younger, but not much better off
( au. cat and sam meet in second grade and it all goes downhill from there. )
.
.
"Hi!" Cat chirps as a blonde girl sits down in the desk next to her.
The blonde looks at her for a long moment, briskly glances around the room, and then moves to another seat.
.
.
"Why'd you move seats?" Cat asks at lunch, standing next to the girl in line. The girl doesn't answer, instead crossing her arms over her chest and frowning. Cat pouts. "Don't you want to be friends?" She tries, voice soft.
"No," the other girl deadpans.
Cat gasps, then huffs, then stomps her foot and crosses her arms, too. The other girl raises her eyebrow.
"Well, why not?" Cat asks.
"You're annoying," the girl responds.
Cat pouts some more. "Am not!"
"Are too," the girl says, lips tipped upwards. Cat doesn't understand how she can be smiling; she's mean!
"You're mean," Cat tells her, sticking up her nose.
"So?" The girl asks.
"So," Cat says, "you shouldn't be. You're supposed to be nice."
"Says who?"
"Says everyone," Cat insists dramatically.
"Whatever," the girl says. "I'm not going to be your friend."
"Fine!" Cat says.
.
.
"I'm sorry I called you mean," Cat says in art class. "What's your name?"
"Go away," the blonde girl says.
Cat's mouth drops into an 'o' shape. "I'm trying to say sorry!"
"I don't want you to," the other girl responds sharply. "I want you to leave me alone."
"Well, I don't want you to be alone!" Cat cries, throwing down her crayons in frustration. "Being alone is lonely and boring!"
The girl stares at her and then sighs, dropping her eyes to the blank sheet of paper she's mindlessly scribbling onto.
"I'm Sam," she says.
.
.
"Do you like the swings?" Cat asks at recess, clutching Sam's hand until she jerks it away.
"No," Sam says.
"Oh. Do you like the slide?" Cat asks.
"Not really," Sam replies.
"Oh," Cat says again, frowning. "What do you like?"
Sam thinks for a moment. "I like the jungle gym," she finally responds.
"Okay!" Cat grabs Sam's hand and Sam lets her hold it all the way there.
They climb up the bars and Cat giggles happily, finding a perch at the very top. "I'm queen of the world!" Cat laughs, turning to Sam, who purses her lips and raises her brows.
"What do I get to be?" She asks.
"You can be a queen, too," Cat responds, smiling. "We can be queens together!"
"What if I don't want to be a queen?" Sam asks. Cat thinks she's being too difficult.
"What do you want to be?"
"I want to be a drug dealer," Sam says.
.
.
"My brother takes lots of medication," Cat tells Sam on the bus.
"See you tomorrow," Sam says as she gets off at her stop.
.
.
"Can I sit here?" Sam asks the next day, sucking her lower lip between her teeth.
Cat beams at her. "Of course!" She says, and Sam sits. "We're best friends now," Cat declares.
"I already have a best friend," Sam says. "Her name is Carly and she lives in Seattle."
"Oh," Cat says, a little sadly. "I've never had a best friend before." A beat. "Why is yours in Seattle?"
"I used to live there. Me and my mom moved here." Sam ducks her head a little, like she's upset.
Cat reaches for her, wrapping her arm around her shoulders and squeezing her close. Sam tenses up but she doesn't pull away.
"Don't be sad," Cat says. "I don't like it when people are sad."
"I'm not sad," Sam snaps, pushing Cat away. Cat frowns and Sam sighs. "I'm sorry," she says.
"It's okay."
.
.
"Do you want half my cookie?" Cat asks sweetly, already breaking her cookie into two pieces.
Sam blinks a few times, looking between her and the cookie. "Sure," she says softly.
Cat hands it to her, smiling as she bites into her own half. "They're really yummy! Chocolate chip is my favorite. What's your favorite?"
"Why are you so nice to me?" Sam asks, staring at her cookie instead of eating it.
"Because I like you!" Cat says brightly.
"Why? I'm mean," Sam says. "You said so."
"Well, now you're cool," Cat replies, "so eat your cookie."
.
.
"What are you drawing?" Cat asks, leaning over Sam's shoulder to peer at her picture.
"A dinosaur robbing a bank," Sam answers. She stops coloring for a moment, setting down her marker. "What about you?"
Cat blushes all the way to her ears, leaning over her paper. "Nothing."
"Let me see," Sam says, tugging at Cat's arm until she relents.
"I drew us as best friends," Cat says, frowning when Sam does. "I really want to be best friends with you."
Sam sighs. "Okay," she relents. "We can be best friends."
Cat doesn't stop beaming for the rest of art class.
.
.
"Hey!" Sam yells as Cat is pushed down on the playground by a couple of boys. "Leave her alone!"
"Yeah?" One taunts, sticking out his tongue. "What are you gonna do about it? You're a girl!"
.
.
"I'm sorry I got you in trouble," Cat whispers, sitting on the curb next to Sam, where they're in timeout for the rest of their recess.
"It's okay," Sam says. "That kid deserved it."
"I hope his teeth come back soon," Cat muses. "It'll be hard for him to eat without them."
"Yeah, but he can still eat some things. Like pudding and mashed potatoes and stuff like that," Sam says.
Cat frowns. "I wish he'd have to eat gross foods."
Sam laughs for the first time Cat has ever seen. The teachers shush them, but Sam is still smiling at her, so it's okay.
.
.
"I wish my hair was pretty like yours," Cat says, twisting one of Sam's curls around her fingers.
Sam shakes her head, tipping her face downwards to look at her history book. "It's not pretty. I didn't even brush it today."
Cat blinks a few times. "You look like a princess," she says.
"Hey," Sam warns, but softens at Cat's surprised expression. "You'd make a better princess, I think."
Cat shakes her head, eyes fond. "I think you'd be a very pretty princess, Sam."
"You'd be the prettiest princess - " Sam says, and then blushes petal pink.
Cat giggles, poking her cheek. "You're like a flower!"
"Shut up," Sam says, fighting her smile.
.
.
"I don't like the bus," Cat says, pouting. "It smells funny."
"Yeah," Sam agrees. "But I like it better than riding with my mom."
Cat cocks her head to the side, studying her friend. "How come?"
Sam shrugs. "My mom isn't a very good driver."
Cat nods as though she understands.
.
.
"Hi, Sam!" Cat greets the next morning, waving from her seat.
"Hi," Sam says, slipping into the seat next to Cat. She furrows her brow when Cat hands her something wrapped in notebook paper. "What's this?" She asks.
"A present. I made it for you," Cat says, watching attentively as Sam unwraps it and the gift falls out.
"A bracelet?" Sam asks, picking it off of the desk.
"A friendship bracelet. My mommy showed me how to make them. We can match," Cat says, holding out her wrist where a similar bracelet dangles.
"Okay," Sam says after a moment, pulling it over her hand and onto her wrist.
"That means we're friends forever," Cat tells her, beaming.
Sam nods. She's alright with that.