"I have a plan."

"What is it?" Tori asked instantly.

"Well," Beck thought for a second. "Obviously, Cat is a little-easily affected, I think the right word would be-by her surroundings. She was in juvie for less than three days, and look at her."

"So what's your point?" Tori demanded.

"So, it should be easy enough to change her back to regular Cat."

"In juvie everyone was mean and scary," Andre spoke up. "So if you're suggesting we all start acting and dressing like Cat used to be-"

"I'll do it," Robbie interrupted. "I already have a few of her favorite outfits in my size."

They all stared at him, and his face turned red.

"Is what a girl would say," he recovered.

"No," Beck said, shaking his head. "Sorry if that disappoints you, Robbie. What I was thinking is we could all just-"

"Tell her we're going to buy face jewelry and take her to a specialist?" Andre piped in.

"No," Beck said. "We can-"

"Send her to rehab?" Tori suggested.

"Would you all please let me finish?" Beck rubbed his temples as though he has a massive headache.

"Fine," Andre said shortly. "What's your idea?"

"You're all thinking too big," Beck said. "The key to this is simplicity. All we need to do is spend some solo time with Cat, every one of us. We can remind her who she used to be, and I guarantee that'll work."

"That's brilliant," Robbie said. "Beck, you're a genius!"

"I still think we should send her to a specialist," Andre nodded, and Tori laughed.

"Yo, who runs this joint? I'm boooored," Cat called as she fiddled with her nose ring.

"Now we only have one problem," Tori said. "Who gets to spend alone time with her first?

oOo

Robbie lost.

Well, it was a matter of opinion. If you asked Tori, Beck, or Andre, then Robbie lost. But if you asked Robbie, Robbie won.

It wasn't a secret that Robbie had a little crush on Cat. She was sweet like candy, and bubbly, and knew exactly who she was.

That is, before she went to juvie. Now she was a five foot tall, ninety pound mini gangster. She had a nose piercing and cornrows and wore black makeup. She was the sort of girl that Robbie would evade, not the kind he'd spend a week writing a song about how "swell" he thought she was.

But Robbie could get her back to normal, he was sure of it. What was Cat's very favorite thing in the world? Giraffes. So if Robbie could somehow remind her exactly how much she loved the giant, furry mammals then she'd be normal again, right?

Right?

Well, he'd give it a shot. So that was how he and Cat ended up at the zoo. She stood, looking very out of place amidst colorful banners and signs declaring in which direction everything was.

"Okay, Cat," Robbie said cheerfully. "Ready to go say peekaboo to some giraffes?"

Cat looked mildly interested. She couldn't pass that up.

"Yeah, okay."

Robbie took her hand and they walked together to the "Savannah" section of the zoo. They waited their turn to see the giraffe habitat behind a crowd of people.

"So," Robbie said, simply to break an awkward silence. Cat was standing on tiptoe, looking much like her old self as she tried to see past the people. When she caught Robbie's eye watching her, she stood normally and put her "I-don't-care" face back on.

"So what?" she asked.

"Uh, how was juvie?"

"Awesome," Cat replied coolly. "I met this chick named Amelia, she was totally amaze."

"Amaze?" Robbie repeated, confused.

"Cool talk for amazing," Cat replied, examining her black fingernails. "I guess you wouldn't know."

Robbie shrugged indifferently and looked ahead, trying not to let Cat see how much that simple sentence hurt him. Robbie remained stony and Cat remained silent for the next ten minutes as they waited.

"Next group," the man grunted, and the giraffe habitat velvet rope opened. Robbie and Cat walked in, and so did a few other people.

"Oops, sorry," Robbie stepped on one of Cat's feet accidently, and she glared up at him.

"Watch yourself, Shapiro."

Robbie gulped as Cat looked toward the giraffe habitat. She wasn't herself anymore, that part was obvious. She was still beautiful, in a different way though. She didn't have flowing red hair or wide, innocent eyes framed by dozens of long lashes that batted and made his heart skip. She was no longer adorable or sunny or sweet, but she was still beautiful. Painfully beautiful.

Her face was still Cat's face, heart shaped and precious. It was just cluttered by dark makeup and a scowl, and of course the piercing. But it was still her face.

She wasn't herself, though, no matter how beautiful she still was. She was mopey and scary, and pretty mean. She was exactly the opposite of what Robbie found attractive, exactly the opposite of herself.

He had just about given up all hope when she walked towards the giraffes and peered into the cage. A tiny, soft giggle escaped her lips and Robbie looked up as though his ears were tuned to the frequency of her laughter. That wasn't a sarcastic chuckle or a mean laugh, but a real, true Cat giggle.

"Hey little guy," Cat crooned between the bars. She glanced behind her to make sure nobody was watching her next movement, and Robbie looked away just in time. She turned back to the giraffes and Robbie watched her again. "Well, not really little because you're sure a lot taller than me!"

Robbie couldn't believe his own ears, this was Cat! His Cat, standing nearly three feet away and talking to the giraffes just like she used.

"You know what?" Cat whispered to the giraffes. "You guys should play basketball! You'd win!"

She let herself giggle again, and Robbie felt happiness fill him up. As Cat turned around, she looked at Robbie.

"What?" she asked snappishly, looking a little guilty. "Don't look at me."

Robbie averted his eyes, but he still smiled.

His girl was still there.

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