"And you were out all day, fadoodling with Cat!" Robbie accused, poking Freddie in the chest.
"I was not fadoodling with Cat!" Freddie replied, in the same manner.
"Well you could have if you wanted to!" Screamed Cat, throwing up her arms up in the air.
The fighting continued on until Cat finally got so upset that she ran into her bedroom to escape from it all. From within the bedroom, she could hear Sam leaving, slamming the backdoor behind her, and Cat felt her heart fall through her stomach.
"I still care about you! I'm not going to let you do something stupid!" Cat was crying as she locked Sam in the closet. Now, she didn't want to lock Sam in the closet but more than anything, Cat did not want Sam to jump the tuna. She loved Sam too much. But, in what way did she love her?
It had been three days since the tuna jump; the atmosphere in the apartment was stressed and tense, palpable and tangible. Though Sam apologized, Cat couldn't figure out why she cared so much about Sam doing the stupid tuna jump.
On one hand, she cared about Sam. She loved her like a bestfriend; Sam was practically a sister to her.
But there was something more there.
Something more... More like love.
So Cat did her best to deal with the problem: avoid Sam at all costs. It was hard; Cat loved spending time with Sam. But she needed time to herself to sort out her feelings.
On the outside, Cat was a happy, bubbly, (maybe even a little manic?) girl. Others thought she was dumb, not capable of any type of intelligence.
But Cat was the exact opposite on the inside. Cat was extremely smart, but riddled with her inner turmoil.
Not only did she avoid Sam, she also avoided her friends at school. She just told them that she had some stuff to think about.
They worried.
Cat fell into the seat in the car, feeling the plush squish around her as she buckled her seat belt. Though Jade seemed extremely hard-cut and rough, she did have a good taste in seating material.
"So, Cat," Jade began, starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot, not taking a look at Cat. "What's been going on lately? You haven't talked to anyone, and we're all worried."
Cat sighed. While this side of Jade was rarely seen, she knew Jade cared deeply about her. She decided to just tell Jade the truth. Like Jade, she kept her eyes ahead.
"I don't really know how to start this. It's been going on for a while, I guess. It's just that, well, I've been having these weird feelings about a certain person for quite a while. And I'm not sure what they are. I care, but I don't know why."
Jade looked over at Cat, giving her a funny look Cat couldn't really decipher. "If you're talking about Sam, which I'm guessing you are, then it will be very hard to have a relationship with her. And I'll even tell you a secret: during the time I hung out with her, she told me that she may like you, more than a friend. And she even said that she's never really had any good relationships, that everyone she ever loved left her. That's why she's so protective of you, but even more than that, she's extremely protective of herself. When she came to LA, she didn't want to make attachments. Then she met you. And she realized that she doesn't want to let you go. She doesn't want to lose you, so she acts like a jerk all the time until important moments. It's why she was so against you jumping the tuna. She doesn't want to lose the person she loves."
By the end of Jade's recollection, Cat had tears streaming down her face. Sam never ever told her any of this. She didn't even know that Sam felt remotely like that. It hurt Cat to know that Sam didn't say anything, but it hurt more that she never told Cat anything about her past.
The car was idling in front of the apartment complex. "Thank you for that, Jade. I have a lot of things to think about." She gently kissed Jade's cheek and slid out of the car.
"Good luck," Jade called out after her.
When Cat walked through the front door, she took in the sight in front of her: Sam was asleep while the glowing television rained colors in the dark room. Sam's silhouette was distorted, but Cat could make out an empty pizza box on the coffee table, and Sam lounging on the couch with a leg next to the pizza box. An empty rootbeer bottle dangled from her fingers as she peacefully dreamed.
Cat quietly shut the door and switched off the TV.
Sam didn't go to bed until late that night. Cat knew. She couldn't sleep. She was too preoccupied with the fighter with the long blonde hair and damaged heart out in the livingroom.
She awoke to the pitter-patter of rain kissing the window and choking screams, terrified screams.
Instantly, Cat snapped up, wildly looking around for the source of the outburst. She noticed writhing bedsheets from across the room, and concluded Sam was having a nightmare.
Gently, without words, Cat managed to coax Sam into her arms, and under the safety of her pink blankets Cat's shirt became soaked with the salty remains of surreal dreams.
Cat woke up before Sam did. Dried tear tracks streaked down her face, so Cat decided to get up before Sam did, incase she was embarrassed about the night before.
To possibly make the morning a little brighter, Cat made sunny-side up eggs to contrast the darkness of the storm outside.
When Sam sleepily stumbled into the kitchen, Cat thought she seemed off. Sam wouldn't look directly at Cat, though Cat tried to make her.
"So, um, about last night..." Sam started.
"Sam, please don't worry about it. I just wanted you to be okay. Don't be embarrassed. You have nothing to be scared of." Cat interrupted.
Picking at her food, (which Sam never did, noted Cat), Sam announced she was going for a walk to buy a pack of cigarettes and gummy worms from the little convenience store up the street.
"Just be careful," Cat whispered as the door slid shut.
A week passed since the nightmare incident. All was back to "normal" in the Valentine/Puckett household, as normal as two teen girls alone in an apartment can get.
The kid of the day, a baby that was only several months old, was asleep. The two babysitters stretched out on the couch, enjoying a moment of peace.
Cat fidgeted nervously as she thought of the right words to say. Clearing her throat, she hated the way her words came out strangled and rough. "Hey, Sam? I think we need to talk about something."
Cocking her head, Sam's eyebrows knitted together. "What's wrong? Is something bothering you?"
"Well," Cat nervously tried to explain. "For a long time now, I've felt this weird sort of way about you. I don't know why. I care so much about you, and the thing is, I don't understand why I do. I think maybe it's because the small way you smile when you think no one's looking, or how your nose crinkles when you laugh. And maybe it's because we can fight and make up the next day. Maybe because we'd do anything for eachother." Taking a deep breath, she said, "I think what I'm trying to say is that I love you."
Sam looked shocked and Cat stared down at her hands.
"Babydoll, I don't think you know how long I've been waiting to hear those words," Sam whispered as she tapped her finger under Cat's chin to lift her head up. "You don't know how long I've been waiting to tell you that I love you too. You're constantly on my mind. You should start paying rent." Cat laughed at the cheesy joke and Sam winked. "But, honestly Cat, I've never felt a love so strong toward anyone but you. And I'm not even sure what love is. But when I'm with you? Everything makes sense. Everything in the world is right. And nothing could go wrong."
"My God, Sam, that was beautiful," said Cat as she buried her head into the crook of Sam's neck, holding onto her for dear life.
Gently pushing her off, Sam stared into Cat's eyes, and after a moment of hesitation, fearlessly pressed her lips onto Cat's.
And it was everything Cat wanted it to be. Everything, in that minute, was perfect.
Sam tasted like cigarettes and gummy worms.