all this," Jonny said.

"No, thank you. I don't know what I would've done if we couldn't've sold this little guy," Owen replied.

"Speaking of, what do I owe you?"

"Well I sold all the other cats for free, so..."

"But you're giving me all this stuff to go with it. Let me pay you," Jonny insisted, while I stood back just listening to their little argument.

"Fine. Twenty bucks?"

"Deal." Jonny gave him a twenty dollar bill and a handshake, and then we were off.

I couldn't wait for Mistletoe to meet her new friend!