HACK3D H34RT

1001

Cata and I sat at a small cafe a few blocks away from the Hacker Space. It was the British girl's last day in San Francisco.

She took a sip of her cinnamon tea. She set the green cup on the table and spoke up.

"Ya know, your new friends are quite unique." She begins.

My eyes trail out the window and I mumble a "uh huh."

She had met them properly the day after she picked me up from the Hacker Space, or rather the table top gaming part of it.

It was entertaining to say the least. Sitara and Marcus were polite and civil. They explained what happened. Before Cata could get angry Marcus quickly ensured that their plan was never to put her into danger. Cata seemed to relax after that.

"I like Sitara and Marcus. They seem very mature. Well as mature as hackers can get no offense." She said with a smirk.

I meet her eyes and fake a smile and she continues. "Josh is adorable! Like he is too cute!"

My eyes advert back to the outside world. My espresso hot chocolate hadn't been touched and was turning cold.

Cata went on. "I don't trust that Ray. He is like really sketchy and should not be trusted."

I nodded absentmindedly. My mind was in another place. Since Cata had been here she had been keeping me sane.

Her bright and spunky attitude had been keeping the monsters at bay. But now that she was leaving the monsters were starting to wake up.

"Cassidy. Cassidy!" Her voice broke through my day dream.

"Huh?" I ask.

"You Alright, hun?" She asks, reaching A hand out to mine.

"Y-yeah. So what do you think of Wrench?" I ask, staring down at the table.

At breakfast the spiked anarchist had insisted that he sat next to me. So I was sandwiched between Wrench and Cata.

She looked off into the distance, before meeting my gaze. "He's a wannabe punk with daddy issues." She says matter of factually.

That got me to giggle slightly. I took a sip of my drink, and checked my phone. Sitara had texted me and told me i could have the day off since it was Cata's last day. I sent her a thank you.

"Hey Cata?" I asked.

"Hmm?" She hummed in response.

"Wanna dye my hair?"

"Yes!" She exclaimed, jumping out of her seat and pulling me with her.

~Time Skip~

The kitchen timer ticked away as my hair sat in tin foil. A Disney movie played on the television.

"Why can't I find someone who looks at me like Flynn looks at Rapunzel?" Cata pouted.

I smiled softly and the timer went off. Cata paused the movie and dragged me to the bath room and I keeled in front of the tub, while she rinsed my hair. She turned the water off and wrapped my hair in a towel.

She brought me back to the kitchen and dried my hair before brushing it out.

"And Voilá!" She said putting her tools down ans handing me a mirror.

I smiled, a true smile. We had decided to leave the brown at the top and let that fade to pink, then to blue and finally purple.

I stood up and hugged her tightly. "Thank you." I whisper. "For everything."

"You're welcome."

~Time Skip~

Once Cata had left my apartment went quiet. It was the perfect time for the monsters to come out. I shuffled into my room and laid in bed. There was no use trying to sleep. I hadn't slept in the past two days. So I just sat there and stared into space.