CHAPTER ONE
Jade knew something was going on with Cat. She didn't know what, but she'd find out eventually. The perky redhead was unusually solemn and quiet. She'd gone from annoyingly sweet and happy to depressingly sad and snappy. She wasn't her usual dim-witted self, either. Things she was saying lately, made complete sense. The more Jade thought about it, the more it worried and annoyed her that she didn't know what it was, because Cat told her everything.
They'd known each other since preschool. Cat was being made fun of by some other kids. The bullying wasn't what bothered Jade. It was the sound of the other kids' annoyingly high pitched voices. She yelled at them, telling them to pick on someone their own size. Cat was significantly smaller than all the other kids. She was the size of a bit-above-average two-year-old when she was four.
Jade's thoughts were interrupted by the school bell ringing, signaling the end of the school day. Before Jade could get her things gathered, the flighty redhead was already out of the classroom. She always waited for Jade by their lockers, so the pale young lady wasn't worried about it too much.
As soon as she grabbed them both a Wahoo Punch from the soda machine, she walked to her scissor-covered locker, exactly where she knew the younger girl would be.
"Hey," she said, handing Cat a soda. "What's up?"
Cat shrugged and played with the tab of the soda can. "Nothing really… Thinking about homework. Calculus is gonna kick my butt," she said.
While Cat seemed like the most stupid person in the world, she was actually a straight A student. She was book smart, but most of the time she wasn't very smart when it came to common sense.
"Calculus would kick anyone's ass—I can't even do calculus, so you got me beat there," Jade said. "Wanna come to my place? We'll die to our painfully agonizing homework together with a table full of chips, fat cakes, and candy bars."
Cat's nose scrunched. Not even a small smile. "I'm not feeling the food, but I'll come over. No one's home anyways."
Just ten minutes later, the two teens arrived at Jade's house—which was surprisingly not black. The second the door closed, there was a tiny voice getting closer and closer along with the pitter patter of small feet running across a hardwood floor.
"Jade! Mommy said we getta go to Sea World for our birthday!" a little girl the spitting image of Jade herself said with excitement, jumping into the older girl's arms.
"Sea World kills the whales," Jade said.
"What?" the little girl asked with confusion on her face.
"Jadelyn Autumn West," an older woman said as the two teenagers and younger girl walked into the kitchen.
"What? It's true," Jade said. "Shouldn't lie to the kids, Mom; sets a bad example."
"Oh hush," she said. "Hi Cat. How are you?"
Cat gave the woman a smile—a fake smile, Jade noticed—as she hugged her. "I'm okay, Mom."
Jade and her mother, Grace, glanced at each other, both the same amount of worry in their eyes.
"Are you sure?" Grace asked.
Can t nodded. She'd be damned if anyone got her secret out of her. "Yeah. I'm fine."
"Alright, then. You're staying for dinner. I'm making your favorite…Jade, can I talk to you in the backyard?"
Jade nodded and made her way to the back door, Grace staying behind to place a baby—just just about six months old—into a high chair.
"Mind watching Joanie and Tyler for a few minutes?" Grace asked.
Cat shook her head. "I don't mind. What's Tyler need to eat?"
"Bananas. In the fridge," she said as she walked outside. She walked over to Jade, sitting on the hammock next to her. "What's wrong with her?"
Jade shrugged. "I don't know. She'd been acting like this for a couple days, but I thought she'd tell me what's going on."
"Have you asked her?"
"No. If she doesn't tell me by the end of the week then I'll ask her."
"Maybe she's just not feeling well."
"It's more than that. She's not herself period. She didn't even ask Sikowitz any weird questions about his body."
"His… His body?"
"Don't ask. He's weird."
Grace sighed. "Whatever this is, it needs to be brought to attention. She looks tired. She needs to take a nap."
"Don't tell her that, she'll get cranky," Jade said, walking back to the door. "I'll get it out of her. Somehow."
Cat sighed, spooning another small helping of pureed bananas into Tyler's mouth as Jade walked back into the door. "Did you get in trouble for going over your data limit again?" she asked.
"Yeah. I got grounded. Stupid TheSlap."
"Oh. I'll finish feeding Tyler and I'll go home, then."
"What? Why?"
"You're grounded."
"So?"
"So, I don't wanna get you in trouble," she said, standing up and throwing the empty baby jar away, putting the spoon in the sink.
"Mom isn't gonna kick you out, she invited you to dinner."
"I'm not that hungry," Cat said, grabbing her backpack. "I'll come over another time. I forgot to do the dishes at home, anyways. I wanna have them done before my mom gets off work so she doesn't have to do them."
"Okay… Text me later."
Cat didn't even reply. She just walked out of the house.
Fifteen minutes later when she arrived at her own house, she walked upstairs only to accidentally bump into her brother.
"You don't have to take up the whole hallway, fat ass," he said.
"Fuck off, Max," she snapped, slamming her bedroom door behind her and locking it. She never used that language. Ever. She never, ever cursed. What was wrong with her? She didn't even like those words—she constantly told Jade not to say them and here she is, dropping the F-bomb like it was the most common word in the world.
It pissed her off beyond belief that her brother was always calling her names. She knew he wasn't all there in the head, but that was no reason to be a dick. She put her backpack down on her bed and sat in her computer chair, moving the mouse to wake the laptop up.
Once she was logged on, she scrolled through her friends list for a few seconds before she received an instant message.
RobbieTheMan: Hey Cat, what's up?
YourSecretValentine: Hey Robbie. Nothing.
RobbieTheMan: Wanna come over? My mom rented the Waggafuffles movie for my sister.
YourSecretValentine: I don't wanna watch it… I'd go swimming though. Will you swim with me?
RobbieTheMan: Sure! I'll wear my Spongebob swim trunks!
YourSecretValentine: Gross… I'll be there soon.
YourSecretValentine has logged off
As soon as Cat was ready, she grabbed her cell phone and made her way out of her room, only to run into her brother—again.
"Fatty fatty two-by-four, couldn't get out of her bedroom door," Max sang.
"How the fuck did I get out of my bedroom if I'm too fat to fit through it, dumbass? God, Max, go play with yourself or something. Just don't reproduce—we don't need any more accidents in the family," she snapped before finally making her way downstairs and out her front door.
Yes, that was mean. Yes, she felt bad for being mean. But, why should she? He constantly called her fat. It pissed her off and she wasn't going to take it anymore.
As soon as she got to Robbies, they ate dinner that his mother made. And by eating, that meant Robbie shoved every ounce of food on his plate down his throat and Cat took small bites here and there, but nonetheless left most of it on her plate because she wasn't very hungry.
After a while, she and Robbie finally went to the backyard to swim. She still had her shorts on over her one-piece suit when she jumped into the deep end next to Robbie, purposely splashing him.
As soon as she came up for air and smiled at him. "Sorry, did I splash you?" she asked.
"Yes!" Robbie said. "You know I don't like it when you splash me in the face, it leaves water spots on my glasses."
"That's why you dry them off, dummy," she said, swimming away from him and floating on her back.
Robbie watched her for a few seconds. Were they in a relationship? What even was their relationship? They'd kissed several times before. In fact, it was so natural for the both of them, they thought nothing of it when they did kiss because they always just seemed to happen. It hadn't gone any further than that romance-wise.
Upon watching her, he noticed something different. She looked physically different. Maybe it was the way she was laying. But… maybe it was something else. They'd swam together several times and just a few weeks ago they were in this same position. Cat floating on her back. Robbie admiring her body—not in a perverted way, though. This time, he could just about count her ribs. He didn't like that.
"Hey, Cat?" Robbie asked.
Cat looked at him, before closing her eyes again. "Yeah?"
"Are you stressed out about anything?"
"Nope. Why?"
"Just wondering… You look a little thinner than normal… I know stress does that to people."
Cat got off of her back and swam over to him. "I'm fine. I guess I've been worrying about homework lately, maybe that's it."
"Maybe…"
Cat looked at him for a few seconds, wrapping her arms around his neck as he spun them around in slow circles. "I'm fine. Nothing is wrong. I just haven't been feeling myself. I'm feeling better, though."
"Promise?"
She never broke a promise. This one, she might break.
Cat gave him a small smile before kissing his lips sweetly. "Sure, Robbie," she said, never actually saying the word.