a better author's note at the bottom of this story.
so yeah, I guess this takes place during #textingcompetition (do we include hashtags to titles? is that something we do? is that just a show thing?) I know it was a long time ago but I saw an opportunity and I took it okay here goes.
After dodging the complaints of Butler's horribly rude mother, Sam managed to drag Cat out of the Double Bush hotel and onto the sidewalk. They were only going to the hot dog place on the corner, but honestly, anywhere was better than inside that room with Butler's "momanger." Sam took a breath of fresh air. "Feels good to be away from that monster."
"She's not pleasant."
"Way to state the obvious Cat."
Cat smiled anyway, twirling around on the sidewalk.
"Right, right, yeah." Sam laughed a bit. "That wasn't a compliment." She muttered.
"What?" Cat asked, confused.
"Nothing. It's nothing. Twirl again."
Cat was more than happy to oblige.
And like that, they arrived at the crosswalk. Since the hot dog place was only on the corner and the hotel took up most of the block, they only had to walk down a bit and cross the street, enter the parking lot where the hot dog place was located, go inside, and order the corn dogs that Sam so desperately wanted. She could smell them from across the street. She could taste them before they had already been ordered. She could-
She could complain, because as soon as they walked inside, Sam could see that she was not getting any corn dogs any time soon.
"Whoa this place is busy," Cat said from beside Sam.
It really was. One glance around the room was not enough. Maybe it was the fact that they picked the closest place to the hotel, combined with the fact that it was currently lunch time, but every single table held a group of people, and other people were standing and waiting for seating. In the middle of the building, there was a wet floor sign where an employee was cleaning up what Sam hoped was chili.
"Man! It's going to take forever to get something to eat, let alone find a place to eat it! Mama's hungry now."
Cat shrugged. "We could just take the food back to the hotel."
Sam then proceeded to stare at Cat as though Cat was a puzzle Sam was trying to solve. It wasn't a simile far from the truth, either. Maybe it was because Sam had not even considered taking the food back to the hotel, but sometimes, if only for a couple moments, Cat seemed not so air-headed and kind of clever.
"What? Do I have something on my face?"
"Nah, nah." Sam smiled. "Line's moving."
Back at the hotel, it was much quieter and the thoughts that ran around in Cat's mind could actually be heard, instead of the loud mumble that overtook her thoughts at the hot dog place. Sam carried the bag of corn dogs, and while Cat was really happy to be getting said corn dogs when they arrived at their destination, Cat did not find herself excited to reach her destination. She just wanted five minutes of quiet time away from Mrs. Torso. And maybe a nap. That would be good.
They were back in the room where there were people milling around, waiting for seven o'clock. Alright, it wasn't that bad, most of the people had gone home or had gone to lunch now. Cat relaxed enough to eat her corn dog.
"Oh man." Sam said, pulling her first second corn dog out of the bag. "Look at this corn dog." She waved it in Cat's face."This is a beautiful corn dog." And into her mouth went the corn dog.
Cat smiled and opened her mouth as if to say something, but was interrupted.
"Well, if it isn't Cat and Sam."
"Sam and Cat." Even though her mouth was full of food, it didn't stop her from correcting the momanager in .5 seconds. It had almost become this unconscious habit, because it just didn't sound as good as Sam and Cat. Sam watch as Mrs. Torso rolled her eyes and then Sam swallowed so she could say (sarcastically, mind you), "Oh yay, you're here."
"Where's Butler?" Cat asked.
Butler's mom frowned. "Butler is currently in the middle of having his thumbs massaged, and then he is going to eat lunch, by himself, so he can practice."
"That doesn't sound like fun. He should come eat lunch with us!" Cat said.
"Butler has to practice so WE won't lose tonight." She was speaking in her uptight, momanager voice. And then, because it seemed like an afterthought to upset two teenage girls, she added, "Besides, he is not going to eat lunch with you people."
In a world of maybe, Sam could only guess that the reason Cat was tearing up at that moment was because of the venomous way that Mrs. Torso had just spoken to Cat. Cat was a very fragile soul, a very childish kind of teenager who couldn't understand that some people were just evil. And Butler's mom was one of those people.
Cat, however, was unaware of the evils of the world, and when the tears started to roll down her face, she ran. And Sam was left to pick up the pieces and go running after her. There wasn't even a question, there wasn't even a little bit of hesitation. There was noble Sam Puckett, standing up with the bag of corn dogs, facing Mrs. Torso, saying "You're a horrible woman and I'm sorry that Butler has to deal with you." Then there was Sam Puckett the kind-heart, walking the way Cat ran with the audience in her head giving a cheesy sitcom cheer as she walked without looking back. And finally, there was the Sam Puckett on the outside who was desperately trying to shove the good sides of her back inside of what she thought was a cold exterior.
It wasn't an incredibly long or hard journey seek the place where Cat had chosen to hide.
She found Cat in a dark room that was off to the side of the hall, where there was once a contest, from the old sign that was attached to a table. Sam flipped on the lights, and only then realized that she was back in the sign-in room. Finding both switches on at the same time to be annoying, she flipped one off again. The room was vastly different with only half of the lights on. It looked like someone had moved out but left all their furniture, but not in a neat way. And then Sam could hear quiet sobbing from the chair Cat sat in. More specifically, from Cat.
"I brought the corn dogs." Sam said. She was unsure what to say. There wasn't much Sam could make better. "They're going to get cold." Like the space where her heart was supposed to be.
"I don't want 'em."
"Come on kid. You gotta eat."
"I'm not hungry."
Sam sighed. She tossed the corn dog bag to another chair and sat in the one next to Cat's. "Look kid. I hate to tell you this, but there are bad people in this world. And unfortunately, Butler's mom is one of those people. But there are also good people in this world. Like you, and Dice... and" Sam struggled to get it out, "Nona." That was a hard on to get out.
"And the people who made these wonderful corn dogs. You wouldn't want to let their hard work spoil now, would you?"
That got Cat to peek away from behind her hands.
"It's not fair."
"Life's not fair."
Cat sighed. "Butler is a good kid."
"And Butler has a sucky mom, I know, trust me, I know. Sometimes these things just happen. But Butler is going to be alright. I mean, look at me."
"You said butt butt." Cat laughed.
"Eat your corn dog."
"Sam?"
"Hm?"
Cat paused. She wiped her hand on her pants, and then took a drink of water, and when she came back from behind the bottle, Sam was watching her. "When you said that I was a good person and so was Dice and Nona and the person who made our corn dogs, why didn't you include yourself?"
Sam was quiet. This is exactly why she kept trying to push her good sides back inside. Cat could think that Sam was a good person all she wanted to, but it wasn't true.
"Sam?"
"I don't know. It's not important."
"Well I think you're a good person."
Sam refused to speak.
Later, Sam was relaxing across from Cat, seated in a chair, with the remains of a soda in her hand. They had quieted, Cat had stopped crying, and Sam had stopped eating, and both had stopped thinking about the good and bad people of the world, and more specifically, Sam being good or bad. It was about 3:00 now, pretty good time considering that they had gotten the corn dogs closer to 2:00 in the afternoon.
"Is it because you don't have a heart?"
"What?" Sam looked up from her soda, completely confused.
"You told Dice that you didn't have a heart."
"Right but-"
"And then you didn't think you were a good person even though I know you're a good person because you came to rescue me when I was sad and I think you do have a heart." It all came out rushed and hard to understand and Sam spent several moments trying to sort it all out but only came to the conclusion that Cat thought that Sam had a heart.
"I mean, that's great Cat, but that's not exactly-"
Cat leaned over from her chair, grabbed on of Sam's hands, and held it over the place where Sam's heart would be, just the way Sam had held her own hand in the same spot, earlier that day, in the very instance that had sparked this whole scene. Cat left her own hand on top of Sam's.
"See. Heart."
Sam took a breath. Cat was really close to her.
Very close to her.
In fact, if they had been any closer, Sam would have been able to just-
"You're right kid. I guess I do have a heart."
(Best to stop that train of thought before it left the crazy station.)
There was a moment there, right there, where anything could have happened.
But Cat went back to sitting on her chair, and Sam crushed her soda can and threw it onto the floor before laying across two chairs. And Sam could not help but think that if they had been two different people who were after different things with different ideas, something else would have gone on there. But they were not two different people. She was Sam and Cat was Cat and that wasn't always-
"Thanks for having a heart Sam."
Well maybe it wasn't always perfect, but it was okay for now.
okay yeah, I don't know what this is. uhm. yeah. so much for a better author's note. I don't know what I'm doing with my life, I'm sorry. alright well, this is dragging on unnecessarily so bye now.