The Tabi Cat

1. "Donuts!"

I jump awake in a cold sweat.

Pressing my palm to my heavily beating heart, I glance at the alarm clock on my beside table. It reads 5:30 AM, two hours before I normally wake up. Seeing as I won't be getting any more sleep, I roll out of bed and start downstairs.

I have no idea what happened in my dream world. It could have been a nightmare, but I vaguely recall a happy feeling somewhere in the mix. I shake the feeling, focusing on grappling for the remote in the twilight. Finally taking hold of it, I flick the television on, hurriedly cranking the volume down so as to not wake my parents or brother. I surf the channels, stopping to listen to the news, then continue searching for my favorite show. Royal Pains has a new episode on Netflix, so I start to watch that.

My dog waddles sleepily into the room. I let him jump in my lap, exhaling sharply when he settles on my stomach. Even though he's a fairly large Boxer, he wants to be a lap dog. I let him be one. Because, you know. It would be cruel to turn this sweet puppy down. Stroking his velvety ears, I enjoy the episode until it finishes.

My stomach growls, reminding me how hungry I am. First I dump a cup of dog food in Bowser's bowl. Then I make scrambled eggs, trying to focus on not burning them while my mind wanders. I think of the dream. Now that I think about it, I remember a girl with long hair, telling me something. Something I needed to hear...

The eggs burned. I swear under my breath and turn the stove off, moving the eggs to the table and grunting in frustration. How do you burn scrambled eggs? Am I really that bad a cook? Ketchup makes everything better, so I squirt a generous amount on the squishy mess and dig in, remembering to take my daily morning medicine with a cup of water.

My dad gets up at 6:30 to take the dog on a walk and stretch his legs. I try to be quiet and pretend I'm not there, but of course he smells the disastrous breakfast and checks it out.

"Baby girl, what are you doing awake?" he inquires as I hunch my shoulders in order to appear smaller. His timing's perfect and I have a mouthful of egg. "Are you okay?" Typical Dad being over cautious.

"I'm fwime." My muffled voice comes out garbled and I swallow carefully. "I woke up early and decided to not go back to sleep. Dad, I'm fine, really." He nods and grabs the leash. Bowser immediately perks up and runs to my father, jumping on his hind legs and punching him.

As he walks out the door, my dad reminds me, "Don't forget to take..."

"...my medicine," I finish for him. When he's gone, I roll my eyes. I've been taking this medicine since I was eleven years old. Pretty sure I don't need to be reminded. I clean up my breakfast items and dart upstairs to dress.

Firstly, I stick to my morning routine and ask Siri, "Siri, what's the temperature going to be today?" A few seconds pass and I hear my personal assistant's voice say that it is '84 degrees today. Hot!' and I mentally plan what I'll wear for the day. Heading to my bathroom and brushing my teeth, I hum and dream about college. I've been accepted into my top school and plan to get a degree in psychology, maybe a minor in literature.

After washing my face, brushing my teeth, and applying deodorant, I finally dress in my casual Friday clothes. The time is 7:10, so I grab my purse and phone and wait for my family to wake up.

Spotify starts up and Ed Sheeran's beautiful voice blasts in my ears. I dance a little and continue listening to my jams until I hear two doors opening. First my little brother trudged through the living room into the kitchen, shortly followed by my mom. I got my morning personality from my dad.

Since they're awake, I pause my music and tell them both goodbye. My mom says nothing and just hugs me but my brother has to be annoying.

"Tabi," he whines. "Can I ride to school with you?" I sigh. He's in middle school, and even though the schools are connected, I don't feel like buying him donuts and allowing him to ride shotgun.

"Nope," I insist. He opens his mouth to argue, but I stop him. "I woke up early and you didn't. Hurry up next time." He stomps away and I pet Bowser as I walk out of the house, throwing on some sandals on the way out. My car sits pretty by the curb, looking like Edward Cullen sparkling in the morning dew. I start it up and drive away.

My school is about five minutes from where I live, and I'm early, so I take a pit stop at the nearest donut place and order a dozen for me and my group of friends. I eat a French cruller on the way there and sip some coffee. I arrive and carry my donuts into the cafeteria, meeting my friends and sitting down next to them.

Here is my little friendship circle: Amy, a tiny blonde who doesn't have a filter; Sandra, a hardcore straight A student like myself who never stops reading; Jazmine, my best friend of ten years and who shares my obsession with cats; and finally Harry, soccer playing jock, AKA, pain in the ass yet sweet boyfriend.

I set down the donut box and Amy automatically leaps in an grabs two old fashioned, half screaming "Donuts!" Sandra sleepily lifts her head and takes one sprinkled donut, then retreats back into her book, lazily munching on it. My boyfriend kisses my forehead and grabs three (he always takes most of them) and Jaz takes two jelly. Immediately filling squirts onto her hand and she grunts in annoyance. I hand her a napkin and she smiles.

"Thanks, Tabs," Jaz says sweetly and chows down on her breakfast.

I snort. "You can tell we're the most healthy people on the planet." Sandra nods for a solid minute before asking what I just said. I laugh and pass her another donut. Harry scoots closer to me and I snuggle into his side. I'm short, so my head only makes it to his shoulder, but I like it that way. He makes me feel protected, even if he tries to be a little too intimate sometimes. Presently I plant a kiss on his cheek. He nips at my ear and I giggle.

"You guys are so cute you could be in a zoo as a couple of puppies or seals or something," Amy blurts. I snort again.

"What does that even mean?!" I exclaim as Harry's shoulders heave with laughter. Amy shrugs nonchalantly and looks down but I still see a tiny smirk on her face.

All too soon the first bell rings and we part ways, Sandra and I going to math and the others going to their own classes.

I really want to know what my dream was.

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Thanks for reading the first chapter of The Tabi Cat! This first chapter took a few weeks to write, off and on, bits and pieces when I had a few minutes of spare time.

Love you my pretties!

~SJ