❝ She's in my head and has you on her radar. You either leave and forget who I ever was, or live to kill me. ❞
❝ Is there a third option that doesn't involve losing you? ❞
. . . in which Rhea's fear of her own mother becomes so unruly that a masked...
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"YOU POOR THING," Rhea crooned, eyeing the limping calico kitten whose fur was knotted and twisted from neglect. Her gaze shifted to the bony edges of its ribcage protruding through its chest, and its trembling legs that were barely enough to support its own weight. "Where did your mother go...?" She whispered sympathetically before kneeling down in front of it, watching it retreat to underneath one of the many rubbish bins that cluttered the alleyway. She wanted to help it, take care of it, gave it what its mother couldn't.
"Hey, are you here to help the kitten too?" A fairly pleasant voice resounded in the secluded alley. She lifted her head to see who it was, and was surprised to be greeted by a more-than-pleasant face of a boy close to her age. (Yes, she's admitting he's cute. Who wouldn't though? she thought.)
Standing up, she nodded as a smile caressed her lips before noticing a shoebox lined with soft fabric and a single can of cat food in his hands. "I see you've already brought something."
"Yeah, I saw this kitten on my way to school, and uh... I don't think I would be able to focus in class today if I don't do something about it, so here I am," he chuckled with a tinge of awkwardness, kneeling and placing the box with the opened canned food down.
Her smile widened as she joined him, "You're a good person, but that's just stating the obvious." She could see the frightened kitten backed up against the wall in the darkness of the bin's shelter, unwilling to accept the glimmer of hope for fear of it being false.
He smiled in the corner of her eye and she caught a glimpse of subtle eye wrinkles that made his smile all the more... endearing, "Well, I'm glad someone sees me like that." Bending lower, his arm was outstretched, trying to reach for the kitten to no avail, now whimpering as much as its small lungs could muster.
"Let me try," Rhea offered and slid her arm underneath the bin while he withdraw his. "C'mon little one, don't worry, we're here to help you," she cooed, getting closer to it. When she felt its matted fur against the palm of her hand, its cries became progressively more agitated. After all, crying for help was the least it could do in a weak body. Escaping wasn't an option with barely any energy to move an inch.
Ever so slowly, she brought it out from under the bin and cradled the little kit in her arms, it winced at the sudden rays of morning sun, but quickly settled comfortably into Rhea's cradle. The boy brought the shoebox closer, where she safely and gently placed it in, immediately eating from the can of cat food after having starved for days. How it even survived this long, no one would know, but what Rhea knew for sure, was that it was a miracle.
A miracle... "I'm naming her Mira," Rhea smiled as she watched Mira devour the food like a ferocious beast when she was anything but that, "I plan to take Mira to the vet after school and settle her into her new home."
"You're going to adopt her?" His smile grew, clearly excited, perhaps even more excited than Rhea was.
She nodded eagerly as she stood up. "Which school do you go to, by the way?" He asked, curiosity lacing his voice as he joined her.
"I just transferred to Midtown School of Science and Technology, today's my first day," she explained, trying her best to not sound as dull as she had hoped. She dreaded school, no matter where she went. She had only transferred to Midtown since she moved to Queens with her mom. "My mom's office was relocated and before I knew it, we were moving to live here."
"Wait, I go to Midtown too!" He exclaimed enthusiastically. And somehow, Rhea's fear of never being able to make friends diminished immediately with that one single statement.
Gasping, her excitement prevented her from speaking. She quickly cleared her throat and asked, "What's your name?"
"I'm-"
"Penis Parker!" A booming voice sounded off right behind them. Rhea almost choked on her spit, that couldn't have come at a much better timing than this, she thought as she struggled to suppress her laughter. She could see the proclaimed Penis Parker slowly turning into the shade of a cherry tomato. Thank goodness they were in a garbage alleyway, not in the middle of the New York crowd making their way to work.
That's when a girl with shoulder-length blonde hair and a big-sized guy approached them. "Eva, really?" Penis uttered embarrassingly before facing Rhea again. "I'm Peter Parker, not... whatever she just called me."
Rhea chuckled and shook her head, "Of course."
"Pretty sure no one would name their child Penis, Peter," Eva snickered. Although Rhea has to admit (once again) that Peter's awkwardness was cute.
"But Dick is a name, no offense to the Dicks out there though," the adorably chubby guy added, which only made Rhea want to laugh more. These people are hilarious!
"I'm Rhea Abner," she finally calmed down and introduced herself to Peter and his friends.
"Eva Jenson!"
"Ned Leeds," Ned smiled as he said so.
"These are my close friends from school," Peter spoke light-heartedly, before explaining to his friends, "And Rhea is a transfer student to Midtown, it's her first day today."
Eva perked up at the mention of Rhea being a transfer. A playful smile appeared on her lips as she asked, "Wanna hang out with us today?"
Rhea couldn't stop herself from grinning, "What about for the rest of the school year and beyond?"
