Willow opened the door to Tara's dorm room and stepped through. Aside from the campus housing office, most people who knew the two witches knew the room was really home to both of them more than just Tara. It was the same way with Willow's room. They tended to vary from night to night where they stayed. Lately they had spent a lot of time in Tara's room.

She knew Tara wasn't there. If her memory served her correctly, Tara would be trying to stay awake during Introduction to Earth Science at that very moment. It certainly wasn't Tara's favorite class, but she needed an introductory level science for her general education requirement. Willow smiled when she recalled how Tara had described the first week of the class.

"Day one, rocks. Day two, more rocks. Day three, bigger rocks," Tara had said with a mock-serious scowl on her face. Then she sighed. "You know I'm an earthy person, but there's only so much rock talk I can take before I go into a coma."

Science was not Tara's forte, even though Willow considered the mixing of potions very similar to chemistry. Tara refused to acknowledge that similarity. Unlike Willow, she wasn't inclined to excel in every course she enrolled in.

Willow reached into her school bag and pulled out a brown paper sack. She had just come from the pet store where she had been in search of more food pellets for her friend-turned-rat, Amy. At the counter she had made an impulse buy—a gray catnip mouse for Miss Kitty Fantastico. It had a pink bow and a little bell. She held it by the tail and shook it in order to make the bell jingle.

"Miss Kitty," she called with an eager smile. Miss Kitty wasn't in her usual spot, which was the chair by the window. At this time of day the sun streamed in and gave the kitten a perfect, warm napping spot. "I've got a present for you."

She walked toward the desk and peered underneath, not noticing as the black and white kitten crept toward the door that she had carelessly left ajar.

"Miss Kitty. Here kitty, kitty."

The kitten looked over toward Willow briefly when she reached the door. Then she snuck through with the stealth of a jungle cat, ready to explore the world outside the room.

Willow knelt down and looked under the bed. She looked in the corner by the bookshelf. She looked under chairs and under the sheets. She looked under Tara's pajamas, which had fallen on the floor in a small pile.

"Miss Kitty?" Willow said. She was now confused. Tara had mentioned taking Miss Kitty to the vet for a flea dip, but she hadn't mentioned it being this day. And Tara was in class. Then Willow saw the door. Her expression changed to one of guilt and fear. "Uh oh."

Few people noticed her. Those that did ignored her. She was small and stealthy. She was a jungle cat in a big unknown world, the humans moving past her like a living forest. Someone went into the stairwell and she quickly snuck through the door with them, hopping down the stairs and following them out into the lobby area on the ground floor.

She skittered over to a potted ficus tree and squeezed between it and the wall. There were couches lining the wall and she moved behind them so as not to be detected by the living forest around her. She waited and watched the main door to the dorms. Finally they opened and she made a dash for it.

Willow moved frantically down the halls of the dorm on Tara's floor. She figured Miss Kitty couldn't go far. It's not like she could open doors or anything.

"Miss Kitty," she called. A boy that passed her gave her a confused look and then kept walking. She ignored him. She saw a group of people sitting in the study lounge at the end of the hall and she approached them. They were all sitting and just chatting, their ignored class notes sitting around them.

"Uh, hi," Willow said nervously to them with a smile. "I was wondering if any of you have seen a kitten around? She's black with white paws and she goes by Miss Kitty Fantastico and she's the cutest thing you've ever seen." Some of them shot her confused looks, while the others shook their heads.

"We're not supposed to have cats in the dorm," one very studious, rule-abiding girl said with a scowl.

"Yeah, I know, but I was just...watching her...for a friend...who lives off-campus," Willow lied. They all stared at her, waiting to see if she wanted anything else. "Okay, so no Miss Kitty here. Thanks anyway."

She spent a good half hour roaming the halls on that floor, but she had no success. She feared Miss Kitty had escaped that floor or had been catnapped. She didn't know what to do. How could she tell Tara that she had lost Miss Kitty? She would be back from class soon. She would get to her room and wonder where Miss Kitty had gone. Willow dejectedly made her way back to the room, wondering what she would say when Tara got there.

"Hey, Tara, funny thing happened when I got back from the pet store..."

"You know Miss Kitty? You didn't like her that much, did you?"

"Amy's a good pet, and she's a good witch project with the whole trying to make her human again..."

Willow shook her head and paced at the foot of the bed. She looked up when the door opened. Tara walked in, her messenger bag slung over one shoulder. She smiled when she saw Willow, who could only offer a nervous smile.

"Hey, how was class?" she asked, trying to conceal her anxiety. Tara shrugged her shoulders.

"You know how I feel about earth science," Tara said with a smirk. "So how's your day going?"

"Okay! You twisted my arm," Willow said, not able to contain herself anymore. Tara was taken aback by this sudden exclamation. "I lost Miss Kitty. I'm so, so sorry. Please don't hate me."

"You what?" Tara asked, shocked and worried by this news. Then an angered scowl creased her brow. "You lost Miss Kitty? How?"

"Turns out we should've named her Houdini because she snuck right past me and I got her this catnip mouse from the pet store and I was looking for her. I guess I accidentally left the door open and she must've snuck out. I looked all over the floor but I couldn't find her and I don't know where she went and...why is your bag moving?"

Tara looked down at her bag, and her scowl changed to a mischievous smirk as she lifted the flap to reveal Miss Kitty Fantastico the Escape Artist squirming around inside. Willow looked at the kitten in shock.

"You found her?" Willow asked. Then she looked at Tara in annoyance. "You found her and you let me babble like an idiot? Why did you torture me like that?"

"Because I love to watch you squirm," Tara said with a playful smile. Willow reached forward and pulled Miss Kitty out of Tara's bag. "I caught her making a break for it out of the building on my way back from class."

Willow held Miss Kitty up at eye level in both hands and scowled at her. "You're one sneaky kitty."

"We'll have to call her The Amazing Miss Kitty Fantastico," Tara said with a giggle, lightly rubbing Miss Kitty's head. Willow set the kitten on the bed and gave her the catnip mouse. Then she turned back to Tara.

"How long were you going to let me feel all guilty before you told me you found her?" Willow asked with a pout. Tara moved forward and wrapped her arms around Willow's waist.

"As long as I could get away with it," she said. "I figured it would at least last till I put my bag down and she found her own way out."

"Because you know she would find her way," Willow said.

"I had to get you for letting her out," Tara admitted with a laugh. Willow offered an apologetic puppy dog look.

"Forgive me?"

Tara smiled coyly and leaned forward. "I think you're going to have to make it up to me."

Willow returned the smile and led Tara back to the bed. Miss Kitty took her mouse and jumped off the bed, moving to her favorite spot on the chair by the window while Willow "apologized" to Tara.