Disclaimer: I only own Barbie, Tony, and Kasia Mitton and this storyline.
A/N: Kasia's name is pronounced Kay-shah. Pretty much just the word 'Asia' with a K in front of it. Just thought I'd point that out, since I've heard it pronounced like Kasha.
Also, please leave me a review. Even if you think it was absolutely awful and the worst plot ever, tell me so. I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my only subscriber, Mossheart. Thanks, Mossheart!
"Well, here it is," Sunny announced as he pulled into his garage.
"Wow! Your house is amazing!" Kasia gazed at it in awe. "I'd love to live out here! My neighborhood…well, what was my neighborhood, before I was kicked out…all the houses are so close together, they all look almost exactly alike, and the only tree we have is the little dying one in the front yard…"
"I've seen it," Sunny told her with a grin. "Truthfully, it gets a bit lonely out here sometimes. You say the houses are too close together, but my neighbors live miles away from me. Anyways, c'mon. I'll take you to the guest room,"
"Wow! You have a guest room? My house only has two bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen!"
"My house has so many rooms, I think it's quite possible to get lost in it," Sunny admitted. "Now, if you're done gawking at my house, we should get inside. It's getting late, and you have school tomorrow,"
"No I don't. Tomorrow's a Sunday," Kasia reminded him, glancing at him.
"When you're a teacher, kiddo, Sundays are school days," Sunny told her. She gaped.
"Wow!" Kasia exclaimed. "My mom works at a car parts factory and my dad paints houses. They try to avoid children as much as possible…including me,"
"Let's not dwell on that. This next week, I'm gonna make sure you're having the most fun you've ever had. I think you deserve it more than anyone I've ever met,"
"Wow!" Kasia's blue eyes grew huge. "Really?"
"Absolutely. I have a conference with Madison's parents tomorrow, but after that, we can do whatever you want," Sunny told her. She hugged him tightly.
"You're the coolest teacher ever!" she squealed.
"Thanks, Kasia," Sunny smiled and patted her on her brown-haired head. "Well, here's the guest room,"
"Wow!" Kasia's eyes grew gigantic at the sight of it. The curtains, walls, and bedclothes were a pale, silvery blue. There was a nightstand with a phone and a lamp on it in the corner, and a large TV in front of the bed. Both a closet and a dresser were by the wall with the TV, and a large window sat next to the bed. A huge bathroom was off to the side.
"Get yourself settled in…there's a map of the house on the door. Meet me in the kitchen once you're settled in. You like lasagna?"
"I love lasagna!" Kasia admitted.
"Great. I'll make us some lasagna," Sunny told her as he left. Kasia began emptying her bag onto the bed. She'd brought several sets of clothes, her toothbrush and toothpaste, her schoolbag with all her books and homework in it, both of her guitars, her CD player and some CD's, her drawing bag with some coloring utensils, pencils, erasers, and a sketchbook, and her stuffed cat. Wait a minute…she didn't remember packing a stuffed cat! She didn't even remember owning a stuffed cat. Reaching into the bag and lifting it out, she realized that it was her real cat, Clove, named because of the white clover-shaped spot on his chest. She remembered that he liked to nestle into the bag she'd chosen, and in her hurry, she hadn't noticed him when she'd started tossing things into the bag.
"Clove…" she sighed, lifting the kitten out of the bag. He mewed softly, and then purred when she rubbed his back. She shrugged off the grey hooded sweatshirt she'd been wearing and rolled it into a cushion for him, which he happily accepted, curling up on it immediately.
"Just stay there while I get organized," she ordered, hanging up clothes on hangers and resting her two guitars against the dresser. After she came out of the bathroom after putting her toothbrush and toothpaste on the sink, she glanced at the map on the door.
"Oh, the kitchen's not too far away…c'mon, Clove, we should tell Sunny about you," Clove mewed, as though agreeing, and hopped into Kasia's arms. Kasia arrived at the kitchen and found Sunny standing at the stove.
"You get settled in okay?" he asked when he heard her walk in.
"Yeah…um…Sunny…how do you feel about cats?" Kasia asked.
"Cats? Um…well,
cats are…cute…I guess. Why do you ask?" Sunny queried, turning
to face her. She held up Clove.
"I found a little stowaway in
my bag. He sleeps in there sometimes and I guess I didn't see him
when I was throwing stuff in," Kasia explained. "You're not
allergic or anything, are you?"
"Nah," Sunny replied, turning off the stove and walking over. "What's his name?"
"Clove…see, cuz he's got a clover-shaped white spot on his chest?"
"Yep. Well, nice to meet you, Clove," Sunny stroked him on the head. "I had a cat when I was your age. A Siamese, named Zoey. I wanted to take her with me when I moved out, but my parents couldn't part with her. There's some tuna in the cupboard, if you think he's hungry,"
"Okay," Kasia stood up and took it out, opening it with the can opener and pouring it into a small dish, then placing it on the floor. Clove nibbled at it and then mewed his thanks before gulping down the rest.
"This lasagna is delicious!" Kasia announced, and Sunny laughed.
"I'm glad you think so. It was the only thing I could cook when I still lived at home. I burned everything else, even water. I couldn't even make toast!"
"Once, I was trying to make my parents breakfast, because my dad had had a hard day at work and had slept in for a really long time. I was trying to make toast and eggs and bacon all at the same time that I was pouring orange juice. I got so confused that I cooked the toast and orange juice on the stove, put bacon in the toaster, and poured eggs into glasses. Needless to say, it didn't go well," Kasia admitted, and they both laughed.
"So your parents weren't always…like this?" Sunny asked.
"Oh, no. For the longest time they were perfect, as in couldn't-have-asked-for-better. They let simple mistakes slide and if I goofed up too badly, I was punished, but fairly. They even let me say how I thought I should be punished. We actually talked together. We were all so happy. But then my mom got pregnant with a baby boy, but he died during birth. I don't know how it changed so much, but it did. They said it was my fault and started being different. It started with just yelling, and then one day my dad got so angry that he smacked me. It never stopped after that," Kasia sighed, and Sunny placed a hand on her shoulder. As though sensing the mood, Clove leapt into Kasia's lap and rubbed his head against her stomach.
"Well, thanks for dinner. I should go to bed now, I'm pretty exhausted," Kasia admitted.
"Okay, good night, Kasia," Sunny called after her.
"Good night!" she called back, smiling. He heard a door open and close and then began putting dishes into the dishwasher. A little later, he jumped as a small brown cat with a white spot on his chest leapt onto the counter.
"I'll take you to Kasia's room. I don't want you getting lost," Sunny told him, scooping the tiny cat into his arms and carrying him down the hall. He knocked on the door to no answer, but the door was unlocked so he entered. He saw that the lights were on and the TV was on to a cartoons channel, but she had fallen asleep on the floor. He turned out the light and flicked off the TV, and very gently scooped his small student into his arms and lay her in the bed, pulling the blankets over her. Clove leapt onto the bed and nuzzled up by her chest, and Kasia draped an arm over him. Sunny left the room and closed the door quietly. As he walked into his living room to watch TV, something in his chest seemed to pang against him softly.
"I'd do the same thing for any of my other students…she was kicked out of her home by her own father…it's just a bit of compassion, pity, sympathy…" he muttered to himself as he collapsed on the couch. Is it really something inside him questioned. Outwardly, he insisted yes, but on the inside, he replied no.