Clove

I woke up pretty early that day especially considering it's a Sunday (aka my lazy morning day). I was up and dressed before 9am in a pale blue shirt, black leggings and a sweater. I got down to breakfast right after, much to the surprise of my family.

"You're up early." Madeline said, pouring orange juice in her glass.

"And your dressed. Going somewhere?" Mom intrigued, her eyebrows raised.

"As a matter of fact, I am. I have a playdate with one of the children from the theater class I taught yesterday."

"Already? That's quite remarkable. I always knew you were good with kids but I never expected you to bond with one so quickly seeing as you only spent two hours in the theater."

"Yeah Clove. How did you get so close to that child in that very brief span of time? Was he/she the only one you talked to during the entire two hours or does he/she happen to have an older sibling that goes to your school?" Saw right through me. That was fast.

"A bit of both actually. But she wasn't the only one I talked to. She was the only one I was able to have a little one on one time with though. And her siblings are some of my closest friends."

"Is this a boy or a girl?" My dad butted in, suddenly interested in the conversation.

"Um.. Both actually. Her older brother's my age and her older sister is in 8th grade. I met her at the park sometime before Christmas." They were all looking at me suspiciously.

"And who might this boy be?"

I was considering lying or at least shift the topic a bit before I remembered that they already knew Cato and liked him well enough. "Cato."

"Oh." They all said at once. I honestly don't know if that's a good thing or not.

"Is he coming to pick you up or are you going there on your own?"

"He's coming here. He should be around in a few minutes."

As if on cue, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" I probably sounded a bit too eager but oh well. Nothing I can do about it now.

"Clove, invite him in before you go! We want to talk to him!" My dad shouted as I was nearing the door. I sighed before opening the door, planting a smile on my face.

"Hey." He greeted, leaning against the doorframe with his hands crossed across his chest. He looked like a model in that position. I felt my heart beat ten times faster and the butterflies erupt in my stomach. Damn him for looking so good this early in the morning. How is that even legal?

"Hey to you too."

"Shall we go?"

"Um actually my parents want to talk to you first." He looked a bit taken aback by that. If he was nervous, he didn't let it show. Must be his professional side that's in control at the moment. As a performer, you had to be prepared to face anything. Emotions had to be in check all the time. That's exactly what he's doing at the moment. To be honest, I'm kind of jealous. I wish I could be as good at masking my emotions as he is.

I led him to the dining room where everyone was waiting. He greeted everyone good morning accompanied with his ever dashing smile that melts the hearts of millions of females, myself included.

"Long time no see, Cato. Have you eaten?" My mom asked hospitably.

"I have, actually. My sister never lets me leave the house without eating. But thanks for the offer."

"Would you care for anything to drink, then? Water, juice, tea, coffee?"

"Uh. I guess water would be fine. Thank you."

"Clove, be a dear and fetch him a glass." I got what was asked of me and handed it over. He thanked me politely and finished his glass of water in one gulp.

"Well, we mustn't keep you too long. The little one might get impatient. It was nice seeing you again, Cato! Drop by anytime!"

"Will do, Mrs. Kentwell!" He said before exiting the room and going out the door. I followed shortly after, saying goodbye to my parents before doing so.

"Be back before dinner!" My mom yelled as I was about to close the door.

"I will mom! Love you!" I didn't hear what she had to say after that. It was pretty embarrassing, they way my family was looking at him as if passing judgment. The worst part is we aren't even dating! It was just plain awkward.

The car ride was mostly silent save for the radio that was playing music. Cato would occasionally sing along to parts of the songs that came on but that was it, really. It was a bit awkward but I guess the silence wasn't entirely unbearable. I had stuff to think about so I wasn't all too bothered. After about 20 minutes, we arrived at his house. It felt a bit lengthier, the time it took to travel from my house to his, but maybe it's just me. After all, I've only been here once before.

The moment Cato opened the door, something, or rather someone, flew right into his arms.

"Kitty you're home! Play play play!"

"Alright, princess." He said as he was putting her back down. "But you have to behave okay?"

"I will! I promise!" And with that, she immediately detached herself from Cato and proceeded to drag me upstairs to where I assume her room would be.

It was a really cute room. The walls were painted a light shade of pink with a few posters of educational things such as the alphabet, numbers, and surprisingly a map hanging on it. She also had those little glow in the dark stickers hanging on her ceiling. She had a trundle bed, which I'm assuming doesn't get used all too often seeing as the bottom didn't have any sheets. She had a white dresser across the room from her bed where the plasma TV was placed. She had one of those couches that were against the windows with two bookshelves on both sides. In the center of the room was a big flower-shaped carpet where a table and four chairs, most likely for playing tea party, were placed. She also had a few dollhouses to the side of the room and bins to keep all her toys. I have to say, it was a pretty neat and well-kept room for a toddler.

We played for a little while, from dolls to tea party to dress up and pretty much everything a four year old would want to do. After about 2 hours of playing, someone knocked on the door. We were in the middle of our fashion show, with me dressed up in a tutu (probably Chris's), a tiara and wings. I was supposed to be a fairy princess, according to Charlie.

"Come in!" she shouted toward the direction of the door.

"Hey Charlie have you-" his speech was cut short by the sight of our attires.

We were both frozen for a second. It took me a moment to realize I haven't introduced myself yet. "Hi!" I greeted. "I'm-"

"Clove. I know. Everyone talks about you in this household." okay. A little harsh. Maybe he is one of those angsty, misunderstood teenagers.

"You must be Cameron. Am I right?"

"Yeah."

Silence. He just keeps staring at me. It's really freaking me out right now. Not mention it's really awkward.

"Is there anything we can help you with?" I decided to break the never ending silence in the hope that he'd get what he needed and leave.

"Oh." He said, as if escaping from his trance. "Nevermind. It's not that important." He left right after. What an odd child. Definitely unlike his other siblings who are all happy go lucky and social.

"Is he usually like that Charlie?"

She shakes her head, "No. But sometime he is. My sister said don't mind him when he's being like that. He just needs time to think. Cole said Kitty was like that too."

"He was?" Somehow I can't imagine Cato being the shy type. Afterall, he befriended me easily enough.

"Uh huh. She said that he didn't like talking to other people very much. Mommy didn't let him leave the house unless he had to go to school."

Ah. The infamous overprotective mother. I've heard about her but not much. Cato doesn't really like talking about his parents.

"I don't really know my mommy. I only get to see her on birthdays and christmas. But that's okay. I know she's working hard so that we can all be happy!" This little girl is probably the strongest individual I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Even Cato, on the rare occasion that he do, can't say anything nice about his parents. Not because he doesn't love them but because he knows the truth. They practically abandoned these kids. They don't deserve the love this child is showing them.

I smiled anyway, despite the sadness I feel inside. There's no need to ruin her spirits. She's too young to understand the truth of the matter. "Yeah. They are. So you should work hard too so that what mommy and daddy are doing won't go to waste, right?"

"Uh huh!" she nodded enthusiastically. After that, we decided to resume our little make believe world. Not long after, though, someone else knocked on the door.

"Time to eat!" Chris said. I don't think she knew I was here beforehand since she bolted right towards me the moment she saw me. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! oh my gosh! Clove you're here! Why didn't you tell me you were coming?! And what on earth are you wearing?"

"She's a fairy princess!" Charlie said, quite proud of her work.

"Yeah, yeah. I can see that. Well, let's go! Time to eat! We can talk all about this later" Chris then proceeded to exit the room leaving me and Charlie to trail behind her. I took a quick glance at the little girl and saw that she wasn't as bouncy as she was a mere minute ago. I wonder if she always gets this kind of treatment from her siblings? If so, then this child really doesn't have that great of a life, despite how rich she is.

"C'mon Charlie." I said with a smile on my face. I'm determined to help this child in any way that I can. She needs more attention and guidance than what her sibling are providing her, well, as far as I can see.

When we got to the dining room, the twins were already there. When I asked, Chris said that the other two were still finishing up with the preparations. I sat down next to Charlie in their rectangular table. It must be really lonely to eat here. It was one of those long dining tables that seated a dozen people. More often than not there were only four of them eating at this table at the same time. Cato said he usually eats at Gale's since that's where they hold their practices everyday. It must really be hard to live in this kind of family. A family wherein the parents aren't there to guide you and make sure that what you're doing is right. A family composed of only siblings. Well I guess technically Coleen is old enough to be a mother but this is just too much.

Lunch was served as I was contemplating on the lives of these people around me. They may not show it very much but I know all of them are suffering inside. They may choose to ignore that fact but they can't do it forever. These feelings overwhelm me as I was eating and partially listening to their conversations. Occasionally I would join in but only when asked. I really can't imagine my life being like this.

After eating, Charlie and I resumed playing until 5pm. The only reason I was finally able to get away was because Coleen suggested to take the twins and Charlie to the grocery to buy food for the rest of the week while Cato was obligated to take me home.

In the car, my mind was racing. I didn't know what to do nor whether or not to ask more about his family. I took the leap of faith and asked anyway, despite knowing it would be a sore subject for him.

"Cato, can I ask you something?"

"Hmm?" He replied, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Is that really how your family act towards one another?" It took him awhile to answer the question. I was about to take it back when he said, "Yeah." in a pretty defeated tone. "I know, it's bad, huh? It's just, with twins in their preteen stage and Charlie a toddler, it's hard to take care of things around the house especially considering Cole and I work. More often than not, we have to leave the twins to take care of Charlie since they all get out of school at around the same time. The problem is, they don't really get along very well since they sometimes view Charlie as a bit of a nuisance. They think it's her fault why mom and dad left."

"What? Why would they think that?"

"It's a pretty long story. I'll tell you some other time, I promise."

"Okay." We both got silent after that, save for the soft music playing on the radio. Wow. Deja vu much?

We got to my house a few minutes later. He parked his car in front, his usual spot. Before I left, I felt that I needed to say something to comfort him of sorts. "Cato." I said, looking directly at him. He didn't say anything but turned to face me. "I'll always be here for you, no matter what. You know that right?" He just nodded. I smiled at him before saying, "I'm just a phone call away. Oh and tell Charlie I'll gladly play with her again whenever she wants, okay?"

"I'll be sure to relay the message. Do I get to play too?" He had a grin on his face, indicating that his way of "playing" was completely unrelated to what I was talking about.

"No, you do not if that's the kind of 'playing' you want to do." He let out a laugh at that. That's the Cato I knew. Always carefree, egotistic and somewhat perverted. Such a guy.

"I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"

"Yeah, see you." I said before kissing him lightly on the cheek and exiting his car. When I got to the front door, I turned around I saw that he had opened his window. I waved goodbye to him before going inside. I saw him wave back before closing his window again and headed home.

What a day. I can honestly say that it's good to be home.

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