It had been 2 days since the waterfall voyage.

Felix was drowning in homework and Shadow had been his personal cheerleader, going on and on to him about the stars and singing inspirational songs to him. He had always put his headphones on when she started rambling on about astrology. Shadow didn't mind, though. Talking about it always helped her relax. But the truth was, Felix heard every word. There was never any music coming through his headphones.

"And my favorite constellation is definitely Virgo! It's like a diamond!"
"That's nice, Shadow."
"Yeah."

She tugged at the sleeves on her hoodie, decorated like a sunset over an ocean. The colors were the same as the sunset flooding the yard at that moment, with the moon rising in the opposite direction as a white disc in the sky.

"I like the think the stars brought us together, like it was already written in the book of fate."
"I like to think it was the moving truck."
"So uninspiring, Kittyboy."
"Do you wanna hear something else?"
"Sure. What do you think happens when we die?"
"Reincarnation."
"Really?"
"Yeah. We all come back to live another life."
"How nice."

Felix lifted his head to meet Shadow's face. She seemed to be deep in thought but also tired, holding a lazy grin.

"What do you think happens?"
"I've already told you, stars."
"Oh, yeah. You're a really loyal believer in fate and stars, aren't you?"
"Of course."

Felix snickered and put his books in his backpack. Shadow blew out the cinnamon-scented candle next to her before going back to her tree, which was her shortcut back to her room.

"Night Kittyboy."
"Night Starcat."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"Felix! Post!"

The Australian cat groaned into his pillow and went downstairs to collect whatever had arrived. Bendy handed him a black envelope and he took it before going back up to his room to open it. Inside was a normal white piece of paper, with red writing entirely in cursive.

Dear Felix,

You don't know me, but that's probably for the best. I guess you could say I'm your secret admirer, but since I don't have the guts to tell you in person, I'll try on paper.
Reasons why I love you:
1. Your black fur, dark as the nighttime I also love

2. Your smile, which always lights up my evening, or morning, whichever one I see you in

3. The way you fiddle with your fingers whenever you're flustered

I could write down 100 more, but let's save those for later letters. Expect more!

Ever lovingly,                                            

S.c.

S.c....

Sally, Sarah, Susan...

Felix spent the next several minutes trying to figure out who his secret admirer could be. Who would've sent him this? Who was so in love with him? He had to tell someone.

"Shadow?" He opened his window and saw her eating cherries once again on her tree branch near his window. She heard Felix and climbed onto his windowsill, smiling as always.

"Felix, nice day today, right?"
"Yep. Can I tell you a secret?"
"Of course, what's up?"
"This."

He held up the envelope so Shadow could see. She took it in her hands and inspected it from every angle.

"In my opinion... This is an envelope."
"Open it, you idiot."

She opened it and skimmed over the letter inside, giggling afterwards.

"Secret admirer, huh?"
"It's not funny!"
"It's hysterical! Someone has eyes for the cat whisperer!"
"I'm not a cat whisperer!"

She laughed more before putting refolding the letter and putting it back in the envelope, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Do you know who sent it?"
"Nope, but I hope she's cute."
"How shallow, thinking love is only based on appearance. I expected more from you."

He growled and tossed the envelope onto his end table.

"I bet you're just jealous."
"Of what? Admiration?"
"No, that somebody loves me."
"Why would I be jealous?"
"Probably because no one's ever loved you or made you feel loved."

She flinched. That was a little too close to home for her, but she stuck out her tongue and resumed acting like the happy-go-lucky girl she usually was.

"That's a funny one."
"Oh, I've been meaning to ask you..."
"What?"
"Why have you been covering your left eye lately?"

She hesitated for a few seconds then uncovered her black and red eye, swollen and purple, like it had been punched and not treated for the past few days. Felix looked shocked.

"Shadow, what happened!?"
"N-nothing, I just hit it on a counter..."
"It looks bad, I'll go get some bandages!"

Felix ran off to get some bandages and when he came back, Shadow was still eating cherries in her tree, waiting for him to come back. He carefully wrapped up her eye and adjusted it so it would stay on, then she covered it up with her hair again, still not making eye contact with him.

"I should go back home now..."
"Okay... Night, Starcat."
"Night, Kittyboy."