PICS and IT DIDN'T HAPPEN

08. The Cats

Becca, Tess and I are crouched on the ground staring at three remarkably cute, fluffy kittens meowing at us.

These babies have been the talk of the school for a while now. My friends and I finally had the time this evening to stop by and look at them before heading home.

A couple more groups of girls arrive at the spot, squealing. "Aren't they cute?" Rene from the arts club says.

"Do they have names yet?" Another girl says.

No one answers.

I think about it. Two of them are white. One is brown.

"Coffee, Milk and Sugar," I confidently say.

There's a profound silence among us before they all profoundly start praising me for my naming ingenuity.

Nodding, I start caressing Milk... or is it Sugar? Never mind.

"It's already been a week. Nobody has adopted them. What's going to happen to them?" A girl says.

"The gardener told me he'll drop them off at a pet shop," another girl says.

"What if they get adopted individually there? They'll get separated," the first girl sadly says.

That would indeed be unfortunate. Coffee, Milk and Sugar are supposed to go together.

If I could adopt them I would have already. But I can't.

I notice a small overturned car toy at the back. It reminds of the rejected lift in the morning. I smile.

I pull my bag to the front and open it. I start moving the kittens into my bag.

"What are you doing?" Tess says.

"Taking them home."

"Isn't your dad allergic to pet hair or something?" Becca says.

"I didn't say my home," I say and grin. They recognize my evil grin and grin along with me.

On the way home, Becca says, "You sure he'll keep them? Even if you blackmail him he might just later throw them away."

"He won't. He's into pets. They had a dog before. It died a few years ago. I heard his mom tell my mom that Raylan cried a river for his beloved dead dog. Trust me, he won't harm the kittens."

I stop by my home to pick up a cardboard box and some old cloths. Then I head to my neighbor's house that I seem to be frequently visiting these days somehow.

Nina doesn't mind me dropping by. I get into Raylan's room. He's not home yet.

I set up the box and the clothes and put the kittens inside. They were meowing a while ago, but now they have just all fallen asleep. Good, this gives me time to grab some food for them.

I take a blank paper and start writing. "The kittens will stay here with you. I'll later bring their food. Move them out and you are dead."

Just to be sure how serious I am with my threat I roughly draw two faces at the bottom of the note. They are kissing each other.

I tape the paper to the box and leave.

Later in the evening, I return to Raylan's room with packets of kitten food and feeding bottles. When I open the room door, I see Raylan on the floor playing with the kittens with a smile on his face. I bite my cheeks to stop smiling myself.

As soon as he sees me, his expression changes. He sits straighter and glares at me. "I can't keep them here! Put them away somewhere else."

"No," I say and sit down on the floor next to the kittens. I start mixing their food and fill up two bottles. I throw one to him. "Grab one and start feeding."

After we'd fed them, which he did a good job of, Raylan got up on his bed and became busy with his phone while I stayed a little longer to play with the kittens.

I've always wanted a pet, but because of dad's condition we could never keep any.

So this isn't so bad. I can see the kittens whenever I want, and in my absence they'll be well taken care of by the boy I'm blackmailing who secretly likes them.

It's a win win.

After they had started napping again, I get up to leave.

Raylan looks away from his phone. "Hey, I'm not always here. Drop by everyday to keep an eye on them, or else when they die don't blame me for it."

How long he's going to pretend he's not thrilled to have three fur balls rolling around in his room? Fine, have it his way. I was planning to see the kittens often anyway. "Okay," I say and leave.

End of chapter

A/N - You guys enjoying the updates? :) See you tomorrow.