I slung the van's side door open and dumped my school stuff into the floorboard. I slammed the door close and hopped into the passenger's seat, where a big lump of fur was waiting for me.
"Outta the way, cat." I scooped the tabby up and put him down in the backseat, and he gave me an irritated look. I reached for the seatbelt as my mom pulled out of the school's parking lot. The schoolyard was full of teenage students saying goodbye to their friends, getting phone numbers and talking loudly. The teachers were in an especially good mood, considering it was the last day of school before summer. I glanced out the window, taking in the scene before reaching into my pocket and pulling out my ipod and earphones.
"How was school?" my mom asked cheerfully. "Did you get to say goodbye to your friends?" We pulled out onto the road and I slipped my earphones in.
"It was ok." I turned up the music on the ipod and gazed out the window, looking up at the gray storm clouds. I heard my mom sigh.
"What about your friends?" She demanded, glancing at me. I ignored her question, and I groaned as she started to go off into one of her rants.
"Do you havefriends, Verity? I've watched you everyday after school stand there alone, ignoring everyone. You know, if you talked to them, they might talk back! You shouldn't be alone, Verity. You deserve to have some friends! You are a very unique person..."
I bit my tongue, withholding a scathing retort. I rolled my eyes and turned up my music louder, drowning out my mother's voice. My mother continued talking. Why can't she ever shut up, I wondered. She always had something to say, and I was always the one to endure her endless chattering. She was like a dictionary that knew everything, and someone had given that dictionary a mouth. I love my mother, but can't she just be quiet? It's like that was literally impossible for my mom. All it took was a simple question. That was the trigger. Of course it didn't always take a question. Sometimes she would just start talking, and that made me want to just stuff my ears with socks and jump off a cliff. I never said anything, though. I knew it would hurt my mother's feelings, and that's the last thing I would want to do. So I just sit there with my music ignoring her. Most of the time.
I slowly realized my mom's cat, Ale, was watching me intently. Ale was a fat cat, with rusty orange fur and a short tail (mom insists he's part bobcat). But even though he's almost 20 pounds and is 100% lazy, his eyes are strangely young. Ale's eyes are full of life, green and always shining brightly, flecked with yellow specks. As he stared at me I couldn't help but shift in my seat uncomfortably. Suddenly he sprung forward from the backseat with amazing speed and landed in my lap. I yelped, mostly startled by his quick movement. I laughed at myself.
"Dumb cat." I muttered. stroking his fur. But he ignored me. Infact, his focus on me had disappeared completely and he was glaring at something outside the window. I followed his gaze and saw a figure sitting on a bench approaching quickly. As we got closer I noticed he wore an old -fashioned trenchcoat. Ale growled, and I looked down in surprise. Ale was not a very hostile cat. Actually, I hadn't heard him growl until now.
Mom stopped talking and looked over at Ale, just as surprised as I was.
"What's wrong sweetie?" She asked, reaching over and petting him. Just as we passed the bench mom looked at the stranger and her eyes narrowed. Ale hissed and jumped into mom's lap. He seems worried, I thought.
"What's wrong? Who is it?" I asked anxiously.
Mom glanced at Ale and focused on the road. "I'm not sure. But whoever they were, they stirred Ale up." I looked at the cat and realized she was right. His fur was bristled, and he had a Mohawk running down his spine. His eyes darted around nervously, as if he expected something to pop out and attack him. The rest of the ride, mom was silent. After a few minutes of confusion, I decided to turn up the music and forget about the person in the trenchcoat. Strangers weren't uncommon in their town, since the small city was only a few miles away from the interstate. I didn't think much about it, despite the obvious clues.