Authors: Jennifer Mccullah
Allison regretted the words as soon
as they left her mouth. She could see Sam’s anger turn to pain in an instant.
She walked away, afraid that she would see Sam cry.
“That is fine with me,” Sam said in
a quivering voice.
Allison joined her family without
another glance in Sam’s direction.
“What was that about?” Ruby asked.
“Nothing. Let’s just shop.”
Ruby stared for a minute as if
deciding whether to press the issue, but dropped the subject without another
word.
Allison, Vinnie and Ruby searched
all over, but never found the table they wanted. Allison tried to be in a good
mood, but she wasn’t. She kept thinking about Sam. Maybe she should have told
her about Wes asking her to the dance, but she never thought about it. She had
not meant to be secretive or malicious. It just didn’t seem important enough to
mention.
After shopping, they ate and headed
home. Allison sulked around the living room, trying to act normal and
unaffected. Monday was going to be bittersweet. She would be able to see Adam
but she had all this drama with Sam. She looked forward to and dreaded Monday
at the same time. While she thought about the potential awkwardness, Vinnie
joined her on the living room couch.
“It is going to be weird on Monday
with you two fighting.”
Allison shrugged, “It doesn’t have
to be weird. I don’t want you or Josh to feel like you need to choose sides. I
live with you, so we’ll have plenty of time to hang out away from school.
During lunch, I’ll just find somewhere else to sit.”
“I don’t want it to be like that.”
“It is the only way to keep you two
from being in the middle of something that isn’t your problem.”
Vinnie did not say anything. She
realized the fact that she was not forcing them to choose sides must take a
great deal of stress off him. Allison knew he would always choose her if
pushed, but she also knew he cared about Sam too. It would not be fair to put
him in the middle.
“I’m going to take a walk,” Allison
said, rising from the flower print couch.
Vinnie did not offer to go with
her. They both knew if she had wanted him to come, she would have asked.
Instead, he turned on the Wii and began playing
Skyward Sword
.
Allison entered the kitchen where
Ruby was going through bills and balancing her checkbook.
“I’m going for a walk. Do you need
anything while I’m out?”
She looked up, “No dear, is Vinnie
going with you?”
“No.”
“Don’t be too long. I’m about to
start dinner.”
“I won’t,” she said before leaving
the trailer.
Allison walked along the sidewalk,
breathing in the October air; glad for this time to think. She walked at a
relaxed pace, considering the many things that were weighing on her mind.
Allison passed the main street style storefronts, looking inside the windows.
She thought about Sam, and wondered if she should just apologize. No, she was
not going to apologize when she didn’t do anything wrong. Allison shook her
head, as if to shake the very idea out of her mind. When she passed an
accounting office, she noticed a grey cat with striking copper eyes. It had
subtle stripes, which were a darker grey than its body. It sat in the grass,
watching Allison’s every move. Allison did not really care about cats one way
or the other, but this one was beautiful.
“Here kitty, kitty,” she called,
crouching to pet it.
The cat approached her outstretched
hand, and began to rub against it. Petting the cat seemed to relax Allison.
Within a moment, her mind was more at ease. She checked for a collar but there
was none. Allison wondered if it had a home, it was friendly so it had to have
been someone’s at one time. She stood up and walked into the accounting office,
where she found a woman sitting behind an old-fashioned desk.
“Excuse me, do you know who this
cat outside belongs to?” she asked the woman.
“No, it has been there all
afternoon. It hasn’t moved from that spot,” she said pointing to the cat, which
was right outside of their storefront window, “It’s strange, like the cat is
waiting for something.”
“Oh.”
“Take it home if you’d like.”
Allison was already thinking about
it. “I don’t know; my grandma may kill me if I do that. Thanks though.”
She walked back outside. The cat
was staring up at her once again. She would like to take it home, but she was
afraid that would not go over well with Ruby. Allison bent over and stroked the
cat one last time, then stood up and started on her way. She found it unusual
that she was so interested in this cat; it wasn’t like that was the first stray
she had encountered. Allison continued making her lap around the block when she
heard a sound from behind, and turned to see a pair of copper eyes staring up
at her.
“What are you doing, kitty?”
The cat meowed.
She crouched and it ran to her.
Allison petted the cat for a couple of minutes before standing back up.
“You are a good kitty, but you
can’t follow me,” she said.
Allison started walking again and
glanced back to find the cat keeping up with every step she made.
“Weird,” she muttered, “Since when
do cats follow people?”
She figured it was going to follow
her anyway, so she might as well take it home with her. Allison changed her
direction, walking back toward the trailer and the cat followed. They arrived
at home and Allison turned to the cat.
“Let’s hope for the best.”
It meowed, its copper eyes meeting
hers, as if comprehending her words.
She walked in and held the door
open for her new friend. When it entered the house, Vinnie looked up from his
game.
“You’re becoming a crazy cat lady
sooner than I’d imagined,” he said, “Are you keeping it?”
“I guess we’ll see.”
Ruby walked into the living room.
“Are you keeping what?” she asked.
Her eyes answered her own question.
The color drained from her face.
“Where did you find her?” she
asked, never taking her eyes off the cat.
“It was just sitting outside
Smith’s Accounting. The woman said it had been there all afternoon, just
sitting in the same spot. There’s no collar.”
“Did it follow you?”
“Yeah, and you know, I’ve never
wanted a cat, but this one is different.”
“I was afraid of that.”
“You were afraid of what?”
Ruby took her eyes off the cat and
looked at Allison. She opened her mouth to say something but shut it. Ruby was giving
her next sentence a lot of thought.
“I was afraid you would eventually
want something to shed all over my furniture.”
“Oh.”
“It is short haired, so maybe it
won’t shed as much as a long haired cat,” Vinnie said.
“I hope not,” Ruby said, still
staring into the cat’s copper eyes.
“So can we keep it?” Allison asked.
Ruby sighed, “Yes, we’re keeping
her. It sounds like this cat was meant to be yours.”
Allison smiled.
“I wonder if it’s a boy or a girl,”
Vinnie said.
He walked behind it to have a
better look.
“It’s a girl. They’re always
girls,” Ruby said before she walked back into the kitchen to finish cooking
dinner.
Vinnie looked closely at its
backside, “She’s right. It is a girl.”
Allison and Vinnie entered the
school together.
“If you see a tall, good looking
blonde boy, that’s Adam,” Allison said.
“Like the one talking to Jane?”
Vinnie asked.
She looked to see the two of them
talking, laughing. It was obvious from across the lobby that Jane was flirting.
Allison considered the idea that he may just fall in line with the other sheep.
Maybe Jane Wallace was the kind of girl he preferred. She was pretty, with no
real substance or opinions on anything other than shoes. Allison turned to walk
to her locker when Adam looked over and noticed her.
“Hey,” Adam said from across the
lobby.
He said something to Jane before
approaching Allison. Jane looked annoyed, glaring at Allison, who smiled back.
“Hi Adam,” Allison said, “This is
my best friend Vinnie.”
“Hey man, nice to meet you,” Adam
said.
“Nice to meet you too.”
“I see you met Jane Wallace,”
Allison said, rolling her eyes.
“Yeah, she was in the office while
I was finishing some paperwork. She seems nice.”
“If she was nice, you should feel
flattered; that is unusual behavior for our beloved head cheerleader.”
Adam laughed, “Are you jealous that
you didn’t get head cheerleader?”
“Totally.”
She was about to say something else
when she looked up and noticed Sam walking by the three of them. Their eyes met
and both girls looked away.
“What was that about?” Adam asked.
“They’re not speaking right now,”
Vinnie said.
“So, you’re usually friends?”
“Usually,” Allison said.
“Is there anyone in this school you
do get along with?” Adam asked.
“Just you and Vinnie, but keep it
up and it’ll just be Vinnie.”
They compared class schedules. He
and Allison shared three classes. Vinnie, Adam and Allison had one class
together. One of the three classes Adam and Allison shared was History with Mr.
Bunch. He and Allison walked to the classroom together. Josh was at his locker
when Allison walked by him. It looked like he was about to approach Allison
until he noticed she was walking with Adam. They passed him and entered Mr.
Bunch’s classroom, sitting next to each other. As soon as she sat down, Wes
walked over to her desk.
“Hey, I want to apologize. I didn’t
realize that I was going to cause a problem for you and Sam by mentioning
that.”
“It’s okay. I guess I should have
told her to begin with. I just didn’t realize she would be mad. Did you have a
good time Friday?”
“I did. I’m thinking about asking
her to be my girlfriend.”
Allison was happy for Sam. Even
though they were not on speaking terms, she could not help it. Sam deserved
someone like Wes.
“That’s great. You two would make
the best couple.”
“Thanks,” he said, looking at Adam
for the first time, “Hi. I’m Wes Young.”
“Nice to meet you, I’m Adam Davis.”
Allison forgot one thing about her
time with Adam on Friday, Siler. He entered the doorway and she knew there was
going to be a problem. Siler spotted them as soon as he walked into the
classroom.
“You’re dead,” he told Adam.
Adam smiled, “Okay.”
“I don’t know why you think you can
talk about someone’s mother, but you said the wrong thing.”
“Look, it was a joke. I only said
it because of what you were saying to her. Obviously, I don’t think your mom’s
a hooker.”
Allison resisted the urge to add
that his mother could never be a hooker because she was too ugly.
“I don’t care if it was a little
joke. We’re going to settle this after class.”
“I don’t want to fight you.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
By this point, everyone in the
class was watching their conversation. Siler was big, strong and mean. He had
been in a dozen fights since junior high. Allison could recall an instance when
a boy made fun of Siler for his noticeable under bite. They had been in the cafeteria.
Siler beat him with a lunch tray until the boy’s head split open. He had to
have several stitches.
“Come on, it’s my first day. If you
want to fight, can it at least wait until after school? Besides, aren’t you a
football player?”
“Yeah.”
“If you fight at school, won’t it
cause you to be suspended from games or something? You were already suspended
Friday.”
Siler needed to have a good season.
This was his last year to play and there were scouts watching him. There was no
doubt he was talented, the bigger questions were about his academics and off
the field behavior.
“Okay, after school at the park.”
“Do we really need to do this?”
“Yeah, we do.”
“I’ll be there.”
Siler nodded and walked to his
seat.
“Are you going to show?” Allison
asked.
“Yeah. I know guys like him. If I
don’t show up, I’ll just have to deal with him all year. This way, whatever
happens, happens. He may beat me up, but at least it will be over. And who
knows, I may surprise him.”
“Siler can fight; I have watched
him hurt a lot of guys.”
“Maybe I can too.”
She looked at him, and just didn’t
see it. Adam was solid, but still so lanky. Siler was twice his size and it was
all muscle.
She sighed, “Just be careful.”
Mr. Bunch entered the class, which
ended their conversation.
After that first class, the day
went by faster than Allison would have liked. It was lunchtime before she knew
it. Adam went into the cafeteria with her. She noticed Vinnie, Josh and Sam
sitting together at their usual table. Allison only glanced over for a second
and kept walking. Once she and Adam had their trays, they found two empty seats
on the other side of the cafeteria.
“So you’re just the outcast of your
little group?” Adam asked when he noticed Allison looking toward the table.
“Well, I just figured that I would
find somewhere else to eat lunch. This argument doesn’t involve Josh or Vinnie.
I didn’t want them to feel like they had to choose sides. Besides, I see Vinnie
all the time at home.”
“He visits a lot?”
“You might as well say he lives
with me.”
“Really? Are you related or
something?”
“No. We have been friends forever.
According to the state, he lives with his mother and his stepfather, but he
never stays there. Everyone seems to like it that way. His mother is the type
of woman who will put up with anything to have a man in her life. She puts her
romantic needs before her own child.”