"...And that's how I met Spencer!" Millie finished happily.

Emily smiled to herself as Millie finished her tale. It had only been a day since she had met Millie and Spencer, but already the three were growing closer. Currently Emily was still uncertain about how she viewed them, and considered the two good acquaintances, but she knew it wouldn't be long until she'd be willing to call them her friends.

Currently the three were on their free period, and were walking around the school for a bit of relaxation before being forced into a school chair for the next few hours. Emily took advantage of this to show them around the school, and in return several enjoyable stories and conversations were shared between the three.

"Heh. Interesting story," Emily replied. "Though how bout we take a break for a bit? I'm kinda thirsty."

With a nod of acknowledgement, Millie began to look around for someplace to sit down. The school did not have much in the way of seating outside the cafeteria, but there were some small corners of the school with places for the average student to relax inbetween classes. Thankfully one of these was nearby; a small number of benches combined with a vending machine and potted plant. Spencer and Millie sat down to rest their legs, while Emily began to inspect the contents of the vending machine.

As Emily inserted a few coins and selected something to drink, an amusing memory crossed her mind. "You know," she started, bending down to retrieve her drink, "my mom actually got her arm stuck in one of these."

Millie and Spencer both looked up. "Heh, really?" Millie asked.

Emily stood up and turned to face them while calmly opening her can of soda. "Yeah. Back when she was my age, she decided the best thing to do when it wouldn't vend her anything was to stick her arm up inside it. It...didn't work very well."

Millie giggled slightly. "How'd she fix it?"

"Well, first my dad came along and tried to help, but he couldn't figure anything out. Then when he went to get the janitor, she said her arm just kind of slid out." Emily grinned a bit as she recalled the best part of the story. "She was so pissed she kicked it to the point where the school just had to get a new one."

The three shared a quick laugh at the story, then began to talk about other things for a while until Emily had finished her soda, just a few minutes before class began. "Well, guess I'll see you guys around then," she said, and turned to leave. Unfortunately, a male Siamese kid had just been turning the corner, and lightly smacked into Emily. She mumbled a small apology and attempted to skirt around the Siamese, only to find he did not wish to let her go that easily.

"You!" he exclaimed, receiving only a confused stare in response.

"Who are you and what do you want?" asked a disgruntled Emily.

"You're the one that kicked me in the leg yesterday!"

Emily stared blankly for a second, only to erupt into laughter. "Pffft, you searched me out over that?"

"Well...yeah," the kid tried to defend himself, not expecting such a reaction. "It hurt, alright? And you stood there holding up the line for almost a minute!"

"God, I zoned out alright?" Emily told him in an attempt to defend herself. "And I didn't expect to get shoved from behind either. Just let it go, dude."

"Not until I get some sort of apology!" he demanded.

"I'm not apologizing for something that trivial, alright asshole?" retorted Emily, receiving an eye roll in response.

"Hey, lay off her!" came Millie's voice from behind the two.

Emily spun around. Millie stood a few feet behind them, looking noticeably angrier than usual. "Mil, no," Emily tried to stop her, "stay out of this."

Millie refused to listen, and walked towards the Siamese till the two were face-to-face. "How bout you mind your own business?" she asked angrily.

"How bout you do what your friend says and stay out of this little kitten?' replied the Siamese.

"Kitten‽"

"What, that's too nice?" he asked as his face morphed into a sinister smile. "How bout I call you 'shitten' then?"

"H-hey!" she exclaimed, trying to defend herself.

"Awww, are somebody's feelings hurt?"

"Stop it!" she cried, growing a little misty-eyed in the process.

The Siamese rolled his eyes. "Like your stupid friend said, this is between me and her. Just fuck off somewhere else, alright?"

Emily had considered intervening when Millie seemed to be on the verge of tears, but decided against it when she noticed Millie's watery eyes narrowing and her tail puffing up. The Siamese didn't seem to notice or care, and instead stared down Millie, waiting for her to do something other than look equal parts pissed and saddened.

"What, just gonna stare at me like that?" he teased.

"No."

And then Millie punched him in the jaw.

Spencer and Emily gasped. Millie stood dangerously still. The Siamese took his throbbing jaw in this hand. For a few dangerously quiet seconds nobody said a word.

Finally the Siamese decided to speak up, "Fine, fuck you then!"

The remaining three teenagers watched as the boy stormed off down the hallway, presumably to squeal about what had just happened. There probably wasn't much time until a teacher arrived to deliver punishment, but the three were currently too stunned by what had happened to make any attempt to evade said punishment.

Gradually, Emily finally returned to normal. The first thing she did was look over at Millie, who seemed a lot less spirited than before. Her ears and tail drooped, and from what Emily could see, her face showed feelings of regret.

"Uhhh...Mil? You alright?"

Millie stared over at Emily with frightened eyes. "...What did I do..."

"Well, you socked that guy in the jaw."

Millie's face fell even further. "I...I know," she said, her voice cracking slightly.

By now Spencer had gotten up as well. Both him and Emily stared at Millie sadly, thinking of some way to comfort her.

"So...why'd you do it?" Emily eventually asked.

"Well, the way he teased me...I just couldn't take it anymore..."

"Alright, who's responsible here?"

All three looked over at the source of the new voice. A portly teacher stood nearby, cross-armed and looking quite irritated. When nobody answered he decided to speak up. "Well?" he asked. "A student told me one of you punched him. Speak up now or all three of you get detention!" Emily tensed up at the last bit, and stared at Millie with a nervous expression.

"...It was me," Millie spoke up sadly.

"In that case you'll be getting an hour of detention. See me after school," he grumbled, and walked off down the hallway. All three remained quiet as they watched him leave.

"Well, now what?" Spencer finally spoke up.

"I think I'd rather be alone now," Millie replied, and began to walk in a different direction. Both Emily and Spencer watched sadly, until they were the only ones left in that small corner of the school.

"Mom, I'm home!"

Lucy looked up from the plate she had been cleaning at her daughter's voice. "Hey, Millie! You're home kinda late," she observed.

"Yeah..."

Sensing something was off, Lucy looked behind her. Millie stood in the doorway, sullen expression on her face. It was obvious something was up. "You okay?" asked her mom, with slight concern.

Millie looked away, nervously hiding her face. "Uhh, yeah..."

"Why are you home late then?"

Millie began to sweat slightly with fear, and forced a smile to try and hide it. "Decided I'd take the scenic route..?"

Lucy nodded slowly. "Mmmhmm. What's the real reason?" she asked flatly.

"That is it!" Millie replied defensively.

"It clearly isn't."

Millie opened her mouth, then quickly closed it, unable to think of a way to convince her mom otherwise. "I...I had detention," she finally admitted, ears falling flat.

Her mother didn't say anything. Millie closed her eyes in shame. Silently, she waited as her mom turned off the sink and took a few steps towards her. Millie finally opened her eyes and looked up fearfully at her mother's neutral expression.

"How'd it happen?" Lucy asked.

Millie stared down, refusing to make eye contact. "I punched someone..."

Lucy furrowed her brow and leaned in slightly. "Why?"

"He was insulting me and a friend a lot...I just wanted to make him stop..."

Lucy sighed to herself and stared at her child, who continued to refuse showing her face. "Well, look Millie. Head to your room for now, and I'll talk with your father, okay? You're not in trouble, but, uhh," Lucy bit her lip as she tried to think of a way to voice her sentiments without making her daughter feel worse. "I...can't really let this slide, alright?"

Millie finally looked up at her mom. Her face didn't change from sadness, but it seemed to show some semblance of understanding. Lucy forced a smile, and Millie followed suit. When the smiling reached the point it became awkward, Millie walked past her mom towards the stairs. Lucy watched her go, then walked out into the living room where Mike had been watching TV. Instead, he watched his wife enter the room, wearing the same concerned look Lucy was.

"Guessing you heard all of it?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah," Mike sighed. "What do you think we should we?"

Lucy moved over to sit next to him. "...I don't know. I never thought she'd do something like this," she said, hiccuping slightly. "Why do you think she did it?"

Mike brought a hand to his chin, trying to think of some explanation. At first he was unable to think of a reason, but then something clicked. "Uhhh, hey, remember when we were her age?"

"...Yeah?"

Mike hesitated to continue. "Remember some of the...things we did...?"

With a stern face, Lucy leaned in closer. "Liiiike?"

"How you...hit me? And uhhh," Mike began to sweat, "how I reacted?"

Lucy jerked back slightly, "Uhhhh..."

Mike smiled nervously and waited for her to realize.

Lucy's face immediately fell as she realized what he was implying. "Y-you're saying we passed it on?"

"Well, it's possible it was just a coincidence, but...if it's not..."

Mike looked away sadly. Lucy covered her mouth with her hands and began to sob quietly. "God, my poor baby...I don't want her to end up like that..."

Lucy continued sniffling quietly, only to be temporarily shaken out of it by an arm around her shoulders. "She's fifteen, and this is the first something something like this happened," Mike told her. "If it happens again we'll talk to her, okay? I don't think we should worry too much right now."

Lucy sighed. "I suppose..."

"She's a good kid, Lucy. I don't think she'll make the same mistakes we did."

"Well," Lucy hesitated. Mike was right. It was only one incident, and if any more happened it could (hopefully) be fixed. "Alright. Should we talk to her now though?"

"No, let her be. I think she feels bad enough already."

Which she definitely did. Millie slept uneasily that night, trying in vain to shake the persistent feeling of regret. After some difficulty she did mange to drift off, but she did not sleep soundly, and any dreams she had were unpleasant in nature.

The next day involved Millie doing her best to avoid her friends. She still caught glimpses of them between classes, but did her best to avoid having them see or talk to her for most of the morning. As lunch rolled around though, Millie began to truly fear. She didn't know of any other free tables besides the one her friends claimed, and the cafeteria was as crowded as the day before, meaning the floor was the only other option she could think of.

And yet, Millie began to realize that perhaps it was silly to want to avoid them so much. Spencer had been her friend for years, and Emily seemed understanding. It wasn't like they would leave her just because she punched some kid who kind of deserved it anyway. Sighing, Millie hid her face by staring down at her tray of food, and slowly began making her way towards the corner of the room where her friends most likely were.

Soon, Millie came close to her destination. She briefly glanced up, and saw her friends were indeed at the table. The two were talking to each other, and did not notice Millie's presence. Millie hid her face once more, and slowly walked up to the table, waiting for one of them to notice her.

"Oh hey, Mil!" Emily's voice. "Where've ya been?"

Millie said nothing. Instead she quietly took a seat at the table, and began to stare absently at her tray. "You okay?" asked Emily. Millie continued to be silent.

Emily sighed. "This is about yesterday, isn't it?"

Finally, Millie spoke up: "Yes."

Millie decided to look up, noting that Emily had scooted closer to her. "What'd your parents say?" Emily inquired.

"Not much," Millie replied hesitantly. "I'll be fine...but it just feels so wrong..."

Emily remained quiet for a change. Millie began to sadly poke at the food on her tray, refusing to say anything or look up until a hand on her shoulder snapped her out of it. Millie looked up see Emily staring at her, looking rather uncomfortable doing so.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better," she told Millie, blushing slightly in the process. "Thanks for standing up for me like that." Can't say anyone's ever done that for me..." she finished, grinning sheepishly.

Millie looked up in surprise. "No one's ever stood up for you?"

"More like I was never friends with anyone," Emily said, rubbing the back of her neck. "But not anymore," she added, smiling warmly at Millie.

And for the first time that day, Millie smiled.

Unfortunately, that's all I wrote regarding kittens. Maybe one day I'll return and write more kitten vignettes, but for now all it is is a reminder that I cannot do multi-chapter fics.