This Cat Has Claws

3: Party

It really was not thrilling to go over to my parents' place at nine in the morning. Especially when it was to tell them about what had happened last night. I opened the front door to find my younger brother JayJay sitting on the couch eating cereal. He immediately got up and set the cereal down before running up to me and giving me a big hug.

"Aren't you supposed to be in school right now?" I asked as I hugged him back.

"Whatever. I'm playing hooky today," he answered smuggly.

"God, it's no wonder your grades suck. I wonder who you get this from."

Mom and Dad walked in and joined in the hug. It was because they let us do whatever we wanted while we lived here that JayJay and my older sister Emrys got away with never going to school.

"If you keep letting him skip school he's gonna go stupid," I said playfully.

"Eh, he's already kinda stupid, kid, can't get much worse," Dad said truthfully. "He doesn't need a degree to join the family business."

"Yeah, but he should at least graduate."

"So what brings you here, kid? You can't just be here to see your folks and Jayvion."

"Yeah, so last night I got shot," I started. "Hold up, before you guys panic and go on a murdering spree til you find him. It wasn't anything related to the business. This idiot decided it was the night to try and rob my store while I was working the register."

I continued to explain with as much detail as possible up until I got home after the hospital.

"So, I used the credit card and went home. Whoever the guy was is in jail now or something, and I was as vaguely detailed as possible with the police, so they have what they need, but nothing more than that," I concluded.

"Alright, sweetpea. I'm glad you're okay. Do you want some breakfast? I bet Jayvion would love to spend some time with you before your classes," Mom said.

I sat down on the couch with JayJay and we watched Ghost Adventures and ate breakfast. All three of the Parker siblings were close, but JayJay and I were closest. Emrys was gone a lot for who knows what in Europe or something, so I only talked to her every week or so. JayJay spoke to her even less it seemed, but he wasn't ever bothered by it.

"Awe, I can't believe my little JayJay Boo is all grown up," I teased as JayJay told me about his new girlfriend. He was already sixteen, but I still couldn't wrap my brain around it.

"You really need to stop calling me that. You're not that much older than me, okay?" he retorted.

"Oh come one. I know you love it when I call you that, BooBoo."

"Ugh, I don't know which nickname is worse. It's not fair that your name doesn't have any good nicknames."

JayJay and I continued to talk and watch TV for another hour before I had to go back to school. It really sucked having to go to school when my arm was all fucked up, but at least it wasn't my dominant arm, so writing would still be fine.

It was so nice not having to worry about getting to work that evening. After I finished classes I went back to my house and took a shower. My roommates had convinced me to go with them to a Halloween party so we were all getting ready. I decided to go with the classic cat costume, not that it's really a costume for me since I actually am sort of part cat. Taylor, the roommate I got along with the best, helped me with my hair and makeup. The other two girls, Amber and Chelsea, weren't so pleased with my outfit since it didn't show enough skin. I was wearing black cat ears; my dirty blonde hair was pinned up in space buns; my shirt was a low cut V-neck, black short-sleeved shirt; and I was wearing fishnet stockings and shorts. How was that not enough skin? But when I looked at their outfits, I did look pretty modest.

Amber, Chelsea and Taylor left me once we got to the party. I expected no less from them. They all had better friends here at the party, so I didn't expect them to stay with me for long, but they left almost immediately after entering through the door. That was much quicker than I thought. Without anyone to talk to, I walked around awkwardly from room to room not really sure where I was going or what was supposed to be happening in each area of the party. I was told there would be some sort of dance room and that's what got the girls to convince me to go. I always had a great time at dances but hardly ever got to go to them, so I was looking forward to this, I just needed to find it.

It didn't take me long to find the food and drinks. I was sure someone had spiked the bowl of... whatever it was supposed to be, so I made myself at home and looked in the fridge for something to drink. I was not a fan of alcohol and was pleased when I found a gallon carton of chocolate milk. Not at all what I was expecting, but a very pleasant surprise. I took the chocolate milk out of the fridge and set it on the counter while I looked in all the cupboards for a cup. After I had looked through two cupboards it dawned on me that there were Solo cups already put out so people wouldn't have to do what I was doing. Smart. I grabbed a cup and poured in the chocolate milk. Now let's get this party started.