Chapter Two

I walk in the house, Mango in hand and call out, “Anyone home?”

When there is no answer, I put the cage down and let him get a feel for the house. Instead of going on to explore like I thought he would, he circles around my legs, nudging me with his head.

“Looks like it’s just us for now,” I tell him, giving him a scratch on the bum.

He follows me into the kitchen, where I think of what to eat for lunch. I pull out my phone and begin to scroll through UberEats, but scoff after seeing that my $9 order has come up to over $20 after delivery and taxes. We really should have just stopped for food on the way home.

I also need to hurry up and learn to drive, because if I had a car, I could easily just run out and pick something up myself. It was now after 2pm, and my parents wouldn’t be home until around 4.

A few days ago, I had gone out and gotten all of the necessary things for my new pet, such as food and water bowls, a bed, and a litter box. I kept them in my room so that my parents wouldn’t see them and ask questions. I hop up from my spot at the kitchen table and grab them, deciding that I clearly couldn’t hide him forever. When I reach downstairs, I call Mango, who begins to trail behind me as I lead him to the basement.

I find a spot for the litter box and pour some litter into it. Then, I pick him up and place him inside. “This is where you gotta poop, okay?” I say.

Suddenly, I remember the videos I saw of cats using the toilet like a human and I make a mental note to add “potty training” to my to-do list. When that’s done, we go back upstairs, back to the kitchen, where I proceed to fling open all of the cupboards.

I groan in annoyance and retrieve my phone to type out a quick text to the group chat:

We haven’t even been home more than two weeks and you guys really left me already?

Eli is the first to reply:

Miss us already?

I think about my response before hitting send:

No, but I’m starving and I want someone to bring me food.

A few minutes pass without a reply, and I sigh. Two hours wouldn’t be so bad, right? I can wait until my parents return home with groceries.

I spend the next half an hour or so watching TV, when I hear a knock on my front door. Pausing my show, I go to open the door. When I open it, I am greeted by three smiling boys. A matching grin finds its way onto my face and I move to the side to allow them into the house.

“Hey guys!” I greet as they file into the house.

“Hey!” says a high voice. “I’m here too!”

I watch as Ariel squeezes her way through the guys. “You’re so tiny compared to them! I really didn’t see you!”

She rolls her eyes. “Story of my damn life.”

Ariel and Adrian are the youngest of five siblings, four of them being boys. When I first went over to Ariel’s house for a dinner where they were all present, I was overwhelmed by the amount of chaotic energy in the house. Even their parents share the same goofy personality that the kids had. They truly are a crazy family, but they’ve always treated me like I’m one of them. This included the older ones picking on me like I was their little sister as well.

The group walks over and finds seats in my living room. I furrow my eyebrows. “So, not like I’m not happy to see y’all… but why are you empty handed?”

Eli raises one dark eyebrow. “When did I ever say I was bringing anything?”

I whip a red throw cushion at him, which he dodges, causing it to hit Justin straight in his face.  He glares at me, and if we weren’t already friends, I would think he hated me. Justin has one of those personalities that first comes off as quiet and antisocial. The first time we hung out at school, I definitely thought he didn’t like me, but after a while, I realized that it just took him a while to get used to you.

When people talk about wanting a man who is mean to everyone but them, he is what comes to mind. His face is almost always naturally set into a scowl, looking like he’d rather die than interact with anyone. Once you get past that, he is okay to be around, and his smile is actually very cute.

I get ready to move, thinking that he is going to return the pillow, with ten times more speed. Instead, he says, “We’re going to a birthday party.”

It’s my turn to raise a perfectly shaped brow. “A party?”

“It’s my sister’s friend’s birthday, and she’s having a party at her house. My parents are making me take her,” he replies.

Adrian snorts loudly. “Why would they send you? That face of yours will scare all of the kids away for sure.”

The pillow from earlier flies past me, but Adrian catches it centimetres away from his face. Ariel chuckles, “He’s not lying you know.”

“That’s why you guys are coming with me,” Justin states, as if it’s obvious.

We spend the next little bit continuing to watch TV.

My attention turns to Eli when I notice him playing with something in his lap. When I realize that it’s my baby, I glare at all of them. “You guys were supposed to be there earlier! This was the first thing on my list!”

“We would have been there if our DD didn’t get drunk out of his mind!” huffs Justin.

Eli nods in agreement. “I’m never letting Tyler drive again. Look at this little guy though! He’s adorable.”

My face softens as Mango and Eli give each other nose kisses. Eli is fairly attractive, in a boyish way. He has the kind of personality that makes you feel like you’ve known him forever. In other words, he is the complete opposite of Justin. Somehow, the two were the best of friends, regardless. They say that they met in high school when they shared a class. Eli simply wouldn’t leave Justin alone, and eventually, Justin accepted him as a friend. I can see it clearly in my head, and thinking about it causes me to giggle with myself.

“What’s next?” he asks. “We’ll be there for sure.”

I pull up the list in my mind, thinking a bit before I reply, “I wanna save the outside stuff for summer, when the weather gets nice. Anyone know if there’s a junk yard around here?”

“We’ll find out later,” answers Justin. “Are you ready to go?”

“Let me go put on some jeans and at least try to look decent,” I say before running up to my room to change. By the time I finish, I hear a new pair of voices downstairs and whisper, “Shit!”

“Amaya! Whose cat is this?” yells my mother.

When I return to the living room, I see my dad standing there with a purring Mango. He tries to hide his smile from my fuming mother.

“Isn’t he cute?” I ask. My dad sends a wink my way and I struggle to hold in a laugh.

Well, at least Dad seems okay with it. I know he’ll convince her to let me keep him.

“And why are there so many boys in my living room?” She cocks an eyebrow.

Adrian laughs and says, “Hey, Mrs. King! This is Elijah and Justin. We met them at school, and they actually live in the area too.”

My mom smiles warmly at Adrian, her entire demeanor changing in an instant. She goes and gives both of the twins hugs and says fondly, “My two favourites, how are you guys? I assume exams went well?”

They both nod and I’m grateful to have the attention off of me. My father takes this moment to whisper to me. “You should have asked first.”

“I know,” I say, my voice low.

“But you can keep him,” he says grinning. “I know he’ll fit in just fine. We’ll talk about it later.”

My heart warms, knowing that Mango will be well taken care of when I’m gone at the end of summer. “Well, we have to get going. We’re escorting Justin’s little sister to a birthday party, so if you’d please excuse us.”

Mom gives me a look saying, “This isn’t over,” but allows us out of the house regardless.

I wish I had a cool mom like Ariel.

The six of us split up between Ariel’s car and Eli’s and we make our way to Justin’s house to pick up his sister. To be honest, I really didn’t know he even had a little sister. When we arrive, Justin hops out and enters the house. Shortly, he returns with a mini version of himself. His sister is the spitting image of him: both have their kinky hair hung down in twists; both sporting the same resting bitch face. They hold hands and he leads her to Eli’s car before returning inside and grabbing a booster seat.

She appears to be around five or six, and is completely adorable. Soon, they pull out from the driveway and Ariel follows behind them. It only takes five or six minutes before we arrive at a nice looking detached house that seems like it could comfortably fit the entirety of the twins’ family.

The thought finally popped into my head: wouldn’t it be weird for a group of teenagers to show up to a little girl’s birthday? I ignore the thought and get out of the car. We join the others outside the house and Justin starts with introductions.

“Justice, this is Amaya, Ariel, and Adrian,” he says.

The little girl looks between Ariel and Adrian before saying, “You two look the same.”

“No we don’t!” they deny at the same time, causing Justice to laugh.

“You guys are funny,” she continues to giggle. Next, she looks at me for longer than a few seconds. Her eyes open wide and I begin to think that I have something on my face. When I reach up to check, she says, “You’re really pretty.”

For some reason, tears prick the corners of my eyes. Listen, kids are really mean, so if they say you’re pretty, they mean that shit. I crouch down to her level. “Oh? You’re prettier!”

She smiles brightly and reaches out for my hand. “Let’s go!”

We follow along up the driveway and to the front door, and not once does she let go of my hand. Justin rings the doorbell and a second later, it is opened by a tall, slender woman. She appears to be in her mid-forties, and her features seem familiar.

As she opens her mouth to greet us, a little girl runs up, crashing into her from behind. “Justice!” she yells in a squeaky voice.

“Natty!” Justice returns, her voice matching in volume.

The two run off without another word, and the lady says, “Hello, Justin! You brought friends!”

Justin hands her a gift bag and smiles. “Christian said it’d be fine, I hope that’s alright with you.”

She waves a hand dismissively. “Of course it’s fine. Come on in, we have enough food to feed the whole town.”

When she steps aside, we all walk through the house and into the back where we see the party taking place. The yard takes up about two times as much space as the house itself and I can’t help but look around in awe. In one corner there is a station set up with face paint. In the next there are several tables set up with various foods and drinks. Of course, in the farthest corner, there is a large rainbow bouncy castle. I silently wish that I could have had a party like this when I was growing up.

All around there are kids running around while their parents sit on chairs or stand around chatting. It doesn’t take us long to find Justice and Natalie, the birthday  girl, along with several of their other friends. When we approach them, Natalie is holding something up for them to see.

“Look what Chrissy got me for my birthday!” she announces proudly. In her hands is a tiny black kitten.

No way.

As if on cue, “Chrissy” appears and ruffles her hair.

“So I’m guessing you like your present?”

She nods vigorously, “Yes! Yes! Yes! You’re the best brother ever!”

Around the circle, all of the kids start yelling that they too would like a cat for their birthdays. She hands her brother the kitten and they run off to play. He spots us and waves, starting in our direction.

“Small world,” whispers Ariel, confirming that she remembers who he is.

“Thanks for bringing Justice,” he says when he reaches us. When he takes a closer look at me, realization dawns on him. “Cat lady!” he greets.

I roll my eyes. “Please, don’t call me that.”

“I never knew you knew Justin, I’ve never seen you around before,”

“We met at school,” I reply.

Justin and the boy do that guy hug thing, and he introduces us. “This is Amaya. Over here is Adrian, and this is his sister Ariel. You guys know each other?”

“We met at the shelter when I picked up Boo here,” he answers, petting the cat.

I reach out for him. “Can I see him?”

He hands me the kitten and once again, I fall in love. The boys talk about catching up over a game of basketball later, but I can’t hear them due to my melting over Boo.

When I finally hand him back to his owner, the boy says, “I’m Christian by the way,” he flashes a smile that makes my heart skip a beat.

Gross. Why did that happen?

Before I can dwell on it for too long, a voice calls, “Christian! Can you bring Boo back inside and grab some more punch for me please?”

Christian answers with, “Okay, Mom!” before turning to me. “Could you help me?”

I turn to Ariel who is now wiggling her eyebrows suggestively, and I roll my eyes, but tag along nonetheless.

No, I am not interested in him. I can’t afford to get close to anyone else right now. In the end, it will all be for nothing. We step into the kitchen and he searches the fridge for the juice. I lean against the island and watch my friends through the back door. It seems that Ariel and Eli are going to get their face painted, dragging Justin and Adrian behind them.

“So, you never did tell me how old you are,” teases Christian.

I turn and look at him. In his white v-neck and Levis denim jacket, he does look quite good. Secretly, I’m happy that I decided to change into black ripped jeans and a cute cropped red windbreaker. The red on the jacket matches the red “swoosh” on my shoes.

“I’ll be nineteen at the end of August,”

“Damn,” he smirks. “Looks like I’m the older one. I turned 20 a few weeks ago.”

“Happy belated,” I reply, uninterested.

He takes a step towards me and places two jugs of punch on the counter behind me. “You’re acting like I dragged you in here. Not enjoying my company? What’s wrong Maya the Man Eater?”

My jaw drops at the nickname that I had gotten in high school. “Don’t call me that!”

Another smirk lands on his face, and I can tell that he does that often. Does he ever just smile like a normal person?

“Maybe Adrian was right: my normal tactics won’t work on you,”

I raise an eyebrow and say sarcastically, “I bet all it takes is one look and girls are ready to drop their panties for you, huh?”

Christian puffs out his chest cockily, saying, “Exactly,” but before I can think of a witty response, he continues, “but I can tell you’re different.”

I snort unattractively, looking back into his grey eyes. “This isn’t some type of challenge, Chrissy. I’m not interested, period.”

“First of all,” he holds up one finger, “Do not call me that. Second, I respect that.”

His response surprises me. A part of me is a bit disappointed that he is giving up so soon, but I also know that it’s for the best. The less people involved in my life the better.

When I start to respond, I am interrupted by a high voice whining, “Chrissy! I’m thirsty!” Natalie runs into the kitchen, and when she sees us, she says, “Oh! You’re talking to the pretty girl!”

We both chuckle and he replies, “She is very pretty, isn’t she?”

I look over to see Christian looking me up and down.

“If you be mean to her, you’re not my brother any more!” Natalie warns, wagging a finger at him menacingly.

Seemingly forgetting about her thirst, she turns around and skips back out the door.

“Was I mean to you?” he jokingly asks, passing me one of the jugs.

“You did call me ‘cat lady,’” I state before heading out the door. As I walk out, I can hear a low chuckle, followed by footsteps behind me.

I place the juice on one of the tables and go to find my friends. They’re still at the facepainter’s section, and Justin does not look too happy about the little butterfly on his cheek that Ariel probably forced him to get.

“Suits you,” I say when I’m next to him.

He shoots me a glare. “Say anything else and I’ll kill you.”

I laugh and notice that even though at first he and his sister seemed exactly the same, I can now see that their personalities are very different. I wonder what she’ll be like once she’s older. Justin and Justice, such cute names.

“Look!” Ariel calls, showing me the yellow sun painted on her cheek.

Now that the artist is finished, she comes to stand next to me.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I groan.

She smiles cheekily. “Christian’s pretty cute.”

“Not my type,” I state flatly.

“Honey, he’s everyone’s type,” she giggles.

To avoid the conversation, I run and sit in the chair, yelling, “Me next!”

“What would you like?” asks the artist. She’s a girl probably in her twenties, and she hands me a portfolio. I tell her to just surprise me, not feeling too picky at the moment.

She finishes up a minute later and hands me a mirror. “It’s so cute!” I thank her and go to show my friends the cute bumblebee on my cheek.

The party finishes up around 8, and Justin goes to find his sister while the rest of us wait by the cars in the front.

“Thanks for coming,” says Natalie’s mom. “Chris never brings any pretty girls around here.”

Christian gives her a look, not sure if she was just complimenting us, or dissing the girls who he had for a fact brought over there. “Mom!” he complains.

She laughs lightly and hits his shoulder before turning to us again. “Please, come by whenever you want. You boys too! I missed having you around while you were away at school.”

“Will do,” replies Eli as Justin and Justice arrive at the front. Her pretty light pink dress is now covered in dirt and grass stains, but her smile is as big as ever. The mom hands her a little goody bag and says goodbye before returning to the house.

Everyone begins to walk towards their respective ride, but someone grabs my hand before I get too far.

I turn around to see a certain dark haired boy scratching his neck sheepishly. “Will I see you again?”

“Maybe,” I shrug. “We do have some mutual friends now.”

With that, I let go of his hand, along with the breath that I didn’t realize I was holding, and jog to catch up with my friends.

Hopefully, I don’t end up seeing too much of him. Deep down, I know that if I do, it won’t end well.