Food, Cats, and Being Lazy

Since Paige had most of the credits she needed to graduate, my parents let her stay home for the rest of the school year to recover. Then she’d make up what she needed during summer school. I was late getting back to school after it started again just because my life had kinda been flipped around a little bit.

Surprisingly, both of my parents struggled with the adoption too. We had a few pictures of the baby that Vincent took before the Kassem’s took her away, but that was it. That was the best we’d ever get. They just kept reminding themselves and everyone else that it was for the best.

I got my braces off just after Christmas. It was weird to see my teeth again, but now they were straight and even. It looked like I had a whole new mouth. My hair was growing in and had finally started growing downward instead of up. So it was actually kind of cute sometimes when it didn’t floof up too much in my sleep. I felt like I’d grown up a lot. Even though it had only been like a month.

I pulled on my new favorite beanie. It was leopard print and had cat ears on it. Paige got it for me for Christmas. I think it was her small way of thanking me for the months I’d been there for her and the night I’d spent with her at the hospital. I loved the beanie and what it represented. That even though we didn’t always get along or like the same things, she knew who I was deep down. She saw this crazy beanie and knew instantly that I’d love it.

I decided to walk to school on my first day back. I usually only ever walked to the grocery store, but my house had been really stuffy and depressing all winter, so I wanted a break to enjoy my solitude again.

But when I reached the next block over, a girl was leaving her house as I passed it. She was small framed with a mouth full of braces and dark curly hair. She almost looked like a mini-me if I was blonde. She had to be a freshman. I hadn’t seen her before, and I was finishing up junior year.

“Hey, wait,” she said when she reached the sidewalk. I stopped and pulled my headphones out.

“Hi,” I replied.

“Your name is Piper, right?” I nodded.

“Yeah, how’d you know?”

“Everyone knows who you are.”

“This is news to me.” She laughed like I’d made a joke.

“Is it alright if I walk with you?”

“Yeah, sure.” She sidled up beside me, and we walked in silence for a few minutes. I didn’t want to be rude by putting my headphones back on. But I didn’t know how to talk to her.

“I like your beanie,” she finally said.

“Thanks. I just got it for Christmas.”

“It’s really cute. Oh, and you got your braces off?” I swear I’d never seen this girl in my entire life. I must have been going to school with her for at least a semester. But maybe Vincent was right about teenagers. I was too caught up in myself to notice anyone else.

“Yeah, a few weeks ago,” I confirmed.

“I already can’t wait to get mine off, and I just barely got them on.” I laughed. “I guess I’ll get used to them eventually.”

“You will. I promise.”

She talked to me the entire walk to school. She said her name was Kaitlyn, but she was trying to get her friends to call her Kat. She was a freshman, just like I guessed. When we got to school, she said goodbye and went off to meet with her friends while I wandered to first period.

Later that day, I went to the lunch line to find something to eat. My mom had finally relented on her school lunch ban and gave me money. I thought about getting curly fries, but my mom gave me a strict rule about getting something healthy instead. I did, even though there was no one there who could tell on me. Paige wasn’t coming back, and I hadn’t seen Vincent once. I overheard some seniors saying that he transferred schools.

When I got my food, I was about to take it to the stairwell to be alone when that Kat girl came rushing up to me before I left the cafeteria.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hello.”

“I know you probably have your own friends to hang out with. But just in case, I thought I’d see if you wanted to come sit with my friends and me.” I was startled for a second. No one had ever asked me that before. She’d pointed to where they were hanging out at a table. It was a whole table of them, and every single one of them looked like me. Some of them were chubby. Some had braces. Some had wildly curly hair and bad haircuts. Some were even wearing silly beanies and tacky button-up shirts.

What was really startling about this was that every one of them was looking at me. Like they were all eagerly waiting for my response. One of them even waved for me to come over. So I just nodded at Kat.

“Yeah, sure. That’d be really nice,” I decided.