Meeting the cat.

After the last bell of the day, I saw the girls standing up from their seats, quickly putting their things away and walking over to me before I even had half my textbook inside my backpack.

"Come on, hurry up!" Mila said, her body shifting as if she had to stop herself from jumping. "I want to see the cat!"

I didn't tell them Alice and Noelle would be dropping by a little later, too. I had wondered if they would refuse to go if they knew, and if they would be mad at me when they found out I had known before inviting them and didn't mention it.

Well, they were Isabelle's guests, and technically speaking, I shouldn't know that there was a connection between them at all. I could very well be wrong about that connection, even. It was all conjecture.

Anyway, I kept my mouth shut and put my things away.

There was a moment after I stood up where I was standing next to Sarah, our shoulders nearly brushing, and our hands touched. I very nearly reached to hold hers firmly, and she did the same. I felt a couple of her fingers wrapping around mine, but a shout from one of our classmates to another made us pull away with a jerk. The yell was unrelated. Something about a borrowed pen. Nobody noticed our telling slip-up.

"Ugh, you're so slow!" Sarah said before she started walking ahead of us with a frustrated shake of the shoulders.

Beside me, Grace stifled a laugh and shot me a knowing grin. "She really wants to see the cat," she sang.

"Don't tease her." Mila giggled. "She's going through a phase."

With a small smile of my own I walked out of school with the girls.

***

"Excuse us!" Mila called as she walked into the house right behind me.

"Mom's still at work," I said, "And Isabelle went to buy something. She'll be here a little later. Maybe twenty minutes."

"So… we're alone right now?" Sarah asked.

"Hm? Yes."

My blonde girlfriend threw herself at my arms, meeting my lips in a fierce kiss that almost sent me to the floor. Her tongue assaulted me and her hands caught mine, fingers interlocking with a tight grip.

She pulled away after a long moment, gasping and still holding my hands. "I needed to get that out of my system."

"You need to get a lot out of your system, lately," Mila teased.

Grace shook her head with a smile. "And she tells me not to tease her."

I almost expected Sarah to pull away and defend herself, but she doubled down and hugged me closer. "And I still have more."

I chuckled. "I thought you were here to see the cat."

"I'm sure Sarah would rather show you HER pussy," Grace said with a face that was too proud of that dumb, predictable joke.

And I still laughed, dammit. What's wrong with me?

The girls waited in the living room while I went to get Cake. I opened the door to the laundry room and the was there, chasing the toy mouse. Until she saw me, that is. Then she forgot the mouse existed and ran to me as quickly as those little legs could carry her.

I carefully picked her up and started scratching the sides of her neck, under the golden-colored collar. Cake purred and nuzzled against my fingers.

"Sorry to leave you alone for so long," I said, speaking softer than usual, yet not in that strange voice people use to speak to animals and babies. Cake meowed at me happily. We were lucky she accepted us so quickly.

I walked back to the living room with Cake in my hands. Grace and Mila outright squealed at the sight of her, while Sarahsimply looked on with a smile. I set Cake down on the floor and the girls got closer.

Then something worrying happened.

Cake hissed at them and ran away the moment Mila reached to pet her.

“Huh?” I muttered, watching Cake walk away.

“I thought you said she was friendly,” Sarah said.

“H-Hey, Cake?” Mila tried to follow, looking dejected. “I just want to be friends!”

Cake hissed again, the hairs on her back standing, and ran away again, towards me. She started trying to climb up my leg, so I picked her up.

“What’s with you?” I asked her, scratching her head. “I don’t get it. She hasn’t acted like this with anyone, not even the neighbor.”

Grace looked at Cake, then walked closer to me and kissed my cheek. That caused Cake to hiss at her again, even letting her tiny, sharp claws out on my hands.

“Ouch!” I had to hold her by the armpits to avoid getting scratched even more.

“I think someone’s jealous,” Grace said, laughing.

“Can cats really tell something like that?” Sarah asked, skeptical.

“I mean, she knows this family rescued her, right?” Grace shrugged. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she thinks we’ll take away her new dad. He probably smells like us.”

“Do cats have that strong of a sense of smell?” I asked, letting Cake back on the floor as we all sat down around the living room. I sat on the couch with Sarah and Grace, while Mila kept chasing Cake around, trying to win her over.

“There are snacks for her in the kitchen,” I told her.

Mila went to get them, now focused on a new mission.

“I read once that a cat’s sense of smell is 9 to 16 times better than a humans because they have 45 to 200 million odor-sensitive cells in their noses, whereas humans only have like 10 million,” Grace explained. “Though the data was all over the place in different sources, so don’t quote me on that.”

“I’m not one to say animals are stupid,” Sarah said, “but I still don’t believe she gets that much.”

“The only pets I’ve ever had were a hamster and a parrot, so I can’t say.” Grace shrugged again. “But if the hundreds of dog and cat videos I’ve watched are to be believed, animals really are capable of sensing stuff like this. Cake is getting territorial.”

“Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t expect her to act this way.”

“It’s fine,” Sarah said. “It’s not like we’re offended that your cat doesn’t like us.”

“Can’t say the same for Mila, though,” Grace said, grinning as she watched her friend.

Mila was crawling slowly towards Cake, holding a small fish-shaped snack towards her. For a moment it looked like Cake would take the bribe, but then she ran away again.

“Oliveeeeer!” Mila moaned, looking at me like she was about to cry. It was cruel of me, but I found it pretty funny.

“Don’t give up,” I told her sheepishly.

Mila steeled her resolve and resumed her mission.

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