Oh,no, thought Sissy, why didn't I think of that! Now the problem was going to be how to make sure no one found out! If she had only told the girls, they might be able to work something out, but not now. Sissy ran to the kitchen the next morning. She knew Meche always got up earlier. She was glad to see that Meche was busy preparing avena for breakfast. The dectuplets had asked for it specifically. Really, thought Sissy. She didn't understand why people ate such weird things. The only things she liked to eat from the table was just the shellfish, chicharrones, and jello.

Sissy ran back to the room where she had seen Kitty take Lance last night. Sissy quickly decided that she would personally take him back to his house, so as to not risk Meche or anyone seeing him. Of course, Sissy knew Meche wouldn't say anything to anyone except Ma.Eugenia, and Ma.Eugenia loved to gossip. She had an excellent memory for it. The dectuplets' great grandmother, Petra, called her "Doña Chismes". And she would obviously tell everybody what Meche had seen in the morning.

"Hurry, get dressed,"Sissy ordered. "I'm communicating with you because it's urgent. There's no time to explain. You go back to your own room as quickly and quietly as you can. I'll take you back. Just touch my fur. It won't take but a second."

"The cat also has powers?"asked Lance. "I didn't know..."

"Neither did I. But they always spoke to the cat as if it were human"

"I'm not an it"said Sissy angrily. "I'm a female."

"Oh, sorry."

"You should be. I'm not an ordinary cat anymore than the dectuplets are ordinary people. As for why no one knows about me, it's for the same reason no one knows about you. Though I don't see why it should be. I'm just like all the other cats, except that I can communicate with people. And let me tell you, people are some of the dumbest, not to mention filthiest creatures I have ever seen. And anyways, I may not be an ordinary cat, but I can still scratch and bite as good as an ordinary cat. If you don't believe me, just ask Arthur, or Jesus."

Kitty remembered what Jesus had said when he saw Sissy. That cat is vicious, man, scared the crap out of me. That ain't no cat, it's a little lion, is what it is!

"Right,"she answered.

"Wait a minute, my car"said Lance

"I already took care of that"

He put his hand on Sissy's back, and in one minute was in his own room, and Sissy left. Sissy returned to Ma.Xulia's room, and waited patiently until the alarm went off. They didn't seem to suspect anything, since they were still tired from only seven hours of sleep. They put on their clothes, and jewelry, their hair braided itself, and they went downstairs.

"Good morning, Sissy."said everyone of them when they say Sissy.

"Good morning."answered Sissy. Sissy began to groom herself.

"I wish I had your life, Sissy."said Ma.Xiomara enviously. "Won't you consider trading lives with me, please? Pretty please with a cherry on top."

"No, and you're going to be late. Fermin is already waiting for you."

Kitty got up at the same time every day. Rogue did not seem to notice that she had not been there most of the night. That was a relief. It seemed that she had slept very soundly. Too soundly.

In the car, the dectuplets discussed what they had seen in Alondra the day before. Kitty and Kurt always went to school with them, as they rode in a much, bigger, and more luxurious car, not to mention the fact that they had a chauffeur. The dectuplets didn't mind them. They spoke in Spanish, anyway, and Kurt and Kitty didn't even have the slightest idea what Alondra was.

"I think Sissy was a little happier this morning."spoke Ma.Xochilt. "Don't you think?"

"Yes,"said Ma.Xacinta. "She seemed to have forgotten all about that date, and the fact that she misses Piedras Grandes so much."

"Maybe she knows that it won't get her anywhere."

"I don't know, maybe she came up with a plan and she won't tell us."

"She better not have."

The cell phone rang.

"Hello." It was Arthur. "I know you aren't in class, yet, so I decided to call before you got to class. How are things going?"

"They're fine. Cuzz, you should come see us this afternoon. You should watch Mujer de Madera with us. Did you see on Friday when Aaron was finally with his daughters. I don't know if he actually deserves that happiness. He might've been a good father, but I don't really know about him being a good person."

"I didn't really call to discuss that. I called for another reason. How are things going with Maru."

"Maru's just fine. However, nobody knows about you-know-what. We take them all at the same time. Don't worry, Meche makes sure we do. She keeps them in her room, locked. So nobody will find them. Or so that if they do, and let's hope not they'll think it's hers. You know nobody should know."

"I wasn't talking about that, but now that you mention it, you shouldn't be ashamed."

"Cuzzy, we're cursed, and you know it! You never know when they can come back. Right now, it sleeps, however, it can come back any time."

"Maybe, but I was talking about how are things going with Maru's father."

"The same, obviously, and I don't say I blame her. Geez, if my father ever treated me like that I would be pretty upset, too. You gotta admit, he's not very...well, he's not like our father, anyway."

"Things here are different, in case you haven't noticed. People here have more personal space. They don't hug and kiss and all that. They stay away from each other."

"We've noticed that. And it's sad. And depressing."

"You guys, maybe I should talk to Ma.Eugenia."

"Why are you so interested?"

"Maybe because it'll be my good deed for the day. I hardly ever do something good. Besides, it seems to me like he's a good person. Just what were you saying about Aaron Santibañez? We know the audience thinks he's a good person because we see Mariza's view of him, but well, we also know that it was all his fault that Lucrecia almost died. And not just Lucrecia, all his daughters."

"So? I think the reason things went out of control was because maybe Effrain caused them to go out of control. Besides, wasn't everything Piedad's idea?"

"Nevertheless, I think Maru should listen to what her father has to say. And I should help out with that."

"If you think so. You won't get very far, though, and I wouldn't suggest it. You'd only be torturing her. She's already struggling enough with her conscience for you to torment her telling her she's wrong."

"Maybe. Well, bye. Your classes should start in a few more minutes."

When she put the phone back in her bag, Kitty exploded at her.

"You know you should keep an eye on that cat of yours more closely."

"Why?"

"Why didn't you ever say anything that your cat has powers."

"What!"

"She told me herself this morning."

"Oh, well, Sissy's not really our cat. People don't own cats, Gatica. Cats own people. You could say, we are Sissy's humans. Why did Sissy speak to you? What did she say?"

"She...just told me she could do that. That's it."

"You're lying. Sissy should've had a good reason. She doesn't like people too much. She thinks them...stupid and not worthy of much attention, since most of them don't respect the planet, nature. That the world can go on without them. They are only here to destroy. Like a disease that spreads everywhere. That's why she respects us, you see, because we are animals, not people. We've never considered ourselves human. We are above that, you see. That's why I don't know why we have to hide. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Back home everyone loved us and respected us because we are different. You see how Maru treats us. With respect, because we are gifted, we are chosen. God knows why He gave us the abilities He did. You can't lie to us, Gatica, we can see it in your eyes. We can keep a secret. Besides, Sissy will tell us if you don't."

"Would she?"Kitty asked. She hadn't thought of that. If the cat could tell anyone, what would they say? But then again, these were Ma.Eugenia's best friends, and wasn't the whole point to make Ma.Eugenia and Lance break up. If Ma.Eugenia didn't know then what good was it? She didn't think Lance would tell her. Guys didn't tell their girlfriends they cheated on them.

"Oh, because she was helping me so no one would know what happened last night."

"Last night? We were up most of the night. Sissy was up with us. She always accompanies us when we watch TV. That's odd." Then, she thought of something. A dream she had before they had left San Pedro. She looked at her sisters, they were all thinking the same thing. They always did, since they always had the same dreams. This one, was a very strange one. Thanks to it, she knew what he would look like before she met him. Because he was in bed with a girl, even though, she hadn't really seen her face, because the dream ended there.

"But of course! That must've been why Sissy wanted us to befriend you in the first place!"she thought to herself.