Chapter 5

When I was little, I used to be obsessed with the Disney movie 'The Aristacats'. A few of my parents' friends made fun of me whenever I talked about the movie, because I sounded like I was saying 'The Aristocrats.' I laughed about it only when I found out what the term meant.

That movie is where my Allie Cat nickname really actually originated. O'Malley the Alley Cat's song near the beginning of the movie always had me singing along, and one day I was walking around in the kitchen hugging my stuffed kitty (which, of course, was supposed to be the white baby kitty in the movie) and singing "I'm O'Malley the Alley Cat…" And that's when my dad started calling me Allie Cat. Of course, if I ever told Justin this… but no matter, it wouldn't happen.

I pushed the thought aside. My disappointment had long since turned to anger, but it was after I talked with Tia Christie that I finally realized who I was angry with.

"Are you sure you're mad at him?" asked Christie as we sat at the kitchen table over another glass of milk and some cookies. It was my comfort food, and Christie knew that, so the minute she saw me brooding she went out to buy Oreos.

I cleared my throat. "Who else would I be mad at?" I paused. "Besides Brianna?"

"Why should you be angry at him for ruining this dream of yours, when he didn't even know that the dream existed in the first place?" Christie asked. An explanation inside a question. Nice.

"Even if he did know of my Plan, it wouldn't stop him. He doesn't like me," I sighed, propping my cheek up with my fist.

"So what are you getting at? That he is not supposed to date anyone else just because you're in love with him?"

"I'm not in love with him," I mumbled.

"You merely wish to marry him," said Christie with mock understanding and sympathy. "Answer my question."

"Don't you think you're being a bit harsh on a girl who's just got her heart broken?" I asked with a frown. "I mean—"

Christie interrupted me. "Don't you think you're being a bit harsh on a guy who doesn't know he's done anything wrong?"

And that was the end of our conversation.

At youth group a few nights before I hadn't even looked at the flyer that Kristen had handed out. I had been too distracted. There were… other things that I needed to look at. Like Justin giving Brianna a kiss on the cheek goodbye.

Another thought I needed to push into the abyss of my brain. Not to be saying that my brain itself is an abyss…

Anyway, I picked up the blue sheet of paper and smiled. The youth group camping trip was coming up in two weeks. Why had I forgotten about that? There had been reminders about it being passed out every month since January. There had been advertisements on all of the bulletin boards in the church, and yet I'd completely forgotten about it. I needed to send in my money.

I looked over at the stack of church handouts and bulletins I had put nicely on my desk. I kept them for no reason other than the fact my desk looked quite bare and that there were notes from sermons on the 'notes' page. And, so far, I had had no reason to ever look at them again. Until now.

I pulled out the other blue sheet that said what the camp was going to be about. "God's Will…" it said, launching into an explanation. This year was definitely going to be interesting.