vienna's journal

19- cat-o

when we got to her house she immediately started pulling me to her room. "quick before my mom asks more questions." she whispered, walking faster.

in a few moments we made it and i couldn't help but smile at how bec had made it seem like a matter of life or death.

i took a look at her room in a few glances. it was definitely her. medals from some sport laid on a shelf. a bookcase filled to the brim with books. her desk was cluttered with papers and pencils. a cheap keyboard sat in the corner on a chair and a couple dozen brightly colored throw pillows were scattered throughout the room.

her room really reflected what kind of person she is. both filled to the brim with a million conflicting ideas.

"your room is really you." i smiled at her.

"why thank you." she flashed a grin, sitting in the wheelie chair at her desk and spinning around out of habit. "okay but andrew was talking so much around me all of a sudden."

"yeah!" i exclaimed, "it was nice but weird."

"i've been... aware of him for forever and i've never heard him say that many words before."

"yeah he got really comfortable around you all of a sudden. i don't know what happened but congratulations you can now hear his stupid jokes." i smiled.

"just hanging out was so fun you have no idea." bec said dreamily.

"i was there too." i teased.

"yeah but i've never had any real friends. i had samantha but... i haven't even talked to her really since i started hanging out with you guys. we were never really friends... i thought we were sort of friends but we really don't care about each other much at all."

"oh yeah, i know." i said dismissively.

"you know?" she asked.

"you and samantha have been sort of friends since i moved here. i can guess you've known each other since you were little."

"that's true." bec confirmed.

"the way you acted around each other... you were familiar with each other, but you don't really know each other."

"exactly. geez you're good."

i gave her a suave smile, "it's what i do."

"what do you want to do?" she asked me.

"this is your house, what is there to do?"

her eyes suddenly lit up, "you wanna meet my cat?"

"oh hell yeah." i grinned.

bec immediately stood up and started leading me to the door to the backyard.

"cat-o isn't really my cat." she was saying quickly, "he's a stray but he loves me. i wish we could just keep him officially since he's already in our backyard most the time- and i feed him but my mom refuses to take in a cat."

"his name is-" i laughed a little

"i'm not creative, vienna." she emphasized my name loudly which made me laugh more.

"i could've done better than cat-o, rebecca." i said her full name in the same tone of voice.

"cat-o is a great name you shut your mouth." she told me.

"how would you like to be called human-o?"

"well i'm already called something close." she said seriously, clearly fighting off a smile.

i sent her a puzzled look. "what-?" i said softly.

"a homo." she deadpanned.

"ohmygod." i wheezed as bec opened the door and led me outside. "bec, that doesn't even make sense-"

"does that even matter? it was a terrible joke but you laughed, so it's a success in my book." bec said confidentially.

"i'm gonna hug the shit out of this cat."

"oh hey, could you please not curse? if my parents heard you then they'll get annoying and not want me to hang out with you."

"oh sorry." i agreed.

"where is that dang cat?" she murmured under her breath, scanning the whole area. "ah-ha!" she said triumphantly. "i see you cat-o, c'mon out." she walked off a few feet away and seemed to pull a cat out from nowhere.

she grinned and motioned for me to follow her, a cat in her arms.

she led me to the side of the house where a bench swing chair thing was.

she sat and put the cat on her lap. "you get to appreciate him now, he's the best."

"i refuse to call him cat-o." i told her.

"well what would you have called him?" bec sighed.

i thought for a moment, examining him. he was a big cat, swishing his tail slowly back and forth. his fur was a dirt brown color. he was a pretty cat, but no name came to mind.

"okay cat-o it is then." i rolled my eyes,

"can i ask a question?" she asked me.

"hit me." i told her.

"are you okay? you looked a bit off when you came back from wherever you were."

i held my breath for a few moments, "i'm fine." i assured her, "i just started feeling weird for a few minutes but it passed." not the whole truth but not a lie.

"okay that's good i was a bit worried." she breathed out in relief.

i felt guilty. "okay that wasn't entirely true." i said quickly. "i get all... weird sometimes and i start feeling really over emotional for no reason and i want it to stop but it won't stop and i-"

"okay slow down you don't have to explain if you don't want to." she smiled softly. "i was just worried and wanted to know if you're okay. you told me you're okay and that's all i needed to know. stop working yourself up so much."

i felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest. "okay good." i sighed.

she smiled at me and cat-o decided that he'd had his share of appreciation for the day and ran off.

"i guess that's our cue to go back inside." she laughed a little.