A Stray Cat

Caring For The Stray

Maya rolled over groaning from the ache in her head. She saw a dixie cup with two pills in it and a glass of water so she took them and drank until they would go down her throat. She noticed a white piece of paper and unfolded it to find words written in purple sparkly ink, and they were written in cursive. It was different from the large bold handwriting Riley has back when they were kids and she pressed down too hard on the marker.

Maya, hope you feel better soon. I left some medicine and water by the bed. I have to go to school, but I'll be back later so no running away :) My mom and dad are busy at work so my Uncle Shawn is coming over to look after you. I'll see you first thing after school.

Xoxox Riley

Maya chuckled and put down the note then a thought came to her mind and she gulped. She was alone with a strange man she didn't know.

"Hey kiddo, glad to see you're awake." Shawn said as he entered the room carefully so he wouldn't spill the tray. "I made some hot soup." He chuckled. "Well I heated up a can of soup." He placed the tray down on the bedside table and reached over to touch her.
Maya flinched and whimpered when Shawn placed his hand against her forehead. "Still a little warm kid."

Maya slowly sat up when Shawn pulled his hand away, but he gently pushed her back down to the pillow.

"Easy now, don't over do it." He said nicely. "Last thing we need is you getting worse." He turned around to grab the bowl and the spoon.

Maya frowned, looked away from him, then she started slowly undoing the buttons of the pajama shirt Riley was loaning to her one by one.

Shawn turned just as her breasts started to show. "Woah!" He shouted accidentally burning his hand with some soup. He quickly put the bowl down and covered his eyes with one hand. "Stop undressing! If you're too hot wait til I leave the room kid!"

Maya looked down in confusion. "You don't want me to take off my clothes?"

"Not while I'm in here!" Shawn yelled moving further away from the bed. He backed up into Riley's dresser making a picture frame fall. "Shoot."

Maya blinked in confusion and started to button her shirt again. "I'm sorry." She said in the meekest little voice Shawn ever heard. "I buttoned my shirt. It's okay to look now."

Shawn slowly removed his hand from his face, then he sighed in relief when he didn't see any more skin showing. He sighed when he saw the look on her face and realized she wasn't too hot, she thought that was what he wanted from her. "Look kid, I already told you I'm not like that and I don't think that way. I mean it. You don't have to worry about that here. Trust me, Cory and I both want your clothes to stay on." He chuckled. "No one here is going to hurt you and I'm sorry that someone hurt you in the past."

Maya hung her head. "I'm sorry, I thought all men were like that."

He shook his head. "No, we're not. In fact most of us hate men like that and if we could we'd kill them all. I know I would. So, who hurt you?" Maya looked away from him. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but if you do want to I'm here."

Maya frowned. "I-I don't feel well."

Shawn sighed, gave her a sympathetic smile, tucked her in, then he left the room. "Get some rest." He whispered.

Maya turned to her side and grabbed Riley's pillow holding it close while she cried. Riley's penmanship might have changed, but she still smelled like a strawberry smoothie just like she did when they were little kids. Maya felt at peace when she breathed in that smell, she felt safe and loved.

Soon her tears stopped falling and her fever made her fall fast asleep.

Shawn waited on the couch for his best friends to come home. Riley came through the door first though. "Hey little bird, where is your dad at?"

"Hey Uncle Shawn. He's grading papers still, but he should be home in another hour. How's Maya?"

Shawn frowned. "She's still not feeling well, but I think her fever went down a little. She's sleeping right now."

"I won't disturb her. I'll just do my homework at the kitchen table."

Shawn cleared his throat. "Actually, she fell asleep before she ate anything so could you heat up some soup and take it to her? I'm gonna wait for your dad to get home so we can talk."

Riley nodded. "Okay." She dropped her bag by the couch and went into the kitchen to heat up some food for Maya, then she walked to her room.

She set the bowl down on the stand by her bed and moved the blanket away from Maya's face. The girl looked so small and innocent wrapped up in the duvet like a baby. Riley could see tear stains on her cheeks and wondered what Maya was thinking about.

"Hello Lady! Oh, sorry, Ladies!"

Riley shushed him. "Farkle, Maya is sleeping." She whispered. "And you shouldn't come through the window anymore." She said making him frown. "I just mean you're a stranger."

"No, I'm not. We're best friends and I always come through the window." He looked hurt. "Since we were six."

Riley sighed. "No, I meant you're a stranger to Maya. You can't just pop in whenever while she is staying here."

"Hey Riley!"

"Lucas, shush." She held a finger to her lips and gestured to Maya.

Lucas climbed through the window. "Oh, sorry. Is she still feeling sick?"

Riley nodded. "Yeah. Look, you and Farkle can't have free passes to come in whenever anymore. Maya is-"

"A stranger." Lucas finished. "And we're stranger to her. I understand."

Riley nodded good. "And tell Zay. I know he almost never uses the window, but just tell him not to stop by without texting first, okay?"

They nodded. "Okay."

Lucas watched as Riley brushed Maya's hair off her face gently. "You really care about her, don't you?"

Riley smiled softly. "Of course I do. It's like- like finding an old toy you almost forgot about. It looks different and it's worn out, but you take one look at it and remember when you used to play together and then you realize you still love it and you never really forgot about it." She wiped away a tear. "Maya is my favorite stuffed animal." Riley joked smiling brightly at them.

"That was lovely, but weird. What did I walk in on exactly?" Zay chuckled.

Riley sighed. "Zay-"

"We can't come in unannounced anymore." Lucas and Farkle stated.

"I agree. It's impolite." Zay nodded. "By the way I helped myself to some soup that was on your stove." He held up the bowl. "It's not the best."